The Stranger back issues from November 2007:
PUBLIC EDITOR
Nov 01, 2007; ... Stranger Public Editor and OSHA Board of Governors Member (Retired) Against my better instincts I have been reading The Stranger's blog of late. I find it horrendous, of course, a sped-up delivery system for the malignant narcissism and intellectual laziness that used to hit my desk but ...
I, ANONYMOUS
Nov 01, 2007; ... To submit an unsigned confession or accusation 90 to forums. thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and guilty. One submission will be published in the paper every week, but all submissions to I, Anonymous can be read at www.thestranger.com NO ONE LOVES A ...
COUNTER-INTEL
Nov 01, 2007; ... SINKING THE SCHIP Speaking to a packed room of supporters in the 500-seat Village Theatre in Issaquah on the morning of October 25, Dino Rossi kicked off his long-anticipated do over. Since losing to Governor Christine Gregoire by just 133 votes in 2004, Rossi, 48, a real-estate ...
Dodging a Bullet
Nov 01, 2007; ... Armed Student Arrested at Seattle Central Community College On October 23, Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) campus security received a tip from a concerned student that a 23-year-old student-whom we will not name-was carrying a gun on campus. The next day, at noon, campus ...
In Other NEIGHBORHOODS
Nov 01, 2007; ... SOUTHEAST SEATTLE The Southeast District Council (SEDC)-long plagued by infighting and race and class-tinged rancor over who's allowed to participate in the neighborhood committee-has finally gotten its shit together. After months of meetings that digressed into name-calling and physical ...
Building Irony
Nov 01, 2007; ... Sound Transit Derails Neighborhood Development It's rare to find a neighborhood that's excited about an influx of development. But it's almost unheard of for a neighborhood to go to bat for a developer. Indeed, this is what's happening in North Seattle's Koosevelt neighborhood. Local ...
Cover Story
Nov 01, 2007; ... Mayor Mum on Auto Emissions Earlier this week, Mayor Greg Nickels released a longawaited study of the city's greenhouse-gas-emission projections, boasting that the city was "on target to meet [its] climate goals." Both daily papers ate up the mayor's account of the report-the Seattle ...
POLICE BEAT
Nov 01, 2007; ... PERSONAL SPACE My Man Boobs, Capitol Hill, Fri Oct 12, 1:22 am: Officer Halen reports: "This morning a regular customer entered the store [Kinko's] and went to the computers as he always does. The store attendant, a female, asked: 'How are you tonight?' The regular customer turned around ...
SUICIDE FOOD: THE MEANING OF MEAT THAT'S EAGER TO BE EATEN
Nov 01, 2007; ... "'Suicide food' is any depiction of animals that act as though they wish to be consumed," explains Ben Grossblatt in the mission statement of Suicide Food (suicidefood.blogspot.com), his blog and mild ethical obsession. "Suicide food actively participates in or celebrates its own demise. Suicide ...
HILLARY CLINTON HAS A VAGINA AND SO DO I
Nov 01, 2007; ... Am I Obligated to Support Hillary Clinton Based on Her Gender Alone? Should women support Hillary Clinton? As a progressive, a feminist, and a chick, my support for Clinton is presumed. After all, I have a vagina. So does she. I want to see a woman president. She's a woman. I ...
TRICKLE-DOWN CRACKDOWN
Nov 01, 2007; ... George Bush's War on the Constitution Goes Local Exactly a year from now, the first week of November 2008, you will vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Or Barack Obama. Or John Edwards. Or Chris Dodd. Or Dumbledore. Or whomever. Just cross your fingers and pray that the nonGOP ...
The State of the World of Art
Nov 01, 2007; ... Going to Europe to Look at Things Everyone Else Has Already Looked At On my first ferry trip down the Grand Canal, minutes after I arrived in Venice, I found myself next to a well-kept Seattle couple on their final night in Italy. He worked in mergers and acquisitions. As our boat passed ...
Fairy Tales
Nov 01, 2007; ... Fairy Tales Jesus, Sondheim, and America's Horniest Founding Father Franklin and Figaro Macha Monkey at Freehold's East Hall Theatre Through Nov 17. Written by Kristdna Sutherland (The Cowgirl Play) and directed by Joy Brooke Fairfield (We Are Not These ...
