“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King,
from a speech delivered in 1967
by Mark Neuman
Contemplating the Giant Triplets
I am embarrassed to admit that, at age nine, I knew more about Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch and a TV situation comedy called “F Troop” than I did about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I know this because I was watching a syndicated repeat of that silly show on the afternoon of April 4, 1968, when a news bulletin cut into regular programming to announce that Dr. King had been shot and killed earlier that day.
I did not know who he was.
I quickly got to know, in part, on the strength of my third and fourth grade teachers at Holy Rosary Elementary School in West Seattle, and then I never forgot.
Our recent handful of years
With an over half-trillion dollar burden set firmly on the backs of Americans not yet born, the powers-that-be recently bailed out the powerful who failed us.
And some number of millions of everyday Americans participated as well, in the pursuit of a piece of the glittering illusion: unbelievably rapidly appreciating equity.
Any number of common desk working brokers and agents just “did what the boss told us” to earn fast, fat commissions.
Regulators, overseers are somewhat difficult to blame. They, too, like the profits, were largely imaginary, nonexistent. Those who existed sat by, quite silent.
Today, a Senator from Illinois engenders, through no fault of his own, racist sentiments from various pockets all about our country.
And this is seven score and three years after the end of the Civil War.
And meanwhile another chunk of trillion has been thrown at a conflagration, a quagmire, in the Middle East that, inarguably, Dr. King would have opposed.
A great speech
And so I bring to you today words earnestly delivered by Dr. King, less than a year before he died. Officially it is titled: “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam.”
It could quite well be subtitled: “The Giant Triplets Speech.”
It could also be called: “Please Don’t Make Our Country Look Like This in the First Decade of the 21st Century.”
If only all we Americans had recited or read, daily, his powerful words, spoken forty-one years ago:
“When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation are incapable of being conquered.”
In our modest blog offices it was suggested: Should we post and highlight this speech two days before Election Day?
We “Woodwarded and Bernsteined and Bradleed” this about. Would some be offended? Might some misunderstand?
Perhaps some will.
Some always do.
Any complaints? Send them to me.
Any credit or compliments? They go to Dr. King.
Here is a recording of, in my opinion, a stunning and timeless speech from the greatest and most courageous leader of my lifetime.
When you hear Dr. King’s words, spoken less than a year before he passed, does your heart beat fast?
I should expect and hope it would.
Perhaps your eyes water at certain points.
You’re in good company if they do, I assure.
Never heard this speech before? You are not to blame. We live in a “forget the past” society. Additionally, Dr. King’s other stunning and courageous works, including “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” happen to overshadow his own genius, literary and oratory greatness and prescience displayed at other times in his life.
Does the speech seem familiar? Please give it a listen again, in the relative stillness of this, the day most often set aside for meaningful thought, then send a note to that Social Studies teacher from grade six, your History professor from college, your Speech Coach and thank her or him for the initial introduction.
Send the links to your nephew in the Navy, your sisters from the old sorority, your Aunt in Auburn or Alabama, your boss in Bellevue, your kid in college.
Move it along the internet line to your favorite State Rep or least favorite Congressman, the most ethical attorney you know, or maybe even the least trustworthy scumbag Wall Street suit you are glad you never met, or, perhaps, are sorry you ever did.
Print out Dr. King’s words (we’ll get that link to you soon), fold it up and send them along with warmth in your Holiday greetings later this Autumn.
And so, on this Contemplative Sunday
No matter for whom you wish to loft into office with the fuel of your ballot this Tuesday, I am sure we can all agree, today, on this Contemplative Sunday, the following goal: Let us all, now and in these crucial near years, stare down those Giant and Ugly Triplets and knock them off their high perch for good.
Thanks.
–Mark Neuman
mark@b-townblog.com
Alexander Sasonoff grew up in "Rat City" and lived to write about it.
Alexander Sasonoff is a longtime Burien resident whose acronym could easily be “AAA” – Architect, Artist and now…Author.
Just don’t call him if your car breaks down (although he could probably fix that too…).
Sasonoff, an accomplished local architect, grew up in neighboring White Center, and has just released an autobiographical book called “Growing Up in Rat City and Beyond”
Sasonoff’s book takes readers on a gritty, often humorous journey from his earliest days in “Rat City,” starting when his Russian immigrant family moved here in 1936, through his childhood growing up in a tough neighborhood, playing in swamps, hanging out with boxers, getting fresh milk for 10-cents a jug from “Frenchie’s Farm” and much more.
Here’s part one of “Growing Up in Rat City and Beyond”
Part I • The Move to Rat City
The Move
As I sat in the front seat of the moving van clutching my cat, Reezhik, I had mixed feelings about moving to the house my parents had purchased near White Center. I was leaving all of my friends at F.A. McDonald Grade School as well as the other kids in my neighborhood. It was 1936 and the Boeing Aircraft Company was hiring workers. My Dad landed a job there.
