Results tagged “clarkhumphrey”

From the comments on SeattleTimes.com, you'd think that spending a couple of bucks on a park was High Treason. But Belltown, home to some 10,000 of us, has no park.

Example number fourteen of Seattle's trend towards blandness, homogeneity and steady corporate march (wingtipped jackboots) towards complete and total cultural entropy comes today via sporting goods retailer G.I. Joes, or, as they are currently rebranding themselves, "Joes." Mother fucking "Joes?" God dammit. Seattlest loved G.I. Joes. Its mix of urban trail gear and skiing equipment alongside camping, hunting, fishing and outdoor work gear gave us hope that Red and Blue might one day get along. At least it acknowledged that we all occupy the same outdoors. Don't get us wrong, we love REI, but normal people's idea of a weekend getaway doesn't involve $60,000 summits in Asia. G.I. Joes was an outdoor outfitter for normal people. It started as a military surplus store way back whenever, thus the name, but today "Uh, excuse me, where are your bayonets?" is going to get you nothing but a blank stare from staff. Maybe a wave over towards the knives, if you're lucky. It was funny that the place was named G.I. Joes and there wasn't a whiff of military gear. The name didn't make it obvious that it sold outdoor equipment, but you figure it out eventually. "Joe's" sounds like a fucking diner. "G.I.'s" would have been better, even.

One of Seattlest's favorite Christmas presents this year: Clark Humphrey's Vanishing Seattle, a new entry in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series by retro-Seattle authority Clark Humphrey. We're a Seattle transplant, ourselves, but we've been interested in Seattle history since we decided we wanted to stay here (about a week after we arrived, as we recall), and we quickly noticed that Humphrey was a consistent, articulate voice advocating for that history.