Olympia Time

History, politics, people of Oly WA

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Amazon attacks Olympia! edition (after a long summers break) of Olyblogosphere links

August 13, 2012 / / 0 Comments

1. One particular slice of the Return to Evergreen features Morty the Dog. Sweet.

2. Does anyone want to help out with Olynews.org? I like Olynews.org, but like a lot of small web projects around here, it suffers from people like me who fail to have a lot of energy. So, if you have energy and no particular project, why not right?

3. Accidental Naturalist reflects on the closing of Fireside Books. Or, rather, “Amazon Attacks Olympia!” MWWWAARG!!!!

From the post:

This wonderful, small, independent bookstore in downtown Olympia has been owned and operated by Jane Laclergue since 1995. Jane has many fans and friends in town, many dedicated readers, grateful authors, and fabulous staff–many sang her praises at farewell/retirement party of Jane Wednesday night. Her passion for books, her charm, her personal approach to book buying has made Fireside a favorite place of mine to buy books over the past several years. 

Though Jane is of retirement age, the closing of the Fireside Bo
okstore comes at time when fewer people seem to consider reading a priority pastime and more readers are acquiring digital books or ordering from online distributors such as Amazon.

…

Every book we buy on Amazon or other online booksellers is one less book sold at a bookstore. At the end of the month there will be one more empty store in Olympia, one less place to visit. Is Orca Books next? Our only remaining independent bookstore? What about the other used book stores tucked into our downtown? What about Barnes & Noble, our only remaining chain bookstore in the great Olympia area? Oh, and what about all the other stores that offer products that could be acquired online?

While I agree that its sad to see a local bookstore (or any type of local store) close, I don’t necessarily blame ebooks. While the newspaper column that AN links to doesn’t spell out whether Fireside has lost money (does say the recession has been hard), it does point out that Fireside lacks an even basic website.

Not to get into a long response on a link post, but I’m more inclined to believe that people who read ebooks are more likely to buy more books overall (so the one ebook for one local book think doesn’t stand up).

4. This is a very old post from a looks like dead blog, but it is so so very epic: “San Francisco Street Bakery and the Problem with the Left.” Bam!

Read on:

When I walked through the wide open door of the brightly lit establishment I was greeted by no one even though several people were scurrying about doing baker-type things. It wasn’t until I had walked across the room and taken the cream cheese from the refrigerator that a fellow with a stupid indie rock beard and wearing the tight black uniform of a Northwest leftist/anarchist/post hippie type finally took notice of me. It took him a second, seemingly, to muster up the wherewithal to tell me in his passive/aggressive way that, “Um, sir, the bakery’s not open for another half hour.” What he meant was: 

Hey weirdo, what’s wrong with you? Get the fuck out of here.

No, really what he meant was that the place wasn’t open for business yet. Eh, anyway. This post is a great example of the Olympia vs. everyone else culture shock thing. Read the entire post.

I’m not saying I’ve never been annoyed by bad customer service in Olympia, but I’m just as likely to get bad service in Yelm or Lacey or Shelton. Those aren’t homes of leftist hippy types, right? Anyway, bad service is bad service, so don’t chalk it up to people’s politics or culture.

Epic storms and hidden histories edition (Olyblogosphere for July 17, 2012)

July 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments
1. Assemblage has another one of those hidden histories of Olympia. This time, murder on Butler Cove.

2. grsshpprkm has a pretty epic take on the storm on Friday. From hours into minutes:

3. Elaine over at epersonae is back bike commuting:

Yesterday…I went a little crazy. I had PT in the morning, and decided to take the Xtracycle “just in case” I wanted to ride further towards work than usual. I rode ALL THE WAY in, 10 miles altogether from PT, with a stop at a grocery store for water & baby wipes. I was exhausted but euphoric. Riding home was somewhat more stressful. Google Maps recommended a different route coming home, and it looked feasible. However: the trail part was bumpy & buggy; I had to make a left turn across a five-lane, 45MPH road; a lot of it was bike lane on a fast busy road; I had to cross another major arterial at a crosswalk at a complicated intersection; and I hit a stretch so steep that I walked about 3 blocks. Coming up the hill the other side of downtown I was going so slow I realized I could walk faster than that. Sigh.
Still, I’m glad I did it. I know it can be done, and I know I’ll do it again. (Almost certainly NOT taking that route home again. C made a suggestion that sounded good that I’ll try next time.) Hopefully by the end of summer I’ll be riding more of the route more regularly.

4.  Not the first time someone has taken a photo of the titular cross street. But, its nice every time someone does.

This is not a Thumbs Up Experience edition (Olyblogosphere links for July 9, 2012)

July 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

1. This is Olympia. This is not a Thurston County Thumbs Up production, though it is tourism related.



2. Its fun to read the run-down of the local issues suggested to someone who hasn’t been paying attention trying to write an English paper. But, I would tend to agree with this guy.

3. Andy at Thurston Pundits (a conservative blog, to say the least) writes why he likes George Barner for county commission.