The drums of war were starting their death rattle in Europe and the U.S. government ordered the construction of thirteen B17 bombers. These same thirteen bombers were flying into Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a typical gray overcast day in Seattle. We were moving during a mid-school term so I would have to start all over again with new friends. Many good memories were being left behind. We lived across the street from lower Woodland Park. There were many picnics in the park and on the shores of Greenlake. Visits to the zoo will always be with me.
The driver of the moving van hated cats and threatened, if the cat got loose, he was going to throw him out the window. I tightened my grip on Reezhik. He made me sit as far from him as possible so I was squeezed up against the door panel with my brother, my Dad sat in the middle. I could not convey the threat to my cat but the cat must have sensed the hatred and did not move. Our dog, Spot, had already been safely transported to his new home.
It took about two hours in the lumbering moving van to get from Green Lake to our destination. We arrived without incident. The house was located on a double lot so there was plenty of space to play. Fruit trees abounded, there were apple, cherry, pear, plum and peach throughout the yard.
The oldest portion of the house used to be an office for a logging company that had cut all the timber in the area years before. It rested on a log foundation with the rest of the house added later. The newer portion had a very strange concrete foundation. I believe the basement was dug out after the house was constructed. The concrete was stepped and appeared to be about two feet thick. There were no sewers in the area and all of the streets were gravel. The sewage system was a simple cesspool that we all were warned to stay away from for fear of the wood planks collapsing.
Years later this area was sewered and after that came paved streets and sidewalks. My brother, Leon and I shared one bedroom while my two sisters, Vera and Ireda shared another. Later, we refurbished the attic creating two more bedrooms, so eventually each of us had our own room.
The house had only one bathroom. The water was heated by a coil of pipes in the wood burning furnace and kitchen stove. In the summertime there was never enough hot water generated by the kitchen stove. It was too warm to fire up the big furnace. Kettles of water were heated atop the kitchen stove to supplant the weekend baths. To save hot water, my brother and I used the same bath water.
This became a greater problem when our cousin moved in with us after being freed from a Japanese prison camp after the war. My Dad used to call me into the bathroom to wash his back. He sat in the tub while shaving. On one such occasion I asked him why he did not have any gray hair. I had noticed everyone getting on in years had gray hair. He answered me in Russian, “Ya vsegda moyu golavoo s holodnoi.” Translated, “I always wash my head with cold water.”
As the years passed and when I was in my twenties, washing my hair with cold water, I burst out laughing at the realization that he was telling me to keep a cool head. In that old house we finally had an electric hot water tank installed and there was much rejoicing.
Next week: part two of our continuing exclusive excerpts of “Growing Up in Rat City and Beyond”
Courtesy BTB Reader Maureen Hoffman comes this interesting artifact from days gone by – an old price tag from a long-gone store called “Bell’s of Burien” which used to exist where the Burien Town Square is being built now:
Here’s what Maureen emailed:
Here’s a little bit of memorabilia I was amused by – my brother, a carpenter, was remodeling a local house recently and found this price tag from Bell’s of Burien, the original store (across from Mick Kelly’s) that was later Lamonts, (then Gottschalk’s) then sat empty for a long time before being torn down for Town Square.
I shopped there as a kid.
This seal pup was spotted and photographed on the beach at Three Tree Point Sunday afternoon Oct. 19th around 3pm:
According to the Washington State Department of Ecology:
If you see a harbor seal pup alone on the beach, do not disturb them It’s the law.
Human encroachment can stress the pup and scare the mother and other adult seals away.
For your safety and the health of the pup, leave the pup alone.
Do not touch!
Do not wrap a pup in blankets (seals are protected by blubber and blankets will cause it to overheat.)
Do not try to feed a pup. (Incorrect feeding can cause a pup to die.)
Do not try to force a pup into the water.
Keep pets and children away from a pup.
Shortly after these photos were taken, several neighbors who were watching from a safe distance decided to scare the pup back in the water, citing previous experiences where the babies have ended up being “baked” on the beach and passing away.
by Janet Grella
Burien resident Carolyn Rosenfield stopped by our B-Town Blog booth at the Farmers’ Market last week to tell us about a documentary film about her great-great grandfather, Samuel Ullman.
Documentary filmmaker Judith Schaefer details his life, as well as the impact of a poem he wrote, on the re-building of Japan after World War II in a one-hour film entitled “So Long Are You Young.”
As a child, Samuel Ullman settled in the southern United States before the Civil War with his family, comprised of German-born Jewish immigrants. After a life spent in a variety of fields, including as a soldier in the Civil War, merchant, rabbi, philosopher and community activist, Mr. Ullman turned to writing poetry in his final years.
