December 2015

By Pat Cashman

The other day, I found an old photograph in a box from my mom’s house---after all, she never threw anything away. She was the type who even saved calendars, figuring that if 1956 ever rolled around again, she’d be set.
But the old photograph really was a keeper: A picture of my great, great Irish uncle. But whether the man was really all that great, great is hard to tell from the image. It shows a solitary figure, in black and white, sitting uncomfortably and unsmiling on a rickety wooden chair. Faded writing on the back of the photo reads: “Maurice Hunt, around 1906. This is the only photograph ever taken of him.”

Phyllis Diller once said that photographs of her always did an injustice because they looked just like her. But when you’ve only got a single image to go by---like the one of my Uncle Maurice---who can say whether it really captures the person?

By Amanda Knox

I’ve been so busy this week—seeing a play, giving a talk, traveling, book editing, putting in my hours at the bookstore—I can’t focus. Of all things, I have a bone to pick with a dried goji berry. Ever bitten into one?

I’m at a loss. A single dried goji berry is many things all at once. It is delicious and disgusting. It is chewy, stringy, gritty. It is sweetly tart, bland, bitter. Bits of it stick to the crooks of your teeth like popcorn husks. I bite into one and think, “Bleh…?” Then I bite into another and think, “Why am I still eating this?” Meanwhile, my hand is already snaking back into the bag for a third. Against my will?  

There’s something weirdly satisfying about eating a goji berry that reminds me of people’s other strange compulsions. Like scraping fingernails across a chalkboard. Like debating politics with relatives. Like scratching bug bites and picking your nose.

by Kyle Kelley

Driving While Wounded

By Amanda Knox

Here’s how it works. One man, one set, some light and audio cues. It is a stark and solitary vessel that stands for all the characters and settings of the iconographic It’s a Wonderful Life.

A one-man show. Writers Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott were feeling ambitious, and not without reason. The story of It’s a Wonderful Life, when stripped bare, is about a good man who is desperate, cornered, and contemplating suicide. The play barely begins before the man makes his first attempt to jump from a bridge into the way on an oncoming train. But before he does, the audience relives the circumstances which led to his dire hour, on Christmas Eve no less. On that bleak, fog-shrouded bridge, the man relives it all alone, himself embodying the relevant characters. He is as if possessed. The choice to unfold the story in this way emphasizes the man’s vulnerability, and even suggests insanity.

The West Seattle Rotary Club with help from local fraternities and sororities gathered to help under privileged children in West Seattle for the 44th annual Christmas Shopping Spree. The club members were joined by the fraternal organizations outside the Sears store in Westfield mall at Southcenter in Tukwila in the early morning. Kids from area elementary schools are chosen by who utilizes the free lunch programs at the school with 100 children being selected.

They are taken down to the mall via bus and sized for shoes, then given socks, a warm coat, and a $100 Sears gift card. Then it was time for breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe where they get to know their shopping companions, adult volunteers who take them into Sears to buy shoes and other essentials with their gift card.

Home street Bank was the lead sponsor for a gift bag for the kids this year.

Sale prices at Sears are discounted an additional 10% for the children.

By Greg Whittaker

It’s here snow lovers. The last snow cycle covered the rocks and gave us hope that the NW Mountains will be off the hook yet again!

Based on first-hand observations today, the last storm cycle included a warm front that consolidated the six–or-so inches at Crystal Mountain. Then it turned cold Friday night and another 6-12 inches fell and wind drifted to fill in holes and cover rocks. West Seattle locals Marshal Bennet, David Levin, Jonathan Streeter and I hooked up at the top of Green Valley and helped a sizable Friday crowd of stoked skiers and boarders track out a bunch of fresh snow. Not quite visiting the “white room,” but getting close. No worries on the fresh pow front though. It was snowing solidly when we left and by the end of the day it was softening up again.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Thursday, Dec. 3
Girls basketball
Tyee 57, Evergreen 28
Tyee opened its Seamount League season by posting a decisive victory over the Wolverines.
Lake Washington 56, Kennedy 48
The Lancers took a close loss to Lake Washington in non-league action Thursday.

Wrestling
Roosevelt 72, West Seattle 3
The Wildcats were pinned with a loss in their Metro League opener Thursday.

Wednesday, Dec. 2
Girls basketball
Chief Sealth 52, Sultan 27
The Seahawks scored a non-league win over Sultan.
Foster 59, Chief Leschi 51
The Bulldogs outdistanced Chief Leschi in a non-league game Wednesday.
Interlake 55, Evergreen 21
Interlake dominated Wednesday's game against Evergreen.
Northwest 41, Seattle Lutheran 39
The Saints were edged by Northwest on Wednesday.
Graham-Kapowsin 47. Mt. Rainier 40
The Rams were topped by Graham-Kapowsin in Wednesday action.

Boys basketball
Chief Sealth 69. Tyee 63
The Seahawks scored a win in the Totems' home gym Wednesday.
West Seattle 51, Kennedy 47

Update
A statement from King County's Cameron Satterfield explained why the White Center License Agency was closed today.

"At about 7:45 this morning, representatives from state Department of Licensing (DOL) and King County Records and Licensing Services Division (RALS) went to White Center License Agency (WCLA). Washington State Patrol officers were on hand to provide security.

DOL and RALS had been reviewing WCLA's work for a couple of months. The owner and an employee of WCLA were interviewed, after which RALS served subagency contract termination letters.

WCLA is closed until further notice. No arrests were made.

Residents who need licensing services should visit another license subagent location. A list is available at www.kingcounty.gov/vehicle.

No further information will be available until at least Monday."

Original post

(Burien) The Burien Police Department is asking for the public’s help locating a rifle that went missing from a patrol car November 24th around 9:18 pm after a vehicle pursuit near SW 136th St and Ambaum Blvd S.

Story- The Burien Police Department is missing a rifle after it fell out of the back of a patrol vehicle that had stopped to deploy spike strips during a pursuit. The incident happened around 9:18pm on Tuesday, November 24th near SW136th St and Ambaum Blvd S.

The deputy stopped his patrol vehicle and lifted up the rear hatch to pull out the spike strips. The pursuit changed directions and the deputy put the spike strips back in the vehicle and closed the rear hatch. As the deputy was driving off he heard a noise and stopped and saw that the hatch had not closed all the way and his patrol bag had fallen out.

The deputy loaded up the bag, closed the hatch and drove to the pursuit location. Shortly after, a citizen called police and said she saw a large black case fall out of a patrol car near SW136th and Ambaum Blvd S.

Just because Burien Art Association’s fabulous “Bountiful Textures” exhibit at three venues is being held over from November, doesn’t mean the Burien Arts Gallery is not having an Artist’s Reception in December.

In December, Artists United will have a Small Works show with a variety of artworks by the member artists who volunteer at the gallery. Their small pieces of original art or photographs make excellent presents for the holidays.

The Opening Reception is Friday, Dec. 4, 5-8 p.m., at the Gallery, 826 S.W. 152nd St.
Besides meeting the artists and viewing the Artists United new exhibit, reception-goers can enjoy the fantastic fiber art show at the Gallery.

“Bountiful Textures” presents works in textiles by Fiber 19 artists and baskets by Patricia Galvanin at the Gallery.

Fiber 19 is an eclectic group of mixed media fiber artists who meet to visit, support, critique and show their art.

They came together at the Fiber Arts Certificate Program at the University of Washington in 2008. Their graduating class numbered 19; hence the name Fiber 19.