Unlike our beloved baseball All Star Game, we’ve tended to skip the NBA's version in recent years. However, with our hero Brandon Roy, in Sunday's game we can’t wait to watch our fellow ex-Bulldog cram some FANtastic™ action down the East’s face. However, we’ll be in Vancouver--sorry TNT. Local Connections: Brandon Roy--Played for Garfield High School and the University of Washington. Currently for the Portland Trailblazers. Steve Nash--Native of Victoria. Then U-Dub coach Lynn Nance......

The first thing we noticed when we got to Egan’s Ballard Jam House on Saturday was that the place was designed by architects from Mattel, with parts left over from Barbie’s last house. The front room is as roomy as the backseat of a Volvo. The main dining/concert room is like an elongated hallway with a stage built into one wall. Even before the band started, the placed felt packed; this was because there were......

-The P-I is reporting that Melissa Moore, 14, was among the victims of the Capitol Hill shooting this weekend. -The Tacoma Narrows bridge won't open before 5pm - See KIRO for video of the crane falling on it. -Boeing's building a bigger, badder version of the 787 Dreamliner which would be pretty exciting if we were anywhere near the launch date for the smaller, 250-seat version. That's due out in 2008. The stretch version will......

Geological change continues coming fast and furious (as these things go) to the south where Moung St. Helens is stewing. Another earthquake overnight collapsed a section of the lava dome that's recently sprouted on the mountain. Amateurs probably already know that local news outlets abound with special Mount St. Helens sections such as this one at The Oregonian, but true volcanophiles need to head directly to The US Geological Survey website. From that website: Current......

Last week's insightful critique of area weeklies included a summation of Portland's Willamette Weekly. "Not a bad paper," we said. Little did we know that members of the Pulitzer Board in New York City would follow our links to the Oregon weekly and agree with us. Apparently, the Pulitzer Board likes to make a big fuss over things, though, and their way of saying "not a bad paper" involves a whole award ceremony rigamorale. Something......