Danny Westneat has 50 percent of a good column in the Seattle Times about adapting our hyperconsumptive ways to something we can all live with. But he tries to hang it on the "hypermiler" hook, a buzzword which "means going to extremes—in changing your habits as well as your technology—so you can max out your gas mileage." Going to extremes is what's got us in the mess we're in. What we want is incremental shifts......

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......

While we were in Iceland last week, we had the thrill of paying $7.50/gal for diesel, which means a half tank for our Land Cruiser rental pegged the needle at $75. That helps us keep this news from AAA in perspective: the average price of a gallon of gas in Washington is $3.13. It's dropped 63 cents the past month, thanks in part to people not buying the stuff because it costs too much. But......

Sightline's Alan Durning has a good post on the connection between spikes in gas prices and recessions. It's very topical on a day that the Dow exhibited tremendous volatility, gaining 936 points. Our economic pulse is shocky, and Durning argues that at least in part its because high oil prices "sucked hundreds of billions of dollars out of the US economy" the last five years. It's this economic suffocation--not just from gas at the pump,......

"The Rhythm of the Falling Rain by Grundlepuck This story reminds us of a line from The Beatles' "Taxman". The fact that it's illegal to collect too much rain that falls on your property because of state water laws seems just as ridiculous as the idea of the government taxing your feet to walk. But these are strange times, friends, because in Washington, the rain that falls is property of the state and up to......

In one of those mysterious black-is-white, up-is-down occurrences, Mayor Greg Nickels and the City Council's Richard Conlin have in unison agreed to push for a $0.20 per paper-or-plastic bag fee at grocery and convenience stores and drugstores. While we're still trying to figure out what the vision is, we're aware that paying for bags bugs the hell out of a lot of people. Unsurprisingly, a new fee isn't popular except with people who already share......

BURLESQUE BENEFIT: Jet City Burlesque appears at the Columbia City Theatre in a benefit for animals in animal shelters. You're supposed to bring dog and cat "items" to the show, to help the shelter experience seem less like prison. Join the Swedish Housewife and the Shanghai Pearl, among many other luminaries, for a warm-hearted celebration of the slightly indecent and intoxicatingly indecorous. And don't forget the squeaky toy. For the animals. 7 p.m. doors,......

ECO-CHIC: Bike, walk, carpool, or take the bus to Girl Power Hour. This time they're exploring the intersection of sustainability and style. Highlights include Seattle's first green DJ, getting tips on a greener life, a "live" trunk show with sustainable fashions, and refreshments: organic cocktails, wine and food. It all happens at the Sole Repair Shop, a sustainable event space 6:30-9:30 p.m. // Sole Repair Shop, 1001 East Pike Street // $10 at the......

For the first time in Seattlest's life, we're actually bemoaning the fact that we don't have any tank tops in our closet. Heck, this is probably the first time we've ever thought about not owning a tank top. Not having one puts a serious crimp in our plans to go to Sustainable Capitol Hill's Tank Tops to Totes this Saturday at Stitches on Capitol Hill. (We don't think Sustainable Capitol Hill has a Web site.......

If you were here right now, you'd see us looking around suspiciously like we don't quite trust we're awake because we just read Knute Berger's latest deep thought over at Crosscut and we...agree with him.While promoting green consumption might be politically more palatable than getting people to change their habits and expectations, promoting consumption still offers an answer that doesn't solve the bigger problem. Global warming's hawks have to be honest with us: Fighting the......