Results tagged “nature”

We're reluctant to spend this absolutely glorious sunny Monday morning writing about this weekend's horrific murders down in Graham, Washington. What Seattlest would rather do is watch web cams of Northwest wildlife, and we bet that's what you'd rather think about, too. The Hancock Wildlife Foundation has two live streaming web cams of bald eagle nests in British Columbia, and a handful of other recorded segments from years past of such wonders as the Chehalis salmon run. When will Dreamworks make a movie about talking, singing bald eagles and Chinook salmon? We'd buy that DVD/BluRay combo pack. Mornings and webcams like these remind us that we have the privilege of making our home in one of the world's most bountiful, beautiful areas. Sunshine, please stay!

Around 8 a.m. today, you may have noticed Lake Union looking a little more weepy than usual--and for good reason. That was when the beloved Wawona, a really old schooner, moved to the dry docks on other side of the lake in order to begin the slow death of dismantlement after some 30 years beautifying the waterfront. Decades-long efforts to raise enough money to renovate the ship finally lost steam in the march towards creating a more perfect Union. (Har, har.) All this shippy hullaballoo reminds us of the Kalakala debacle. Apparently the Kalakala is now scheduled to be restored in 2010, potentially to be converted into a future museum site; has owner Steve Rodrigues considered purchasing the Wawona as well? It could be a really cool, touristy floating bar!

The caption to this shot on Flickr notes the entire fallen branch reaches across the water's expanse, holding itself no more than six inches above the water, except for one little nob at the end that barely tickles the surface. We're always amazed at the beauty and magic of nature. You can find more beautiful shots of our natural habitat today and everyday in the ever-amazing Seattlest Flickr Pool. Come take a looksie sometime, would you?

Stories of stranded and caved-in hikers have been dominating the local news in the past couple of weeks. Last week, two boys were rescued after an ice cave they were standing in collapsed. Both survived the cave-in but with serious injuries. Just this Tuesday, the sad news broke that an Oregon 15-year-old who was buried after a sand cave he was digging collapsed had succumbed to his injuries and died. Yesterday came the story of three hikers stranded on Three Fingers Mountain after one of them injured his back, and the group was forced to stay a wet and cold night above 5,000 feet. Two of the hikers had to be air-lifted off the mountain, while one was able to walk down on his own strength.

I Feel Pretty... by Synapped

Into the Good Stuff by Synapped

Boom! Governor Gregoire comes right out of the gate at the new legislative session with a new bill laying "the groundwork for concrete limits on greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2012." And, in just four short (or long, depending on how you look at it) years, the bill "would give the state Department of Ecology the authority to regulate those emissions," reports the P-I.

Nature vs. Man by smastrong, a trippy little image found in our groovy Seattlest Flickr Pool. You should totally join.

People are strange. They say Ann Coulter is funny. They pay a $20 cover to have a conversation in a club. At the Showbox a few weeks ago, we saw Lavender Diamond, opening for the New Pornographers, cut their set short after telling the audience it was hard to play with all the talking going on. So we were worried heading back to the Showbox for the Jose Gonzalez/Tiny Vipers show because neither of them promised to be able to crush a babbling crowd into submission like the Pornographers could, and did.

Back in June we posted about the bee colony collapse thingamajig, the upshot of which was that no one knew what the hell was killing 23% of the commercial honey bee force dead. (50% to 90% of the U.S. commercial bee population was affected.) Today (via MSNBC) the journal Science is reporting (though it doesn't look like it's up on the site yet) that a major factor could be:

Seattlest arrived on scene soon after the Capitol Hill Block Party had opened. We wandered, checked out the stage locations and thought about getting a beer, then spotted a booth touting free bottled water. It looked like the booth had something to do with praying to the Earth Spirits or some other new wave white hippy crap, but we decided to take our chances. We asked for a water and oddly enough their were no questions asked of Seattlest, no "Is your spirit at peace with the world?" or "Do you ever cry for Mother Nature?" We did, however, get thoroughly eye-fucked by our water purveyor. We told him thank you, took a mental bath and off we went to hear some music. (And before you reactionaries out there start accusing us of homophobia, get over yourselves. We're not talking about getting "checked out." We're talking about a look that said, Right now, in my mind, I'm eating spaghetti off of your chest.)

Reader, hesitate no further! At the close of last season, we penned a write up of western Washington's drive-ins, threatening to remind you again when the season re-opened. That time is now. This month, drive-in theaters opened.

At the Microsoft Strategic Account Summit yesterday morning Bill Gates dropped some future knowledge on the assembled ad men and tech types. A few of those nuggets we found particularly interesting and insightful:

LESS IS MORE: In Trance of Scarcity: Stop Holding Your Breath and Start Living Your Life, Victoria Castle asks why we feel that nothing is ever enough. Castle's book shows us how to escape this malaise and become more relaxed and alive. Hopefully it doesn't involve crisscrossing the U.S. on a book tour.