“Youth” was written in 1917 when he was 77.
“Youth” came into the possession of General Douglas MacArthur, whose framed display of it deeply impressed Japanese visitors to his Tokyo office at the close of WWII. Subsequently spread across the then-broken nation, the poem inspired a generation of Japanese desperate for hope. Today, prominent Japanese businessmen still cite its influence.
Well-known in Japan, this little known American poem has been quoted by Ann Landers, Dear Abby, and both the American (1945), and Japanese (1946) Readers Digests. It was a favorite of Sen. Robert Kennedy, and was quoted by Sen. Ted Kennedy at the eulogy of his slain brother.
This compelling documentary was premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival in 2007. Carolyn is hoping to show it at Seattle’s’ Jewish Film Festival. If you have a group that would like to see this film, please contact us by email here.
Here’s the poem, “Youth” by Samuel Ullman:
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
And here’s an MP3 of a reading of it:
[display_podcast]
Fred Freitag, current owner of what was once the Three Tree Point Store, discovered a very interesting and historic hand-drawn map of the area in the basement of his house, which he has exclusively shared with the B-Town Blog.
It appears that the “Authoritative, accurate and comprehensive map of Three Tree Point and its immediate environs” was drawn by store owner Vi Sparks on Oct. 6, 1974, with “slight assistance” from Bill and Jeanne Sparks.
Some of our favorite elements of this map:
- Some very cute drawings of ships, airplanes, cars, fish, birds, dogs, houses and even a donkey pulling a cart labeled “What is it??“!
- “Scale: 1 = an unknown number of feet!” scribbled at the bottom as a key
- Humorous 1970s-era Smiley Face drawn in some blank space near the center
Click the image to see a larger and more detailed version:
| Aug ’08 |
| 20 |
| 7:00 pm |
The Sustainability movement for cities like B-Town is really starting to catch on, and if you’re at all curious about what it means to your life or living spaces, you should check out this upcoming movie showing called “Designing A Great Neighborhood” which plays Wed. Aug. 20th at 7pm at St. Francis Church (map below).
From the film’s press release:
Ever wonder what a sustainable and affordable community might look like?
Ever wonder if a “zero emissions” neighborhood where solar energy, energy efficiency, and changes in behavior eliminate the need for fossil fuels is possible?
Let us look at one community and how they did it, based on principles of sustainability.
After watching DESIGNING A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD (54mins), we’ll talk about these principles, how they can be incorporated into our everyday lives and in plans for our future. Imagine!
To people driving past the old Holiday Drive-In Theater site in Boulder, Colorado, it might seem like a new neighborhood has sprung out of the ground overnight. But those who worked on the project’s development know better. Collectively, hundreds of thousands of decisions and choices were made to create the 330-home neighborhood, where affordability and sustainability are primary goals. It wasn’t exactly a simple mission.
In DESIGNING A GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD, director David Wann follows the progress of the Wild Sage Cohousing Community project, where future residents participate in the design of their own neighborhood. The stated architectural goal at the Wild Sage site in Boulder is a “zero emissions” neighborhood in which solar energy, energy efficiency, and changes in behavior eliminate the need for fossil fuels.
The master site developer, The Boulder Housing Partners (BHP), has a vision for creating affordable neighborhoods that are also lively, efficient and pedestrian friendly. More than 400 people with low and middle incomes will live at Holiday, many as first-time homeowners.
Awards:
- Black Bear Film Festival
- Princeton Environmental Film Festival
- Brownfields Conference Film Festival
Reviews:
“Finally, a film that goes beyond green building to address the comprehensive benefits of green neighborhood design! By prioritizing quality over size, we can achieve better neighborhoods for people in all stages of life and income brackets. The market for great neighborhoods will flourish once people know what’s possible, and can ‘vote with their dollars.’ Developers, governing officials and the public need to see this film!” – Alexis Karolides, AIA, Principal, Green Development Services, Rocky Mountain Institute
“‘People don’t really understand there are choices about how you build and where you live,’ says Wann. ‘This story enables them to see an example of something different to make them happier, save them money and save the environment. It’s a lay person’s look at what green building means.’…Higher density, a community garden, walkable and interconnected streets, nearby shops and even shared car rentals encourage a sociable existence.” The Denver Post
Co-sponsored by St Francis Just Faith, Southend Neighbors for Peace and Justice, and Sustainable Burien.
- St. Francis Church, Unity Place
15226 21st Ave SW- Wed, Aug 20th at 7pm
A study guide (in PDF form) is available here, and a video guide is available here.
