Hi Friends it's that time of year again for the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
Here are my film picks for this year.
Movie Name & Location
*Hannah Free @ Cinerama 10/25/2009 + Closing Night Gala at Pan Pacific Hotel
*The Big Gay Musica @ Egyptian Theatre 10/22/2009
*Drool @ Cinerama 10/23/2009
*13 Love Stories @ Cupcake Royale, Capital Hill 10/17/2009[A Prop 8 stories with Ref 71 implications* get out and see this one.
*And Then came Lola @ Egyptian Theatre 10/17/2009
*College Boys Live @ Cinerama 10/24/2009
*Getting off @ Northwest Film Forum 10/22/2009
*Girl Seeks Girl[Chica Busca Chica] @ Egyptian Theatre 10/20/2009
*Off & Running:An American Comming of Age Story @ Admiral Theater[West Seattle] 10/25/2009
*Perfidy[Perfidia]@ Northwest Film Forum 10/19/2009
*Shank @ Egyptian Theatre 10/18/2009
*Soundless Wind Chime[Asian] @ Northwest Film Forun 10/20/2009
*Through the looking glass:Shorts @ Northwest Film Forum 10/18/2009

Bumbershoot Seattle's Music & Arts Festival runs September 5 – 7, 2009
some of the great musical acts are,

The Black Eyed Peas
Sheryl Crow
Modest Mouse

De La Soul

Normally I am not a fan of Zoos, regardless of the city or attraction. It has to do with seeing animals in captivity which makes me uneasy. However on Thursday July 1, 2009 I will attend my first concert in the park at the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. I will not be doing any tours of the Zoo, that where I draw the line.

July 1 & 2 – Three Girls and their Buddy featuring Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin & Buddy Miller
I will blog more after the event to update you on my experience.

Zoo Concert Calendar of Events is as follows
Wed. & Thurs., July 1 & 2 Three Girls and their Buddy featuring
Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin & Buddy Miller ($36)
Wed., July 15 Ladysmith Black Mambazo ($19)
Sun., July 19 Los Lobos ($22)
Wed., July 22 Cowboy Junkies / Son Volt ($22)
Sun., July 26 Indigo Girls ($24)
Thurs., July 30 Jewel ($28)
Thurs., August 13 Joan Baez ($22)
Sun., August 16 Nanci Griffith ($19)
Wed., August 19 Susan Tedeschi with J.J. Grey & Mofro ($22)
Wed., August 26 Amos Lee ($22)

Woodland Park Zoo
(206) 548-2500
5500 Phinney Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

Seattle Gay Pride Celebration 2009 is without doubt the best ever. After many years of wrangling about bringing the parade downtown from its historic Gay Neighborhood home on Seattle's Capitol Hill, it's fair to say that the matter is now settled. Who would ever want to return to the Parade's cramped route on Broadway and the much smaller Volunteer Park venue? At it's new home at the Seattle Center's massive grounds nestled under the Space Needle it just feels right.

I am looking forward to Gay Pride this weekend, Sunday 28th. Here are my celebration plans for the Pride Weekend in Seattle. Get the details at www.seattlepride.org
Parade starting at 11:00 am from the corner of Union St. and 4th Ave.

* Friday Night, after work drinks with friends
* Saturday Evening, Movies in the Evening followed by bar hopping with friends.
* Sunday Morning, Breakfast and coffee, on the Parade Route down 4th Ave in downtown Seattle. Following the crowd after the parade wrap-up to the the Seattle Center.
Leave Seattle Center to join the crowd at the Cuff...LOL.

If your city does not celebrate Gay pride on June, 28th or ever, please join us here in Seattle.

