David Eggers is a freaking genius: It took me a little while to connect
826 Seattle to the
Greenwood Space Travel Company. But when I did, it made total sense - use a whimsical concept gift store to raise money for a nonprofit writing center for kids? Brilliant! What I totally did not know until yesterday was that 826 is nationwide and each tutoring center has a partnering whimsical concept gift store:
LA has the
Echo Park Time Travel Mart,
New York has
The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, etc. This is possibly the coolest franchise idea I have ever seen in my life. I'm not usually big on chains, but rarely does one see a chain of stores that are this kooky and for such a good cause.
Now who could you say no to a face like that:
Tweenbots is something that I wish we had a sister project of in Seattle. Kacie Kinzer of the
Tisch School of the Arts at NYU did/ is doing a project on people's interaction with the pedestrian-level cityscape and is using the world's cutest cardboard robot to do it. This little guy can only roll straight ahead - if he's ever to get to his destination (written on a flag attached to his back), someone has to point him in the right direction. Literally.
Here's the best part - people actually do it. They see a little innocent cardboard box with only a motorized wheelbase and a smiley face to its name and say "Damn, that thing is adorable. Let's send it on its way."
Is this because we're programmed to love cute things so that we are convinced to put up with our young until they're old enough to take care of themselves? Is it because we pride ourselves in knowing our cityscape so much that we want to share this knowledge with others? Is it because we can empathize with vulnerability and being in situations where one cannot accomplish tasks by oneself? All of the above. It could also be because Kacie secretly placed a mind control ray in the robot and is testing it out under cover of a student art project. You never know.
Win quote from the artist herself:
The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people's willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone. As each encounter with a helpful pedestrian takes the robot one step closer to attaining its destination, the significance of our random discoveries and individual actions accumulates into a story about a vast space made small by an even smaller robot.
There's not much to do in Seattle today that specifically Bastille-oriented - I think that mostly happened this last weekend at the Seattle Center. However, Faire is celebrating the day with drink and food specials and likely some fun activities.
From ThinkGeek, the people who brought you the Wee Ninja and Dismember-Me Plush Zombie...yep, that's what you think it is. Now you too can have your very own colloquial phrase.
It looks like we have another entertaining Cap Hill summer weekend in store. Besides the Steampunk Swampmeet (SO AMAZING-TOTALLY GOING), the most amusing thing I've seen so far is this Saturday's possible convergence of nakey cyclists and Shakespeare in the Park. Am I intrigued by the possible collision of new theater and old theatre? Or do I just find it funny that classical theater-goers may be in for some nudity out of left field (literally)?
The gang's all here...well, sort of.
But what on earth does it want? Oh wait...
Up with Dead People!
I think this is what they refer to as a zombie money shot.
Zombies in their natural habitat - if you look closely, you can see one eating a bit of brain.
The devilishly debonair duo dare to bare!
Dizzy, the fearless Goth Float leader
Our neighbors, the boyishly handsome Quake Rugby Team
Because the kind people at cap to the hill believe that the sooner you're drinking, the better. And you have Friday off anyway, right?
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