Courtesy BTB Contributing Photographer Gregory Rehmke comes this great photo taken last night at Lake Burien of the full moon rising as a jet takes off from SeaTac Airport:
Tonight’s moonrise will be at 8:33am, so if you’re out and about (and the skies are clear), be sure to look to the easterly sky for some amazing beauty!
Play this MP3 file as you read this story:
[display_podcast]
Intrepid B-Town Blog Reporter/Sales & Promotions Diva Janet Grella had a random encounter last night with a TV Producer who was scouting the beach at Three Tree Point for a production he’s doing this weekend.
Turns out that the production is all about sharks.
That live in Puget Sound.
Off Burien.
Big, Six-Gill Sharks (these ain’t Dogfish) that grow up to 18 feet, as seen in this video:
The TV Producer, Vince Patton, who works for Oregon Public Broadcasting, explained the production via email:
The animal: The 6 Gill Shark. (Check Wikipedia for details. Their summary is accurate as I read it).
The Seattle Aquarium has an exhibit specifically on 6 Gill Sharks here.
Our show is “Oregon Field Guide” and we are shooting a story for OFG’s upcoming 20th anniversary season which begins in October. This story could run anytime between October and next spring.
The folks who sell Diving Tours with the Sharks on the boat you may see in the area are here.
The tours move around, depending on where they find the sharks hanging out. This year, it’s right near Des Moines. Dives happen at night. Yes, from 10pm to 5am. They have lots of lights set up on the shark cage where the divers go.
The 6 Gills have made the news in the Seattle area a few times since the late 90’s, but overall most of the public don’t know they’re here. They’re not aggressive to humans and there’s never been any human/shark incidents here.
So, next time you’re swimming in Puget Sound (ya right, at temps around 55 degrees! ha), and you hear a low, deep bass “da-duhm…” music sting, be sure to look closely, as you may see this friendly fella:
The Seattle Times has an interesting article today about a couple in neighboring Des Moines who’ve had their home-based swingers sex parties shut down by the city.
Apparently neighbors complained, cops “investigated” (undercover perhaps? or should we say undercovers…) then the city threatened them with a $513 per day fine for “running a business from their home.”
They called their ongoing sex parties the “Hardwood Cabin” and promoted it online at HardWoodCabin.com, which of course is no longer active (we know you’re going to check it but trust us, there’s nothing there now but an “Account suspended” notice but we’ll wait while you copy and paste the URL in…).
Okay, done checking it now?
We did a little online research and found some cache’d web stuff about the place, including this juicy description:
Description: The HardWood Cabin has a central entry and Kitchen space with multiple areas that consist of semi-private rooms for playing and a main Dungeon Area with 12 foot high ceilings that have 2 suspension points, along with 2 Crosses and spanking pedestals off to the sides. On one end of the facility is a more private room with a Large Bondage Bed and a third Cross. Scattered throughout the cabin you will find beds, and slings for additional places to play. Outside in a private courtyard, is a large pool, along with 3 hot-tubs, and a large overhead pergola structure for in-promtu bondage points among tables, couches and chairs.
Events at the Hardwood Cabin for those that have not attended a party before will find a very relaxed comfortable environment within to play. Basic things are provided (cups, bowls, plates, utensils, etc) along with some food and drinks, but everyone is encouraged to bring along something favorite. Typically parties become a pot-luck with regular attendee’s. There is also a gas grill which is available for anyone who has a taste for something BBQ’ed.
Regan & Nonah Lane-Smith
Owner/Operator
Des Moines, WA, 98198
And this:
we own a house in Des Moines wa, that we rent out per the day or night, and for parties. we are cheap and adorable and a safe place to hang out nude and suntan without tan lines. we have a masseuse on duty fo 20 dollars per 30 min. call us anytime 206 774 6XXX or check out our website www.hardwoodcabin.com
And here’s an excerpt from their Juy 5th party:
Attention all swingers 21 and over!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Got Patriotism? Come celebrate your Independence with a BANG!
Come meet, mingle, flirt, soak, swim and play in a safe and laid back environment! Join us in honor of our Independence & in celebration of our birthday guys & gals!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Play Date’s Patriotic Party will be hosted at the ever popular Hardwood Cabin, located centrally in Des Moines!
Grab your red, white & blue for an evening of Swinging Independance! Wear what makes you feel sexy, attractive and comfortable. Layer down, change outfits, go nude, have some fun! Clothing is OPTIONAL!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Party entrance fee is $20.00 per person and Does Not include food or alcohol. Play Dates will provide basic snacks & finger foods. We invite everyone to BYOB and a theme inspired dish, finger food or beverage to share and nibble on…help keep everyone’s stamina up:)
We will also have the BBQ fired up and ready to grill, but bring your own meat. Play Dates will provide bottled water, basic condiments, plates, napkins, cups and plastic utensils for everyone.
