"SPD Patrol Cars" by Slightlynorth, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool. Thanks! Ooooh—the Seattle P-I has launched their new crime blog, Seattle 911. It's a resting place for the flotsam and jetsam of the city's police and fire departments, where morbidly fascinated readers can take in side stories, breaking crime news, and details from daily reports. The site promises "news both fresh and forgotten," which we hope means that there will also be info about......

Seattlest ventured into Belltown last night to attend the Buck 65 show at the Crocodile, mostly because Buck 65 is a divisive name in hiphop. You either love him or you don't, and we couldn't make up our minds based on the tracks he's got online. Our plan was to skip the openers. The guy touring with Buck 65 is named Bernard Dolan -- and, in the phrasing of Flight of the Conchords, what......

Keith Johnson / Dancers is the creation of Keith Johnson, currently Associate Professor who teaches both composition and contemporary dance techniques at California State University Long Beach. This past summer (well, "summer"), he was part of the Strictly Seattle Festival. We found a review of this show at St. Olaf, written by an opinion columnist who rigorously avoids having a strong opinion of the piece. God we love Minnesota. Here's the program: Brink explores the......

Corner of 3rd and Union last night, the air's full of crazies. The rabid anti-Hillary crazies, fueled by and fueling right-wing panic even as they convince the mainstream that she's unelectable because she's so polarizing ("Just look at us!"). The Ron Paul crazies, all suited and tied. The 9/11 crazies in search of evil conspiracies. So what do the street crazies have to do with, say, the newspaper crazies? It's the possibility, however small, that......

You may not agree with his conservative politics, but if you like the Mariners, you owe an elaborate tip of the cap to ex-U.S. Senator Slade Gorton. Gorton, who was state Attorney General from 1969-1981, then a two-term U.S. Senator, and served on the 9/11 Commission, is almost solely responsible for the Mariners being here, and now he's agreed to help the city keep the Sonics. "We're lawyering up," deputy mayor Tim Ceis told the......

With a Freedom Fries eating contest. Here is the relevant flickr set for last night's contest, evidently won by bicycle hobo associate identified only by the alias "Michael." Here are the rules for the 9/11 Eat Off Commemoration that apparently took place at Red Robin: RULES 1. Vomit: If you vomit, you cannot continue until you re-eat the vomit food. If you refuse to eat your own fry vomit, disqualified. If you do eat your......

Jim Riches, Deputy Chief of the FDNY, is one of the producers of the Urban Legends video that questions the supposedly heroic actions of Mayor Giuliani on 9/11. Jen Carlson recently interviewed him for our sister site in New York. How long have you been in the FDNY? 30 years experience in some of the busiest firehouses in NYC. Which firehouse are you working at now? Assigned to Bureau of Operations as Deputy Chief FDNY.......

For those of you just tuning in, yesterday we wrote a little piece about the steam pipe that burst in New York. Apparently it pissed a bunch of people off, and we have to concur that actual true (non-sensationalist) details have been slow to trickle in over here. Everything we've read the last couple of days focuses on a "geyser of steam and debris," which seemed like an overblown fearmongering catchphrase at first, but......

Seattlest got the news from a coworker yesterday: an explosion in midtown Manhattan had resulted in a collapsed building (MSNBC); then that no, in fact, it was a transformer that exploded, leaving a nearby building "shaky" (CNN). What in fact happened was that a steam pipe burst, sending what the media is--we think amusingly--calling a "geyser of steam and debris" (and, we should add, asbestos) into the air. What's more terrifying than a burst steam......

Our Southern California based Al Qaeda correspondent, Jeff Schell, is here with analysis on the new Intel report regarding Al Qaeda's desire to "use contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil." Every time the Mariners reach the American League Championship Series, a resurgent Al Qaeda shows up in the news. Coincidence? 1995 Mariners: ALCS. 1995 Al Qaeda: CIA began watching Osama Bin Laden. 2000 Mariners: ALCS. 2000 Al Qaeda: USS......

