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Archives for 04/26/2007 - 04/26/2007

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Debate Night

Posted by on April 26 at 9:34 PM

Apparently there was a democratic debate tonight. Some folks went to the trouble of liveblogging the thing. Some thought it was deadly dull. And now that it’s over others want you to vote for who thought made the best impression. (Edwards is winning the vote over at Kos.)

Anyone in Seattle catch the debate?

BREAKING NEWS: Hostage Situation Domestic Dispute

Posted by on April 26 at 5:13 PM

At 1:55 PM Seattle Police responded to a domestic disturbance in the Cottage Grove neighborhood in West Seattle, after they received a call from Terry Wendt that his “ex-boyfriend [was] destroying his car.”

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After Wendt refused to go out and purchase beer and cigarettes for his domestic partner, Robert James, he went outside to mow his front lawn. James came outside and began to stomp on the lawnmower before picking up several bricks and throwing them through Wendt’s BMW’s windows. James then then used an ax to smash the body and windshield of the car.

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James then ran back into the house that he rents with Wendt and two other tenants, barricading himself in the basement.

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Patrol officers arrived at the house on Delridge and SW Brandon and cordoned of the block. A negotiator and the SWAT team arrived and spent the next 3 hours attempting to coax James out of the house, eventually firing tear gas canisters through several windows in an attempt to force him out. There were early reports that he had taken hostages, but SPD confirmed that James was alone in the basement and was not in possession of any firearms. James surrendered to police and is currently being held at the southwest precinct.

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Terry Wendt

According to Wendt, “this was at least the fifth or sixth time” James had been arrested for a violent outburst. There was a no-contact order in place between the couple and James had completed a four month jail sentence last November for violating the order. James was staying with Wendt because, he says “I couldn’t turn him out on the street.”

Wendt says that James battered his BMW because “he knew that I loved my car. He couldn’t stand for me to leave the relationship with the car [intact],” adding that “It’s just a car really. I can go back to riding a bicycle.”

As the police tape came down and the news crews drove off, Wendt returned to mowing his lawn.

I Owe Frank Chopp an Apology

Posted by on April 26 at 5:07 PM

After my Frank Chopp article hit, I received a few official phone calls from Democrats, including state chair Dwight Pelz, officially dressing me down.

I listened, but told them I was happy with the article.

However, there is one thing I regret about the story. I threw in a pretty weird line:

“Chopp, who looks a little like Dick Cheney, explained his philosophy to me this week….”

I typically try to add a descriptive dash when I’m quoting somebody a lot, to engage the reader a bit more. I think I once had Casey Corr looking like Ron Howard.

Anyway, the Cheney line was gratuitous and distracting. Chopp’ll never believe me, but I honestly wasn’t trying to cast him with GOP overtones. Particularly not a GOP monster like Cheney.

Unfortunately, I heard that of all the substantive criticisms in my story, it was the off-handed Cheney description that irked Chopp the most.

It evidently became a gag for a few Democratic caucus members (making light of the story a few days after it hit) to joke with Chopp that they looked way more like Cheney than he did.

Again, and honestly, there was no double meaning to the Cheney comparsion, but seriously?

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The Night I Was Recruited For the Police Academy

Posted by on April 26 at 5:06 PM

Last night I attended the Neighborhood Policing Open House at the Woodland Park Zoo. Residents and community groups from Seattle’s north police precinct crammed into the small, windowless ARC building conference room, where I once dissected owl pellets in the 2nd grade. The room was lined with tables filled with brochures and pamphlets about emergency preparedness, graffiti prevention and there were order forms for “Vehicle Anti-Theft Device The Club.” I grabbed a copy of “Can I Park Here? 20 Ways to Avoid Parking Tickets.”

Mayor Nickels stood in front of the crowd to pitch a new neighborhood policing plan to improve response time, redistribute precinct workloads and create a more proactive police force where “officers will feel some ownership” and be more accountable to the areas they patrol (didn’t former Police Chief Norm Stamper pitch something like this in the mid-90s?). Nickels talked about improving police response time -currently at 7 minutes- referencing the high profile Jewish Federation and Capitol Hill shootings, emphatically stating that “we have to be able to respond quickly, with force.”