*Please do not throw the cups and utensils away, they are reusable*
**Help us recycle by using labelled bins for Plastic & Glass Bottles**
Good to know that at least these swingers recycled (insert your own inappropriate joke here).
And now at least we know what the source of those strange sounds were that were emanating from south of B-Town.
Full story here.
| Aug ’08 |
| 24 |
| 2:30 pm |
Sustainable Burien is having its second meeting on Sunday Aug. 24th at the Burien Library, from 2:30-4:30pm.
From their website:
Sustainable Burien is an organization started in January of 2008. We recognize the need to promote and participate in the creation of a sustainable community in Burien. We invite all residents and businesses to participate in creating a sustainable local community by sharing their ideas, passions, knowledge and talents.
At our first meeting we created five working Pods [Interest Groups] and developed an action item for each Pod group to work on between meetings. Active Pods will soon have space on the Interest Groups page where they can share information about what they’re doing and what they’ve learned. The current Pods and action items are as follows (listed in alphabetical order):
- Community: Recruit new members for future meetings. Pod members will advertise to our neighbors and throughout the community.
- Energy: Explore incentives for using solar energy looking at a) pay back, b) life cycle costs, c) break even, d) precursors to obtaining solar energy, e) bulk purchases, rebates, tax incentives.
- Environment: Reduce/Reuse/Recycle. Develop a list of environmentally friendly products and practical methods of obtaining them.
- Food: Encourage interest, spread the word on community gardening, gleaning, canning and preserving.
- Transportation: Find out about walking maps of Burien in English. Contact Feet First. Contact Sustainable Ballard and bike stores regarding the Undrivers’ License program. Research pedestrian and bicycle plans.
You can learn more about Sustainable Burien at their website.
| Aug ’08 |
| 10 |
| 2:00 pm |
The Highline Historical Society is sponsoring a very special presentation this Sunday, Aug. 10th, from 2pm–4pm at SeaTac City Hall (4800 S. 188th, SeaTac – map below) with Henry Friedman, author of the 1999 memoir “I’m No Hero: Journeys of a Holocaust Survivor.”
Some elements of the discussion will include:
- Friedman will recount his adolescence and coming of age under the unspeakable horror of Nazism.
- When the Nazis overran their home near the Polish-Ukrainian border, the Friedman family was saved by Ukrainian Christians who had worked for them at their family farm in the nearby village of Suchowola.
- When the Russians liberated the family after 18 months in hiding, Henry, just short of 16, made his way with his family to a displaced persons camp in Austria.
- In the camp, he discovered sex, money, and the intricacies of the black market.
- Like many other Holocaust survivors, he found it difficult to examine the past. However, his sense of obligation to bear witness eventually overcame his painful memories and his feelings of survivor-guilt.
- In his “I’m No Hero” presentation, Mr. Friedman confronts with unblinking honesty the pain, shame, and bizarre comedy that were his passage to adulthood.
Audience: Middle School through Adult, due to some mature content.
This should be a very interesting and informative event.
You can read Friedman’s book online here.
View Larger Map
Ever been pepper sprayed?
I haven’t, but from what I hear, it stings and burns like a son-ova-uknowwhat.
If you’re a cop, or a cop-in-training, like we have at our local Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission facility (located at 19010 1st Avenue South), it is apparently a requirement that you get pepper sprayed during training.
I guess this way you know exactly how those bad guys feel when they’re on the receiving end of it.
I found two videos of apparent WSCJTC trainees getting pepper (aka “O.C.” which stands for the main ingredient, Oleoresin Capsicum) sprayed.
The most interesting part of these videos is that, right after getting zoinked directly in the eyes (and being told to “open your eyes!”), each victim then blindly (and obviously in a great deal of discomfort) staggers over and starts punching and kicking a punching bag, all while being cheered (or jeered) on by classmates.
Man, there are some wild things going on around B-Town:
The dedication and official opening of Jacob Ambaum Park was last Friday, June 13th, and here’s some video of it.
The coolest part of the video (to us at least…) happens around 6:33 when the camera catches 90-year old Mary Ambaum deLeuw, the actual daughter of pioneer Jacob Ambaum!
Mary grew up near where the new park is located, and we here at the BTB are honored to show you this historic footage, as captured by Burien Parks:
What happens when some thrill-seeking dude with a video camera decides to videotape his and his buddy’s longboard ride down SW 170th to Three Tree Point?
This does:
(thanks xcbarrett!)
Flickr slideshow (by Brian Bundridge) shows Soundtransit’s moving of a train to the Tukwila station:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
| Jun ’08 |
| 9 |
| 6:00 pm |
Some interesting and somewhat unusual art classes worth noting coming up soon at Moshier Community Art Center:
INTRODUCTION TO BROOM MAKING
In this hands-on class choose to make one round or one flat hearth broom. All materials are provided. Learn about decorative options and the history of broom making.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry to say, but witches will not be allowed 
]
To see some sample brooms please go to www.moonwiseherbs.com.
