Beacon Hill’s own Tess Martin, a multi-faceted animator who’s been featured at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), presents an evening of animated shorts on Saturday, August 3, at 4 p.m. at Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum.

The show, curated by Martin and titled Strange Creatures: Contemporary Independent Animation From Seattle, features ten short subjects from seven local animators, all members of the Seattle Experimental Animation Team, and all focused — for the purposes of this show — on animal and/or nature themes.

The best-known artist in the show is probably Seattle native Bruce Bickford. Mr. Bickford made several clay animations for Frank Zappa and is featured in his own documentary, Monster Road, named for an actual road in his old neighborhood. A longtime master in clay, Bickford’s been working more recently in pencil animation. The show features an excerpt from a pencil-drawn work-in-progress, Dream Of A Beatnik Poet.

Ms. Martin included two of her own works: The Whale Story, animated on a 16-foot wall at Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park, and They Look Right Through You, a mediation on the difficulties of understanding house pets, shot using marker-on-glass animation.

Webster Crowell presents a coming-attraction teaser for his Rocketmen project, an old-style segmented movie serial about government sentinels left behind by a changing world, waiting for their chance to shine anew. Drew Christie’s Song Of The Spindle features a heated debate between a man and a whale on the subject of who’s really the smartest species on Earth.

Christie also contributes Hi! I’m A Nutria, shot for the New York Times, about a rodent who’s arrived and wants to go native. Britta Johnson’s Crashing Waves explores the psychological travails of two shipwreck survivors washed up on a desert island. Are they controlling nature, or are they losing their exhausted minds?

Clyde Petersen’s Harsh Tokes And Bong Jokes takes us back to the agony, the ecstasy, and the parts perhaps better forgotten, of young people growing up queer in 1990s Seattle. Stefan Gruber looks at slightly younger people in his Edible Rocks short, the story of the animator playing a prank on his baby brother.

Another Britta Johnson work, King Kong Kitchie Kitchie Ki-Me-Oh, concludes the program, using watercolors to depict the courtship of a frog and a mouse. The soundtrack song is by Laura Veirs, featuring the banjo of Bela Fleck.

Each guest will receive a zine program designed by Seattle cartoonist Marc Palm, featuring portraits of the filmmakers by comic artist Kelly Froh.

The screening takes place on Saturday, August 3, at 4:00 p.m. at the Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $6 for Film Forum members, and $7 for seniors, children under 12 and students with valid photo ID. Tickets may be purchased online at the Film Forum website.

For more information, consult the Experimental Animation page.

We wrote on June 7 that the Plaza Roberto Maestas design review meeting had been delayed. Unfortunately, it’s been delayed again. Kate Gill de la Garza of the Beacon Development Group wrote to tell us:

It turns out that our DPD planner is now on vacation for the date that we initially rescheduled our new meeting for (July 23rd). Because it is in the neighborhood’s, project’s and Owner’s best interest to have the same land use planner throughout the design review process (makes for continuity and better tracking of feedback), we have to reschedule once again to August 13th at 6:30pm at Wellspring Family Services, 1900 Rainier Avenue South..

We want to apologize in advance for any confusion that this has or will cause. This change was beyond our control and we will do everything we can to maximize neighborhood notice for the August meeting. Because this is a substantial project with a variety of programs and design approaches to both the private (residential) and public spaces (plaza, etc.) we fully expect that we will have at least two, if not three, design review presentations – so there should be ample opportunity this fall for people to weigh in if they cannot make this initial meeting in August. As always, we welcome feedback via e-mail or telephone calls as well for anyone that cannot make the meeting.

Again, we apologize for this mix-up and hope to see people in August! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kate Gill de la Garza may be reached at 206-860-2491 ext. 202 or at kated@beacondevgroup.com.

Last night was the Beacon Bards poetry event, but it’s not the only poetic activity on the Hill this week. Tonight, November 15 at 6 p.m., the poetry moves to El Centro de la Raza, where Mexican-American poet Raúl Sánchez will read from his debut chapbook, All Our Brown-Skinned Angels. There will also be a book signing after the poetry reading.

The event is free, but if you are interested in attending, please RSVP to execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org or at 206-957-4605.

Here are some lines from a poem in All Our Brown-Skinned Angels, “My Father Was a Bracero”:

He didn’t want me to live
by my strong back, strong arms
but by my words

Neighbor Claudia writes,

This bike was stolen out of our yard on Friday night 11/9/12. My housemate is very distraught and I was hoping that the good good people of Beacon Hill could keep an eye out for it?

Here are the details on it.
The paniers were not on it.
Steel frame, carbon fork.
good quality accessories and parts.
Old Man Mountain rack, rigged up nice.
Rocky Mountain frame, No stickers.
Little Canadian flag sticker on frame.

Please contact claudia.loves.food@gmail.com if you can help.

The Station has announced their first annual pumpkin carving contest, starting today and running until October 31. Bring in a carved pumpkin, or carve it on the Station’s back porch. Pumpkins will be displayed in back on the porch. The winner, as determined by The Station employees, will receive a free pound of coffee beans and a coffee drink of his or her choice.

“Holy porch swing! At Jefferson Park you and yours
can have fun looking behind my doors
and peeking into my windows to see what I adore.”
— from the Blue House website

If you see a Victorian house moving around the streets of Beacon Hill near Jefferson Park this weekend, don’t be alarmed. It’s the Blue House, a “a spirited citywide folly celebrating home and stewardship” — actually, a mobile artwork about energy conservation and sustainability with accompanying singing bears and gnomes, coming to the neighborhood on Sunday for the work’s “housewarming party.”

Lucia Neare’s Theatrical Wonders’ “There’s No Place Like Home” show is 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, October 21 at Jefferson Park. The performance is free. The 13’9″ tall Blue House artwork was created to celebrate home stewardship through energy conservation, to recognize Seattle City Light and Community Power Works, and to bring awareness to the city’s energy conservation programs. The project was funded through City Light’s 1% for Art. The house, which gets around town on an alternative energy truck, will be visiting other neighborhoods including Seattle Center and Green Lake before the end of the year.

Find out more at the Blue House website or Facebook page.

Seattle Police report that multiple shots were fired in the area of 15th Avenue South and South Walker Street on Friday evening at about 6:45 p.m.

According to preliminary investigation the suspect, described as a black male, 25-30, with short dark hair and a medium or husky build, wearing a green t-shirt, was apparently walking on the sidewalk when he fired at the victim, who was getting in his SUV along with his family. (The two are believed to know each other.) No one was hit, but several vehicles and a stop sign were damaged by the victim’s SUV while he fled the scene, and one parked car was struck by a bullet. 

Detectives from the Gang Unit are investigating. More information is at the SPD Blotter.