You may have heard about the unfortunate Kirkland man who was enjoying a Yankee game with his wife and son when some drunk asshole fell on top of and nearly killed him. Seattlest lived in New York for nine years, we attended innumerable Yankee games--usually in the very upper deck where the above tragedy occurred. We were also once landed on by a drunk fan--this during game five of the 2001 AL playoffs, when a......

POLEMIC: Understated, respectful, sober -- these are words that describe someone else besides Christopher Hitchens, who we suspect would beat you senseless with his shoe if it meant that he could own "iconoclastic." Here's the pro-Iraq War Hitch on Michael Moore: "Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of 'dissenting' bravery." Here's......

Memorial Day weekend is finally behind us, so it's time to settle into SIFF. Yes, it's absolutely lovely outside, but Seattleites can only handle so much sun. Get away from all that UVA/UVB exposure and spend your time in the theaters' comfortable darkness. This week brings the opening of SIFF on the Eastside, starting Thursday at the Lincoln Square Cinemas in Bellevue. And tomorrow night, Anthony Hopkins is in town to pick up his......

We had to agree with On the Boards' executive staff (Lane Czaplinksi and Sarah Wilke) statement in the liner notes to The Adventures of Ali and Ali and the Axes of Evil that they had been “excited about presenting Vancouver’s neworldtheatre since the first moment [they] saw the image of a smiling President Bush holding a little wild eyed man baby.” Admittedly, this was a large part of the reason why we wanted to......

We're going to spoil the end of Jonathan Raban's Surveillance. If you haven't read it yet and don't want to know, stop reading now. Seattlest Seth: I noticed the foreshadowing of the ending in the narrative, but it still came as rather a shock--which I'd imagine was intended. My immediate take on it was the same as Shacochis'--it's a well-taken reminder that, however high we perceive the stakes to be of our personal dramas,......

Monday FANTASTIC FICTION SALON: Novelist, nonfiction author, and short story writer Terry Bisson has swept every honor in the science fiction field as well as France's Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire. He joins Hugo House's Writing Fantastic Fiction workshop series, where he will teach "Who Likes Short Shorts? We Like Short Shorts!" 7pm // Hugo House // $4 donation ARTS & LECTURES POETRY SERIES: "Poetry is what maintains our capacity for contemplation and difficulty." That's......

THIS RECYCLED OLD HOUSE: Learn the secrets to using reclaimed and recycled materials in home building. Sustainable Ballard presents a panel and discussion on topics including material salvage and green remodeling. Take a tour of an eco-renovated house in the neighborhood. 6:30-7:45pm // Seattle Public Library Ballard Branch // FREE *FRIDAY* MOVIES: See the first movie about 9/11 we're actually excited for. Reign Over Me opens Friday and finally offers a human story about how......

Ex-Seattleite, ex-Stranger-nic and ex-grassroots campaign manager Phil Campbell wrote a book that we loved about Grant Cogswell's run for City Council in the wake of WTO. The book is Zioncheck for President, which we've discussed with Phil in the past. Now Stephen Gyllenhaal has bought the rights to the film adaptation and plans to produce the thing DIY style here in Seattle. In keeping with the grassroots spirit of Zioncheck for President, Gyllenhaal said he......

MUSIC: Pianist Jose Gonzales takes a holiday from his Thelonious Monk obsession to play an evening of romantic jazz standards at Madrona eatery St. Clouds, with bassist Mark Bullis and special guest Ray Baldwin on trumpet. Drink it up, baby. Yeah. That's right. 9-11:30pm // St. Clouds // No cover, bar seating MUSIC: If you're going to go out dancing and drinking, you might as well do it for a good cause. Darek Mazzone and......

