If last night’s sold out performance at the Can Can says anything, word has gotten out about the Bushwick Book Club and their unrepentant awesomeness. So much so, that we are even a little hesitant to write about it, for fear of contributing to the hype machine that surrounds this literary musical fusion and only making it harder to get a drink at the next one. more ›

Clubs aren't taverns; they don't grow finer with age. It's better to have a steady, sustainable turnaround of clubs and venues. It helps keep the music scene itself from stagnating and compartmentalizing.There's nothing more depressing than a club reaching mythic "legendary" status with 45-year-old, original patrons -- trying to relive old memories -- throwing lecherous glances at the 16-year-old noobs who go there because it's the cool place to be.The best thing that can happen for a club is to close before it gets tired and becomes a caricature of itself. Clubs best live on in the slightly hazy, alcoholic fog of memories of past patrons. more ›

Magazine called Cooking Light, which runs "supper clubs" around the country in addition to printing a monthly collection of recipes, picks Seattle as the nation's number one city for healthy eating, just ahead of Portland. Strange, cuz their suppers are sponsored by Benefiber, Tums and Viva paper towels. Their most recent local event was held at that temple of elegance and haute cuisine, The Edgewater. more ›

From the PI this morning: "Three shot inside Capitol Hill club." Apparently, a fight broke out on Sugar's dance floor around 1:30am; three people were injured, and police aren't saying much more than that. Someone was firing a gun the club, so this isn't one of those ambiguous cases of violence within fifty feet of the club doors. The night's event was Sin Sunday, an 18/21+ weekly event featuring a DJ spinning hip-hop and R&B mash-ups. more ›

It's cool that Drew Carey has been the face of the new Seattle MLS team, appearing at the G&D and showing up in the booth for Monday Night Football to talk about the team's plans in Seattle, but he's kind of a Cleveland guy. Couldn't we get a Seattle name that's about on par with Carey? Like....oh god there is no Seattle name on par with Drew Carey. Long live Seattle guy Drew Carey! more ›

Seattlest feels dirty (not in a good way) after reading the Oxford American's article on indie rock and Seattle. more ›

This morning, reported on inaccuracies in its article from a week age today on elements of the sting operation, including the disputed claim that a gun made it into Tommy's on the Ave after a bouncer was offered a $100 bribe. Jush Feit over at the Slog tore them a new one for getting info wrong again, particularly on the point about violence. more ›

Seattle. Portland. Which one's better? You may say: "How can you choose? Each has their good points. It's like asking which religion is better." Guess what, asshole, that Negative Nellie attitude is the reason nobody ever asks for your fucking opinion. Jerk. To the debate! First up, it's a pro-Seattle opinion. more ›

In Slate today, Taylor Clark declared our -Ist-less neighbor to the south "America's indie rock Mecca," then spent several paragraphs dropping names and figuring out why. His conclusion?

It's easy to live here. In the words of a friend of mine who used to be the music editor at the local alt-weekly, Portland is like a resort community for indie rockers who spend half the year working themselves ragged on tour. You can venture into public dressed like a convicted sex offender or a homeless person, and no one looks at you askew. It's lush and green. Housing is affordable, especially compared with Seattle or San Francisco. The people are nice. The food is good. Creativity is the highest law. For young, hip Portlanders, financial success is a barista job that subsidizes your Romanian-space-folk band or your collages of cartoon unicorns.

, "Seventeen bouncers, bartenders and other nightclub employees were arrested Saturday night for allegedly violating state liquor laws." more ›

The number of rock clubs in Seattle isn't necessarily dwindling, but the number of rock club bookers is definitely trending down. First the staff at Neumos took over national booking at Chop Suey on the Hill, now the Fenix has gone away and their lease is being picked up by the Showbox. more ›

brought it up. more ›

As we speak, the invasion of the obnoxious roaring planes has begun, so we'll just get the "not a fan of the Blue Angels" admission out of the way. Go ahead and slaughter us in the comments. Apparently we're the only one in the world who doesn't go all ga-ga over them. We have no soul, but that's fine. We'll accept that and move on. more ›

