Best Place to Find A Dungeon Master”It’s an escape from normal life,”

Best Place to Find A Dungeon Master”It’s an escape from normal life,” says Jon Kinarthy, organizer of the Seattle Dungeons and Dragons Meetup Group. “In D&D, people experience their dreams. People experience characters that can fly through the air, resort to violence to solve their problems, be invulnerable, and save the world.” By weekday a software jockey, by weekend Kinarthy calls himself a Storyteller (another term for the Dungeon Master who leads the game). With 350 members in his group, it’s the largest D&D group on www.meetup.com. The gamers regularly meet at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park and sometimes the games last up to six hours. “Sometimes people get dressed up,” says Kinarthy. “Someone might wear a funny hat. But D&D keeps it cerebral.” A $1 donation is optional, but Kinarthy says his is the only major group in Seattle that’s free to join. And if you see them around, pull up a chair. “Definitely don’t be afraid to interrupt and ask questions,” Kinarthy offers. “Everyone was new once.”—Katie Beckerdnd.meetup.com/192. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., 206-366-3333, Lake Forest Park, www.thirdplacebooks.com.Best Park MakeoverPossibly one of the shadiest places to spend your time on Capitol Hill, CAL ANDERSON PARK (known as Lincoln Park until last year) has undergone one hell of a Cinderella transformation. The sparkling new pavement, awe-inspiring fountain, and glossy playground equipment scream suburbia. But walls absent of graffiti and nary a drug dealer in sight make the park’s $1.1 million revamp (with more investment planned) absolutely worthwhile. Relax for a bit and play some chess, or take a whirl on the shiny new swing sets, or cool your feet in the beautiful Japanese-inspired fountain. Named for the district’s pioneering gay Democratic legislator (1948–1995), the park has become an attraction for families of all descriptions living in all quarters of the city. —Tiffany Wan1635 11th Ave. S., 206-684-4075, www.seattle.gov/parks.Best New Downtown TowerFor Lesser Seattleites, sparkly new skyscrapers are the bane of existence, a surefire signal that our once humble port city has gone Bay Area gaga. Yet when viewed from a Bainbridge ferry at sunset, there’s no denying that the high-tech, 42-story Washington Mutual Center, designed by Seattle firm NBBJ, greatly improves the Seattle skyline. (The attached First Avenue–facing Seattle Art Museum addition is the work of Portland’s Brad Cloepfil.) For once, it’s nice to see a bank actually spending some of all that money on a thing of beauty.—Mike Seely1301 Second Ave., 206-461-2000, www.wamu.com.Best Nursery for a Family OutingSeattle is blessed with many fine garden shops, but SWANSON’S, on the north side of Ballard, is the best when you have your own sprouts in tow. At the entrance, an old red tractor begs to be climbed on. Inside, a colorful playhouse beckons. Sit your little ones in a red wagon, and pull them around the grounds. Greenhouses, gazebos, and rows and rows of plants give the whole place the look of an enchanted garden. When your shopping’s done, head to the cafe for a snack or a drink and sit next to the indoor pond filled with colorful fish. As a rule, kids hate to shop, but this is one spot (“that place with the tractor”) they’ll actually ask to return to.—Lynn Jacobson9701 15th Ave. N.W., 206-782-2543, www.swansonsnursery.com.Best Area to Ollie Under the ExpresswayBy carefully monitoring an underused lot in SoDo, Dan Barnett, Tim Demmon, and Shawn Bishop found little more than illicit activity and a big mess. So starting one day in 2004, their brooms and concrete pourers turned the neglected plot into the Marginal Way Skate Park. When the city discovered the venture and threatened to tear it down, the team presented the appropriate statutes to relieve the city of liability for injuries. Today, a scanned copy of the SDOT thumbs-up (albeit revocable at a whim) is on the park’s indie Web site. Better still, regular punk-rock fund-raising shows continue for the nonprofit to expand over the 7,000-square-foot property. “It’s a lot more satisfying to skate something you’ve built yourself,” said Barnett. “It’s a little harder, but it gives it its own character.” And, as grateful locals will note, with the Seattle Center skateboard park about to give way to the Gates Foundation HQ and the city’s plans for more such parks mired in committee, the trio (plus many volunteers) grind in the face of bureaucracy and land a new park the old-school way: DIY. —Katie BeckerNear Marginal Way and Handford Street under state Route 99, www.marginalwayskatepark.org.Best Name for a Bait ShopNorth of the Myrtle Edwards Park granary lurks a little fishing pier where giant squid have been rumored to tempt anxious urban anglers. All the better, then, that Happy Hooker Bait & Tackle is at their service. Happy hooker. ‘Nuff said.