Terra Dulla
Nov 01, 2007; ... Terra Dulla The Life of Galileo Never Gets off the Ground The Life of Galileo, by Bertolt Brecht, is the first production by Strawberry Theatre Workshop since it won its 2007 Stranger Genius Award-and it's something of a disappointment. The play (about the one-man ...
THEATER NEWS
Nov 01, 2007; ... PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN Jonathan Walters's grandfather was a Texas shrimper: dirty, coarse, and tough. He's retired now, living near Corpus Christi-in a small town that's dying along with the shrimping industry, strangled from afar by cheaper, farm-raised shrimp. Walters, the ...
The Disappointment of a Liberal
Nov 01, 2007; ... The Disappointment of a Liberal Paul Krugman's Bland New Book The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman (Norton) $25.95. The worst grade I ever received in college was in an economics class. A Republican might tell you that explains a few things, beginning with the fact that I now work ...
The Bacon-Flavored American Dream
Nov 01, 2007; ... How a Softball to the Face Led to Salt That Tastes Like Bacon A man is watching his kid's first T-ball practice, minding his own business, when suddenly he's hit in the face by an errant ball. Pow! There are zany sound effects, like birds chirping or cuckoo clocks exploding. Narration is ...
BAR EXAM
Nov 01, 2007; ... GOODBYE TO Q A little more than a year ago, a lounge called Q opened on upper Queen Anne. The space-formerly the restaurant Sapphire-is lodged among upper Queen Anne's new wine bars, fancy soap shops, high-end baby outfitters, and other purveyors of what the neighborhood now wants. Q, a ...
THE HAPPIEST HOUR
Nov 01, 2007; ... The Crescent 1413 E Olive Way, 726-1774. Region: Capitol Hill. Interior: Imagine a windowless, wood-paneled funhouse, rife with sharp angles and multileveled landings. Name origin: During intolerant eras, a celestial-themed name subtly denoted a bar's gay-friendly ...
10 GOOD GRUB UNDER TEN BUCKS
Nov 01, 2007; ... 10 GOOD GRUB UNDER TEN BUCKS Le Fournil 3230 Eastlake Ave E, 328-6523. I have a fondness for the communal table-any eating establishment that forces a bunch of strangers to break bread together automatically wins points in my book. If that establishment also happens to ...
CHOW BIO
Nov 01, 2007; ... AGNES SANKIEWICZ, employee for two years, and MICHELLE STAPLES, owner for one month Arose: The Waffle Cafe 3121 E Madison St, Ste 101, 324-4542. Why buy a waffle cafe? MICHELLE: I've been a loyal customer here for years; I'd say about 95 percent of our customers ...
EAT & TELL
Nov 01, 2007; ... CAULIFLOWER POWER I've never been keen on cauliflower. We didn't eat much of it when I was a kid, and I can recall actively avoiding cauliflower when I encountered it on vegetable trays. (No amount of dip could conceal its bitter, raw flavor.) Cauliflower made me uncomfortable. It was ...
Make Music for My People
Nov 01, 2007; ... Make Music for My People Big Tune Pits Beat Versus Beat 2007 Big Tune Championships w/Just Blaze, De La Soul, and hosts Vitamin D, J Moore, and DV One Thurs Nov 1, Neumo's, 8 pm, $10, all ages. The story of Big Tune is this: It began in Seattle in 2005; it has ...
Fucking Up the Fuckers
Nov 01, 2007; ... Fucking Up the Fuckers Pleasureboaters (Accidentally) Rewrite the Rules Pleasureboaters w/ Battles Sat Nov 3, Neumo's, 8 pm, $13 adv, all ages. A glob of spit has been dangling from Ricky Claudon's chin for almost a minute. With his arms waving in the air and eyes ...
Left Off the Dial
Nov 01, 2007; ... Left Off the Dial I Can Live Without My Radio, but Apparently Someone Out There Can't There's no point to radio anymore. It's a cultural institution, sure, and we tolerate it, keep it around for posterity. But radio offers nothing to the music world that can't be found elsewhere ...
