While I could care less about football, Tom I have to comment on your write-off of NASCAR as a way to rope in the rednecks. I went to Evergreen Speedway last summer for a huge demolition derby blowout that included figure 8 racing, school buses, cars towing boats, and scores of Repo Man-style racers spitting fire….it’s a fucking blast (with a big fireworks finale). If that’s redneck fun, count me in that lot…it’s a good old fashioned party watching fast vehicles nearly explode upon contact (and drinking cans of cheap beer while you’re at it).

Council Members Peter Steinbrueck and Nick Licata started a trend by posting their lists of finalists for the Position #9 City Council vacancy on the Slog. Today, Council Member Richard Conlin made his list of 18 finalists public here on Slog. Where’s your list Jean Godden? Or yours Richard McIver. (We asked Jan Drago, and she demurred.)

Here’s Council Member Richard Conlin’s post (bolded names are those that also made Steinbrueck’s and Licata’s lists) (Also, I know a lot of these names don’t mean anything to a lot of Slog readers. So, we’ll be filling in the details on these folks tomorrow when the final list of 12 is hammered out). Anyway, Richard Conlin says:

Here are my selections:

Ross Baker
Bruce Bentley
Russ Brubaker
Stella Chao
Gail Chiarello
Sally Clark
Bookda Gheiser
Lee Hatcher
David Hopkins
Verlene Jones
Ven Knox
Sharon Maeda
Kate Mortenson
Sara Patton
Darryl Smith
Roger Valdez
Venus Velasquez
Thomas Whittemore

Continue reading "Conlin Posts His List" »

Speaking of Eugene Mirman, the very funny man will be performing Thursday, Jan 26th at the University of Washington’s Husky Union Building.

I’ve seen him four times now, and each time I leave aching from laughter. No joke.

You can get tickets here at TicketsWest. They’re only $10. Totally worth it.

You can vote for Gore right now on this idiotic AOL poll—he’s trailing now, but that’s because it’s an idiotic AOL poll.

Wow. This story broke last week, but damn if I didn’t hear of it until today, which, incidentally, is the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Short version: On Wal-Mart’s website, customers who purchased this movie were informed they might enjoy “similar films” including this, this, and this.

Wal Mart officials have apologized, blaming the “hurtful and offensive” film pairings on a computer glitch. Full story here.

Seahawks lineman Sean Locklear spent Saturday whoopin’ the Redskins and Sunday allegedly whoopin’ his wife/girlfriend/whatever.

The National Football League was invented so that 6’3”, 300-pound men like Locklear could whale on fellow giants. You know, the way that NASCAR was invented to cut down on rednecks drag racing on the freeway. Scary to think what kind of damage Locklear could have done to a normal-sized human.

Great year on the field for the Seahawks. Horrible year off of it.

City council members Peter Steinbrueck and Nick Licata have posted their preliminary lists of candidates to replace city council member Jim Compton on the Stranger’s Slog. Read all about it here.

I’m with Sean: I want Al Gore to run for president in 2008.

The romantic in me wants Gore to run to right the wrong that was done him personally in 2004—he won the popular vote and the EC vote, and the election was stolen. Can you imagine the existential hell that has been Al Gore’s life for the last five years? But more than that, I want Gore to run to right the wrongs that have been done to this country by the man who stole the election from him in 2000 and barely managed to hold on to the White House in 2004. I believe Gore would make a great president—particularly after spending eight years in exile, as the result of spending eight years in exile.

I also suspect Gore wouldn’t select this idjit as his running mate in 2008.

I spent my lunch hour listening to KUOW’s 2pm show, the Beat, where Seattle lawyer/author Drew Hansen gave a very interesting take on the details of Martin Luther King Jr.’s rise to power and the events surrounding his famous “I have a dream” speech. You can check out his conversation with host Megan Sukys here.

…and too little sex in front of it. Via Drudge:

Thinking of buying a TV for the bedroom? Think again—it could ruin your sex life.A study by an Italian sexologist has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don’t.

Read all about it here.

