Happy Holidays from all of us here at The B-Town Blog!

We’ll be taking time off to spend with our friends and families, so unless there’s a *huge* news story we probably won’t be posting any updates until after we conclude our celebrations. Then we’ll probably be busy tearing apart and recycling all the different elements from our kids’ gift packages (grrrrr…).

But in the meantime, here’s a virtual toast to you and yours, and a big ol’ “Thanks A Bunch!” for your continued support!

Oh, and here’s a bigger pic of us all in case you want to squelch your holiday appetite:

Two years ago today (Dec. 11, 2007 to be exact), on a dining room table in a home in Burien, your B-Town Blog came unto this planet, chock full of hopes and dreams of informing, entertaining and enlightening a community, and initially only as a part-time hobby.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO US!

But be warned folks, ‘cuz we’re entering our “Terrible Twos” and we aren’t going to stop until WE GET WHAT WE WANT! (SOUNDFX: WAAAAAA!)

It’s been an amazing two years too, from humble beginnings as a hobby to now, a full-blown full-time job with an office, numerous Contributors, over 40 Advertisers and nearly 50,000 Readers per month (November set a record…so far)!

And now, for trivial and archival purposes, are the two stories we posted on our very first day:

• Welcome to the B-Town (Burien) Blog!
• Video of One of Your Uglier Neighbors

Of course, as we’ve grown, we’ve gone from just one sole Publisher/Editor (me, Scott) to a staff of 12+ regular (and irregular) Contributors, including:

• Janet Grella, Sales Director/Diva joined the LOL Dudez team last July. Not only does The Diva sell Ads, she also writes stories, takes pics and much more to all our community blog sites. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both Readers and Advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Ralph Nichols, Reporter/Writer. A former Editor of The Highline Times, Ralph specializes in covering local issues, including political, community, business, news and much more. Ralph has many years’ experience as a reporter for numerous daily newspapers, and has made the transition to this newfangled online world quite well.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Sales: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark sells Ads and Writes for the BTB.
• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Code Guru. An amazing Photographer with a great eye for “the shot,” Michael not only brings his artistic talent (what we call “Brunksmanship“) to our sites, but his technical know-how as well. Need a great shot of something, or some Wordpress, PHP, CSS or other code fixed ASAP? “Call Michael!” is our immediate response.
• Bart Bryan, Sales. Another old buddy of Scott and Mark’s from their high school daze, Bart is a happy, friendly, gregarious man who loves to learn, “conversate” (as the kids say), sell Ads and of course, sing killer Karaoke.
• Gina Bourdage, Artist/Reporter: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She does our Ad artwork, writes stories and much more.
• Amy Bouska, Video Producer. Amy Produces, Shoots, Directs and Edits original video interviews for us, and she does them quite well, especially since she serves as on-air Talent as well.
• Theresa Frasch, Sales. Theresa is an all-around talent, with the ability to sell Ads as well as fix the world in her spare time.
• Jack Mayne, Reporter. Jack Mayne is an experienced old-world Journalist who has worked with The Seattle P-I, The Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent and many others. He brings not only his vast Writing experience to us, but his deep knowledge of the News Business as well.
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.
• Danielle Burton, Artist/Illustrator. Danielle is not only a recent graduate of Western Washington University, but she is an amazingly talented Artist who brings a touch of original, artsy class to our sites.
• Bryan Charles, Intern. Bryan is a budding Artist and Animator who attends Highline’s Big Picture High School in SeaTac. He brings his twisted sense of humor to us through his cartoons and more.

We could go on and on about how great we are, but in the end the real reason we’re posting this is to thank YOU, our Readers and Advertisers, because without either of you we wouldn’t exist!

Thanks, and we look forward to an even better third year!

This is getting old (yeah, right) – another month, another record – for the month of November, 2009 The B-Town Blog received nearly 50,000 Unique Visitors, and like we did in October (and September and August and July…), we’d like to shout out a huge THANK YOU to all our beloved Readers and Advertisers for the following statistics:

• 49,281 Unique Visitors – an average of 1,643 per day!
• 84,020 Page Views – an average of 2,800 per day!

That translates to an overall traffic increase of +24% growth for Unique Visitors and +23% growth for Page Views over October!

Here are the most recent stats from Sitemeter, a widely-used, independent website that tracks internet traffic:

As you can see, one thing that sets The B-Town Blog apart from most others is our open policy of being totally transparent with our website traffic statistics – something you will NOT see on any other competing “local” websites (we use quotation marks because ones produced in downtown Seattle aren’t truly “local” now, are they?).

“Transparent” of course means that, at any time, YOU can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting right then and there from external, independent sources.

That’s right – we have no intention of hiding any information from you, our Readers, nor from our Advertisers or potential Advertisers.

And we challenge all other media outlets to do the same.

We’d also like to remind any potential Advertisers out there to shop around and ask for proof of traffic numbers from other sites before buying, because our philosophy, though simple, is very effective:

LOTS OF LOCAL EYEBALLS + GOOD ADS + BLOGVERTORIAL STORIES = CUSTOMERS

Click on a logo below to see our stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control):

And remember, we are here to serve our community, since we all live, work, shop, eat and drink here.

We are active members of Discover Burien as well as the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and you’ll see us at various events, Farmers Markets, festivals, city council meetings and much more.

If you’d like more information on our Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us!

The B-Town Blog is proud to announce “Have A Heart,” a very special Food Bank Fundraiser Blog Party on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, at The Tin Cellars!

This one will be focused on raising money and food donations for the Highline Area Food Bank, which serves Burien.

The night of food bank fundraisin’ blog partyin’ fun will begin at 6pm and continue ’til whenever at The Tin Cellars, the brand spankin’ new bar next to the Tin Room, located at 923 SW 152nd in Olde Burien.

The Highline Area Food Bank has been serving about 850 families a month, and is in need of more donations. It serves Burien clients north of 192nd Street and south of 116th Street, from Pacific Highway/International Boulevard/Military Road west to Puget Sound. Of those served, 42 percent are adults, 18 percent are seniors, 38 percent are children, and 2 percent are infants to age 2.

Suggested donation will be two cans/boxes of non-perishable food, $5 cash or whatever you can afford (including larger donations).

Here are the details:

WHAT: “Have A Heart,” The B-Town Blog’s Annual Food Bank Fundraisin’ Blog Party

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 8th from 6pm on

WHERE: The Tin Cellars, next to The Tin Room Bar at 923 SW 152nd in Olde Burien

COST: Suggested donation of two cans/boxes of non-perishable food or $5 cash or whatever you can afford. All proceeds will go directly to the Highline Area Food Bank (HAFB).

Here’s a list of items needed by the HAFB:

• Canned Veggies & Fruit
• Soup
• Tomato Sauce
• Yams
• Cranberry sauce
• Olives
• Meats
• Milk
• Crackers
• Mac & cheese
• Jam
• Peanut Butter
• Pumpkin
• Toiletries

INFO: This will be our 5th-ever “Blog Party,” and we hope that you can make it whether you’ve been to one before or not.

