Remember, remember, the 3rd of November. Come our election day… get out there and vote. That’s the most important thing you can do this month. But once you do that we’ve got some other great recommendations, including our very first movie screening!
All the Election Coverage You Need, but Were Afraid To Ask For
The most important thing you can do this month: vote (Liam Billingham / City Cast Seattle)
Struggling to make decisions about this election? We were joined by Erica C. Barnett of PubliCola to discuss election coverage, and how we’re making sense of the vibes.
- Erica: It's really important this year for people to put it in the drop box, not the mail. We cannot rely on USPS to count ballots that come in even after the deadline. So that's a whole other topic, but just put it in the drop box. There's a drop box near you!
- Sam: When I unwrapped my ballot, it came in like kind of a sleeve that had a bunch of information and one of the things on there is it lists your two closest drop boxes. So when you are voting, you can just look at that sleeve. I got kind of emotional reading through all of the information (on the) sleeve because I was like, wow, they are really trying to make it easy for you to vote. And that is not true in all parts of our country. And so I just was like, that is really beautiful that all that information is being provided to us.
If you’re registered to vote and your ballot still hasn’t arrived, you have a couple options:
- Request a replacement ballot
- Visit the King County Elections Office or a vote center
- You can also mark and print your replacement ballot online
If you do have that ballot handy, then here’s our guide to help you make informed decisions when filling it out. It has links to all of our election coverage, including conversations with:
- Anna Griffin and Joe Mizrahi about ballot initiatives and Brian Heywood, as well as a breakdown with Libby Watson of No Hate in WA state.
- Nilu Jenks and Julie Kang of District 5, Kelabe Tewolde and Jaelynn Scott of the 37th, and Hannah Sabio Howell of the 43rd. Also we talked to Nathalie Graham about Supreme Court Judges.
- Erica has recent coverage and conversations with District 5 candidates Julie Kang, Nilu Jenks, and The More We Love on 1-645,
Ballots are due on Election Day, November 3rd at 8:00 p.m. Vote early and drop it off at a box near you!
How to Properly “Get Your November On” Out in the City
We’re hosting a screening of The Parallax View at Northwest Film Forum this month! (Cole Wilder / Northwest Film Forum)
Liam:
- The most important event in November is that we, City Cast Seattle, are hosting a screening of The Parallax View at Northwest Film Forum this month! It’s an amazing paranoid thriller shot here in the PNW and on the West Coast. It includes incredible mid-70s photography of Seattle. Here’s the plot: after a presidential candidate is assassinated on the Space Needle, Pacific Northwest political reporter Joe Frady begins to suspect that the mysterious Parallax Corporation may be involved. As he investigates, others who share his suspicions start turning up dead, including his editor, Bill Rintels. Eventually, Frady uncovers a conspiracy bigger than anyone expected and must race to prevent the corporation’s next big hit as this political thriller plays out in an explosive game of cat and mouse.
- Late November is the 27th anniversary of the World Trade Organization protests here in Seattle, and Northwest Film Forum is screening WTO/99, the documentary that uses 1000 hours of archival footage to lay out the events of that day starting on November 30.
- SIFF is screening critically acclaimed Washington films Again Again and Joyless Economy as part of the PNW Awards with Seattle Film Critics Society (It is also an embarrassment of riches with international cinema at SIFF this month).
- Last, but perhaps the second most exciting thing in Seattle cinema, is the Beacon hosting a series called ‘Surplus Reality,’ focusing on the films of William Greaves, whose film Once Upon A Time in Harlem was recently finished by his son. One of my favorite filmmakers of all time.
Erica:
- I went to Osaka a month ago. I had never really delved into Japanese food. Osaka is just like the most amazing place to eat food. So I went to Onibaba recently in Japantown. Incredible. This weekend is still restaurant week, so I'm gonna check out Secret Fort in Wallingford, which is an Izakaya place participating in restaurant week, which goes through the 31st, so you can still squeak in under the wire on that one.
- Son Volt at the Crocodile. I am a young Gen Xer, and so if people don't know who that is, they're one of the groups that along with Wilco broke off from Uncle Tupelo in the 90s.
- The Renegade Craft Fair at Magnuson Park November 20 -22. The Inconvenience Store downtown. It’s a project by the same people that did the IKEA store S-T-O-R, where they're sort of making time-intensive, labor-intensive, artistic versions of consumer products and setting it up like a store. So this one replicates a 7-Eleven that used to be there.
Ashley:
- I'm gonna lean into the weird this month with a UFO NW talk that's happening at McMenamins in Bothell. And a DB Cooper conference taking place down in Vancouver, WA. Yes these are both technically out of the city, but how can you resist a little excitement and mystery in a very sleepy month?
- We've got two home games in November for the Seattle Seahawks, 11/2 against the Bears and 11/8 against the Cardinals. Tickets are hardly ever cheap, but watching an NFL game live (especially at Lumen Field) is such a cool experience. I'm gonna go to at least one of those games, but mostly to snag one of these mini cooler throwback cups.
- Is it too late to sign up for the Seattle Marathon? There's a kids version too, but I doubt they'll let someone in their 30s participate so I might have to sit this one out along with Liam.
Sam:
- I feel like there's a lot of new spots that have opened that I want to check out for places to eat. I've been hearing a lot about Doris in Pioneer Square. It's a small hole in the wall spot. It's from the same chef who was involved with Cafe Suliman and also Homer.
- Cafe Lolo is another really sweet spot that really focuses on locally grown grains. And there's an event coming up at Town Hall, Seattle in November that's called Ingrained is Our Story. They're focusing on locally grown. grains and food sovereignty and they're serving like a meal as part of the event and Cafe Lolo is one of the two like restaurants that's involved in making it happen. So if you don't want to go to the restaurant itself, you go to Town Hall and check that out instead.
- I'm also really excited about Waca Maya. It's in the Crown Hill area and it's Venezuelan food.
The Perfect November Vibes
Soups aren't the only thing on the menu this month! (Ashley Smith / City Cast Seattle)
November has a strong ‘let’s put this off until the New Year’ vibe. What are you planning on circling back to in 2027?
- Erica: I've been avoiding awkward conversations with my family for about thirty years now, so I'm not gonna stop that streak anytime soon.
- Liam: I’m trying to put off seasonal depression, so I'll be getting out as much as I can.
- Sam: So one of the things that I told myself I was gonna do this year was more creative writing. I did learn that Left Bank Books has a bi-monthly writers meetup that's every first and third Wednesday of the month. and I feel like getting out of the house to Liam's point and going somewhere where people are also working on a goal that is similar to yours is a very useful accountability way of getting something done. So if you, like me, are trying to write more, maybe check that out.
How are we staying warm this month?
- Erica: I've been cold since I moved here in 2001. I do like sort of time intensive, tedious type of soups like pho and ramen. I don't make my own noodles…it's the kind of thing that I can see myself doing 'cause I do like fermentation and you know, I do a lot of kind of tedious fiddly things 'cause I just find it meditative. But yeah, I mean so I'll make a soup that takes all day that keeps the kitchen warm.
- Liam: Hot chocolate, flannel, I like the idea of puttering and cooking. Like I definitely putter. As a dad now, puttering is a big part of the Saturday activity.
- Ashley: I love the rain and cold so I’m not really worried about staying warm personally, but happy to knit stuff for my friends! Obviously saunas aren't my thing, but there's that floating one on Lake Union that looks really cool. I have actually done the hot tub boats several times because when someone comes to visit, they're cold and want to check it out. By the end of the two hours, I'm usually the only one sitting on top of the boat trying to cool down. It really is a fun experience though!