Checkout out Gay Hot Spots,
My Recommended Bars and cubs list,
The Eagle *** Bar, www.seattleeagle.com
The Cuff...****Bar and Dance Floor, www.cuffcomplex.com
RPlace...*** Bar and Dance Floor, www.rplaceseattle.com
The Wild Rose *** Bar {for the Girls boys are welcome to} www.thewildrosebar.com
C-c attle's *** Bar, www.ccattles.net
Madison Pub *** Bar, www.madisonpubseattle.com

When I went off in search of the Northwest African American Museum I did not know what to expect. I had heard everything from accolades to disappointment over the size of the only Museum dedicated to African American people and their history in the Pacific Northwest. Well it was my turn to find out what all the buzz was about. http://naamnw.org

It was a Friday after about 2:30pm when I turned my keep Liberty into the visitor's parking lot of the Museum. The Museum is historic and occupies the old Coleman School Building which had sat abandoned for many years. There is life in that old building now, life that you can feel in the lushness of the expansive grassy lawns and restoration of the school building. I was also surprised to find that the NW African Museum sits on the grounds of the park dedicated to Seattle Rock Legend Jimmy Hendrix.

When I entered the building through its classic School House Doors, I was greeted by two welcoming voices from the Ticket Sales Window. I was pleased to find that the entry cost was a reasonable $6.00. After the very helpful staff showed me a floor map of the Museum and explained the location of the exhibits I was off. My first stop was the was the Legacy Gallery. I had no idea the impact that the City Of Tacoma had on the civil rights movement in the Seattle Metro Area and Pacific Northwest. The use of Video and Photographs of that documents both the labor and civil rights struggles of the past i found very effective and informative. I would have spent more time in the Legacy Gallery but had less than an hour left to view the other exhibits so I move on.

My next stop was the The Journey Gallery chronicled the arrival of the first African Americans to the Pacific Northwest. This Gallery is a must visit and should be mandatory stop for school tours. What you learn in Journey Gallery will shock you, regardless of your race. It is a common believe among most Washingtonians that the African American experiences in the Pacific Northwest had its start and history in the Western Washington and Seattle Area more specifically. This Gallery exhibition shows otherwise, that the African American settlements centered outside of Seattle and as far away as Central and Eastern Washington, Idaho and the State of Oregon. The personal photos images of some of the earliest African American Pioneers added a important dimension and emotional note to Journey exhibit.

I left the NW African American Museum feeling a sense of fulfillment and understanding of why this museum was so necessary.
Add this museum to your most important museum to tour on your next visit to Seattle.
Admission is free for NAAM members.

Adults
$6.00

Students/Senior
$4.00

Children (5&under)
Free

*Free Admission First Thursday of every month
Admission is free for NAAM members.

Northwest African American Museum http://maps.google.com
2300 S. Massachusetts Street
Seattle, WA 98144

Ok Folks, I have seen all of the SIFF Films on my list, pew what a relieve.

Only one of my picks failed to impress me, "Kaifeck Murder".

If you have a chance to see any of these in the future I highly recommend that you do.

Here are my films and how I rated them:

1. Hansel and Gretel rating =5 BEST FILM a grim but beautiful Korean take on western fairy tale..this film is a masterpiece.


2. Forever Enthralled Youssou N'dour: I Bring What I Love rating=5 Best Documentary FILM. Senegalese Master of Music Youssou N'dour, his musical biography almost. His voice will leave you wanting more. http://www.youssou.com
   
3. Four Boxes rating =4 creative, fresh, original and what SIFF is all about.
   
   4. Three Blind Mice rating = 4 good actors can make a flimsy script look great as these actors did.

5. Kaifeck Murder = rating = 2 great cinematography, what was The point of this film..? someone forgot that movies are about showing and not so much telling. What a waste..skip this one..

I rated this film a 4 mostly for the acting. The script itself was not great but the actors performed so well it was easy to forgive the script's deficiencies. Three young Sailors in the Australian Navy coming to grips with their decision to enlist. These Sailors are on shore leave for the weekend and trying to bond with each other and bury the horrors of the physical and psychological abuses they experienced. Typical Military Stuff here. Young men walking through life like blind mice, though it could be argued that the blind, Mice included eventually develop creative techniques for coping.


