Lots to do this weekend, including playing rec-room games with some very experienced folks, sketching figure eights in ice, meeting new people, and listening to marimbas along the Sammamish. more ›

Redmond Valley by Tere Sue Gidlof from the Seattlest Flickr pool. more ›

If you're not going to Metro's public hearing, at least do something productive with your night. Our calendar has the suggestions you need to plan accordingly. more ›

• Three kids are injured after a parent lost control of her car and crashed through the wall of a child daycare center in Redmond, at 156th Ave Northeast near Microsoft. Kinda gives a whole new meaning to show and tell.
• The Port of Seattle can handle 'em big or small, or so they say, as the port greeted its largest container ship to date.

It’s been a big week for scam artists locally. A Shoreline couple who swindled a retired old lady out of $350,000--her life savings--was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Michael and Katie Lambard befriended Margaret Martin and adopted her as their "grandmother" before taking her entire estate. more ›

Making music together since the turn of the millennium, Portland’s The Decemberists are one of the Pacific Northwest's most dynamic musical acts. Among other accomplishments, the band has established themselves as strong storytellers who artfully blend disparate elements of folk, rock, and country. The band’s often weird and winding narratives parallel the kudos picked up by the band along the way, including participation in a one-on-one shred-fest against Stephen Colbert (and his pinch guitarist Peter Frampton), among many other more traditional honors. This evening, the band will be playing in Redmond for the first time and are looking forward to exploring the sonic expanses through a live performance that may or may not include their cover of a local legend. We were album to catch up with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk on the eve of tonight's Marymoor Park show. more ›

MARYMOOR IT UP: Crazy hot concerts at Marymoor this weekend! Tonight, hyper-literate prog-indie Portland kids the Decemberists with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot; Saturday and Sunday, Death Cab with Ra Ra Riot and the New Pornographers. 6 p.m. doors all days // Concerts at Marymoor // 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway // tix $35 more ›

FREE POP SODAS FOR SEATTLEITES: For quite some time, every Friday the folks over at Jones Soda handed out free sodas to their South Lake Union neighbors and passersby, dubbing the program "Free Soda Friday." Well, the soda makers are offering not just the parched and thirsty, but all of Seattle a free Jones Soda, if you stop by their SLU headquarters today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (And if you can't make it today FSF will take place at the Queen Anne Metropolitan Market the next two Fridays.) 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday // Jones Soda Co., 234 Ninth Avenue North // One free soda per person more ›

Just added to this summer's already stellar Concerts at Marymoor Park lineup is the Flaming Lips, bringing their psychedelic grandfatherly magic to Redmond Friday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $36.50 and go on sale via Ticketmaster and Live Nation next Saturday (June 20) at 10 a.m. more ›

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It's below zero in Fargo, North Dakota. Are they complaining? No! Instead, they are laughing at us. Specifically, the Fargo Microsoft employees are laughing at their counterparts here in Washington for being wimps. Here's an excerpt from the Fargo campus' email alert to employees this week, taken from Old New Thing via the P-I's Microsoft Blog:

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SWEDISH SUGAR POP: Swedish songstress Lykke Li returns to Seattle to vamp and stamp and otherwise sex up her blend of hook-tastic bubblegum and Euro-artsong. Here's her video for her single "Little Bit," but we warn you that after listening to it, you will fall deeply in love with the very next person you see. That only lasts about 15 minutes, but trust us, it can get awkward. High-energy Britpop/electronica group Friendly Fires opens. This is definitely a dance-friendly evening. more ›

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You can download the beta 2 version of Microsoft's IE8 if you want. We are not that brave, but you should totally do it and tell us what it's like, maybe after the reinstall. While IE Ocho is supposed to be "quicker" than something slower, the new, counterintuitive feature that has previewing journalists in a lather is something called "InPrivate Browsing" (aka "porn mode"). We say counterintuitive, because Redmond has not established themselves as basecamp alpha of privacy concerns. Yet here they are with a browser that lets you selectively keep or delete cookies. Also, for the rest of today, up is down, black is white. [UPDATE:] Alert reader Bilco tips us off that XP service pack 3 may lock in IE8, so once it's installed, you're stuck with it. Now, that's more like the Microsoft we know and love. Of course a beta install should be permanent. more ›

Corteo is one of the most dynamic and creative artistic exploits of body movement that you can see in the United States. You can still buy tickets here and performances continue until May 4 at Marymoor Park in Redmond. more ›

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Redmond High School boys' basketball team, we're sorry. Please let us supply some explanation for why grown men, with jobs and credit ratings and retirement accounts, a couple of whom have been to second base with a girl, would heckle a group of teenagers. We really meant only to have one beer before the game, but our choice of Jolly Roger Christmas Ale tapped out the keg at Pies and Pints, so the bartender gave... more ›