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Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:15:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss For the Love of Miaow http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/for-the-love-of-miaow http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/for-the-love-of-miaow Derek Erdman <p>Hailing from Manchester, <strong>the mostly overlooked Miaow</strong> started in 1984, was lead by the square-jawed Cath Carroll, covered by Unrest and then vanished four years later. Lately, I've been just been repeatedly listening to "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp4bSzMaaxs">When It All Comes Down (Catechism)</a>," a longer version of the below track, which was also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPzh-BbIaB0">done by Unrest</a> on their <em>A Factory Record</em> 7".</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/45f9/1371668458-miaow.jpeg" alt="MIAOW.jpeg" title="" width="500" height="499" /></div></p> <p>Here's also their excellent first single from 1985, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqY9YQw6j5E">"Belle Vue"</a> and the b-side from the 12" version, "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8brJp2u3DM">Grocer's Devil Daughter</a>," which is <em>pretty good</em>.</p> <p>The original video for "When It All Comes Down" is rather excellent, lo-fi and clumsy:</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vaXejIruszo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>After Miaow, Cath Carroll joined <strong>the Hit Parade</strong> and released some solo records, one on Unrest's Teen Beat label. She also married <strong>ex-Big Black guitar player Santiago Durango</strong>, but it appears that they've since divorced. Info on the other members is scant. </p> <p>Another nice thing is that original pressings of Miaow's records <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Miaow">are fairly affordable</a>, if you're the type of person interested in such a thing.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/for-the-love-of-miaow#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060825&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Love http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/for-the-love-of-miaow?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060825&id=comments 0 For the Love of Miaow Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:09:02 -0700 The Stranger Jobs-Killing Socialism Drives Seattle's Unemployment Rate Down to 4.7 Percent http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/jobs-killing-socialism-drives-seattles-unemployment-rate-down-to-47-percent http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/jobs-killing-socialism-drives-seattles-unemployment-rate-down-to-47-percent Goldy <p>The Seattle metro area's unemployment rate plunged to <strong>4.7 percent</strong> in May, according to the latest monthly report (<a href="https://fortress.wa.gov/esd/employmentdata/docs/economic-reports/monthly-employment-report-2013-05.pdf">PDF</a>) released today by the Washington State Employment Security Department. Economists generally consider five percent unemployment to be "full employment" (although that's easy for an <em>employed</em> economist to say).</p> <p>That represents a significant decline from April's 5.1 percent rate at the same time the region's resident labor force grew 0.7 percent. Statewide the unemployment rate fell from 7.0 percent in April to 6.8 percent in May. The national unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 7.6 percent.</p> <p>Of course there are reasons to question the accuracy and volatility of such monthly statistics, but as an apples to apples comparison it is clear that Seattle's economy is doing considerably better than much of the rest of the nation. <strong>So what's to explain our relatively tight labor market?</strong> Clearly our war on cars, our jobs-killing paid sick leave ordinance, our high property taxes, and our incompetent, ornery mayor.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/jobs-killing-socialism-drives-seattles-unemployment-rate-down-to-47-percent#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060745&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Economy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/jobs-killing-socialism-drives-seattles-unemployment-rate-down-to-47-percent?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060745&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:06:47 -0700 The Stranger Tonight in Underage: Street Eaters, Tender Hips, Acapulco Lips http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/tonight-in-underage-street-eaters-tender-hips-acapulco-lips http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/tonight-in-underage-street-eaters-tender-hips-acapulco-lips Emily Nokes <p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 400px; height: 42px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2565806413/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/t=1/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://streeteaters.com/album/street-eaters">Street Eaters by Street Eaters</a></iframe></p> <p>(<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/heartland/Location?oid=15532452">Heartland</a>)<a href="http://streeteaters.com"> Street Eaters</a> have been hastening the end of civilization for a few years now. The duo's nervy, chunky, and <strong>politically charged punk</strong> rock tells tales about the brutality and traumas of modern life, often sounding like a less artsy Death from Above 1979. On their latest self-titled EP, the Bay Area band looks up from the carnage and takes a turn toward self-reflection. One standout song, "Window," pauses and asks, "Where did my freedom go, my naiveté?