Still this Film is worth seeing, if only for the quality of the acting. I must warn you that some of the Aussie accents are pretty thick. I found myself reading the visuals for clues to what some of the actors were saying. All in all a good film...worthy of a 4

My Seattle Film Festival personal list:

Here are my SIFF picks Red indicates films I have already seen. Rating numbers indicates how I ranked each. 1 is lowest , 5 is highest. http://www.siff.net/

Four Boxes rating =4

Hansel and Gretel rating =5

Three Blind Mice rating = 4

Forever EnthralledYoussou N'dour: I Bring What I Love[viewing 6/12/09]

Kaifeck Murder [viewing 06/13/09]

If you see only one Film from the Seattle International Film Festival, make it the Korean Master Piece, "Hansel and Gretel"



Filled with fantasy, a bit of gore and movie making creative magic this movie captivates you.

Every year without fail the Koreans send us their best. This year Hansel and Gretel, the very title conjures up images of the deep forest, of lost children, mean adults and imagination. This films delivers it all and then some. I gave it the highest score possible...5 Top Pick.

here my picks and Red indicates films I have already seen. Rating numbers indicates how I ranked each., 1 is lowest , 5 is highest. http://www.siff.net/

Four Boxes 4
Hansel and Gretel 5
Three Blind Mice
Forever Enthralled
Youssou N'dour: I Bring What I Love
Kaifeck Murder

Here it comes again, the Gay Pride 2009 celebrations. Last year my partner Dan and I high tailed it out of Seattle for San Francisco's Pride celebration. We were joined by a few friends and met many others while we were there. Needless to say San Francisco is more permissive city than Seattle, Gays and Nudes abound and the parade was mega large and long...no pun intended.

This year I feel drawn to enjoy Pride 2009 in Seattle, after all our bars are just as good, if not better. However we cannot match the living on the edge experience that is uniquely San Francisco. I must admit it would be interesting to say the least to be in San Fran, during the year of the great prop 8 debates about gay marriage. I noticed that my gay nephew's partner listed his marital status on Facebook as "Engage". They both in live in the San Francisco area and are knee deep in the gay marriage fight. I gotta tell you it the whole thing makes me wonder if Seattle just ahead of everyone else with our lack of any king of discussion of gay marriage or just in a deep sleep.

This year my partner Dan will be in San Diego visiting friends during the Pride weekend. That means I am on my own, so I guess I will need to break out the feathers and the beads and hit the Seattle Pride route with friends.

The Seattle Film Festival is back and is as good as ever; However the attendance appears to be down from last previous years. The films are as new and fresh and creative as you would expect. The film venues have also been expanded over the years from the usual Capital Hill and downtown Seattle neighborhood theaters. The Seattle Center Nesholm Family Lecture Hall was the venue where I saw my first SIFF Film of 2009.

My Partner Dan texted me to say that our friend Jerry had an extra SIFF Ticket to the Film "Four Boxes" at the Nesholm Hall at Seattle Center. I sprung for the Popcorn and drinks. Only at SIFF events do I forgive the obvious price gouging at concessions stands. At SIFF I also don't mind paying slightly exaggerated prices for some pretty experimental creative efforts. Yet I never feel cheated, as is often the case with the big box movie productions. Many times I feel that the big productions needs a Wal Mart education in appropriate pricing. Why should anyone pay $10.00 for movies with acting, directing and writing that is no better than the SIFF stuff?

Our Movie "Four Boxes" was true to the nature of most SIFF stuff, creative, fun and immediately relateable. As for length, boy this movie did go on for a while 84 minutes or so. However I did find the characters to be again interesting and funny. What made it even more enjoyable is that you know that these actors are not being paid big bucks to do these films. Add to that the chance to see fresh faces on the screen, and promising actors, directors and writers at the start of their careers.

There is always something special about movies in Seattle. There is a commitment to the arts in Seattle, and real reverence for art house movies both foreign and domestic.

My SIFF Movie list: http://www.siff.net/

• Four Boxes
• Hansel and Gretel
• Three Blind Mice
• Forever Enthralled
• Youssou N'dour: I Bring What I Love
• Kaifeck Murder

Seattle is not just a city in love with books it regards Literacy as a right of citizenship.


