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Weekend Review: Two Beers, Larry Craig, and the Fremont Fair

twobeers.jpg

Had several friends over Saturday to help me drink a Shetland pony keg of really good wheat beer from Two Beers Brewing. Had brunch Sunday at the Skylark, took a long walk in White Center, rewarded myself with a DQ Blizzard (peanut butter cup), watched some PSSBL baseball at Steve Cox Memorial Park (Mariners v. Yankees), and topped everything off by watching Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, which, Daniel Day Lewis' well-deserved gold statue aside, got robbed at the Oscars.
— Mike Seely

weednotwardone.jpg
View a slideshow of photos from the Fremont Solstice Parade. All photos by Jaime Swindle.

Every year, the ratio of eccentric-free-spirits to people-who-like-to-gawk-at-eccentric-free-spirits gets a little lower at the Fremont Fair. Still, the highlight for me were a couple of the hilarious Art Car owners, who sat there as if they were themselves on exhibit and couldn't give a damn about it. I missed the parade but showed up in the mid-afternoon on Saturday and it was panic-inducingly packed. Thankfully, I Heart Rummage provided an escape route to the dark parking garage under the Red Door. And they seemed to be doing a pretty strong business. One suggestion for next year: Don't have volunteers yelling at you to give to charity through a bullhorn.
— Mark D. Fefer

optimusprimetoy.jpg

Sure there was a nip in the air, but that shiny ball in the sky was definitely sun, which meant some good time for beers and brats al fresco. I also caught a showing at home of Michael Bay's Transformers. I never caught it in theaters and I totally loved it. The movie was about as deep as the show—not very (guess what, humans, like robots, have more to them than meets the eye. Get it? Get it?) And the robots were equally mind-blowing as what I remember thanks to special effects keeping pace with my grown-up sense of incredulity. Best of all, my preschooler roommate and I shared a heart-warming, intergenerational moment cheering: "Optimus Prime!" as the robot hero barreled toward the evil Megatron. It was far better than the movie I saw Sunday night. Let me preface my one-sentence review of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening by saying I own, and adore, Gigli. The right kind of terrible movie can certainly find a place in my heart. This was not one of those movies. Two-thirds of the way through, you're rooting for death to befall the "heroes" and just get it over with. No such luck.
— Laura Onstot

craigpiccc.jpg

I've been on vacation for the last week, and rather dedicate these precious inches of WR waxing nostalgic on my week on the sunny shores of Lake Michigan, I want to tell you about three University of Idaho graduates.

Last Saturday, June 14, I boarded a plane bound for Milwaukee. The dude in the aisle seat of row 1 was wearing a Vandals hat. As a proud U of I graduate, I greeted him (at 12:20 a.m.) with a "Hey, Go Vandals!" He grinned, and, pointing to his daughter in the window seat, announced that she had just graduated from the fabled university in Moscow, Idaho. I congratulated the young woman, and we exchanged the obligatory call and response: "Who do we hate? Boise State!"

Fast forward to our surprise (only to me) layover in Minneapolis. As I'm using the middle urinal, it dawned on me: This could be the bathroom made famous by another Idaho grad, Sen. Larry Craig.

I left the restroom, and grabbed the first official-looking person I could find (a pilot). "Is this Larry Craig's bathroom?" The peeved pilot informed me that Sen. Craig's stall was in the main terminal. Not wanting to miss my connection, I didn't make the pilgrimage. But, I did visit at least one bookstore, and saw no Craig memorabilia. Seriously, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, y'all are missing the boat here. Every airport sells cheesy shirts with its city's name across the chest. But, I've yet to see a plain tee featuring a stall, a wide stance, and a buttered potato.
— Chris Kornelis

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SW Today

  • Last Night: Built To Spill @ The Showbox


    Who: Built to Spill
    Where: Showbox in the Market
    When: Friday, November 20

    Watching Built to Spill last night, I couldn't help but think of what Bill Graham said about The Grateful Dead--they aren't the best at what they do, they're the only one who do what they do.

