Like anybody else, we appreciate the sentiment of the Presidents' Day long weekend--well, for those of us who have that day off or are able to take it. It provided us the perfect opportunity to temporarily ex-patriate ourselves and pump money into Canada's economy. That's what it's all aboot, anyway. This so-named Presidents' Day has become just a reason for the commercial sector to entice us with Fabulous Savings. Nobody thinks about Washington or......

Before we moved our worldly possessions across Elliott Bay to West Seattle, we'd never visited that neighborhood's Beveridge Place Pub. And we'd never tasted 3-Grid IPA, an excellently hoppy product of that neighborhood's Schooner Exact Brewing Co. Now that we pose as West Seattle regulars, we recognize both pub and brewer as priceless neighborhood gems; there's no better place to kill a few (happy) hours, and no finer micro-local IPA. So it's with great......

As ChrisB of Three Imaginary Girls points out, losing your job sucks. Losing a job that meant a lot to you sucks more. And losing all that during the holidays? Well that just blows a goat. So what do you do to help out these fellas who so unexpectedly got canned on Sunday afternoon? If you're former Croc booker Pete Greenberg (now at Chop Suey), you organize a benefit show to help these guys pay......

This Seattlest took one look at the weather forecast and headed to sunny Florida yesterday. Now here we are in our hometown of DeLand, population 24,375 (per 2006 census). Our mother doesn't have wireless at the house, and is operating off a 1997 iMac. It's cute and compact, but slow as hell, so we headed out this morning for the one source of public wifi in town: Boston Gourmet Coffeehouse. A couple of things about......

Making up for weeks of hibernation and workaholism, Kim will hit the parties this weekend. Tonight, she’ll don her Groucho glasses for a lesbian function at Jabu’s celebrating the births of her two favorite Sagitarii. Saturday, it’s to the War Room for a company party with the missus and her workmates. Finally, she’ll ship off to the sub-tropics on Monday, where she’ll spend what remains of 2007. While his wife is taking a Wilderness......

Things always die down right around the holidays, so not much is going on tonight, except local noise mavens X-Ray Press will be celebrating their CD release (and the addition of their new keyboardist) at Jules Maes in Georgetown. Meanwhile, on Saturday David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion and Headphones) plays at the Croc unless you want to go to Chop Suey and get rocked (non-threateningly) by Shonen Knife. Here's a video from last night's......

You recall the other day we were mad as hell at the Washington State Ferries for running their boats until they rusted through, leaving everyone high and dry while new ones can be built. WSF is still dead to us, but Governor Gregoire could make our "holiday card" list if she keeps it up. First the viaduct course correction, now she's scrounged up $100 million to pay for three new ferries. Budget, schmudget! She's......

While trolling through today's Floor Proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives for our other job (it's an exciting one), we noticed something that will probably get no coverage anywhere else. However, we think it is important to note when Congress singles out one faith as important. We think it's doubly important to note when the vote is taken while Congress fights with the Bush Administration over funding the government for the next year, haggles......

Okay, friends and neighbors. December is a huge month for local hip-hop, and not just because of Blue Scholars' The Program. This week, Chop Suey's got you covered for Monday and Tuesday with the Parker Brothaz tonight (GMK will be there! We love that guy!) and freestyle master Eyedea & DJ Abilities tomorrow night. Over in Fremont, Nectar's offering Waves of the Mind and Gabriel Teodros/Abyssinian Creole on the 13th (there are nine acts......

In the lobby of the ACT Theater, 25 minutes before curtain of A Christmas Carol, a pretty 20-something girl wearing a cute holiday sweater surveys the scene. Four Dickens Carolers are singing in lovely harmony. Children toddle by, then look back at the carolers, their eyes wide with wonder. Garland and lights are everywhere. The 20-something's face spreads into a wide smile. She turns to her boyfriend and stage-whispers: "I love this!" What's not to......

Until the day after Thanksgiving, Seattlest hadn't seen The Nutcracker -- probably the world's most famous ballet -- in years. But we had a solid image in our head of what it looked like because when Seattlest was a little kid, our mom made an annual birthday tradition to see it every year on opening night. For much of our childhood, this meant getting all spiffed up and walking a few blocks to Lincoln......

Thanksgiving doesn't allow for us Seattlesters to partake in our usual rock and roll lifestyles. Instead it's friends and family and mellow times about the house. Our drinking's liable to be more restrained and coordinated with a heavy meal of rich food. (Seattlest Geoff offered some choice beer recommendations earlier this week for those who've got a pit-stop planned on the way to grandmother's house tomorrow.) And according to the weather report, it's going to......

Last we talked with Carrie Akre, she was gearing up for the release of her latest CD, Last the Evening. Now, a couple of months later, the CD is officially out, and Akre is buzzing from the aftermath. Indeed, most of us music critic types have had nice things to say about the disc, which showcases her exuberant, imagery-laden lyrics and alt.country sensibilities, and shows off the great musicianship of her backup players. We......

What better time to talk about beer and food than with the holidays coming up? We enjoy wine with a good meal just as much as everyone else, but we hate the perception that beer should not be paired with anything except pizza. Unless you are still drinking that macro crap, you can enjoy beer with a wide variety of food. This Seattlest is currently reading "The Brewmaster's Table", written by Garrett Oliver, the......

