PRO: Over the last ten years Los Angeles label ANTI-Records has been home to some of pop music’s rawest singers. Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Joe Strummer, Man Man, and Spoon have all released albums on Epitaph’s more-mature-sister label. Bettye LaVette and Marianne Faithful also call ANTI home, and so it makes perfect sense that rhythm and blues legend Mavis Staples has released her last two albums for the label. Staples has been identified by her soulful wails and low, smoky voice since the early 60s when The Staple Singers released album after album of remarkable early r&b and gospel music. Mavis Staples had it then, that gruffness and rawness often emulated but rarely matched, even by ANTI’s younger crooners, and she still has it in 2010. Enjoy this video of a live performance in 1971 of “When Will We Be Paid.” more ›

One of those all-American hotdog carts, the kind you see in Belltown late at night, will cost you about $500, give or take. And, for another $700, there's an outfit in Chicago that will teach you how to run it. (Sample from the weeklong curriculum: dress the dog, not the bun.) more ›

Not that kind of pew. It's a Pew Charitable Trusts report on how major cities are handling deficits, and Seattle, we think it's fair to say, is full of fiscal win: our one-year deficit of $44 million is just 5 percent of our general fund. For context, L.A. and Chicago stand at 12 and 13 percent, respectively. For even more context, we're tied with Baltimore, so don't get cocky. "Proposed service cuts are mostly targeting libraries, recreation facilities and aspects of trash collection." It probably makes budgetary sense, but it's really unfortunate, symbolically, that we're cutting library hours and increasing the size of our police force. more ›

...at least as far as sports-affiliated reusable shopping bags are concerned. Pro sports franchise shopping bags where everywhere on our trip to Chicago for the holidays, but we've never seen a Mariners or Seahawks shopping bag in this style in Seattle. Of course, that's the Chicago Way: when you're trying to direct the population you don't legislate, you just slap a Bears logo on the desired behavior. more ›

Our sister site Chicagoist has been rocking and rolling on the Rod Blagojevich story all morning. The Illinois Governor was taken into federal custody on corruption charges, and Chicagoist went straight to the profanity-laced complaint that has multiple, wiretapped instances of Blago making what sound like illicit "deals." Discussing Obama's vacant Senate seat, Blago said: "I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I’m just not giving it up for fuckin’ nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there." Then they live-blogged the arrest press conference, took a hard look at Blago's Chief of Staff, and went hunting the web for all the Blago news fit to pixelize. While they were doing all that, we discovered Capitol Hill's Joe Bar has new crepe-making hours for December. Now the deliciousness begins at 7:30 a.m. Make a note of it. more ›

NYT über-pundit Thomas Friedman is married to Ann Friedman (née Bucksbaum), whose family (still) runs General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based REIT heavy into malls (they own eight in Washington alone). General Growth is trying to make some hefty debt payments and has to unload some of its inventory, which means Westlake Center downtown may now have a For Sale sign attached. The price tag is estimated at around $150 million. Who wants to start the bidding? more ›

There was a happy commotion on the real Capitol Hill last night at Broadway and Pike. Naturally it involved Journey. (Thanks to Todd for posting the great video above on YouTube. How about an aerial view, you ask?) Over on the other side of the country, DC got down, too. New York took pictures of itself, Chicago understandably took more, Los Angeles was ready for a close-up, Philly got it on video, San Francisco--well of course San Francisco partied, even Toronto celebrated, while London livebloggged. more ›

•The polls close at 8 p.m., and absentee ballots must be postmarked by today. You can find where you are registered here; you can find a place to watch the results in public here. more ›

With the Mariners taking the rest of the summer off, Seattlest (along with some other local rag) is adopting the Chicago White Sox as our fake team for the rest of the season. more ›

After a few leisurely days cruising highways and back roads, Seattlest is in our native Chicago. To get here, we had to traverse through southeastern Wisconsin, which on a Sunday evening was unfortunately overrun by FIBS. Being surrounded by these mouth-breathing jerks who weave across three lanes without signaling, who tailgate within 5 feet of your car, and who form a three-mile-long column in the passing lane made us long for you, Seattle. Like Audrey, we've found perspective. But don't think you've a reprieve from your bad fashion... more ›

If you're not spending this weekend SIFFing or Sasquatching or otherwise out of town for the three-day weekend, there's plenty of live music for those who spend the holiday in Seattle. more ›