The discussion turned towards the numbers game involved in improving Seattle’s policing as Nickels was joined by Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer who pleaded with the crowd to help the department recruit new officers.

S.P.D. already has to hire 50 to 60 new officers every year to keep up with retirements, but Nickels has proposed hiring an average of 21 additional officers annually till 2012. The neighborhood policing plan is also intended to more evenly distribute officers and workloads amongst the city’s five precincts.

After Nickels and Kimerer wrapped up their sales pitch, Kara Ceriello, co-president of the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce - citing an article in the PI which challenged Nickels’ assertion that the city could afford so many new officers- aggressively questioned the financial feasibility of the Mayor’s plan. Nickels assured the crowd that “My budget will have 20 new officers.”

On my way out of the meeting I was accosted by a large man who wrapped his giant meat hooks around me and asked me “if I liked video games?” “Uh, sure” I responded, not knowing where the conversation was headed. The gentleman in question proceeded to attempt to recruit me for the police academy, luring me with tales of the Firearms Training System, which sounded a lot like a grown up version of Duck Hunt. I told him that working for The Stranger would probably disqualify me from working in law enforcement and went on my merry way.

Must-See TV

Posted by on April 26 at 4:40 PM

Strip searches your kink? Ever fantasize about, say, Rick Springfield being ordered to strip and spread ‘em? You’re going to love this FBI training film from the early ’80s.

“Check the armpits. Take your time. Look carefully…. If he’s uncircumcized, ask him to pull back the foreskin. Be professional and alert. Remember: the inmate is feeling vulnerable.”

Via Fleshbot.

O They Will Know We Are Christians By Our…

Posted by on April 26 at 4:27 PM

sexual hypocrisy.

A conservative Episcopal priest who helped lead a 2004 revolt against the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles over homosexuality has resigned as rector of a Newport Beach church after a female parishioner complained about unwanted attention from the married clergyman.

The Rev. Praveen Bunyan, who ministered at St. James Church, resigned last week after confessing to “inappropriate conduct” with the woman, said church spokeswoman Karen Bro. Church officials declined to identify the woman, but another priest said there was no sexual contact involved.

Reichert’s Risk

Posted by on April 26 at 4:01 PM

Washington’s U.S. House delegation split along party lines on yesterday’s Iraq vote.

And while it’s not surprising that eastern WA conservatives like Cathy McMorris (R-5) and Doc Hastings (R-4) went along with Bush, it seems increasingly risky for Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8) to stand by the war in the shapeshifting (Eric Oemig, Roger Goodman, Rodney Tom) Seattle suburbs … especially if Reichert draws a stronger opponent than Darcy Burner in 2008.

The lefty PAC Americans United for Change fired off a press release blasting Reichert, which I’ve linked below the jump.

Continue reading "Reichert's Risk" »

Today in Line Out

Posted by on April 26 at 3:41 PM

Attack of the Puppet People: I love Genesis. With and without Peter Gabriel.

I’m Not Gonna Lie to You: Sometimes local bands are good (the Hungry Pines), and sometimes they wear argyle sweater vests with trucker hats (17th Chapter).

Fuckin’ Up Other People’s Music: Eric Grandy saw Soulwax last night.

Theremin, Man: An ode to the craziest musical instrument on the planet.

The Teenagers: You probably don’t know about them yet. You should.

Pre-Show: Prepping for Coachella 2007.

Now, because I’m still obsessed with my new pink Nintendo DS, here’s what’s currently cute:

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(Sadly, I couldn’t find a pitcure of Yoshi and baby DK to show you. Forgive me.)

And A Victor Emerges…

Posted by on April 26 at 3:35 PM

And it’s Donald Trump!

