We love a good drink special, so imagine our delight when we came across a full-page ad in the Weekly for a big ol' happy hour next Wednesday. Join us for a special Seattle Weekly Happy Hour on June 4, when three dozen bars extend their specials to celebrate the release of our new Seattle Weekly Happy Hour Guide! Come celebrate and pick up a copy of your own! Sure, it's a Weekly-sponsored event......

Photo by cory schmitz from the Seattlest Flickr PoolNorth Seattle got snow, West Seattle didn't. Issaquah got snow, Federal Way didn't. The picky snow has made for an odd commute. We were rolling down an iceless hill this morning near Renton, annoyed that the person in front of us was proceeding with such outsized caution. At the bottom of the hill, we saw a Geo that had spun into a ditch. Guess it was icy......

We're up late on a Sunday morning and find ourselves riding the #17 through a lovely residential neighborhood in North Seattle. We round a corner and see Caffe Fiore.A coffee shop? Time to ring the bell and jump off the bus. Like the corner we've just swung around, everything about Fiore is round: the outdoor seating area, the espresso bar and pastry case, the mid-90's Chihuly-esque glass light fixtures and customer's smiles. The coffee shop......

Despite the fact that we take the bus from North Seattle to Downtown and avoid completely the I-5 work that's being done, the TV and newspapers had us prepared for the worst. We spent the weekend hiding caches of water and ammo at various safehouses along our commute route, and packed a NOAA weather radio, our Garmin handheld and some flares into our laptop bag this morning, such was the urgency of the pending doom.......

There's been a string of articles around lately about the patrons of whatever bar causing havoc in whatever neighborhood. Of course you all read this one from the North Seattle Herald Outlook on June, 6 about Tommy's in the University District: Drug dealing, cruising in cars, vandalism and loitering have all become rampant in the neighborhood at night, the manager stated. "It's a war zone," he said. "You're continually assaulted walking up the street." He......

Monday THAT STARBUCKS "I WAS A CHILD SOLDIER" GUY: At twelve, Ishmael Beah found himself fleeing rebels, wandering from village to village. At thirteen, he was a soldier in Sierra Leone, hooked on drugs and capable of things he would never have imagined. Now, rehabilitated and living in the U.S., he tells his story in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, in an attempt to raise awareness of the child soldier......

Microsoft has apparently caught on to the fact that everyone and their little brothers have been modifying old school Xboxes with expanded disk capacity and a home-brew chip to turn them into media centers. Today Redmond announced the Xbox 360 Elite that claims "a bigger hard drive, better high-definition video support." Seattlest is partial to the homebrew version: an old Xbox from Craigslist ($100), a huge hard disk ($100) and a clandestine meeting with the......

Tomorrow is fake Viaduct Vote Day, and your meaningless ballots must be postmarked by then. The election is all mail, so you will not have the option to vote at the polls. If you want to skip the middle man and have your ballot lost directly you can drop it off at the following locations: King County Administration Building-- 500 4th Ave., Room 553, Seattle 98104 High Point Community Center-- 6920 34th Ave SW, Seattle......

KARAOKE: Wednesday night is always karaoke night at the Little Red Hen, an outpost of country music that's inexplicably smack dab in the middle of Volvo-driving, NPR-listening, holiday-tree-owning Green Lake. The crowd veers toward the early-20s spectrum, so if you need a break from parties where people discuss mortgages, the new Whole Foods, and their fucking jobs, this is the place to go. Tip: Bring cash so you can buy beer from the guy with......

What did we do? The rainiest month ever and paralyzing snowstorm weren't punishment enough, so God Holiday is sending this windstorm at us. It knocked out power to Capitol Hill yesterday, knocked out power to Eastlake last night, North Seattle this morning, has set a crane to work obliterating windows Downtown, and the wind is going to get worse. Here's a very ominous quote the Times' kick-ass spot news woman, Sara Jean Green, got from......

Snow isn't sticking to surface streets, but it's impeding visibility and making drivers nervous. The northbound express lanes are at a standstill as a snowstorm in North Seattle has cut visibility. Our reporter from the U-District says it's crappy there, and will only get worse when afternoon classes are released into an arctic nightmare. Once this clears out, there will 65,000 people trying to get home from the Seahawks game. On balance, seems like a......

