John Markoff of the NY Times talked gadgets with Steve Jobs.

Today he had a wide range of observations on the industry, including the Amazon Kindle book reader, which he said would go nowhere largely because Americans have stopped reading. more ›

It's safe to assume that Sharon Jones is cooler than you. The current queen of neo-funk/soul grew up in Macon, Georgia and Brooklyn, singing in church before ending up doing session work in the '70s as the anonymous vocals on dance and disco records. Without a solo contract of her own, she left the industry and took odd jobs like corrections officer at Rikers Island and Wells Fargo armored car guard. more ›

's lead real estate reporter--writes an article about the state of the national housing market once a month when the industry standard Case-Shiller numbers are released. The Case-Shiller index (from S&P) tracks the changes in home prices for 20 US metropolitan areas each month as compared to a year prior and is the benchmark index for real estate performance. more ›

Last we talked with Carrie Akre, she was gearing up for the release of her latest CD, Last the Evening. Now, a couple of months later, the CD is officially out, and Akre is buzzing from the aftermath. Indeed, most of us music critic types have had nice things to say about the disc, which showcases her exuberant, imagery-laden lyrics and alt.country sensibilities, and shows off the great musicianship of her backup players. We... more ›

Seattle is now one of the lucky few markets in the US to be getting beer from Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey in southern California. If you have not yet tried any of their beer, you have no idea how lucky we are....If you have tried their beer, there is a good chance you are likely rushing out your door to the nearest bottle shop right now. more ›

Local filmmaker, occasional pub trivia host, and friend of Seattlest Dom Zook blogged on September 19 that he's moving to LA.

I’ve been a stalwart Seattle fan for most of my adult life. I love this town, even though some of the people who govern it are slightly “challenged”. I love making movies in this town… but I think I’ve gone in depth about my issues here. Many have wondered why I’ve stayed so long in a town that’s only moderately supportive of its filmmakers. Why I’ve stayed in a town where actual, paying film gigs are about as scarce as tumbleweeds on Pike St. Why I’ve stayed for nearly five years at a job that’s been both good and bad to me just so I could make movies in this town.

If you scroll back through the last couple of years’ worth of posts you’ll see the trials and tribulations. I did it all. Cast negotiations, legal paperwork, business plans, investor talks, budget write-ups, etc. And frankly I had a great plan with a fantastic script (written by Faye Hoerauf and Jessica Baxter) and I knew it would be a hit. Modest hit, maybe, but a hit. Unfortunately no one was buying. No one of influence believed the script would go far. Despite at least one major name in the cast and several more just waiting for an investor to come forward, despite several awards for the script alone, despite a rock-solid business plan with proven talent (and I’m not even talking about me, Faye or Jessica here!), we were denied. more ›

Rockstar Seattlest commenter (ex; you're dead to us, Jake) 8bitjake had the scoop earlier this week for those that were paying attention. He got an email from a friend at the Eastside game studio Bungie: more ›

So, you think you have been to a beer festival before? Maybe you went to Fremont Oktoberfest , or maybe you even went to the Seattle International Beer Fest this summer. If you really want to go to a beer festival, get yourself to Denver in 10 days. more ›

Overheard at Seattlest HQ: "I can see how the guy might have a case, but it's pretty common knowledge in the industry that you don't fucking sell AutoCAD on your own -- at least not on obvious places like eBay." more ›

We're living in the town that Microsoft Office built, and all in all it's not too shabby. Every once in a while we're struck by something and think, "wow, someone paid upwards of $300 for a graphical representation of a talking paper clip and we used the money to build this..." But generally it's been a pretty good deal for Seattle. Time marches on, though, and what was once the raison d'etre for personal computers becomes just another bloated piece of virus-propagation ware choking up the system drive and gathering dust. The web browser is now the first thing we open in the morning and the last program to close at night, with fewer and fewer between. Google Apps represent the future where browser is the computer. Good thing there's no such beast as Google Apps Enterprise Edition... Doh! more ›

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When entertainment giant AEG Live announced plans to create a new and innovative music venue inside Quest Field Events Center, we imagine a big to do with all the local press in a large room packed with music lovers on one side and bankers on the other. Wonder which side was clapping more wildly... more ›

