Now here’s an event that I wish I hadn’t missed this last weekend. On Saturday, April 2 over 200 people gathered under the Space Needle at Seattle Center to duke it out for International Pillow Fight Day.
Participants of the event, in the vein of a flash mob, tossed pillows around at friends and strangers, giggling and laughing for the better part of 45 minutes until the crowd dwindled down to just a few die hard pillow wielders.
If you’re like me and missed out on this fun event, you can live vicariously through those who were there and check out the pictures from the great pillow battle at the Seattle event’s Facebook page. Until next year!
The Space Needle, along with a number of other towers around the world, will be lit red when the sun goes down this evening to stand in solidarity with and support Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit last month.
Photo of Space Needle in red, white and blue shot from Kerry Park by Joe Rothstein, via Flickr.
“We hope that by lighting our rooftop in red, people will be encouraged to make a donation to the Japanese Consulate’s governmental website, the American Red Cross, or any other credible organization that is providing aid to Japan,” President and CEO of Space Needle LLC Ron Sevart said in a statement. “The people of Japan that have been impacted by this tragedy still need our help.”
According to KING 5, the following buildings will also be going red tonight, Monday, April 4:
CN Tower (Toronto, Canada), John Hancock Observatory (Chicago), Menara KL (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Macau Tower (Macau, China), North Tower (Seoul, Korea), Olympic Tower (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Sky Tower (Auckland, New Zealand), and Spinnaker Tower (Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom).
The business, which quietly opened at 332 5th Ave N a few months ago, started its transformation by painting the outside walls white with black trim, and introducing a new concept to the space. Instead of opening up another club, which the space has had many incarnations of already, and none without their share of problems (particularly crime) in recent years, the new owners opted to turn the space into a venue for a variety of events – from live concerts, to fashion shows, comedy shows, corporate events, private parties and others.
Check out the upcoming events calendar for iMusic here. To find out how to reserve a table on a club night, or reserve the space for a party or event, click here.
With black and white photos of the two in Seattle’s notable spots, the restaurateurs hope to get enough votes to win Franey the Northwest and the country in Food & Wine Magazine’s new competition.
“We just thought, ‘how can we be creative here and get people to vote,’” said Mark Canlis. “It’s been a riot; it’s just been a lot of fun.”
There are a total of 14 photographs that will be released each day until voting ends March 1. One of the early shoots had the brothers on the top of the Space Needle in a harness braving cold temperatures and high winds.
“We were so high off adrenaline coming off the space needle in 50 mph winds,” said Canlis. “There were some nerves involved.”
The competition is year one of a joint effort from CNN food blog Eatocracy and Food & Wine Magazine, which nominates 10 chefs from 10 regions of the country and lets people vote for their favorite. The most votes in a region make a chef a finalist, of which there will be 10 in all, but the most votes in the country wins the title.
“We want people to vote for us because they believe in us, because we’re doing something creative,” said Canlis. “Because they respect who we are as a company and love that we’re trying to raise the bar of fine dining in the city, love that we’re trying to make this a food town, a food destination.”
The campaign, while garnering some media attention, is running solely on their Facebook page.
“It’s not so much an ad campaign as doing something fun with the city and social media,” Canlis said.
Adding a playful dimension to the Facebook campaign, Morse Code was inserted into the photographs that led to a secret website. The first 10 to the website (which took about six days) were given reservations and a free dinner at Canlis’s pop-up restaurant Hearth & Home held inside Macrina Bakery Queen Anne last weekend.
Their use of retro photographs with 21st century media herald the next generation of Canlis’s operation. Brian and Mark Canlis have been running the restaurant for five years now, and Chef Franey, the restaurant’s fifth chef in 60 years, has been at Canlis for a little over two years.
“I’m 36 and I’m the oldest person on my management team, it’s a young crew,” Canlis said. “We just thought to ourselves, ‘hey, we’re up for this award, how do we let people know it’s not your grandfather’s Canlis anymore.’”
If you missed the Space Needle fireworks show last night, we’ve captured it all on video courtesy of a rooftop vantage point on the south slope of Queen Anne.
