MEANWHILE, ON LINEOUT
Happy birthday, Mr. T!
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Patrick Swayze is rollerskating and acting like a jerk
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Listen to the new Gaytheist record! Is the album cover cute or creepy?
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This song should rule your summer
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RIP Ray Manzarek
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Watch the new NighTrain video!
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Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, May 21, 2013
Crime Large Black Beanbag Under the Overpass Watch
Posted by Grant Brissey on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:18 PM
Who's the Boss? 43rd District Dems Endorse Ed Murray for Mayor
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:17 PM
Surprising exactly nobody, the 43rd District Democrats tonight awarded their sole endorsement in the Seattle mayor's race to Ed Murray, who has represented the 43rd District in the legislature for 18 years.
Murray took 65 percent of the vote among the party activists in a second ballot (60 percent are required for an endorsement, and in the first ballot he came up just shy). Runners up followed in this order: Mayor Mike McGinn, former city council member Peter Steinbrueck, Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell, neighborhood activist Kate Martin, and, finally, Bow-Tie-Wearer-in-Chief Charlie Staadecker.
Predicable as the vote may be, this represents solid momentum for Murray—thus far unmatched with the district Democrats. He's been endorsed by the 46th District Dems (split with Steinbrueck), and, since Council Member Burgess has dropped out of the race, the 36th District Dems' executive board has recommended their members grant Murray a sole endorsement when they meet tomorrow.
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Media There Are No Atheists In Foxholes
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 5:36 PM
But there atheists in Moore, Oklahoma:
Says BoingBoing: "This is CNN."
City Council President Sally Clark Likely Won't Support Homeless Encampment Bill
Posted by Anna Minard on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 5:08 PM
I asked Seattle City Council president Sally Clark what she thinks of Nick Licata's bill expanding homeless encampments, and she said she'll wait to hear him out when the bill is presented and debated tomorrow afternoon before making up her mind. But when pressed, she told me she's content with the law as it currently stands; it only allows longer-term encampments on church-owned land. "I don’t see the need to go beyond that at this point," Clark said.
"The mayor has presented two options," Clark continued—the mayor sent her a letter in support of Licata's bill, as well as an alternate bill that would budget for an environmental review of Nickelsville's current site in West Seattle, with a view to making it healthier and safer long-term. "I tend to think there are probably more than two options."
Yeah, we know you do. (Clarkin' it™!) But what this legislation is trying to do is address an immediate need—a need current systems continue to fail.
At the heart of this issue is an ongoing debate: the idea that legal encampments represent a surrender to the inevitability of homelessness versus the idea that it's just smart policy to make existing and future encampments healthy and safe, which is best done by legitimizing them and giving them some access to resources. The Committee to End Homelessness in King County favors long-term housing solutions, which is great, and politicians tend to follow their lead. But there is also a dramatic need for emergency shelter. If Clark and others believe that the shelter system should be able to handle that on its own—an argument they've made for years—well, then, what's the plan?
As Nick Licata pointed out when I talked to him about his bill, "literally thousands of people are sleeping on the street," and they need somewhere to stay—right now. Real Change director Tim Harris, who supports the legislation, says tent cities "offer shelter and community to hundreds of people for dollars on the bed, something like $4 a night... To provide shelter in a self-managed tent city is a way of doing harm-reduction," he says. And so cheaply—"in times like this, that’s really attractive."
Clark's not as excited.
Savage Love SL Letter of the Day: Have You Ever Heard of...?
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Originally published July 26, 2007:
I'm a 31-year-old attractive single woman, and I recently went on Match.com and found a guy. Our e-mails and one phone conversation went well and he seemed kind and was okay-looking in his picture, so I met him for drinks. It was disappointing, to say the least. He looked 15 years older than his picture and was socially awkward to the point of sheer misery. He told me he didn't want to eat cheese because he "had the craps," announced to the waitress that this was our first date, yawned when I talked about my job, and said, "I could tell you were really into me the minute you walked in the room."
Standard bad date so far, right?
