City Hall
Techno-Hippie Triumph
Today's pick:
1. There's an information session tonight at Washington Hall, the historic Central District building that was purchased last year by non-profit developer Historic Seattle (which was involved in developing Town Hall, along with about 15 other smaller building projects).
Washington Hall was built a hundred years ago, and the space, built by the Danish Brotherhood, has been used as a concert hall and community hub for most of its history. Historic Seattle (and King County's 4Culture office) have been detailing their plans for the building at these community meetings, and will continue to discuss what's in store Washington Hall this evening.
The basic story is that Historic Seattle will continue renovations through February, and then open Washington Hall as a performance space when they're done.
Tonight at 5:30 pm. At Washington Hall (153 14th Ave).
On tomorrow's calendar:
1. In his heyday, Jaron Lanier (who is reading from his new book, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, tomorrow at Town Hall) was known as the creator of "virtual reality"—he had people put on a suit, or goggles or something, and then transported them into a computerized environment where they could imagine themselves taller, or as a dog, or a triangle.
He really freaked people out in the 1980s (in a moment of techno-hippie triumph, the Grateful Dead used his virtual reality glove to make one of their music videos) but, in the 90s, his virtual reality enterprise failed.
Since then, Lanier, who is imposing with dredlocks and looks like a soft-spoken Wookiee, has become something of a shaman, speaking to the spirits of the technological nexus and writing internet columns and lectures (he also specializes in playing 7,000-year-old wood instruments).
The crux of his sermons involve the idea that Google and Facebook sponge all the idiosyncrasies out of the internet, and that open-source projects like Linux and Wikipedia are propagating a "hive mind."
He's the nemesis of blog comments and smart advertising and Thomas Friedman. You Are Not a Gadget is a collection of his most recent writings.
Tomorrow at 7:30 pm. Town Hall (1119 Eighth Ave), $5.
2 The art the City of Seattle buys for its employees is surprisingly good—run of the mill pieces (a watercolor of Mt. Rainier, a melancholy Ballard bridge) sit next to pieces that play more with the office aesthetic, reaching into darker places with varying degrees of overtness—a towering Godzilla tearing at the Monorail, or a gaping face hidden in an otherwise-safe grid of bright blues.
The third installment of the City's newest purchases for Seattle City Light opened a couple weeks ago. The City spent $116,789 from the 1 Percent For Art Fund, which dedicates one percent of the budget for specified projects to purchasing new art works.
This final exhibition runs til April 12. At the 3rd floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave. Open from 5 am to 7 pm.
3. The City Council is holding another public hearing of its Public Safety and Education Committee tomorrow night, this time to talk police accountability (the committee met last week to discuss the guidelines for the process for choosing the next police chief, and King County's ownership of the city's jails).
Tonight's meeting is being administered by the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board, the civilian panel that evaluates the City's police accountability process.
The point of the meeting is for council members to hear public testimony on the effectiveness of the City's police accountability process before they begin this year's negotiations on the Seattle Police Officer's Guild 2011 contract.
Tomorrow evening at 5:30 pm, at the City Council Chambers in City Hall (600 4th Ave, 2nd Floor).
1. There's an information session tonight at Washington Hall, the historic Central District building that was purchased last year by non-profit developer Historic Seattle (which was involved in developing Town Hall, along with about 15 other smaller building projects).
Washington Hall was built a hundred years ago, and the space, built by the Danish Brotherhood, has been used as a concert hall and community hub for most of its history. Historic Seattle (and King County's 4Culture office) have been detailing their plans for the building at these community meetings, and will continue to discuss what's in store Washington Hall this evening.
The basic story is that Historic Seattle will continue renovations through February, and then open Washington Hall as a performance space when they're done.
Tonight at 5:30 pm. At Washington Hall (153 14th Ave).
On tomorrow's calendar:
1. In his heyday, Jaron Lanier (who is reading from his new book, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, tomorrow at Town Hall) was known as the creator of "virtual reality"—he had people put on a suit, or goggles or something, and then transported them into a computerized environment where they could imagine themselves taller, or as a dog, or a triangle.
He really freaked people out in the 1980s (in a moment of techno-hippie triumph, the Grateful Dead used his virtual reality glove to make one of their music videos) but, in the 90s, his virtual reality enterprise failed.
Since then, Lanier, who is imposing with dredlocks and looks like a soft-spoken Wookiee, has become something of a shaman, speaking to the spirits of the technological nexus and writing internet columns and lectures (he also specializes in playing 7,000-year-old wood instruments).
The crux of his sermons involve the idea that Google and Facebook sponge all the idiosyncrasies out of the internet, and that open-source projects like Linux and Wikipedia are propagating a "hive mind."
He's the nemesis of blog comments and smart advertising and Thomas Friedman. You Are Not a Gadget is a collection of his most recent writings.
Tomorrow at 7:30 pm. Town Hall (1119 Eighth Ave), $5.
2 The art the City of Seattle buys for its employees is surprisingly good—run of the mill pieces (a watercolor of Mt. Rainier, a melancholy Ballard bridge) sit next to pieces that play more with the office aesthetic, reaching into darker places with varying degrees of overtness—a towering Godzilla tearing at the Monorail, or a gaping face hidden in an otherwise-safe grid of bright blues.
The third installment of the City's newest purchases for Seattle City Light opened a couple weeks ago. The City spent $116,789 from the 1 Percent For Art Fund, which dedicates one percent of the budget for specified projects to purchasing new art works.
This final exhibition runs til April 12. At the 3rd floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave. Open from 5 am to 7 pm.
3. The City Council is holding another public hearing of its Public Safety and Education Committee tomorrow night, this time to talk police accountability (the committee met last week to discuss the guidelines for the process for choosing the next police chief, and King County's ownership of the city's jails).
Tonight's meeting is being administered by the Office of Professional Accountability Review Board, the civilian panel that evaluates the City's police accountability process.
The point of the meeting is for council members to hear public testimony on the effectiveness of the City's police accountability process before they begin this year's negotiations on the Seattle Police Officer's Guild 2011 contract.
Tomorrow evening at 5:30 pm, at the City Council Chambers in City Hall (600 4th Ave, 2nd Floor).