—Mike SeelyPier 16, 955 Alaskan Way W., 206-281-5289.Best Hidden Downtown Bicycle BoutiqueIt’s worth the hunt, and the stairs, to find MOBIUS CYCLES on First Avenue (though there’s also a freight elevator to the loft), whose approach to repairs, instruction, and custom bike building is anything but off the rack. Owner Niki Beals, already experienced as a messenger and mechanic, now applies her experience with track, road, fixed-gear, commuter, and even BMX rides. She established Mobius last year with the goal of being a serve-all operation that doesn’t talk down to newbies, “to take away the ego of the bike shop. It doesn’t help anybody learn.” (Yes, you can take repair classes there, too.) She’s a specialist in pimping quality old steel frames with new components—like hot pink wheels on a ’70s Bianchi model—matching style of bike to style of rider. A Kansas transplant who reached Seattle seven years ago, she says of her constant frame foraging and bipedal evangelism, “I’m kinda grassroots. I never really stop working.”—Brian Miller1016 First Ave. (fourth floor up from alley entrance), 206-290-2096, www.mobiuscycle.com.Best Yacht ClubThe Sloop Tavern is a workaday watering hole/ultrainformal yacht club near the Ballard Locks that sponsors a 22-race regatta series around the Sound. Started 30 years ago for “live-aboards who just kind of wanted to race and cruise casually,” according to Commodore Kirk Utter, the highlight of the yacht club’s calendar is the early-May Port-Townsend-and-back Race to the Straits (designed as an alternative to the snooty Seattle Yacht Club’s opening day). Extra bonus: The tavern features 33.8-ounce “Sloopersize” drafts of Rainier.—Mike Seely2830 N.W. Market St., 206-782-3330.Best Secret Kiddie Wading PoolThe Seattle Center has problems, if you haven’t heard. The Sonics are probably leaving for Oklahoma after another season, half the physical plant is too old to repair or maintain on an affordable basis, and there’s talk of bulldozing the Fun Forest (and other structures) to create a big new park. (Not that we’re opposed.) One overlooked asset that should be preserved, however, is the DUPEN FOUNTAIN hidden northwest of KeyArena. Designed by UW professor and sculptor Everett DuPen (1912–2005) for the 1962 World’s Fair, it occupies a perfect little quiet box canyon for parents to corral their kids in the wading pool. On weekday summer evenings especially, it’s become a gathering spot for in-the-know Queen Anne moms. The water’s clean, the area’s safe, and there are not-too-scary rocks for adventurous little climbers (waterproof sandals help). There are benches for sitting and plenty of room to park the stroller or spread out a towel.—Brian MillerSeattle Center, Northwest Rooms Courtyard, 206-684-7200, www.seattlecenter.com.Best Venue to Read All About Le MondeJust a little slice of home can brighten any day. Bulldog News offers international newspapers (including The Times of London, El Mundo, World Journal from China) and magazines (Der Spiegel, Paris Match) so people can pick up portable, perusable news. Bulldog’s Web site also links to news outlets from Argentina to Yugoslavia, with stops in Korea, Russia, and Vietnam in between. Bulldog’s Matthew Duket says that while the Internet has diminished its selection of foreign newspapers, the store is always adding magazine titles, and that Bulldog has “probably the biggest literary section in the city.” Another bonus: the newsstand’s large-screen TV, which usually is tuned to CNN. However, customers also recently watched the World Cup and the Tour de France while sipping their fresh espresso—with no passport required.