Here's the bizarre part: On the phone he'd said, "The most beautiful sound in the world is applause. I hope I can hear you clap for me sometime." He is a music teacher, so I thought he was referring to applause after a performance. But when we met in person, he asked me to clap for him, for no reason, in the restaurant! I asked him why, and he said he just really loved the sound of clapping. I ignored his request, finished my drink, and said it was nice to meet him but I didn't think this was going to work. I shook his hand good-bye in the parking lot and at this point he asked again for me to clap—but now in a whiny voice, literally begging me to do it. The worst part? I did it, just to shut him up, before speeding away in my car. I'm simultaneously creeped out and intrigued.
Have you ever heard of a clapping fetish?
Clap Off The Clapper
My response after the jump...
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Politics / LGBTQITSLFA Senate Democrats Fuck Over Bi-National Gay Couples...
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 4:43 PM
...while giving a reach-around to Republicans. Un-fucking-believable.
Sen. Patrick Leahy withdrew his proposed amendment to the comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have recognized the marriages of same-sex couples for immigration purposes on Tuesday night, after several Democratic members of the committee stated that they would not be supporting it.... Leahy offered the amendment a half-hour earlier, saying, “I don’t want to be the senator who asks Americans to choose between the love of their life and the love of their country.” He added, “Discriminating against people based on who they love is a travesty,” noting that he wanted to hear from the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” senators about why they didn’t. Sen. Lindsey Graham went first, saying he opposed the inclusion of gay couples’ protections in the bill.
“If you redefine marriage for immigration purposes [by the amendment], the bill would fall apart because the coalition would fall apart,” he said. “It would be a bridge too far.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein cited Graham’s comments, then, saying, “I think this sounds like the fairest approach, but here’s the problem … we know this is going to blow the agreement apart. I don’t want to blow this bill apart.”
Dems were afraid—Dems are always afraid—that the Republicans would walk away from immigration reform if legally-married same-sex couples were included. Says John...
Really, Rs are going to walk away from immigration reform when they are DESPERATE to woo back Latinos.really?
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) May 21, 2013
Breaking: Spineless, gonadless, clueless Dems refuse to call GOP bluff. Film at... oh, never mind. Who needs to see that rerun again?
Politics What President Obama Can and Can't Do
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 4:36 PM
James Fallows writes about the response to President Obama's Morehouse graduation speech, and why it outlines how impossible it is to be Barack Obama:
Before I had a chance to write anything about the speech, I read two other reactions. One was from my former colleague Andrew Sullivan, who was defending the speech against idiotic accusations that it was "race-baiting" and too black. The other was from my current Atlantic colleague Ta-Nehisi Coates, who criticized the speech for being too hectoring of Obama's Morehouse audience in a way he wouldn't have been at Dartmouth or Stanford: "Barack Obama is, indeed, the president of 'all America,' but he also is singularly the scold of 'black America.'"
A lot of the problems the Obama Administration are going through right now are the fault of nobody but the Obama Administration. Their continued fumbling of the AP scandal is a disappointment and a disgrace. But a lot of this is simply coming from a place of hate. No president can ever totally satisfy all Americans—hell, no president can ever totally satisfy their base—but the dissatisfaction that surrounds every move President Obama makes is a special kind of dissatisfaction. Because of who he is, everyone holds him singularly responsible for the thorniest issue in the United States, and it's an issue he can never solve to everyone's satisfaction. It'll be fascinating to see how history judges this part of his legacy.
Music / SIFF SIFF: The Scrapper World Premiere After-Party @ the Crocodile
Posted by Kelly O on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 4:05 PM
Locally made feature film Scrapper (reviewed here) is throwing an excellent after-party at the Crocodile tonight:
Celebrate the Seattle International Film Festival world premiere of the feature film Scrapper at the Crocodile. After the 6 pm premiere screening at the SIFF Uptown Theater the afterparty will begin at the Croc featuring live music from Rose Windows, Kithkin, and Ephrata. Mingle with the stars and filmmakers from the movie including Michael Beach (Sons Of Anarchy, Soul Food, Insidious 2) and Joanna Angel (Burningangel.com).
