by Matt Marble

Most movie buffs think that Clint Eastwood was at his prime playing Dirty Harry or starring in one of his many “spaghetti” westerns.

But I think that Gran Torino proves that Eastwood is still in his prime, as both a leading Actor and Director.

He stars as Walt Kowalski, a retired autoworker and Korean War Vet, who’s not afraid to pronounce his hatred for…well everybody.

When a Hmong teenager tries to steal his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino, his temper flares. After the failed carjacking, the boy’s family insists that he repays Walt by working odd jobs. Over time, Walt gets used to the kid. A series of events lead to a very heartfelt and memorable climax.

In the beginning of the film, I was unsettled by the anger that Eastwood possessed for the Hmong people, but by the end, you can witness the transformation from angry old man to caring neighbor.

You don’t have to be a fan of Clint Eastwood to enjoy Gran Torino – just a fan of great storytelling…and remember, this film is rated R for a reason.

Gran Torino is playing at many local movie theaters; you can find movietimes here.

Here’s the trailer for the film, which was ranked #1 at the box office last weekend, as well as an AP feature on Eastwood:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: "Matt's Movies" is a regular movie-review column written by Matt Marble, a 17-year old student at Highline School District's Big Picture High School.

If you have a movie you'd like for him to review, please email him.

Look for more of his movie reviews and other articles soon on The B-Town Blog!]

by Melissa Malloy

Two years ago I did the scariest thing I have ever done in my life.

I pursued my dreams!

I decided to move away from my family and friends in Colorado and come to Washington to follow my acting dreams.  I closed my eyes and jumped not knowing if there was going to be a net to catch me.

My net was Burien Little Theater.

I have been an actress for as long as I can remember.  I see pictures of me as a child, and you can tell I was a ham.  My mom always said I could be in the worst mood and the minute you pointed a camera at me I was all smiles and silliness.  My earliest memories are of me on a stage of some sort.  I was an angel in a Christmas play, flashing my ruffled panties at the audience.  I jumped onstage to dance with the flamenco dancers, even though I didn’t know how.  I stood behind the camera watching a Lite-Brite commercial being filmed trying to figure out who the kids were talking to, waiting for my turn to talk to the imaginary Lite-Brite Man.  I acted out scenes with my friends from the cartoons we watched earlier that day.

As I got older, I started acting in actual plays.  I was Poker Alice in the melodrama “Stop That Villain!,” cutting cards and yelping “YIHAW!”  In high school, I was a theater geek.  I lived and breathed the theater in all forms.  I worked backstage, onstage, in the house, in the box office, wherever I was needed.  The place I felt most at home, though, was onstage.

My first serious play was “Macbeth.”  I played the Third Witch.  It was really the first time I learned what it was to become someone else, to create someone else.  I learned about subtext, motives, language, purpose, and more.  Our teacher, and my first mentor, Mr. Buchanan, let us work on our own to discover the witches’ rituals and dances.  He helped us pry into their lives and discover their motives.  It was exhilarating.  We learned how the movement helps tell the story along with the words.  There was indescribable electricity in the air opening night.  When we crawled out from under our rocks for the first time, I heard the audience gasp with surprise, and I knew this is what I was meant to do.  I was home.

I acted in many other plays throughout high school and chose to major in theater at the University of Colorado.  I learned more about everything.  I was like a sponge.  I learned more about creating a character from the inside out.  I learned how to embody a character physically, and I moved towards playing people out of my comfort zone.  I made an ass out of myself and learned not to care.  Mostly I learned humility, disappointment, and rejection.  I was no longer in every play.  I didn’t get every part I wanted.  I was no longer part of the theater crowd.  I was just another actress struggling to be seen.