Sorry for the shaky camera—one my of resolutions for 2011 is to remember to use a tripod.
If you’re planning to stick around Queen Anne to celebrate New Year’s this year, then there are plenty of places you can go for a prime view of the fireworks at the Space Needle at midnight.
Photo courtesy of the Seattle Center.
Here are just a few places you can ring in the New Year, for free, around the neighborhood.
Center House, Seattle Center—Ring in 2011 with the rocking sounds of The Machine, and witness the fireworks up close and personal.
For many years, The Machine has been playing around the Pacific Northwest, offering the best PARTY music in town. When you come and see The Machine, you will only hear DANCEABLE, FUN, PARTY rock and roll, AND you will have a great time.
Kerry Park—Climb up to Kerry Park, Seattle’s quintessential viewpoint (211 W Highland Dr.) to see the city skyline, Elliott Bay, and of course, the fireworks at the Needle. But remember, Kerry Park is a small space and likely to be packed, so get there early to scope out a prime viewing spot.
The South Slope—If you’re looking to have a more low key New Year’s, while still enjoying the festivities, you can have your own private viewing party from a number of sites along the south slope. Just drive around and pull over anywhere you have a clear view of the Needle. Advantages: these viewing spots are likely to be less crowded, and offer you a quick way home if you live nearby.
From the Water—If you’re lucky enough to own a boat, or know a friend who does and are comfortable battling the cold and wind, the view of the fireworks will be picturesque from Elliott Bay. Ahoy matey!
Wondering what’s in store for New Year’s at the Needle? Check out this footage of the 2010 New Year’s fireworks show, courtesy of PJtheFey.
While the weather today left the possibility of snow open, the forecast predicts mostly sunny skies on Friday, December 31, with a high of 40 degrees, a small chance of precipitation, and an overnight low of 28 degrees. So wherever you plan on watching the fireworks, the skies should be clear.
Have a favorite—and free—place to catch the fireworks? Comment below to add them to our list. Happy New Year!
The wheel, which will be located in Center Square, is set to open on April 21, 2011, “in recognition of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair opening date,” according to the Center. It will operate through the conclusion of The Next Fifty anniversary celebration in October 2012.
The elegant and technologically advanced giant wheel harkens back to the World’s Fair and nods to a future vision for Seattle’s central gathering place. The wheel’s fully enclosed and climate controlled capsules will hold up to eight passengers and provide 360 degree panoramic views of Seattle Center and the surrounding areas.
Just to give some perspective, the 200-foot wheel will be a little less than half the size of the London Eye, the world’s largest and most well-known observation wheel, which is 135 meters (just shy of 443 feet) high.
PI blogger Mary Cropp has discovered some potentially wonderful information: admission to the Space Needle will be free all day long tomorrow, Friday, August 13! Apparently Bausch + Lomb is celebrating the release of its new contact lens solution by making free access to the Needle for all (i.e. the first 10,500 visitors) for a day.
The Needle’s Observation Deck is open from 9 a.m. to midnight tomorrow. Check out the restaurants hours here. Admission is normally $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $11 for kids 13 and under (children under the age of three are always free).
A friend (thanks, Nina!) recently introduced me to VintageSeattle.org and some pretty amazing photos posted earlier this month of the Space Needle mid-construction prior to the 1962 World’s Fair.
VintageSeattle blogger Jess Cliffe gave us permission to re-post a few of the pictures, which were provided to him courtesy of Josh Salwitz (thanks, Jess…and Josh!).
What strikes me most about these photos—other than how Lower Queen Anne seems to have really sprung up around the Needle and Seattle Center, and how crazy the Needle itself looks all yellow and half-built—is the very modern quality of the images.
All of the pictures are dated between 1961 and 1962, though they almost look like someone Photoshopped an unfinished Space Needle into a present picture—if it weren’t for the missing buildings and ’60s cars giving the year away.
The man or woman who was behind the lens, however, is a mystery. “Don’t know who the original photographer was, sadly,” Jess wrote.
Want to see more? You can view all of the photos here.
(Photos courtesy of Jess Cliffe and Josh Salwitz; thanks to Nina Pardo for the tip).
See ratings and reviews of