/What good has wisdom brought me?" These are questions that all maturing troublemakers have to ask themselves at some point. But amid all the chaos and declamations, <strong>cascading harmonies</strong> and a vigorous energy seem to shout out that, yes, there is beauty and truth in the detritus, and it's certainly worth fighting for. Elsewhere on the bill, count on <a href="http://acapulcolips.bandcamp.com">Acapulco Lips</a> to fully usher in our budding summer. The local band has expertly crafted roaring and hook-heavy garage-pop songs about leaving you in the dust—but trust me, it's in your best interest to keep up. <em>With <a href="http://tenderhips.bandcamp.com">Tender Hips</a>. </em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/tonight-in-underage-street-eaters-tender-hips-acapulco-lips#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060363&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Hey You Fucking Kids! http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/tonight-in-underage-street-eaters-tender-hips-acapulco-lips?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060363&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:44:56 -0700 The Stranger Our Unhelpful Guide to Electing Seattle's Next Mayor: Mike McGinn http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/our-unhelpful-guide-to-electing-seattles-next-mayor-mike-mcginn http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/our-unhelpful-guide-to-electing-seattles-next-mayor-mike-mcginn Dominic Holden <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:362px; background-color:transparent; border:none;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/a1da/1371666657-mcginn_by_rathke.jpg" alt="mcginn_by_rathke.jpg" title="" width="350" height="477" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit">Kathryn Rathke</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div><strong>Mike McGinn</strong><br />Mayor of Seattle<br />"I am trying to speed up the construction of light rail, but the motherfucking city council is run by a bunch of obstructionist assholes."</p> <p><strong>Greatest strength</strong>: His frankness often alienates politicos accustomed to getting their asses kissed.</p> <p><strong>Greatest weakness</strong>: His frankness often alienates politicos accustomed to getting their asses kissed.</p> <p><strong>Medium weakness</strong>: Hot wings. Also, under his watch, the Feds sued the city for police routinely using excessive force. McGinn may talk a good game—about keeping police in check, building light rail faster, and bringing back the Sonics—but he often fails to deliver.</p> <p><strong>Spirit animal</strong>: Brown bear in bike shorts.</p> <p><strong>Base supporters</strong>: Environmentalists, youths, cops, cyclists, light-rail supporters.</p> <p><strong>Little-known fact</strong>: A car blows a tire every time you rub his belly.</p> <p><strong>Vision for Seattle's future</strong>: Light rail in every home!</p> <p><strong>Biggest enemies</strong>: The Seattle City Council, the <em>Seattle Times</em>.</p> <p><strong>Key endorsements</strong>: 37th District Democrats, Cascade Bicycle Club, Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, Sierra Club, IBEW Local 46, Laborers Local 1239.</p> <p><strong>Amount raised</strong>: $236,069.</p> <p><strong>Latest polling</strong>: 22 percent.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428">READ ABOUT ALL NINE CANDIDATES >></a></p> Who's the Boss? http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/our-unhelpful-guide-to-electing-seattles-next-mayor-mike-mcginn?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060473&id=comments 0 Our Unhelpful Guide to Electing Seattle's Next Mayor: Mike McGinn Kathryn Rathke Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:36:12 -0700 The Stranger "A PSA for Homophobic Evangelical Christians Who Feel Like They're Being Bullied by Gays" http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/a-psa-for-homophobic-evangelical-christians-who-feel-like-theyre-being-bullied-by-gays http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/a-psa-for-homophobic-evangelical-christians-who-feel-like-theyre-being-bullied-by-gays David Schmader <p>Featuring Rachel Maddow, George Takei, Alan Cumming, and Dan Savage.</p> <p><div style="background-color:#000000;width:520px;"><div style="padding:4px;"><iframe src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/embed/mgid:cms:video:thedailyshow.com:427262" width="512" height="288" frameborder="0"></iframe><p style="text-align:left;background-color:#FFFFFF;padding:4px;margin-top:4px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><b><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-june-17-2013/exclusive---a-psa-for-homophobic-evangelical-christians-who-feel-like-they-re-being-bullied-by-gays">The Daily Show with Jon Stewart</a></b><br/>Get More: <a href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a>,<a href='http://www.comedycentral.com/indecision'>Indecision Political Humor</a>,<a href='http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow'>The Daily Show on Facebook</a></p></div></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/a-psa-for-homophobic-evangelical-christians-who-feel-like-theyre-being-bullied-by-gays#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060677&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> TV http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/a-psa-for-homophobic-evangelical-christians-who-feel-like-theyre-being-bullied-by-gays?