A lot of buildings in West Seattle have been catching fire lately. Cars and bikes are having disagreements. Local sewer systems may be getting an upgrade. West Seattle, if that's not exciting enough for you, this weekend also ushers in a new "strategy board game group." Start time: 1 p.m. End time: UNSPECIFIED (much like Settlers of Catan that way). more ›

Photo: Vintage VW beetle by Kate Hailey from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

Camaro SS by Karlen from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

Cars that go fast, cars that plug into the wall, cars that rumble, and even movie cars are on display at the Seattle Auto Show at Qwest Field Event Center. Check out our gallery. more ›

If there's one thing you can say about Tim Eyman, it's that he's not a quitter. Dancing on top of the success of I-1053, the initiative passed this month which preserves the two-thirds legislative majority for tax increases, Eyman has hopped right back on it, doing the same thing he does at the end of every election season--whip up a new batch of initiatives. One of them reopens an old local politics wound: the $30 car tab. And this time, after a similar success in Mukilteo, he's thrown red light camera fines into the mix--those would also be capped at $30, under Eyman's proposed initiatives (there are several that involve both the $30 tabs and the $30 fines). Seattle Transit Blog has a solid rundown of I-473, the most recent of the proposed initiatives, and PubliCola explains some of the finer points of the included "Vehicle Owners' Bill of Rights." more ›

If you don't want to fight the crowds at Seafair today, there are plenty of local alternatives. Today, we are visiting the First Annual Elks Hot Rod and Auto Show at the Burien Elks Lodge in Burien. The show is free to visitors, and there is a $1 raffle. They have burgers and dogs for sale, as well as a beer garden. The proceeds go to the Elk's charities. more ›

The intern over on the Slog has put together the stats on our brutal week of murders. There have only been eleven murders in Seattle this year--which is the good news; the bad news is, a quarter of 'em happened this week. more ›

Feel the greatness of our victory over Tacoma. Muahahahahaha! Once again Seattle proved to have the nicest and safest drivers between the two cities. As we mentioned previously, today was the proclaimed "Drive Nice Day" drivers' challenge. more ›

Or at least Dartanion London got a car. The local comedian (Jet City Improv, Dart-Mondo) made a self-admittedly "dumb video" and was selected by Ford to win their Fiesta, a fuel-efficient small car that goes on sale in the States next year (it's already in Europe, natch). But this is more than merely having a car, this is a bona fide em-effing MOVEMENT, at least according to Ford. more ›

Unnecessary drawbridge interruptions during peak rush hours are increasing the likelihood of Seattle spawning a boat rage phenomenon. Boat rage is an aquatic twist on the standard--only in this soon-to-exist sense, the violence spans traditional, intra-modal boundaries, i.e., cars turning on boats. more ›

Issaquah-based Organic To Go (which bought out Briazz a few years ago) is cutting 30 percent of its staff, says Northwest Innovation, and that despite a terrific advertising push. Meanwhile, Seattle's Cobalt Group just laid off 45 people, reports TechFlash. Cobalt runs auto dealer websites, and its CEO says that "auto sales are at a 50 year low and that an estimated 900 auto dealers have gone out of business this year." We honestly don't know how organic car sales are doing, but we bet the situation isn't great for them, either. more ›

Seattle 911 asked the SPD if walking home drunk was legal (it is) and got a really good tip in return: through a service called Anna's Ride Home, thirty bars in town can offer free cab vouchers to drunken patrons in need. You just ask for a voucher, and the server fills out a slip with your address and gives it to the cab driver. Eventually, the bar and the Anna Armstrong White Foundation split your bill. Though it would be a bad idea to go out on the town planning to abuse this service to get home, Anna's Ride Home is a fantastic alternative to driving drunk. Even Vern Fonk thinks so. Thanks, SPD, for the helpful reminder as we head into the drinking holiday season! more ›

We just may have found Charles Mudede's next film subject. Edward Smith, a 57-year-old from Washington, whose sexual preference leans towards the automotive rather than the bestial. Smith's self-described romantic feelings toward cars began at age 15. (Auto erotica indeed!) Since then, Smith claims to have had sex with over 1,000 cars, though he is currently in a monogamous relationship with his girlfriend--a white Volkswagen Beetle he has named Vanilla. more ›

Forget what everybody's saying for a second and remember that driving a car still can be fun. Open country roads, bright-shining sun, no cops in sight--there isn’t a replacement for this experience. Gas be damned. more ›

"Mac vs. PC" by Etchasketchist, with permission. Cool! more ›

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. more ›

The cold wind of actual necessity is blowing up Seattle's skirt. Much like our childhood erector-set constructions, the Viaduct has a certain amount of "give" in it (though hopefully not due to the same reason: our dislike of tightening every single nut on things we were just going to take apart anyway), but the news last week that it has sunk 5 inches at its saggiest point has bells going off because 6 inches is the magic number when it's an emergency. Aaooogah! more ›

Last night around midnight a Seattlest contributor witnessed a lot of weird stuff going on around the sliver of I-5 under Freeway Park that's visible from his kitchen window: more ›

At the Microsoft Strategic Account Summit yesterday morning Bill Gates dropped some future knowledge on the assembled ad men and tech types. A few of those nuggets we found particularly interesting and insightful: more ›

Doesn't matter whether you rebuild, retrofit or dig. Doesn't matter if the State Dep't of Transportation pretends they need to maintain the Viaduct's current capacity of 110,000 vehicles a day (even if The Stranger and others make it clear the number is closer to 75,000). more ›

If you are afraid of fast cars (Tracy Chapman) or of movie characters existing in reality (Tom Cruise), then don't go downtown today. Because two characters from the upcoming Pixar film Cars---sotto voce: in theaters everywhere June 9th---are making an appearance at Westlake, as real-life cars. more ›

The hilarious star buggerers at Defamer posted something a few days ago that, as good little media consumers, we should have seen and recognized immediately This item ended up taking it's sweet time in getting onto Seatttlest's radar, though.. Defamer posted an image of George Clooney's new fully electric ride. No Clooney in the photograph, unfortunately. Sorry ladies. Environmentally friendly auto enthusiats rejoice, though. What you are looking at is a camera phone snap of the Tango, designed and built by Commuter Cars of Spokane, Washington. more ›

Saturday October 1st is the International Mountain Biking Association's annual "Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day". Plenty of research shows that parents who lead by example and participate in sports and outdoor activities will have kids who do the same--so get off the couch, turn off the XBox (you're 37 years old for the love of God), and go plunk your offspring on a set of wheels. more ›

Monday will be the beginning of Metro's dress rehearsal in preperation for the closure of the downtown bus tunnel. What that means to drivers in the business core is not quite clear, despite a number of reports from the daily papers. The truth is probably that officials will be winging it on Monday, which should make for some incredibly weird and arbitrary instructions from the corp of traffic cops who will be on hand. Please, feel free to alert Seattlest when you're maced and restrained for trying to beat a flashing walk sign next week. more ›

On Saturday night you might want to check out Deerhoof at Paradox. They create weird, art rocker/art-y noisy that is still poppy and accessible, which is an admirable skill. They music is just flat-out fun. In fact the only real problem we have with the band is that they have one of the most confusing sites on the internet. It's just flat-out cryptic. To get you ready for the show, this site has a load of Deerhoof mp3's for your listening pleasure. Get to the show early because the band Why? is opening up for them. We can just imagine all the Abbott and Costello-type humor that undoubtedly arises from their name. Oh the laughs! We did enjoy their most recent album, and think that they are one of the rare opening acts that nicely complements the sound of the headliner. more ›