Uncategorized - The Bushwick Book Club Seattle

The Roald Dahl Adventure Begins

September 13th is the birthdate of the WWII British fighter pilot-turned-beloved-children’s-author Roald Dahl. The author of some of the world’s most popular children’s novels (such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) bid farewell to his readers in 1990, but his imagination is still awake in his fanciful and bizarre stories. It seems everybody knows Dahl… or at least knows about him.

Until this month, I’d never read a word of a Dahl book. I saw Gene Wilder’s crazy eyes in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory before I started Kindergarten. I remember turning the dial on the T.V. to change the channel back and forth because Wilder’s Wonka and his minions were creeping me out big time, but I wanted to know what horrible end Charlie might meet. I watched James and the Giant Peach in elementary school and thought the animation style was new and neat. Jump to college in 2005, and my teen dream Johnny Depp was starring in Tim Burton’s take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so of course I attended the midnight showing at the theater. Freddy Highman’s Charlie was sincere, and Depp’s Wonka seemed weirdly adolescent. Then, post-college, the delightful Wes Anderson stop-motion adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox made its way into my canon of film favorites. Read more

Following in Carnegie’s Footsteps, One Little Free Library at a Time

My awesome Mom, Sue Garvin, recently installed a new book-based feature in her backyard and I asked her to write about it in the hopes that some Bushwick members would be inspired to build their own.

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish born man from a poor family who immigrated to America with his parents in 1848. He became one of the richest men of his time through investments in the steel industry, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. In 1889, he wrote “The Gospel of Wealth” wherein he urged the wealthy to use their money to improve society. He took on many philanthropic projects, but the one still thriving today is his establishment of public libraries. All in all, he funded 2,510 libraries in 47 states, and countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Forty-Three Carnegie libraries were built in Washington State alone. Thirty-two of these buildings still stand and 14 are libraries to this day. Locally, you can find Carnegie libraries are in Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, Queen Anne, First Hill and West Seattle. Read more

Book Preview: Read These Books If You Want to Be Cool

Calling all Bushwick Readers: now is the time to stock your bookshelves with some of the books we plan on reading during the upcoming months.

Ready… Set… READ! Read more

Concert of a Lifetime: New Kids on the Block Part II

Previously on the Bushwick blog, Kerry dazzled us with Part I of her V.I.P. New Kids on the Block concert experience. There she described the pre-concert activities including detailed descriptions of the hugging style of each New Kid. Now, in Part II, the show is about to start.

Boyz II Men descend the stage (photo by Morgen Schuler)

Two video screens came alive and reviewed all of Boyz II Men’s credentials. A laundry list of mega hits and awards flashed across the screens reminding us how huge these guys once were. Judging from the screams emanating from the crowed, no one had forgotten a single bullet point on their neatly harmonized resume. When the video stopped, the stage lights came up and Boyz II Men magically appeared at the back of the stage. The screams from the crowd were nonstop as they started singing “On Bended Knee” with velvety smoothness. As they sang, they slowly moved down the path to the intimate main stage right in front of us. Their journey from back stage to front felt like it took hours because I was holding my breath in anticipation of seeing them up close. When they arrived right in front of me and started singing “Water Runs Dry,” I may have teared up a bit. Read more

This Week in Books & Music: Bumbershoot and More!

It’s a busy week with an assortment of events that will satisfy all interests, no matter what they might be! (Well, maybe not if your interests involve ASMR videos on YouTube, but you can do that at home!) You’ve probably heard that Bumbershoot is this weekend, but you might not know that some of our very own Bushwick performers are part of the lineup. Read more

KBCS 91.3 FM Bushwick Radio Segments Now Available for Download

Every day last week KBCS 91.3 FM broadcasted a radio segment featuring a Bushwick artist performing music inspired by Michael Pollan. In case you missed the original broadcast, those segments are now available for download. Enjoy! The links are below. Read more

Concert of a Lifetime: New Kids on the Block Part I

My best friend Zandra and I have an uncommon addiction for most 35-year-old women. We are and have always been obsessed with boy bands. We listen to their music and talk about them frequently. We email pictures of our favorites back and forth. We spend copious amounts of cash going to their concerts and buying their merchandise. We often fantasize about what a boy band music festival in the same vein as Lollapalooza or Sasquatch would be like. Picture New Edition and the Backstreet Boys on the main stage and less popular boy bands like O-Town and High-Five on a secondary stage. In the corner, a tent stage would feature tertiary groups like O-Town cast-offs LMNT and my personal favorite, Five. We figured that this summer’s “The Package” tour with New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men would be the closest we would ever come to this dream so we quickly scooped up tickets. Read more

Listen to Bushwick On The Air Every Day This Week

The Bellevue the Library was the last stop of our recent King County Library Systems: A Place at the Table tour, where Bushwick performed original music inspired by Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. KBCS 91.3 FM was on hand to record this event and interview the artists. They put together some fun little 10 minute radio segments of each artist and every day this week at 4:20pm they will be broadcasting a new Bushwick segment. Yay! The schedule is posted below. Read more

Bar 4 Is Shutting Down: How A Tiny Bar in Brooklyn Changed My Life

As one often does these days, I discovered the news on Facebook. After trying to decipher a series of posts in my newsfeed, I finally found the one that made them all make sense: a press release announcing that Bar 4, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn was closing. I started crying.

“Friends and family,

It is with great sadness that we announce that after 14 years as a neighborhood institution, music venue and beloved Slope staple, Bar 4 will be permanently closing its doors on August 15, 2013.”

And not like wimpy crying. I was sobbing so much. I felt embarrassed about it even though I was alone in my apartment. I couldn’t stop, couldn’t calm down and couldn’t rein it in. I know this sounds overly dramatic (I DID do all the plays in high school), but I would love to tell you why a tiny bar in Brooklyn impacted my life to such a significant degree. It also relates to The Bushwick Book Club Seattle; I promise. Read more