HIPHOP EXTRAVAGANZA: My, oh my, Seattle hiphop fans are in luck this weekend: the Blue Scholars are doing a stripped-down version of last year's The Program, with three nights at Neumos. This time, Common Market will join them every night; Truckasaurus and very special guests are playing on Saturday, Macklemore and Dyme Def will play on Monday night. Saturday's already sold out, but the second two nights are equally as awesome. Don't miss it. Really. more ›

Hiphop's King of Ballard, an inspired young emcee named Grynch, sat down with us over chicken satay (which he thought was delicious, and said so several times) to discuss everything from backpack rap to The Program. Here's what the man has to say. And catch his set tomorrow night at The Sunset--it's your last chance until June! more ›

Do not be surprised to see a $1 suggested donation for tap water on your restaurant bill if you dine out from March 16 to March 22. During this week in March, restaurants around the nation will ask patrons to donate the price of their tap water to support UNICEF’s Tap Project, which provides clean drinking water for children in need. One dollar affords 40 days of clean drinking water for a child – not a hard cause to get behind. more ›

At first, we weren't ready to like Artistic Director Nacho Duato's work Castrati--out of the gate it felt strained, and we worried that the topic (castrated Italian boys who became famous singers) would be too easily over-dramatized. Set to a series of works by Vivaldi, it opens with a group of men wearing low cut gowns, half dress-half cape numbers in all black; we later deduce these are the veteran castrati, their mission to bring vulnerable new recruits into the fold. They waver between almost inquisition-styled menacers, with striking unison choreography that relies heavily on canons and repetition to lend a military feel, and older-brother, caring mentors who swoon and partner each other gently--in the latter roles they shed their black robes to reveal sparkly corsets and tights underneath. The contrast worked, illustrating the dual lives these men endured, the loss of that which defined then as men simultaneously bringing them great fame and adoration. more ›

What have you been up to for the past six months or so? Professionally, artistically, personally? more ›

In case you missed it on Monday, British Columbia Liberals announced a $14 billion transit upgrade plan. more ›

The Seattle Times breaks the story of just how diseased college sports fans have become. The newspaper got about 1,000 emails that Husky fans sent to University of Washington president Mark Emmert, athletic director Todd Turner, and coach Ty Willingham through a public records request. more ›

We've been hitting shows on the Seattle music scene for about four years now, and if there's one thing we can say with certainty, it's that Seattle doesn't need more musicians, it needs ones. Such may be the consolation of learning that next week, the Seattle chapter of Paul Green's School of Rock opens. If Green's now famous "school" can help create a new generation of musicians whose influences go deeper than Green Day, that alone will be an achievement. more ›

While we waited for Day Four of The Program to begin, we milled around the floor at Neumos and conducted a short, certainly scientific but methodologically flawed poll. "Are you here to see any group in particular? Have you heard of any of the groups performing tonight?" we asked. Out of ten participants, four were there to see Blue Scholars, two and a half came for Dyme Def, one half of a person had even heard of J. Pinder, and three were there to see "no one." The most common question Seattlest received in return: "What time do the Blue Scholars start?" Day Four: GMK, J. Pinder, Dyme Def, and the Blue Scholars. more ›

. We admit it: actually being at an event rocks at least ten times harder than watching it streamed online, no matter how good the audio/video feed is and no matter how much you love the internet. Day Three of The Program involved Seattlest physically putting our hands in the air and side to side (Grynch said to!), and even doing some headbanging to The Saturday Knights. Yes, we did spend physical, non-internet money on Day Three, but we also got to experience Grynch, Khingz (and co.), and TSK in physical, non-internet person. We jogged home during the break between TSK and Blue Scholars... Maybe we'll stay on Day Four. more ›

First of all, we have grown slightly disenchanted with the SyncLive method of experiencing The Program. Though we were most certainly not enamoured with the Swollen Members and Blue Scholars shows on Tuesday, our friends who were actually there say the energy in the room made a weak set from Swollen 100% more bearable. more ›

Siren's Echo, of Oldominion, is sassy, tough hiphop. One of the MCs, Toni Hill, has a rich and powerful singing voice, complete with control and range. Her deep, clear notes got the crowd excited, which is no small feat for an opener. These ladies are some of the first female MCs Seattlest has been able to truly enjoy live (not that we've seen many), and we're looking forward to hearing more from Toni and Syndel. Actually, we enjoyed Siren's Echo more than the next group, Unexpected Arrival, especially since Neema's voice gave out a couple of songs into his set. He hoarsely hollered through the last few tracks, which wasn't pleasant to listen to and didn't garner him many new fans; however, most of his a capella rhyming showed skill and certainly also showed Neema's drive to succeed. The energy definitely dipped during the set, from our perspective on the crowd. We wonder what Neema sounds like live when he's not all raspy and dry. more ›