You guys, that's porn star JOANNA ANGEL!!! Check out the official trailer (and my personal high-fives to director Brady Hall):
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News Protesters Disrupting Alaska Airlines Shareholder Meeting Right Now
Posted by Unpaid Intern on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 4:03 PM
- Nicole Ramirez
- Alaska Airlines shareholder meeting
Posted by news intern Ansel Herz
Slog tipper Nicole Ramirez says she and about 100 protesters are inside the Alaska Airlines' annual shareholder meeting, happening now at Pier 66 in downtown Seattle. Thirty flight attendants, plus at least three airport workers from Los Angeles, are outside the meeting, she says.
"After a faith leader led supporters in the meeting in a song of solidarity, an Alaska representative threatened to end the meeting if there was an additional disruption," says Ramirez, an activist with Bayan USA Pacific Northwest, which is part of a coalition of labor groups—including Working Washington, Unite Here, SEIU, Teamsters, and Puget Sound Sage—organizing the action. She sent the photo above and the following e-mail statement:
While Alaska Air boasts huge profits today, they deny their workers, (many who come from people of color and migrant communities) livable wages, benefits, paid time off, and their right to unionize. Our message as a community: We love workers and will continue to support workers at SeaTac until they receive the dignity they deserve.
The workers have formed unions but are being denied union recognition by the contract companies Alaska airlines employs (ASIG, DGS, AirServ, BAGS, Menzies.) Alaska claims that they treat their workers well, but they overlook the contract workers who clean, fuel and load their planes.
Just last month, an Alaska Airlines contractor was fined for "failing to protect workers from urine, feces, blood, and vomit," Goldy reported.
And recall that last year, activists disrupted Amazon's shareholder meeting at the Seattle Art Museum. The tech giant promptly announced it would withdraw from ALEC, a right-wing coalition, and invest $15 million in air conditioners for warehouse workers. This year, Amazon moved its shareholder meeting to the "less visible" Seattle Repertory Theatre, Puget Sound Business Journal notes.
I'm not sure it matters where your average mega-corp holds its shareholder meeting. If you're treating workers like shit, chances are your shareholder get-together is going to get crashed.
Politics The Justice Department Spied on Fox News and White House Staffers, Too
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 3:44 PM
Apparently, it's not just the AP. The New Yorker reports:
The Obama Justice Department has seized the phone records of numbers that are associated with White House staffers and, apparently, with Fox News reporters, according to a document filed in the case of Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, on October 13, 2011. Kim is a former State Department contractor accused of violating the Espionage Act for allegedly leaking classified information to James Rosen, a Fox News reporter. Ronald C. Machen, Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is prosecuting the case, has seized records associated with two phone numbers at the White House, at least five numbers associated with Fox News, and one that has the same area code and exchange as Rosen’s personal-cell-phone number (the last four numbers are redacted).
Fucking Christ. These are indefensible, Bush-style tactics. How much deeper is this bullshit going to go?
Politics Backers Pass Signature Threshold on SeaTac Measure to Require Living Wages for Airport Workers
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 3:38 PM
Less than two weeks after filing a City of SeaTac initiative that would assure better wages and working conditions for thousands of low-wage SeaTac Airport workers, backers have announced that they have already surpassed the signature threshold. In an email to supporters, the SeaTac Committee for Good Jobs announced that it has collected 2,100 signatures and counting. Only 1,541 valid SeaTac voter signatures are needed to qualify for the ballot.
The measure would set basic employment standards for about 5,000 airport workers, including paid sick leave, a guarantee that workers would receive 100 percent of all tips and service charges, and perhaps must significantly, a living wage of at least $15 an hour. Most of these workers currently earn less than $10 an hour, 40 percent less in inflation adjusted dollars than they did back in 2005 before Alaska Airlines contracted out many of their jobs.
It's a pretty clever move on the part of organized labor, pushing a ballot measure in tiny SeaTac that would have such a huge impact on the welfare of airport workers. It will be interesting see how this plays out.
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Who's the Boss? Gregoire and Royer Endorse Murray
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 3:04 PM
Former Governor Chris Gregoire and former Seattle Mayor Charlie Royer (who last ran for office when Anna was in diapers) have both endorsed state Senator Ed Murray in his bid to unseat current Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.
In a prepared statement, Gregoire lauded Murray for "building coalitions no one believed were possible." (You mean like that Majority Coalition Caucus that now controls the state senate?)
Whatever. Good for Ed. Although we all know that here in Seattle, there is only one endorsement that really matters. And the SECB endorsements won't be published until July 17.
