Burien native Dan Satterberg will prosecute play live at our Launch Party!

We’re proud to announce another addition to our upcoming Launch Party for SoKing Internet Radio – there will be a second live performance from a Burien native – King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and his band the ‘Treehouse Dreamers‘!

Satterberg and his bandmate Rusty Fallis will perform two songs live after opening act Jordan Biggs plays, sometime between 6:20 – 6:45 p.m. in the theater. Be sure to get there early though (5/5:30 p.m.-ish) as we’re certain the joint will be packed. The event is FREE and open to the public; the Tin Theater is located at 923 SW 152nd in Olde Burien.

If you can’t attend though don’t fret – just bookmark sokinginternetradio.com and click on the “Listen Now” button around 6 p.m. Wed. Feb. 15th; if the stream is silent don’t worry, be patient and keep listening – we’re planning on pushing magical buttons and broadcasting live as close to 6 p.m. as we can!

The Prosecutor/Rocker was born and raised in the Burien/Normandy Park area, went to Highline High School in the 70s, then graduated from the UW before going on to become King County Prosecutor. On the side Dan is involved with two bands – Treehouse Dreamers, with all original music, and a cover band called The Approximations.

Satterberg will be the second local musician playing at our party, which we believe is a fitting way to launch! SoKing Internet Radio will be (far as we know) the first Internet Radio Station tied into a network of local blogs in the Northwest (perhaps the entire US), with a mission of promoting and showcasing local music from the region, with heavy emphasis on tracks from the South King County area. We plan on playing a lot of Treehouse Dreamers, along with many other local bands, musicians and songwriters from many different genres. If you’ve got some music you’d like us to consider, please email music@sokinginternetradio.com!

Here’s a video of Dan playing bass and singing “Played Before” with his band at Mick Kelly’s in 2008:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Highline Community Symphonic Band’s BAND FEST is coming to the Highline Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27.

BAND FEST will include performances by the Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble, Kennedy High School Band, and Highline Community Symphonic Band.

The Mt. Rainier High School Wind Ensemble is their top performing ensemble. It is an audition group and plays challenging music for high school. Kennedy High School Band has won numerous accolades for their marching, jazz, and concert bands.

Highline Community Symphonic Band (HCSB), celebrating its 40th concert season, is dedicated to providing classical band music for the enjoyment and cultural enrichment of communities in and around the Highline area of South King County. HCSB performs quality concerts in a traditional venue without cost to the general public, while nurturing individual talents and continuously improving the skills of all HCSB members.

Established in 1971, HCSB provides a venue for local amateur musicians, post high school to senior citizens, to continue or return to the enjoyment and challenge of playing a wide range of concert band music. The band also provides an opportunity for selected high school instrumental students to expand their musical education by participating in a quality community symphonic band.

Highline Community Symphonic Band is supported, in part, by donations from the City of Burien Arts Commission, 4Culture, and Tukwila Parks Commission. More info at www.highlineband.org.

The Highline Performing Arts Center is located at 401 S. 152nd Street, next to Highline High School.

Here’s a video of the HCSB performing “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” in 2011 :

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click image to see larger version. Photo by Amanda Zancanella.

We’re proud to announce an exciting new feature to our upcoming Launch Party for SoKing Internet Radio (to be held at the Tin Theater from 5:30-7pm Wed., Feb. 15) – a special live performance from Burien native Jordan Biggs and his band!

Biggs will perform the first songs officially aired on our innovative new radio station live, just after 6 p.m. in the theater, so be sure to get there before then (it’s FREE and open to all but we think it could get packed so show up early, say around 5-5:30 p.m.!).

Born at Highline Hospital and raised in the Burien area, Biggs has been playing music and singing since he could walk and talk. He attended Seahurst Elementary School, Sylvester Middle School, and graduated from Highline High School.

The first 100 people to show up at our Launch Party will receive this groovy SoKing Internet Radio oval car sticker!

