a friend of a friend climbed the volcano fountain, stood at the top, and punched the air like a champion…

My overriding thought while wandering around the water feature yesterday, was if it’s legit to splash in it. One of the papers ran a photo today of a girl wading in the ankle-deep pool studded with rocks. Your friend of a friend climbed the damn fountain. I really wanted to wade across the last, calmest reflecting pool.

I’m glad to see others are acting on their impulses (I made do with dipping my hand in the water). But does anyone know if you can jump into the pool and not risk getting a ticket? That park’s crawling with bike and foot patrol officers, trying to keep the crackheads and street drunks out, so it seems only a matter of time before they start busting waders and fountain climbers—if those are in fact illegal acts.

I just want to echo Amy’s enthusiasm for Cal Anderson Park — it’s incredible. It’s so weird and beautiful. It’s restored my faith in the city. The fences have been down for three days now, and I’ve spent good time each day there — working, mostly, but also just feeling generally glad to be alive. Last night, after the bars closed, a friend of a friend climbed the volcano fountain, stood at the top, and punched the air like a champion, even as his shoes and pants filled with water. A guy sitting outside his building across the street applauded.

Suggested rally slogans for tomorrow’s march:

Optimism is Not a Strategy
Fight Hurricanes, Not Heathens
Bring Them Home Now
End the War in Iraq

My advice? Keep it simple kids. Seattle’s march is being billed with LA and San Francisco, as the big ones outside of D.C. Let’s stay on message, and drive the point home.

So, the SMP Board just voted to put a proposal for a shorter route on the November ballot. Ballard’s out. The 10.6 mile route would be from the maintenance base at Dravus in Interbay through downtown to Alaska Junction in West Seattle. If the ballot measure is rejected, the SMP will be dissolved. SMP Legal Director Ross MacFarlane, ballot papers in hand, rushed by Erica C. Barnett at 3:15 to make the 4:30 King County elections deadline.

The ballot measure also would require that any financing for an extension be approved by the city council.

Also of note from today’s dramatic SMP board meeting: Board member Steve Williamson—in attendance over speaker phone—called on Board Chair Kristina Hill to resign. Hill said she was “hurt” that Williamson made such a recommendation publicly. She did not resign.

Dog owners: read this, from the animal issue of Vice. I haven’t laughed so hard in hours.

Hello from New York. Spotted this music video linked on Americablog, and thought everyone should see it.

At first it reminded me of “Idiot Son of an Asshole,” a song that entertained us during the 2004 campaign, but it’s actually much more somber—it almost made me cry as I sat in my hotel room waiting to do the Michael Medved show.

Our country is fucked.

Today’s Washington Post reports that anti-war demonstrators there plan to have a tightly focused message in tomorrow’s march:

In recent weeks, Bill Dobbs, media coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, has sometimes cut off speakers at news conferences when they began a passionate discussion of how war is connected to global and local oppression.

Spreading out his long arms, he speaks the message he wants everyone to repeat: “End the war in Iraq. Bring them home now.”

“That is the really important message at the moment,” he said. “To turn out the maximum number of people, we need the simplest and clearest message.”

Don’t forget to send us your “simple and clear” message ideas. We’ll post the best ones here by the end of the day. Hopefully Seattle’s march organizers will take note.

Just got word from City Hall: The council voted 9-0 to cancel the monorail’s transit way agreement with the city. That means the Green Line is kaput.

Just got word that there a six city council votes (a majority) lined up behind Richard McIVer’s resolution to yank the monorail’s transit way agreement. That would effectively shut down the project without another public vote. Erica C. Barnett just jetted down to City Hall to get the full story.

Our local alt rock commercial station, The End sent out a press release this morning claiming that their leak of the new Strokes single, “Juicebox” has pushed the release of the NY band’s latest CD to an earlier date. According to the station, the new Strokes record was supposed to come out early next year but due to the single’s placement on the End’s People’s Choice Countdown (and regular rotation) the band’s label, RCA, is “considering an earlier release date.” DJ Harms said in a statement, “We are not going to let the internet beat us as people’s first source for new music. If there is an unreleased song or record out there, we are going to find it, and we are going to play it.”

Yesterday someone in the music forums was asking about good rock DJs around town. They were missing ye olde days of Pho Bang and looking for a good mix of punk, new wave, etc. I mentioned that Thursday nights at the War Room are sometimes good bets—and I have to mention it again here. Last night I unfortunately missed Infomatik’s set, but did catch a random SoCal pop punk band called Plastic Letters who were pretty fun. Between bands Mamma Casserole and Aykut from Razrez spun exactly the kind of music the forum poster was looking for. It all makes for the kind of Thursday that makes you wish everyone had Fridays off.

In this morning’s PI, columnist Joel Connelly compliments the Stranger’s election endorsements, calling them “sharp and well-reasoned.” Thanks, Joel. I was pretty proud of this year’s Stranger picks.

However, Connelly goes on to trash me for being “me-centric.” He’s got a point. I’ve definitely been going a little first-person crazy lately, veering off into Philip Dawdy territory.

However, there is someone in town who writes about me more than I do. Joel Connelly!!!

It’s flattering, but it’s getting a little creepy, Joel. Most recently, I think, you criticized a blog post I did about the 34th District Democrats candidate forum.

Although, one time you compared me to Matt Dillon. That made my week. I forwarded that story to my mom and to every girl that I ever dated. I even sent it to Jill Shanholtz, this one girl from my high school that I wanted to date, but I didn’t because Jill liked my best friend Lee even though Lee was gay and I wasn’t.

Continue reading "So, Enough About Me, What Do You Think About Me?" »

I’ve finally found my new Tetris: Lumines for the PSP is a Japanese puzzle game with gorgeous graphics and an awesome soundtrack. It’s spectacular and engrossing and it feels like it makes your brain grow a bit. I considered calling in sick today to play. Brad, do you have it yet?

You know what’s a million times worse than being an elderly nursing home resident shoved onto a bus with your oxygen tank so you can flee an impending hurricane?

Being an elderly nursing home resident shoved onto a bus to flee an impending hurricane when your oxygen tank explodes, accelerating a fire that kills you and 23 other nursing home evacuees.

This nightmare scenario occurred this morning outside Dallas, on in a chartered bus filled with elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees (many of whom used supplementary oxygen) who’d left a suburban Houston nursing home for facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Thursday.

Authorities told the Associated Press that the bus apparently caught fire due to a mechanical problem, after which the oxygen tanks started exploding.

Horrible full story here.