    For close to two decades, the great Idaho concern has made indie rock as soaring and sprawling and wonky as the Western U.S. territory they call home. They are very much a band from west of Rockies, which also means they have little of the drive to succeed so prevalent among East Coasters. In other words, Built to Spill doesn't really give a shit, which is both awesome and frustrating in the best possible ways.

    Topics: Concert Reviews
  • New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Bashes Microsoft Bing

    microsoft-bing_logo_resize.JPG
    Don't even ask about the Dalai Lama.
    While several nice things have been written about Microsoft's new Bing search engine, including by his NYT colleague David Pogue, op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof does not agree. In a scathing Friday blog post, Kristof accuses MSFT of tailoring Chinese-language search queries in Bing to censor sensitive topics like the Dalai Lama, Tiananmen Square, and Falun Gong.

    Kristof writes that Microsoft's explanation, a software bug, "insults my intelligence and yours." He continues, "My hunch is that Microsoft simply has decided at a top level that it will compromise what principles it must to ingratiate itself with China." And further, "Now Microsoft is sacrificing the integrity of Bing searches so as to cozy up to State Security in Beijing. In effect, it has chosen become part of the Communist Party's propaganda apparatus."

    Got a response to that, Steve Ballmer?

    Topics: Business
  • Tonight: Those Darlins with King Khan, Mt. Fuji Records Showcase #2, Nonsequitur

    thosedarlins6.jpg
    Those Darlins
    Those Darlins, King Khan and BBQ Show at Chop Suey, 9 p.m., $12

    A totally bizarre combination of freaky dance rocker King Khan and punk-infused country band Those Darlins. Weeeeird.

    Nonsequitur presents the music of composer John Luther Adams at the Good Shepherd Center, 8 p.m., $5-$15, all ages

    Pianist Cristina Valdes will play Among Red Mountains and Nunataks, while Steven Schick will play The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies.


    Black Whales, the Whore Moans, Virgin Islands (EP release) and Mr. Gnome at the Sunset, 9 p.m., $8

    The second of two Mt. Fuji-centric shows; this one is also a release party for Virgin Islands' (ex-Cops) Age of Anxiety EP.

    Topics: Happenings
  • Comment of the Day: Furious Styles Member Didn't Expect T-Shirt Controversy

    clueless.jpg
    A reader who calls himself a current member of the band Furious Styles responds to Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts. He says the murder of an innocent police officer isn't going to change his group's views on law enforcement.

    "The past day has been a shit-storm for a shirt that wasn't even supposed to reach mainstream society. This shirt wasn't a silly publicity stunt and frankly we're supprised at the ammount of attention it's recieved. We've never wanted or expected mainstream success or attention. This shirt was meant to sell to a select few fans, not to be peddled off onto Seattle's teenagers at Hot-Topic.

    Anyone who knows Furious Styles knows our stance on police and just because an officer is actually killed doesn't mean we're going to change our tune, so to speak. It wasn't a joke then and it's not a joke now.

    Topics: Crime & Punishment
  • Saturday's Set Times and "Itinerary" for Them Crooked Vultures' Seattle Visit

    davejosh.jpg
    7 p.m.: The Paramount doors open.

    8 p.m.: Mini Mansions take the stage in support.

    9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Them Crooked Vultures (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nirvana's Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) take the stage.

    11:15 p.m.--12:15 a.m.: Jones leads the band in a nostalgic bit of fishing out the window of their suite at The Edgewater Hotel.

    12:15--2 a.m.: The band break into Anthony's, raids the liquor, heats up a pan, and Jones cooks up some Zeppelin-style fish 'n' chips.

    2 a.m. til Exhaustion: Homme and Grohl take their pants off and reenact that damn statue at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Sunrise: With the park finally open, the three men enjoy a leisurely stroll past the eraser.


    Topics: News
  • It's Official: Schoolyard Heroes Are Calling It Quits

    noschool.jpg
    Justin Dylan Renney
    Schoolyard Heroes at Vera Project.
    To close the book on the band after eight years of making music reaching back to core members' high school days, horror rockers Schoolyard Heroes will regroup with their classic lineup -- Ryann Donnelly, Jonah Bergman, Steve Bonnell, Brian Turner -- for December 19's Horrordays at El Corazon. It will be their last show. Kane Hodder will also be reuniting their original lineup for the show, and promptly break up.