Rosie O’Donnell
can be called many things. “Employed” is no longer among them. Massive psychic pressure born upon waves of sheering hatred aimed at Rosie by The Donald set certain terrible forces in motion that have finally lead to Rosie’s latest TV demise. Citing “contractual disagreements with ABC” or some bullshit like that, Rosie has announced her intention to abscond from The View, effective not soon enough for me. Not that I have ever watched The View or whatever, or even know what the hell it is. Stop looking at me like that.

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Meanwhile, in actual things:

The intrepid prophet Bill Moyers (God bless him) has cobbled together a brilliant and devestating report called Buying The War for PBS that aired last night, and, oh….adjectives. It made me want to drink, then cry, then go live in a cave and drink and cry. It details the terrible culpability of the press in creating the national disgrace and disaster that is Iraq, and leaves one (or at least me) with one burning question…

Well. I won’t tell you what it is. When next it airs, watch it, and you’ll figure it out yourself. I insist that you do. You must.

Here’s a taste:

Why the bleeding fuck haven’t the Bushies been arrested? Why? WHY? Oh, God…WHY?

Pardon me. Tourette’s.

Jean Godden’s Kickoff

Posted by on April 26 at 3:04 PM

City council member Jean Godden, who is currently running unopposed for her second term, threw a kickoff party last night at Tom Douglas’s Palace Ballroom that, in the words of her fellow council member Tom Rasmussen, “raised the bar” for this year’s political events.*

I’ve been to dozens of campaign kickoffs. Here’s the standard format: Supporters arrive, mill around, eat cheese and olives off paper plates. Prominent supporter introduces candidate. Candidate says a few words about accomplishments, what an honor it is to serve the voters. Someone else comes out and does the “ask”—a request for money above and beyond the price of entry. Applause, more milling. Go home.

Godden’s event wasn’t like that. The first difference: the food was actually good. (I sampled it strictly for research purposes, obviously.) Curried chicken salad on wafer-thin crackers; piping-hot mini spring rolls; creamy polenta with ham; mushroom tapenade with goat cheese on crostini—yum!

The second: Instead of doing the standard speech, Godden and Douglas did a cornball skit—the script for which, according to a Douglas assistant, had just been plopped in his hands 15 minutes before.

OK, it was a bit like watching a weird, cheesy puppet show. (Tom: “I spice things up with chiles, salsas and cayenne pepper. How do you spice things up, Jean?” Jean: “When I spice things up, it’s usually because I’ve done something to upset the mayor.” Aaaand… cut!) But for some reason, perhaps because it was Jean Godden it worked. (I can’t really picture Nick Licata putting on an apron and clowning around with Tom Douglas, much less posing for pictures like the one below.)

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Or Tom Rasmussen, for that matter. When I ran into Rasmussen outside the ballroom, the super-earnest council member seemed concerned that his own kickoff, to be held at the Swedish Center on Dexter, might not measure up. “We can have Swedish meatballs,” he mused, half-joking. He added: “I have a zydeco band. Does that help?” Then, muttering something about being “off to the food bank,” he hopped in his gray Acura and sped away.

*Note to Slog readers: This is not an endorsement of Jean Godden. I liked her event, and I’m writing a fluff piece about it. A “Jean Godden” piece, if you will.

Stellina

Posted by on April 26 at 2:30 PM

I’ve been to Cafe Stellina a dozen or more times for lunch. I’ve never had anything but great service and the food has been uniformly good. I don’t recognize the restaurant described in Bethany’s review and, er, ECB’s measured response to a letter in this week’s paper responding to Bethany’s review.

Cafe Stellina — the food is good, the service is good, and reviews are subjective and opinions are personal. I like Stellina and I’ll be eating there again.

