The last bastion of old Ballard, Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods, will close later this summer as its current owners tire of running the store. The store was a neighborhood icon of Ballard and its Scandinavian heritage since the 1960’s, when it was opened by Einar Johnsen. The current owners, the Endresen sisters, have run the store for the last 14 years.
Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods is located in Ballard on NW Market between 22nd and 24th Ave NW. There is currently a 25% off discount sign posted in the window - this may be your last chance to get lingonberry sauce and lefse grills from somewhere beside Ikea, so don’t hesitate to visit soon.
PETA announced plans to demonstrate against using salmon “corpses used as toys” during a fish throwing demonstration being performed for The American Veterinary Medical Association’s annual convention here in Seattle by the famous Pike Place Market fish throwers. PETA also threatened each individual veterinarian with demonstrations back in their home towns if they participated in the event. The AVMA plans to go ahead with the event, calling the fish throwing a “cultural icon in Seattle.” Read more in the article in the Seattle Times.
George Spady Jr, a 31-year-old little league coach in Arlington is accused of using some of his players, including his son and nephew to burglarize an Arlington shop. George admits he had a lapse in judgment, but his family claims the police have it all wrong - according to police, George encouraged the boys to steal things from the shop. The full story from King5.
Should George, who has two prior misdemeanor convictions, be allowed to coach little league ball? Little league players look up to their coach as a role model and an inspiration, and should not have a man of George’s criminal past as their coach. Misdemeanors are minor, but statistically I’m sure many people who go on to commit more serious crimes start with a few minor crimes.
It’s no secret that Seattleites have an affinity for cupcakes. The expansion of popular cupcake chains across Seattle neighborhoods demonstrates that even in an economic downturn, we are still shelling out our hard-earned cash for these sweet treats. Continue Reading…
The first time I met Morgan Hepfer, I had just walked into my gym for a normal afternoon workout. He was there for the first time with his wife, Lisa and their baby daughter, Finley. Morgan is of average height, well-built, head shaven and heavily tattooed on the arms. His build is beguiled by a warm smile and very agreeable disposition. He and Lisa had just recently moved back to the Tacoma area after teaching English in Bangkok, Thailand. They went through our workout and I found that I was quickly dominated by Morgan’s work ability: Finley lay on a blanket for the duration, every now and then being checked on by her mother. It may sound strange to befriend someone so randomly at a gym, but I should explain that this gym is anything but typical. We were training (a word used here in place of “working out”) at Crossfit Pierce County, a gym owned by Eugene Allen, a local sheriff and former special forces member. At the time the gym was run out of Gene’s oversized three car garage. There were about 15 regular clients coming in at the normal workout time of 4:30 PM, any day you wanted to train. Continue Reading…
Bellingham Travel & Cruise’s website has no mention of any anal cruise. Strange.
A time capsule from the Norwegian Center, which later became the Mountaineers Club was opened this past weekend. The capsule was only 60 years old and revealed copies of local newspapers, magazines and a few other documents. The Seattle Times article made participants sound like they were amazed by the capsule’s contents. Surely most of the loot is available at select antique stores. Is the idea of a “time capsule” to open it less than one lifetime after it was buried? Can we put a moratorium on impatient time capsule openings until at least one hundred years after they were buried, so perhaps the contents would seem rare or exciting?
I effing hate hipsters. The mere mention of the word “hipster” will bring me to convulsions at 20 paces. When I see a fixed-gear track bike, some sort of primal urge overcomes me and uncharacteristically forces my usually peaceful mind into a place of vengeance and division. Why do I feel this way? Why does a lifelong, anything goes type liberal foster so much hatred towards a seemingly innocuous group? I just simply can’t stand their supposed indifference and woeful smugness that everybody knows is bullshit. Continue Reading…
A coworker brought to my attention that the widely available Benjamin Moore paint company is selling a color named after Seattle. What color you may ask? A deep green? Or, maybe an ocean blue? Nope, Seattle Gray. Benjamin Moore must have missed the message that we’re The Emerald City, named after our abundance of evergreen trees.
Benjamin Moore originated as a New York based company until it was acquired recently by Berkshire Hathaway, a Nebraska based company, which makes me think there are other motives at work. Could they want to decrease Seattle’s popularity relative to Nebraska and/or New York? Sure enough, there is a New York State of Mind color which is a pleasing blue.
The actual swatch from Benjamin Moore's Seattle Gray
Into art of various forms? Music, visual, literary, and performance? Then find yourselves positioned at the next Blitz on Capitol Hill, on June 11th. And if you can’t make June 11th, Blitz features an Art Walk on the second Thursday of each month. Continue Reading…
Upstairs from the more formal Ray’s Boathouse is Ray’s Cafe, a fun bar-oriented version of its famous big brother. The restaurant is located in Ballard on Seaview, which is the road you’d take to get to Golden Gardens. Ray’s offers a diverse seafood oriented menu and the Cafe has its own deck which has 180 degree views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The deck is worth the added wait. Continue Reading…
Fresh on the heels of a KOMO News story about a barista in Denver who makes portraits in his lattes, I was given a latte with a devil drawn in it at El Diablo Coffee Company on Queen Anne. I’m not sure how long the barista has been doing this, but it took mere seconds to complete. Definitely a positive trend in Seattle coffee.
1
