In a grim, darkly hilarious special report, the Times has confirmed that the guys in charge of dealing with Snowmageddon in December didn't know what they were doing--as in, they had no experience dealing with a major snowstorm and they made "questionable calls" right and left. From the report:

"Mr. Jackson had no idea of what was going on," said Sione Kongaika, a plow driver who recently retired after 31 years with the Seattle Department of Transportation. Two or three days into the first major snowfall, "all he was doing is yelling, 'We have to get more plows downtown. The mayor can't get to the office.' "

You may have noticed the snow flurries yesterday and this morning. Were you psyched about them? Even after Snowmaggedon '09, Seattlest can't seem to kick that momentary, childlike thrill when we see flakes drifting from the sky--but trust us, the thrill fades ever more quickly with each snowfall this year. According to Weather Underground, we're doomed to snow here and there throughout the day, but tomorrow looks clear and sunny. We're on a Winter Weather Advisory until Tuesday. Our weather guru, Cliff Mass, says "an inch or two is possible," and that "this really is quite extraordinary." Mmhmm. All we know is that the weather has us swapping tall tales about early summer blizzards with friends who've also done time in the Midwest. more ›

• The B-Town blog's seventeen-year-old film critic loves racist grandpa Clint Eastwood. In other Burien child labor news, the blog has also taken on a fifteen-year-old intern.
• If someone broke into your car and stole your things sometime before December 11th, MetBlogs has the info on how to stop by a police station and claim that which has been ganked.
• Phinneywood reports that the 12,000 tons (24,000,000 lbs!) of sand spread during Snowmaggedon will be all cleaned up a week from today. As always, when it comes to city services, we'll believe when we see it.

• Capitol Hill Seattle is asking for your help in making a "Collective Hill Playlist" filled with songs about or mentioning Capitol Hill. Do you have any songs for the list? Sorry, but "Posse on Broadway" has already been mentioned.
• If you're arachnophobic, we'd recommend not reading this little item. A Ballard family that found a Black Widow spider in a bunch of grapes from their neighborhood Fred Meyer, has donated the spider to the Woodland Park Zoo's Bug World.
• Local blogs are still aflutter about an anonymous poem about Snowmageddon 2008, which could be the first local viral email of '09. Both the Big Blog and The Rainier Valley Post talked about the snow poem.

• Ballard, beware! There's a bold thief making his rounds at local businesses, despite being caught red-handed and confronted by a number of his victims.
• It's time for year-end reviews from everyone, about everything! The Southlake has chronicled the big events of its first year of neighborhood blogging.
• Wah-ha-ha (evil blog laugh), "Snowmageddon" spread! Beacon Hill Blog has a fascinating (albeit slow-loading) set of hour-by-hour time-lapsed video from the great snow siege of 2008. As BHB said, it all started out so innocently...but we all know what came next.

• Capitol Hill Seattle has composed a neighborhood wish list for the holidays, including such perfectly legitimate requests as a new pair of gloves and magic beans to turn the economy around for local businesses. Good luck...
• KEXP has yet ten more reasons (read: free mp3s to stream!) for you to buy their Live At KEXP: Vol. 4. The Hold Steady, even!
• Why does it always have to be a snowman? Why not a snow-fellow, or a snow-horse-mermaid? PhinneyWood's residents get way creative.

Quite reasonably, most bars and venues have decided to shut their doors tonight and cancel any scheduled concerts. Here's a quick list of the venues we know that have closed their doors and said no, thanks to the snow, tonight: more ›