Spaceship Excellent
From Seattle Wiki
Spaceship Excellent, or "The Spaceship" is the moniker that was granted to a large ten-plus member household in the 15th-Avenue area of Capitol Hill by a group of renters who took over the lease in 2005. Spaceship Excellent is also the name of the house band conceived by original house members Captain Beaujangles and Fleet Commander JJ Moon. Moon and Beaujangles have since moved to nearby residences dubbed "Space Pods," but continue to collaborate with the house's current occupants, or "cadets," in the planning and production of its many yearly themed parties, such as the annual 4:20 Party held each April. The house has also served as a practice and performance space for such up-and-coming local musical acts as Truckasaurus, Redox, The Young Men, and Coco Coco.
Unlike other "hipster fraternities" the Spaceship prides itself on a legacy of inhabitants that has not only been ethnically and culturally diverse, but socially diverse as well. New cadets are selected to join based on the collective decision of current residents. Ones "hipster credentials" have rarely been as important as might be presumed in this process. What has largely been the common thread amongst occupants is a degree of social curiosity and common sense conducive to cohabitation, more casually referred to as a "good vibe." This has, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, resulted in both vegan hippies and former frat boys being invited to move in in addition to the perennial musician/hipster. In this way residing in the house is a bit like living out a sociological experiment. Such genuine diversity challenges occupants to honestly question the actual extent of their supposed left-coast open-mindedness.
The Spaceship Excellent, 619 House/Big Gay Fraternity, and Beacon Hill-ton are all examples of how Capitol Hill area renters have creatively dealt with the city's fast-increasing cost of living and comparably low wages. Members of these large, non-communal households are able to keep rental costs below or near average and thus devote time and resources to personal and artistic pursuits, and to enjoying the city's thriving theater, music and art scenes. Residents find that environmental efficiency and social networking opportunities are additional benefits of such nontraditional living arrangements.
