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Amazon Opens U Village Store & More News

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

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After the swirl of rumors, Amazon has finally announced that it will open a physical retail store–a bookstore called Amazon Books–in University Village. The store will be Amazon’s first-ever brick-and-mortar bookstore, Geekwire reports, and will “sell top-rated books that are available on Amazon’s website and also feature Amazon hardware,” all at the same price points as it does on the website. A letter to Amazon customers noted the pricing is “so you’ll never need to compare our online and in-store prices.” Amazon Books will open its U Village doors to swarms of book-loving customers today (November 3) right next to Banana Republic and across the street from Joey Kitchen.

A new survey out today by Eastlake-based Porch.com and local real estate company Redfin says that Seattle ranks 10th in the U.S. as the Best Place to Own a Home. The survey queried more than 10,000 homeowners in 11 subcategories. Along with netting the number 10 spot on the list, Seattle homeowners also ranked their city number 8 out of 67 cities for Best Climate, number 8 out of 67 cities for Healthiness, 25 for commute and interestingly a below-average 46 for security and safety. Cities with similar rankings included Miami, San Jose and Denver.

Our famous Gum Wall at Pike Place Market will receive a good cleaning, KING 5 News reports. All of the gum will be removed from the walls for the first time in 20 years and once it’s clean “people will be allowed to put gum back up again.” Steam cleaning of the wad-covered walls begins November 10 and is expected to take several days.

A new AOL Instant Messaging-inspired chat game seeks to take us all back to the pre-social media glory days of the early 2000s, Wired reports. Emily is Away, developed by Kyle Seeley, is a game that simulates the AIM chat experience (oh, how I remember cryptic away messages and assigning certain sounds to alert me when certain people were online) by letting you create a screenname and an avatar and then chat in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style with your friend, Emily. Memories.

 

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

Dance, drag, and immersive art collide in an eight-week exploration of our phone-obsessed lives, with a few surprises along the way. 

What do drag queens, smartphone addiction, art installations, and an old luggage shop have in common?  According to longtime Seattle choreographer Alana O’Farrell Rogers, a lot.  “There’s no dead time anymore,” says Rogers, explaining how the proliferation of smartphones fills the empty spaces that once served as time for rest or connection. Where we snuggled…

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Ahead of their performance at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture gala, the hip-hop pioneers talk about creative ownership, connecting with new generations, and the songs that still resonate.

The Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) will host its annual ICONS of Pop Culture Gala in Seattle on October 22, honoring five artists and institutions whose work has helped shape entertainment and culture.  This year’s honorees are martial arts and film legend Bruce Lee, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the video game franchise Halo, hip-hop pioneers…

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Drawing on childhood memories, neighborhood history, and salvaged materials, Christopher Paul Jordan’s latest show at Cornish’s Behnke Family Gallery explores how the past stays with us.

Start in the middle. It’s good advice for telling a story, and a way into Christopher Paul Jordan’s paintings. By the time you encounter them, their materials have already been something else, and who knows what they might move on to become. The Tacoma interdisciplinary artist works with salvaged objects, including screens, picture frames, canvas,…

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

WEDDING BELLS I’ve been a bit absent from this column lately, but I think I have a pretty good excuse: I got married! It’s already been three weeks since my September 19 wedding, but I’m still reflecting on the magic of the day. My fiancé, well husband now (I can’t get used to saying it!),…