Theater The Reviews Are In!
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 3:04 PM
At dawn last Sunday morning, in a remote and wooded area of Seattle, Saint Genet director Ryan Mitchell re-created Chris Burden's notorious 1971 artwork Shoot. In the original, Burden was shot in the arm with a .22 rifle inside a gallery and called it sculpture. Mitchell was shot in the arm with a .22 rifle beneath a tree, then walked approximately 10 miles to a theater and called it performance.
The re-creation of Shoot was secret—I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement before I was even told what was happening—because the stakes were high. First, the action was probably a crime. Second, there were some serious liability issues. Third, the action happened the morning before Saint Genet's closing-night performance of Paradisiacal Rites at On the Boards, and if On the Boards artistic director Lane Czaplinski got wind of it, he might've pulled the plug on the whole show.
The shooter, who has been hunting with guns and bows since he was 8 years old, stood in the dim forest with a few other people watching. He said there wasn't enough light for him to take the shot safely...
(A long interview with Ryan, in which he explains his rationale for all this, is coming soon. Also, apologies for forgetting to turn off the comments earlier. But if you want to talk about it, head on over to the story itself.)
Celeb / Film What It Feels Like to Visit Nicolas Cage's Estate Sale
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:39 PM
Alison Agosti expected to see some weird shit when she attended Nicolas Cage's estate sale. Turns out the first weird and awful thing she saw—a dog peeing blood—turned out to be just about the only weird and awful thing she saw. But the whole report, which just went up at HitFix, is worth reading anyway:
My friend and I walked in, really just prepared for anything. At the very least, a sex dungeon, a secret tea room, SWORDS (I was expecting a lot of swords), but we were greeted only by a small foyer with a lone Egyptian-themed chair and some cardboard boxes. I was already wondering If I should have stayed outside for the conclusion of the blood peeing dog saga. Forward was an expansive living room, and to our right was a small weight room. We chose to go into the weight room first. I want you to know that it smelled exactly like a recently emptied canister of Pringles. Not original either, maybe pizza? Or cheddar? None of the equipment was any newer that maybe the late-80s. An old stationary bike, weights, and a menagerie of boxing gloves (including several pairs with flames, which would be a theme throughout the house). I began to feel a sinking suspicion that while this may have been a house that Cage owned, he certainly didn’t spend much time here.
Go read the whole thing, and then spend the rest of the afternoon daydreaming about the wonders Agosti would have found in a just world.
Architecture Amazon Wants to Build Biodomes in the Denny Triangle
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:36 PM
Lots of people are sending us links to this Seattle Times story, about Amazon's plans to build three biodomes in the Denny Triangle:
The online retailing giant is expected to discuss the new plans at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall before the downtown design review board, part of the city’s permitting process for large developments like Amazon’s campus, which the company has nicknamed “Rufus 2.0” after a former employee’s dog...The spheres, which would range in height from 80 feet to 95 feet, would be on the block between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue and between Blanchard and Lenora streets.
And I guess I'm supposed to have some sort of an opinion about this? I dunno. Biodomes are cool. Lots of readers are expecting me to hate on the biodomes, but I don't automatically hate every Amazon idea just because it's Amazon. They can spend their money however they want, I just wished that more of that money went to the arts and to taxes. If I had one wish for these biodomes, it's that I'd like them to be open to the public at least part of the time, because I'd like to walk around in them. I think they'll be a neat addition to the downtown area.
Crime / Film Cops Bust Possible Beachfront Fight Club
Posted by Anna Minard on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:29 PM
Jonah Spangenthal-Lee over at the SPD blotter post on cops breaking up what appeared to be a teen fight club at Golden Gardens this weekend:
Officers working an emphasis patrol in Golden Gardens pulled into the park's upper parking lot just after midnight and spotted a crowd of about 40 juveniles cheering on a group of two or three people fighting (although, spoiler alert, it might've been one person fighting themselves).
And that's why our police blotter is the best one in the country.
Bikes / Books Meet Seattle's New Library on a Bike
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:11 PM
The Seattle Public Library launched a new pilot program today called Books on Bikes, which sounds exactly like what it is: A small, portable library hitched to the back of a bike.