Slate takes 1,700 words to say what we already know instinctively: wine's a drink for elitist snobs, beer's for real men. Wine is “aspirational,” beer is for real men. The current Henry Weinhard campaign puts it bluntly: beer tastes better than soy milk. Well, duh. more ›

It seems that it's always about day two of the fest that we really fall in love with this place---the overheard intense discussions of films, the industry gossip, the random interactions with individuals you will never see again, and all that swag just ripe for the taking---really, these are a few of our favorite things. more ›

We're pleased as punch to report that noted local filmmaker (and friend of ours) Brian McDonald was just down at the Austin Film Festival becoming an "award-winning screenwriter." Saturday, October 21, he won the Science Fiction category of the AFF 2006 Screenplay Competition with his screenplay "Graverobbers." more ›

We'll be quick with this post, since we've got "tournament training" to finish. This weekend is PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo. This will be the third and largest incarnation of the conference, which is part symposium, part convention, entirely geeky. Gaming nerds of all stripes descend upon Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center for a weekend of competition, education, concerts and demonstrations from the gaming world. more ›

One week of SIFF down, only three more to go. Starting yesterday, the fest moved on up, to the Eastside. Now through next Wednesday, films will be shown in Bellevue at the Lincoln Square Cinemas. From the looks of it, they've got a strong Friday lined up, with the final screenings of The Giant Buddhas, Prairie Home Companion, and Conversations with Other Women. more ›

Remember when you thought Neko Case just couldn't get any cooler? Ha! Now she's being held up as an example of the evils of rock-n-roll. more ›

Here's another entry in the categories of "Until There is a Portlandist" and "Seattlest Has a One-Track Mind." An AP article making the bloggity blog blog rounds has dug up a swath of indie bands telling Hummer to go stick it in their 10MPG gas pipe and smoke it. Hummer ad execs, while drinking designer vodkas and wondering how they could be as hip as that Cohen kid on the O.C., must have picked up on the recent trend of using less well-known "indie" songs to sell shit these days. Unfortunately for them, they are much, much dumber than indie musicians, and Seattlest is thankful for that. more ›

That giant flaming ball of hot gases is back, and aside from telling ourselves to stop staring at it, Seattlest's mind is on the fence. (It's a small fence.) We haven't had enough ski season yet, but a nice dry bike ride sure would be dreamy. If the extra vitamin D from the past few days has skewed your thoughts to similar memes, or you just want to pick up a bunch of free swag and some dirt-cheap lycra, by all means please head over to Magnuson Park for the 2006 Bike Expo from Feb 18-19. more ›

Seattlest had gotten way too accustomed to festival life. Seeing several films a day, taking the occasional break to eat and walk around Main Street, collecting scads of free stuff, sticking around to hear a director speak about his work...it all became the norm. Sadly, it's back to the real world. Thursday was our last day at Sundance. Even though we were downright exhausted, what with all the movies at midnight followed by early AM wake-ups, we were certainly down for a few more days of constant movie-going. It's gonna be tough to get used to not seeing a couple films back to back, leaving a theater to get back in line at that very same theater. Sigh. more ›

-4000 black employees who brought a racial discrimination suit against Boeing were told today that the aircraft manufacturer did not, in fact, violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. more ›

Seattlest attended SIFF's Screenwriters Salon at Hugo House last night. Seattlest is not a screenwriter, actually, but Lost was a repeat, and we thought perhaps we'd leave our cave for a bit. more ›

Apparently, we do. Seattle is one step closer to joining New York on its side of the public smoking fence, as the statewide anti-smoking initiative has now qualified for November's ballot. more ›

Here in Seattle, we love our technology. After all, this is a town full of people who work in the industry, and frankly, you can't shake a stick without hitting some geeky Microsoft employee. Still, it goes so much further than that. Technology has become seamlessly integrated into the average young Seattleite's existence: everybody's got an iPod for the bus, and a PDA to maintain their very busy social life, and a cameraphone to take covert pictures of crazy people on Broadway. But there are times when technology goes too far, when it ventures close to creating monstrosities destined to uproot the very structure of society itself. We are, of course, speaking of Robots. more ›