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For those of you that are info Top Chef, you can check out the full review of last night's episode on Chicagoist. We were excited to see that beer had the spotlight for part of the show, but it was sad to see it was done in such a sell-out, corporate fashion. Check out the embedded clip for the ten-minute Quickfire Challenge (you can forward to the 3:45 mark). more ›

Wally Szczerbiak, who is on "our list" for single handily knocking UDub out of the 1999 NCAA Tournament and daring to jaw with Gary Payton, is heading out of town. more ›

Moving Under Sea-Tac by Seattlest Flickr Contributor, Grundlepuck more ›

Being a Chicago guy originally, this Seattlest is definitely a little biased towards this jamband from the windy city (via South Bend, IN). Umphrey's has managed to fill a little bit of the hole left in our musical soul when those four guys from Vermont decided to call it quits a few years ago. These guys can rock your ass off, pull out some sweet, tight jams and they work incredibly well together. In these days of Americn Idol, pop stars that lip sync and other crap, it is always wonderful to see a band that can improvise their way through a whole show. That's not to say they can't pull off some catchy 4 minute tunes that can appeal to the masses. They even recorded a feel-good tune with Huey Lewis(yes, that Huey Lewis) and he performed it with them on Jimmy Kimmel a couple of years ago. more ›

The American steakhouse--that dimly lit, mahogany-paneled, mafia-chic hideout for fat cats and their trophy molls--you'd think it would never fly in laid-back, egalitarian Seattle. You'd be wrong. more ›

We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they discuss McCain’s new frontrunner status, religion in American politics, and Edwards’ departure. more ›

Mercer Island is not just the home of the fifth richest man on earth. And 98040 isn't just the wealthiest zip code in our state. It is now known as a childhood home of Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Dunham. more ›

We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they review Tuesday's doings in New Hampshire. more ›

Could we be any vaguer? No, but that doesn't mean there's still not any reason to get excited. With In Rainbows making its formal debut atop the Billboard charts, Radiohead is set to cover North America in two tour legs, one prior to and one following their recently announced European summer tour (June 6 in Dublin through July 8 in Berlin). more ›

This weekend, it's all about Friday and Saturday; Sunday is the Lord's day, so music is taking a night off. Tonight, there's another great Canadian band, Immaculate Machine, at the Vera Project. The pop trio features Kathryn Calder, who just so happens to be the New Pornographers' Carl (A.C.) Newman's niece. Way to keep it in the family. more ›

The script to Birdie Blue is the sort that, if there was any justice in this world, would have been unceremoniously trashed by every producer whose desk it crossed. Unfortunately, this being the real world and all, this awful script has been produced off-Broadway and in regional theatres all across the country, despite the fact it's guilty of every terrible conceit and device you could associate with the modern theatre. Nothing would have made us... more ›

This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook. On Sunday morning, following a trip to a local farmer’s market/major supermarket chain, we will be preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks opponent. Then at halftime we will throw our badly burned hands in the air and make hot dogs. more ›

Saturday, Tera will give herself a VIP tour at the opening of Aritzia. She will follow this potentially hectic event by introducing a friend to her newest wine obsession - Twisted Cork. Sunday she will trek to Qwest and root for Chicago, uh, eh, oops...Seattle. Yes, root for the Seahawks. Jack's heading to the Showbox proper tonight to see Canadian indie pop band Stars. Sunday, he's hoping to see Rex Grossman slip into old... more ›

(This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook. On Sunday morning, following a trip to a local farmer’s market/major supermarket chain, we will be preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks opponent. Then at halftime we will throw our badly burned hands in the air and make hot dogs.) more ›

In an oh-so-scientific survey, a "national emerging health care discount service" we'll decline to name (take that, PR flacks!) discovered that the most caffeinated city in the country out of 20 is ... Chicago! more ›

Here are three vaguely computer-related crimes taken from recent headlines in Seattle, Chicago and New England. more ›

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. more ›

The Onion AV Club says Mudhoney's 1991 album Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is worth a re-listen. Say they:

[EGBDF] came out two months before Nirvana's Nevermind—and in a sense, it's the Bizarro Nevermind ... Every Good Boy in hindsight sounds like the grunge that should've been: ratty, humble, punky, weird, and catchy without resorting to grunting machismo.