After college, I moved back in with my parents.  I felt lost and didn’t know if I had the courage to dream anymore.  College was hard, and I was tired of being told no.  So I quit.  I didn’t do anything for over a year.  What did I want to do with my life?  Where did I go next?  Then I saw an ad in the paper calling for people to audition for a play at the college nearby.  I decided to go for it.  My heart never beat so loud.  It had been over three years since I had been in a play.  I was scared I wouldn’t get a part, but I was even more scared that I would.  I went in for the audition, my knees knocking together so loud I was sure the director could hear.  My mouth was so dry I couldn’t swallow; I was sure I couldn’t talk either.  My name was called, and it was time to jump or run.  I walked down the aisle to the stage, walked up the stairs, walked to the center, turned, took a deep breath, and said “Hello my name is Melissa Malloy and I am auditioning today.”  I got out my monologue, thanked the director, and left.  Two days later, I had a part.  I was now the Female Admirer in Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”  It was a small part, but I always got the biggest laugh.  All of my fears and doubt melted away.  Everything flooded into my memory and I knew where I was supposed to be.  Over the next four years, I challenged myself in unexpected ways.  I acted in my first musical and realized I wasn’t completely tone deaf.  I could sing notes, not that I knew what the notes were, but I could sing them.  I could dance without looking like a spaz.  I joined Theater Masters.  They hold playwriting competitions and the winners get to have their play performed along with nine other short plays.  We would have a week to block, memorize, and get costumes, props, and sets for two venues.  We were cast in no less than three plays: some comedies, some dramas.  It was an amazing challenge that made me feel alive and exhilarated.  I did dinner theater for the first time, moving in and out of the audience interacting with them, improvising more and more because of the unexpected responses.

The time came when I needed to move away from small town life and test my talents in a city environment.  I chose Seattle.  I packed up everything I owned, including a couple of friends, and drove across four states to my new home.  It took awhile to get settled.  I had to find a place to live, a job, another job.  Once I was settled, it was time to start looking into theaters and auditioning.  I looked up every theater in Seattle and went to their websites looking for anything I could do in a theater.  When I got to Burien Little Theater’s site, it had a button for volunteers.  I filled out the information thinking I would be e-mailed in a couple of days because they needed ushers.  Instead I was called twenty minutes later and asked how fast I could get to the theater.  Twenty minutes later I was a stagehand for “Dracula.”  Three months after that I made my Seattle stage debut in “Lysistrata” as one of the Old Women.

I am about to open my second show with Burien Little Theater, “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” (you can buy tickets online here).  It tells the classic story from Marley’s point of view.  “Marley was dead to begin with…” so we start out in hell.  This show answers the questions of why Marley chose to haunt Scrooge, and how he came up with the ideas of the different ghosts.  It shows how Scrooge’s redemption was Marley’s redemption.  I am playing the Record Keeper, an old woman who enjoys making Marley suffer.  I’m beginning to think someone is trying to tell me something.  Maybe I just have an old soul, or maybe it’s the silver streak in my hair.  I’ll let you decide when you come see the show.

Here’s a video of one of my scenes:

This show has been an exciting challenge for everyone involved.  M. Elizabeth Eller has adapted a four-person script to a six-person script because she just couldn’t decide who to cast, so she cast us all.  Thank you, Elizabeth, for taking on that challenge.  The cast consists of Eric Hamlin as Marley at all stages of Marley’s life, John Mallory as Scrooge at all stages of Scrooge’s life, Allison Wooldridge is the Bogle (the voice inside Marley’s head), Melissa Malloy (me) as the Record Keeper of Purgatory, and Hannah Schnabel and Steve Scheide play everybody else.  There is a minimal set and costume pieces to represent characters, but most things are left to the audience’s imagination.  As an ensemble, I believe we do a wonderful job of drawing the audience pictures of the story.  Elizabeth has done an amazing job helping all of us build our characters into three dimensional beings instead of the caricatures they could have been.  She has helped me “find my inner bitch” as she so eloquently put it.  We have laughed a lot; Eric has cried a lot.  As Elizabeth said last night, with most shows you always feel like you want another week of rehearsal before you open, but this show is right where it needs to be.

So after everyone has stuffed themselves on turkey and stuffing, after a hard day of shoving people out of the way to get that digital camera on sale for a dollar, when you’re tired and black and blue, come in to the Burien Little Theater and watch us torture someone else for a couple of hours.  You’ll be glad you did.  “God bless us, everyone!”

Here’s another short scene from “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” featuring Eric Hamlin as Marley and Allison Wooldridge as Bogle (did I mention that you can buy tickets online here?):

We won’t mention any names, but here’s a short animation of one of Burien’s Best appearing to do the “Robot” dance during the Three Tree Point block party on the 4th:

 by Scott Schaefer

Explosive 4th of July weekend for sure in the B-Town area, with plenty of fireworks, fun and the usual “look outs!” along with our own very unique and unforgettable personal experience:

Down at Three Tree Point, there’s an annual $21,000+ neighborhood fireworks show that goes off around 10:20pm. It’s very popular, and it turns the entire ‘hood into one giant block party, with a flag raising ceremony, kids’ parade, live band and more, all climaxing in a great fireworks display.

