Humor writer and Wedgwood resident David Volk released “The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to Seattle,” the latest travel book in a national series targeted at not only tourists, but locals looking to have fun without breaking the bank.

“I think it’s for everyone in Seattle,” Volk said while relaxing at Ravenna’s Espresso Express.  “Times are tough, and it doesn’t look like things are changing anytime soon. It’s really all about doing the things you’d already do  for less, and working within the system while having a good time doing it.”

After the series received commercial success in New York, Chicago and Boston, Globe Pequot Press decided to tackle the Northwest.

“We needed an insider’s perspective for the book,” Editorial Director Amy Lyons said by phone from Guilford, Connecticut.  “This one is very much for the person that lives in Seattle.”

“I’m the perfect person to do this book because I know how to pinch pennies till they scream,” declared Volk, who makes his living as a freelance journalist. “I wrote about what I’ve been doing for years — surviving on cheap haircuts and happy hours.”

A resident of Seattle for the last 20 years, Volk highlighted some of his favorite places for inexpensive and free fun in Queen Anne:

• McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside on Lake Union at 1200 Westlake Ave. N.:  Although McCormick & Schmick’s is a chain, its four local restaurants have long had one of the best happy hours around…prices start at $1.95 and go up to $4.95 at all locations and each menu is anchored by the generous $2.95 half pound cheese-burger with French fries (pg.89).
• Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum at 325 5^th Ave. N.:  Just the bridge from the original Star Trek series and a collection of other-worldly weapons alone should be enough to delight any sci-fi geek.  Free the first Thursday of the month from 5 to 8 p.m. (pg.235).
• Queen Anne Books at 1811 Queen Anne Ave. N.:  This relatively small Queen Anne neighborhood bookstore hosts far fewer readings than its other independent bookselling brethren, but the events are a joy to attend (pg.158). And This independent bookseller at the top of Queen Anne has a free story hour the third Sunday of the month at 2 p.m.  Your kids can sit on a blanket, listen to a story, and finish off with a cookie (pg.136).
• Yoga Life at 8 Boston St.:  Yoga Life’s Queen Anne studio offers a free community class from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tyler Steele is an intern for our sister site, PhinneyWood. He is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

It’s been a month-long of slashed sales at the Upper Queen Anne Blockbuster, which will close its doors for good tomorrow.

They’re closing at 9 p.m., and according to an employee, everything is marked down as low as it’s going to get. DVDs are down to $1.99 each and posters are 90 percent off. So if you have any last minute bargain shopping to do, don’t forget to stop by in the final hours!