We’ll be demonstrating the BTB, doing live updates, taking pics and much more, including some great surprises…

A very mixed week in the Burien area, from the tragic stabbing death of a young man outside Goodtime Ernie’s to the discovery of an infamous deadbeat Dad living in another state under a new name, to the growing needs of a local food bank and much more.

Here are the stories we covered between Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, 2009:

ARTS:

Sunday morning (Oct. 11th) we posted a Guest Editorial by Jim Branson that scolded the City of Burien for not following its own anti-graffiti ordinance on the “Welcome to Burien” sign in Olde Burien, which still had graffiti on it since being tagged nearly three months ago:

Well, it seems like someone at the city’s been reading The B-Town Blog (shame on you!) – on Monday afternoon (Oct. 12th), BTB Reader Catherine Dupre alerted us that the once-tagged sign was now the recipient of a fresh coat of gray primer paint, obviously in preparation for being re-painted:

Not to toot our own horn too much, but we find the timing of this sudden anti-graffiti fixing a bit more than coincidental.

With that in mind, what else in Burien needs repairing? Please email us suggestions, or Comment below and let’s see what else we can get fixed…

September 2009 was another record-setting traffic month for The B-Town Blog, and like we did in August (as well as July), we’d like to send out a huge THANK YOU to all our beloved B-Town Blog Readers and Advertisers for the following statistics:

• 35,203 Unique Visitors – an average of 1,173 per day!
• 58,541 Page Views – an average of 1,951 per day!

That translates to an overall current average of nearly 1,500 Unique Visitors and nearly 2,400 Page Views per day for the lifespan of this website (launched in Dec. 2007), along with a current average visit length of 2:33.

Here are the most recent stats from Sitemeter, a widely-used, independent website that tracks internet traffic:

We’d also like to remind both our Readers and potential Advertisers about our unique, totally transparent website traffic statistics – something you will NOT see on any other competing “local” websites (we use quotation marks because some aren’t truly “local” now, are they?).

“Transparent” means that, at any time, you can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting right then and there.

That’s right – we have no intention of hiding any information from you, our Readers, nor from our Advertisers or potential Advertisers. And we challenge our local media competitors to do the same.

Click on a logo below to see our stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control):

And remember, we are here to serve our community, since we all live, work, shop, eat and drink here. We are active members of Discover Burien as well as the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and you’ll see us at various events, Farmers Markets, festivals, city council meetings and much more (be sure to look for us at the Boo in Burien on Halloween!).

If you’d like more information on our Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us!

by Scott Schaefer

Recently the B-Town Blog’s business model was soundly endorsed by Seattle’s KOMO/Fisher Broadcasting, when they launched numerous “local blogs” of their own.

We, along with other community news providers (read what fellow local blog CapitolHillSeattle.com had to say about their experience with them here, or what CentralDistrictNews.com said here) enjoyed for a while KOMO’s attempts at “local journalism,” which ofentimes has consisted of the apparent copying of our stories (we know this because their IP addresses are traceable, we know they subscribe to our RSS feed, and we’ve read their nearly-identical stories, many of which were posted shortly after we posted ours) and even possibly using our graphics, then posting Burien-related news as “their own.”

But we’re not all that upset about our stories getting copied (nobody “owns” the news) – this happens all the time online, and heck, we’ve even gotten leads from other sources ourselves. All we request is simple attribution and a link, which we try to give every time we use an external news source. It’s just common courtesy, and is actually good for both parties.

No, what takes the cake regarding KOMO happened Tuesday, Sept. 15th, when we received the following email from a “Derek Smathers“:

Name: Derek Smathers

Email: kcjn101@yahoo.com

Subject: The look at B-town is b-rate!

Message: Geez-Reading your blog is like reading the yellow pages. Could you put a few more ads in there? At least all I have to do is move on, no finding it clogging my porch or having to lug it to the recycle bin.

News I need. Junk ads I don’t!

IP: 208.73.29.10
HOST: mail2.fsci.com

Seems Derek forgot one little thing – when you email a website, your IP address is recorded. A simple IP Address lookup of 208.73.29.10 revealed that good ol’ Derek actually sent this directly from within Fisher Broadcasting:

Now we won’t get into any kind of flame war with Derek, since it clearly wouldn’t be fair, but we would like to point out one thing to KOMO, as well as our Readers and Advertisers:

WE DON’T CONSIDER OUR ADVERTISERS AS “JUNK ADS”!

I’m sure that many of our Advertisers are already very familiar with KOMO’s practices – since KOMO apparently posted numerous placeholder/make-believe ads WITHOUT EVEN ASKING THE BUSINESSES USED IN THE ADS, then called them to “sell” them the very placeholder ad(s) they had already posted – not to mention calling BTB Advertisers directly and asking them to cancel their accounts with us and go with them.

Now comes this ill-advised email from within Fisher/KOMO, telling us that our website is full of “junk ads,” which insults the very businesses they want to do business with!

Does this Escher-esque irony crack anyone else up as much as it does me?

August 2009 was another record traffic month for The B-Town Blog, and like we did in July, we’d like to shout out a huge THANK YOU all our beloved B-Town Blog Readers and Advertisers for another record-setting month of traffic:

• 31,298 Unique Visitors – a +25% increase over July!
• 51,596 Page Views – a +5.5% increase over July!

That translates to an overall average of nearly 1,000 Unique Visitors and over 1,600 Page Views per day for the lifespan of this website (launched in Dec. 2007), along with a current average visit length of 2:12.

Here are the most recent stats from Sitemeter, a widely-used, independent website that tracks internet traffic:

We’d also like to remind both our Readers and potential Advertisers about our unique, totally transparent website traffic statistics.

“Transparent” means that, at any time, you can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting.

That’s right – we have no intention of hiding any information from you, our Readers, nor from our Advertisers or potential Advertisers.

Sure, it’s a risky move, but we think in this modern internet news era, it’s worth it, and quite frankly, something that not many others will dare do.

And we challenge our local media competitors to do the same, especially those who claim they get “…more readers than any local website.”

Click on a logo below to see our stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control):

If you’d like more information on our Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us!

Dear Mom -

I know you read The B-Town Blog, because I know your computer’s IP address (and Mom, will you please stop commenting on that Naked Lady Sculpture story? That is soooo July of you!), and I wanted you to hear my really really important segment I did on KUOW’s “The Conversation” today.

Okay, so it was less than two minutes, but hey, at least I got on the air.

Uh-oh, I forgot to mention the URL of our website.

Oh, and they didn’t have time to let me mention the Forklift Rodeo either. Dang.

And I didn’t get to talk as much about annexation as I had prepared for (I studied it all morning long, and even called Jenn at the City of Burien for info!).