Smobriety Charticle Seven

Weight: 174 pounds

Pulse: 77 beats per minute

Song Stuck in Head: “This is How I’m Comin’,” L.L. Cool J

Risk of Smoking Resumption: Cornflower
(Low risk of smoking resumption)

Symptoms: Tiredness, lack of concentration

Clean of the cigarettes and also the anti-depressants, I seem to have crashed…today I slept until 1 p.m.
I am not proud.
Last night, it occurred to me that I could potentially never step into a smoke shop again for the rest of my life. I’m not sure how that makes me feel. Many people are unaware that smoke shops sell any number of items that have nothing to do with smoking. Yes, there are the bongs and the cleansers that supposedly purify one’s urine of any trace of marijuana, but there are also the weapons. There are knives and brass knuckles (once I watched as a savvy smoke shop owner upgraded a sale of a pair of ordinary brass knuckles into a more profitable sale of a pair of brass knuckles with a four-inch knife sticking out of the top of them. That’s the spirit of small business at work for America.) And there are also the stun guns.
I was buying cigarettes once and this guy ran into the shop, shouting “I need a stun gun! I need a stun gun!” Ever polite, I stepped back and let him go ahead of me. The shop owner pulled a stun gun out and let the man look at it. “How many volts does it have?” the panicked buyer asked, ” I need at least a hundred thousand volts!” The shop owner clearly didn’t know how many volts the gun had, and tried to divert the conversation.
Again, “How many volts does it have? I need at least a hundred thousand volts!”
The shop owner commented on the low price of the unit, only to be cut off again. “How many volts-“
The shop owner, formerly the picture of calm, finally snapped: “Enough. It’s got enough volts, okay?”
The guy wound up buying the stun gun and ran out of the store, fast as he came in.
By that point, I really needed a cigarette.
…What was I saying…?
Anyway, here’s a Frenchwoman who really, really likes Aidan Quinn.

This is really, really fucked up:

Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle’s Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action. The soldiers asked for anonymity because they are concerned they will face retaliation for going public with the Army’s apparently new directive. At the sources’ requests DefenseWatch has also agreed not to reveal the unit at which the incident occured for operational security reasons.

So first we send troops into battle with too little body armor, then when some troops privately purchase their own armor the Army tells them to leave it behind? What could possibly be their reasoning?

Recently Dragon Skin became an item of contention between proponents of the Interceptor OTV body armor generally issued to all service members deploying in combat theaters and its growing legion of critics. Critics of the Interceptor OTV system say it is ineffective and inferior to Dragon Skin, as well as several other commercially available body armor systems on the market. Last week DefenseWatch released a secret Marine Corps report that determined that 80% of the 401 Marines killed in Iraq between April 2004 and June 2005 might have been saved if the Interceptor OTV body armor they were wearing was more effective. The Army has declined to comment on the report because doing so could aid the enemy, an Army spokesman has repeatedly said.

Note to Pinnacle: If you want to save lives, you’re going to have to pony up some more dough like Interceptor OTV.

UPDATE: Daily Kos has more.

I know I’m not the only one who still harbors deeply conflicted feelings about former Vice President Al Gore, the man who won the 2000 presidential election (but only if you count votes). I have been and remain angry, sad, hurt, and astonished about his paltry response to the immediate post-election period, and will never stop being disdainful of the way he ran his campaign (i.e. away from Clinton, away from himself, toward some focus grouped nightmare of mock Presidentiality).

HOW-THE-FUCK-EVER, when I read the text of his MLK Day speech (pasted after the jump), I remembered that he not only should have been, but could have been, and in a sense, almost was president instead of GWB. Just last night, I shed a tear while watching Spike Jonze documentary about Gore that was screened at the 2000 Democratic Convention. (The long lost short is available in the first edition of Wholphin, the DVD magazine that comes with the current issue of McSweeney’s.) I don’t know if Gore was an ideal candidate—the documentary just makes him seem human, something his campaign was incapable of coming close to doing. I just know that it now seems basically unimaginable that an American President could ever have been concerned, intelligent, eloquent, and capable—all traits Gore nobly embodies—all at the same time.

And that, my friends, is a tragedy.

Continue reading "Run Al, Run" »

On every political and social topic, I stand to the far left, save the issue of the death penalty. My heart believes that men who commit murder at a certain age should be put to death (and not in a nice medical way, but quartered or hanged—the final punishment should always be graphic, visceral, and public). But my brain knows that the final punishment system is such that class (and as a consequence, race) plays too big role in the judgment process. (I also have an esthetic reason for supporting the death penalty: What would film noir be without it. But as with most matters that concern crime and punishment, the fiction of noir barely translates into the facts of life; those who are executed by the state tend not to look like Fred MacMurray but Michael Clarke Duncan.) The only reason I say no to the death penalty is because the system is seriously imperfect.
But what say you about this case.