- Instructor: John Holzwart
- Monday, June 9, 6:00-9:00pm
- Fee: $40.00
HERBAL SOAP MAKING
This hands-on class will allow you to explore the art of combining oils and herbs to create your own special soap. Participants will take home recipes as well as their soap! 
- Instructor: Linda Conroy
- Monday, June 9, 6:00-9:00pm
- Fee: $40.00
Please register for these classes online at www.burienparks.net or by phone at: (206) 988-3700
All workshops will be held at Moshier Community Art Center, located at 430 South 156th Street in Burien:
View Larger Map
Burien has its own Titanic folks – apparently there’s a sunken old ski boat off Three Tree Point, and we found footage of it that does not (thankfully) include Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet.
Although some of the anemone are better actors:
Courtesy of the Highline Historical Society comes this new B-Town Blog Historical Photo Series, this week featuring Then and Now pics of the now-gone Lou’s Diner, once located at the corner of SW 150th and First Avenue South, and once offering 19-cent burgers!
THEN: Lou’s Diner
NOW: Taco Bell
Note the exact same placement of the light pole on the left side of the shot, as well as the same building still present on the left (the former Schuck’s Auto Supply). We’re not 100% positive, but there may even be an existing tree on the right side of the “Now” photo as well.
The Highline Historical Society is preparing to build its new museum on the corner of SW 152nd and Ambaum Blvd. (where Karuna Yoga is now)…
…and needs donations, which can be done quickly and easily online by clicking here. If you’d like to join the Society, prices start at just $20 per year!
Do you have a historical photo or anecdote about the greater B-Town area? If so, please email us!
In Greek mythology, the rainbow was considered to be a path made by a messenger (Iris) between Earth and Heaven.
In Chinese mythology, the rainbow was a slit in the sky sealed by Goddess Nüwa using stones of five different colours.
The Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow.
And of course, the B-Town Blog rainbow mythology involves rain, sun, luck and a video camera…here’s a nice low-slung ‘bow captured near where 152nd turns into Maplewild:
http://www.b-townblog.com/wp-content/media/rainbow1_320x240.flv
Somehow, you could just tell that this year was going to be different.
Being a rock and roll sort of guy and all, I’ve been doing my thing for these Democrats for at least a couple of decades now — going back at least as far back as the seventies and Jimmy Carter. Although Ted Nugent might take issue with me on this, being a Democrat is just part of the deal for us true rockers.
It’s in the manual. Just ask Bob Dylan.
But I definitely knew something was up this time around back in February when I attended my precinct caucus. There were actual people there, and lots of them. The good news is that the race this year seems to be attracting so many newbies and young people. The bad news is that…well, there were so damned many of them.
When it comes right down to it, these caucuses are all about one thing — and that is electing delegates to the national convention. So it was one thing sharing tea and crumpets with the little old ladies back in 1976. All you had to do was say “I wanna be a delegate” and you were in. Competing with several hundred other mostly young people to get elected now by your precinct was another matter entirely.
Fortunately, I did make it to the Legislative District Caucus — held earlier today — as a delegate. On the down side, I knew pretty much the second I walked in the door I would not be going too much further — and definitely not as far as Denver in August. With pretty much everyone there competing for this same privilige, you had some very hard core campaigners running for those 35 precious seats. Honestly, you would’ve thought some of these people were running for President themselves.
One lady there even had her own slogan, “The glass is always full, never empty.” Not quite as catchy as “Yes, We Can” to be sure, but who am I to talk? She made the final cut, and I didn’t.
Not that I didn’t give it the old college try though. Having been caught completely by surprise at all the hard campaigning going on around me, and without any signs or banners of my own, I knew I had to think fast. What was called for here was a little old fashioned hand shaking and shilling for votes. I believe they call it “retail politics” these days.
So, being a smoker, I decided to jumpstart my campaign in the smoking area outside. Now, you might be thinking about now that most democrats are anti-smoking types, and a select few might even fall into the category of tobacco nazi. Just ask Washington State’s own Governor Christine, right?
And actually that is sort of true. But the secret is that in the same way a lot of those Republican family values types still get their freak on in various deviant ways within the privacy of their closet, a lot of us Dems live our own hidden lives as smokers. Just ask Barack Obama.