But I know you’ll love this, because you love me. You still do, right Mom? Mom???

Oh well, enough blabbering…here’s the audio file for your listenin’ pleasure (or not):

[display_podcast]

(click that little arrow button above to play the recording back Mom…kind of like a CD player’s “Play” button…)

We’d like to take a moment to thank all our wonderful B-Town Blog Readers for making June, 2009 our best month ever!:

• 19,951 Unique Visitors – a +26.1% increase over May!
  
• 40,575 Page Views – a +37% increase over May!

That translates to an overall average of over 850 Unique Visitors and nearly 1,800 Page Views per day for the lifespan of this website, along with an average visit length of 2:54.

Here are the stats from Sitemeter, a widely-used, independent website that tracks internet traffic:

We’d also like to take this opportunity to announce, that along with our new website design, effective immediately we will be totally transparent about all our website traffic statistics.

This means that, at any time, you can click on one of at least three statistics links in the footer of the website (at the bottom of any page), and see what kind of traffic we’re getting.

That’s right – we have no intention of hiding any information from you, our Readers, nor from our Advertisers or potential Advertisers.

Sure, it’s a risky move, but we think in this modern internet news era, it’s worth it, and quite frankly, something that not many others will dare do.

And we challenge our local media competitors to do the same, especially those who claim they get “…more readers than any local website.”

Click on a logo below to see our stats (keep in mind that statistics vary with each independent measuring company, something that’s not in our control):

And while we’re at it, an additional, huge shout-out goes out to our Photographer, and now-Wordpress guru Michael Brunk, who did an amazing job of re-designing our website, which has resulted in some additional magic mojo that’s driving more traffic.

If you have any thoughts on our recent re-design, or want more information on our Advertising solutions, please don’t hesitate to email us!

Here’s the world premiere of The B-Town Blog’s first-ever :30-second TV spot (produced by Publisher Scott Schaefer), which will air locally on CNN beginning Monday, April 6th in the “Burien Zone” through Comcast Spotlight:

Look for this introductory spot to run 300 times(!) on CNN over the next two weeks, hopefully so much that it’ll drive you absolutely crazy and create an earworm of my lame voice and music track, with the only solution being that you’ll have to come to The B-Town Blog everyday for your antidote injection of Local News, Events and more.

If you’re interested in finding out how we can help you create a video Ad for your business, please email us. We can even help get you on CNN and other Comcast channels.

In the meantime, check out our showcase of other original videos we’ve produced for clients.

by Scott Schaefer
Publisher/Editor

It’s always a risk to do an April Fool’s joke issue of any publication, and The B-Town Blog is no exception – as many of you know by now, yesterday’s edition was devoted to entirely fake “news” stories based in the Burien area (with the one exception of my birthday tribute to J.P. Patches, which was very, very serious).

Being a former full-time comedy writer, I must confess (and perhaps apologize) that it’s in my genes to try and have fun with stories and words. Growing up with a funny Dad who was always cracking jokes, I guess I became enamored with the rewards of making others laugh. Once I got my hands on my first Mad Magazine, I never looked back. In fifth grade I published my own attempt at a humorous newspaper (ripping off, er, inspired by Mad) and sold it to family members for 25-cents apiece. At Highline Community College, I edited a special April Fool’s edition of the Thunderword student newspaper and called it the Thundergag. I love writing fake news stories and think that sometimes there’s nothing funnier (can you tell I’m a fan of The Onion?). Even when I wrote and directed for “The Arsenio Hall Show” I printed my own ‘zine targeted at the small demographic of about seven other comedy writers. In between all these gigs I found time to do some TV work, yet now here I am, back doing the printed word.

And loving it.

In case you missed it, nine comedy bits were published yesterday (writing help came from Mark Neuman, Gina Bourdage and a former neighbor, Stefan Hovland, who all helped tremendously):

• BREAKING: Ex-Office Depot Space To House Strip Club
• EXCLUSIVE: B-Town Blog Interviews Laser-Pointing Culprit
• UPDATE: No Morton Today
  
• PHOTO: Vandals Knock Over Part Of “The Passage”
• Burien’s Little Theater To Perform All-Nude Musical
• BREAKING NEWS: Mayor Nickels Suffers Injury In Burien
• BREAKING: King County To Fence In North Highline Area
• City Of Burien To Impose 20% Tax On All Internet Use
• Highline Hysterical Society File: Burien’s Forgotten Festival

The most rewarding aspect of publishing yesterday’s gag edition was the slew of Comments, emails and yes, even a couple of inquisitive voicemails – one from a local businessperson asking for more info on the “new strip club,” the other from a man whose business monitors the internet for “terrorist news” (he was very interested in the interview with the laser pointing culprit, and he found the story through searching the keywords “laser” and “airport”).

Here’s a short collection some of the best Comments:

BREAKING: Ex-Office Depot Space To House Strip Club

Dona Forrester: “I hope this is an April Fools Joke also? This would be terrible for Burien!”

Christine: “Gosh I hope this is an April Fools joke too…yikes….empty space beats a strip joint any day.”

PHOTO: Vandals Knock Over Part Of “The Passage”

<<<”…some dude with artsy glasses and a girly ponytail starting screaming like he was having a seizure around 15:30 hours. He called 911 on his cute red iPhone, so now we’re stuck here investigating. And I was just about to head down to The Tin Room for
Happy Hour”>>>

K & D : you’re SO fortunate to have such dedicated public servants (sic)

Lisa B: “So the sculpture isn’t really down?”

luuuupus: “I, for one, like the new name and theme.”

Dave: “You suck at photoshop…” (EDITOR’S NOTE: I know, and I’m surprised my sucky job fooled anyone!)

BREAKING: King County To Fence In North Highline Area

too embarassed 2 say: “I didn’t fall for Google’s, or UW Daily’s, but then I saw this title in the RSS feeds, and for a second I was totally wondering…”

From a marketing perspective, yesterday’s prank issue has apparently become viral, as our daily traffic tripled, and is tracking very high today (yesterday and today’s traffic are the 2 right bars in the chart to the left). It appears that a lot of people are sending email links to the site.

If you’d like to, just click here and forward this date-specific URL via email so others can, um…enjoy it.

Several blogs linked to our “Strippers on Segways” story, including Nerve.com out of New York City:

It’s also interesting to note that if you do a search for the stock symbol of Office Depot (ODP) on Google Finance, the top story in the upper right sidebar section of news stories is ours:

Perhaps the most intimidating response was a voicemail left early Thursday morning from a man named Morgan, with a company called “Global Incident Event,” which tracks “terrorist activity” on the internet. He wanted to know more about our interview with “Floyd the “laser culprit.” I called Morgan on the phone and said “April Fool’s!” and he admitted to forgetting what yesterday was when he read his news feed for the keywords “laser” and “airport.” Morgan apparently wans’t too hip to Pink Floyd lyrics, but several of his subscribers include numerous government intelligence agencies.

