Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. more ›

I love Al Gore and I was really looking forward to seeing him talk at Town Hall on Monday night, but I was under no illusions that I would get to see him announce that he was running for President. I fell for that one before. When Barack Obama came through town on a book tour I got in a blood-boiling, fist-pumping frenzy for some kind of announcement, but what I got was a tepid book tour speech that was more brains than brawn. Same thing Monday night, except this time I knew what I was getting into. Besides, no politician (or “recovering politician” as Gore referred to himself) is going to make a major announcement in the latte-sippin’, Volvo-drivin’, tree-humpin’ Pacific Northwest. Sorry, Seattle. more ›

At long last, after months and months of announcements and press releases, it's finally time to kick off the 33rd annual Seattle International Film Festival. Tonight's the opening gala event (7pm), held for the first time at SIFF's swanky new digs at McCaw Hall. This year's opening night film--Son of Rambow--much like last year's, falls somewhere in between previous year's selections, including the mawkish abomination that is The Notebook and the precious artsy genius of Me and You and Everyone We Know. Rambow won't be out in U.S. theaters until 2008, so this screening is way early, offering you the ability come next year to sigh and say to your lesser-connected friends, "Son of Rambow? Oh, I saw that last spring." more ›

No matter what Dane Cook's myspace page says, the Reverend Dr. Samuel McKinney, narrator of the gospel musical Black Nativity, is the only person you'll see on a Seattle stage this month who went to school with Martin Luther King, Jr. Our favorite part of this consistently entertaining show was watching 80-year-old McKinney--who also once met Langston Hughes, its author--tap his toes, silently sing along, and break into a smile during the solos by the Total Experience Gospel Choir. more ›

Picture all the money in the state rounded up and stuffed into an enormous paper mache taxpayer suspended from the Space Needle. Blindfold Governor Gregoire and Mayor Nickels and hand them each a baseball bat. more ›

With the first days of summer already on us, it's a perfect time to start thinking about your summer music plans. There were two recent pre-sale ticket announcements that got the gears turning in our heads at Seattlest: Bumbershoot (Sept 2-4) and the KEXP BBQ (Aug 13). While the complete line-up for both of these events has yet to be announced (We aren't overly hyped on the initial Bumbershoot line-up!), both events will give more than enough bang for your musical buck. Right now, you can get pre-sale tickets to all 3 days of Bumbershoot for just $50 (code: BUMBERFAN) – and pre-sale tickets to the always Sold Out KEXP BBQ for $20. Of course you'll want to start your summer off with a bang at the Capitol Hill Block Party (July 28-29), which just announced their complete line-up over the weekend (a Seattlest guide is on the way). In the meantime, enjoy these local boys done good: Band of Horses (playing Capitol Hill Block Party). more ›

Here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a music blog. KEXP finally throws its keyboard in the ring after spending the past two years with the most potentially awesome music blog in existence hanging out in their back pocket. Well, it's finally on the table at http://blog.kexp.org. They've got informed DJs with just the right amount of approachability and candor, and we have no idea why they've waited so long to chain them to a keyboard. To be fair, KEXP kinda skipped the whole blog thing and went straight to podcasts, which they did very well. What finally convinced them that podcasts are a flop and they need to come back and pick up on the relatively old school blog wave? If you're looking for answers in their blog announcements, you're not gonna find em. more ›

One super-cool thing about being a teacher is that so often you actually learn from your students! Recently, for example, a Bellevue Community College math instructor learned that maybe it’s not OK to use test questions that involve “Condoleeza” and “watermelon”. more ›

This has been a busy week, at least in terms of announcements as to who's involved in things taking place sometime in the future. Seattlest breaks it down: more ›

Seattlest would like to treat it as more than a coincidence that our Mountaineering First Aid class started last night. It dovetails nicely with a weird sense that although it's frustrating that we can't do more than donate money to the Red Cross for the displaced hurricane victims, we can at least be prepared to help out should the shit go down here. (And as for the "mountaineering" part of it--you'll be thanking us when we shore up your broken bones with a splint made of twigs.) more ›

In lieu of a "We Also Read the Weeklies" column this week (which life got in the way of and we didn't have time for) Seattlest is just going to link you right to the source. Check it out: www.thestranger.com, www.seattleweekly.com. Great stuff this week, eh? And you thought our handy reading guide mattered. more ›