Tag: seattle

Meandering Alderwood Mall And Other Delights

Carl Setzer

I’ve spent the last several hours wandering Alderwood Mall. Today, I won the nail in my tire lottery, and the nearest tire shop I could find: Sears (an open one, at least). The past three times this happened were Sundays. I wonder about this, for no really good reason. Perhaps the universe rages against me. Or my memory’s subjective nature took hold. Whatever…

I remember when this thing was built (the Mall, not my van). During construction we drove over, monitoring progress. Decades passed by, changes take hold: stores move, or go extinct, the food-court relocation and redesign (well done, I might add. Well, if you enjoy light). This entity’s changed with the times. Lynnwood, and the north-end of Puget Sound has changed dramatically. I don’t see old Camaros any more. And the number of BMWs grows exponentially.

With that, I noticed many stores that I’ve known for years, awareness-wise, but really know nothing about. Claim Jumper, Urban Outfitters, just to name a few. And there are a few I know well, but have lost focus on. Eddie Bauer comes to mind. After the sale to Spiegel, I stopped paying attention as quality plummeted, and, well, any sense of it as a Seattle company vanished. Lastly, I look at the Anthony’s restaurants here and think of the local chain, and how little I know about it.

Well, with so much to learn, there will be no shortage of opportunity to write in the near-term at least. If there’s anything you’d like me to add, send me a note or add a comment.

Thanks so very much for reading!

KPLU, KUOW, Evolutions and Deaths

Carl Setzer

I care deeply about journalism. Having quality, full time staff to dive deeply into issues is critical for our culture, for our democracy. Additionally critical: willingness to dive deeply into serious issues that need coverage, regardless of ratings. It’s critical from the national level all the way down to the local/hyperlocal. And, I’d argue, it’s most critical at the local.

So, KUOW is buying KPLU. The region’s two biggest public radio stations are at stake. This whole acquisition disturbs me. I noticed KUOW’s declining coverage of local events years ago and gave up on the station. KPLU has been a mainstay for my radio listening for years, long before and above and beyond their jazz programming. KUOW’s abandonment of local programming and unwillingness to listen to the community on major concerns regarding programming and personnel give me deep concerns about the plans for KPLU, which has taken up the slack as KUOW fell. I stopped listening as KUOW became irrelevant. And KPLU got my ears and dollars.

Reading The Stranger’s interview with Caryn Mathes only deepened my concern. She didn’t give any details or rationale about this merger. We know it’s not about the financial state of KPLU or Pacific Lutheran University, for what that’s worth. Perhaps she summed it up well when she said “If we’re relevant, if we’re resonating with people’s lives, people will give us money.” I haven’t given them money for years. Not out of protest (though their firing of Cliff Mass and their “spit-in-my-face” response to the community push-back might be good enough), but, like Cliff posted on his blog last year, they’ve stopped serving the community ages ago.

So, clearly, I don’t think this is a good idea for anyone, except perhaps the managers at KUOW and, I guess, the regents at PLU (with their tasty bit of cash) . The community is left with the promise of “not screwing this up” by the leader of the organization that has done exactly that, and much stonewalling. It’s a sad time for journalism lovers and those who see deep value in public radio, especially here in Seattle.

More reading:

Blogging & Vlogging

Carl Setzer

Just watched Chris Pirillo getting interviewed by Press Play Consulting. Pretty interesting stuff. Chris has done great work both blogging, then evolving into vlogging. I haven’t been in any hurry to move into the vlog world. However, listening to Chris, I’m thinking of reconsidering this. People seem to be getting better engagement with vlogs now. However, I’m primarily a writer, which is why I’ve been reluctant to make the move, besides a few experiments over on YouTube.  Personally, I have always felt the internet is a big place, with room for all kinds of content. In that regard, I guess the real answer should be “what’s the most fun?”

What about you? Where do you think the internet is heading? Watch Chris and let me know your thoughts.

 

The Lovely Town Of Sultan

Carl Setzer

Good ol’ Sultan, butted up against the edge of the Cascades. I spent many a summer’s day/night up by Spada Lake and making a general nuisance of myself in the Sultan Basin.  Fortunately, my friends and I were able to avoid annoying too many folks and that the selfie hadn’t been invented yet.

This little town off of Highway 2 came up in conversation yesterday. A friend was showing properties out there and was wondering “how the market was doing there?”. Well, I decided to take a dive.

Well, there are fewer properties on the market now than there were a year ago (40 in 2014 vs 34 in 2015).  But that’s only part of the story. Around this time in 2014, there was a little less than 4 months of inventory, now there about 2. Properties are selling faster, much faster. Perhaps the biggest piece, though, is the median sales price, which has risen from $172,500 last year to $229,950; a 33% increase. This for a small town of 4,750 about 40 miles north east of Seattle.

So, my friends, the market is good.

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HOV to HNWI Lanes

Carl Setzer

I have misgivings about shifting 405’s HOV lanes to the premium priced lanes. I’ve taken to calling them HNWI (High Net Worth Individual) lanes. Maybe it just offends my democratic (please note the lower case “d”) values. But the purpose of the lanes was to encourage more carpooling. Is this change acknowledging failure of this idea? Or just a drive to increase the state coffers? Yes, this has activated my cynicism system.

Actually, as I think through it, perhaps this is an effective new direction. Those with High Occupancy Vehicles still get to ride in these lanes for free. Maybe this will encourage more combining of forces. Maybe. Anyway, Seattle’s high density traffic issues are only going to grow. We need to get more people out of their cars unless we want to emulate Los Angeles. For me, there’s a resounding “no thanks”. Personally, I wish we’d embraced the original Sound Transit plan, with its aggressive rail system. But we couldn’t get past the price tag. And here we are. Here we are.

Steamposium

We’re currently putting together the show for Steamposium 2015, one of the largest, most amazing Steampunk events on the planet. Like our amazing show last year, be prepared for luminaries and sky pirates from across the steampunk world.

Star Wars & Bumbershoot This Weekend

Carl Setzer
Bumbeershoot 2015

Well, several of my friends and I committed to venturing forth into Seattle to catch the EMP’s Star Wars And The Power Of Costume exhibit this weekend, as that ends at the end of the month and I’ve been itching to see it. Rocket scientist that I’m not, it hits me a few minutes ago that this is Labor Day Weekend, and we’ll be jumping into the full on Bumbershoot festival mayhem.  Part of me thinks it’s a bit of a mistake to jump into this madness, and pay the high-end parking fees. However, it’s really just the price we pay to live in a really popular area.

Star Wars and Bruce Lee

Carl Setzer1 Comment

There’ve been two local exhibits that have been compelling me: EMP’s Star Wars and the Power of Costume and Wing Luke’s Bruce Lee exhibit.  As a long time Star Wars fan, the EMP exhibit is deeply compelling. One of the things I enjoy about the series are the ways George Lucas connected with the mythological constructs of culture.

As a martial artist, Bruce Lee is something of an icon for me. The Wing Luke exhibit connects us to Lee’s history and evolution as a martial artist. That is particularly compelling to me.

Of course, I need to hit these fast. Next week, the Bruce Lee exhibit changes focus, and Star Wars ends it’s run at the EMP. Crunch time!