—Joanne Garrett4208 University Way N.E., 206-632-6397, www.bulldognews.com.Best Bus RouteOne of Metro’s deepest secrets, the Pony Express is a bus that transports pari- mutuel players directly from a handful of stops downtown to Auburn’s plush Emerald Downs every weekend that horses run. At a mere $2 round trip (the bus returns 15 minutes after the conclusion of the last race), it is effectively the cheapest, biggest limo in town. You didn’t read it here, but it’s been rumored that the drivers of this festive coach tend to look the other way if a little brandy makes its way around the aisles. So if you win big, tip handsomely.—Mike SeelySecond Avenue stops at Lenora Street, Pike Street, and Jackson Street, transit.metrokc.gov/up/spclevent/ponyexpress.html.Best Record Shop Only Real Collectors Know AboutThink you know where to find vinyl in Seattle? The bright yellow M&L Records and Models has sold rare LPs, plastic kits, and other collectibles for 16 years and counts more than 80,000 records in its inventory. Owner Lelan Kuhlmann can tell you more about music (and Seattle) than most could learn in a lifetime. If you’re willing to spend the day browsing, his friendly lectures range from Coltrane to the (endangered) Seattle Center Coliseum.—Katie Becker6504 Ravenna Ave. N.E., 206-522-8189, www.halcyon.com/mlrecmod.Best Reclamation of Scary Hobo CampThe stairs favored by runners at East Blaine Street formerly halted in unsatisfactory brambles, old beer bottles, and general abandonment beneath the freeway. So the city’s 7.5-acre I-5 Colonnade project connecting Cap Hill to Eastlake is a huge improvement. There’s a nice new dog run to serve all the condos and town houses sprouting off Eastlake. There’s a windy gravel in-process mountain bike course to make the descent from Lakeview a lot more interesting. And there’s a new public art installation, The Seventh Climate (Paradise Reconsidered) by John Roloff, that nicely ties everything together. The effect is, surprisingly, rather peaceful, since the roar of cars is strangely muted when you’re directly beneath them. And the columns, cleared of graffiti, blackberries, and grime, become a kind of majestic reminder of the bygone era of freeway building. Today, however, mountain bikers are encouraged to participate in work parties to finish building their trails and jumps.—Brian MillerLakeview Boulevard East and East Blaine Street, www.seattle.gov/parks. Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club, www.bbtc.org.Best Way to Run a Pride Festival”The best-attended Pride Festival ever in Seattle” is what organizers Seattle Out and Proud are calling the June 23–25 event, which moved this year from Volunteer Park to Seattle Center. (Perhaps you heard.) No offense to Broadway businesses, but holding the Sunday afternoon parade on spacious, shady Fourth Avenue made it the most comfortable, too. Those protesting the move turned out Saturday night to pledge their allegiance to Capitol Hill. (Like there ought to be some kind of law or something that we all have to live in the same enclave with terrible grocery stores and no parking. Besides, these days West Seattle’s every bit the gay ghetto Cap Hill is.) But there’s no reason the rift that seems to be forming between the two events can’t be amicably resolved with both a Saturday night march—political, participatory—and the Sunday parade, a festive spectator event to which you can take your mom.—Gavin Borchertwww.seattlepride.org.Best bagsEli Reich didn’t realize making bags from old bicycle inner tubes, salvaged seat belts, and vinyl mesh advertising banners was his calling until he consulted family and friends. “They reminded me I collected everything when I was young,” he says. “Rubber bands, stamps—and I turned it into other stuff. Who I am is collecting things and repurposing them.” The Seattle native is the founder of Alchemy Goods, a three-person business whose office is everywhere from Reich’s Fremont home’s basement for sewing to the Fred Meyer parking lot for cutting up ad banners. After the theft of his messenger bag, Reich constructed his own model out of inner tubes “more out of irony than my environmental friendliness.” Now at the forefront of local sustainable products, the two-year-old company grows bigger by the month, creating items always one-of-a-kind and more than 70 percent recycled.