So as I had guessed, the smoking area turned out to be a goldmine. I got nearly half of my twenty votes there. When I re-entered the caucus room in the old gym of my alma mater West Seattle High School, I was already preparing my speech for the final vote. I learned that in the interest of time it would need to kept to thirty seconds, and unlike those debates on TV the rules would be vigorously enforced. So I began scrawling it out on the back of a leaflet for Governor Christine’s re-election:
“Howdy Neighbors,” my speech began. “My name Is Glen Boyd and I was born and raised in West Seattle like so many of you here today. I graduated from high school in this very building back in 1974. For those of you old enough to remember, I also ran the neighborhood record store Penny Lane back in the seventies and wrote for the West Seattle Herald.
I ask for your vote to represent Barack Obama as a national delegate today because I believe that in this campaign, unifying the country is an issue that is so important that it supercedes politics. I believe Obama has best demonstrated the ability to do that. As your delegate, I promise to passionately and vociferously support the next president of the United States, Barack Obama. Thank you!”
So there it was. Nothing too fancy, but rather nicely short and sweet. Unfortunately, I would never get to read it.
You just can’t compete with slogans about “the glass being full” and all of that. And you certainly couldn’t compete with the seventeen year old captain of his high school debate team who pulled in something like 300 votes. He wasn’t even a smoker, for pete’s sake. Damned sympathy vote!
Actually, I’m just kidding about that last line there. Personally, I find it absolutely thrilling the way that candidate Obama (and to a lesser extent candidate Clinton), has energized the younger demographic this year. If nothing else, by participating at this level, they get a wonderful civics lesson that my comparitively more apathetic generation by and large missed out on in our own youth. By participating in it, they get to learn how the process actually works.
So at about this time, it was my cue to go home after a long day that had begun some seven hours earlier. There were about fifty speeches to hear yet, and even at thirty seconds apiece, this meant a potential of several more hours to go. So I grabbed myself a ballot, made sure to pick the glass lady and the debate kid, and then threw about thirty three more darts at it.
I turned it in, and I went home.
As I write this , my guess is they are probably still winding through the speeches up at my West Seattle High alma mater. As for me? I’m gonna kick back, grab myself a beer, and watch a little tube.
After all, this is still Saturday night…
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Glen Boyd is an old friend of the Publisher of this here Blog, and we think he's a damn fine writer so we just had to post this...thanks Glen!]
Time exposure captures just the headlights of a passing car in Olde Burien on a rainy spring night:
| Mar ’08 |
| 14 |
| 7:00 pm |
Tonight at 7pm, come to Cafe Rozella’s Friday FREE Film Night and see Spike Lee’s great documentary on Hurricane Katrina’s effect on New Orleans and its people, “When The Levees Broke.”
Did we mention that it’s FREE? As in…NO COVER?
From the HBO website:
As the world watched in horror, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005.
Like many who watched the unfolding drama on television news, director Spike Lee was shocked not only by the scale of the disaster, but by the slow, inept and disorganized response of the emergency and recovery effort.
Lee was moved to document this modern American tragedy, a morality play witnessed by people all around the world.
The result is WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS.
The film is structured in four acts, each dealing with a different aspect of the events that preceded and followed Katrina’s catastrophic passage through New Orleans.
Sneak peak of Part One of the film:
Spike Lee introduces the film in New Orleans in 2006:
Courtesy 98166n comes this ironic video of a beautiful Bald Eagle taking off at B-Town’s Eagle Landing Park.
Be sure to crank your speakers and listen closely for its “call” shortly after take off:
Happened upon this rather sad yet surreal scene today in downtown B-Town:
Streets mostly vacant, the area eerily quiet, as two workers dismantled and lowered the Jorstad Jewelers sign on SW 152nd before taking it to who-knows-where…
The Highline Historical Society has a great page chock full of amazingly interesting oral history audio recordings about these here parts.
Here’s one of our favorites, of long-time B-Town resident Robert Lynch describing several fires in the area during the 1920s:
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Robert Lynch’s Oral History of Burien
[/coolplayer]
Interesting and educational 6-1/2-minute Youth Media Institute documentary from 2006 about B-Town’s potential annexation area, the diverse community of White Center (you know, that neighborhood to the north with the great hardware store? The one you drive through quickly to get to West Seattle…?):
The Burien Arts Gallery is hosting new work from sculptor Gregory Glynn of a site-specific installation of a large Madrona (Arbutus) tree that fell on Bainbridge Island during the recent wind/rain storm.
The tree was milled on a horizontal band saw then reassembled in the main room of the gallery. The show features two large pieces; other pieces are installed in relationship to the interior architecture of the gallery as a former house.
This two-month installation changes daily as the tree drys and curls.
One free standing branch has been sliced vertically and as time goes on it will begin to fan out.
Mr. Glynn has taken long 1″x1″ pieces and brought them together like a cube. As the piece curls and twists, so does the cube.
The shape changes daily depending on weather – a truly fascinating yet natural work of art!
The installation was made possible by a generous grant from the Burien Arts Association and Artist Trust.
