The duckies symbolize Urban Rest Stop, Seattle's eight-year-old "hygiene center" for the homeless. How important is this? Well, in a year, 25,000 people will use the place, a couple of blocks from the Greyhound station. Almost half a million showers, four times that many just to use the rest room. Laundry, too: close to 200,000 loads. And it's the only place in town that serves entire families. more ›

It may not feel like summer in Seattle, but tomorrow afternoon is The End's Summer Camp II at Marymoor Park. It's a mix of the good (Nada Surf, MGMT), the bad (Flogging Molly, Pennywise), and the emo-ey (Armor for Sleep). Meanwhile, all weekend long Noise for the Needy marches on, raising money for Urban Rest Stop. Come tomorrow night, it's Matt and Kim, YACHT, and local band Feral Children at Neumo's. Here's a clip of the ferociously experimental indie Sarathan quintet. more ›

We seem to be covering the benefit beat lately--Wednesday night David Schmader takes over the Triple Door to "annotate" Paul Verhoeven's "film" Showgirls. It's to raise money for the the Urban Rest Stop, a "hygiene center" downtown. We're for a free place for people to freshen up, don't get us wrong. It's just funny to have the Showgirls tie-in, in that the one and only time we watched it we had to take a long hot shower afterwards. more ›