—Katie Becker206-484-9469, www.alchemygoods.com.Best Eagles ClubPrivate clubs are generally bad because they are, by their very nature, exclusive. Some private clubs over time have excluded blacks; others have excluded Siberian midgets. But in order to join an Eagles Club, an international fraternal service order founded in Seattle in 1898, all one needs is a pulse. Most impressively, the Salmon Bay Eagles Aerie 2141 off Leary Way is a respite for drunk-by-nooners like Slim, who’ve been run out of just about every other bar in the People’s Republic of Ballard, and serves as a top-secret loophole to the indoor smoking ban. Plus, the Aerie’s meager annual dues can be made up for in one robust sitting, what with permanently low drink prices that rival the best happy hours in town.—Mike Seely5216 20th Ave. N.W., 206-783-7791, www.eagleswa.org.Best Mod FurnitureHey, you, there on your futon couch: Maybe you haven’t noticed, but retro modernist furniture is hot. Meaning streamlined sofas, aluminum chairs, upholstery fabrics adorned with circles and stripes in jangly color combos. A number of local shops cater to the craze for mid-century modernism, but none are more affordable or friendly than Capitol Hill’s AREA 51. When Jason Hallman and Daniel Meltzer opened the store seven years ago, they stocked a variety of vintage furnishings and newer knockoffs. Now their line is strictly new with a backward, midcentury glance. “We found people wanted the vintage look without having to recover or repair things,” Hallman says. “Also, this way, people can customize the size or fabric of a piece.” Currently, Area 51 stocks a lot of furniture and accessories designed by whimsical modernist Jonathan Adler. Adler believes in bold shapes and high contrast, and never met two colors he didn’t like together. And you can bet he never owned a futon couch.—Lynn Jacobson401 E. Pine St., 206-568-4782.Best New Two-Wheeled ZineTour de France types have their slick magazines full of training tips and carbon fiber frames. Bike messengers have their informal alley-cat races. Critical Mass has whatever anarchic route evolves on the last Friday of the month (plus a few bruises, courtesy of the King County Sheriff’s Department), but what about those who simply appreciate the gonzo fun and beauty of piloting a bike in the city? That’s a need served by the small, well-designed new magazine CRANKED, which will publish its fourth issue this month. Its trio of young local editors and publishers looks to skateboard zines for some inspiration, finding a motley beauty in the everyday stunts, stories, and vistas experienced from over the handlebars. The theme is community—for racers, messengers, commuters, mad-scientist frame builders—in photographs and essays solicited on the Cranked Web site, which is rapidly becoming a hub in its own right. What started as a Northwest publication is now drawing interest from as far away as Japan. Which shows how far you can travel on two wheels. —Brian MillerAvailable at select area bike shops, www.crankedmag.com.Best Green-CyclerCoffee cups and napkins are commonly made from recycled fibers, but recycled houses? Established in 1994 by the late Roy Hunter, a staunch environmental activist, SECOND USE gives new life to building materials that would otherwise be interred in landfills. From doors to plumbing fixtures to the odd salvaged appliance, you can virtually build or renovate your entire home from the rubble of other edifices—all items quality controlled, of course. Second Use also works closely with Habitat for Humanity, donating a percentage of sales since 1998; to date, almost half a million dollars has been raised. So the upscale craze for green living also puts some greenbacks into a deserving cause.—Tiffany Wan79532 Second Ave. S., 206-763-6929, www.seconduse.com.Best New Hookup zone for Mutts and PurebredsThe canine-friendly vibe of the completely renovated PLYMOUTH PILLARS PARK makes it a prime pick for urban dog owners. Formerly the province of homeless people sleeping in the bushes until its July 2005 makeover, this half-acre triangle park features a large off-leash area for dogs big and small. Public art is also featured throughout, including four towering limestone columns (which originally guarded the entrance to the Plymouth Congregational Church and moved to the site in 1967, the year after the church was demolished). Newer are several ornate urns salvaged from the Music Hall Theatre (razed in 1992), acquired by the Pike-Pine Urban Neighborhood Council. But it’s not all history—the romping, stomping dogs have become a popular pedestrian attraction for those who don’t even own pets, and a daily meeting point for those who do.