Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, January 11, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
Saving Ace? Sammamish Council directs attorneys to take deeper look
Jonathan Carollo, 11, stands near his parent’s Super Queen, super-capacity plus, 14-cycle washing machine. A recent video of the Sammamish boy’s ability to drum on the machine has gained more than 1 million hits on YouTube. KEVIN
BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
ENDEJAN, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
A DIFFERENT BEAT
Sammamish boy’s washing machine video goes viral with more than 1 million hits BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
S
“That raw original sound, he just really loves that.”
usan Carollo wasn’t sure what her son Jonathan was up to.
The Sammamish mother of three heard quick bursts of banging on the washing machine, but when she investigated, the culprit, her middle child, had already vanished. “By the time you could get in there and say, ‘Why are you banging on the washing machine,’ he was done, he was gone,” she said. It turns out Jonathan, 11, was simply rehearsing for his big performance — a video that is approaching 1.5 million views on YouTube. When Dan Carollo, a successful acoustic guitarist, first noticed what his son was doing, he knew it was special. For fun, he filmed Jonathan performing a 1 minute, 13 second solo on the family’s Super Queen, super-capacity plus, 14-cycle washer. Using everything from the lid to the stainless steel inside the machine, Jonathan created a percussion beat reminiscent of a one-man drum line. “The washing machine really just had the
– Dan Carollo right combination of sound to make it interesting,” Dan said. “That raw, original sound, he just really loves that.” When Dan showed the video to his friends, they told him it would be a hit on the internet. He scoffed at the idea. “Someone I was talking to said this will go viral and I was like ‘Oh, right,’” he said. Posted in late September, the video had only 200 views up until Christmas Eve. In a twoweek span, it has gained well over 1 million
views. “I don’t have a good explanation as to why it happened,” said Dan, who noted the video caught fire after he posted to Reddit.com The increase in popularity has already resulted in national exposure on “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America.” “So far it’s been all fun and games, no SEE DRUMMER, 6
It appears there won’t be a quick fix for Sammamish’s Ace Hardware quandary. Kamuron Gurol, the city’s Director of Community Development, indicated to the City Council on Tuesday night that obstacles involving development of a new hardware store on the property between Northeast Second and Northeast Fourth streets might be too large. “There are a lot of complicated steps and precious little time left,” Gurol said. “I don’t like to say this, but I don’t see how we can approve this proposal by the deadline we have.” Ace Hardware’s lease in the Sammamish Highlands Shopping Center expires August 2013. Store owner Tim Koch has made it clear he would have to close the business due to high rents imposed by property owner, Florida-based Regency Centers. Gurol told the council that the potential site, located near Mars Hill Church on the other side of the stream from the Washington Federal building, has several environmental concerns. Under current codes, the adjacent George Davis Creek and a Category 1 bog wetland both require 215-foot buffers with an additional 15-foot building setback. “This site doesn’t appear to be supportive to that kind of use due to constraints,” Gurol said. “I don’t like saying it, but that’s what I see. Major codes and policy changes would be required in order to accommodate this use.” While Gurol argued changing codes is the only way the SEE PROPERTY, 6