When You Open A Restaurant, You Don’t Get Credit for Trying

Posted by on April 26 at 2:13 PM

Lori Pomeranz, co-owner of a furniture store a few doors down from Cafe Stellina on 12th Ave., takes issue in this week’s letters section with Bethany Clement’s review of Stellina in last week’s paper. After accusing Bethany of being ignorant, writing “drivel,” and attempting to “ruin the livelihood of Cafe Stellina’s owners,” Pomeranz makes a point that I hear too frequently about local ventures that don’t measure up: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

You said that it would not be difficult to write this drivel about a corporate eatery. You claim that it was difficult to write it about a “mom and pop” establishment whose owners are so obviously working their butts off (like you said, you can see them working behind the counter) but… you wrote it anyway. […]

I feel weird having to say it, but Bethany, you need to reread your article, interrogate yourself, and ask what, why, and how your overly opinionated editorial truly assists Cafe Stellina in strengthening its high points and improving upon its shortcomings.

See, that’s exactly the point. Editorials (technically reviews, but let’s not be picky) are supposed to be opinionated. The point of a review is to tell readers what to expect when they go to a restaurant (or performance, or art show, or movie)—and whether they should go at all. Hand-holding, pulling punches, is intellectually dishonest. It’s also a disservice. The idea that we have an obligation to grade local ventures on a curve insults our readers and trivializes the efforts of local businesses that are not only “working their butts off,” but actually doing a good job.

If anything, I thought Bethany was reserved. On my visit there with her, the best thing I had was a beet salad that was just so-so. The rest ranged from vaguely icky to downright stomach-turning (that would be the hominy tinged with the taste of burned Teflon.) The mussels with chorizo, while at least not brain-cell-destroying, couldn’t by any stretch be called good: A mayonnaisey sauce, squeeze-bottled hither and yon, sat uselessly on top of the shells or curdled into the chicken-y broth, giving the whole thing a clumpy, unappetizing texture. The chorizo was still in its casings, and chopped into unappealingly irregular bits: Some bites were barely a morsel, others were easily two inches long. (And it was, as Bethany mentioned, grainy.) The potatoes, meanwhile, had disintegrated into mush. Many mussels had sunk into the broth unopened, a sign of shellfish you don’t want to eat; reports from others’ subsequent visits confirmed that this was not a one-time occurrence. The rice, unflavored by so much as broth or salt and pepper, tasted like Minute Rice; the vegetables were, indeed, incredibly dry. The “warm spinach salad” was pretty much cooked throughout, as if the chef had turned her back on the pan while the spinach was wilting (which should be a two-second operation). And the desserts were, frankly, a huge disappointment. The milk-chocolate mousse, which Bethany described as a “mousse pile,” evoked exactly what that phrase implies; the blueberry tart was grainy and almost tasteless, except for the off-puttingly sour interior.

Need I go on? It’s your job to serve good food, Stellina. It isn’t a reviewer’s job to cover for you when you fail to do so.

Good News for Gays

Posted by on April 26 at 2:03 PM

Iowa is one signature away from becoming the 19th state to enact civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.

New Hampshire today passed a civil unions law that provides same-sex couples in that state—that famously Republican state—with all the rights and obligations of marriage. Well, the rights and obligations the state can provide—married same-sex couples in Massachusetts and same-sex couples with civil unions in New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, and soon Oregon.

New Hampshire lawmakers authorized same-sex civil unions on Thursday, in a bill that will complete New England’s transformation into a unique U.S. region where gay and lesbian couples have some form of legal recognition and conjugal rights.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 14-10 along party lines to give gays and lesbians nearly the same rights as married couples. The bill sailed through the House of Representatives on April 4, and Democratic Gov. John Lynch said last week he would sign it.

New Hampshire, known for its official motto “Live Free or Die,” will become the fourth U.S. state to allow same-sex civil unions when the law takes effect on Jan 1. The law marks a shift in the state’s traditionally conservative politics.

I’m pro the domestic partnership law that Ed Murray and Jamie Pedersen got through the state legislature this year, even if it is very limited in scope. But its increasingly clear that Washington state, even with our new domestic partnership law, is behind the curve on this issue. It would be nice if next year we could say that the entire West Coast of the United States (California, Oregon, and Washington state), like all of New England, recognized the rights and dignity of same-sex couples.

No more piecemeal efforts. Full marriage rights or civil unions.