—Tiffany WanBoren Avenue between Pike Street and Pine Street, 206-684-4075, www.seattle.gov/parks.Best Cap Hill Holdout of Eclectic Musical CultureWhen Confounded Books closed up shop earlier this year, a ripple of shame went through Pine Street window-shoppers, who might’ve merely browsed the indie comic wares one too many times. Thankfully, Wall of Sound—which shared Confounded’s storefront (and subsequently expanded into it )—is at least one highly esoteric retailer that appears to be not only surviving but thriving. In fact, it’s the 16th year of catering to those who live to drop 25 bones on a techno LP from Germany (there’s more of us than you might think). The store’s avant-garde leanings extend to a monthly night of live music at the Rendezvous, as well as the occasional in-store (past performers include Sun City Girls’ Sir Richard Bishop, Tuvan throat singers, and Wally Shoup). Whether it’s the new Sonic Youth, the latest edition of Congotronics, or a Lee “Scratch” Perry reissue in WoS’ front window, you get the feeling that owner Jeffrey Taylor and his colleagues assembled a display of whatever they were feeling that day. They’ve just got a knack for knowing how it makes you feel, too.—Rachel Shimp 315 E. Pine St., 441-9880, www.wosound.com.Best Language Coach/ Aging Casanova Found in a ParkHave you walked around Green Lake in the last 15 years or so? Good. You know the handsome older man who stands by the shell house–amphitheater area wearing a white plastic pith helmet and a cloth sandwich board with “SPANISH LESSONS” sewn on? If you’re one of his ambulatory students, you already know Leonardo (who prefers to go by one name and ignore his age). But for those who’ve wondered about his wares (and possibly sanity), he turns out to be an unmarried, sophisticated flirt who indeed provides Spanish lessons. Depending on his students’ schedules, the lessons usually convene at the lake. Leonardo loves the open-air classroom. “I end up teaching about the trees,” he says with the native accent of Santillana, Spain. “That’s why I like taking lessons here. But I am a harsh critic of the Parks Department. It indiscriminately mutilates the trees. Mutilates.” Linda Allen, a student who graciously allowed my English interruption on her lesson recently, eagerly shares some of the juicier, nonbotanical details of their lakeside tutorial. “Guapa, huh?” she says to Leonardo, nodding toward a passing jogger. He agrees. “I just learned the difference between guapa and bonita,” adds Allen. “Bonita is pretty; guapa is—” “Not buh-nita,” Leonardo quickly corrects her. “Buh-nita means nothing. It is bonita.”Gradually it emerges—between jogging hotties—that Leonardo came to Seattle at age 20 following initial ventures in Alaska. (This reporter would tentatively guess that was during the ’50s.) After studying here, Leonardo worked as a Spanish teacher with the UW for five years. “I was young and stupid, and now I am no longer young,” he says. He says he chose Seattle for its mountains and water. “Beauty attracts me,” he says, leaning closer, “so be very careful.”Indeed, the cost of Leonardo’s lessons (which he keeps politely and tightly undisclosed) depends on (a) how rich you are, (b) how poor you are, and (c) how beautiful you are. “What about being handsome?” asks Allen. “Handsome?” he asks with an incredulously raised eyebrow. He glances at me with a smile. “No, handsome doesn’t work.” —Katie BeckerTo schedule a lesson: 206-324-3956.Best Place to Show Solidarity With Oppressed TibetansAdmit it—sometimes you feel a little guilty about the “Free Tibet” bumper sticker on your Subaru Outback. Flying the Tibetan prayer flags from your bungalow just isn’t cutting it in terms of returning the Dalai Lama to power or stemming the massive Chinese influx into Lhasa (especially with the new high-altitude rail line just completed). But Tashi Namgyal Khamsitsang won’t hold it against you. “It’s helpful. That raises the issue,” he says of such bumper-sticker symbolism.As president of the Tibetan Association of Washington (TAW), which sponsors the annual Tibet Fest in August, Namgyal is eager to pitch his cause to a receptive liberal Seattle Himalayan trekking constituency. Though he estimates our Tibetan political refugee population to be only 250 people (out of perhaps 10,000 in North America), Tibet Fest drew some 30,000 visitors last year. Our strong local interest dates back to China’s final 1959 takeover of