As the most politically liberal city in the Pacific Northwest if not the entire county, Seattle prides itself on being literate. Folks here take their books seriously. Not only does Seattle have the two largest national retail chain bookstores in the country, but it might have arguably the biggest, Amazon.com. Seattle also has homegrown independent bookstores such as Eliot Bay books and hundreds of used book stores scattered across the city.

Looking for a book club, writing group or workshop? Or how about selling your poetry on the street corner? Seattle has it all. From Jack Straw Productions, a spoken word Arts Organization, to Richard Hugo House a home for writers, offering workshops, resident writers and a resource library for aspiring and writers, Seattle feeds the literary soul. If you don't want to pay for books there is the recently rebuilt Seattle Public Library, a spectacular example of the literary ambitions of the people of Seattle.

Town Hall. Located in the First Hill Neighborhood on the corner of 8th and Seneca, Town Hall is where the top writers, politicians and other philosophic types go to dispense wisdom, read short fiction, poetry etc. On Thursday June at 7:30PM Town Hall brings Eduardo Galeano: An Unofficial History of the World to Seattle. Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela should be credited with thrusting Eduardo Galeano into the spot light and ultimately the big time. It was Chavez who handed President Barack Obama a copy of Mr. Galeano's book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. This Thursday Seattle will gets chance to hear from Eduardo Galeano.

There should be a big crowd for Galeano's Town Hall appearance. Two of my best Friends will make the 3hour trip from the Wenatchee Valley to Seattle's Town Hall. I don't know if President Barack Obama read "Open Veins of Latin America" one hopes that he will.

When I thought of planning for my Partner Dan's Thirty Seventh Birthday I struggled to find a way to wow him. He is picky to say the least and hates surprises. I chose Serafina Italian Restaurant because of what I remembered about it from 10 years ago. Great wait staff, excellent service and fabulous food, amazing in fact.

True to his nature my partner googled every Italian Restaurant in the city in his anxiety about were I planned to take him on his special night. I sent out 10 evite invitations to

close personal friends of Dan's. They all gushed at the selection of Serafina for Dan's birthday party. Dan himself was thrilled, the look in his eyes said it all. In all of his google searches he had hoped that it was Serafina. It suited his desire for sophisticated dining. The excellent menu and wine list I expected, but the service from the wait staff also impressed me. Our dinner party table was situated in a well lit corner of the restaurant with sliding open windows. Serafina is Italian indeed and romantic and cozy.

My menu recommendation:

Appetizers:

Calamari Saltati
Squid flashed in the pan with garlic, lemon, Italian parsley, and chili flake; sprinkled with bread crumbs
11.95

Olive Arrostite Mixed olives flavored with fennel seed, garlic, rosemary, and chili, roasted to order

Filetto di Maiale con Saba
Lightly smoked Carlton Farm's pork tenderloin with grape saba and a spring vegetable ragout featuring baby onions, fava beans and asparagus; garnished with pine nut gremolata
19.95

Serafina is in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle, at the corner of Easlake Ave E and E Boston St.

2043 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle WA 98102

http://www.serafinaseattle.com/

Seattle is probably best known national for its coffee shops, but there is more.

kingFish Cafe, a Soul Food restaurant has been at its Capital Hill neighborhood locaton for several years. If you are not familiar with Soul Food as a concept, KingFish Cafe is the best place to begin your education.

My partner and I split on which is best, Sunday Brunch or Dinner. I favor the Brunch time menu.

If you are planning to visit KingFish Cafe be sure to arrive early, reservations are not accepted. Fridays and Saturdays often find folks lined waiting to get in. Sundays are easier the dinner crowd is smaller, but that might be because the restaurant only recently add a Sunday Dinner schedule.

Today we celebrated Dan's Birthday at KingFish Cafe with a group of 10 friends.

The first thing that gets your attention is the exterior facade of the building, beautiful Iron Gates give it a very European Old World charm. Inside of this beautiful space are Art Gallery like black and white pictures of African American Images from pre-1960s. This place is not your typical Soul Food Restaurant. I would refer to KingFish Cafe as Rustic Soul Food sophistication.