State Law Calls Port Commissioner’s Alibi into Question

Posted by on April 26 at 12:55 PM

Defending her lone signature authorizing Mic Dinsmore’s controversial $340,000 retirement payout, Port Commissioner Pat Davis insists she discussed the matter with her fellow commissioners at two executive sessions last year. Three of her four colleagues say the package was never discussed.

Guess what? It seems to me that debate is irrelevant. I’m certainly not a lawyer, but as I read the subsection of the Open Public Meetings Act that deals with Executive sessions, it seems you’re not allowed to discuss salary and related issues behind closed doors in the first place.

The Open Public Meetings Act lists nine topics (A-I), including matters affecting national security and discussions of real estate transactions in which a public discussion may increase the price, where agencies are permitted to close the door. Compensation is not one of them. In fact, (see bullet point G on the list), it’s explicitly verboten.

The rule says:

discussion by a governing body of salaries, wages, and other conditions of employment to be generally applied within the agency shall occur in a meeting open to the public, and when a governing body elects to take final action hiring, setting the salary of an individual employee or class of employees, or discharging or disciplining an employee, that action shall be taken in a meeting open to the public;

I’ve talked to Port spokesman Mick Shultz, and he’s forwarding my question about executive sessions on to the Port’s legal staff.

In Other Small-Arts Pathos

Posted by on April 26 at 12:52 PM

A few months ago, Theater Schmeater announced it was going to maybe-sorta-kinda get the ball rolling on a new performance festival by hosting Open Stage, a kind of mini-fringe, timed to match the summer Canadian fringe circuit, so that it might eventually grow into a full-fledged, big-city festival, with touring acts and everything.

You know, like they kind they have in bustling, grown-up cities like Saskatoon (population 200,000, nickname: “POW City!”).

Theater Schmeater was going to accept applications, choose twelve plays by lottery, help small companies produce their own shows. But it ain’t gonna happen. Only six people sent in applications. One-half of the minimum number needed.

It might’ve been the $500 venue fee. It might’ve been bad advertising. It might’ve been timidity. I guess we’re just not ready to pony up and join bustling, grown-up cities like Winnipeg (population 630,000, nickname: “The Peg”) and Regina (population 180,000, winner of the 2004 “Cultural Capital of Canada” designation—in the over 125,000 population category) and good old Saskatoon.

Thrift Store Folds

Posted by on April 26 at 11:15 AM

Backstage Thrift, on 11th and Pike, right next to the Northwest Actors Studio, is going out of business.

Greg Kerton, a former NWAS student, opened the thrift shop in 2003 to try and help the struggling theater/acting school. The theater is still there. Soon Backstage won’t be.

Kerton has run up personal debt in trying to keep the thrift store alive. How much? “Too much,” he said. “So now I get to go be someone’s star employee.”

“It’s a little embarrassing,” he said. “I feel like it’s my fault—I came at it kind of ignorant about how to run a business. My intention was to be supportive.”

Do-gooders take heed.

From Boeing Field to Pimped Out Escalades

Posted by on April 26 at 11:11 AM

There’s a plan afoot for King County and the Port of Seattle to swap the King County airport (Boeing Field) for the “Rails-to-trails” corridor on the east side. The Port would buy Boeing Field from KC and the County would use the money to buy the 40-mile inactive railway corridor and transform it into biking and hiking trails.

However, KC Council Member Larry Phillips doesn’t like the deal because he wants to retain County control over Boeing field so he can continue to push for noise mitigation.

Fighting to keep hold of the airport, Phillips makes an unrelated, although compelling argument. The PI reports:

Phillips speaks of the “blue-collar” airport that pays for itself, an economic asset for the county since it opened in 1928.

