Tag: Events

Oh No! I missed Emerald City Comicon!!

Carl Setzer

Fret not my geeky friends, for Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest are laden with comicon delights.

In Seattle alone, you have:

And there are events in Portland, Everett, Bellevue, Spokane, Ellensburg, Boise…

There are plenty of opportunities, check them out! Here’s my list.

Things are changing all the time. If you come across something that’s not here, let me know and I’ll add.

Celebrate the New Year, Edmonds Style

Carl Setzer

I was asked earlier today for a list of “what’s going on” New Year’s Eve in Edmonds. I hadn’t put much thought as I’m planning on spending the evening with friends (I’ll be in the Edmonds Bowl, just so you know), but thought I’d dig through my memories and the web and pull together a quick list.

First, I want to point out that Kathy Passage over at My Edmonds News has list of holiday events and such in her most recent article. She’s pretty cool: go check her out!

Anyway, I’ve pulled out a list of specifically New Year’s Eve stuff, focusing on the “ringing in 2018” (aka: out after midnight) stuff.

New Year’s Eve:
Looking for something outside of Edmonds? Well, here are a few other options for you.
Oh, and there’s New Year’s Day:
Polar Plunge! https://www.facebook.com/events/154410931849531/. This event is a long-standing tradition in our community. It took some work, but we managed to keep the event for disappearing. If you’re a fan of freezing your butt off, come join the party! I doubt that you’ll lose any butt-mass, so it’s not a recommended way to start your weight-loss resolution, but, whatever.
If you know of something I missed, please drop it in the comments and I’ll update the post. No offense shall be taken! Actually, there’ll be much rejoicing (yay.).
Wishing each of you a wondrous New Year’s Celebration and productively joyous 2018!

Here Are Some Halloween Events for Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace Folks

Carl Setzer

Halloween is a week from tomorrow! Are you looking for some fun for your goblins and ghouls? Well, below are a few Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace happenings to celebrate Halloween. Come bring your costumed Trick-or-Treater out for the fun!

30th – Pre-Halloween, I guess

31st – Halloween!

Lynnwood

Mill Creek:

Edmonds

Spent the day at the Seattle Center 

Carl Setzer

Spent the day down at the Seattle Center. Is was quiet lovely early on, getting a little rainy later in the day. I enjoyed myself greatly. I have so many memories there. I’ll write about them soon. 

Today center on the Pacific Science Center and Space Needle. Will need to go to MoPop, but not sure what else. 

Fyi, discovered Citypass today. A great way to get the most out of a trip downtown. You only have nine days to get through then all, so be cognizant of that. But it’ll get you into most of the key sites around the city. 

Ok,I can’t stay awake. More shortly! 

Oh, and come say hi to me on Facebook! I linguists look forward

It’s Labor Day Weekend: Time For Bumbershoot And Prepping For Autumn 

Carl Setzer

For many folks Labor Day weekend with temps in the mid to upper 80s is glorious. Week, not for me. This Seattleite find such temperatures abhorrent. 

Now, I like the sun. Though the brown grass saddens me. Seattle is the Emerald City, not the Kinda Brown City. Our famous misty rains are what keep our fair city laden with green. 

So, it’ll be a great weekend to either be outdoors, or right next to an AC. A decent weekend for our great music festival: Bumbershoot. For the uninitiated, the Seattle Center is taken over by musicians, comedians, and other artistic types. Along with hordes of humanity, in all its array of states and conditions. It’s quite the spectacle. 

If you aren’t familiar with Bumbershoot, it’s not a weird fringe thing (Seatttle had those, too, much to my delight) . This one is well regarded and brings in top-billed talent. Check out this year’s line up. For me, more importantly, you’ll also find many up-and-coming acts, so you’ll have great opportunities to find your next favorite artist. 

A very different vibe than Folklife. Not bad, but Folklife is much mite “hippie” where Bumbershoot is a polished, commercial event.

