Comments on The Crap that Passes for "Historic" Around Here

Anything rusting = historic, I guess.

Considering there's no place left in Seattle to bowl, maybe it is.

In Hellvue they refuse to tear down that fucking ugly Paccar building because it's "historical". No it isn't, it was built in the fucking 60s. How the fuck is that historical? There are entire cities that were built in the 60s that I would love to tear down.

"Historical" is used wayyyyyyy too much.

But you're wrong. That arrow kicks fucking ass. I would totally rock that shit, but it would need some new lights. This is big news.

What about the "Stop for me. Its the Claw." sign on CapHill? That is more deserving of a historical landmark.

Fuck you. Broken-down blocks with shitty bars and burrito joints dating from the 1990s are "historic" when they're in YOUR neighborhood, because that's as far back as you pot-smoking dopes can remember. Don't tell us what we want to keep around in ours.

Goddamn assholes. You're going to get all the crappy condo buildings you deserve.

Yes, I am a huge, huge fan of arrow signs. Signs were beautiful landmarks of the city, before the computers moved in and the fucking vinyl banners went up everywhere. Signs like this, while not spectacular like the ones in Vegas, mark our territory with grace and artful design.

Old advertising signage IS artistic and highly collectible and therefore does have significant value.

You know...like Ann Landers desk.

#2, The Garage? West Seattle Bowl?

Or maybe Seattle = Ballard

Fnarf... are you okay?

No one said that string of crap bars was historic, only lively, the kind of retail strip that condo sellers were boasting about in their marketing materials. Didn't make good business sense to rip 'em down. But we didn't lay down in front of the bulldozers. We simply marked the passing of that strip, an era (however brief), etc.

There, there, Fnarf. It'll be okay.

Fnarf is pissed because I stole his car.

The garage hardly counts as any sort of bowling option. They have something like eight lanes.

Last time I went there to try to bowl I was told the wait was two hours (and you couldn't wait and play pool because the wait for THAT was 45 minutes).

Sure it's crap, but stealing it is wrong. I actually love that sort of thing, old signs, old neon. I wish I could have gotten ahold of the old Lelani Lane's bowling pin.

@ 10

Exactly. By this summer Seattle will have lost two classic bowling alleys in the past couple years. Pity.

Frankly, Seattle (or the NW for that matter) has nearly fuck all for real history (without getting into the tribes).

And what it does have it isn't particularly eager to share.

If a big red neon R from a long-gone brewery is an iconic historical landmark, then a rusting arrow is as good as a dinosaur bone in these parts.

Frankly, Seattle (or the NW for that matter) has nearly fuck all for real history (without getting into the tribes).

And what it does have it isn't particularly eager to share.

If a big red neon R from a long-gone brewery is an iconic historical landmark, then a rusting arrow is as good as a dinosaur bone in these parts.

Dan, you used one of the trigger words from my cult programming: "arrow signs".

I have a giant buzzing bug in my ass about signs, especially arrow signs, and you set it off. They may look like kitsch to you, but they are hugely important signifiers of our real history. Arrow signs are WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE.

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate the notion that only big old classical-looking buildings count as historical monuments. Town Hall is ten times kitschier than the Rainier R, the Elephant Car Wash, or even this tiny little fragment. You don't throw away shards of Etruscan pottery just because they're broken. The Age of Signs is our Etruscan period. It should be kept.

My other trigger words are "salad tongs", "Montreal Expos" and "taste of that monkey". Consider yourself forewarned.

Fnarf's trigger words are FAR more interesting than Charles Foster Kane's "Rosebud"

"taste of that monkey" is esp. fascinating...

You motherfucker, strangeways.

I can't get the taste of that monkey out of my mouth. ARRRRGGGH.

Wow, a non idiotic comment in the PI Soundoff, right at the top!

Posted by kalakala at 3/5/08 11:34 p.m.

"The fact that it didn't work, it makes you wonder why someone wanted it."

Well, maybe they liked it and are taking care of it the way no one else would over 50 years.

If it was "historic", why the hell did it sit unused and neglected for 40 or 50 years? Everything old and crappy simply must be "historic".

Ridiculous.

Someone has probably repaired it and is actually taking good care of it. Ha ha.

Jeez Dan, you sound more and more like an old man with every passing day. I thought the reason people had children was to delay the onset of old age crankiness.

The PROPERTY OWNER thought it was neat and historical, and he OPTED to preserve it HIMSELF. No one was forcing him into it. Loosen up your girdle, or reset your toupee glue, or whatever it is that's bothering you.

And as for the theft being unnecessary news, that's your call. But I could certainly leaf through the pages of a certain alternative weekly and find several articles I could have lived my whole life without knowing about - but that doesn't make me love The Stranger any less.

And fnarf, as always, I stand in awe of you. Sometimes you can find me softly sobbing at the MOHAI for what we've lost.

I may think my old drag is "neat and historical," CVD, but that doesn't mean the PI should call it "historic" in a headline if someone swiped it. When I saw that I thought, "Shit, what important piece of our shared heritage was swiped?"

More historic than that garage you guys went all gaga at ...

I want someone to swipe me that ancient traffic signal on the 4th Avenue South offramp to the Spokane Street Bridge.

I think someone should swipe that butt-ugly "Hendrix" statue on Broadway. I believe it's about half a block away from the Stranger HQ (hint, hint)...

Nah, Cookie; just roll a condom down over the head of his guitar and we'll be fine.

I'm with Fnarf on arrow signs. That's beauty that should either be restored or remain untouched. All the old motels from the hopeful, forward thinking late '50's and early '60's displayed this type of eyecatching signage (along U.S. 99, for example) and we're seeingthem disappear in favor of things unremarkable and forgettable.

That whole area -- Ballard Ave. -- is a historic district, per the City Council. It seems that the arrow sign, since it's originally from the District, could reasonably be called historical.

Ironically, the entire Stranger staff would be up in arms about the loss of such a neighborhood icon -- if it were in their neighborhood, and it were about to be replaced by a multistory building.

Someone should haul off those white metal panels from Manray.

They'd clean up easily, and I know for a fact that they were expensive as hell to make......

joykiller: thanks for reminding me what irony doesn't mean.

@29, any more snark and you would literally explode.

I can't tell if you're baiting me but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and shove an M80 up my rectum to sate your desires.

All these people complaining about the lack of bowling options in Seattle, and no one mentions the Imperial Lanes just off Rainier. As usual, SE Seattle is the forgotten city.

(There's one other bowling alley in the city as well, but it's not easily accessible. A two-lane alley in the basement at RealNetworks.)

It's like I always tell guests from out-of-town, "you know, in some parts of Seattle we have buildings OVER 100 YEARS OLD!"

For some reason, they almost always laugh at this statement.

SE Seattle is my district. They are my people. They both love and fear me.

(My district used to be Ballard/Green Lake, but those neighborhoods are over.)

Imperial Lanes is indeed a fabulous place - but the hipsters will have a battle on their hands if they want to take it over. The locals won't go down without a fight.

Thanks for letting us know which districts are "yours" and which districts are "over". Glad we got that cleared up before the weekend started.

Glad to be of help. As a utility worker, I'm here to serve. Once my coffee break is over.