A friend just emailed Seattlest, gushing with glee that our season's passes to the Summit (Alpental, really) grant us 5 free days of skiing at Crystal Mountain. We'd already written about how the ownership of the Summit by Boyne Mountain (who also owns Crystal Mt.) might be a good thing for mountain bikers. So it sounded like it was already working out for those of us that go mostly to Alpental (due to sheer proximity,......

Is the office slightly quieter today? Were there fewer parents dropping the little ones off at school this morning? Were there a lot more parked cars in certain spots around Wedgwood, Seward Park or Mercer Island? If so, then you noticed Seattle's very low-key signs that Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year is here. Growing up Jewish in New York City, we're always a little surprised when the New Year rolls around in Seattle......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Our national football correspondent, Pauls Toutonghi, is scouting potential Seahawks playoff opponents for us, and may have found a way to make the Bears' Rex Grossman even worse Rex Grossman recently told reporters that he regretted not giving his "full attention" to his preparations for the Bears' season ending game with Green Bay. This would, of course, be unsurprising to anyone who saw Grossman's line in the box score: 2-for-12, 3 INTs (two returned for......

--2006 : Getting fired because of something you said on your blog. 2007 : Finding out you're getting fired on your boss's blog. --Another local food blogger goes legit. Congrats, Molly! --Just when you were pretty sure something was about to happen on the Viaduct front....WHAM! Nothing happens! --At the end of this story about the Dawgs' turnover woes, news that guard Joel Smith could be back this month. --Some people were really happy......

We returned to the homeland over the holidays. Lugged skis and snowboards to the land of 3.2 beer, special garments, and the "Greatest Snow on Earth" only to find they had half the snow base compared to what we have here. Everything seemed backwards. We picked up the local weekly, which feels smarmily like Seattle's version as so many do (albeit, sadly, the SLC web version makes the Weakly look divine). And what do people......

Its Christmas Eve and the pickens are slim. Here are some random things around town tonight that look potentially do-able: MUSIC: Punk, Pabst and Porn with DJs 23rd Hour and Nils Forever. This is mostly because we love the Juju, their deals are usually no cover and this doesnt look too holidays-ish. 9 p.m. // Bad Juju // Free MUSIC: The Suffering Fuckheads Xmas Eve Party. No clue if this is worth recommending or......

KIDS MUSIC: You know you've made it when you can send your affiliates out on tour. The Wiggles have sent Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog, and Henry the Octopus to host a Wiggle-tastic dance party. For those of you with kids it might be a great idea, but we'll be playing our own character, General WatchESPNAllDay. 11am & 2pm // Moore Theater // $20-25 HOLIDAYS: Seattle Center's Winterfest can fill your day......

If you're flying down to Portland or California for the holidays, take your camera and plan on a slightly out-of-the-way trip. Currently, the lava dome is growing in size, and emitting relatively small amounts of steam and gas. That could change quickly into ash eruptions up to 30,000 feet, and cause planes to divert. But it probably won't amount to much, right? The USGS says that "Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if......

If you're still in the dark this week (and you're presumably reading this at work), well, here are some shows to keep you warm in the evening. If you've got power, take it easy and kick back with your friends and family. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Tuesday, December 19 >>> The Northwest Boychoir at Benaroya Hall. The sound of X-mas has to be a "Festival of Lessons and Carols" with the astoundingly......

Tuesday, December 12 >>> Roger O'Donnell at Baltic Room. No longer part of The Cure, keyboardist Roger O'Donnell graces Oscillate to perform some synth-driven pieces from his first solo album The Truth in Me. With Christopher Willits. 10pm; $15. 21+ Wednesday, December 13 >>> Betamax at Old 5th Ave Tavern. Seattlest Kim's folktronic band-o-dorks takes over this Maple Leaf dive bar for a pre-holidays folk-out. *mp3: Long Long Long 8pm; free. Thursday, December 14......

Dammit, do we really have to open up a front of the "War on Christmas" in Seattle? The Port removed a bunch of holiday trees from the airport this weekend ("holiday trees" are evergreens that have been decorated with lights and garland and small hanging ornaments - They're similar to Christmas trees, except holiday trees don't go to heaven when they drop their needles). The holiday trees were removed because a local rabbi sued the......

With visions of sugar plum fairies dancing through their heads, the -Ists began to get into that holiday mood. Well, some did. Austinist wasn't as the NY Times dissed them and a local Tex-Mex institution sold out. Making them feel better was music, sweet music and the local theater getting name checked on "Heroes" Chicagoist tried to wrap their heads around a religious movie being banned from a Christmas themed park. To wash that......

Halloween is such a fantastic mix of death, decay, kitsch, and morbid Catholic ritual that there is just no topping it as far as holidays go. Of course it does present some problems. Often at Halloween what would appear to be limitless possibility in the end boils down to options that are severely limited by your own laziness and the picked-over racks at the costume store, and this is particularly true for the girls.......

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned.......

Reference help from the Seattle Public Library is going 24/7/365.25: The Seattle Public Library now has live online reference services around the clock. For anyone up after midnight cramming for a test, stuck at home and unable to get to a library branch or even on vacation with a laptop, the library is available. All that's needed is to go to www.spl.org, select "Ask a Librarian" and choose "Chat with a Librarian." The service is......