We think it’s only fitting to kick off our innovative new locally-driven station with a local talent like Biggs, who writes all his own songs, and recently recorded several with a well-known Producer named Lewis Richards, at 17th Street Records in Costa Mesa, CA.

“I’m big into family, friends, and enjoying life,” Biggs said. “My daughter is the light in the darkness that I call my world. My music speaks for itself. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy making it.”

To give you a taste of what kind of music to expect at our party, here’s a video of Biggs doing “Once Again” featuring Kat Nestel (learn more about Biggs here):

Click here to view the embedded video.

ESC Kids' Art Contest winner Anne Wilhite with Burien City Councilmember Joan McGilton.

The Environmental Science Center (ESC) on Thursday (Feb. 9) announced the winners of the Earth Day Kids’ Art Contest:

Congratulations go out to Anne Wilhite of Mr. Matthews’ 4th grade class at Marvista Elementary for winning the Grand Prize:

Ngan Nguyen of Ms. Miller’s 6th grade class at Cedarhurst Elementary also won as a Finalist:

Payton May of Mrs. Barker’s class, also Marvista Elementary, was selected as a Finalist:

A total of 103 pieces of artwork were submitted from eight schools and programs in the areas served by ESC. Students were asked to submit work that inspired others to take care of the earth. The work was judged by three jury members, two from the Burien Arts Commission. Judging criteria included artistic merit, creativity, and originality. Ms. Wilhite’s art expressed what the world could look like if we all do our part to protect the environment. Ms. May’s more literal artwork reminds the viewers to THINK of important actions, such as commuting and composting, that will provide a greener place for us all. Ms. Nguyen’s art inspires people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to take part in protecting the world.

To give special recognition to the Grand Prize winner, the former Mayor of Burien, Joan McGilton presented the award to Anne in front of her class. After the ceremony, students eagerly waited to have a chance to talk with the former Mayor and to shake her hand. ESC sincerely thanks McGilton for her continued support of ESC and our local schools. ESC along with its supporters is proud to continue inspiring each of these three young artists with an artist’s tote containing:

• Artist & Craftsman Donation- heart-shaped craft box, craft tissue paper, craft glue, and set of paintbrushes
• Utrecht Art Supplies Donation- artist’s sketchbook, set of pencils, and eraser
• Beading kit
• Sculpting sticks

Anne Wilhite’s will be featured on the invitations to ESC’s Annual Earth Day Dinner & Auction as well as on ESC’s website. Additionally, the Grand Prize included a one-year membership for a family of five to the Seattle Aquarium. One Finalist received a Family Fun Pack to the Woodland Park Zoo and the other received admission for four to the Seattle Bug Safari and admission for two to the Pacific Science Center and IMAX theater. All participants were recognized for their submissions with a certificate of participation. Thank you to all the students and teachers who submitted these wonderful works of art. We look forward to seeing more next year!

For more information about the Environmental Science Center visit www.envsciencecenter.org.

The 2012 Empty Bowls fundraiser was a huge success, with 1,150 attendees contributing $18,400 – a record!

Of course, major shout-outs go out to all the volunteers, as well as all the local restaurants that donated soup.

Gina Kallman, Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Burien, reports that a winner of the “Best Soup” award was announced recently:

We are happy to announce the winners of the “best soups” from the 7th annual Burien Empty Bowls event. Over 100 gallons of wonderful soup were served at the fundraiser for the Highline and White Center Food Banks, and we so appreciate the generosity of our local businesses! Dana and John Lasswell, our amazing volunteer kitchen managers, tasted all the soups and used a ratings system borrowed from a New York food critic. They gave us this report:

The results are in!!! This year’s Empty Bowls best soup winner is Elliott Bay Brewing Company for their Habanera Beef Chili! They received 92 points out of a possible 100! Big chunks of perfectly cooked beef, full flavored spice, and a hint of beer! Superb!