Gulp.

In conclusion, to everyone and anyone who was fooled by our issue – I am very, very sorry.

We’ll see again on April 1, 2010.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to our Free Weekly Event Newsletter, sign up today, and you’ll receive a regular spam-free event listing every Thursday via email:

FRIDAY, MARCH 20th:

4:44am: VERNAL EQUINOX! HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!
Some folks claim that on the Vernal Equinox you can balance an egg on its end. True or False? Well…while we appreciate the symbolism of eggs and spring and rebirth and all that, we tend to think that, with the right amount of patience, you can balance an egg on any day of the year. But try it anyway – it’s a fun experiment! And send us a pic!

FREE TAX HELP CONTINUES, HIGHLINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
1pm – 7pm (last client at 6:15pm): Student volunteers, who have studied and received income tax preparation certification from AARP and IRS, are providing free help to anyone needing assistance preparing certain non-complex 2008 income tax returns. Bring your patience and plan for at least one hour. More info here: http://is.gd/lI0a

“LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS,” HI-LINERS, CARCO THEATER
7:30pm: Burien’s Hi-Liners are getting ready for spring’s growing season by planting a hilarious man-eating plant on stage in the classic “Little Shop of Horrors,” which begins tonight at the Renton Carco Theater. More info here: http://is.gd/o2Eo

ELMER’S PUB, 15027 Ambaum Blvd SW, 439-1007
9:30pm+: Live Music! NO COVER! ROCK! BEER! FOOD! DARTS! POOL! FUN!

MICK KELLY’S IRISH PUB, 435 SW 152nd, Burien, 246-2473
10pm+: Live DJ, 80s night, dancing, NO COVER! Irish accents + Guinness on tap! More info here: http://mickkellysirishpub.com/

SATURDAY, MARCH 21st:

WALKER WETLANDS WORK PARTY, SW 176TH & DM DRIVE
10am-Noon: Spring will have sprung so it’s time to get your garden gloves on, dig out those pruning shears and help the Walker Wetlands by removing invasive plants. Please contact Dennis Clark, Miller/Walker Creek Basin Steward, dennis.clark@kingcounty.gov, or phone: 206-296-1909. More info here, including directions: http://is.gd/o2KP

“GET THE IVY OUT” WORK PARTY, SHOREWOOD PARK
10am-Noon: What better way to sate your newly-sprouted spring desires than to attend a Shorewood Park Work Party? This work party is a collaboration between the City of Burien’s Adopt-A-Park project and Shorewood-On-The-Sound Community Club (SOTSCC). Bring your gloves, pruning shears and spring spirit. More info here: http://is.gd/o2NX

“SCIENCE ON THE SOUND” SERIES, MaST CENTER, DES MOINES
Noon-1pm: “Working the Sea, Writing the Sea” Writer and sailor Holly Hughes will share her experiences of living and working on the sea, as well as her writing and poetry. Highline’s MaST Center is located at 28203 Redondo Beach Drive South in Des Moines. More info: http://is.gd/iFy7

WHITE CENTER FOR THE ARTS, SOUTHGATE EVENT CENTER
5pm-10pm: Open Studio Art Tour at the Southgate Event Center (formerly the Southgate Skate Rink), located at 9639 17th Ave SW in White Center. More info: http://is.gd/n0Ja

“LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS,” HI-LINERS, CARCO THEATER
7:30pm: Burien’s Hi-Liners continue their production about a hilarious man-eating plant on stage in the classic “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Renton Carco Theater. More info here: http://is.gd/o2Eo

“COLORAMA” BOWLING, HI-LINE LANES, 15733 Ambaum Blvd SW, 244-2272 BURIEN
7-10pm: “Colorama” bowling, a fun, active and funky thang to do, and it beats Wii Bowling anyday!

MICK KELLY’S IRISH PUB, 435 SW 152nd, Burien, 246-2473
9pm+: Irish accents + Guinness on tap! More info here: http://mickkellysirishpub.com/

BARREL TAVERN, 11501 First Ave South, Burien, 244-7390
9pm+: Karaoke night! NO COVER! Read our review: http://is.gd/lRKO

ELMER’S PUB, 15027 Ambaum Blvd SW, 439-1007
9:30pm+: Live Music! NO COVER! ROCK! BEER! FOOD! DARTS! POOL! FUN!

SUNDAY, MARCH 22nd:

“LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS,” HI-LINERS, CARCO THEATER
1:30pm: Matinee performance – Burien’s Hi-Liners continue their production about a hilarious man-eating plant on stage in the classic “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Renton Carco Theater. More info here: http://is.gd/o2Eo

Did we miss an Event? If so, please email us and we’ll consider posting it.

Also note that we’re developing a new Events Page, which you can access here. To see what’s going on, just click on the yellow highlighted/underlined date and you’ll be taken to a page with that day’s events.

In the meantime, if you haven’t yet signed up for our Newsletter, click here.

Wishing everyone in the Burien area a very Happy New Year!

Please either email us your New Year’s pics or add ‘em to our Flickr Group so we can share them.

Everyone and their brother’s mother do “Year In Review” stories, and since this is the first year we’ve ever reviewed on The B-Town Blog, we figured we oughta give it a shot as well, so here goes our Top 10 Stories (with active links so you can read & review for yourself) for the Burien area, as voted on by our incredibly large staff:

1. DECEMBER SNOWSTORMS BLAST BURIEN: After much debate and deliberation, we decided this was definitely the #1 Top Story since the snow affected so many people, from school closures to street closures, from work stoppage to delayed garbage/recycling pickups and much more – this was one of those 10-15 year weather events that affected everyone in some way.

On a self-indulgent side note, it also ended up boosting our traffic 4x times, resulting in our highest one-day audience ever on Dec. 21st: 1,642 Unique Visitors and 2,608 Pageviews.

2. FATAL JUNE 29 ARSON APARTMENT FIRE: A horrific fire burned down the Tara and Jenny Marie Apartments on a nice summer’s night, killing three people (Edgar Omar Cisneros Velazquez, 8, his father Ramon Cisneros Sanchez and Lindy Kunimoto, 49).  The arsonist is still at large, the crime still unsolved, the landlords are being sued, and the entire Burien community is permanently scarred.

The community of Burien quickly rallied however, and we’re proud to have co-sponsored (along with Discover Burien) the Fire Victims Fundraiser Auction that raised $10,500 at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub on July 16th.

3. BURIEN & SEATTLE AGREE ON NORTH HIGHLINE ANNEXATION: The Cities of Burien and Seattle came to a preliminary agrement on who gets what as far as dividing up the pie that is North Highline/White Center (if you’d like to read the entire document, click here for a PDF file). Burien will pursue annexation only in Area X (approx. SW/S 116th and south) while Seattle will pursue annexation in Area Y (north of approx. SW/S 116th) until Dec. 31, 2011.