- SPL
- The trailer is equipped with two shelves and an umbrella stand to protect books from the elements.
“I thought it would be great to combine two things Seattle loves: our libraries and bikes,” explained Jared Mills, the Montlake Branch Librarian who brainstormed the idea (full disclosure: Mills is my hilarious and talented friend. If that sounds like I'm bragging it's because I am bragging).
Throughout the summer, librarians will pedal around to parks, block parties, KEXP concerts at the Mural, and other neighborhood events throughout the city. Each place they go, they'll tailor their shelves to suit the needs of the community: think kids' books for pop-up story time in parks, or gay erotica for the Pride Parade, as well as an array of new and best sellers. Librarians will also be on hand to make book suggestions and sign people up for library cards—basically, they'll provide all the services of a brick-and-mortar library, short of accepting book returns.
If you want to track the Books on Bikes trailer this summer, follow the Seattle Public Library on Twitter, @SPLBuzz.
Horrors Wicked Clown Countdown: Juggalo Army to Invade Seattle (Do You Have a Date Yet?)
Posted by Kelly O on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:04 PM
You have 3 days to find a date! You could always give OK Cupid a try. Try something new! Meet somebody that's fun, cool, and crazy!
Guns Well-Regulated Beaverton Militia Accidentally Fires Shot into Neighbor's Bedroom
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:03 PM
Like me, I'm guessing a lot of you don't keep a gun in the house because you know that guns don't make you safer. But what about your neighbor?
A 33-year-old Beaverton man was arrested Monday night after he discharged his gun and sent a bullet through his home and into his neighbor's residence, according to the Beaverton Police Department.
I have been advised in the past that if I don't want to carry a gun or keep a gun in my house I should just make that choice and then shut the fuck up about it. Because, I'm told, it's none of my business whether other people choose to exercise their Second Amendment right.
But of course, it is my business. I don't want to live in some mythical Dodge City, filled with Starbucks-swilling gunslingers (the real Dodge City enforced strict gun control within city limits). And I sure don't want to worry about some idiot neighbor accidentally firing a round into my house. I wouldn't just feel much safer if fewer people were armed, statistically I would be much safer. And so would you.
City Poverty Is Up 64 Percent in the Suburbs
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:53 PM
Further evidence that we need the market to produce affordable rentals in the city:
The Brookings Institution book, which was released Monday, detailed the findings the think tank shared with NBC News in March for its report on how poverty has shifted to the suburbs.
The number of suburban residents living in poverty rose by nearly 64 percent between 2000 and 2011, to about 16.4 million people, according to Brookings. That’s more than double the rate of growth for urban poverty in major metropolitan areas, and means that for the first time there were more poor people living in suburbs than in cities.
On the one hand, this indicates that suburbs are not wholly homogenized prairies of wealth—and there's value in that diversity. On the other, in lots of places like Seattle, it's a sign that we don't have enough affordable housing in cities. One of the solutions is building more apartments in the central city—especially smaller apartments and smaller two- and three-bedroom apartments for families (which I've been braying about for years). In addition, the city should require more affordable housing built onsite when the city allows developers to build taller buildings (and maximizing that benefit by actually providing substantial height increases). The hard part for city leaders is ignoring the mostly specious arguments from neighborhood groups that have become agents for anti-density and classism.
Games Microsoft Resets Xbox to One
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:33 PM
If you'd like to read about the press event Microsoft held today to unveil their new Xbox, the Xbox One, you should visit The Verge. There are all kinds of tech improvements over the last console, including audio commands, a Blu-ray player, a Kinect sensor, vibrating controllers, Skype, a Halo TV series, live TV, and exclusive games.
If you'd like to read a good piece about what the Xbox One (and the disappointing Wii U and whatever Playstation is working on) might mean, news intern Ansel Herz directed my attention to Luke Plunkett's explanation of why these new video game consoles are "bumming" him "out."
...I've got an overbearing sense of melancholy. Maybe even ennui. Not at the machines themselves; the PS4 seems supremely capable, and I've no doubt the next Xbox will be similar. No, I'm sad about the fact that this feels like the last gasp. A final hurrah.
The end of console gaming as we know it.