Two weeks ago we were watching American Experience: Influenza 1918 on PBS, because something else was a repeat. So we were reminded that between spring of 1918 and the end of that year, 675,000 Americans died of the flu -- 20 million worldwide-- and no one still knows why, precisely. (In fact, about 36,000 Americans die of the flu annually.)

Mother Nature is not Q.

That was the clear message at Benaroya Hall last night, where New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert presented a sampling of the climate change research she covers in her much-lauded book (Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change), and then joined a few colleagues on-stage for a panel discussion. Touching on a few of the main locations and research findings from her book, the punchline is a real punch in the gut, or as Kolbert summarized: "Society is not essential, it is contingent."

>>>UW iSchool at Kane Hall, 7:00-9:00pm. "Voices in an Empty Room: Five Apologies for the Narrative": Children's author Richard Peck discusses his writing and teaching careers, and his experiences with the kids today. He'll read from On The Wings Of Heroes, his new novel about a World War II childhood. Free with RSVP. Kane Hall, Rm. 220.

We've always wanted to see Racine's Phaedra -- apparently only cheese-eating surrender monkeys the French really go for it, so it's not performed all that often in these parts. Yet what drives the story is as universal as the suspicion that something might be up between Carol and Greg on the Brady Bunch. When Phaedra marries the warrior-king Theseus, she develops "feelings" for her stepson Hippolytus -- but he's got eyes only for Aricia ("Aricia, Aricia, Aricia!").

Seattlest went to one of those liberal-arts, don't-know-your-grades, frisbee-throwing, dialetical-discoursing, call-your-professor-by-their-first-name NW colleges. No, not that one, the other one. What do you think we are, some kind of shade-grown coffee-drinking hippie? Kee-rist.

Eric Blehm’s third book, The Last Season, reconstructs the story of Randy Morgenson, a National Park Service backcountry ranger in California's rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains who heads out for a routine 3-day patrol in the summer of 1996, never to be seen again. Exploring numerous theories surrounding the circumstances of Morgenson's disappearance--suicide, accidental death, even starting over with a new anonymous life--Blehm retraces the ranger's steps, weaving together a story that celebrates the juxtaposition of the breathtaking yet unforgiving terrain of the high Sierra backcountry wilderness, and the people dedicated enough to serve it. Seattlest was unable to attend his reading at Elliot Bay a couple weeks ago, but we chatted with him a few days later about the process of writing a book that took eight years to research.

It's Mother's Day weekend. Some people say we should remember our mothers all year-round, not just on a single day. But we do! With yo momma jokes! Seattlest contributors share their favorites, along with their plans for enforced family togetherness.

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi’s tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city.

Face it, you're getting old. Despite your best efforts, Father Time and Mother Nature are doing a number on your body, mind, and soul. You wake up to achey joints, you're worried about your 401k, and you spend your days working for "The Man" instead of following your dreams. So you go to the gym (or at least say you will) realizing it's a losing battle, read books to stay sharp, and try to not admit that you really don't get "that noise that the kids are into these days." Where did it all go wrong?

Let's face it, some of you avoid the clubs because you dance like Elaine from Seinfield. Thumbs akimbo, legs kicking wildly without tangible grasp of rhythmic co-ordination, yours is a "full-bodied dry heave set to music" according to George Costanza. In the mating dance of life, Elaine gets stuck with the Puddy's of the world, and a few local computer scientists have an idea why that is.

Collective highlights from Seattlest's year in reading:

Yesterday the Cascadia Scorecard blog commented on a P-I article from two days ago on the subject of Seattle's troubled urban forests. The article from the Post Intelligencer is quality stuff and you should copy the link for yourself for reading at another time. We know that stuff piles up and you eventually just end up deleting it all because who has time to read that many links, but at least you'll have made an effort. It's about invasive species outcompeting our native floura, a subject also well covered in the David Williams book.

When we lived elsewhere, we laughed at the joke that Seattle's summer starts on July 5. However, since moving back and suffering through a brisk May, Juneuary, and a gloomy post Fourth of July fortnight we were beginning to wonder why we ever thought that joke was funny.

There are plenty of options begging for your attention this coming weekend. It might rain, it might not, but honestly could you care less? Seattlest found these little lovelies tucked up in the cliffs on the Palisades/Ranger Creek trail near Mt. Rainier this past weekend. We couldn't appreciate the typical staggering view, hunkered up in the clouds as we were, but lo and behold spring had sprung right in between our toes! Take a look around yourselves this weekend, there's plenty afoot (OK, no more podiatric references):