Big news for both cities, as they seek tax credit relief, as well as residents in X and Y ‘hoods, as they get to vote on it.

4. OPENING OF THE 3rd RUNWAY AND ANGRY RESIDENTS’ REACTIONS: To much fanfare, the Port of Seattle proudly opened its $1+ billion third runway on Nov. 20th. Within days, numerous residents in the new flight path were livid over the increased noise, claiming being lied to or misled by the Port before its opening, not to mention lost sleep and mental anguish. This is an ongoing story that is only just starting, and will get bigger, as dozens of residents are teaming up with a team of lawyers and are pursuing legal actions.

We’re happy to be right in the middle of it all, and we look forward to bringing you exclusive interviews, stories and videos in 2009 and beyond.

5. “MR BURIEN” DICK DAHLGARD PASSES AWAY: The passing of Burien business icon (the still-vacant “Dick’s Camera” building sits eerily quiet on First Ave South with his bright orange signage on it), native son, longtime resident and an active, generous Rotary member who didn’t miss a meeting in 46 years shocked the entire community.

Highly deserving of the nickname “Mr. Burien,” Dahlgard, 73, passed away in his sleep on Nov. 5th.

1pm 12/31/08 UPDATE: Dick took the photo below on Sept. 5th, at the 55-year reunion of Highline High School’s Class of ‘53; he then went to Bartell’s in Burien, had the photo printed, then returned to the party before it ended and gave them out to all the attendees. Later, he shared this photo with us at the BTB but regretfully, we never got around to posting it. We post it now as our tribute to “Mr. Burien,” who is missed by many.

6. AREA FOOD BANKS SUFFER DURING RECESSION: Both the Highline Area Food Bank and White Center Food Bank have suffered during 2008’s recession, sending shockwaves through the lower-income residents of the area. We’ve done what we can by holding our own fundraisers (including a “Blog Party” in August and a Turkeys N’Diapers event in November), promoting others and trying to continually spread the word; but unfortunately, even the wealthiest residents are hurting too.

Here’s a hearty and heartfelt toast to a resurgent 2009 where no one in our community ever goes hungry again.

7. BURIEN TOWING’S MARK AND BRIAN STORER KILLED IN PLANE CRASH: Burien Towing’s Mark Storer, 51 and his son Brian, 24, were killed July 24th when their floatplane crashed 10 miles west of Shelton. According to witnesses, the plane struggled to reach altitude after taking off from Nahwatzel Lake before vanishing behind some trees, crashing then exploding. Mark Storer founded and operated both Burien and Airport Towing, and leaves behind his wife, Lynette, and a surviving son and daughter. His son Brian was married with two small children.

Brother and son Jared Storer turned his blog into a heartfelt tribute to his Dad and Brother – check out his entries for July here.

8. AN ENGLISHMAN’S PERSPECTIVE ON OBAMA’S VICTORY: “Bob” is an Englishman who lives in Burien who wrote a very interesting piece on his experience the night of Nov. 4th when America’s first African-American President was elected. “Bob” drove from B-Town to downtown Seattle, where he took part in a spontaneous street celebration at First and Pike streets.

Looking forward, “Bob” plans on attending the historic inauguration, and we hope to have more stories from him then.

9. CHERNOBYL CHILDREN FIND SAFE HAVEN IN B-TOWN: Contributing Writer and Burien resident Cynthia Reid wrote a compelling story about area families who host children from Chernobyl every summer. These kids become “adopted” by their US host families, who treat them as their own, form bonds with them and help them heal far away from the still-dangerous radiation in Belarus.

In September, the story developed into controversy over a California family that allowed their “adopted child” to essentially defect to the US, temporarily ending the program (read the story here).

10.“THE DAY MY PARENTS BECAME COOL” FILMS IN BURIEN: Local resident and lawyer-turned-filmmaker Steve Edmiston Wrote and Directed a 16-minute comedy film about the day grown-ups mysteriously tried to be “cool,” with crazy hair, low-riding pants, thongs, piercings, tattoos and attitude, and how their kids subsequently reacted. Featuring locations like Burien’s own Highline High School, as well as cameo appearances by Highline Schools Superintendent John Welch (see animated photo below), the film was sneak-previewed in Seattle on Dec. 7th to an incredibly receptive crowd of friends, crew members, actors, actresses and dignitaries (luckily, including us – read our review here).

The B-Town Blog will keep you updated about this local project, which is sure to make the rounds of numerous short film festivals throughout 2009, as well as having a big “Premiere Party” in the area soon.

Okay, so that wraps up our first-ever “Year In Review” posting.

We hope you enjoyed 2008 as much as we did – it was a year full of new challenges, new ideas, new ventures, a new, non-home office, many gains, countless setbacks…yet when we look back at it all, we wouldn’t have traded 2008 for anything.

As far as this website is concerned, 2008 was a *huge* year that saw our traffic grow from a measly 266 Unique Visitors in Dec. 2007 to nearly 14,000 in Dec. 2008, a stunning increase of over 5,000%!

That’s right – in our first year of publication, our audience has grown over five thousand percent!

And have we mentioned yet how great the New Year is to purchase an Ad on The B-Town Blog?

However, we have a feeling that 2009 is going to be a better year all around, and we vow to do everything we can to make The B-Town Blog your best and most-frequently updated online source for local news, events, listings, feature stories, videos, photos and more. We’ve got some big plans coming soon, so check back often, and/or subscribe to our RSS Feed or free Weekly Event Newsletter for the latest.

On that note, we’re actively looking for freelance Writers to help us take this website to the next level – email us for details!

Thanks for reading, and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

We’re taking some time off to spend with our familes,
so look for the next update on Dec. 26th!

One year ago today (Dec. 11, 2007 to be exact), on a dining room table in a modest home near Three Tree Point, your B-Town Blog came unto this planet, chock full of hopes and dreams of enlightening a community, and initially only as a part-time hobby.

On that first day, we posted these two stories, linked here for your flashbackian pleasure:

• Welcome to the B-Town (Burien) Blog!
• Video of One of Your Uglier Neighbors

Then, after several weeks of reading our own crap, something happened.

People other than our family and friends started reading it (currently we have 10,000 unique readers per month and climbing!).

And emailing news, events, listings and more. And commenting on stories.

Then, a few months later, we re-designed the site, and something even more amazing happened.

A local business bought an Ad!

And now, we’re proud to say we’ve got 30 paid Advertisers (and growing – several more are in production), three dynamic sales reps (join the B-Town Blog-o-lution and buy an Ad from either Mark Neuman, Janet Grella or Bart Bryan) a 15-year old Intern named Josh Hart, and contributing Writers like Shawn Underwood, not to mention the dozens of great Photographers, Artists and other Contributors.

