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Return of the ‘R’
The big red Rainier R regains its throne
This article originally appeared in the November 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
!–paging_filter–pLongtime Seattleites remember it as a day of infamy: July 3, 2000, when the iconic neon R atop the Rainier Brewery was wrenched from its nearly-50-year perch and replaced with—egads—a neon green T, marking the building as the new home of Tully’s Coffee. But drivers who’ve spent the past 13 years cursing the glowing green initial hovering over I-5 can finally stop gnashing their teeth: the 12-foot-tall red R returns on October 24. It’s actually a facsimile—the original R remains in the atrium at the Museum of History Industry—but even a simulacrum is satisfying. “The replacement of the ‘R’ with the ‘T’ some 13 years ago was a mistake,” said Michael Avenatti, the new chair of Tully’s, in a press release. “That part of the Seattle skyline has always truly belonged to the ‘R.’” Right as rain./p
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Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…
Studio Sessions: Ling Chun
The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…