Sometimes this Seattlest is a bit behind the news, so an e-mail we just got from a friend who works in Fremont let us in on the fact that the Fremont Sonic Boom is closing and selling its CDs. 30% off new ones and 50% off used. more ›

Wild speculation surrounding the possibility of Radiohead playing somewhere in Washington sometime in the next year has got us pissing ourselves with excitement. The P-I A P-I reader blog called Ear Candy** thinks they might headline the Sasquatch Festival at the end of May with REM and The Cure but our sources are suggesting the band will embark on a West Coast run after their European summer tour ends. As of right now, the only guaranteed U.S. shows are a handful of random gigs in the South--kicking off in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Cinco De Mayo of all times and places. After all, nothing pairs quite like cheap tequila and sophisticated Brit rock. more ›

Seattlest has found a reason for everyone to welcome bicycles on the city's streets. The origins lie in Virgin Vacations' (has anyone asked The Name Inspector to do a write up on Richard Branson's desire to cater to virgins?) naming of the world's 11 most bike-friendly cities. Unfortunately, Seattle didn't make the list (Portland came in at number 2), which uses five criteria created by The Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign to judge a community's bike... more ›

Okay, okay. So Pride is actually going to happen. Even now, on the precipice of this extraordinary weekend celebration o' gayness, all our friends have no effing clue what's going on. If they, in all their gay glory, don't have a clue, we figured maybe you don't either. But Seattlest is here for you in these tough times and that's why we're gonna break it down all easy-like and tell you what we think is worth bothering with. more ›

Now, you're going to be hearing a lot about ex-Port Chief Mic Dinsmore getting a severance package from the Port of Seattle for retiring with a $107,000/yr pension to go to work for a hedge fund. You may hear that none of the Port commissioners but Pat Davis remembers they all agreed that, you know, it'd be a nice gesture to send Dinsmore off with an "extra" $339,841. Rainy day fund, kinda. more ›

Those design-obsessed types over at Coudal Partners have just recently posted Field Tested Books, an online compendium of book reviews by lots of bookish (and blogish) people. Not just your ordinary reviews, these focus on books read in specific places and the impact the locale had on the reader's experience (hence, Coudal likes to refer to them as "experience reviews" instead). more ›

So the music at Tuesday's Oscillate was great. Jeff Milligan's set was wonderful to listen to, and those boys from Innerflight completely brought it, playing the best Seattlest has ever seen them play. But Seattlest is going to have to break it down a bit here: Jeff Milligan is a dick. There were apparently some monitor issues and some other minor technical issues, but from the crowd's perspective everything was ok, since it sounded great once he got in a bit of a groove. But rather than just making lemonade out of these lemons, Milligan was visibly frustrated, flicking off the equipment, roughly handling his records, and berating the night's promoters. It was all very primadonna-esque and completely unnecessary. Seattlest has been soured on Jeff Milligan, so we're fine if he goes back to Canada and never returns to our fair city. Any promoters that happen across this post would do well to steer clear of him as well. more ›

As if you don't know, this weekend was the Northwest Regional Barista Competition, presented by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and hosted by Hines Public Market Coffee and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Seattlest was there, live, reporting away like a real reporter, just without the expense account. (Actually we had to leave to go find a hotspot. But we typed part of this post live and it was thrilling. We were standing *that* close to 2004 U.S. Barista Champion Bronwen Serna, who was helping judge this year.) more ›

Ah, the summer season is now in full swing, and Seattlest couldn't be happier. Not because of the warm weather, which we can take or leave, but because of all the festivals occuring throughout the area. And when you say festivals, what jumps to our minds is food! Specifically "fair food". more ›

It's that time of year again here in the Pacific Northwest, where's a man's fancy turns to...salmon. more ›

Top Pot, Top Pot, wherefore art thou, Top Pot? No, really--people want to know. Granted we're mincing our Shakespeare, but who can think straight at a time like this? When the consumption of yummy, fresh doughnuts and Ovaltine lattes is at stake, there's no metaphor too drawn out or anachronism too butchered for Seattlest's tastes. more ›

Seattlest spent Memorial Day weekend of 2002 at Banks Lake, just south of the Grand Coulee Dam. Halfway through the long weekend, we vowed never to do that again. Along with a camping layout that resembled a jammed Belltown block of newfangled condos, there was also the constant blasting of stereos from every nearby car, trailer, RV, and boat. We made the best of it by drinking plenty of beer, throwing the frisbee about, and the occasional fishing jaunts out on the lake, but especially after the drive back to Seattle that resembled a slow-moving slough of cars stuck in lava, we arrived home neither rested nor with the typical 3-day weekend glow we're accustomed to. So this year we plan to "get away from it all", as the travel sites like to say. more ›