Maybe I can't see gaming's forest for the trees. Maybe I'm just bleak. But I can't see another round of console launches after this. OK, perhaps Nintendo can squeeze one more in, if only out of necessity, but the prospect of Sony and/or Microsoft having the will - or the money - to make a PS5 or Xbox 1080 in 5-8 years seems remote.
I am not a gamer—I can be a gamer or I can be books editor at The Stranger; I cannot do both—but this feels true to me. The idea of a single device to serve a single function feels like something out of the last century, and as much as these devices may try to make themselves into multi-purpose entertainment center devices, I think the idea of a gaming console is not long for this world.
Animals Did You Cry at the Tornado Dog Sweeping the Internet?
Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:26 PM
Anna posted the video in Morning News. It has made the rounds like crazy.
Education Local High School Gets Mayor's Award for a Now-Banned Curriculum
Posted by Anna Minard on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:22 PM
A local coalition of human service nonprofits is getting the mayor involved in a school district controversy when they give out their annual awards this year, slated for a wholesome June 13 ceremony at City Hall to celebrate all things social justice.
If you'll remember, earlier this year after a family complained, Seattle Public Schools took the surprisingly forceful step of suspending a social studies curriculum at small alternative high school the Center School—a curriculum that focused on race, gender, and social justice (and that the complaining parents said made their kid uncomfortable).
While Superintendent José Banda eventually reinstated the curriculum, he forbade the use of one specific portion of the class—a set of discussions and activities called "Courageous Conversations"—saying it was intended for adults and not appropriate for a high school classroom. The class includes an AP literature credit, so its literature is expected to be at an adult level, and schools across the country have adapted the Courageous Conversations stuff for use with students; it was a dumb workaround intended to calm controversy. The teacher of the class and the teachers' union publicly opposed the move as an overreach by the district.
Now the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC), a coalition of noprofits that advocates for social services in King County, is giving the school an award for "encouraging dialogue around race, gender and class," specifically calling out that now-forbidden curriculum. Not only that, but the award they're giving the school is the Mayor's Award and Proclamation—part of the award is that the mayor issues an official proclamation in celebration of the recipient. Apparently, he usually proclaims the day of the awards ceremony a city-recognized day in honor of the awardee, which could be a bit awkward since the situation has been such a bitter controversy at the school district.
SHSC director Julia Sterkovsky tells me the Mayor's Award is chosen by a different coalition member every year, this year by their Nonprofit Anti-Racism Coalition, and SHSC doesn't know who will be accepting the award on behalf of the school. The principal hasn't appeared very supportive of the curriculum or the teacher who used it, but the award is aimed at the school community, not the administration, says Sterkovsky, so it's anyone's guess who'll show up to snag that shiny lucite trophy. The award is totally in keeping with their work, Sterkovsky tells me, because "racism contributes to people not being able to meet their basic needs."
Visual Art Currently Hanging: Warning Sign
Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:09 PM
- BY LEMUEL CHARLEY At Wing Luke Museum.
Charley, as you'll see in the video below, grew up on a Navajo reservation during a time of land disputes between the Hopi and the Navajo. He became an Army paratrooper and heavy equipment engineer serving in the first Gulf War, Bosnia, and Haiti. Now he's an artist.
Scroll to 1:20 to hear how Charley learned that a gun barrel gets hot:
Charley's road sign is part of Under My Skin: Artists Explore Race in the 21st Century at the Wing Luke Museum.
Books / Film Would You Like to Be Entertained for a Shorter Period or a Longer Period?
Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:41 PM
- Courtesy Warner Bros
- THICKER, UGLIER, BETTER Leo is becoming Brando by the minute.
After watching Baz Luhrmann's movie The Great Gatsby Saturday night (Paul's review), a local 12-year-old who had insisted even before the film began that it was too long decided to test whether she could read the book in a shorter time than it took her to watch the movie.
The movie lasted 142 minutes. She clocked in at 156. She declared the book better, with the added implication that she should not have been dragged to the movie. Yes, but then she wouldn't have spent her Sunday reading the book. She had to admit this was logical.
A few years ago at On the Boards, a New York theater company performed the entire book while reading it line by line onstage in a production called Gatz, and that took more than six hours. And people loved it.
