When Washington state's caffeinated alcoholic beverage ban was announced, several devious minds plotted the worst and best idea ever. We would have our first taste of the notorious Four Loko drink in broad daylight, directly in front of a Sparks billboard (another alcoholic energy drink being pulled from the shelves) in West Seattle. Does it sound childish and ridiculous? Oh yes, especially considering all six partakers weren't kids at all. As a matter of fact all of us were well over the age of 21. On the other hand, sales of the beverage have been skyrocketing ever since the controversy was announced, giving us a sneaking suspicion we weren't the only ones acting out. more ›

You can tell it's Seafair when your pets are trembling under the coffee table. Nothing signifies the dog days of summer in Seattle like the roar of a defanged F-18 driving your dog to piss himself. more ›

By now, it's probably not news to you. If you've so much as walked past any place that is selling newspapers, you're unlikely to have missed the giant front-page-sized announcement that Jordin Sparks is the new American Idol. more ›

, and our guess would be that it applies even more to the latter. We've heard it from several people that adults don't vote, either. After last week's grossly misguided injustice, we're fairly certain both rumors are true. That's why we're making it a point to head off further sadness the best way we know how: with a blog post. more ›

?) Secondly, what about the gal everyone else in the free world knows is going to win? And finally, why is Kelly Clarkson the only person associated with the show who has the nuts to make such a prediction? Okay, there's probably a contract stipulation that requires people to not predict, but still. more ›

Adios Lakisha. Did we call it, or what? more ›

Holy crap, our hearts are pounding so hard, nervous that our beloved adopted Seattleite Jordin Sparks is about to get kicked off American Idol. Just when we thought she'd take it all. Damn you, Phil "Blaze of Glory" Stacey, for being born to lead a Bon Jovi cover band. Damn you, Lakisha Jones, for finding the one soul song Jon Bon ever wrote. We don't even need to mention Melinda "The Winner" Doolittle, since she's clearly going to take the whole damn competition, even if she has to do it by singing some stupid Bon Jovi song. more ›

Well, in case you missed the paper, the television, and all the blogs in the world last week, Sanjaya is off American Idol. When Ellen Degeneres asked him on her Monday show who his favorite is to win Idol this year, he dodged it awkwardly by saying Ellen is his favorite. more ›

Dammit, she auditioned in Seattle. Can't we claim her? more ›

We never thought we'd say this, but Sanjaya eclipsed all the other performers last night with his on-the-brink-of-bad-without-going-over performance of "Besa Me Mucho." We could make a snide comment about his new shorter hairdo (looked a little like the "Soul Glo" guy from ), but it really wouldn't be fair, considering he outdid everyone else on the show except for fellow Puget Sounder Blake "the beatbox" Lewis. more ›

Yeah, we tuned in last night for the elimination round, figuring that, once and for all, our local sweetheart Sanjaya would be among the bottom two. The show started out with the contestants split into groups of three: Blake, Sanjaya and Timberfake; Whatshername, BaldWeirdo, and Gina Glocksen; MindyDoo, J-Sparks, and La-Jones. It was pretty clear who was the bottom three. more ›

The Seattle Weekly government in exile launched its website today and has promised to continue posting to it until the people rise up and give them their paper back. Anyone pining for the city's other weekly and its lovable cast of characters circa the Bronze Age through about a year ago should head over to Crosscut immediately. We'll see you back here when you've had your fill. more ›

We don't know why we agreed to this. Seattlest has given us another reason to be hopelessly addicted to the weirdness that is American Idol, and we've agreed to keep you updated on all things Fanjaya from here on out. Honestly, the only good thing to ever come from that show was Kelly Clarkson, and it's all been down hill from there. Until now. more ›

Do the opening rounds of American Idol get less fun every year? On Wednesday night the show did their Seattle auditions and contestant after contestant got up in front of the judges and sucked brutally. There’s no one even close any more. They’re either obviously “going to Hollywood” or they’re so obnoxiously bad that Simon and the gang just sit there staring, “Are. You. Kidding. Me.” Are we just not evil enough to get enjoyment out of this? We can be kind of evil. It’s a little bit fun to watch someone get up there and suck, but is that little note of fun for us worth the thunderous chords of failure and ridicule that sound about the heads of the contestants? What the fuck. Makes us want to kick anyone at all involved with the show that much harder... more ›

The man who shot Nicole duFresne on New York's Lower East Side was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole this week. Nicole made a name for herself in Seattle's theatre community before doing what promising artists tend to do when they feel they've outgrown Seattle. She moved to New York. There she worked as an actress and a waitress until one night she, along with her finace and some friends, came in contact with Rudy Flemming and some of his friends who were seething after a few failed muggings. Nicole challenged Flemming by saying, "What are you going to do, shoot us?" She died at the scene in the arms of her fiance Jeffery Sparks. more ›

You don't often hear French horn in jazz. But Tom Varner (whose New Seattle Quintet performed Wednesday night at Tula's as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival, which continues through Sunday) strips the instrument of its traditional classical dress and makes something new of it. In a blindfold test, you might mistake Varner's horn for a trombone: a ringing tenor tone with fuzzy edges, warm enough to contrast with the cold metal in Mark Taylor's alto—that's Mark Taylor the saxophone player, not Mark Taylor the French horn player. more ›

"What are you going to do, shoot us?" These were evidently the last words of Seattle actress Nicole DuFresne, murdered in NYC in January 2005 during a botched mugging. more ›

The Tyde/Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols show Friday night was amazingly incident-free. Seattlest, like others in attendance, was there as much for the potential carnage resulting from the BJM/DW rivalry and BJM lead singer Anton Newcombe's instability as the music, so while there was nothing to report in the way of shenanigans, the music made the evening more than worthwhile. more ›

There was *a lot* going on last weekend, what with the game itself and all other Superbowl-related activities. This weekend, not so much. So if you don't have anything planned for tonight (besides four episodes of Arrested Development), you could always drop by Chop Suey for a free show featuring The Divorce and Wolfmother. Expect a lotta hipsters, as both DJ Franki Chan and The Cobra Snake will be on hand. OMG, I can't wait for all the postmortem pics of terrible 80's fashion, coupled with Sparks tongue and girls trying real hard to look fierce. more ›

Gothamist has some words on the statements being released in connection with the murder of Seattle actor and playwright Nicole duFresne in NYC. There's actually some decent reading in the comments of that post (as opposed to the comments under most Gothamist posts relating to duFresne). more ›