If you’re feeling grumpy about the homogenization of Seattle and the loss of the odd quirkiness that once defined Fremont, then here’s an upcoming event that should give you hope. One night only at West of Lenin (N 36th St), Friday September 27th at 8 pm:
Join us for the eighth chapter of The Panel Jumper **LIVE** and celebrate nerd culture in all its myriad forms! Produced in collaboration with West of Lenin, this rare revelry of Seattle-based talent will leave you giddy and inspired by all our geek community has to offer.
Singer/songwriter Kathryn Farrell reveals her love of sky-watching by serenading us with tunes to illuminate the cosmos and rock the very spheres. Lyam White (UMO Ensemble) howls down the moon with an excerpt from his astounding solo piece, American Wulver. Playwright Anthea Carns (Annex Theatre’s The Devil & Sarah Blackwater, 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival) shares her indelibly witty creative voice in an all-new short piece crafted to tickle and regale us into the final frontier.
We are beyond excited to share with you the world-premiere screening of the latest Panel Jumper web episode, “Say it Loud” co-written and co-hosted by Cole Hornaday and Andrew Lee Creech (Copious Love Production’s Journey West and Artistic Programmer for The Scratch) which explores the history and inspiration of Black superheroes in American comic book culture. Our very special industry guest is award-winning Native American artist and writer Jeffrey Veregge whose artwork offers a powerful blending of Northwest Coast form-line and pop-culture icons. As a double honor, Mr. Veregge will join that frighteningly sincere quartet of nerds for a live Perfect Bound Podcast interview.
We’ll close out the evening with the ethereal beauty and outrageous elegance of burlesque artist, Vixen Valentine!
More information at the Panel Jumper website. Tickets available online: BUY TICKETS
I don’t think Seattle is having homogenization issue, with huge recent influx of people including immigrants. U-district for example is so different from what it was just five years ago and definitely not in the direction of being homogenized. South Lake Union and Georgetown are both areas that just changed from nothing to major hubs in a short time. Ballard was a swift shop/ cheap diner type of place also not that long ago.
The lost of quirkiness is more of a real phenomenon and most obvious with the change of Capitol Hill that had been well documented by many stories on the Stranger. A major factor is housing affordability. Source of quirkiness is most often from poor youth that tried to form their own identity with limited resources. Capitol Hill was great for that with young people fleeing less interesting places to Seattle and settling into cheap old apartments. Now there simply aren’t good neighborhoods in Seattle for that kind of community. Even Portland is getting expensive.