SAN FRANCISCO - A 76-year-old convicted killer — legally blind, nearly deaf and in a wheelchair — tried to stave off execution early Tuesday by arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to put a feeble old man to death… Allen went to prison for having his teenage son’s 17-year-old girlfriend murdered for fear she would tell police about a grocery-store burglary. While behind bars, he tried to have witnesses in the case wiped out, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to death in 1982 for hiring a hit man who killed a witness and two bystanders.

I say, like the robot in Blade Runner, “Wake up! It’s time to die.”

I had lunch with Annie Wagner today. Then we went to Dick’s and got chocolate milkshakes. Then, crossing Broadway, I realized in my periphery that I could only see parts of Annie. I said to her, “I have the sudden feeling you’re a hologram.” Sure enough, everything on my left side seemed partial. In pieces. Missing chunks. This happened all the way back to the office. Now I am sitting at my desk and there is definitely some weird colorful activity happening in my left periphery. And things seem missing. A floating, colorful blind spot. My right eye is fine. My left eye is clearly not fine. Am I dying? Does anyone know what this is? Was there something in my chicken club at Septieme?

If anyone out there is a doctor, please post a comment. I’m going to call my doctor if this keeps up.

Before the smoking ban took effect I predicted that the cool boys would still hang out and Linda’s and shoot pool—only they wouldn’t be smoking anymore. They would still, however, manage to look and be cool without filling their lungs and mine with smoke. Well, I was at Linda’s a few nights back and there they were…

…cool boys shooting pool. It’s as if nothing has changed. The air is clearer and the pool boys are, no doubt, healthier, and they’ll live longer. And, with any luck, they’ll get sick of having to walk outside to have a smoke and decide to quit.

#1. Based on the number of sightings, creatively named linebacker Lofa Tatupu’s jersey is the most popular this year. Second place: Matt Hasselbeck. Surprisingly, only two Shaun Alexander jerseys were seen, though this could have had more to do with the status of your correspondent (see #3) than with Alexander’s popularity as a player.

#2. The J&M in Pioneer Square does playoff viewing right, with ample screens (including a monstrosity), game audio pumped throughout the bar, and quick, attentive bartenders. The camaraderie was impressive—there was much cheering, proper booing, and on a number of occasions strangers even hugged. Plus, with the door open you could hear the crowd roars from the stadium. Nice.

#3. Downing five beers and two shots in under three hours is not the smartest of moves, even during a playoff game. It leads to lapses in judgment (see #4), and it makes your girlfriend mad.

#4. Cowgirls Inc. is the strangest place to watch a game. The positive: the bartenders put on a show atop the bar during commercial breaks. The negative: proper football viewing has to compete with loud music and bouncing boobies for your attention. And there’s an attendant in the men’s room—what the hell is up with that?

#5. Based on the crowd’s post-game mood, not winning a playoff game since Reagan’s first term is a long, long, loooooooong time to wait. If the Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl, Seattle will officially freak the fuck out. Which it should.

Bring on the Panthers!

I’m no political analyst (to state the bleeding obvious), but while going through notebooks I wrote during the 1988 presidential campaign, I found an observation that I think is worth airing 18 years later.

After hearing Jesse Jackson speak at a political rally in his characteristically fiery manner, I thought: this man has too much charisma for the office of president. He could seduce an entire nation down the most irresponsible paths through his rhythmic rhetoric. I’d prefer a more restrained—even dull—president, but one, of course, with a sharp mind and compassion. Fire and brimstone do not belong in the White House; an emotionally inflamed populace threatens rational behavior. Jackson could make World War III sound like the best party ever.

In retrospect, America’s mostly docile, apathetic citizenry could benefit from some of Jackson’s rabble-rousing speeches and ideas, which, while far from flawless, at one point seemed to offer so much promise. It seems as if Jackson’s fighting spirit and influence have been waning ever since that presidential race. It’s a shame. I can get behind a candidate who uses language like this:

Today’s students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.

With David Cross already on their roster, Sub Pop added more comedy to their routine by signing Eugene Mirman (formerly signed to Seattle label Suicide Squeeze). As the indie rock/indie comedian bond grows stronger by the minute via this Seattle institution (and with comedians touring with and opening for bands), the larger question is what’s happening with our local comedy scene? Who are the good Northwest comedians? And will the Sub Pop connection mean stuff’s gonna get funnier around town soon?

I would, if I had gobs more time, wrap every brand-obvious product in my home (too bad there isn’t a soybean-emblazoned wrap for soy milk) and live more like Cayce in William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition.