We’ve also strived to differentiate ourselves from other local blogs by actually helping our community by holding fundraisers. And we’re happy to report that in our first year, we’ve helped raise over $12,000 for various needy neighbors in the area, including:

• The Buckley Family, who lost everything they owned in a fire on Feb. 28th (we helped publicize their plight and held an online fundraiser).
• Victims of the fatal June 29th Tara Apartment arson fires (we arranged and co-sponsored a major auction fundraiser two weeks after the blaze that brought in over $10,000).
• Both the Highline Area Food Bank and White Center Food Bank (we held a fundraising “Blog Party” in August at BTB Advertiser Elliott Bay Brewery where we raised enough food to feed two families for a month).
• Both the White Center Food Bank and WestSide Baby (we held an in-person “Turkeys N’Diapers” fundraiser in November at the White Center Albertsons and raised nearly $1,200 in one day).

So, please help us celebrate our one-year anniversary by giving yourself a gift – because we couldn’t have done it without YOU!

Thanks, and we look forward to an even better second year!

We recently upgraded our Commenting functions, this making it easier to Comment on stories, and we invite all our Readers to try them out and see how they work.

Our goal at The B-Town Blog has always been to create an open, interactive online community where all Readers have the power to speak up and share their thoughts, and this is another step in that direction, so we hope you give it a try.

Some simple rules to be aware of when it comes to Commenting:

1. Please be civil and respectful. We still control what Comments get posted/deleted.
2. Spam filters are still in effect, so don’t even think about spamming us.
3. Other Readers can rank your “Reputation Value” up or down. This serves as a quick overview of a Commenter’s history and reputation, and is based on the quantity and judged quality of the comments.

Here are directions on how to Comment on a story:

• Click on the text link “Comments” posted at the bottom of each story.
• On specific story pages (ie: this link here), scroll down to the very bottom of the post, where you can now easily Comment on each story. Here’s an example of what the Commenting section looks like:

• You can just type in your thoughts, click on “Submit Comment” and your comment will show up – it’s that easy.
• You can create a profile (even include a photo) that other Readers can view by registering when you post a Comment.
• You can also get the RSS Feed for Comments on specific stories and follow discussions that way.
• You can vote on and rank other’s “Reputation Value” by clicking on the little thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons on the right header of each comment.
• We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments and spam, so please don’t try anything funny.

The staffers from both the White Center and B-Town Blogs look forward to seeing as many of our readers and neighbors as possible on Saturday, Nov. 22nd at the White Center Albertsons for a special Thanksgiving-related fundraising drive.

It’ll run from 11am to 4pm.

Albertson’s is located at 16th Avenue SW and SW 106th Street, White Center.

We’ll be collecting turkeys and diapers (yes, that’s correct: turkeys and diapers!)

And stuffing and canned vegetables and other Thanksgiving-related food items.

And baby blankets and strollers and high chairs.

The folks at the White Center Food Bank will make available the food (as they do year round) to nearby families in need.

The Food Bank works hand-in-hand with WestSide Baby, a nonprofit organization that collects previously owned items for children and babies and distributes them free of charge to South King County families in need.

In 2007 WestSide Baby served more than 7,000 children.

As always, at any time, here’s how to contact the Food Bank:

White Center Food Bank
10829 8th Ave SW
Seattle WA 98146
www.whitecenterfoodbank.org
Phone: 206-762-2848

You can also donate online directly here.

WestSide Baby:

WestSide Baby
10032 15th Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98146
(206) 767-1662
www.westsidebaby.org

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We’re honored to have been invited to speak to the SouthWest Seattle Business & Professional Women’s Association gathering this Thursday night, Nov. 13th at The Mark Restaurant starting at 5:45pm.

And you’re invited to come and heckle, as it’s open to the public.

We’ll be talkin’ local blogging, demonstrating how we do what we do, taking questions and just plain ol’ yakking it up, along with Tracy Record, a fellow local blogger someone else with some serious issues who will not even acknowledge our presence the entire evening.

This event is open to the public, the cost is $20 per dinner (but buying dinner is not required to attend), and you’re asked to RSVP ASAP to:

• Jan Westbrook at 206.244.7016
• Kay at kbk.bpw@hotmail.com

We’re not yet sure of the full agenda, but thankfully, one thing’s for sure – we won’t be singing any Karaoke like we did the last time we were at The Mark (located at 914 SW 152nd in Olde Burien, Street View Map below):
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If you didn’t make it to our Halloween Blog Party at The Mark Restaurant & Bar Tuesday night, you missed scenes like this – Bart “On the Street” Bryan singing “I Wanna Be Sedated” by The Ramones:

Just when you thought that The B-Town Blog couldn’t get any more useful comes this exciting and revolutionary posting – we’ve managed to sneak an entire copy of the Karaoke Song list for next Tuesday night’s Halloween Blog Party!

If you’ve ever Karaoked before, you know it’s always a hassle to have to page through a huge book to find a song you want while you’re trying to have fun.

Well we’ve got the solution for that age-old dilemma – an electronic version you can scroll through, copy and paste selections, and make your krucial Karaoke decisions before you arrive at our Blog Party (which BTW is Tues. Oct. 28th starting at 6pm at The Mark Restaurant & Bar at 914 SW 152nd in Olde Burien).

Here’s a link to the Karaoke Song list (from 112 to ZZ Top), so be sure to a) let it load all the way (it’s a HUGE list!), then b) look carefully or heck, c) even utilize technology to find songs/artists by using CTRL-F (or Edit>Find) in your browser window, then entering titles or names in the search box.

Then all you have to do is either write down your selections or print it out.

If you have any questions or problems, please let us know – we think there’s a song here for everyone, and we look forward to having a great night!

See ya Tuesday night…

Today’s the final day of the 2008 Burien Farmer’s Market, and you have until 6pm to get down to 10th Ave SW between SW 152nd and SW 151st.

Otherwise, on behalf of the B-Town Blog staff, we’d like to give a huge shout-out to Debra George for all her help in this, our inaugural year at the market, as well as a big thanks to everyone who ever came by our booth.

See ya at next year’s Farmer’s Market!

According to the Redfin Blog, home sales prices in Burien are at 100.4%, higher than 75 other Seattle-area neighborhoods.

Condo sales prices in B-Town are at 100.5%, higher than 25 other neighborhoods.

In fact, Burien’s sales prices are higher than all but Boulevard Park, Skyway and Delridge area homes.

Redfin speculates on the reason:

But Burien. Really.

Could it be the evangelism of the B-Town blog?

Or is it just a fluke?

Nope Redfin, it ain’t no fluke.

The B-Town Blog is not only responsible for the higher sales price average, it’s also responsible for the recent area reduction in crime, increase in productivity and overall satisfaction with life (which is surprising in these difficult times).

The real reason?

(sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash)

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES!