White Center’s new restaurant “Company” deserves an honorable mention for coming in 2nd place with their very first contribution to Empty Bowls. Their potato leek with bacon soup came in strong with a rating of 89.5 points and nearly perfect marks for flavor!

With a strong 3rd place finish was the Tin Room Bar and Grill’s creamy tomato soup with 88 points. Their high marks for “aroma” were appreciated by everyone volunteering in the kitchen!

The Empty Bowls trophy will reside at Elliott Bay Brewing Company for the next year. Pictured is Chef Clayton McVey, Sous Chef and soup creator David Bunnell, Highline Food Bank Director Mike Werle, and White Center Food Bank Director Rick Jump.

Washington’s only Reptile Man will slither into Des Moines on Saturday, Feb. 18, for a show at the Des Moines Activity Center.

The Reptile Man, aka Scott Petersen, has performed for more than 800 schools in the Northwest. Corporations such as Microsoft, Boeing, and Eddie Bauer have found this program to be exciting for all ages. He has been seen on Bill Nye The Science Guy, Evening Magazine, Northwest Afternoon, Town Meeting, Q13 Kids Club, and Watch This.

Scott is fully insured and has teaching credentials. He has a teachers State Patrol Certification on file with the State Superintendent of Public Education. This program will create an interest in the natural sciences and teach students about the importance of all animals in the balance of nature.

The program starts at 10:30 a.m. The Des Moines Activity Center is at 2045 S. 216th St., Des Moines.

Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door, or $10 and $15 for families.

Advance tickets are available through the Des Moines Parks & Recreation Department at 206-870-6527.

For more information on The Reptile Man, visit www.reptileman.com/home.html.

Upcoming shows include:

• Harmonica Pocket Get Loose with Seuss, March 17, also at 10:30 a.m.

For more information on the Des Moines Arts Commission, visit www.desmoinesartscommission.com.

Here are some videos of the Reptile Man in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Let your imagination ROLL WILD!” reads an email. “Our first round this past summer was very successful, and there is some amazing art hung up at the rink. There’s plenty of room on the walls, and hundreds of skates just waiting for you and your ideas to be a permanent part of the Southgate Roller Rink in White Center.”

Sculpture Criteria and Instructions:

• Max out your design at 4′ wide x 2′ tall
• Utilize up to (5) pairs or (10) skates
• Make it wall mountable

Like the Native Americans with the Buffalo hunt, include as much of the roller skate as possible (ie; the boot, truck and wheels). A surplus of clay wheels are also available for use.

• Sculptures must be completed by May 9th
• Participation fee is $20 which covers skates, hanging and promotion of the May 3rd Saturday Art Walk.

The roller rink will play host to a fundraiser benefiting WCA on May 16th which will serve as an early unveiling of the art work before the Art Walk on May 19th.

Please email whitecenterartwalk@gmail.com by March 1st if you would like to participate and details about skate pick up.

REMINDER: Our big Launch Party that will officially kick off our latest locally-grown indie media venture – SoKing Internet Radio – will be one week from tonight, on Wednesday, Feb. 15th from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at the Tin Theater.

The radio station will “go live” on the air in the theater at 6 p.m. sharp, so please arrive before then for the best seats – we’ll all gather around a computer, say a few words, perhaps do some weird chanting, then click a button and the station will magically come alive.

And we’re proud to announce that we’ll be featuring a local musician that you’ll hear on the station as our first “live” show – details to come so stay tuned!

All Readers and Advertisers are invited to this free event, which should be fun as well as historic, seeing that (far as we know), we’ll be the first local blog in the entire northwest (perhaps the US) to have its own radio station.

If you’re a local band/musician and want to be featured on our new station, please email music@sokinginternetradio.com. Attach any MP3s, or include a link to any online (we’ll also accept CDs – see our station’s Contact page for our snailmail address), with metadata on your songs, bio info, artwork and anything else you think we can use to help promote you.