This is the one day per year where Maplewild Ave SW does its best impression of the road that lead to Woodstock in ‘69, chock full of young people gathering for something cool and special, all the while invading other folks’ neighborhood, parking spots and yards.

The strangest thing about suddenly having your neighborhood invaded by hundreds of younger folks isn’t their language, fashions or music – it’s in the backpacks that 90% of all the young men are sporting.

“Backpacks?” methinks, “why these hearty young men must’ve hiked from miles away to join our festive and friendly party! There must be provisions, water, first aid kits…all the necessary items for a full day’s safe hike, right? Welcome to our front lawn you wise young souls!!!”

14 bottle rockets, 11 Roman Candles and 349 firecrackers later, I finally figured out what was in the backpacks. Let’s just say that their “provisions” weren’t entirely legal, and consisted of items that included either gunpowder from China or 40-ounce bottles from 7-11.

Oh well – I was young once, and I could relate, so no big whoop.

Me and the family snaked through the dangerous ’splosions and got prime seats to watch the annual pyrotechnics display, and as we waited, were entertained by about 6-8 young folks who were imbibing quite heavily (cheap shared Carlo Rossi wine from a jug anyone?) and cursing like drunk sailors at a longshoreman’s convention (only these drunk longshoremen wore backpacks).

After briefly (and carefully) requesting they “watch their mouths” (which they agreed to and complied with for about 30 seconds), one of the more drunken young lads suddenly started challenging his friends and betting that he could swim out to an anchored boat and back “for 10 bucks!”

Being the naturally skeptical type, I doubted that anything would happen. I’ve been around tons of drunk sailors at longshoremen’s conventions, and I know the drill. And for a measly $10 bucks? Ha.

Then the dude whips off his shirt and starts stripping down, insisting that his buddies pay him “10 bucks” to swim out and back to a boat about 150-175 feet off shore.

Keep in mind that this was around 9:45pm at night. Water temp had to be in the low 50s at best. And from what I’ve heard and read, at that temp, hypothermia can kick in within 12 minutes.

Still being skeptical, I watch in amazement as the dude strips down to his shorts, takes off his shoes and quickly jumps over some rocks onto the sand.

Next thing you know, he’s swimming out toward the boat in the dark.

So I pull out my cell phone, unlock it and get ready to dial 911, and in my mind I’m thinking: “Wow, I’ve never seen someone drown before…but maybe that’s what Independence Day is for – making us independent of stupid people!”

The drunk dude is swimming. In. The. Cold. Dark. Puget. Sound. Water. I’m getting chilled just watching him. About 50 feet out, he pauses; starts hesitating. My fingers start twitching. It’s been at least 7 minutes. It’s kind of hard to see him too with the low light and cloud cover.

“This is it,” I think to myself in my most morbid, dark and evil Mr. Burns-like voice, “This is when his head suddenly drops under, and he disappears from sight. Release the frowns!”

His semi-incoherent buddies of course are all still swearing in front of my chitlins in their own little world, but at this point it doesn’t matter ‘cuz I’m worried that he’s gonna die. In front of my kids.

Of course, the drunk dude decides to pause and wade for about five seconds, then resumes his swim using a breast stroke. Now he’s moving slower, but still making progress toward the boat! About ten seconds later, he reaches the boat.

We’re at around 12 minutes now. Uh-oh.

“If he’s smart, he’ll climb on the boat, wait a few minutes, warm up, then signal for help…right?” says my inner, most hopeful Mister Rogers voice.

Wrong.

He oh-so-slowly shimmies his way around the bow of the boat, and of course, disappears from our sight.

15 minutes.

Now this scenario is rivaling any fireworks display I’ve ever seen by about 1,000 times. I mean, the kid’s totally blitzed, he’s swimming at night in – The. Cold. Puget. Sound. We can’t see him now…and for what?

$10 bucks!

