Thank the sweet lord that the Pennsylvania Primary is finally here. In the six weeks since Barack Obama won Vermont, we've been forced to deal with the worst of what American political campaigns have to offer. Seriously, you folks in Western Pennsylvania want to talk about bitterness, just get any Seahawk fan started on the Super Bowl against your Steelers. We’ll see your guns and religion, and raise you clinging to the game’s officiating.......

Honestly. Why aren't more book readings held in bars? Bookstores are antiseptic places where talking loudly is verboten--when an author does it at a reading, it feels impolite. In a bar, though, attempts to command attention are commonplace and usually welcome. And let's not forget the fact that pretty much everything is better when you have a drink in your hand--and when you know that, worst case, you can head to the video poker machine.......

(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.) Pierogies are so common in Pittsburgh that they race them for sport. In fact they......

If you're wondering why Seattlest has been so disputatious lately--bitching about local music venues, local novelists, and local sports team management--it's not because we're angry, joyless pessimists. No, we're just trying to fire up Mariner outfielder Jose Guillen. In a notebook entry titled "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" Guillen tells the Times' Geoff Baker that aggravation is what makes him tick:"I'm going to tell you this — you don't want to piss me......

The Hawks' own Matt Hasselbeck and his (not un-foxy) mom will join with the man who bested him in Super Bowl XL, Ben Roethlisberger, and longtime soup pitchman Donovan McNabb, for a new season of Chunky Soup commercials. Yes, someone's already posited that there's a Chunky Soup curse. Photo courtesy AP Photo/Campbell's Soup, Diane Bondareff......

Two days later, the horrible officiating in Super Bowl XL (led by Bill Leavy, at right) continues to be a major media story. Our take? Sure, there were some bad calls, but the Hawks would have still won had they played better, coached better, and not had some critical injuries. Still: The folks at 12 Seahawks Street urge you to call the NFL to complain. Or you can sign a petition contending that the game......

The Super Bowl is two days away, and it's time to think happy thoughts. Though the Steelers are favored, there are plenty of folks who think the Hawks will win Super Bowl XL. Madden '06 players. Snohomish Slew, a frog (who also predicts six more weeks of winter). Mike Scanlan, a student at Cleveland's John Carroll University. Governor Christine Gregoire says Hawks 24-17. Football Outsiders (stat geeks) on Fox Sports. Shawn Windsor of the Detroit......

Seattle is a perfect city to watch the Super Bowl in--the weather is always horrid, so there's no anxiety about spending the entire day inside, and the Seahawks are never playing, so there's no anxiety about the game itself. There was a hometown boy to root for in this year's game, though, and after languishing for seven years with the Cincinnati Bengals, former Franklin High and UW star Corey Dillon is a Super Bowl champion.......