"I don’t venture north of even the cut, unless provoked." So said one Seattlest contributor when we asked what inspires us to turn our backs on downtown and drive north. Wimp. What counts as northern Seattle? We don't mean "North Seattle" -- the U District, Ballard, Fremont. We mean northern Seattle -- north of 85th, city limits until 1954. We fudged a bit, including a few places between the city limits and King-Sno county line.......

Seattlest is very upset today, and finding it hard to look anyone in the eye. Why are we sad? Tomorrow is the final day of business for all Larry's Markets in the Seattle area. See? Just typing this has made us weep uncontrollably, which is very embarrassing to do in an office full of people we barely know. Now everyone is staring and making sly comments under their breath. Granted, Seattlest could stand to......

Residents of Greenlake, your tireless work in opposition to the planned skatepark in your area is admirable and you are to be congratulated. This recreational menace needs to be stamped out in every corner of the city - You are well aware of the increased crime, racket and general lazing about that skateparks introduce into previously quiet and homey residential places. Skateparks are being destroyed at a pace even we couldn't have anticipated, but their......

Local 24-hour biodiesel component manufacturer Beth's Cafe is, according to a sign on the door, closing for a few hours Monday afternoon (May 1st). Beth's, on 73rd and Aurora, is Seattle's number-one drunk at 4am destination, and a public treasure in a place where 24-hour-diners are rare. The notice (which we'd show you a picture of if only the city would distribute free picture phones to the left-handed...why won't Mayor Nickels return our calls) caused......

The perpetrator of this weekend's tragedy on the Hill is Kyle Huff, 28, of North Seattle, originally Montana, according to Seattle Police. Huff (pictured) had a twin and attended the Art Insitute of Seattle and North Seattle Community College. He delivered pizzas. He was at the "Better Off Undead" party at CHAC until early in the morning when he went to an afterparty at 2112 E. Republican St. He was there for less than an......

Today, One Reel canceled their Summer Nights concert series, which was to move from South Lake Union to Gasworks Park. The move comes after a group calling themselves Friends of Gas Works Park, but who we call a bunch of hippie assholes, claimed that the concerts would bring crowds, traffic and parking problems to the area. Boo-fucking-hoo. The group sued the city and One Reel, causing One Reel to back out. We went to......

The Huskies have apparently stunk up their digs in North Seattle to such a degree that the athletic department has started working towards renovating the stadium. It is important, of course, that there be shiny new luxury boxes to view the triumph from when (and if) the team gets back on track. HOK Sport is currently discussing new designs with the university. From the UW Daily: An 11,475-seat upper deck to encompass the west......

The Battle in North Seattle and Surrounding Areattles appears to be over. With still a couple of absentee ballots making their way in from overseas, Bob Ferguson has taken a 1,300 vote lead over Carolyn Edmonds in the race for King County position number 1, and Edmonds has reportedly conceeded. Ferguson will now head towards the general election, making the winner...him. Unless King County Elections somehow screws it all up, and puts it in the......

826 Seattle, the nonprofit writing and tutoring center affiliated with McSweeney's founder Dave Eggers, will open this fall at 8414 Greenwood Avenue North. The organization chose Greenwood, one of the few North Seattle neighborhoods where you will see the occassional non-white person, because it's got foot traffic and is easily accessible by bus. It's also near three high schools (Ballard, Ingraham and Blanchet) and more than a dozen elementary and middle schools. Each national 826......

Today Seattlest was in the mood for American food with a capital 'A'. Nothing fancy. Nothing on the menu that we couldn't pronounce. No fancy twists or "updated classics". No money spent on flash websites, kitschy décor or outrageous views. Just plain and simple burgers, salads, steaks and fries. When Seattlest craves American food we head to Wedgwood Broiler in North Seattle--as stated on their website, "the word cuisine just does not seem to fit......

Top Pot, Top Pot, wherefore art thou, Top Pot? No, really--people want to know. Granted we're mincing our Shakespeare, but who can think straight at a time like this? When the consumption of yummy, fresh doughnuts and Ovaltine lattes is at stake, there's no metaphor too drawn out or anachronism too butchered for Seattlest's tastes. Believe us, we were thrilled last year when he heard the venerable pastry makers were set to open a......

Another Day in Baghdad, a play written by Iraq War veteran and playwright David A. Tucker II, opens tomorrow night, February 11th, at Stage One theater on the campus of North Seattle Community College. BTW, tickets are $what-you-can-pay. Seattlest had a sneak peek at the show and was impressed with the use of sound and imagery. Tucker's own pictures are incorporated into the play through fancy use of projection and screens. One of the most......