With any major event at the Seattle Center, expect traffic to horrible. When I lived in the Downtown Core, I’d bike down there. I delighted in riding all around the city, and working my way through crowds and heavy traffic was even better. If you’re not interested in cycling, here’s a pro-tip: drive to an outlying park and ride, bus down to Westlake Center, then grab the Monorail to the Seattle Center. During major events like this, they’ll be running until 11:30. Do plan ahead and make sure your bus/park-and-ride convo soul work for the time you’ll want to leave. Getting stranded in the City sucks worse than traffic or inflated parking prices. 

Enjoy Bembershoot if you’re going. It’s ironic that the best use of the event’s namesake will be to keep the sun off. Me? I’m gong to try to do some biking (nowhere near downtown). Probably just up here in Lynnwood and Edmonds. And otherwise just relax. Write and read, and look forward to autumn finally arriving. I guess I could get my wearer’s out and give them a good washing. Their time is coming. 

So, I’m Not A Fan Of The Bite Of Seattle, The Taste Of Edmonds, And Such

Carl Setzer

Ok, so I’m a killjoy: I’m not a fan of the Bite of Seattle nor the Taste Of Edmonds. So, I don’t truly hate them. They do create a nuisance to the neighbors, and add to the traffic misery that’s the Seattle region. But that’s really not the root of things.

I remember back in the stone age (so it seems) when the Bite was held at Greenlake. Much smaller, though traffic was still a pain. A key thing I remember (mis-remember?) was smaller portions. The purpose was to go and sample the wares from many different restaurants. Perhaps it was just the bottomless appetite of a teenaged cyclist (who would ride to the lake…a couple of times all the way from Lynnwood). But that’s my recollection. And, you know, if my memory is wrong, so be it. I still think that’s what the event should be about. Not a chance to drop $5 to then go and buy lunch from a vendor. I guess I’m greedy…I want to try everything Edmonds has to offer!

Now, let’s be clear, I’m sure I’ll be making my way down to the Taste of Edmonds this weekend. My friends with Steel Magic Northwest will be performing Saturday at 1:00 pm. Oh, and if you’re a fan of the Saturday Farmer’s Market, they’ll be on sabbatical this weekend.

Just Discovered The Fairhaven Steampunk Festival

Carl Setzer

I adore Bellingham, and come up often. Yet, I just noticed the Fairhaven Steampunk Festival. I noticed the folks walking around in costume before I saw the banner advertising the event. 

Reading over their site, it’s clearly been an annual event for at least a few years. I’ll add it to my list of geek events. It looks like fun. 

Area Cons and Updating My Geek Events Page

Carl Setzer

Driving past Everett Mall I noticed Kobe-Con coming this next weekend (July 7th – 9th). When I added them to my geek events page, I noticed all kinds of dated information (events from 2016 and worse), so I spent some time updating the page. Some key observations.

  • Not sure the status of Cour d’Alene’s Con D’alene. There is a post on their Facebook Page from January 2017, but nothing about a 2017 or beyond event. I pulled the event from the list. If anyone knows that they’re happening, drop me a note.
  • I was a little worried that Steamposium had died as their website was dead. However, a brief consultation with Google showed they’re alive and well. For some reason, they let their website expire. Looks like they’re centering their comms to their Facebook Page.
  • There’s a comicon in Yakima…YAKIMA! Central City ComiCon is in it’s third year. Just from my personal experience, I still find it hard to imagine a geek friendly event their. But it delights me to see this.
  • While looking up details on Spokane’s Lilac City Con, I discovered this Facebook Page: Spokane Geek Girls. Check them out!
  • Galacticon died an agonizing and public death…back in 2015…clearly, I need to update this page more often.
  • Geek Portland seems to stale. No updates since last June. Deep sadness.
  • Nerdy Seattle is silent, too.

Anyway, that’s the updated news on this thread.

Norwescon

Norwescon is the Pacific Northwest’s Premier Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention and one of the largest regional Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions in the United States. While maintaining a primarily literary focus, Norwescon is large enough to provide a venue for many of the other aspects of Science Fiction and Fantasy and the interests of its fans such as anime, costuming, art, gaming, and much, much more.