Basically I think he’s coming from an assessment that government at all levels has overstepped its bounds and is now stepping on more people than its helping. While a lot of Democrats are running away from their party to keep their office, I have a degree of certainty that this not a calculated power grab because he’s likely going to be running against the local Democrat machine on this run, and that is a strong machine here in Thurston County.

4.  I like taking random drives through the countryside. So, this video by rtpwyk is nice.

5. Given the now dead Olympia Views’ commentary on the Cooper Point Journal (implosion, Kafkaesue, sucks), Seth Vincent’s self eval on his time as CPJ staff adviser us super interesting.

Zine Review of Funwater Awesome #1 through #4

July 9, 2012 / / 0 Comments
The author’s fiancé drew the covers of #3 and #4. Very much worth pointing out.
Funwater Awesome #1 through #4
By Zach Mandeville 
About ten years ago, I was thinking about the recent construction of commercial lots in Yelm. Actually, everywhere. I remember laments about strip malls, Safeways, surrounded by parking lots, people saying the construction lacked character.

I wondered if that was an inherent quality or if character grew over time. From Zack’s point of view, the architecturally plain setting of strip malls and apartments in West Olympia are alive with his memories and emotions.

Funwater Awesome, while centered on Tumwater, is a long reflection of a young person’s attachment and relationship with urban northern Thurston County. While Zach speaks almost solely as the local being “Funwater” (Tumwater), his stories and essays are seamlessly set throughout the contiguous Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater community. His introduction and construction of characters

It’s shocking to me how much Zach reminds me of Douglas Coupland. Actually, almost the exact opposite of Douglas Coupland, a mirror image. Alex and the Giants from Funwater Awesome #2 seems the flip in mood and telling (while maintaining the same fresh style) of the doom and dread of Coupland’s Life after God. Zach’s father character in Giants could practically be Scout in the final story of Coupland’s God, years after submerging himself in the forest stream pool.

Funwater #3 and #4 (release simultaneously in summer 2009) show a lot of promise not just for the zine series, but for Zach as a writer.

The fiction elements are the opening chapters of what I hope is still a forthcoming book length book called My Brother! This work maintains the hopeful Coupland-esque elements of Funwater #1 and #2, but enough hand holds to keep a story going for the length of a book.

I’ll leave you to read the non-fiction parts of #3 and #4 when you either buy the zines or check them out from the library (information on that below). But, they’re a great mix of actually useful information and history for any resident of Tumwater. But, I’ll at least offer the best selection from the non-fiction portion of  #4:

Tumwater was born then, as they built their homes along the Deschutes River. Funwater was born when someone put a decorative curtain across a knothole in their log.

Also, one last note. Zach’s fiance (wife now?) drew the cover of #3 and #4, very much worth pointing that out. They’re great.

Here is also a nice one minute zine review of #2.

Funwater Awesome #1
To buy: zachboyofdestiny *at* gmail *dot* com
To borrow:

Funwater Awesome #2
To buy: http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3141/
To borrow:

Funwater Awesome #3
To buy: http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3142/
To borrow:

Funwater Awesome #4
To buy: http://msvalerieparkdistro.com/zines/funwater-awesome-4
To borrow:

What I really would like: Sckavone Stadium and the NW Indy Baseball League

July 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

I’ve spilled more than a few pixels in the last few weeks whining about how Olympia doesn’t have a real baseball or soccer stadium. I’ve presented options for $4 million stadiums.

But, you know, in the end, what I really want is one small $600,000 stadium to call my own.

I was down in the Portland area in the last few days, and I was able to take in a few innings of a Northwest Independent Baseball League (which I wrote about earlier here) game between the Portland Titans and Royals at Schavone Stadium. Schavone is a nice little park.


View Larger Map

Built in the early 1990s for what would today be $600,000, Sckavone sits on the site of an 1940s era wooden stadium with the same name.

Walking to the stadium through the park setting.

Sitting high in the cinder block grand stand, on aluminum bleachers.

A little better view of the grandstands and what is probably an average crowd at a NWIBL game. What you can’t see from this view is the press box up behind the grandstand and the lights. I’d imagine anything much more than this would be a full feature minor league stadium. Sckavone would, I imagine, be a proper home to a West Coast League standard team.

It was also nice to get out to a NWIBL game. The two teams I watched were obviously amateur level, but a good amateur standard. It was unmistakably hard-ball, with a handful of better than average players. It was certainly worth the time and price of admission (free). I could imagine regularly getting out to these game if I lived in the area.
But, where to put something like this around here? 
  • Where the old Steven’s Field used to be (currently hosting two softball fields with lights)? 
  • The Lacey RAC? 
  • Olympia, Capital or some other HS?
  • Yauger?

Why don’t we worry about the South Sound Mall as much as we do downtown (and I want a soccer stadium!)

July 3, 2012 / / 0 Comments




This is a post born out of this question at Mark’s Notes on the State of Olympia blog on what places in Olympia (and I assume broader urban North Thurston) are too empty for my tastes.

The almost empty parking lot in the north west corner of the mall is a forgotten little pocket of Lacey. It used be to where the Woolworth’s backed up into that side of the mall. I also remember Olympic Comics starting on that side.