Fountain of Youth
Nov 01, 2007; ... Fountain of Youth Craig Finn of the Hold Steady: More Like Mötley Crüe Than You Think The Hold Steady w/Art Brut, the Blood Arm Sun Nov 4, HUB Ballroom, UW campus, 7 pm, $22, all ages. Craig Finn is the nasal, bespectacled frontman for the Hold Steady, the ...
FUCKING IN THE STREETS
Nov 01, 2007; ... FRIENDS AND FISTFIGHTS Of the handful of awesome electronic shows I've seen in the last couple weeks-Justice, Modeselektor, Matthew Dear-Digitalism at Chop Suey on October 22 was by far the most fun. The show had a few things working against it-a Monday night, lots of other shows going on, ...
IT'S A HIT
Nov 01, 2007; ... IT'S A HIT SINGLES, REMIXES & MP3s "Hard Rain" by Shout Out Louds (Merge) I admit it: There is every chance that length of exposure is the reason I like this song more than anything else on Our III Wills, this Swedish quintet's second album and first ...
Why Not?!
Nov 01, 2007; ... ALTER EGO Why Not?! (Klang) *** Alter Ego, the German duo of Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke, have been producing electronic music for more than a decade, but they didn't make a popular impact until 2004 with the release of club anthem "Rocker." The track's ...
Discovered: A Collection of Daft Funk Samples
Nov 01, 2007; ... VARIOUS ARTISTS Discovered: A Collection of Daft Funk Samples (BBE) **1/2 There's a simple, reliable metric for measuring collections of songs that have been sampled by other people: Would you rather hear the original song, or the song that sampled it? In the case ...
Beehive Sessions
Nov 01, 2007; ... "Awesome" Beehive Sessions (Self-released) ** "Awesome" are a great band to book for your literary events, book readings, fundraisers, what have you. They'll write a song just for the occasion, incorporating an author's text, or your nonprofit organization's ...
Operation Ivy
Nov 01, 2007; ... OPERATION IVY Operation Ivy (Hellcat) **** The best thing Operation Ivy ever did for us was break up. For almost 15 years now, Operation Ivy, the posthumous 30-track record released on Lookout! Records almost two years after the band called it quits, has ...
We Are the Pipettes
Nov 01, 2007; ... THE PIPETTES We Are the Pipettes (Cherry Tree/Interscope) *** It's pointless to review a box of puppies. What do you look for to criticize? Even their flaws are adorable. The Pipettes debut is a box of puppies. The backstory: The Pipettes are a trio of ...
MY PHILOSOPHY
Nov 01, 2007; ... HIPHOP YA DON'T STOP First things first: Good luck to my dudes Sabzi and Brainstorm, who are repping the town at the Big Tune finals Thursday, November 1, at Neumo's, where you will also find no less personages than Just Blaze and De La Soul (the skreets are also saying Pharrell, but ...
ROAD TRIP
Nov 01, 2007; ... Sunn O))) Thurs Nov 1, Historic Capitol Theater in Olympia, 9 pm, $12, all ages. Face it, after watching the volatile Jesu open for Sunn O))) at Neumo's on November 2, your brain and face are going to be totally melted and gooey and you won't give a shit about Sunn O))) (let ...
THE SCORE
Nov 01, 2007; ... THE SCORE SEATTLE SYMPHONY Guest conductor Stephana Deneve leads the orchestra this week in perhaps the most enticing symphony program of the season, a mix of Debussy, Ravel, Faure, and Stravinsky. Oddly in this (or any) concert, three of the concert's four pieces begin ...
DRUNK OF THE WEEK
Nov 01, 2007; ... GAU "STEVE BURNS" PACINO When's the last time you walked into a bar, and within 26 minutes of being there a woman drops her pants to show you her Annie Sprinkle tattoo, you do a shot then scratch a winning $20 lotto ticket a tranny unbuttons her shirt and politely asks you to take a ...
UNDERAGE
Nov 01, 2007; ... FOR THE HAPPY/FOR THE SAD There are two ways to musically appreciate autumn: 1. Get stoked. With the cooling air and the bright colors blinding eyes on sunny days, one could very easily put on their favorite dance music and shake some ass for a long time without the worry of ...