(sex) (cash) (sex) (cash) (nothing to worry about) (all is well) (obey the b-town blog) (sex) (cash) (sex) (cash)

Fall officially begins at 8:44am PDT today (Monday, Sept. 22), and what better way to celebrate the season of spiders, colorful leaves and pumpkin slingshots than by taking a look back at summer through this exclusive B-Town Blog slideshow:

We were honored to be part of a Seattle City Club panel discussion on neighborhood blogs on Sept. 4th, where we babbled incoherently about this here B-Town Blog.

A video of said forum is now online for your viewing pleasure here.

Some scenes from Saturday’s annual Artwalk (videos coming soon):

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Saturday’s annual Artwalk (aka Arts A-Glow) was a resounding success, with a wide variety of art, artists, musicians, performers and more spread throughout downtown Burien on SW 152nd all day long.

We had a booth outside Jay Lauris Jewelry and met quite a few friendly neighbors, then managed to find time to sneak away to enjoy a few of the festivities ourselves.

Hours of video were shot, dozens of photos taken, all of which will be edited and doled out over the next several days here, so be sure to check back often.

Some of our fave moments of the day included:

• Stumbling upon an acrobat rehearsal in the parking lot of Karuna Yoga
• Writing messages on the glass to the artists living inside the storefront windows
• Seeing autistic artist Chris Stiles’ original paintings up close at Sterling Savings Bank
• Seeing children dance the night away during the first-ever BlogstockAPalooza Music Fest
• Gathering new “slogan ideas” for Burien and reading them aloud between bands at BlogstockAPalooza (which we’ll be revealing over the next several days so stay tuned…)
• Watching great local bands with distinctly different original styles
• Happening upon the Ballard Ave Jug Busters, who played good ol’ boy honkytonk music on the sidewalk outside the Continuing Education office on SW 15nd:

Busy and beautiful day in B-Town today, and here are some of the artsy, family-style, rockin’ activites and events going on:

Kid’s Day at the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Dept. goes until 3pm with all sorts of interactive fun, educational games & food.

Young Jasmine helps wash cars at a fundraiser for the kids of Brian Storer at
B & E Meats parking lot at the intersection of Ambaum Blvd. & SW 150th until 4pm today.

Come drop by the B-Town Blog booth, located right in front of Jay Lauris Jewelry at 920 SW 152nd.  Robert Simpson-Clark is the Owner/Designer who’s been in Olde Burien for 35 years. JoAnn Davey is a Designer, and above is a photo of her cute-as-heck Shitzu “Babee,” who will be greeting people at their wine tasting session, which goes on all day and costs just $2. On display today as part of Artwalk are photos by Robert, so come on up, check out the art, say hi to us B-Town Bloggers as well as Babee while having a sip!

Artwalk/Arts A-Glow on SW 152nd all day, with three artists living in the
windows of Karuna Yoga until around 11pm tonight.

And of course, B-Town BlogstockAPalooza rocks Olde Burien tonight starting at 6pm, with two areas of extended outdoor seating at The Mark Restaurant and The Tin Room!

As Sat. Sept. 6th approaches, we’re both excited and downright giddy about our very-own B-Town BlogstockAPalooza, a live, outdoor local music stage at Burien’s annual Artwalk that starts at 6pm and rocks on with four bands until 11:30pm/midnight.

To keep our Readers’ music appetites whetted and nicely teased, we’ve been presenting some music and video clips all week of some of the bands that will appear on our stage, located smack dab in the middle of street on SW 152nd at 10th Ave SW (map below), near The Tin Room and The Mark Restaurant (both of which incidentally will be having extended outdoor seating for fans interested in having food or beverages as they watch the show).

The lineup:

6pm: Daybreak

7:15pm: Lost in the Bamboo

9pm: Skwish

10pm: Morris Can Fly

Today’s music tease – the night’s headliner (starting ’round 10pm), Morris Can Fly, with an online mini-concert of songs you’ll be sure to hear Sat. night.

Here’s a bio from the band’s website:

F*cked over by everyone since birth, Steve, Marc and Barry formed a rock band in 1999 called MORRIS CAN FLY.

Totally ignored by their hometown of Seattle, the band has toured relentlessly and built a die-hard following of rock fans that would slit their wrists just to party with the band.

The band’s first CD quietly sold 2,000 copies, largely on the strength of the single “Velvet Jesus”, which received airplay in smaller markets like Canton, Ohio and Spokane, Washington. The band’s second CD, released in January 2006, was recorded at Rick Parishar’s London Bridge studios in Seattle, Washington

MORRIS CAN FLY has received the prestigious ASCAP PLUS award for the last three years running. The American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) gives this award each year to unsigned artists who receive airplay and make significant contributions to their genre of music.

MORRIS CAN FLY has no real management and no agent. It’s just a power trio of guys who play loud and are never happy unless they leave their listeners hot, sweaty and exhausted.

Feel free to contact the band at “bitch@morriscanfly.com”. Say whatever you feel. It’s a free country…

And now, ladies and gentlemen of B-Town, we proudly present a band that’s part 80s power pop, part Red Hot Chili Peppers, with a touch of Cheap Trick’s stage presence and of course the creative original juices of pure B-Town in their blood….Morris Can Fly! (click on different songs to change tracks):

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Bumbershoot is over, and we know you’re just jonesin’ for more music and arts fest-like outdoor action before summer totally exits the area, stage left.

Talk about timing – this coming Saturday, Sept. 6th will be B-Town’s very own Arts & Music Fest, called Artwalk, and/or Arts A-Glow, as well as the Burien/Normandy Park Fire Department’s annual Kid’s Day.

The City of Burien just released the schedule for the Artwalk, which starts at 11am, runs until around midnight, and also includes the first-ever B-Town BlogstockAPalooza outdoor music stage, nestled in the middle of the street where SW 152nd meets 10th Ave SW.

Here’s the schedule, as of 9/2/08:

11:00am-6:00pm: Do the Art Walk!
Art and performance in the shops and on the street on SW 152nd.
Buy $2 wristbands at the information booth for discounts at area retailers and restaurants.

10am-3pm: Lantern Making at Kids’ Day (Burien Fire Station, 15100 8^th Ave SW)

5pm-8pm: Lantern Making in front of Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub (435 SW 152^nd)

6:00pm-11:30pm: Arts Bash & B-Town BlogstockAPalooza!
Turn up the volume and let’s have an Arts Bash!
Music, performance, lantern making, two extended outdoor seating areas with happy hours and more!

