If so, your focus on detail could pay off big tonight at Seattlest Trivia at the Old Pequliar. Tonight's quiz is an all-2008 retrospective, 80 interrogatory nails in the coffin that was last year. The top 3 teams win cash, while the last place team wins unvaluable swag and a round of applause. Fourth place at halftime wins a free pitcher of beer--as does one lucky team that can answer this question and email the answer to james at seattlest.com before 6:00: Beyoncé and Akon were the only two musical acts to do what in 2008? Stuff to know before you go: The quiz starts at 8:00, sign-up starts at 7:45. You can have 5 players on your team for $5, or 6 players for $7. (That last brain costs extra.) All the rest will be revealed when you show up. See you there! more ›

KEXP is counting down the top 90.3 (.3?) albums of 2008 and is asking all of us to help them out by paying them a visit and voting for your favorites. Countdown closes this Friday, December 19th. Our picks include David Byrne & Brian Eno, Drive-By Truckers, Fleet Foxes, Helms Alee, Jake One, Love Is All, Lupe Fiasco, New Faces, Santogold, The Knux, The Moondoggies, The Saturday Knights, The Black Keys, to name a few. How about you? Feel free to share in the comments! more ›

How did this sneak up on us? The 2008 Winter Beer Festival starts today at 5 p.m. and goes 'til 10. Then it starts up again tomorrow from 1-10 p.m. 30 Washington breweries present their winter goods (here's the list) for your inspection; your admission includes a tasting cup and six 5-oz. beer samples. more ›

King County counted another 20,000-odd votes today, leaving Dave Reichert (R) up 1,965 votes over Democrat Darcy Burner in the 8th Congressional District race. It doesn't feel right to be calling it a race, exactly, at this point, unless there are molasses races we don't know about. There are still about 276,000 King County votes to be tabulated, and at 20,000-30,000 per shift, it's going to be a while yet before we have a final result. And then the recount can start. For those of you scoring at home, Peter Goldmark has a lead of over 40,000 on Doug Sutherland for Public Lands Commissioner, and Randy Dorn is up 43,000 over incumbent Superintendent of Public Schools Terry Bergeson. more ›

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You've all heard about the presidency, yes? We're also getting a new puppy! more ›

Jesus, we feel so much better already. Landslide. We like the sound of that. Now we just need Governor Gregoire to hang in there. more ›

• Since doing your civic duty (not to mention voting in a historical election) might not be enough to get you to vote today, the Big Blog brings you 7.5 things you can get for free on Election Day.
• Capitalizing on tragedy, local gangs are in the midst of a string of retribution shootings, presumably in response to the shooting we mentioned in yesterday's Neighborhood News. What's that saying? It seemed so trite, but now so true: "two wrongs don't make a right."
• If you live in Phinney Ridge, Wallingford, or Fremont, and you didn't have power yesterday morning, you can blame it on a goose. The bird paid the ultimate price for flying too close to your neighborhood power lines.

King County absentee ballots went out yesterday! Here's the Wash. State 2008 Online Voter Guide for this election. Here's your King County voter's information, including a beautiful video about how to fill out your absentee ballot: more ›

On Monday Bumbershoot was a smoldering guyville. And we have the photos to prove it. Who knows why the festival was so testosterone heavy, but if boys were your thing, you had a grab bag to choose from. more ›

At the intersection of Sussex Avenue and Sheridan Street in Tenino, a small stone stands erect on the edge of a vacant lot, with the words "Old Oregon Trail 1845–53" etched in it. Many Oregon Trail markers exist, of course, many laid at the time the trail was blazed, others—like this one—laid later to commemorate the pioneers. But this one in Tenino happens to be special: This was the first one laid by Ezra Meeker. more ›

At 4:45 a.m. Saturday morning, July 12th, 2,427 bicyclists set out from the Husky Stadium parking lot to make the 204.5-mile Group Health Seattle to Portland Classic in one day. Fifteen minutes before that, we were drowsily slumped over the steering wheel of our car, stuck in the traffic jam on NE 45th St. headed towards University Village. Around us, cyclists with enough foresight to their bikes to the event were zooming downhill, past the poor suckers who drove. more ›

Two, our city council is old -- like, they were excited about seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show old. What is the average age, retirement? Sally Clark is alert and at full speed, but one person can't do it alone. McIver's up there "resting his eyes" throughout. These are the people in charge of guiding Seattle's future? Seriously, there has to be some generational groupthink at work. Given the UW population, representative local government ought to include someone in their 20s. It's not like the council is allowed to do anything -- everything important is handled by the Mayor's Office -- so what's the harm? more ›