March 2009

Directed by David Frankel
Rated PG
(Two Stars)

“Marley & Me” is a Burma-Shave movie.

For those of us who weren’t around when Burma-Shave signs were the high point of any cross-country car trip, a little history is in order. Back before the interstate highway system and rear-seat DVD players, the Burma Shave Company came up with the clever idea of parsing their ad copy over a series of signs posted along the roadside. As each sign appeared over the horizon it took you another step along the ad narrative, usually leading to a charming punch line.

Director David Frankel tells the story of John (Owen Wilson) and Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) Grogan’s life with their dog, Marley. He builds his narrative with an orderly progression of life’s milestones, but like the ad guys at Burma-Shave, he hasn’t really figured out what to do with the dead space in between.

From Scotland to Seattle, stories saturated the mainstream media last weekend with the headline, “Police: Knox did cartwheels after murder.”

The reports were referring to Italian police investigators who stated in court that Amanda Knox “acted inappropriately” while performing some curious calisthenics just four days following the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Knox, of West Seattle, is on trial with her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, for the group murder of Kercher in Perugia, Italy, where Knox attended college on a University of Washington foreign exchange program, and where, on the night of Nov. 1, 2007, the murder took place.

A third suspect, Rudy Hermann Guede, has already been convicted of the murder and is serving time.

The prosecution claims the three converged in a deadly sex ritual and killed Kercher.
 Reports say that on Nov. 5 Knox performed cartwheels, consistent with what they claim as Knox’s "strange behavior" she exhibited on other occasions shortly after the murder. But according to Chris Mellas, Amanda Knox’s stepfather, what began as an exaggeration from the prosecution quickly became a myth in the press.

The Rocksport Bar and Grill, 4209 S.W. Alaska St., is hosting an evening of jazz to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society March 8, from 6 to 9:30 p.m.

It's hosted by public radio host Paige Hansen with a suggested donation of $15 per person.

The event will feature:
TwoPlusTwo Jazz and Russ Harris, Denny Foreman, Kelly McLaughlin, and Paige Hansen, Vocalist
 
Special appearances by singer-songwriters Joel Hagman and Gina Belliveau, and blues artist Rick Gerth.
 
For questions, please e-mail: leilanit1987@yahoo.com.

How did a little girl born in New Jersey end up as Jean Bullard on a ski slope at nearly 84 years of age? Easy. Her father never left her out of all the exciting things that sometimes only boys are allowed to engage in.

There wasn’t anything she didn’t want to try and so at 9 she saved up the money she made walking dogs—sometimes three at once-- until she had the $5.95, at 5 cents an hour for each dog, that a new pair of wooden skis cost. That wasn’t an easy job as each dog wanted to go around each tree in different directions, pulling her this way and that. She traveled to New York with her mother to pick out her precious skis and begged for permission to sleep with them the first night.

When she was in the 9th grade her world changed when the family moved to the country, away from all her friends, but her dad repaired an old canoe on the place so she could paddle it on the mill pond anytime she wanted. She never forgot skiing and years later she made the ski team at Mt. Holyoke College and there was no stopping her.

West Seattleite Eric Renn is hoping stay-at-home dads in the area will want to join a group he's formed to develop "a resource and community for stay-at-home dads."



Fathers who are primary caregiver in their family, and other involved dads are welcome.

"We believe the involvement of a father in the life of his child is beneficial to the child and, ultimately, society as a whole," said Renn in an email. "We invite all involved fathers to network with us. This is the place to meet other dads in West Seattle."

The group meets each Monday and Thursday at 9 a.m. at the Hiawatha Playfield Playground, 2700 California Ave. S.W., or contact Renn at (206) 423-9253.

I lived next door to wonderful neighbors for 20 years but didn’t have them to dinner until one week after I moved away. Just another example of not appreciating what is irreplaceable until it is gone.

There’s a saying that we can’t choose our families, but we can choose our friends. In this way families are like neighbors, but they can become our friends through fate rather than choice.

My location on my old block was often envied, especially by women who needed to coax their spouses into outdoor chores. I lived next to Bruce and Sherri – and they took care of me, and my yard.

True to Ballard architectural “style,” the old block had great variance. My 1905 house was on a 25-foot wide lot, nestled between other two houses from the 1950’s. My kitchen window looked straight into Bruce and Sherri’s hallway; my back door aligned exactly with their kitchen window. For 20+ years they were there for me (literally and figuratively) day and night.

After Bruce retired from the Coast Guard he stayed on as a civilian, working nights. As a salon owner, Sherri worked days. Their overlap was just two days a week, but I got to have them both all seven.

On Feb. 28 at about 11:50 a.m., Seattle Police Harbor Patrol responded to a burning boat at a marina in the 2700 Block of Westlake Avenue North.

The boat’s operator and his friend were at the marina’s fueling dock preparing to put fuel in the boat when the engine compartment exploded and the boat caught fire. One man was thrown from the boat and landed in the water. The other man was able to escape the boat.

The burning boat began to drift away from the dock, striking another boat, causing fire damage to it. The Harbor Patrol, along with the Seattle Fire Department’s boats, arrived and put out the fire. One of the victims may have suffered a non life-threatening injury, and was transported to the hospital. Police blocked off Westlake Avenue North for a short time while this incident was being handled.

The move-in date for a planned SHARE shelter at the vacant Calvary Lutheran Church at 7002 23rd Ave. N.W. has been postponed by four weeks. The original move-in date was Feb. 28.

On Feb. 26, community members met with SHARE representatives and Pastor Steve Grumm, of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, who own the property and have been working with SHARE to bring the 20-man shelter to Ballard. Many members of the community expressed dismay over the short notice provided by Our Redeemer and were concerned about safety issues surrounding the future shelter.

The shelter is being allowed to stay located at the West Seattle Church of the Nazarene for one more week.

"During (the postponement), we will work with SHARE to develop an agreement that defines accountability and safety," Grumm said in an email to members of the community. "A task force has been formed to facilitate this process, including representatives from Our Redeemer's, SHARE, and the neighborhood surrounding the shelter location."

The first task force meeting is scheduled for March 5 and a second for later in the month.

On the morning of Feb. 25, Mike Gain put on a suit for the first time in five years. Almost forgetting to tie his shoes before walking out the door, the morning routine seemed unfamiliar to Gain until he walked through the doors of the Prudential Northwest Realty office in Jefferson Square.

"It just felt like being home again,” he says.

After five years of retirement, in which Gain worried more about his golf game than the local housing market, Prudential’s corporate office contacted Gain and asked him to come back and lead Prudential Northwest Realty Associates as chief executive officer.

Excited about what he considers the prospects for strong growth in the business, Gain eagerly accepted the offer.

“A lot of my friends think I’m crazy, coming out of retirement,” says Gain. “(But) I’m jazzed! I’m really looking forward to the next few years of growth and increasing our market share.”