BUG IN THE BASSBIN
Nov 01, 2007; ... LOVE FOR THE LOCALS Seattle doesn't have a signature sound. There is no "Seastep," "Pugetcore," or "Northwestronica" moniker that makes any sense, and instead of lamenting that, we should embrace the fact that our talent pool can play with so many sounds and excel. When the secret ...
PARTY CRASHER
Nov 01, 2007; ... When: Thurs Oct 18, Sun Oct 21. Where: Belltown, Fremont. TILL (LIVING) DEATH DO US PART The bride wore bright-orange safety netting and a belt fashioned from hazardous-material-warning ribbon. The groom wore reflective tape. The minister was dressed as Godzilla. In the ...
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Nov 01, 2007; ... Before the Devil Knows You're Dead On Screen This Week's New Releases dir. Sidney Lumet It may sound like a limited endorsement (his previous films were last year's Find Me Guilty and the 1999 Sharon Stone vehicle Gloria), but old-timer Sidney Lumet is back with ...
American Gangster
Nov 01, 2007; ... American Gangster dir. Ridley Scott A multitude of cinematic sins can be laid at Sir Ridley Scott's feet, ranging from his creation of the MTV blue-light flash style of filmmaking, to how his early success in commercials paved the way for the ascent of the Great Satan Michael ...
Martian Child
Nov 01, 2007; ... Martian Child dir. Menno Meyjes The title character in Martian Child is what would result if Jack Klugman's single, tattered vocal cord impregnated Anne Heche and she gave birth to an albino bug. The bug child walks around all day rasping about Mars, or hiding in a box and ...
Sharkwater
Nov 01, 2007; ... Sharkwater dir. Rob Stewart Rob Stewart, the boyish director and star of this film, can be a cheeseball. But he is so in love with sharks, and sharks need his love so much, and so many other people love to hate sharks, that this movie ranks up there, despite its occasional stinky ...
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Nov 01, 2007; ... Wristcutters: A Love Story dir. Goran Dukic How quirky is too quirky, anyhow? Finally seeing the light of day after a much-buzzed screening at last year's Sundance, Wristcutters: A Love Story hangs on to the edge of enjoyably oddball without falling into molar-decaying ...
I (Love) Television(TM)
Nov 01, 2007; ... I (Love) Television(TM) Here's Your Problem Another thing I'm really good at? Pointing out other people's problems. You know how psychiatrists work, right? I'm kind of the opposite. Instead of identifying and helping solve the problems, I just point them out. That way I'm not ...
HEWN IN TWAIN
Nov 01, 2007; ... GAMES 'Tis a golden age of gaming (or at least a few surprisingly rad months), with titles like Bioshock, Halo 3, The Orange Box, and the upcoming Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect all doing their part to refine and stretch the limits of state-of-the-art immersion. But what about those ...
CINEKINK: PDX
Nov 01, 2007; ... PORNS In a world where we're all whacking off in front of our computers, iPods, and plasma-screen TV sets, a chance to see porn on the big screen is kind of a rare cupcake. I say it might even be worth a trip down to pervy Portland. November 1-3, a NYC organization called CineKink is ...
CONTROL TOWER
Nov 01, 2007; ... BEGINNER'S RULES I don't want to write this column. I can't possibly do the topic justice. But people ask me about this all the time, so okay; I give in. Here is a very brief overview of how to create a framework for transitioning into polyamory when you're in a couple. What I'm ...
PUBLIC EDITOR
Nov 08, 2007; ... "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." -George Bernard Shaw Assuming as I do that most Stranger readers reside under either a rock or a wet cardboard box, the fact that this past Tuesday was Election Day probably comes as a bit of a surprise ...
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
Nov 08, 2007; ... DEPT OF CORRECTIONS: In last week's issue, the review of the video game Conan was ...
I, ANONYMOUS
Nov 08, 2007; ... To submit an unsigned confession or accusation go to forums. thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and guilty. One submission will be published in the paper every week, but all submissions to I, Anonymous can be read at www.thestranger.com. THIS DOORMAT IS ...
