"Reading Time" by M.V. Jantzen Even when we were only visitors to this city, ferry-watching was one of our favorite activities. We'd go to Colman Dock and stand there forever, watching the downtown crowd knock off for the day and make their way to the boats. In this context, we never imagined too deeply into the narratives of the people we observed; rather, we were content with observing their most mundane activities. We were mesmerized,... [continue]

"The 'double reading' self-portrait" by dhammza. Cool! Seattlest's childhood summers were for three things: camping, sleeping late, and reading. The latter was the most pervasive. We borrowed stacks of ambitiously thick books at a time from the Lake Hills library--a bike ride through the greenbelt away--and we'd burrow somewhere comfortable to read for long hours. We inhaled books, goldfish crackers, and pina colada-flavored slurpees from the corner store during those summers like there was... [continue]

Last weekend, Seattlest revisited the other Shorewood High School for our 20-year reunion. And it's been 20 years since Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court left Lakeside High, so on our flight to Milwaukee, we got reacquainted with Cameron Crowe's Say Anything.... Singles gets the Seattle-centric attention, but Say Anything... is the movie where Seattle first caught our eye, several years before we actually moved to the land of the Gas 'n' Sip. FACT: Seattle... [continue]

We present this classic Seinfeld clip:... [continue]

Can you walk? Are you skinny, and can you pose your body in bizarre ways that come across as really sexy and alluring in photographs? Then maybe head out to the Doubletree Guest Suites Seattle Airport/Southcenter next Thursday, Aug. 12, and get your ANTM face on. All interested models should show up camera-ready. This isn't Seattlest's Next Top Model, it's America's Next Top Model. Last year, there were 600 women at the audition, so you're... [continue]

For the record, this Seattlest is a daily bike commuter who knows and appreciates the rights and responsibilities of biking in an urban environment. We also have a friend who was beaten by cops a couple years ago during a Critical Mass demonstration. While this post isn’t specifically about Friday’s incident at Seattle's Critical Mass on Capitol Hill, the event (and one just as scary in New York City) moved us to share these... [continue]

It's Earth Day. Down here in the Seattlest news room we thought that, along with giving up meat, disposable coffee cups and plastic bags, we'd offer some unsolicited advice about how you can help the planet the other 364 days of the year, too. But, when a friend who happens to be a real live Seattle native and an inveterate bike commuter approached us with a better idea abut spreading the gospel of bike commuting,... [continue]

Our bike route to work from Magnolia to Capitol Hill takes us down a short hill on 20th Ave W to the Pier 91 bike trail. That little street runs right along a ton of train tracks leading into the train yards. (It's on the back side of the Interbay Golf Center.) Generally it's filled with locomotives connected to empty cars or lines of containers waiting to be shipped one place or another. Noting terribly... [continue]

photograph courtesy of Bryan Gosline Studying changing urban landscapes involves frequent disappointment and depression. Gin only goes so far to numb the pain. Being a resident is often no picnic, either. Market forces and decisions by real estate developers don't often jibe with the interests of the people who will actually be using that real estate or the residents near the area of the proposed development. It's easy to demonize "greedy" developers and "sell... [continue]

According to our current addiction, the Democratic Convention Watch blog, some less than stellar reporting created confusion over the status of Rep. Jay Inslee's endorsement of Clinton. Inslee, who represents Washington's 1st Congressional District (Bainbridge Island, Kitsap Peninsula, north King County and parts of Snohomish County) is a super delegate. As we all know by now, the super delegates could be the ones to decide the nomination this year if the pledged delegate counts... [continue]

Is live theater still relevant in a society where computer users can create high-quality video and distribute it almost instantly via the web? That's been the subject of an ongoing, rancorous debate between two Seattlest contributors, Jeremy and Charles, both former theater artists. Jeremy maintains the theater can yet be a powerful art form -- Charles feels it's a dying, irrelevant medium (most likely wounded by its own hand). To stir them up appropriately, the... [continue]

Prop. 1, the roads and transit measure. Supporters say it will help solve our gridlock problem. Anti-tax opponents say"no it won't" and environazi opponents say "roads are killing the planet, it's transit-only or nothing." Tomorrow's election day. Here's how Seattlesters are voting. Dan: I'm not exactly turning cartwheels as I cast my "yes" vote, but I look at it as "which is easier to get passed, roads or transit individually?" I couldn't pass up the... [continue]

There is something seriously wrong in this city right now. The fight between drivers and bicyclists has been brewing for years, but recently it seems to be reaching a boiling-over point. It pushes what we consider to be sane people, on both sides of the argument, into a state of rage that we honestly find a bit frightening. It needs to stop (and by stop we don't mean that we want to see a bunch... [continue]

We gotta admit to being kind of a sci-fi nerd. We own all the Star Wars movies in most of their various formats and edits, have read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels numerous times (including the atrocious Mostly Harmless), and actively seek out any books and films that depict any kind of a dystopic view of our future. So when we heard that yet another cut of Blade Runner was playing... [continue]

The Mariners have hired longtime coach and manager Lee Elia as a consultant. Elia--who had two tours as a Mariner coach in the 90s--will likely have no impact on what the Mariners do in 2008, but his hiring gives us all the excuse we need to post the below, which may be the greatest rant in the history of the world. Elia was manager of the Cubs at the time. His team was on a... [continue]

In 2004, Ken Jennings redefined success on Jeopardy!, banking over $2,500,000 as he won 74 games. Those of us who get paid in bar credit know it's hard to make a living through trivia, but Jennings has done it. He turned his obligatory cash-in-on-your-15-minutes book, Brainiac, into something much better and broader, an examination of trivia history and culture. He also moved from Utah to the Seattle area. That, and Brainiac's paperback release tomorrow, gave... [continue]

"Leaves again :)" by adhd from the Seattlest Flickr Pool.... [continue]

On a recent Wednesday morning, Seattlest was exiting Vivace on Denny with our clergy mother, happily discussing something secular. As we descended the ramp, Seattlest noticed a group of five thirty- and forty-somethings trailing past, each with a Bible in hand. We grew confused and a little nervous. After all, this has been our haunt for a solid year now and this was the first group of Bible-toting folk we've seen there yet. That would... [continue]

So we all know the world is going to hell in a hand basket, right? The climate's changing, San Diego is burning to the ground and we're at war because the president lied to Congress. Things are bad. But every once in awhile you come across someone who is doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Dan Freeman is one of those guys. He runs Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuelwerks and sells... [continue]

On our way to Vios for dinner last night (try the white bean soup!) we were walking down Aloha and spotted a lawn being colonized by a huge mushroom. The owners seem to be already under its nefarious sway, as they have laboriously scrawled on cardboard signs the instructions to leave the mushrooms alone so that they can be "seen." If you want to "see" them (and potentially have your brain sucked out by an... [continue]