Monday AUTHOR, AUTHOR: In Bich Minh Nguyen's memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner, a young family escapes from Vietnam shortly before the fall of Saigon and relocates to Grand Rapids, Michigan. "In her recreation of a world populated by family ties, Ritz crackers, and Judy Blume books, she has captured the 1980s with perfection," says Kirkus Reviews. 7:30pm // Elliott Bay // FREE Tuesday ANNE LAMOTT RECOMMENDS: Elizabeth Gilbert talks about her book Eat, Pray, Love:......

Realizing that trying to protect our way of life with humans gets people killed, the Navy has decided to do the job with sea lions and dolphins. "Dozens of dolphins and sea lions trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers could be sent to patrol a Puget Sound military base, the Navy said Monday." The dolphins would use their sonar to detect an enemy intruder, and then the sea lion would attach a special cuff......

It seems that it's always about day two of the fest that we really fall in love with this place---the overheard intense discussions of films, the industry gossip, the random interactions with individuals you will never see again, and all that swag just ripe for the taking---really, these are a few of our favorite things. When we last left off, we were headed into Zoo. The buzz going into the film was not good;......

Just two weeks ago, Steve Huling announced that the family is selling their auto dealership, which they've owned for 60 years. One thing the new owners might consider doing is including this question on employment applications: "Are you a soulless, immoral asshole?" Because a sales manager and ten other Huling Bros. employees are accused of ripping off--to the tune of $100K--a mentally-ill man who accessorizes with his own poo.Investigators say the men first took advantage......

"The Decider" will be yakkin at you tonight, beginning at 6pm PST, in a nationally-televised address expected to last for about 30 minutes. The topic: The Iraq War, which President Bush wants to try to win--understandably so, as his other option is to pull out and go down in history as the guy with sole responsibility for the senseless deaths of 2,997 American soldiers (as of Saturday). That's exactly the same number of people as......

There's no such thing as a free ride. This week in speaking happenings is bursting with free-for-alls, but beware the "hidden costs" lurking beneath. Wednesday, December 6 >>>DORKBOT, 7:30pm. We love the name, but saying that they plan to "discuss their innovative approach to immersive, participatory entertainment" doesn't hide the fact that this will be geeks talking about videogames. Free, but only if you know the secret code: 'Knock knock, who's there?' 'Um, dorks?' 'Come......

Remember last week when it was sunny and crystal clear outside? The skies were blue, and we could make out mountain trails on the Cascades. In the evening when the sun set behind the Olympics and Mt. Rainer was glowing in the pink light, we wondered if there was a more beautiful place to live. Well, that image has been replaced by gray skies and insurance claim agents racing around the region. We are getting......

Wednesday, October 18 >>>EMP, 6pm. First The Police's Andy Summers gets interviewed by EMP Senior Curator, Jasen Emmons. Then he signs his book, One Train Later: A Memoir. You need tickets to stand in the "Don't Stand So Close To Me" book-signing line, available with purchase of the book from University Book Store. Andy will sign one piece of memorabilia per copy of his book. Did we mention he has a book out? $5......

We'll just come right out and say it: World Trade Center is not as bad as we expected. But then again, we thought it'd be baaaaad. Oliver Stone + Nicolas Cage + a weighty topic = a recipe for disaster. Seattlest went to a screening primarily to see just how bad it could be, but unexpectedly, we smirked a lot less in this film than in United 93. And that's even taking into account......

The P-I has an article today that explores the panic that the North Korean missile tests of 5, July have struck into area hearts. "I don't think Seattle will be a target," David Cahn stuttered in terror. "America has occupied their country for 50 years. America's policy is the provocation for this sort of thing," Ted Roberts told the paper while impaired by fear . "Even if (the missile) could reach the U.S., it would......

The final full week of SIFF is upon us. It's time to get some last few films before the sun sets on this year's fest. This week's got a couple great music events as well: Friday night, Portastatic will be on hand to perform a specially-commissioned live score accompanying circus freakshow-themed silent film The Unknown (more about that in a few days). Meanwhile, Thursday night's the Face the Music Rock Party at Neumo's, featuring......