So I’m straining my eyes now to find his head in the water. Nothing. I strain some more. Pull out the cell. Think about things I’ve heard about how every second counts in cold water situations…should I just dial 911 now, knowing that it’d take B.F.D. at least 10 minutes just to get here? Then another 10 or so to launch their rescue boat and find the drunk dude who was last seen slowly hanging onto the boat before disappearing? That’d be 20 minutes or so of him underwater in Puget Sound? Hmmm…

As I’m visualizing the entire doom and gloom scenario, wifey chimes in and says “I can see his head!”

Sure enough, the drunk dude’s now swimming back towards shore like a seal, his head bobbing up and down as he does his breast stroke.

“He’s not sleeping with da fishes yet,” shouts the inner hopeful Mr. Rogers in my head.

“Ah, but just you wait,” says Mr. Knowitall Morbidiardo on the other side of my head. “He’s still got at least 75 feet to go, and by now the hypothermia most certainly must be affecting his muscles…”

20 minutes now and he’s almost to shore. But wait – he pauses again! Is this it? Luckily no; he resumes and pretty soon he’s walking back up to his plastered buds and demanding his $10 smackers.

Mother-in-law of course decides to chime in, exhorting “Hypothermia and alcohol don’t mix very well!” to the youngster, who ignore her as best they can.

The dude demands his ten spot and the unlucky bet loser whips it out. Of course, since the drunk dude is much shorter, the guy holds the Hamilton up and makes the guy jump for it. Ouch.

I see now that the dude is shivering. Wifey offers her blanket to me and I take it, walk over and wrap it around the dude. I ask him if he’s shivering at all, and of course he says “no way man” in his most macho yet slurred and shivery voice he can muster. I tell him to watch for signs of hypothermia but can tell that he’s much more interested in signs of acceptance from his peers.

Soon the dude has his clothes back on and off he goes with his group, like it was just another 4th of July at the point.

I have no idea if he ended up with hypothermia in the hospital, but I hope that he’s okay, and know that, at the very least, he’s at least $10 bucks richer.

(hey drunk dude, if you’re reading this, please email me – I’d like to make sure that you’re okay…)

Courtesy BTB Reader Greg Rehmke comes this video shot last night at 9:30pm as the 4th celebrations begins at Lake Burien (listen for the apparent air horn coordination signal):

Another photo taken earlier in the day by Greg of activity on the lake – note the floating picnic table-like dock full of folks (what if someone has to, you know…go to the bathroom?):

 

Got patriotic spirit?

Looking for something fun to do until it’s time for fireworks?

Why not join other Burien residents and guests as they watch the 87th Annual Burien Independence Day Parade?

Rain or shine, the annual Parade will begin at 3pm on Friday the 4th, and will last approximately 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

This year the route has been reversed, so the Parade will start at Ambaum and SW 150th, then will head south on Ambaum and then East onto 153rd, North on 2nd Ave., then West on 152nd:

 
(click on map to download larger version suitable for detailed viewing/printing)

Some featured acts include:

• Heroic Burien Firefighters
• Cub Scout Pack 377 will be collecting donations for Fire Victims as they march
  
• The Keystone Kops
• Chinese Dragon
• Bagpipers
• Drill teams
• Beauty queens
• Marching bands
• Antique cars
• Ronald McDonald
• And many others!

This is a longstanding Burien tradition that is fun for the entire family.

This year’s Parade is brought to you by:

 

 

Mother Nature has been putting on quite an excellent (albeit a bit premature) fireworks show for a few days now, and now the showers are moving through.

But will we hearty B-Towners let that stop us from enjoying today’s Farmers Market, or tomorrow’s 4th festivites?

Heck. No.

We’ve got a booth at the Market, and invite everyone to come visit us. Just be sure to stand right at the edge of our tent too – we have a great practical joke where we push the tent up and soak you with all-natural, organic, free-range, shade-grown, fair trade rainwater…you’ll love it!

Here’s what the patented B-Town Blog Weather Rock® says about tomorrow’s weather:

• “Mostly crummy weather with a slight chance of sun.
• Cloudy with a chance of showers.
• Highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s.
• South winds 5 to 15 mph.
• Marine push will come in tonight, bringing in overcast skies, which will linger through most of tomorrow.
• The 4th will start cloudy with areas of light showers, then partial clearing late in the day – maybe enough sunbreaks in the evening to make the wait for the fireworks pleasant, but still a risk of a few light showers or sprinkles roaming around.
• Highs will only reach around 70, with temps at fireworks time around 62 or so.“

Tomorrow at 10am, the gates open for the Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi), and here’s another sneak peek at something (or someone) a bit different you might see there:

Say hello to the “Trash Apes”, who will be strolling around the Fest, picking up (you guessed it…) trash.