Okay, friends and neighbors. December is a huge month for local hip-hop, and not just because of Blue Scholars' The Program. This week, Chop Suey's got you covered for Monday and Tuesday with the Parker Brothaz tonight (GMK will be there! We love that guy!) and freestyle master Eyedea & DJ Abilities tomorrow night. Over in Fremont, Nectar's offering Waves of the Mind and Gabriel Teodros/Abyssinian Creole on the 13th (there are nine acts on the bill, as a heads up) and an apparently two-night-long extravaganza featuring One Be Lo and Grayskul (along with some big name producers and djs) on the 15th and 16th. more ›

Running text ads on your blog never really struck us as the Get-Richest-Quickest path; we used to have Amazon ads on a book review blog and after a year or two and no checks, we decided we could better use the real estate and quit the program. A few months later we got our first and final check for...$6ish? But Seattle's Furious Seasons blog has just discovered firsthand the pain of algorithmic rejection. The email... more ›

The Program (Dec. 18-22) will be way cooler than we initially thought, folks. Not only will some of the biggest names in NW hip-hop be on stage for your entertainment five nights in a row, but the latest news is that there are all kinds of technological tie-ins that will make this event very, very 21st-century. more ›

Keith Johnson / Dancers is the creation of Keith Johnson, currently Associate Professor who teaches both composition and contemporary dance techniques at California State University Long Beach. This past summer (well, "summer"), he was part of the Strictly Seattle Festival. We found a review of this show at St. Olaf, written by an opinion columnist who rigorously avoids having a strong opinion of the piece. God we love Minnesota. Here's the program:

Brink explores the ideas of risk, caution, and the messiness of beauty in the quest for perfection. Music: George Crumb. more ›

The Seattle Times and the P-I are both reporting on the story, which if nothing else illustrates a case of Donald Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns" in action. The Times says:

The vaccine used a disabled form of a common-cold virus to carry three synthetically produced HIV genes into the body. It was hoped that those genes would spur the body to unleash an HIV-targeted immune response using so-called "killer" T cells. Neither the cold virus nor the HIV genes could reproduce, so volunteers could not catch a cold or become infected with HIV directly from the vaccine.

Seattlest went to the opening night of Pacific Northwest Ballet's Contemporary Classics last night for two favorites: Kiss and Caught. PNB has wisely brought these two pieces into it's repertory fold, continuing to signal Artistic Director Peter Boal's commitment to exploring choreography that is traditionally outside the realm of most ballet companies. Overall, PNB rose regally to the challenge. more ›

We're all wondering why you're not named on the lineup for The Program at Neumos in December. What gives? Will you be joining Khingz on stage? more ›

The Hugo House Literary Series kicks off Friday night with "Lost in Translation," and the program features Seattlest-favorite and monologist Mike Daisey, novelist Randall Keenan and historian Lesley Hazleton. more ›

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The triple play kicks off at 7pm tonight at the Paramount Theatre: Chaplin's One A.M., The Count, more ›

We understand you conducted telephone surveys to determine if the respondents would be willing or otherwise tolerant of being the subject of medical experiments should they be in a condition subject to these studies. Can you confirm whether they were asked to comment on whether they thought others should be experimented on without consent? more ›

8pm Thurs-Mon, through June 11; Tickets $18 general/$10 students, seniors more ›

Before we get to today's boat, there's a half-assed explanation of the Empress of the North's Alaskan accident online as of yesterday--apparently they were making a turn and hit a rock... Well, cruise passengers should certainly slumber easily in their berths now that that whole thing has been exposed. There's also (another?) entirely fictitious accounting of the accident at The Spoof. more ›

SHERMAN FREAKING ALEXIE: The best-selling author returns with his first novel in ten years. Flight tells the story of an orphaned Indian boy who travels back and forth through time in a violent search for his true identity. Real Change-published poets (that would actually include Alexie, too) read as part of the program. more ›

McCaw Hall, tickets $20-$80 more ›

The Huskies released their spring depth chart today, and oh-so-highly touted quarterback Jake Locker is listed as the #1 QB. Locker is expected by the type of Husky fan who spends a lot of time on message boards to lead the program back to excellence. He's 6-2, 210, and fast. Scout.com calls him "a bigger Marques Tuiasosopo with a stronger arm." more ›

Scott Kennedy (at right, with the guv) is trying to get $20 pledges out of 100 Seattleites to buy a $2000 MacBook Pro for the syndicated ultra-lefty radio and tv show "Democracy Now." more ›

"We're gonna send you to military school" will no longer be an idle threat only of rich parents, if Governor Gregoire gets her way. She's backing a "boot-camp-style" academy for our state's high school dropouts.

The governor is seeking about $6 million to build and operate the academy, which would serve about 300 dropouts each year — two intensive five-month sessions of 150 youths, drawn from around the state. more ›