The Rain Shadow

175 Stories

This Bellingham theater teaches improv to people with memory loss

If you've ever taken an improv class, you know they make you do some goofy stuff, like communicate with sounds, not words, and play out all kinds of unique situations. At The Upfront Theatre in Bellingham, an improv class was created especially for students who have early stage memory loss.
- Kyle Norris
Friends who flip together, stick together: Seattle area's pinball family

For years, a pinball renaissance has supported local pubs, pinball teams, and new machines fresh off the factory floor. Your grandparents might have joined a bowling league. Today, you can join a pinball league.
- Dyer Oxley
Why Pacific Northwesterners are driving tiny, right-hand drive firetrucks from Japan

They're tiny, they're bright red, and you've probably seen them scooting around Seattle: Mini Japanese firetrucks known as kei trucks. People here say they not only love the cars — but the culture surrounding them, too.
- Casey Martin
On your mark, get set, read! Seattle Public Library's Book Bingo is back and bigger than ever

The moment Seattle's bookworms have been training (reading) for is upon us: Book Bingo kicks off today. But there's a lot more competition in the field this year. That's because adult Book Bingo has expanded to include the King County Library System.
- Katie Campbell
What the eruption of Mount St. Helens reveals about kite-flying spiders

May 18, 2025, marks the 45th anniversary of Mount St. Helens' eruption — a catastrophic event that transformed the landscape and killed 57 people. From this devastation emerged an incredible scientific calculation about millions of spiders traveling through the sky.
- Brandi Fullwood
Rediscover Seattle with this 'professional' pedestrian's 20-mile saunter across the city

We all know that a walk outside is good for the mind and body. But what about a 20-mile stroll down the entire isthmus of Seattle? A local walking enthusiast has one planned for Saturday.
- Casey Martin
For these Seattle-area car enthusiasts, vehicles are as personal as fingerprints

The Seattle area's tuner car scene is defined by enthusiasm for customizing the aesthetic and functional aspects of otherwise ordinary vehicles. In this community, cars are seen as an expression of their owner's individuality.
- Casey Martin
Return of the blobs: SW Washington revisited by decades-old gooey mystery

A curious phenomenon known as the “Oakville blobs” appears to have returned to a small southwest Washington community, 31 years after the first reports of an unidentified gelatinous substance fell from the sky. This time, the goo fell on Rochester, Wash.
- Libby Denkmann
Weezer to bring intergalactic concert to Seattle for Bumbershoot 2025

Bumbershoot has released its two-day lineup for 2025, boasting Bright Eyes, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Aurora, Digable Planets, Murder City Devils, Janelle Monáe, Car Seat Headrest, and more. Weezer will bring its "Voyage to the Blue Planet" concert as the opening night headliner.
- Dyer Oxley
Sugar, we're going down to emo night: Why the genre’s thriving in Seattle and beyond

Move over disco night. Forget about '80s dance night. Emo night has taken over clubs throughout the Seattle region, and frankly the United States. Fans young and old(ish) pack clubs to dance and scream to a lineup of their favorite emo music. But what even is emo to begin with?
- Dyer Oxley

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