And as we get closer to launching we’ll post clear instructions on how you can listen to this new station, which will feature local music, news, events and more!

Burien native John Requa, right, with his filmmaking partner Glenn Ficarra.

by Scott Schaefer

A few years back, you might have seen a young man running around Burien’s Gregory Heights neighborhood with a Super-8 or VHS movie camera, telling his friends what to do, when to do it and where.

And perhaps even one time you called the cops on him because his actors were carrying pellet guns!

That young man is named John Requa, and now he’s all grown up but doing the same thing, only in a different city – Hollywood, CA – and making a darn good living doing it, including directing a film that will be playing at the Tin Theater (BTB Advertiser) next week (Fri. Feb. 10 – Thurs., Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.) called ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love,‘ a romantic comedy starring Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and others:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Requa, who was born at Group Health Hospital, grew up in the Gregory Heights neighborhood of Burien. Influenced by the many movies he watched with his father while growing up, John’s childhood ambition was to be a film director. As a kid, John made many movies with his neighborhood friends in Gregory Heights, which also happens to be the name of the school in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” He attended Gregory Heights School from kindergarten to first grade, then attended St. Francis and Highline High School, where he performed skits for his school assemblies, even acting in his senior play. John then went to Pratt Institute in New York, where he studied film and ended up meeting his writing/directing partner Glenn Ficarra. John and Glenn have been working together ever since, both as screenwriters and directors. They have written screenplays for several films including “Bad Santa,” and their directing debut, “I Love You Phillip Morris”. And most recently directed “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” John and Glenn recently started their own production company and are currently working on several different projects.

Here’s an interview with John and Glenn:

Click here to view the embedded video.

John still flies to Burien from LA on a regular basis with his wife and 3-year old son. He has a brother, sister, parents and good friends in Seattle and a sister in Yakima. And yes, he still roots for the Seahawks.

We managed to track John down and conducted a quick Q & A that shares some insight into how the Burien area played into his growing movie-making career:

Q: What were some of your favorite shooting locations in the area?
A: Seahurst Park was my favorite.

Q: Did you ever complete a full film as a kid?
A: Yes, I made four 20-minute films in and around Gregory Heights, Burien and Normandy Park.

Q: What advice you you have for aspiring filmmakers?
A: Best way to learn to make movies is to make movies. Don’t worry about quality. Just make them and learn. It’s easier to do them now than it ever was.

Q: What was it about growing up here that inspired you to make movies?
A: Burien’s proximity to Downtown which had a plethora of arthouse theaters and allowed me to see all of classic American and foreign films in the theater with an audience.

Q: Any other Burien/area-related anecdotes?
A: One time we were shooting a scene with pellet guns. Someone in the neighborhood thought they were real guns and called the police, and the police ended up pulling their guns on us!

‘Crazy. Stupid. Love.’ plays at BTB Advertiser The Tin Theater from Friday, Feb. 10 to Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Don’t forget to print your own Coupon for FREE popcorn here. More info at http://tintheater.com.

Click image to see larger version.

Our friends at Cove to Clover (we’re a Sponsor) would like our Readers to know about the first-ever Cove to Clover Art Contest, open to students from elementary through high school.

The winning design will be used in creating the 2013 logo, and the winner will be announced on race day at 3 p.m. (Sunday, March 11th).

The deadline to enter is March 3rd.

Here are the guidelines:

• 11×17 format
• Must use the title “Cove to Clover 2013″ and an image of snake
• Please include name, age, school, phone and email

For all you Photoshop whizes out there, digital submissions can be sent to artcontest@covetoclover.com (send .jpg file, min. resolution of 3300×5100). To send via snailmail,, submit your entries to:

Cove to Clover
Attn: Art Contest
17837 1st Ave South, #568
Normandy Park, WA 98148

For more information about the art contest, email artcontest@covetoclover.com.

For more info on Cove to Clover, or to register for the run, click here.