Hey Josh, isn’t it a bit inconsistent to be calling for strategic transparency in the post directly below this one, while arguing for strategic non-transparency in the post directly below that one?

Over the weekend, Peter Steinbrueck posted his preliminary list of picks to fill the Compton vacancy—right here on the Slog. He’s since updated the list. (I’m glad to see he’s added police accountability advocate, Peter Holmes.)

Tonight, I add three new names to my choices for the council vacancy:

#3 Peter Holmes
#29 Ven Knox
#17 Joann Frances

Tomorrow night, I will post my complete list for submittal to full council on Tuesday morning.

Cheers, Peter

Posted by peter steinbrueck - January 15, 2006 10:53 PM

Council Member Nick Licata posted his list here on the SLOG over the weekend as well.

I hope other Council Members will follow suit and post their lists here on the SLOG to make this as public a process as possible. Jan? Tom? Jean? What’ve you got?

On Friday morning, Mighty O donuts delivered two boxes (and them some) of donuts to The Stranger’s offices. Mighty O is a local company that makes donuts using no partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (which is the source of trans fat, the evil fat), no dairy products (which makes them vegan), and organic ingredients (coconuts, peanuts, raspberries, etc). The other thing about Mighty O donuts: they’re pretty. They’re striped. And if you didn’t know they aren’t made the way donuts are made everywhere else, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess.

I tried to get as much of the staff to eat them as I could. One writer said, “There is no trans fat in these donuts? I don’t believe that. We’ve got to take them to a lab and test them.” Another said, as she shoveled one into her wheat-allergic self, “I don’t eat donuts. These are good. I’m going to break out into a rash soon.” Another said, “They have a nice clean taste.” Which, unbeknownst to him, echoed Mighty O’s motto: “The cleanest hole in town.”

If you think about it, the Democratic blogs may actually be undermining the Democrats’ chances of taking back the country. Too often, Democratic blogs are bona fide public brainstorming and public strategy sessions. Democrats are cultivating and honing their ideas in public—for everyone to see, especially Republicans.

Today, Democrats face much the same situation that Republicans faced in the 1970s and 1980s.
In the `70s and `80s, liberal Democrats controlled Congress because, by and large, the political & moral template of the country was liberal. The `70s, and even the backlash Reagan `80s, had been forged by the overwhelming liberal renaissance and cultural revolution of the 1960s. The Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement, the youth movement, the feminist movement, consumer rights, gay rights, environmental protection—all these things blossomed in the 60’s and early `70s and—despite Ronald Reagan’s best efforts—these values completely defined the country for years and years. Heck, Republican President Nixon established the EPA. Republican President Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court. And the Congress rejected a conservative wing nut like Robert Bork. These were simply the given values of the day. Witness the fact that a powerful, popular personality President like Reagan was forced to wage his war in Central America under the radar, illegally. And he was busted for it during the Iran-Contra affaire. This was because the lessons of Vietnam still carried weight.

However, Republicans were certainly active during this era. The Heritage Foundation, Grover Norquist and his American Taxpayers Union, The Olin Institution at Harvard University were all active during this time—cultivating and fleshing out the ideas that would eventually explode in 1994 with Newt Gringrich’s Republican Revolution. But they were doing it quietly.

And ever since 1994, the tables have been turned. Since that time, the political and moral template of the country has been conservative. Just look at Clinton’s biggest accomplishments: Welfare Reform and a balanced budget. These were Republican agenda items. The country was so conservative post ‘94, that Clinton was impeached by the House of Reps even as he reigned over peace and prosperity.

The key to the Republicans’ success at overthrowing the established order of the `70s and `80s was this: In the `70s and `80s, the Heritage Foundation and Norquist et al, operated below the radar screen. The Democratic establishment was largely unaware of the right-wing thought machine, the right-wing hand wringing strategy sessions, and all the Republican brainstorming. And so, in 1994, the conservatives were able to take Clinton, seemingly by surprise, and unveil an ideology that they’d been stoking and cultivating quietly for years. And, in 1994, they successfully ended the era of liberalism that had dominated this country since about 1970.

In comparison, today, the Democrats do their brainstorming and hand wring and strategizing out in the open. They do it on the blogs. It’s all right there for the Republicans to see. This is why the Democratic blogs, as good as they make us feel, are jeopardizing a successful liberal revolution. Democrats do too much plotting out loud.

If Grover Norquist had had a blog in the `80s, I think the Democrats would have been more prepared in 1994.