Compelling until you read stuff like this from personal blogs of people who date Vulcan employees:

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 I completely forgot to mention what I did this past weekend, which was so incredibly fun. So..last Friday, Ajay (who works at Vulcan) gives me a call and says “Whatcha doin’ tomorrow night? Cuz’ I just got invited to fly down on Paul’s plane to check out the Trailblazers game—wanna come?” Hell yes. I can’t believe I even hesitated (I had to cancel some plans). On Saturday, we drove over to Boeing Airfield to the Vulcan Flight Operations hangar and boarded Paul’s private 747. This was my first time on a private plane and it was just an incredible experience. It’s exactly like what you see on TV—there was a bed, shower and loungy couches everywhere…so incredibly comfortable. Within 25 minutes, we were in Portland and getting whisked off to the Rose Garden Stadium. We entered through this back entrance where we got to see some of the player’s cars parked (and they were all pimped out—Escalades, Rolls Royce, etc…chrome wheels, everything). We headed up to the Owner’s Suite and got some food and wine and then got seated for the game. Ajay and I scored by having COURTSIDE tickets. We were literally sitting right behind the Trailblazer girls the entire time. So sweet. What an amazing experience it was. The Trailblazers won (yay!) and we headed back to the plane right afterwards. All in all, I flew to Portland, watched a game and flew back in about 5 hours. Incredible. I’m working for the wrong company. This was a nice perk.

Indeed, while Boeing Field does cater to the working class shipping industry, it’s also a bit of a yacht club, with folks like Allen, the Nordstroms, and charter flight companies docking there too.

Today the Stranger Suggests

Posted by on April 26 at 11:00 AM

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‘Un Chant d’Amour’ (Film) Jean Genet, the baddest bad boy of French letters, made only one film, and this gorgeous swoon of a semipornographic prison fantasy is it. First smuggled into this country by Jonas Mekas, Un Chant d’Amour attracted some hot censorship action before slipping into obscurity for nearly 50 years. See it tonight in pristine 35 mm, alongside short works by Kenneth Anger: Fireworks, Scorpio Rising, and the world premiere of Elliott’s Suicide, a film about Elliott Smith. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, 267-5380. 7 and 9:15 pm, $10.) ANNIE WAGNER

and

Gary Shteyngart (READING) Most readings aren’t great because most writers aren’t great readers. Then there’s Gary Shteyngart, who, if he hadn’t moved with his family to New York City when he was 7 and grown up to become a best-selling writer of comic literary fiction, probably would have ended up as some sort of charmer in a Russian circus. He reads from the paperback of Absurdistan, a novel narrated by a grossly overweight man with “a pretty Jewish beak.” (Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. 7 pm, free.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

Frito Pie in Georgetown!

Posted by on April 26 at 10:57 AM

Update: I was rushing out the door to get to a campaign event when I posted this last night, and I later learned that the second photo was nonsensical. So, I give you: Chips and queso!*

I was thrilled to learn last week that Smarty Pants in Georgetown, where you can get a hot sandwich the size of a baby, also serves Frito pie!

Frito Pie, you’ll recall from a previous discussion, is basically chili, cheese, and chopped white onions dumped on top of a pile of Fritos. It’s standard cafeteria fare in Texas, where I grew up, and it looks like this:

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Smarty Pants’ Frito pie veers from tradition—it includes (horrors!) beans—but it’s otherwise a damn fine Frito pie, topped with spicy pickled jalapenos and a generous dollop of cooling sour cream.

My conclusion? Mention it on Slog, and it shall be so.

Chips and queso… Chips and queso… Chips and queso…

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*Bonus recipe for sitting through this again:

1 lb. Velveeta or similar cheeselike product
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
Beer to thin
Guacamole

Melt cheeses together in a Crock-Pot for about ten minutes; thin with beer. Place a scoop of guacamole in a ramekin; pour queso on top. Serve with tortilla chips.

Until there was Slog You Only Had God

Posted by on April 26 at 10:45 AM

Today’s is Slog’s 2nd birthday. On April 26, 2005, with two lonely posts (and no comments threads?), we launched Slog.

As a result, time is now divided between pre-Slog and Slog.

Here’s what we wrote on that first day.

Posted at 3:40 pm: Burn on Us?

and at 5:48 pm: permafrost

That’s it.

Synchronicity

Posted by on April 26 at 10:35 AM

Yesterday, in a post about Seattle’s neighborhood movement, I referenced Christopher Hitchens’s term “Reactionary Utopianists.”

