Hippies In Ballard

Ballard Sunday Markets...Festivals...Street Fair

Check out Sustainable Ballard festival today until 5 p.m. It's pretty awesome and well organized for a hippie fest. We got a free light bulb. Oh, and we 'heart' them because of their bike rack contest.

There was a guy dressed up in plastic bags demonstrating how many bags Seattle uses each day/month/year. It was pretty funny.

We are particularly fond of the Eat Local Now people, too. Go check it.

Aaaarrrrrrrrhh Ya Ready For Talk Like A Pirate Day?

Aye, Mateys!!

We at BGG started International Talk Like a Pirate Day off by making ourselves a nice piece of Pirate Toast.

What? You don't have a Pirate Toast Maker? Well, we recommend you go to AAAAAAARRRRRRchie McFee in Ballard before it walks the plank.

They do have a quite impressive collection of Pirate-y Stuff.

Go forth, ye landlubbering sea wenches and trolls and speak ye like a Pirate!! A Pint of Rum usually helps with our Pirate Tongue.

GoodBye Archie McPhee!

Looks like this one is true.

They lost their lease.

It's a sad day for Ballard.

This is Not a Joke!

Ladies and Gents! Children of the Neighborhood!

The BGG was at Petco today buying food for the pets that run our household when we saw a sign advertising what may be perhaps the most exciting thing to happen north of 85th since we were at The Crown Hill Pub and witnessed table toppling bar fight. We are not kidding.

It's the Hamster Ball Derby!

How do you get your Hamsters ready for the Hamster Ball Derby? We picked up an information card and see that there is an advised training schedule for the hamsters. Evidently, ideal training for our hamster (if we actually had one) involves 15 minutes of supervised ball work every other day with two days rest in a row each week.

Look at this little guy!





I did notice on the sign that gerbils, mice and rats can participate in the derby but they must be in appropriate size balls! (Okay, we just wanted to say balls and gerbils in the same sentence.) And you have to bring your own ball. God, we wish we had a hamster.

I am LEIF

...and I was here first, Mr. Columbus.

If you haven't been down to see Leif Erickson on his new pedestal at the marina, now is the time. He's looking pretty good these days!

And if you wanted to help out his marketing, preservation and promotional campaign you can contact LEIF directly via email at leif@leiferikson.org.

Who is LEIF?

According to their web site, "LEIF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study, education, and promotion of Leif Erikson as the first recorded European to come to America, and of Scandinavian culture and connections between Scandinavians and Americans."

Is there a Cat Stuck in That Tree?

Seattle Fire at Work on Saturday


Here kitty kitty kitty....oh, wait. No cat in the tree. Guess we're just practicing our ladder skills at Sunset Hill Park.

Ballard Sip & Ship - It's the Sh*t

Some of the BGG found ourselves in need of some shipping this weekend. Although we used to ship all kinds of stuff around the country and are very experienced at mailing, we recently learned a few things about shipping boxes that we did not know! Being benevolently kind, we thought we would share our experience with you in case you ever need to mail a box in Ballard.

1. The United States Post Office will not take a box that has any bar codes or bar code stickers. Even if the bar codes are for other shipping companies like UPS or FedEx. Crossing out the bar codes with a Sharpie isn't good enough, you will have to scratch, peel and scrape the stickers off. This is especially annoying if you are trying to do it after you have lugged a heavy box to the P.O. and are at the counter and the person at the counter offers no assistance or suggestions other than, "You can't ship that box."

2. The United States Post Office will not take boxes that were originally used to ship wine, beer or alcohol. So, if you get a free box from the liquor store, FORGET IT! They will not let you ship it. Even if, like with the bar codes, you cross off all mentions of booze from the outside of the box. You can get around this by taking your box home, wrapping it in brown paper, taping it up and re-addressing it. Just treat that liquor box like porn and wrap it up in a discreet brown jacket. Because the government is really serious about booze and porn.

3. The U.S.P.S no longer offers free tape, free shipping labels, good customer service or a competitive business model. But hey, it's your government at work.

4. If you want to take a box to Ballard Sip and Ship, which happens to be Open Every Day (unlike our friends at the U.S.P.S) they will let you know the fastest or cheapest way for your package to be delivered. They'll ship UPS, FedEx, DHL or USPS. Really, why would you go anywhere else? And the people who work there are friendly, helpful, cute and nice. Oh, and you can get coffee and great Ballard Gear while you're there.