REMINDER: The first annual Poverty Bay Blues & Brews Festival runs Saturday (Sept. 25th), from Noon – 7pm at Des Moines Beach Park, with lots of great live music and microbrews.

It’ll be held at Des Moines Beach Park, and 100% of the net proceeds will support the Des Moines Rotary’s Music4Life program, which is aimed at expanding music to youth in our local schools.

Enjoy a day filled with local blues from five different bands, along with a variety of fine brews from 10-15 local breweries.

To complement your blues and brews, they’ll be barbecuing Bratwurst and B&E Market’s famous Tri-Tip for your dining enjoyment.

This is an outdoor event and will be held rain or shine (we hear that it’s going to be perfect weather!), you must be 21 or older to attend and no pets will be allowed inside the event. No outside food or beverages allowed. Low lawn chairs and picnic blankets allowed. There will be plenty of free parking in the Des Moines Marina. While you are in town, you might want to visit the Des Moines Farmer’s Market and enjoy the Poverty Bay Arts Festival. Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the gate. Cash only at the event; credit cards will not be accepted.

Tickets for the Poverty Bay Blues and Brews Fest can be purchased at CorkyCellars (206) 824-9462, 99 Bottles (253) 838-2558 or Des Moines Drug (206) 878-2345, through Rotary Club members, and, we believe, at the gate.

Here’s the musical line-up:

Noon – 12:45pm: Cold Shot Band

1:15 – 2:15pm: Stacy Jones Band

2:45 – 3:30pm: Rod Cook

4:00 – 5:00pm: Becki Sue and her Big Rockin’ Daddies

5:30 – 7:00pm: Dudley Taft

Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect – some videos of Becki Sue and her Big Rockin’ Daddies, who will play from 4pm – 5pm:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to buy Tickets to the Blues & Brews Festival.

The mailman delivered our latest gizmo gadget (a state of the art Ultra Flip HD Camera) a few weeks back and we thought “what the flip should we do with this ding-dang newfangled thingamabob?”

Out of the red, white and blue, it occurred to us that our third President, one Thomas Jefferson, who loved new gadgets and devices and inventions and discoveries, would have gotten a kick out of this powerful little digital camera, the size of a deck of cards, not much smaller than a hand-held booklet-sized copy of what is known as the Declaration of Independence.

It was 234 years ago right now, that our Founders were “cutting and pasting” their final draft of what became known as that treasured and precious document, the Declaration of Independence, whose primary author was the then 33 year-old future President Jefferson.

So someone said:

“Let’s take our camera around Normandy Park and Burien (and Des Moines and White Center) and ask our fellow neighbors and friends and passersby to read aloud the Declaration into our new little camera, piece the quotes together into one colorful video, and release it to the nation and world on our various neighborhood news blogs.”

And so we did – well actually Mark Neuman did, then Scott Schaefer edited it – see if you can find yourself, or a friend or two:

Click here to view the embedded video.

(…at the end of the video, look for some amusing outtakes as well as terrific “Happy Birthday USA!” salutations)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY NORMANDY PARK!

Megan Joy, left, is Paige and Highline School District Superintendent John Welch is the "cool" Principal Higgens in "The Day My Parents Became Cool."

The world premiere for area resident Steve Edmiston’s original short comedy film “The Day My Parents Became Cool” is set for the Sedona International Film Festival on Wednesday, February 25.

A second showing—on the festival’s biggest day—will be Saturday, February 28.

Here’s a sneak peek at the well-produced trailer – see if you recognize any of the locations used:

The short has also been selected by the International Family Film Festival, and will play there on Thursday, Feb. 26th and Sunday March 1st in Hollywood.

“The Day My Parents Became Cool” is a comedic short about a group of teenagers who wake up one morning to find that adults have adopted teen fashion, complete with tattoos, body piercings, sagging jeans and lots of ‘tude. Edmiston describes the film as “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Patrick Schweiss, Executive Director of the Sedona International Film Festival, says “I was HOWLING through it (especially having an 11-year-old and 7-year-old myself)…I could totally relate.”

Some other reviews of the film we found on the film’s website:

“… a slick-looking comedy that goes beyond image and explores how parents and their kids relate..”
- Richard Seven, The Seattle Times

“…a cute, family-safe comedy about high school students’ reactions when all grown-ups (including parents and teachers) suddenly change their looks and personalities to rival that of the most outrageously-dressed teen. Solidly acted and directed, with a fun script, great original music, all beautifully shot in HD…”
- Scott Schaefer, B-Town Blog

“… a bizarre world where all of the adults on the entire planet have literally “become cool” and desire to look and act just like their teenage kids, which provides both comedy and horror.”
- Steve Clare, Prost Amerika Film

“…the story of a cosmic catastrophe that causes all adults on the planet to become “cool,” adopting teen fashion and body image… high school students are more than just another brick in the wall.”
- Lynsi Burton, Seattle Post Intelligencer

More than 100 students from Highline, Mount Rainier, and Federal Way high schools were involved with the movie as extras, script consultants, and production assistants. A band formed by Federal Way high school students composed and recorded music for the movie’s soundtrack. And even Highline School District Superintendent John Welch got “cool,” playing the altered Principal Higgens in dyed hair and anarchy-styled leather jacket.

The movie was shot at Highline High School in Burien and a home in Normandy Park.

The Day My Parents Became Cool was made on an extremely low budget, funded by contributions from community members and grants from King County 4Culture, the City of Burien and the Federal Way Arts Commission.

“This film literally started out as an idea for a neighborhood home movie for my daughters, but the script quickly turned into a much larger idea,” says Edmiston. “We couldn’t have stepped up to a project of this size without the support of the schools, the cities, and local arts community.”

Other films written by Steve Edmiston include The Spy and the Sparrow and A Relative Thing.

For more information about the film, including cast and crew list, go to www.thedaymyparentsbecamecool.com.

And this Friday (Feb. 6th), Eddie and his band will be playing it at a tribute to Diamond in LA. Other bands on the bill include Coldplay, Foo Fighters, and Tim McGraw, among others

Read the full story here.

Here’s a video we found of Los Volcanes on MySpace:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This Father’s Day, why not help a needy dog out and make Dad happy at the same time by adopting a very unique canine named Spike:

Go to Dan The Sausageman’s website (hey, he’s a local guy and this video was locally produced) and order now, and you’ll receive a FREE 9-Ounce Summer Sausage!

CREDITS:

• Written/Directed by Scott Schaefer
• Voiceover by Henry Dardenne