The glorious month of November, better known as National Novel Writing Month, is upon us. The denizens of America's chain bookstores, commuter trains and executive washrooms are starved for new material, and while Dan Brown, Salman Rushdie and Candace Bushnell have had good runs on the bestseller lists, the time...
By Geoff Carter | November 1, 2005
The missus and I recently checked out Hazlewood, Ballard's newest cocktail lounge. Located in the space formerly occupied by Fast Eddie's Lowbrow Lounge (my favorite indie-run coffee joint in Ballard, rest its soul) Hazlewood is as swanky as it is diminutive. If, say, Capitol Hill's Barca were a loaf of...
By Geoff Carter | November 2, 2005
Flying season's coming up. Lots of you leave town during the holidays, I've noticed — visiting far-flung relatives, going skiing on slopes alien to you, or simply trying to sock it to that old rat bastard, Seasonal Affective Disorder. I'll be leaving town with you this winter (see reasons...
By Geoff Carter | November 3, 2005
I wouldn't mention this if I didn't observe how quickly shows by Neil Diamond-tribute band Super Diamond sell out up here in the great Northwest (they're playing the Showbox this Friday, Nov. 11), but I have, and they do, and that means you'll probably want to know that Neil Diamond's newest Rick Rubin-produced album, "12 Songs," is available for free listening at MySpace.
By Geoff Carter | November 7, 2005
If you're registered, vote today. If you're not registered, by gum, you should get registered for the next election, because odds are good we'll be voting on strip-club regulations. Fun!
By Geoff Carter | November 7, 2005
Need a shot of Las Vegas style? Belltown’s Starlite Lounge is a decent substitute for the genuine article. Its burnt-red walls and drapes, starburst chandeliers, mid-century modern furnishings, cozy booths, continuous soundtrack of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin classics and the wall-sized painting of the Rat Pack wouldn’t be out of place in the late, great Sands Hotel.
By Geoff Carter | November 8, 2005
If you're going the stay-in-and-rent route in the near future, I strongly recommend you check out Danny Boyle's "Millions," available at most every Seattle-area video store. Boyle's filmography includes such modern classics as "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later" and "Shallow Grave," three films that couldn't be any less similar to...
By Geoff Carter | November 10, 2005
There's nothing quite like the thrill of non-lethal, almost sexy combat to make a grown man lose his mind, whether it's some kind of absurd cook-off or two musicians trying to write original songs against a ticking clock.
By Geoff Carter | November 10, 2005
My advice to you is to visit as many of Seattle's splendid dive bars as possible before the smoking ban goes into effect on Dec. 8, 2005. I don't imagine that many of these places will change much (The Ballard Smoke Shop should remain the same wonderful place, even if a key word is removed from its name), but an era is ending, and three weeks' worth of secondhand smoke may not kill you. I think.
By Geoff Carter | November 14, 2005
No question about it, my neighborhood of Ballard is changing. Every other storefront is now a boutique. Condominiums and town homes are seemingly springing up at a rate of one per fortnight. The swinging singles crowd that was once found only in Belltown now finds its way into Ballard nightly, largely confined to a bar whose name I won't mention out of decorum (cough Matador cough). All one can do to fight the future is to find the bits of Ballard that are clinging to the old ways, to a time before people like me came in and ruined everything.
By Geoff Carter | November 15, 2005