Tibet, soon after which Tibetan scholars were invited to study at the University of Washington; and to 1979, when the Dalai Lama first visited the U.S., spending three days here. One of Namgyal’s big initiatives, no surprise, is to arrange another such visit; the last was in 1993. Another is to help TAW build its own facility, to further its mission as “a political, cultural, social, and educational organization.”Namgyal followed his wife to Seattle six years ago after retiring from the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India. They came “by pure chance,” he recalls, not long after Congress passed a special immigration act in 1990 as political conditions worsened in Tibet. (He left that country as a child, like the Dalai Lama, soon after 1959.)This year Namgyal will be directing the 11th annual Tibet Fest (11 a.m.–6 p.m. Sat., Aug. 26–Sun., Aug. 27). Events will include a photo exhibit, film screenings (Cry of the Snow Lion, etc.), a bazaar with native goods and crafts, indigenous food (momo!), children’s activities, dance and cultural performances, and music including Grammy-nominated artist Nawang Khechog. Vancouver, B.C.’s small Tibetan population will also be represented, though Namgyal would like to grow Seattle’s own community with additional visas for refugees living in Nepal and India. If you want to learn about such lobbying efforts, chiefly directed by the official Office of Tibet in New York, Tibet Fest will offer plenty of opportunities “to initiate [visitors] to the Tibet issue,” Namgyal hopes, and “to gain support for the Tibet cause.” And if you want to buy a bumper sticker, that’s fine, too. —Brian MillerTibet Fest, Seattle Center, 206-444-4059, www.washingtontibet.org.Best Kiddie Language SchoolIf you’re jealous about how quickly Junior learns new concepts, wait until you sign him or her up for French, Japanese, Mandarin, or Spanish at Mount Baker’s Sponge School. The loftlike, one-room language school offers 18-week classes for kids (newborn to age 5), along with their caretakers.”Speaking another language and knowing another culture well have had a big impact on me,” says Sponge founder Jackie Friedman Mighdoll, who lived in Japan and speaks Japanese, French, and some Spanish. Sure, Mighdoll holds an MBA and a master’s in international studies, but opening Sponge was not about the money. “I wanted to do this for my children. I wanted someplace with music, movement, and bonding with parents, but with an emphasis on language.” (By the way, she’s currently learning Mandarin with her two boys.)After reading about brain development, Mighdoll got excited about the cognitive benefits of early language learning. Though toddlers may not be talking when they start Sponge, their brains will nonetheless soak up what they hear. (Hence the school’s name, of course.) “A little girl started here at 3 and one-half months old—she’s now 11 months—and her parents heard her say ‘Hola’ the other day,” recounts Mighdoll.Sponge fosters what Mighdoll dubs a “rich language environment.” Instructors teach only in the language being studied, emphasizing words used in everyday conversation. Each 45-minute class is broken into stimulating short exercises involving singing and dancing, games with a puppet, pretend grocery shopping trips, and other play-focused activities. Snack time serves as a break and an opportunity to put Cheerios on pictures matching vocabulary words called out by the instructor. The final 10 minutes of class are reserved for questions from the adults. With most classes meeting twice a week, friendships often form among parents and offspring.Since launching in November of last year, Sponge’s 18-week sessions have been filling fast (they’re limited to eight kids each at $475–$899 per course). Why so popular? One mom explains that she and her daughter were at Sponge in an effort to become “world citizens.” Other parents have married interculturally and want their kids to be exposed to both Mom’s and Dad’s native language. Some stay-at-home caretakers just crave interesting adult interaction. “We have a mix of moms, dads, nannies, grandmas—and one grandpa—at the classes,” says Mighdoll.In the mod, high-ceilinged classroom, near the books (in various languages) and colorful international toys, a big map of the world hangs on one wall, as if to say, “Check me out.”—Molly LoriSponge School, 3107 S. Day St., 206-227-7138, www.spongeschool.com.