Here’s a rundown of the full-day’s schedule as of Tues. 9/2:

TIME	BAND / ARTIST	VENUE
Noon-2:00pm	Eric Two Scoops	The Mark Restaurant
1:00-3:00pm	The Jangles	Sterling Savings Bank
	Muralist Sam Sneke	working in front of “Hey Paison”
4:00-6:00pm	The Ballard Avenue Jug Buskers	Stage by A Place for Pets / Mick Kelly’s / Aussie Pie
6:00 -6:45pm	Daybreak	B-Town Blog Stage in Olde Burien
6:00-8:00pm	Trapeze artists from “Cabiri”	Karuna Yoga Parking Lot
6:30-7:30pm	Bird Show of North America	Stage by A Place for Pets / Mick Kelly’s / Aussie Pie
7:00-8:00pm	Lost in the Bamboo	B-Town Blog Stage in Olde Burien
8:00-9:00pm	Lantern Parade with the Yellow Hat Band	Meet at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub and join the parade!
9:00-10pm	Local band “Skwish”	B-Town BlogstockAPalooza Stage in Olde Burien
10:30-11:30pm	Local band “Morris Can Fly

“Performance Memoirs”

SW 152nd & Ambaum

• 3 Artists,1 storefront window, 30 hours straight!
• Join artists Laura Curry and Lori Dillon as they live in the windows of Karuna Yoga starting Friday evening, September 5.
• Stop by and share a story by writing on the glass, pose for a picture, be entertained and experience Burien in a whole new way!

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on this for a while, and are proud to finally be able to make this official announcement:

That’s right folks – Saturday, Sept. 6th, from 6pm on, the B-Town Blog is sponsoring B-Town BlogstockAPaloooza, an outdoor music stage in Olde Burien at the annual Burien Artwalk (aka “Arts A-Glow“).

We’ll be showcasing four local bands in an effort to continually highlight Burien-area talent.

Currently, the schedule is:

6pm: Daybreak

7:15pm: Lost in the Bamboo

9pm: Skwish

10pm: Morris Can Fly

Click on the band names to go to their MySpace pages, which usually include music samples, photos, info and sometimes even videos.

This event will also serve as a kick-off for a brand new feature for the B-Town Blog, so be sure to stay tuned for that announcement soon!

Both The Tin Room Bar and The Mark Restaurant will be offering extended outdoor seating with food and beverages available outside, so this should be a fun evening.

We’ll be teasing you all week with musical samplings of each band, and to start things off in the order they’ll be appearing, here’s a video from Daybreak playing live at the Dubliner in July:

Here’s another video from Monday night’s Blog Party 2.0 Food Bank Fundraiser at Elliott Bay Brewery, featuring Luke from local band Skwish performing a cover of the Foo Fighters’ “Everlong”:

Here’s a video we shot of local comedian Winlar doing an original song at last night’s Blog Party 2.0 Food Bank Fundraiser called “The B-Town Blog Song,” aka the “Town Blog, Comma B”:

Thanks again to everyone who showed up, from the musicians to the comedian to all our generous Readers and Contributors – collectively we all donated 166 items of food and $280 cash to be split between the Highline and White Center Food Banks!

“I just purchased ground turkey at 59 cents per pound,” remarked Rick Jump, Executive Director of the White Center Food Bank. “Therefore the $280 cash donated translates into a lot of turkey for a lot of local, hungry families in need.”

Rick Jump, along with Mike Werle, Executive Director of the Highline Food Bank attended, as well as 45 other people who braved a blustery night to enjoy free appetizers provided by Elliott Bay Brewery, live entertainment and lots of goodwill. In addition to live comedy from local comedian Winlar, the fundraiser also featured live music from Luke of the Burien band “Skwish,” along with “Lost in the Bamboo” (videos coming soon).

This is the second major fundraiser the B-Town Blog has been involved with; the first was held on July 16th at Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub, and raised over $10,500 for the victims of the fatal June 29th Burien arson apartment fires.

The next major fundraiser for the White Center Food Bank will be their annual “Harvest Dinner and Auction” on Sat. Oct. 18th at the Jerry Brockey Center at South Seattle Community College.

For more info on the White Center Food Bank, go to www.whitecenterfoodbank.org. To get in touch with the Highline Food Bank, call Rick Werle (206) 433-9900.

Monday night’s Blog Party 2.0 Food Bank Fundraiser was a rockin’ success, bringing in 166 separate food items and $280 in cash/checks, split evenly between the Highline and White Center Food Banks, and a huge THANK YOU to everyone who braved the weather and showed up (with a special shout-out to  Elliott Bay Brewery for hosting)!

Some highlights of the evening:

• Local comic Winlar sang a hilarious original song about the B-Town Blog (video coming soon)
• Skwish’s Luke did a rousing solo set
• Lost in the Bamboo finished the night with a killer set
• And sadly, BTB Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer was forced to sing “Folsom Prison Blues” (and yes, there’s video of this so stand by…)

We’ll be posting more photos and exclusive videos soon, so please check back in…and again, THANKS EVERYONE for helping to feed your hungry neighbors!

Quick Blog Party 2.0 update:

• So far (as of 7:07pm) we’ve received 94 food donations and $95
• Over 40 people are here
• We’re about to start a Shuffleboard Exhibition
• Live comedy and music starts at 8pm

There’s still time to get down here, so why aren’t you here yet?

Photo above was taken just minutes ago outside the Elliott Bay Brewery in downtown Burien, where Blog Party 2.0 is just getting underway despite squalls and thunderstorms.

Luckily, tonight’s event is inside, where there’s a roof, walls, comfortable atmosphere and lots of great neighbors doing good for the Highline and White Center Food Banks.

We’re blogging live of course, and live entertainment starts at 8pm with local comedian Winlar, live music from Skwish’s Luke along with Lost in the Bamboo.

There’s no cover charge, but we kindly request that you bring in 2 cans (or boxes) of food. If you arrive without food, you’re still allowed in, and if you’d like you can make cash/check donations directly to the charity of your choice, as representatives from both food banks will be present.

See ya soon!

Blog Party 2.0 is TONIGHT (Mon., Aug. 25th), starting at 6pm at Elliott Bay Brewery, (map below) and we’re looking forward to a fun, fundraisin’, organic brewmasterin’, rockin’ and laughin’ evenin’!

Along with being our second-ever “Blog Party,” this event will also serve as a showcase for local talent, and will feature a resident Comedian and two B-Town bands, with entertainment starting around 8pm.

More importantly, it will also be a Fundraiser for both the Highline and White Center Food Banks , and while there is NO COVER CHARGE, a suggested donation of 2 cans (or boxes) of food is kindly requested.

The basics:

• Starts at 6pm, goes until…10/11pm?
• Live Blogging!
• Entertainment starts at 8pm with live Comedy from local Comedian “Winlar“
• Live acoustic set from local band Skwish’s Luke
• Live acoustic set from local band “Lost in the Bamboo”
  
• Appetizers courtesy the B-Town Blog and Elliott Bay Brewery!
• Fun!
• Drinks! (BTW, you’re expected to buy your own beverages)
• Humor!
  
• Much more!
  

Please note that you must be 21 or over to attend, as Elliott Bay Brewery serves alcohol.

Here’s a short video sample of a very appropriate song called “Burien” by Skwish (we’re pretty sure Luke will play this one):

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26666916

Previously we featured two video samples of Winlar and Lost in the Bamboo, but your best bet would be to just show the flip up.

We’ll see ya then!

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