Vashon Verité

I’m a sucker for intriguing exercise, so when the timing was finally right I raced into Vashon Athletic Club for a Zumba class held IN THE POOL. On my swim schedule, I thought for the longest time this had to be a typo, but I asked and behold, the branded Latin, move-your-bod class that’s become so popular on terra firma had indeed a modified class for us water lovers.

Granted, I swung to the younger side of the age curve in this class, but this is not a workout for the wimpy. Props to the ladies in there kicking and shimmying and doing slow-mo roundhouse kicks! You rock. The music reminded me of my cab rides last fall along the bumpy roads of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, where tunes on the cranked up radio consisted of naughty b-boys flexing their dancehall reggaespanol to catchy beats of timbales against booming bass. You WANT to move your body.

At first, watching the instructor doing the moves barefoot on the outside of the pool took some getting used to – in the water you have to adapt the range. Her sweeping leg movements whip through the air in 1.5 seconds, whereas on someone who is 5’9″ those leg sweeps take a little longer to get through the movement. You learn what actually works in the pool v on land. Give it a shot. You’ll get a great all over workout without the impact on the knees and you’ll feel it in your shoulders and forearms, quads and calves.

Zumbandale!

You may have seen the story. You may have been to a show! Time to laugh, poke a little fun at our Vashon ways and just cut loose.

Sunday brings the Church of the Great Rain “VD” special. You choose what the VD signifies; we choose good company at the O Space.

Learn more, including the article  in the Beachcomber: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/vashon/vib/entertainment/115664799.html

or newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/4n244y2

or  FB: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185109234854932

 Amen.

By now you are receiving or are about to receive your ballots on Props. 1 and 2. Please don’t ignore it. Rip open the envelope and cast your vote from your heart and your brain. Your vote is relevant and needed. The scaled down version (of what was an extras-loaded bond proposal more than a year ago) will undoubtedly pull more YES votes this time around. Bust open those ballots and make your sentiments count.

Kudos to art columnist Elizabeth Sheperd, who covered the recent Two Wall exhibit and the squeamishness attached to its response.

I think for my husband and I, when we stumbled into Two Wall Gallery and our eyes locked on the first piece by John Brucker (left wall, big one) the first words out of both our mouths were “Oh. My. God!” But rather than feeling aghast, or shocked, we were thrilled as we strolled through. Fascinated. Enthralled. I picked up the Goya vibe–a little austerity and “not pretty” as Sheperd noted, but also so impressed by the sheer detail and care of these fantastic works. O’Driscoll’s clever mockeries incited giggling.

Jack Strubbe, Two Wall curator, loves to push our collective comfort zone. Yeah! One thing many may not know is he also advocates for youth to discover art as an outlet, namely for teens and at-risk populations. He has experience here, and his dream is to rent out a space (like the one where Good Merchandise and the glass studio was in the center of town)  as a workshop space for youth to drop in discover art as a creative means of expression. Not at all a youth center, this is strictly art talkin’.

For those who have yet to set foot between those two walls, one great place to start is by clicking here and then “joining” instantly on Facebook. There you can click through photos and see what you’ve been missing. Get in and see the Brucker and O’Driscoll works while you can (or before someone takes them down and places them on the floor, canvas turned around).

Whoopsy.

It’s a new car! Well, actually it’s not a car. And it’s not new. This metal thing on the street, just blocking the driveway is upside down and is an SUV. The driver began coming down parking lot hill and felt the vehicle banking. Kelli Knutsen explained she went to gently drive it out of the roadway as it became clear things weren’t cooperating, when it unexpectedly rolled to its current upside down position. On the street.

Tomorrow morning (Weds), it should be towed. For the duration of the night, its hazard lights shall blink until their termination. Here’s hoping no drivers try to rush for the lot or the boat in the morning. You may be in for a crunchy surprise if so!

(That was a friend’s idea for a headline, by the way.)

Go, Pacific Research Labs. Congratulations.
Skip to the 8-minute mark to see the good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETHYny3lNng

sawbones 2010 holiday announcement

Join the Chorus!
Come sing Keep Vashon Weird with us at the Christmas Open House at the Village Green on Friday, December 3 right after the tree lighting at 6:00.

