Seattle Mag
Tini Bigs Celebrates 15 Years of Really Big Martinis
Long before the Canons and the Bathtub Gins, the Liberty Bars and the Oliver’s Twists, Seattle had Tini Bigs. Back when we were a town of beer snobs but not cocktail snobs, it opened on a Lower Queen Anne corner in 1996. Those were blissfully ignorant times when you could go right ahead and slap…
Recommended Reading on Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair
In case your inner Seattle Center nerd still isn't satisfied, go here for more history and memorabil
BOOKS The as-yet-unnamed Knute Berger history of the Space Needleby Knute BergerTo be released in spring of 2012 Seattle magazine’s own editor-at-large is also the writer in residence at the Space Needle. He penned this history of the Needle in his office on the Observation Deck. The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair And…
Space Needle Trivia!
Five things you didn’t know about Seattle’s Space Age icon.
The Space Needle Is Well Rooted (see above photo) The Space Needle has a 30-foot-deep foundation made with 2,800 yards of concrete and 250 tons of reinforcing steel. The above-ground portion of the Needle weighs an impressive 3,700 tons, but the foundation is even mightier, weighing in at 5,850 tons. Thanks to this massive hidden…
Commemorative Space Needle Toppers
Even better than a billboard, the Space Needle is a prominent way to get a message across.
Since its construction, we’ve been decorating the Space Needle to commemorate special occasions. A crustacean ascended the Space Needle in October, 1985 as a publicity stunt for Fish and Seafood Month. In July, 2008, the Sub Pop flag was flown in honor of the local record label’s 20th anniversary. Squatch helped paint a Sonics mural…
Gauguin’s Favorite Things
SAM’s new Gauguin show emphasizes the master painter's influences.
Paul Gauguin is known the world over for the vibrant paintings he produced while living on Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands. But the “primitive” objects that inspired him, which he sometimes referenced visually, are often glossed over in discussions of his work. Not so with Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise, the new show at…
Wearable and Responsible Kids’ Jeans
Bainbridge Island-based Kicky Pants has super-soft jeans for kids that you'll feel good about buying
For kids who say “no!” to wearing too-stiff denim jeans, local parents Erin and Nick Cloke offer an alternative: cute, kicky denim styles made from eco-friendly and ultrasoft bamboo. The Bainbridge Island pair, owners of KICKY PANTS kids’ clothing (kickypants.com), use bamboo denim for their collections of kids’ jeans, which come in dark and light…
Laura Veirs’ New Kids Album
The Portland artist's latest, Tumble Bee, is filled with American folk classics and charming lullabi
Too often, music that has the power to soothe a savage toddler meltdown is tooth-achingly sweet; downright intolerable for adults. Not so with the new release by Portland-based musician Laura Veirs. Her new kids’ album, Tumble Bee, is filled with spirited American folk classics, charming lullabies that meander into minor keys and a even a…
Meet Me at the Burger Brawl
Stuffed with beautiful pictures of giant burgers, shimmering with cheese- and bacon-covered goodness, our January Best Burgers issue makes me want a burger so bad, sometimes it hurts. I don’t think I’m alone. The tireless Seattle mag event staff has kicked it into high gear and organized a creative new event called the Burger…
Downton Abbey: An Antidote to Our Confused, Crass Times
PBS’ Masterpiece hit series returned this Sunday and proved itself more than worth the money I, inexplicably, shelled out for local TV in the meantime. WHAT IT IS: The best thing to further confuse and distort Americans’ perceptions of historical events since Mad Men. NO, REALLY, WHAT IS IT? An all around well-made British drama…
The week’s best local sales: Sweet frocks at SPUN, Clementine’s shoe sale and 75% off wares at Sur La Table
If there is still any room left in the budget after paying off those holiday credit card bills, here are three local spots to stop by this week for killer sales deals of up to 75% off (hey, it’s never too early to shop for next Christmas, is it?): Local designer Sara Seumae is making…
Caspar Babypants Has Two New Books
The West Seattle rock'n'roller is more in to bedtime stories these days.
One of the heavy hitters in Seattle’s booming “kindie rock” scene is branching out into books. West Seattle’s Caspar Babypants (aka Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States of America) has teamed up with his wife, artist Kate Endle, to release two kids’ books, complete with sweet sing-along songs. MY WOODLAND WISH ($16.99),…
Rejected Ideas for Seattle’s World’s Fair
From a Space Needle atop Mount Rainier to a “Carveyor,” Knute Berger dishes on the World’s Fair that
The Seattle world’s fair of 1962 is fixed in civic memory: the Space Needle, the Science Center, the Monorail. But just as interesting as the fair that was is the fair that wasn’t. The Century 21 Exposition had many possible incarnations that remained on the drawing board. So consider this column the opposite of Elvis…