To quote Jane, “Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. Toe of frog and three newts’ eyes… Welcome to our October Guide!” 🧙🏻 Let's dive in.
Happy Twin Peaks season to all who celebrate. (Sam J. Leeds / City Cast Seattle)
All The Fall Things
Before the sun vanishes for the rest of the year, our team has suggestions for getting outside to soak up those last illusive rays, leaf peep and then come home to make a hearty pot of soup.
- Leaf peeping: If you want to stay in the city, go check out the arboretum. The Woodland Garden is particularly stunning in the fall. Schmitz Preserve Park in West Seattle also offers 1.7 miles of hiking trails and “exceptionally large Douglas firs, hemlocks, moss-covered big leaf maple, alder and western red cedars.” If you’re open to a drive, the ride out to North Bend is full of fall colors this time of year and the pie and coffee at Twede’s Cafe (the filming location of the Double R diner in Twin Peaks) taste just right. Or, you could venture all the way to the North Cascades to see the larches in all their bright autumn glory. Just remember to stay on the trails and not to feed the animals.
- Plan your Seattle-specific halloween costume: To state the obvious, there will probably be a million Jimothys running around this year. But, if you want a deeper cut, you could try being a seal chowing down on salmon at the Ballard locks (couple’s costume anyone?), a ferry, Tim Eyman stealing an office chair, or to quote Ashley “the scariest thing I can think of, which is the timeline for the Ballard Light Rail.”
- Host a soup party: Ask all your friends to make a giant batch of their favorite soup and then divvy up portions for everyone to pop in their freezers. Ashley suggests an upgrade to the classic chicken noodle: a chicken gnocchi with extra garlic, ginger and turmeric. Liam is trying out a friend’s mom’s recipe for Ukrainian borscht. Sam is making a black garlic miso ramen and also a roasted kabocha squash soup. Send us suggestions for your favorites!
It’s prime scary movie season and resident film guy Liam Billingham has you covered. (Sam J. Leeds / City Cast Seattle)
Scare Yourself On Purpose
Jane:
- Ever wondered what the heart of the U-District’s University Ave would be like if it were car-free? Head over there between 11am and 8pm on October 10 and 17 to find out! The Ave will be shut down between 42nd and 43rd streets, and we’ll be having organizer Harrison Jerome on the podcast next week to tell us more.
- October is huge for X-Files nerds: 10/13 is X-Files Day! That’s show creator Chris Carter's birthday, as well as the birthday of fictional character Fox Mulder — and the name of the show’s production company was 1013 Productions. Rewatch an episode or two, or just look at photos from one of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s many iconic 90s shoots.
Liam:
- I’ve made a list of the scary movies to check out this month, starting from least to most intense. However, I realize we all have different stuff that scares us (for example, it could be these big blue eyes), so proceed with caution.
- Scarecrowbar presents Deep Red (Profondo Rosso). Go marvel at its prog rock score.
- Videodrome at SIFF presented by Grand Illusion! One of the greatest movies about media ever. Do not miss this.
- Five Minutes To Die at The Beacon Cinema. The Beacon shows five minutes of five films and the audience picks which one to watch. This is the Halloween edition!
- Ken Russell’s The Devils. As a young cinephile, I heard about this, and now it’s available to see at SIFF. What a time to love the movies!
- Trauma Bond at North West Film Forum. Just a series of absolutely unhinged movies. Between this and the 4k re-release of Begotten, Cole and team at NWFF are giving us the craziest collection of films imaginable. Love them for it.
Ashley:
- It’s almost time for the Jimothy Jaunt, which is a 10 mile walk around the city. It’s coming up on October 11. Urban hikers and critter lovers, UNITE!
- There's the Seattle Coffee Festival, which is interesting. That's gonna be the 24th and 25th out at Magnuson. I'm excited to check that out as I assume we get to try a ton of different local roasters and coffee shops?
- There are a lot of dog related things that pop up at the end of October, like Barktoberfest and Howl-o-ween. Plus, there’s the Pumpkin Bash at the Woodland Park Zoo. I love when they just give pumpkins to the animals and let them rip them apart. Or you can celebrate Trolloween with the Fremont Troll. It seems really fun, I’ve always wanted to go.
Sam:
- Local co-op Pidgin (who we featured back in July) is celebrating one year of being worker owned this weekend with a lineup of live music, moule frites, and other snacks and treats all evening long. There’s a suggested $15 cover going entirely to the bands. Get your ticket ahead of time here.
- Seattle Public Libraries has some amazing programming coming up this month. On Oct. 8 artist in Residence Jo Cosme has an opening reception for her photo exhibit examining the tension between Puerto Rico as a marketed paradise and Puerto Rico as a lived reality. Then, in celebration of National Book Month (October) and Banned Books Week (Oct. 4 through 10) Partners in Print is partnering with the library to host letterpress pop-ups where you can create your own posters.
- And last, but certainly not least, Seattle Underground Trans Film Festival (aka STUFF) is back for a second year with a pretty unbeatable lineup. STUFF will be running from Oct. 15-18th at Northwest Film Forum. See you there!
We are not ready to say goodbye 😭 (Sarah Wolfe / City Cast Seattle)
Saying Farewell to Jane C. Hu
In news that none of us are excited to share, our illustrious, unparalleled host Jane C. Hu will be leaving City Cast next week due to personal life circumstances. As Jane said on today’s podcast “while this has been a really hard decision to make, I'm glad to be leaving you all in the hands of this very wonderful and capable team.”
Jane has been the best captain of the good ship City Cast Seattle this little ragtag crew could ask for. And, frankly, we know this news sucks, but if you’ve enjoyed listening to Jane ask brilliant questions, share her love of fast-food themed bike rides and educate us with her science nerdery then please send some kind words her way.
We will share updates on our search for a host as we have them and if you have suggestions for who can fill Jane’s massive (metaphorically speaking) shoes, send them here.
