Seattle is making headlines in the Media & Advertising section of the New York Times this week because of a locally made commercial. The spot had a budget of less than $100,000, features poor vocalists singing the UW Fight Song and highlights BECU, a local credit union. So why all the fuss? Two jazzy words: more ›

The nominees for the 2010 Grammy Awards are, ahem: Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Eminem, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Kenny G, Jay-Z, Peal Jam—wait. How do you spell the sound of an abruptly stopping turntable? Scruhriiiitch! Close enough. That's right, various 2010 Grammy Awards may go to Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Jay-Z, and the granddaddy of them all, album of the year, may be whisked away by Mr. Marshall Mathers. He's also nominated for nine others. We're in a hot tub time machine, and it's 1998. more ›

Two Franklin High grads--Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks and Aaron Brooks of the Houston Rockets--have emerged as two of the most critical players in the NBA playoffs. more ›

Each of these shows is monumental in its own right, but the fact that they're both going on sale on the same day--this Saturday--must indicate something apocalyptic is afoot, straight out of 2012, or at least Know1ng. First: Kenny G on Tuesday, November 17 at the Paramount Theatre, with tickets running $35-65. Now as that's sinking in, consider this: New Kids on the Block at White River Amphitheatre on Tuesday, July 7. Tickets are $19.50-79.50, with specially-priced $10 lawn tickets available on Saturday only. Somebody call Roland Emmerich and greenlight this disaster. more ›

Rich vs. Poor, Renters vs. Homeowners, developers vs. locals, Kenny G. vs. Afropop: this blog from High Point has got every one of Seattle's little conflicts all crammed into one tiny teacup. High Point in West Seattle was redeveloped recently to include some moderately priced homes along with a bunch of rent-control-type lower-income housing. We all get along when we live on the same street, right? Well, not quite, of course. Danny Westneat gave it a go in this weekend's paper, but nobody's going to lay it out for you like the blog itself does. Click through to the source for this one. more ›

The Porter family will think twice before they stroll the beach beneath Kenny G's Malibu bluff estate again, after a Power Bar chucked from there popped nine-year-old Brooke on her thinkin' box, opening a wound that took four stitches to close. more ›

For some reason we're more willing to devote an hour of our Friday lunch than an hour of our Tuesday evening to the American Idol cause. Seattlest hasn't seen a whole lot of the show but we decided to run down and check out Blake Lewis just now and we're glad we did. We showed up at noon on the dot and were subjected to 15 minutes of banter from some Q13 chick trying to interview Blake's old bandmates. "You're not giving us any dirt on Blaaaake!" she whined over and over. Kind of a performance art piece, that. He finally showed, fussed with equipment for another 15 and then did a Jamiroquai song and a Sublime song and an orignial which was, of course, full of the beat box. Oddly, B Lewis wasn't the best rythmist on stage as K.J. Sawka was backing him. If a friend hadn't told us that they used to appear at the Seamonster on 45th together we'd have figured Sawka for a straight-up poaching, K.J. remains the only percussionist we can think of who can carry a show on his own, and this was the most subdued we've ever seen him. And then Blake wasn't the best MC on the stage--Common Market showed and Blake rightly groveled at the feet of Scion. And then Mix-a-lot showed up and made Blake beat box for "Baby Got Back." And then Kenny G got on stage. Ok, he didn't, but a city councilwoman did drop his name to muted cheers and confused looks amongst the kinder set. We had to shuffle off through the crowd as Blake, Scion, Mix-a-lot, Sawka and the rest of Blake's band wrapped up an all-hands number. For the entire time Blake Lewis was the best final-3 American Idol contestant in the square. more ›

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. more ›

After routinely destroying our alma mater, unleashing the obscenity that is Kenny G, and sending their best-ever athlete to rival Arizona, Franklin High is finally doing something for us. Franklin's Venoy Overton, ranked the 26th-best point guard among the nation's high school seniors, rescinded his commitment to USC today and will be a Husky. more ›

--Pro Bono Geek takes on the fascinating world of political campaigns and copyright law, particularly as it affects the Darcy Burner ads. more ›

If you went to Garfield High, wish you'd gone to Garfield High (you know you do), or just want to walk the same halls that Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, and Bruce Lee did then head to 23rd and Alder on Saturday for the "Bulldog Bash Before the Smash." more ›

Google's released Google Trends, which compares the frequency of two searches. After trying out the obvious, (black beats white, dogs beat cats, and good obliterates evil) we tried a few Seattle-centric battles. more ›

Last night, the Sonics played a mediocre team, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. The mediocre team lost their only two point guards to injury. Yet the Sonics still lost. more ›

Father of our nation's energy supply, our library system, our fire companies, and our bathroom humor, Ben Franklin, would have been 300 today. Damn you, Death. more ›

Obviously you know that Starbucks has been very very successfull at selling coffee. Someday, and you're going to hate this but that won't stop it, we're probably going to call any kind of espresso drink a "starbucks" like people from Georgia call any carbonated beverage a "coke." ("What kind of coke you want? We got Spriiite, root beer, diet, cherry ") They've pretty much got the espresso thing nailed down. Caribou, Dunkin Donuts, independant cafes everywhere: Close down now to spare us the pain of watching you be assimiliated. more ›

Long ago, when Seattlest was growing up, our most eagerly anticipated holiday gift came not from Santa, but from one of our neighbors. It was the size of a baseball and twice as heavy, rolled in nuts, wrapped in festive red cellophane, and meant to be spread on crackers. It was a homemade cheese ball. The fun, however, was not in its consumption, but rather its destruction. Each year, with our mother’s blessing, we held the cheese ball high in the air, still wrapped securely in its shiny packaging, and with a spirited leap and an airborne split, we gleefully sent the thing plunging to the floor. more ›

Not content to raise money by selling candy bars, Northwest School has drafted Pearl Jam, Presidents of the United States of America, Ann & Nancy Wilson (of Heart), and Bill Frisell to play a benefit March 18th at the Paramount. more ›