It's Already Over
Nov 08, 2007; ... David Delia, Roads and Transit, Bill Sherman Losing Big in Early Returns This election was not a nail-biter. Despite predictions and polling that had pundits and candidates expecting to sweat it out for days, the results seemed clear as early as 8:15 p.m. after the first drop of 130,000 ...
TRANSFER OF POWER
Nov 08, 2007; ... IN THE HALL As anyone who actually rides the bus can tell you, riding Metro Transit can seriously suck. Just last week, a woman reeking of week-old sweat, going from nowhere to nowhere, smashed me into the window seat, bottle in hand. And since my bus had arrived 15 minutes late, ...
Compromising Positions
Nov 08, 2007; ... Seattle Center Skatepark Screwed Again The city's plan to replace the SeaSk8 skatepark-formerly located just east of Seattle Center-is now facing another crisis, as unforeseen construction costs have raised the price of the project by nearly a million dollars. Once again, poor planning, ...
IN OTHER NEWS
Nov 08, 2007; ... BIKES-YAY! On November 5, the city council adopted an ambitious Bicycle Master Plan aimed at tripling the number of bike commuters in the city. The plan calls for 118 miles of new cycling facilities and 19 miles of trails in the next 10 years. In surveys, Seattle residents have ...
Building Battle
Nov 08, 2007; ... Roosevelt Neighbors Fight Misplaced Development "The developer hasn't put their plan on the table, [but] we've got a good sense of what's coming," says Jim O'Halloran, chair of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association's land-use committee. Roosevelt neighbors are getting ready to fight a ...
THE NEW CATEGORIES
Nov 08, 2007; ... POLICE BEAT Once upon a time, police reports had just a page of boxes to fill out under the title Incident Report. The form required the officer to name or describe the suspect ("collared shirt, jeans, thin facial hair"); name the victim and his/her sex, date of birth, address, and phone ...
STRAIGHT ACTING
Nov 08, 2007; ... GOP state Rep. Richard Curtis resigned last week in the wake of a sex scandal involving a male prostitute, ladies' lingerie, and an alleged extortion plot. DAN SAVAGE heads to Spokane to recreate Curtis's big gay adventure. The lobby, my God, the lobby. "Everlasting Love," an ...
Proust in the Central District
Nov 08, 2007; ... I Can't Believe I Can't Remember What Used to Be Across the Street A block away from my apartment on 26th Avenue South and South Jackson Street stands a brand-new cluster of townhouses. This time last year, a small house stood in this place. It was white, fenceless, and gloomy. Its front ...
Review Revue
Nov 08, 2007; ... Other Buildings, Decent People, Pink Ground A Spectral Glimpse Platform Gallery Through Dec 1. The word "glimpse" is onomatopoetic: a couple of consonants not quite there, and then a sizzling disappearance. It radiates total possibility, like A Spectral Glimpse, ...
TWO EASY PIECES
Nov 08, 2007; ... IN ART NEWS It has been snowing at Western Bridge since September 20, when Jordan Wolfson's dark-brown Porsche wore only a light dusting, and looked like it might just carry on and drive right out of the dark gallery. Now it's buried under a snowbank. The car lights are still on, though, ...
American Buffalo
Nov 08, 2007; ... Review Revue Cancer, Rat Droppings, and Doom American Buffalo Theater Schmeater Through Dec 1. Nasty and brutish, if not exactly short, this production of American Buffalo, directed by Aimee-Bruneau, gets it (mostly) right. Mamet's 1976 play profiles one ...
H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch House
Nov 08, 2007; ... H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch House Open Circle Theater at the Rendezvous Through Nov 10. Open Circle Theater's annual adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft stories are always worth attending, if just to admire the mad-scientist inventiveness of no-budget special effects ...
My One-Night Stand with Cancer
Nov 08, 2007; ... My One-Night Stand with Cancer Ethereal Mutt Productions at ACT Theatre Through Nov 17. When she was 21 years old, the playwright and comedian Tania Katan found out she had cancer in her right breast and had it removed. Nine years later, doctors found cancer in her other ...