    "I'm really glad schoolyard heroes are being put to rest the way it started," vocalist Ryann Donnelly told us yesterday before today's official announcement. "And, honestly, the reason we're calling it a day on Schoolyard isn't because we don't love it."

    Donnelly says the reason it was time to move on was that she and Bergman couldn't see working as Schoolyard without Bonnell and Turner, who exited separately within the last year.

    "It was strange to play shows as Schoolyard Heroes with different people," she says.

    In the announcement on their web site, Schoolyard hinted at the future:

    "Don't freak out! If Schoolyard Heroes has taught you anything over the years, it is that death is always around you... and that from death shall emerge new channels of destruction. Loud, distorted, maybe even operatic channels."

    We'll post more info as we get it.

    Topics: News
  • David Mendoza, Former Owner of Pazzo's Pizza, Weed Smuggler, Gets 14 Years in Prison

    Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Pazzo's(1).jpg
    Definitely under new management
    David R. Mendoza's life in summation: former Garfield High School class president. Owner of the historic Liberty Theater in Bend, Oregon, and the bro-friendly Pazzo's Pizzeria in Eastlake. Apparent friend to the entire B.C. chronic smoking nation.

    As of today, however, you can add sentenced pot smuggler to that list.

    Topics: Crime & Punishment
  • Sighted: A Taco Truck Parks in Pioneer Square

    campesino.jpg
    My car just automatically followed this truck after spotting it on Jackson Street, followed it to it's Thursday through Saturday parking spot. Tacos El Campesino sets up on Occidental between Yesler and Washington and opens for business at 4:00 p.m., but the honking cars behind me precluded me from getting the closing time and more info. This truck usually produces a better than decent torta (carne asada over carnitas).

    Topics: Eats report
  • Two Very Different Opinions on the Seattle Housing Market

    houseforsale.jpg
    To buy or not to buy? That is the question.
    CNNMoney.com reports today that if you're in the market for a lifetime's worth of debt, Seattle is a great place to live. The Emerald City placed second behind only San Francisco in a list of cities most likely to see their home values increase by 2011.

    According to forecasters polled by the cable-news giant, that means a 3.8% jump thanks to our "better than average" job market. A welcome softening of the 15% free fall housing values have taken since the bottom fell out. And a seriously delusional load of crap if you're to believe the lovable cranks over at real-estate blog Seattle Bubble.



    Topics: Economy
  • OMG! Jonas Brothers to Endorse Microsoft Xbox360!

    Jonas_bros_resize2.jpg
    The Jonas Brothers want...more brains!
    You know what? Let Apple have its annoying Justin Long and nerdy John Hodgman for those Mac versus PC commercials. Microsoft just upped the celebrity stakes by announcing that teen rockers the Jonas Brothers will be endorsing its Xbox360 videogame console.

    The NYT and others are reporting that a new MSFT ad campaign will prominently feature the tween rockers. The spots are built around the catchphrase "It's more fun time." (Not something you could ever imagine Steve Ballmer saying.) Given that gamers are overwhelmingly male (not the brothers' fan base), it's unclear how the clean-shaven, Disney-created trio will connect with those who prefer Grand Theft Auto and first-person shooter games to bubblegum pop.

    Unless, of course, a game can be developed that features the Jonas Brothers as evil, brain-eating zombies who, with the power of their their stupefying music, turn millions of preadolescent girls into their army of slaves. Oh, wait...

    Topics: Business
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Seattle News, Events, Restaurants, Music
Receive Weekly Email and Text Message Updates:
Sign up for latest info on concerts, dining, promotions and more!
Go!

Blogs

The Daily Weekly


News, politics, media.

Reverb


Music and nightlife.

Voracious


Food, news, booze.

