Does the Media Really Burn Your Butter?

We thought we should tell you about an event happening today in Ballard. It's the Indy Media Mini-Fest taking place at the Foundry this afternoon - Saturday, March 13th!

Being a neighborhood blogger, we believe in the power of free speech. The Indy Media Mini-Fest will have workshops during the day, a panel discussion and then some bands! And it's all free (with the exception of the after party for which you can donate according to your budget.) We have been to some parties at the Foundry and they have been epic and awesome. Here's the schedule:

3:30 pm Doors open
4:00 pm Workshop: Basic camera
5:00 pm Workshop: Basic editing
6:00 pm Workshop: Using the Web (video distribution, blogging, social media)
7:00 pm Open Panel Discussion: Becoming the Media You Want to See in the World--Three independent media veterans briefly share their experiences followed by open discussion with an emphasis on tactics and real-world practices.
9:00 pm-ish Badlands
10:00 pm-ish Koozbane
11:00 pm-ish DJ Dr. Rich Lehl and Port-a-Party

You can check them out on Facebook by clicking HERE or visit the thinksmall.org Web site. The Viking Fire Foundry is located at 4710 Ballard Ave.

See you there!

p.s. We're looking for writers who live in Ballard. If you're interested, send us an email and tell us why you think you should be a writer for Ballard Gossip Girl. The only requirement is that you live in our hood and you get out of your house every once in a while.

Matador - Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice, Well, Still Shame on You

Last week I enjoyed an afternoon at Matador with a fellow BGGer. We had a couple of drinks, some apps and watched some Olympics. When it was time to go, we did what most people do, gave two credit cards and asked them to split the bill down the middle. We each signed our slips, left a nice tip, and off we went. So imagine my surprise when later in the week I was looking at my bank statement online and there appeared not one, but TWO charges from Matador. Instead of splitting the bill between two cards, they put both charges on mine!

I probably wouldn't be so irate if this wasn't the second time they did this. On March 30, 2008 I blogged about this exact same thing!

Seriously, how hard is it to run two separate credit cards?

Google Friends and Fiber Network in Ballard?!

We would love to participate in a trial for super-high speed internet. Imagine how fast the snark would fly if we were wired for speed?

We personally hate Comcast with a vengence and would love some competition in our neck of the woods. Bring it Google!

Remember, the internet is not a truck. It's a series of tubes. And sometimes those tubes get clogged. So, bring your tube clogging solution to Ballard and let us see what you've got.

Help us campaign, Ballardites! Apply here!

Seriously, Who Goes There?

Dish D'Lish

It's time for a new post dear readers. This is the first in what we expect to be a long running series called "Seriously, Who Goes There?" This week we'll start out with one of the biggest curiosities on Ballard Avenue - Dish D'lish.

With it's cutesy apostrophized name and pricey sauces, we just can't help but wonder....seriously, who goes there?!

Hello Dear Readers! We're Back!

We missed you and we're sorry we were away. We were having a fight with our mortal enemy, DNS. You know, Domain Name Servers, those evil persnickety bastards that control web sites.

While we were away, we really wanted to tell you about the Haitiwood event this week. We hope you went. They raised $2,567! We're so proud. If you did miss it, and you want to show your support, you can attend Lovin' Haiti at the Tractor. This even will feature Tripwires, Cute Lepers, Whalebones and Demon Rind. It's on Sunday, January 31st at 8 p.m. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross for relief for Haiti. Click here for more.

We also wanted to tell you about the Magnolia Coyote. A State Fish and Wildlife agent killed the male coyote today. We're kind of sad the coyote and his bride couldn't live in peace amongst the people of Magnolia. We know one of them attacked a dog, but that still makes us sad.

And we wanted to talk about the Sunset Bowl being torn down. There have been many a night recently when we though we really wish we could head to the Sunset Bowl and belt out a few songs or roll some balls. Alas, our bowling days, much like Kingpin's hand, are in the past. Pour one out for the Sunset this weekend, folks! Keep her forever in your hearts.

It's Beard and Moustache Time Again!

Throw out your Razors!

We're so very excited to let you know that the Beard & Stache Fest is once again getting underway next month. It's a hairy contest that raises money to help out foster kids.

If you have a beardtastic face and want to compete in this wonderful non-profit event, you have one last chance. Take your hair filled face over to the Beard & Stache Web site's registration form. The photography session is TOMORROW, January 6th, in the U-District, so hurry up.

For those of you who don't have beards or groovy staches, you can participate as well by supporting the beardy contestants at a series of events in February. We have to say that we went to some of these events last year and they were tons of fun. I don't know if it's just because we happen to know last year's winner or what, but we found these stachetastic events are filled with big-drinking fun-having friendly folks. And it doesn't hurt that mustaches really tickle our fancy!

Happy New Year from BGG

Happy New Year from all your friends at Ballard Gossip Girl. Last night was fantastic and I actually woke up in bed that wasn't my own.

We wish you a peaceful, prosperous, and gossip filled 2010.

Happy New Year...now let's recover.