Anyway, its empty now, except for maybe people learning to ride motorcycles on Sunday, the parking lot is a waste of impervious surface, reflecting the dead commercial nature of that part of Lacey.

It is also now left without its only lasting civic contribution, as the host of Lacey’s July 3rd Fireworks.

The owners of the mall seems to realize the lost potential back there. Coincidentally, they also own a few properties in the residential neighborhood right next door in Olympia. And, in 2008 CDC proposed to the city to redevelop that neighborhood into a south Tumwater-like collection of state office buildings.

The proposal didn’t get picked up by the city, but I’m sure the need is still there. It wasn’t that solid of a proposal, not even a project. Just a request for a designation that could mean state office buildings would be built there at some point.

But, for me, obviously, the best and highest use of the space would be a soccer stadium. Nothing fancy, 2,000 seats would make me more than happy.

But, what gets me about the empty back corner of west Lacey, is that while it remains very paved and very empty, no one seems to care. We wring our hands over anything relating to downtown, but this part of Lacey is all but ignored.

PCO Wars! (also update on PCO history project)

July 1, 2012 / / 0 Comments
I haven’t gotten very far on my PCO history project, only up through the 1940s with 2010 as a bookend. If I was to come up with a conclusion so far, I’d say compared to today, there have been decades of high participation in the PCO process, much higher than today. But, you can find years when our average now wasn’t out of the ball park.

What I do find striking is the years when every single PCO slot had at least one candidate. Competitive races were somewhat rare (though sometimes as high as almost 70 percent), but the full ballot implied a desire on the parties’ behalf to have as many PCOs as possible.

Anyway, seems like this year on the Republican side, the PCO races are of high interest across the Northwest again. Here are some links noting the PCO battles that are going on between Ron Paul supporters and long time Republicans.

Ridenbaugh Press: The Precinct Wars.

In Twin Falls County, the Republican Liberty Caucus ran a slew of challenges to often-veteran precinct officers, and won almost a third of the seats. The mainstream party leaders expressed relief that the challengers hadn’t won a majority, but they’d better not count on the fermet to ease off soon. Many races were competitive; one was decided by a coin flip.

Spin Control: County awash in PCO candidates

In theory, Democrats and Republicans should each elect a PCO for each of Spokane County’s 314 precincts every two years, although in many years the parties often go begging for willing candidates, and when they find one, there’s no contest for the job.

Not this year. In 105 precincts, about a third of the county’s total, there will be contested elections. Almost all, 101 races, will be for Republican positions. In one precinct, a South Hill precinct near Roosevelt Elementary School, both parties have contested PCO races with two Democrats and three Republicans.

Clark County Politics: My Mistake: a FOUR way race in the 620 precinct.

$4+ million for the arts, not for sports

June 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Let’s quickly forget about the meaningless distinction between someone that dances and receives academic credit and someone that swings a bat and does not.

Let’s also forget that our schools maintain facilities for both artistic and athletic pursuits.

Starting from here then, how do you think the public would react if the city of Olympia announced it was spending $4.4 million to upgrade a field at Yauger Park to a 1,500 seat capacity soccer stadium? Or, baseball stadium, I suppose (even though we’d never get a real minor league team here).

Under certain circumstances, a 4,000 seat baseball stadium could be had for around $4.3 million.

You think the public reaction would be supportive? Actually, I think the public reaction to a larger (much larger) athletic facility would be overall negative. Possibly very negative.


As opposed to $4.4 million spent on reburbing an existing arts center? Granted, we already own the Washington Center for the Performing Arts.

But, I think this imaginary distinction might tell you something about the nature of Olympia. Ken Balsley calls this elitism.

But, I wouldn’t go that far. We have plenty of people around here that spend a lot of their time dedicated to sports. There are plenty examples of this sort of dedication, families at Black Hills FC, hundreds of kids turning out for Olympia Bears football.

The question is, in Olympia given $4 million in public funds, the most likely end result is something for the arts, not sports. And why is that?


I’ve been pondering it for days now, and I can’t really give you a good answer.

Why Dan Bigelow would’ve campaigned against Costco edition (Olyblogosphere links for June 29, 2012)

June 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

1. From Mojourner Truth, a dern good blog post about how own of our town’s earliest settlers fought the same fight that some of us still fight today:

Replace “groceries” with “CostCo,” or for that matter, jsut keep “groceries,” and you have one of the most recent election’s main issues encapsulated. It makes me want to start a Bigelow Community Garden, where we can grow food free of the impure grocery influence. Not that I’m against liquor, mind you, but more the influence of a particular capitalist enterprise putting itself above the public good of, for example, having state store which employed a thousand or so people at a living wage, and which did not sell liquor late in the evening, when people are more likely to get in trouble with it, and which had no accounting tricks to keep the state revenue from flowing to other public goods.

2.  Coolerman4u made a home made forge. Cooler, indeed.

3. Stevenl starts up a new contest on Olyblog. Where are these places?

4. Mathias (thank goodness) is back doing RSVP, the podcast. I love podcasts. Love them a lot. I also like local things. So, listen to Mathias’ podcast, especially because he’s going to be down for the next few days. This one is especially good, featuring Faith Trimble.

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