The Burien Art Gallery is run by local non-profit, Burien Arts Association. The gallery partners with many organizations to bring both visual and performing arts to Burien and the Highline area.
During their summer series in 2008, the Burien Arts Association will also host two jazz concerts, two Shakespeare plays and a performance by the Northwest Puppet Theater. All performances are free and will be held at the stage behind the gallery at Dottie Harper Park.
Stay tuned for times and dates.
LINK: Gregory Glynn’s Website
Welcome to the first “Found In B-Town,” a new ongoing collection of photos taken in and around Burien.
Today’s shot is of a photo of the old Hi-Line Tin Shop’s tool collection, and was taken Friday night around 11:30pm inside The Tin Room Bar in Olde Burien:
Have an interesting photo you’d like posted?
Please email it to B-Town Editor Scott Schaefer.
Thanks!
From seattle-tacoma craigslist > south king > rants & raves:
[EDITOR'S NOTE: If anyone has any idea who this mysterious "HOT" Burien dentist, is, please email us]
Like the person before me said, WHY is it wrong to have a crush, or a fantasy about someone? Hell, he’s touching your body isn’t he?
It’s a normal reaction to someone you find attractive. As long as you can keep it “under wraps” so to speak enjoy! Go home afterward and delve into the fantasy, and release. Hell I would…and I HAVE!
My dentist, here in Burien, is f*ing HOT!! He’s really funny, and very attractive. Fuller moderate build, GQ but natural, down to earth. Dark blonde hair….Purrrrrrrrr!!!! And his A*S!!?? I got to see him once at the end of the day, when he took his lab coat off. YUMMMMM!!
His co workers (females) laugh because he’s so niave to his attraction to his paitents. Women come in dressed to the 9’s!
Now, I’m just me….not a ‘glamour gal’, but I’m telling you I have never come home from a freaking root canal so horny!! He has this scope that helped him see the small details, and as he worked, his arms would brush aganst my chest!! Good lord!!! ]
Hmm, suddenly my tooth aches….or is it my tooth!??
>Wicked Grin
Courtesy of Michael Lafreniere, Director of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services for Burien Parks comes this excellent Flickr slideshow of artwork around B-Town:
Start your week off with this explicit, unedited video of one of your neighbors eating in public:
[okay, so it's actually video of a Pileated Woodpecker snacking at Eagle Park Landing in Burien]
As many Burienites are aware, on New Year’s Day it’s a custom to hear a deep rumbling roar get closer and closer, until it’s right on top of you.
No, it’s not your hangover headache – it’s simply the sound of the traditional Harley Owner’s Group (HOG for short) New Year’s Day Ride, which stretches through parts of Burien en route to other places.
Unfortunately, this Reporter was out of town on that day, so we missed it.
However, we did find this interesting video of a dude called “Indianjeff” joyriding his way-cool, hybrid human/gas-powered 1912 Harley Davidson “Single” through the Burien area:
According to “How Stuff Works“:
The 1912 Harley-Davidson X8A motorcycle was a far more advanced model than Harley-Davidson’s first motorcycle, built in 1903. That one was little more than a bicycle with a single-cylinder three-horsepower engine mounted within the frame tubes.
Though the V-twins that would make the company famous appeared six years later, single-cylinder machines continued to represent the bulk of Harley’s sales. By 1912, public demand for more power was answered with the X8A, which was powered by a 30-cubic-inch single producing 4.3 horsepower.
The 1912 Harley-Davidson X8A addressed the
riding public’s increasing thirst for more power
in its motorcycles.
A hand-operated oil pump was added to augment the existing gravity-feed system, and a magneto ignition was used for easier starting. Also new this year was the “Free Wheel Control,” one of the industry’s first clutch systems. With it, smooth takeoffs from a standing start were possible for the first time.
The issue of comfort was also addressed. Joining Harley’s traditional leading-link front fork was the new “Full Floating” saddle, in which a coil spring mounted inside the vertical frame tube cushioned the seatpost, while the rear of the seat was supported by two more coils.
Though this was hardly a substitute for a real rear suspension, it was as good as Harley riders would get for another 45 years.
Our neighborhood’s diverse culture is on display in these two videos which show Mexican children doing a celebratory New Year’s dance in the parking lot of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church on 152nd.
Notice how the music sounds kind of Polka-esque – we could be wrong, but we believe this to be “Banda Music,” which gets its origins from German-Americans who lived in south Texas in the 1930s. According to Wikipedia, the German descendants introduced polka music to Mexicans, who then ran with it and made it their own (talk about a weird combo, but somehow it works and sounds very cool!).
Roughly translated, the Youtube blurb reads:
“While we the adults declare our culture with respect and happiness, our little ones continue our legacy…”