Paul's written before about folks making time-to-entertainment equations for themselves to determine how much they think things should cost: That, say, a book offers more hours of entertainment than a movie or a play, so it should cost more. I've honestly never thought about it this way, and it seems batty. But everybody's busy, time is at a premium, etc etc (I don't even have time to flesh out this concept in this sentence, for instance), so... do you think time should be money when it comes to movies and books and theater? And if you do, is longer better, or is shorter and more "efficient" better?
Animals Puggle: Love It or Shove It
Posted by Grant Brissey on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:38 PM
- Puggle image via Shutterstock
In the comments section of that post, there was a minor debate about the qualities of the puggle breed. In case you hadn't figured it out, a puggle is a mix between a pug and a beagle (pictured at right).
Commenter The CHZA said: "Puggles are the ugliest goddamn mixed breed invented."
Then commenter Teslick said: "Pug/beagle mix? Between the braying and the breathing, that's one big load of annoying sounds."
Then commenter Just Jeff said: "Puggles are great, especially if they're 3/4 pug. I have one, and he's adorable."
To which gold star commenter Totalpukoid said: "HE CAN'T SEE WITHOUT HIS GLASSES!"*
*Not relevant but hilarious.
Film Lars Von Trier's New Movie Features Fake Plumbing
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Lars Von Trier's upcoming movie Nymphomaniac was supposed to feature a bunch of movie stars (including Shia LaBeouf, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christian Slater, and Uma Thurman) having full-on pornographic sex. But now, World of Wonder Report reveals the truth about the sex in the film:
The film will use digital technology to combine the actors with body doubles. She said they shot the actors pretending to have sex and the body doubles actually having sex. “And in post,” she said, “we will digital-impose the two. So above the waist it will be the star and the below the waist it will be the double.”
That's a long way to go for a joke. What do you think?
Politics / Money Or Maybe We Can Offset the Cost of Oklahoma Disaster Aid by Cutting Agricultural Subsidies and Raising Taxes on Oil and Natural Gas?
Posted by Goldy on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn will seek to offset federal aid to victims of a massive tornado that blasted through Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday with cuts elsewhere in the budget.
Of course he will. Because apparently, America has only so much compassion to spread around. So if we're going to relieve suffering in Oklahoma it is necessary to cause suffering elsewhere, just to even things out.
Also...
Coburn, who intends to retire in 2016, joined his fellow Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe (R) last year in supporting an amendment that would have substantially cut a package of $60 billion dollars intended for reconstruction of the East Coast in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. The measure eventually passed in two parts with most of the Senate Republican caucus in opposition, but not before New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York GOP Reps. Peter King and Michael Grimm offered scathing critiques that their party was abandoning stranded people in the wake of the storm.
Republicans will overwhelmingly support a multibillion dollar aid package for Oklahoma, because it is a red state. On the other hand, Democrats will overwhelmingly support a multibillion dollar aid package for Oklahoma, because they are not hypocritical assholes.
Arts / City Monsoon Season Continues
Posted by David Schmader on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:03 PM
- Jose A Guzman
Following her well-earned triumph on RuPaul's Drag Race, hometown hero and America's New Drag Superstar Jinkx Monsoon continues her media blitz.
Here's a great interview with Jinkx from TheUnderwearExpert.com, where she holds forth on her tucking regimen and her favorite member of the RPDG pit crew, the tattooed-and-mustached Shawn Morales:
He’s actually such a sweet guy and has such a good sense of humor. Also, he is of the au naturale persuasion—he doesn’t wear deodorant. So at times when I was feeling really homesick for Seattle, I would just stand next to him and take it in and feel like I was at home for a moment, because he has that kind of Seattle-grunge-funk about him. He was my favorite just for the fact of sense memory purposes!
And here's a Stranger Suggest about Jinkx's upcoming Seattle show The Vaudevillians—about two old-timey variety stars who were frozen in an avalanche, have been thawed by global warming, and are trying to sing, dance, and joke their way back into the 21st century—which will soon be travelling to NYC.
Finally, here's a Facebook page devoted to getting Jinkx Monsoon to host Saturday Night Live.
Stay tuned for news of Jinkx's EGOT and appointment to the Supreme Court.
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