FRONT PAGE FODDER
This season marks seven years since the Vogue, now on 1516 11th Ave., left Belltown. Opened in 1983, the Vogue became the place for black, gothic clothes, edgy music, and possibly the strictest dress code in Seattle. The conspicuous and statuesque bartendress Shawna says the two places have similar square footage, just the ceiling is just a bit taller now. Shawna mentioned the Vogue enjoyed its 16 years in the neighborhood, and never received a noise complaint until condos were built.
The original Belltown Vogue site, 2018 1st Ave., now houses the Vain hair salon and boutique and a resident ghost.
Built circa 1908, the building was designed for horse stables on the ground floor and hotel/living quarters on the upper two floors. Monny, the glamourous Vogue janitor, researched a bit about the building's history to better understand the ghost.
Monny finds the back area, on the second and third floor, to be the highest energy spots. The ghost appears as a young woman from the late 1920s or 1930s, post-flapper. Monny mentioned someone once arbitrarily painted the melancholy apparition, never having seen it. People who had seen the ghost were overwhelmed by the similarities. Vain hairdressers have similar experiences. Over the years a host of energy workers, psychics, and faith healers have visited the site. They speculate that she may be one of the girls who worked in the hotel. It has a history as a brothel, like many early-20th-century Belltown buildings.Ê
Another former Belltown landmark that moved to Capitol Hill, Confounded Books and Hypno Video, is now closing. Owner Brad Beshaw is selling his stock of comics, literary journals, and independently published zines and graphic novels. As of April 29 he'll have more time to do all the other things he's been thinking about doing.
As an independent press vendor since 1994, Beshaw advocates the small press and the independent-author culture. He'll continue to cultivate this niche community with author talks and book readings. Joe Meno of Punk Planet Books is scheduled for Oct. 5 at a venue to be announced. (For information or to get on the email list, contact BradBeshaw@aol.com.) Beshaw enjoyed his time in Belltown; it was just a 45-percent rent increase out of nowhere that catapulted Confounded (and the Wall of Sound music store, which shared the Second Avenue storefront) up the hill in 2003. Wall of Sound, run by Jeffery Taylor and Michael Ohlenroth, is taking over the entirety of the Pine Street space as of the first of May.
Reapplying the colorful outdoor deck paint at Mama's Mexican Kitchen, on the southeast corner of Second and Bell, is the true indicator of summer. Friendly neighborhood cat and handyman Wally Marsh had the distinct honor of doing the duties. The margarita patio as some of us call it offers some of the best tables in town for a long happy hour, a quick lunch or whatever while watching the sights and sounds of Belltown.
The Pike Place Market's second annual Cheese Festival, May 12 - 14, welcomes local and international cheese. Artisanal cheese makers will set up a "cheese concourse" under the awnings on Pike Place to showcase their unique concoctions, giving out a bounty of toothpicked taste tests. Last year over 10,000 pounds of cheese were sampled.
Bedsides roving sampling, the festival will include seminars and panel discussions each day, various events, demonstrations, a children's scavenger hunt and a wine garden, both days from morning to 5 p.m. DeLaurenti's, the artisanal deli of the Market, is this year's main sponsor. For info and schedules check out seattlecheesefestival.com.
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A BELLTOWN MANIFESTO
28. Nobody's too talented or too fabulous for Seattle. Especially not you.
© 2006 Belltown Messenger