Mariner big leaguers are feeling good with the team at 13 games over .500, but if they belonged to an M's farm team, they'd be expecting a pink slip. more ›

Yesterday Seattlest said the following: more ›

The City Council finally got around to passing "adult cabaret" zoning laws that just might let Seattle develop a strip club scene worthy of a would-be world-class city. more ›

As April showers turn to May flowers Seattle sports fans continue to hope that this spring will bring better times for the local professional baseball team. But, the Mariners mediocre effort has driven Seattlest to the George and Dragon in Fremont more and more often to catch the latest European soccer action. Here's why. more ›

Hot issues don't really die, ever, they just retreat underground and cool for a while before popping up in new places. Increased regulation of strip clubs was put down by voters recently by a pretty strong majority, but according to this email we just received the City Council is reintroducing some of the restrictions of the placement of new clubs in the form of a zoning ordinance. Today at 5:30 at City Hall there's a meeting to discuss the ordinance, which, this email claims, will reduce the areas available to new strip clubs to those outlined on the map below. more ›

"If I were still mayor, and I knew I was coming to an event like this," Charley Royer told us before last night's political fundraiser pub quiz, "I'd make sure there wasn't a question about Seattle that I didn't know the answer to." more ›

Yet another postponement, and the new plan is to try to play a doubleheader on Monday, beginning at 10:05 am PST. The M's have a day game in Boston on Tuesday, so this would mean they'd play 3 games in about 28 hours. Not good. more ›

Wednesday, February 21 more ›

--Putting random stuff in brackets and voting on it is all the rage. First the blog thing, and now gay clubs go head to head. Stay tuned next week when Seattlest pits our socks against each other in a bracket from hell. more ›

That's how Mayor Ole Hanson described the beginning of the general strike that was held in Seattle February 1919, one of the few general strikes ever attempted in the U.S. The Bolsheviks had just won their revolution in Russia two years earlier and the Red Scare was coming into play in our country. Add 35,000 striking shipyard workers. Subtract the city's more moderate labor officials - They were in Chicago for a vote. Those left behind broached the subject of a general strike with other unions and the city was shut down on February, 6, while rumors of poisoned water, blasted dams and union heavies en route from Chicago kept everyone else either locked in their homes or fleeing for the country. In an effort to keep the peace, or kick a lot of union ass anyway if the peace got queered, the mayor brought in soldiers from Fort Lewis and deputized 2,400 frat guys and student organization members whom he armed with clubs and guns. The city teetered towards open war in the streets. more ›

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. more ›

So Rick's was raided on Wednesday night:

P-I night reporter Scott Gutierrez was out on the scene and reports that police arrested 14 dancers and one manager for what a police spokesman said were violations of the city's adult entertainment ordinance.

If you want to read the many reasons why the Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez deal sucks, USS Mariner (humorlessly) and Lookout Landing (hilariously--check the poll) can satisfy you. more ›

Monday, after posting our pro-lap dance response to Susan Paynter's PI column, we received an email from an anonymous local stripper:

I just read your defense of your right to make women touch you sexually for pay and was wondering: more ›

Susan Paynter thinks all the talk about "freedom of speech" around Referendum 1 (the four-foot rule, etc.) is a ruse -- what the clubs really want to keep "legal" is prostitution:

If we want a vote, up or down, on legalizing prostitution, then, in the words of G.W. Bush, bring it on. But if, outside of Nevada, we still oppose the oldest profession when it is practiced on the street, do we ignore it when it's inside a club that may soon be built next to your house?

"Although touching is supposedly forbidden, in the less-lighted recesses of at least two of the clubs, men reported seeing 'dancers' opening patrons' pants, putting on condoms and, at the very least, rubbing private parts through men's clothing to the point of some tough laundry stains."

Why go to the clubs when there are many hotties working at local business establishments? We've culled Craig's List, the Stranger I Saw U, and local blogs to determine where you, the reader, can find hotties without paying a cover. more ›

Are we more Lake Forest Parkish or Minneapolisesque?

Four-foot rules exist in Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park and Tacoma, according to city reports. Burien requires dancers to be at least 10 feet away from patrons, while Renton prohibits off-stage performances altogether. more ›