The American steakhouse--that dimly lit, mahogany-paneled, mafia-chic hideout for fat cats and their trophy molls--you'd think it would never fly in laid-back, egalitarian Seattle. You'd be wrong. Yet another high-end steakhouse, from Atlanta's 25-unit Capital Grille chain, is opening an outpost downtown, just steps from chain rivals Ruth's Chris (New Orleans, 92 units) and Morton's (Chicago, 70 stores), not to mention a couple of locally-owned, downtown standbys, the Met and the Brooklyn. We were invited......

N+1, the NYC-based literary magazine, launched with a bang back in the fall of 2004. In the inaugural issue, the editors took aim Dave Eggers & the McSweeneys/Believer crowd, deriding them as "the regressive avant-garde," and at the iconic critic James Wood (then at The New Republic, now at The New Yorker) whom they called a "designated hater," and who--along with his TNR co-horts Leon Wieseltier and Dale Peck--they accuse of writing literary criticism that......

The Central Library played host last night to a host of concerned citizens and Thomas E. Ricks, author of the best-selling Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. They put Ricks in the big auditorium for good reason. Fiasco was a #1 New York Times best-seller, finalist for the Pulitzer, winner of the Gelber Prize, etc., etc. Plus it plays to the liberal instincts of Seattle's finest. The room was crammed full of business suits......

We don't have a lot of parenting pet peeves. Little Miss Seattlest has already picked up our usual response to a lot of great debates: "Whatever." But we've never cared for Baby Einstein videos. We're not one of those evangelistic no-television people -- we own a television, and we're not afraid to watch it. But we figure our daughter has several decades to interact with video screens, so why start early? The American Academy of......

Disappointment is a matter of frustrated expectation. In this case, we blame Sheila Callaghan's account of what prompted her to write this play: The genesis of We Are Not These Hands came to Ms. Callaghan during a trip to China, where in poor villages along the Yangtze, she noted illicit cyber-cafes hidden down side alleys. In news stories at home, she read of the death of 41 students, blown up while assembling firecrackers in......

MUSIC: God help you if you can't appreciate the genius of Stephen Malkmus. Alright, so he's not playing with Pavement (best indie band EVER, pleeeeeease reunite!), but tonight with The Jicks, he'll have one thing that Pavement never had: badass Janet Weiss on drums. Hells yeah! 8pm doors // Neumo's // $15 GOTH: Blacklight hopes to pick up where The Vogue left off in their new home at the Capitol Hill Arts Center. Friday's their......

There's no such thing as a free ride. This week in speaking happenings is bursting with free-for-alls, but beware the "hidden costs" lurking beneath. Wednesday, December 6 >>>DORKBOT, 7:30pm. We love the name, but saying that they plan to "discuss their innovative approach to immersive, participatory entertainment" doesn't hide the fact that this will be geeks talking about videogames. Free, but only if you know the secret code: 'Knock knock, who's there?' 'Um, dorks?' 'Come......

Sea-Tac is currently fucked. The wait at security averages 82 minutes. Said a spokesperson: "These are some of the worst lines we've seen at the airport," Betancourt said. "If people miss their flights, they should go home. The airlines absolutely can't do rebooking in the terminal today." Here's why: British officials uncovered a plot to destroy airplanes with some mixture of liquid gel that would be smuggled on an airplane. In response, our TSA (nice,......

Want a definition of star-crossed? Two words: Chris Snelling. Sure, you could go to mythology or literature or religion, but the world of sport exists to show us that the truth of life is suffering, pain, failure, and frequent surgery. The Seattle Mariners prospect made it back to the bigs last night after a long saga involving seven surgeries in a four-year career, including five on his left knee, one of which kept him out......

-Ha, Spokane sucks. Gonzaga students have been reprimanded for chanting "Brokeback Mountain" at opposing players during basketball games. Apparently a reference to "Brokeback Mountain" indicates that one is a cowboy. Ironic that the biggest cowboy of them all actually plays for the Zags... -Key Arena can make money without the Sonics, the Seattle Times says. Ah, another breathtaking counter maneuver in the delicate dance of wresting money from a tax base not inclined to pay......

Pssst. Hate Mexicans? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not here, Buddy. Come inside. We're looking for a few patiriots like yourself to help man the wall in Washington state. No, no, see, Washington is on the northern border. With Canada. See, if we do a vigil up here it makes it seem like we don't hate the Mexicans. We'll be like equal opportunity haters, get it? No, we don't hate the Canadians we hate the Mexicanos, but-......

Trip-hop was born twice and likewise died two deaths. This moody, sample-heavy music came to the fore both in the United States and in England, although the British sound (most specifically that from Bristol) is the one most readily labeled with the tag. The two schools of trip-hop came from different backgrounds to produce two similar, yet distinctive sounds. The American school, typified by DJ Shadow, had its most immediate roots in hip-hop, which established......

Here's some copy that Mariners marketing department might consider removing from the website: ...watch Ichiro Suzuki, Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre and the rest of the high-flying Mariners all summer long... This year's Mariners are as high-flying as the Spruce Goose. That said, they are not as bad as the Kansas City Royals, who, in submitting to a 11-5 thrashing from our Mariners this afternoon, lost their 18th game in a row. The American League record,......

You've lived in Seattle for how long and you've never climbed Rainier? Well, the time for you to get above Paradise is long overdue and even if you've done it before, it's been awhile and it's time to go again. You may as well jump in with the Climb for Clean Air, because the lid's going to blow off if you wait for your own schedule to make time. The American Lung Association will help......

The American Automotive Association has chimed in on the fact that the 520 is a problem--something that anyone who lives, works, or once had to go to that one store that only exists on the eastside already knows. Seattle, WA SR 520 Bridge At the heart of Seattle’s traffic congestion is SR 520 – one of Puget Sound’s major arteries for transporting people and goods. One of the oldest floating bridges in the world, the......