Well, lo and behold, an e-mail came in this morning talking about this.

Capital

Posted by on April 26 at 10:02 AM

The press preview for the new, expanded Seattle Art Museum begins right now. I wasn’t in Seattle for the opening of the Robert Venturi building downtown in 1991, the first of the rash of capital projects across the region. But I was at the early walk-throughs for the Bellevue Art Museum, then the revamped Bellevue Art Museum, the Museum of Glass, and the Tacoma Art Museum, so I’m feeling a little nostalgic, and I’m tempted to consider how this building stands up to the others.

I’ve been through the new SAM a few times already. These spaces are much, much better than the Venturi galleries. But I don’t think this museum will steal the title of best work of Northwest museum architecture from Antoine Predock’s 2003 Tacoma Art Museum, which manages to be open and light-filled while providing a surprising level of intimacy and subjectivity in each space. It’s also warm where the new SAM is cool, even corporate.

This is TAM (photos from SAM forthcoming as they’re available):

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One exception: I’ve never been in love with TAM’s great big high-ceilinged contemporary gallery. I’m not sure whether it’s the dark slate floor that dampens the place, or the way the window slits are placed at the base of the room instead of up high. SAM has a gallery in the same mold, but, I think, far better—with a large corner window, a lookout onto the public area of the museum, and a cutout in an upper wall into the antiquities gallery.

Which One is Dead?

Posted by on April 26 at 10:01 AM

I’m still too flummoxed by last night’s American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back” charity performance to figure out how I feel about it. (I don’t know… it’s kind of like a porn shop raising money for muscular dystrophy.) And while the show was chock-a-block with celebrity performances, I really don’t know how I feel about Idol featuring dead people. Watch the video below, and see if you can correctly choose “WHICH CELEBRITY IS DEAD?”

Smooching News

Posted by on April 26 at 10:00 AM

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In India, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Richard Gere, wanted for public obscenity after kissing Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS awareness event in New Dehli. (Full story here.)

And in Gig Harbor, WA, authorities at Gig Harbor High School have tightened restrictions on the use of the school’s security videotapes after the dean of students showed a pair of concerned parents footage of their daughter kissing another girl in a school hallway (after which the parents transferred the same-sex smoocher to a new school.) Full story here.

Finally, may I interest you in a game of Kissopoly?

Western Washington University

Posted by on April 26 at 8:46 AM

I spoke to a large crowd of horny college students last night at Western Washington University. So what’s on their minds up in Bellingham? Here are few of the questions put to me by WWU students…

Since when is sticking ones tongue and/or finger up the other’s asshole without asking them 1st okay? And is it okay when they call you a pervert for liking it, even when you don’t?
Can straight men enjoy sex toys? How & which ones?
Do you ride a unicycle?
How do you know you’re in love?
Is there any tactful way to bring up the topic of sexual prowess with an older man one is trying to seduce? Say, an insecure older man one hasn’t succeeded in convincing of his sexiness yet?
What is it you don’t understand about transsexuality? Why is gender identity so hard for people to grasp? www.gendersanity.com
How’s your poodle?

The Morning News

Posted by on April 26 at 6:10 AM

The Godfather Ending: Dems subpoena everybody

Showdown: House passes Iraq spending bill, troop withdrawal

Revealed: US soldiers used “comfort women” after World War II

“Legal Black Hole”: Justice Department wants fewer lawyers at Guantanamo

Seung-Hui Cho: 9 minutes, 170 bullets

The Super: Seattle Schools get a new superintendent

Cell Phones Pesticide Fungus: What’s really killing all the bees

You Will Believe a Man Can Fly: Stephen “Smartypants” Hawking all set for takeoff

Why I Plan To Steal Erica Barnett’s Bike: Summer gas could cost $4 a gallon

Bullshit: Snoop Dogg not allowed into Australia even though we let Crocodile Dundee in

Fun Sad Superhero Fact of the Day: Iron Man is an alcoholic

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