In ape suits.

I guess you could call it “Helpful Gorilla Performance Art”?

Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

Only two more days until this weekend’s Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi), and here’s another sneak peek music sample of a featured band.

Today’s band is Amber Tide, who play the Kids Stage at 1:30pm Saturday June 28th, and describe themselves as:

Soaring vocals, 12 string jazz, upbeat blues, wild stories, rowdy harmonica, folk gospel, solo trombone, soulful ballads, the relentless bando-fluke, awful jokes, mariachi swing, the world’s smallest trap set and thirty years of wedded bliss.

Today’s track is “Cheek to Cheek,” a classic old swingin’ and scattin’ song:

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Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

Only three more days until this weekend’s Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi), and here’s another sneak peek music sample of a featured band.

Today’s featured band is Mariachi Fiesta Mexicana, who will be strolling through the Festival playing their authentico Mexican mariachi music (and tell me, who doesn’t love a live mariachi band?); here’s a sample video:

Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

Only four more days until this weekend’s Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi), and here’s another sneak peek music sample of a featured band.

Today’s track is “Slowdown (The 12th St. Blues)” by the Staxx Brothers, who play the Main Stage at 2:45pm Sunday June 29th, and are described as:

A Blind Black Rapper, a ½ Puerto Rican Jagger, and Gypsy-walk out of a bar with one of the seminal Rock & Roll Records of the past decade. Backed by Seattle Jazz & Rock heavyweights Joe Doria, Dave Carter, Andy Coe and RL Heyer, The Staxx Brothers have created a living document that uncovers Seattle’s lost identity as an urban crossroad for classic R & B, Hip Hop and Hard ASS Soul.

[display_podcast]

Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

In order to help all our B-Town area neighbors decide on what to do and see at this coming weekend’s Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi) we will be releasing one sneak peek music or video track per day leading up to it.

Today’s track is “Johnny Can’t Dance” by Captain Leroy and the Zydeco Locals, who will be on the Main Stage on Sturday June 28th  at 4:30pm:

[display_podcast]

 

Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

Less than a week to go until the Burien Strawberry Festival (where we’ll have a booth so be sure to drop by and say hi), and here’s a sneak peek music sample of a featured band.

Today’s featured band is Caela and the Dangerous Flares, an all-woman R&B Seattle band that specializes in sultry R&B vocals, and have been described as:

From the sultry pipes of their lead vocalist, Caela, to the smooth harmonics and seductive looks of the fiery babes, you will be smitten. The exciting singing and dancing of Caela and her backup singers has thrilled and entertained…rhythm and blues meets comedy/Varietè.

They will play the Main Stage next Sunday June 29th at 4pm, and for a taste of their music, listen to this track, called “I Couldn’t Be Rude”:

[display_podcast]

Full Strawberry Festival schedule is here.

[DISCLAIMER: One of our old friends is in this band, a silver-haired gent who goes by the name of "Ed." We use to see them play in the 80s, so this should be a fun night...especially since there's NO COVER!]

WHAT: “The Plugs” play Goodtime Classic Rock n Roll

WHEN: Tonight, Friday May 9th, 10pm+

WHERE: Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, 435 SW 152nd Ave in Burien

HOW MUCH: NO COVER! FREE! NO CHARGE! (SPEND YOUR EXTRA $$ ON GUINNESS!)

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The B-Town Blog is proud to present more amazing work by local Photographer Cheryl Moorhead, an incredibly talented B-Towner who has taken many superb nature photos.

This week, we’ve got an entire slideshow chock full of everyone’s fave Spring thing, those populous neighbors that outnumber us all – insects!:

The B-Town Blog is proud to present some work by local Photographer Cheryl Moorhead, an incredibly talented B-Towner who has taken some amazing nature photos.

We’ll be showcasing her work often, but for starters, here’s some of her pics focusing on Seahurst Park:

Proof that, despite the recent soggy gloom, Spring is really here – amazing video of a male Chickadee building a nest by digging rotten wood out of an old alder stump near Eagle Landing Park:

This video courtesy of YouTube user 98166n.