The menu choices is varied. Our Dinner Party Group selected the Catfish, BBQ Ribs, Blackened Salmon, Fried Chicken. I recommend the Macaroni and Cheese. We liked the Mac and Cheese so much that we ordered it twice as a side dish. Believe me when I tell you that Desert should not be skipped. Cake slices are mega large, no leaving feeling cheated. Couples should not order individual deserts, because the slice are really cut for two. For our Party of 10 we order four cake slices, Red Velvet with cream cheese icing, Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing, Pineapple Cake with real Pineapple topping plus icing, and one Strawberry Shortcake .

If you are visiting Seattle be sure to put KingFish Cafe on your list of restaurants you must try.

Kingfish Cafe ·
Website ·
(206) 320-8757
602 19th Ave E, Seattle

I had heard so much about Toronto, Canada that I was breathless with anticipation. My partner and I reserved our vacation package a month in advance. After comparing vacation packages which included that other Canadian city Montreal, we chose Toronto.

Not even the red eye flight after working a ten hour shift could blind us to the beauty of Toronto. We took a 4 hour flight from Seattle to Cleveland, OH, then boarded a small plane for the one hour flight into Toronto. We made our way through the almost deserted airport through the Canadian Customs. We tried to find a train, but the train was out of service. We settled on a taxi from the airport to our hotel, which cost us $49.00, plus tax, plus tip, you get the picture.

Toronto's skyline is stunning even in day light. It is hard to image the world wide recession had reach Toronto. There appeared to be construction cranes everywhere, with massive condo developments in progress. Many of the new construction sits shockingly close to the freeway, a very Manhattan style development.

As impressive as the skyline was, it was Lake Ontario that took my breath away. A vast shimmering silver blue beast of a beauty, it commands attention. Oddly enough I had not even thought of Lake Ontario whenever I imaged Toronto. "What is that" I asked our taxi driver like a child on Sunday drive with his parents. I wanted to get to it, to walk along its shores to put it at the top of my lists of must see Toronto attractions.

If you are visiting Toronto I recommend:
Take a walk along Lake Ontario it will take your breath away and it's free.
Queens St West for sight seeing, several historic building, shops and restaurants
Dundas Square for shopping, many retail and dining options and free stage performances
Dundas square to buy day of show theater tickets at discounts[we did]
The Gay Village , this place is full of life, great restaurants. The nightlife in this neighborhood is vibrant and spills into the streets on Friday and Saturday nights.
Tarragon Theatre, this little neighborhood theater company puts on great shows. On stage
during our visit was "House of Many Tongues" a very excellent play. Theater location 30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5R 1X3 info@tarragontheatre.com
Web: tarragontheatre.com . We took the Metro from the King Street Station to the theater on a weekend pass very cost effective and relaxing.

• AGO [Art Gallery of Ontario] this building is newly redesigned interior and exterior space by renowned Architect Frank Gehry. My only regret is that greater attention wasn't paid to the neighborhood space around the museum. the surrounding neighborhood appeared run down and overwhelmed by the massiveness of the museum building. It is my view that such a design requires greater spacial distance for the Architectural beauty of the building to be appreciated. The most interesting was The Thomson Collection of Canadian Paintings and First Nations Objects.
  


• AGO Hours of Operation:
  Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 10 am – 5:30 pm Wednesday: 10 am – 8:30 pm Closed on Monday

Art Gallery of Ontario: Dundas Street West Toronto Ontario Canada M5T 1G4

Dining Out

Hair Of The Dog Restaurant 425 Church Street, Toronto, ON M4Y 2C3
(416) 964-2708

Little India Restaurant
255 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z4 0.22mi
(416) 205-9836

Tim Hortons for the donut and coffee lovers; Locations everywhere and draws a late night crowd well past midnight in neighborhoods like the Gay Village. After a late night of party and alcohol on church street you can sober up at Tim Hortons with donuts and coffee or even a sandwich or wrap.