And the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3arS0tc0yc

Holiday Show
Sunday, December 12, 4PM at Open Space
Special musical guest Vicci Martinez

The Vashon Community Care Center “Christmas Miracle” will be highlighted at our special Holiday show. While there’s no doubt that comedy and music will rule, we will wholeheartedly celebrate the generous, activist spirit of this little Island we call home.

Dine out after the show at a participating restaurant and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Vashon Community Care.

Join the congregation and enjoy holiday magic with the Church House Band and the Holy Roller Radio Players, along with our special musical guest Vicci Martinez.

Doors open at 3PM.
Adults $8, Kids 12 and under $5.
Tickets available now at brownpapertickets.com
and Vashon Bookshop and Books By The Way.

Rated PG13 so parental guidance is advised.

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If you heard from your loved ones that it took them eight and a half hours to get home last night, BELIEVE them! Adding insult to an overloaded 4:30 passenger only boat (which we later learned took ten mins to dock and nearly 45 to get all the passengers safely off the boat), those vainly waiting in icy winds on the dock were notified that the final two boats would be nixed due to rough conditions. I was there. It was not what anyone wanted to hear.

Those stranded islanders made their way to Third Avenue along the bus stops to hop on the W Seattle bus routes. The 54 mistakenly passed a snow stop en route, and when it did a small mob of islanders chased the bus down the street in true activist style (woot!). One woman insisted the driver open the door and scolded him for disregarding the snow stop. She led the way for about 20 more people to get on the bus in what would turn into a FIVE AND A HALF HOUR ride to Fauntleroy (with a change of #54 buses on California Ave.). No, really. We hopped on at 3rd and Unionish at 535 and off it dropped us at 11:15p. Ferry workers said they’d never seen so many walk-ons taking the 1140 boat (except Mariner games in the glory days)! We were tired, hungry, but happy to be on the way back home.

My walk up parking lot hill revealed some smart person thought they could take the icy hill in their truck; its tracks had made a bee line for where my mailbox and wine barrel half ONCE WERE. Both are displaced, smashed and destroyed. THANKS for letting us know, not. This was not what any commuter wanted to find at 12:30 a.m. after a very long day. It was bad enough the power was out (and the next day is still out on the North End)

Don’t drive today. And for goodness sakes if you must, do NOT come down that hill! Turn left at 112th Ave SW from Vashon Highway and get to the parking lot the gentler way between boats.

There is nothing that can make you crack a joke when you see this with your own eyes. It’s gone now, but early this morning the crash on the North End of Vashon Highway was painfully evident.

Could one in the front seat survive this? Did they survive this? Was it road conditions, alcohol, a little of both, or speeding?

The car was literally wrapped around the utility pole. It defied probability. I can only hope there were no fatalities.

Post edit: because I posted this the morning it happened, and ASKED questions about it on this blog and another car accident link, I appear to have offended. Note the QUESTIONs, not statements. This is a mere posting of a photo before the accompanying police report and article had even shown up in the BC. No offense intended.

Okay, Russell Financial. I’m sure you’re a great company, but you’ve made my Vashon-Seattle commuter life an edgy race to the head of the line. You’ve changed my schedule at work, made me stress out I’m not going to get home before my kids do, and you’ve made it so that on a couple occasions, I’ve been turned away from the PO boat due to overloads.

This is a systemic problem. After the KC Water Taxi hits its magic 150-limit, it’s buh-bye time. We’re turned away whether coming or going when capacity hits. With Russell Financial moving its offices from Tacoma to Seattle, all the Kitsappers and Gig Harbor folks working for that company now come via Southworth. It’s tipped the scales to overload nearly everyday. We endure. We turn about and hang out at Ivar’s til the next boat (making darn sure we’re early for the next boat!).

The 150-people thing is not the boat’s capacity, however; it’s the crew-to -passenger ratio and a security rule that would mandate new bureaucratic headaches for this little boat. It’s icky. It’s like playing musical chairs on the race to the boat–and a definite cause and effect since Russell joined the commuter party.  So, beg to telecommute if you can, because taking the PO boat these days is no cakewalk.