Columns

Krist Novoselic: Contention & Conscious

Election 2009 Recap: You Can't Always Get What You Want

  • Weekly
  • Music
  • Promotions
  • Dining
  • Green Card
  • Events

Top stories

SW Today

  • Last Night: Built To Spill @ The Showbox


    Who: Built to Spill
    Where: Showbox in the Market
    When: Friday, November 20

    Watching Built to Spill last night, I couldn't help but think of what Bill Graham said about The Grateful Dead--they aren't the best at what they do, they're the only one who do what they do.

    For close to two decades, the great Idaho concern has made indie rock as soaring and sprawling and wonky as the Western U.S. territory they call home. They are very much a band from west of Rockies, which also means they have little of the drive to succeed so prevalent among East Coasters. In other words, Built to Spill doesn't really give a shit, which is both awesome and frustrating in the best possible ways.

    Topics: Concert Reviews
  • New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Bashes Microsoft Bing

    microsoft-bing_logo_resize.JPG
    Don't even ask about the Dalai Lama.
    While several nice things have been written about Microsoft's new Bing search engine, including by his NYT colleague David Pogue, op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof does not agree. In a scathing Friday blog post, Kristof accuses MSFT of tailoring Chinese-language search queries in Bing to censor sensitive topics like the Dalai Lama, Tiananmen Square, and Falun Gong.

    Kristof writes that Microsoft's explanation, a software bug, "insults my intelligence and yours." He continues, "My hunch is that Microsoft simply has decided at a top level that it will compromise what principles it must to ingratiate itself with China." And further, "Now Microsoft is sacrificing the integrity of Bing searches so as to cozy up to State Security in Beijing. In effect, it has chosen become part of the Communist Party's propaganda apparatus."

    Got a response to that, Steve Ballmer?

    Topics: Business
  • Tonight: Those Darlins with King Khan, Mt. Fuji Records Showcase #2, Nonsequitur

    thosedarlins6.jpg
    Those Darlins
    Those Darlins, King Khan and BBQ Show at Chop Suey, 9 p.m., $12

    A totally bizarre combination of freaky dance rocker King Khan and punk-infused country band Those Darlins. Weeeeird.

    Nonsequitur presents the music of composer John Luther Adams at the Good Shepherd Center, 8 p.m., $5-$15, all ages

    Pianist Cristina Valdes will play Among Red Mountains and Nunataks, while Steven Schick will play The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies.


    Black Whales, the Whore Moans, Virgin Islands (EP release) and Mr. Gnome at the Sunset, 9 p.m., $8

    The second of two Mt. Fuji-centric shows; this one is also a release party for Virgin Islands' (ex-Cops) Age of Anxiety EP.

    Topics: Happenings
  • Comment of the Day: Furious Styles Member Didn't Expect T-Shirt Controversy

    clueless.jpg
    A reader who calls himself a current member of the band Furious Styles responds to Local Hardcore Band 'Furious Styles' Uses Cop-Killing to Sell T-Shirts. He says the murder of an innocent police officer isn't going to change his group's views on law enforcement.

    "The past day has been a shit-storm for a shirt that wasn't even supposed to reach mainstream society. This shirt wasn't a silly publicity stunt and frankly we're supprised at the ammount of attention it's recieved. We've never wanted or expected mainstream success or attention. This shirt was meant to sell to a select few fans, not to be peddled off onto Seattle's teenagers at Hot-Topic.

    Anyone who knows Furious Styles knows our stance on police and just because an officer is actually killed doesn't mean we're going to change our tune, so to speak. It wasn't a joke then and it's not a joke now.

    Topics: Crime & Punishment
  • Saturday's Set Times and "Itinerary" for Them Crooked Vultures' Seattle Visit

    davejosh.jpg
    7 p.m.: The Paramount doors open.

    8 p.m.: Mini Mansions take the stage in support.

    9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Them Crooked Vultures (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nirvana's Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) take the stage.

    11:15 p.m.--12:15 a.m.: Jones leads the band in a nostalgic bit of fishing out the window of their suite at The Edgewater Hotel.

    12:15--2 a.m.: The band break into Anthony's, raids the liquor, heats up a pan, and Jones cooks up some Zeppelin-style fish 'n' chips.

