It turns out that it's not such a good thing to be a PC if you want to be prepared for disaster. At the Montlake Community Club disaster and crime preparedness fair last night, representatives from the Seattle Police Department, Animal Control, and the Red Cross were there for presentations and to answer questions. The Red Cross presentation, given by a young AmeriCorps volunteer, was set to be a riveting, 60-minute, all-you-need-to-know showcase about disaster response. Trouble was she couldn’t get the PowerPoint presentation to load. "Are you a Mac or a PC?" yelled some wag in attendance. "I’m a Mac at home, but I had to use the agency’s PC, and it’s got some kind of virus," replied the volunteer. She thought about that a moment and added, "I guess I wasn’t prepared for this disaster." more ›

Editor Emeritus Seth Kolloen demanded the mic to make a few statements following the snowbomb-throwing anarchy of Jeremy, Ronald, and Brad this morning. We're sick of putting up snow photos, so we said sure. That's how easy it is to guest editorialize on Seattlest. Try it some time. more ›

On the first Wednesday of every month at high noon, our home is rattled by a screaming bullhorn miles away telling us that if Mount Rainier should ever blow, these same disembodied voices will totally have us covered. It is part of the County's elaborate "Lahar Warning System." In addition to a network of louder-than-Metallica audiotronics, the County also has page after page online addressing the symptoms, effects and remedies to all things lahar. For a lahar. A once-in-10,000-year event. more ›

TODAY IS WORLD REFUGEE DAY! The International Rescue Committee is hosting a benefit night of poetry, music, dance and crafts from our local refugee community at the Seattle Center, and John Hilde's Made In China (a documentary about his father's childhood in pre-WWII China) is screening at the NWFF with proceeds going to Mercy Corps' work in the devastated Sichuan province of China. Be a good neighbor and enjoy these artsy celebrations of diversity and tradition! more ›

The Alaskan Way Viaduct is sketchy. So much so that it was featured in Popular Mechanics' special report "The 10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now." The Viaduct graces the list, which also includes Atlanta's failing water system, New Orleans' canal locks, Chicago's notorious O'Hare Airport, and the country's oldest suspension-bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. more ›