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This Gossip Girl received this email the other day.
I love re-soul, so count me in!


This is a test of the RE-SOUL broadcast system... announcing our first ever "secret password" sale.
From June 25th though July 4th, if you mention the secret password "RE-SOUL ROCKS!" you will receive 25% off your purchase of almost anything in stock at re-souL. **
The secret password expires July 4th, 2008!


Happy Shopping!

Manning's & Denny's

Manning's aka Denny's is now gone, with the brisk movements of the mechanical the building was leveled in a little over an hour. There are some pictures and video on our friend's blog at http://www.myballard.com/. This is not a rant, nor is it gossip but once again a feeling of disappointment as the character of Ballard is being swallowed up by cookie cutter Starbutecture. Denny's served a purpose in Ballard, it was affordable (especially true for the senior population in Ballard), had parking, and open 24hrs. It also was a familiar building to everyone in the city. The gateway to Ballard. Who ever would have thought that an old Denny's would create such a stir, but it didn't matter if you were from Crown Hill, Beacon Hill, or Medina you know the Denny's on 15th & Market.

The Benaroya's will now build a new building on this land where up until 7am a googie masterpiece stood. I hope they will try to build something that serves as a landmark to everyone visiting Ballard. I hope they think about the importance of this gateway piece of land they now will develop, and not provide us with another beige box.

Design the Perfect Rack

We're not talking about the after school project of those dorks in Weird Science, but about Sustainable Ballard's contest to design a winning bicycle rack. There's hope for all of you budding designers who couldn't make it on Project Runway, Trading Spaces or Design Star.

The design contest team is hosting a pretty cool contest to solicit designs for a new type of bike rack - even some that will take up a parking space! Portland is doing it, so we'd better jump on that band wagon. Winning rack designs will be constructed by local metal artists. We just wanted to say Winning Rack again.

Individual jumps from NOMA roof.

I heard this evening that a gentleman between the ages of 45-50 jumped from the roof of NOMA this morning. This is a true tragedy. I was informed that he was taken to Harborview.

Does anyone have any additional information?

"Breaking" News - Truck drives into side of bus

At approximately 5:35 this evening, a truck pulled out of the Lock Vista parking lot on 56th and into the side of the Metro 17 Express, originally hitting just behind the forward doors as can be seen in the photo and scraping along the side as the bus came to a complete stop. Initial indications are that no one was injured since the bus was barely moving at the time, a lucky break for the many people standing during the ride who could easily have been knocked off balance.

This gossip girl witnessed the accident from inside the bus, where it sounded like the front end of the white truck was being shaved off the completely. The driver of the pickup was overheard saying something about his brakes having issues.
Judging from previous damage to his vehicle, this might not be the first time these issues have come up. I'm sure there will be an investigation by Metro, but I would not anticipate any blame being directed towards the bus driver. In addition to passengers, another Metro driver witnessed the incident from across the parking lot and was quickly at the scene. We'll keep you updated if we hear further information. For now we're just glad that everyone was alright.

Curtains for Zayda Buddy's?

We heard a rumor that Zayda Buddy's will be closing it's doors soon. Is Ballard not willing to shell out for swilly Midwest beer and greasy hot dish? Or is it just a smear campaign by neighboring restaurateurs?

Update: According to an intrepid reader, someone there told them that no, they aren't shutting down. Well, in this case, it really is just another neighborhood land owner/restaurateur bad mouthing them. Boo! Shame on him. Sounds like this dish was not so delish if you get my drift.

We also heard that Monkey Bridge has been closed recently at odd times like 6 p.m. on Thursday. What's up with that?

Update: And the MB is fine, so go get some Pho!

The Best Gossip of the Week! The Sun Was Spotted in Ballard

If you missed it look out your window. This BGG was on the porch of the OP tonight and low and behold the sun appeared. Cherish it Ballard! It could be another two weeks until it appears again.

Sushi in September

Confidential whispers have confirmed that the hot new sushi joint going in on Ballard Ave is scheduled to be opening in September. We're ready now since it already feels like fall. We know who is opening it, the proposed name and more salacious details but we're not telling....yet.

Sex and The Bay

Is it just me or does the Majestic Bay play children's movies nearly exclusively? Yes, there are lots of kids and families in Ballard, but come on. In the spirit of full disclosure while we regularly see nearly every movie they show including the kid's movies, we were just hoping they would be playing Sex and The City. Oh, well. The Ballard Gossip Girls will have to leave the hood to catch this summer treat.

I don't think it's just me: They are currently showing Narnia, Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda. Kid's Movie Trifecta.