Well, that was spectacular. From the heady days of August 25th, when the M's were three up in the wild card and only one back in the division, had won two straight in Texas, when we were all excited about Blue-za-palooza or whatever the fuck it was...to now, after 11 losses in 12 games, when we're all pretty much in wait 'till next year mode. You've all seen the boat sink, here are the numbers.......

Your Seattle Mariners played their biggest series in four seasons this week. With a chance to overtake the first place Angels if they could win three games, the Mariners won zero games. They got outscored 24-8. Ever see that thing they do at the zoo where hippos eat pumpkins? It was like that. Much of the blame is gonna come down on Mariner manager John McLaren, who took the interesting step of using his worst......

Vitals: 29 yo LHP. Born in Wichita, KS. 6-2, 225. 36-43, 4.44 career. 3-1, 2.48 in 2007. $3.26 million salary. Arsenal: Low-90s fastball, slider, change that runs away from righties. Recent Battles: Robertson held the Mariners to one run in seven innings last September, beating Jarrod Washburn. Our Best Weapon: Righties hit Robertson well. If Ibanez needs a day off, this might be a good game to start little-used Jason Ellison. The Internet Says: Robertson......

Vitals: 24 yo RHP. Born in Kennewick, WA. 6-2, 220. 46-53, 4.67 career. 1-0, 3.69 in 2007. $4.5 million salary. Arsenal: Mid-90s fastball, nasty slider, change. Recent Battles: The M's faced Bonderman last on September 5th, knocking him out of the game with a three-run fourth. This game was notable for being Joel Pineiro's 58th, and last, win as a Mariner. Our Best Weapon: Ibanez is 8-17 career against Bonderman. The Internet Says: In 2002,......

We knew that Carlos Guillen's 2001 bout with tuberculosis was serious, but until we read this feature by Jon Paul Morosi (formerly of the P-I, now with the Detroit Free Press), we never knew that Guillen was so close to death:He could barely sleep. He had a fever every night. He battled headaches and weakness. He lost almost 20 pounds. He coughed up blood. Yet, Carlos Guillen continued to play shortstop for the Seattle Mariners.......

Yeah, LSU went to the Final Four last year, and yeah, they've been ranked as high as #5, and yeah, they have maybe the country's best player in Glen "Big Baby" Davis, but.... --they've lost twice (to Wichita St. and Texas) --they aren't getting good guard play. --they struggled to beat Pac-10 cellar candidates Oregon State on Sunday. In fact, the Beavers probably should've won--they missed a lot of gimmes. --if there's a team in......

If you like what Quilty 3000 plays on KEXP between noon and 3pm on Saturdays, you might like Quilty 3000 ... in that way. And she's on the market, according to her Stranger Lovelab profile. If it is to be believed, she likes puppies, long walks on the beach, and guys who really listen music geeks, KEXP, and vinyl. Seattlest does not have any experience dating DJs, so we feel incapable of offering any advice.......

What do poet David Wagoner, poet Shannon Borg, executive director of the Richard Hugo House Lyall Bush, and Seattlest co-editor and sports guy Seth Kolloen have in common? Besides the fact that they all live in Seattle, smartass? Yes, they've all been selected for the Stranger's Genius Awards shortlist of literary badasses. The best local sportswriter you've probably never heard of writes online for Seattlest (www.seattlest.com). There, on a near-daily basis, Seth Kolloen—Seattle native, handsome......

Has Seattlest mentioned that we are in love with Sufjan Stevens? Yes, we love him, but it's totally not in a sexual way. Though we certainly appreciate his boyish good looks (and nicely toned arms), for us to touch someone with such wide-eyed childlike wonder would surely make us a pedophile. More than anything, we'd love to hold him close to our bosom, thereby protecting him from the cold, cruel world. Still, when a......

If you're like us, you already own all of Neko Case's CDs. Get ready to expand your collection. Her first DVD -- her 2003 performance on Austin City Limits -- will be available October 10: Performing on Austin City Limits, one of Neko and her grandmother's all-time favorite programs, was one of Neko's proudest career moments, and probably one of her proudest personal moments as well... Neko and the band were so thrilled (and nervous!)......

As a wise man once said: "Ohhhh, we're half-way there / Ohhh-oh, living on a prayer." On Wednesday, SIFF officially reached the half-way mark. But it's by no means all downhill from here. There's still tons more great films to see before the fest is through. Seattlest applies our well-honed knowledge of all things cinema to the SIFF catalogue in order to point out some notable films playing this weekend: · Maxed Out Got......

Exactly one week after Randy Johnson threw the first no-hitter in Mariner history against Detroit, a 26-year-old rookie made an auspicious Mariners debut at Tiger Stadium. Russ Swan no-hit those same Tigers for seven innings--Cecil Fielder led off the 8th with a single, dashing his (and our) young hopes for another baseball milestone. Swan spent three more years largely unremarkable years with the Mariners as a reliever and spot starter. He had a hand in......

Last night, Seattlest was at a packed Neumo's to see Animal Collective. Having missed them on other tours (or, rather, not getting into their music until recently), we weren't quite sure what to expect. A colleague who had previously seen them play warned us that one of his worst concert-going ordeals involved AC as an opening band: "It might be terrible." Well, we wouldn't go so far as to say the show was terrible, but......

1) Mercir (EMP Sky Church) - We started the day with some electro indie rock. With moody vocals, usually more atmospheric than lyrical, this three piece uses guitars, keyboards and a latop computer to create a rich wall of sound. 2) Citizen Cope (Main Stage) - We keep hearing about how great Citizen Cope is. That “Bullet in a Target” song is everywhere. Prior to Saturday, the other songs we heard by him (aka Clarence......

Three B's have killed the Mariners this season--Bavasi, Beltre and Boone. Bill Bavasi, the team's general manager, is the mastermind behind such trades as Carlos Guillen (batting .355 for the Detroit Tigers) for Ramon Santiago (batting .225 for the Tacoma Rainiers), and of last year's free agent signings of Scott Spiezio and Rich Aurila, the pop-out twins. His major signing this year was B number 2, Adrian Beltre, who, after hitting 47 home runs in......

While growing up on the streets of Detroit, we used to love the sounds of the city, with hip-hop mixing with rock mixing with Motown. The city was like a sonic melting pot where each walk to a Tigers game was an education in the music of the late 20th century. Okay, that's a lie. We've never actually been to Detroit, but it sure sounds neat. The band that best embodies the Detroit sound is......