The Mooninites Land in Ballard?

Saturday, January 13. Mike Tyson is born. The Wall Street Journal prints its first cover photograph. And, on this day in 2007, aliens are among us.

And they are the Mooninites.

Made of lite-brites and taking their cues from the uncivilized, middle-finger-philic inhabitants of the moon - according to the gospel of Cartoon Network's popular Aqua Teen Hunger Force series of TV shows - they have arrived and acknowledged our presence with theirs. In Ballard.

The Canal is a newly-renovated event establishment, catering to what the technophiles would call "scalable" dining - for events such as weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, and corporate functions. It sits on the Lake Union exit of the Hiram Chittenden locks on the Seattle Ship Canal, built on the ruins of the old Hiram's restaurant.

It's beautiful, well-staffed, impeccably furnished, and replete with a fascinating view of sea foam churning through the locks, complete with Corps of Engineers rotating red lights near the big sea doors. It commands an air of good taste.

Which is why the strange multi-LED pattern displaying the Cartoon Network-created alien with anger-arched eyebrows and a raised middle finger seems all the stranger for being there, anchored just underneath The Canal's tasteful fancy-script sign.

The character is unmistakably a rendering of one half of Aqua Teen Hunger Force's angry moon residents, the Mooninites, the purple, cigarette-smoking, property-vandalizing half-pint, Err. In addition to being a semi-permanent resident of the moon, Err also bothers the Aqua Teens in their native habitat of New Jersey, often setting fire to random forests and vandalizing the house of Carl, the Aqua Teens work-at-home neighbor.

Identity confirmed, answers to other questions fail to appear. Who put him here, and why? And how?

I myself saw the angry alien art upon my arrival at The Canal on the 13th for a company function, and instantly scrambled up for a picture. A detailed shot of the underside reveals at least a semi-professional job with decent mounting and rudimentary weatherproofing. The final result, some ten feet up in the air, would have required a ladder to mount. Midnight vandals are a possibility, but with the weather being unseasonably cold, a new question forms. Who would bother?

A couple glasses of red wine later, I attempted to ask the intruder himself. Basking in his purple, obscene glow, I asked him from whence he came, and his purpose.

With his middle finger raised, as if to insult me for eternity, Err, our Ballard visitor, remained silent, contented merely to stand above all, godlike, and flip them off.

Which says a lot about a guy.

Any information on this little piece of parasitic art would be appreciated. Send any and all info this way. The art may or may not still be visible at:

5300 34th Avenue NW
Seattle, Washington 98107