    2 a.m. til Exhaustion: Homme and Grohl take their pants off and reenact that damn statue at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

    Sunrise: With the park finally open, the three men enjoy a leisurely stroll past the eraser.


    Topics: News
  • It's Official: Schoolyard Heroes Are Calling It Quits

    noschool.jpg
    Justin Dylan Renney
    Schoolyard Heroes at Vera Project.
    To close the book on the band after eight years of making music reaching back to core members' high school days, horror rockers Schoolyard Heroes will regroup with their classic lineup -- Ryann Donnelly, Jonah Bergman, Steve Bonnell, Brian Turner -- for December 19's Horrordays at El Corazon. It will be their last show. Kane Hodder will also be reuniting their original lineup for the show, and promptly break up.

    "I'm really glad schoolyard heroes are being put to rest the way it started," vocalist Ryann Donnelly told us yesterday before today's official announcement. "And, honestly, the reason we're calling it a day on Schoolyard isn't because we don't love it."

    Donnelly says the reason it was time to move on was that she and Bergman couldn't see working as Schoolyard without Bonnell and Turner, who exited separately within the last year.

    "It was strange to play shows as Schoolyard Heroes with different people," she says.

    In the announcement on their web site, Schoolyard hinted at the future:

    "Don't freak out! If Schoolyard Heroes has taught you anything over the years, it is that death is always around you... and that from death shall emerge new channels of destruction. Loud, distorted, maybe even operatic channels."

    We'll post more info as we get it.

    Topics: News
  • David Mendoza, Former Owner of Pazzo's Pizza, Weed Smuggler, Gets 14 Years in Prison

    Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Pazzo's(1).jpg
    Definitely under new management
    David R. Mendoza's life in summation: former Garfield High School class president. Owner of the historic Liberty Theater in Bend, Oregon, and the bro-friendly Pazzo's Pizzeria in Eastlake. Apparent friend to the entire B.C. chronic smoking nation.

    As of today, however, you can add sentenced pot smuggler to that list.

    Topics: Crime & Punishment
  • Sighted: A Taco Truck Parks in Pioneer Square

    campesino.jpg
    My car just automatically followed this truck after spotting it on Jackson Street, followed it to it's Thursday through Saturday parking spot. Tacos El Campesino sets up on Occidental between Yesler and Washington and opens for business at 4:00 p.m., but the honking cars behind me precluded me from getting the closing time and more info. This truck usually produces a better than decent torta (carne asada over carnitas).

    Topics: Eats report
  • Two Very Different Opinions on the Seattle Housing Market

    houseforsale.jpg
    To buy or not to buy? That is the question.
    CNNMoney.com reports today that if you're in the market for a lifetime's worth of debt, Seattle is a great place to live. The Emerald City placed second behind only San Francisco in a list of cities most likely to see their home values increase by 2011.

    According to forecasters polled by the cable-news giant, that means a 3.8% jump thanks to our "better than average" job market. A welcome softening of the 15% free fall housing values have taken since the bottom fell out. And a seriously delusional load of crap if you're to believe the lovable cranks over at real-estate blog Seattle Bubble.



    Topics: Economy
  • OMG! Jonas Brothers to Endorse Microsoft Xbox360!

    Jonas_bros_resize2.jpg
    The Jonas Brothers want...more brains!
    You know what? Let Apple have its annoying Justin Long and nerdy John Hodgman for those Mac versus PC commercials. Microsoft just upped the celebrity stakes by announcing that teen rockers the Jonas Brothers will be endorsing its Xbox360 videogame console.

    The NYT and others are reporting that a new MSFT ad campaign will prominently feature the tween rockers. The spots are built around the catchphrase "It's more fun time." (Not something you could ever imagine Steve Ballmer saying.) Given that gamers are overwhelmingly male (not the brothers' fan base), it's unclear how the clean-shaven, Disney-created trio will connect with those who prefer Grand Theft Auto and first-person shooter games to bubblegum pop.

    Unless, of course, a game can be developed that features the Jonas Brothers as evil, brain-eating zombies who, with the power of their their stupefying music, turn millions of preadolescent girls into their army of slaves. Oh, wait...

    Topics: Business
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