Every four years, Seattlest settles in on the first Sunday evening of the Olympics for a heart-warming few hours in front of the TV with our female gymnastics team. It's tradition, like apple pie and hot dogs. These girls ooze America, with their ponytails, cherubic smiles, and noses like buttons. And then along comes Alicia Sacramone, 20-year-old team captain of the U.S. squad. A Massachusetts native, she turned down a full-ride scholarship to UCLA, opting......

That feeling of oppression, smog, and soy sauce in the air can only mean one thing; the Beijing Olympics are underway. The Times and PI both have reporters blogging from China, and preview the Games on the intertubes. The NBC family of networks always makes it confusing with their mix of tape delay, and live only-on-the-East Coast coverage, however, Seth at Sports Northwest Magazine shares his TV picks. CBC (Channel 99 for most cable subscribers)......

"Mac vs. PC" by Etchasketchist, with permission. Cool! Microsoft's getting busy this spring, as well they should. Reports of two separate deals struck by the corporate behemoth with NBC Universal and Hyundai came rolling in late last night, as well as a flurry of speculation and analysis on the failed Yahoo buy-out. Despite last-ditch efforts, is this the beginning of the end for Gates & Co? The NBC deal means you'll be able to......

We just read Melanie McFarland's farewell column and we're a little choked up. It's good news for her -- she's off to become a TV editor at IMDB. But we're out a reviewer who likes all the right shows for all the right reasons. McFarland's that rare breed of critic who has high standards and knows when to check them at the door. She won a place in our hearts forever with her reviews of......

We caught War Made Easy at the Film Forum last night, but we weren't in the big hurry we thought because its run has been extended through Monday, the 21st. Despite being narrated by Sean Penn, it's fairly lo-fi -- a cool-headed interview with media critic Norman Solomon intercut with film and video footage to illustrate salient points on how gullible/acquiescent the American public is when it comes to run-ups to war and how supine......

We're not yet convinced that the current War on Plastic Shopping Bags/Global Warming will stand the test of time, but we sure are intrigued that everyone everywhere seems to be trying to make the eco-friendly message stick (do you really think NBC's "Green Week" is destined for the history books? Neither do we.). We're feeling equally ambivalent about "Geography," the latest piece from local choreographer/composer duo Scott/Powell Production, premiering this weekend at On the Boards.......

(This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook. On Sunday morning, following a trip to a local farmer’s market/major supermarket chain, we will be preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks opponent. Then at halftime we will throw our badly burned hands in the air and make hot dogs.) New Orleans may be the American city best known for its cuisine. If you add,......

Via Seahawks Insider: Sep 9 Tampa Bay 1:15pm Sep 16 @Arizona 1:05pm Sep 23 Cincinnati 1:05pm Sep 30 @San Francisco 1:05pm Oct 7 @Pittsburgh 10:00am Oct 14 New Orleans 5:15pm (Sunday night) Oct 21 St. Louis 1:15pm Week 8 BYE Nov 4 @Cleveland 1:05pm Nov 12 San Francisco 5:30pm (Monday night) Nov 18 Chicago 5:15pm (Sunday night) Nov 25 @St. Louis 10:00am Dec 2 @Philadelphia 10:00am Dec 9 Arizona 1:05pm Dec 16 @Carolina 10:00am Dec......

When it was announced that NBC would be airing a new show from Aaron Sorkin we were filled with much joy. We loved his 'Sports Night' (a behind the scenes look at a sports highlight show) and his 'West Wing' (a behind the scenes look at high powered politics). Now he was about to pen 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' about the behind the scenes look of a sketch comedy show. Sports, politics, sketch......

Little-known fact: Dizzy Gillespie's last performance was in Seattle. Little-cared fact: Seattlest could've gone. But tickets were expensive and we were in high school and we figured we catch Gillespie the next time he came through. There wasn't a next time--and there might not be for 79-year-old Doc Severinsen either, and we wanted to do something nice for our grandparents, so we joined The Greatest Generation Sunday afternoon at the Renton/IKEA performing arts center. Severinsen......

Thirteen teams turned out for Seattlest trivia last night at the Old Pequliar. Want to see how you'd do? Here are all the questions. We'll post answers later today, along with a list of team standings and anything else interesting we find to say about the event. Round 1: Geography 1) What's the largest city in Pierce County, Washington? 2) What is the longest mountain range in the world? 3) What is the largest county......

As with any other Winter Olympiad, perennial favorites took most of the focus. Figure skating (at least the falls were funny), speed skating (had its moments), and the skiing events (*yawn*) received the bulk of NBC's melodramatic coverage, but this year could prove to be the breakout year for Seattlest obsession curling, just added to the Olympic roster in 1998. With the help of some nudity (and some unprecedented US success), the sport managed to......

If you're watching the Olympics we sincerely hope you're at least tuning in to the CBC and not NBC. We accidentally saw some of the men's halfpipe competition on the Costas chanel and it was, like, so rad. The camera angles were so funky fresh that it was impossible to get any sense of how a competitor was actually riding. Ok, most people don't know what a good ice dancing routine looks like either, but......

Think the new Bright Eyes album is hot sh*t? Then you should go see one of the godfathers of the alt-country movement play tonight and tomorrow night at the Tractor over in Ballard. Jay Farrar was the lead singer in Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo, two bands that evoked the heartland before you had ever heard of a trucker hat. There is as much pain in Jay Farrar's voice as a 'Joey' marathon on NBC,......