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060677&id=comments 4 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:34:08 -0700 The Stranger "Did You Say 'Pussy'?" http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/did-you-say-pussy http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/did-you-say-pussy David Schmader <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:190px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2496/1371666049-screen_shot_2013-06-19_at_11.19.02_am.png" alt="Screen_shot_2013-06-19_at_11.19.02_AM.png" title="" width="178" height="200" /></div></p> <p>An experience of lingering amazement, in this week's <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-anonymous/Content?oid=17059469">I, Anonymous</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>Thank you for a moment of cognitive dissonance. I once heard a jazz musician explain in an interview why he liked to play abrupt dissonances in the middle of tender ballads: It was his way of setting a bright-orange billboard against a blue sky. It felt like that while you and I were messing around in that dark cubby in that sex club, with my hands all over your nice big furry chest, and my tongue finding your left nipple, when you whispered, <strong>"You're making my pussy wet."</strong> Not a shock, really, just "Huh?" And then you pulled my hand down behind your balls (nice balls, too!), where my fingers felt an unexpected little valley, a small, perfectly aligned slot. And then you said you were nervous and pulled up your pants, and I gave you a quick kiss on the lips, and we both smiled, and we separated.</p> <p>For a full day, I've been trying to think of the right label. Are you an FTM with a very convincing dick? A hermaphrodite? <strong>I have never touched a pussy, so I don't know what a pussy is supposed to feel like.</strong> But I realize it doesn't matter. I've come across guys before in sex clubs (literally) with unexpected body forms—missing fingers, green hair. They don't need labels. They are awesome being exactly who they are. That's how it goes in an anonymous sex club. Each guy is unique, and so is each experience. Thanks for an interesting one.</p></blockquote> <p>Join the fun in <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/i-anonymous/Content?oid=17059469">the comments</a>!</p> Sex Life LGBTQITSLFA http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/did-you-say-pussy?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060439&id=comments 0 "Did You Say 'Pussy'?" Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:24:38 -0700 The Stranger Russell Brand Fillets Morning Joe Newscasters: Who's the Bigger Dick Here? http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/russell-brand-fillets-morning-joe-newscasters-whos-the-bigger-dick-here http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/russell-brand-fillets-morning-joe-newscasters-whos-the-bigger-dick-here Grant Brissey <p>To be fair, said newscasters are basically laying down and asking to be filleted. At one point, one of them apparently forgets Brand's name, calling him Willie Brand (who you may remember as the dude who got court martialed for his alleged role in the deaths of two prisoners in Afghanistan). Another admits to being terrified, and the dude newscaster keeps talking about the guest like he's not there. It's all somewhat reminiscent of <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/04/whos-the-bigger-dick-here">this recent Jesse Eisenberg interview</a>, which, OF COURSE, brings us to a Legally Binding Slog Poll™ that is only a slight variation of Paul Constant's Legally Binding Slog Poll™ regarding the Eisenberg interview. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="500" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ADJhErmJuoQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/russell-brand-fillets-morning-joe-newscasters-whos-the-bigger-dick-here#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055079&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> TV http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/russell-brand-fillets-morning-joe-newscasters-whos-the-bigger-dick-here?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055079&id=comments 7 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:22:28 -0700 The Stranger Colleen Weighs Her Heart on New Album http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/colleen-weighs-her-heart-on-new-album http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/colleen-weighs-her-heart-on-new-album Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:312px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c403/1371597251-colleen.jpg" alt="Photo by Iker Spozio" title="Photo by Iker Spozio" width="300" height="300" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Second Language</li><li class="imageCaption">Photo by Iker Spozio</li></ul></div> It's been years since I've heard the name <strong>Colleen</strong>, the musical pseudonym of French composer and multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott (her signature instrument is the Baroque, cello-like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol">viola da gamba</a> or viol). Consequently, I thought she'd disappeared. </p> <p>In 2011, my friend Pat Thomas gave me an issue of <em>Ptolemaic Terrascope</em> that he had edited, and her name entered my consciousness again when I read John Cavanaugh's 2007 interview, in which he writes, "Although her recordings have used modern looping technology, they possess a warmth which harks back to a much earlier age of sonic experimentation, yet without becoming retro in feel." </p> <p>On the basis of her fourth full-length, <strong><em>The Weighing of the Heart</em></strong>, Cavanaugh's description still applies, and Schott hasn't missed a step during the six years since her last release, <em>Les Ondes Silencieuses</em>. If anything, she's added new moves, namely layers of English-language lyrics. Rarely has an instrumental artist made a more graceful transition to vocal work, aligning her with <strong>Juana Molina</strong>, <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/03/19/so-i-sing-a-song-of-love-to">Julia Holter</a>, and <strong>Steve Reich</strong> in the way she uses her voice as part of a larger whole.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Yxw1DtlN0jA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Part of the reason for her virtual disappearance owes to Schott's move from Paris to San Sebastián with her boyfriend, <a href="http://www.ikerspozio.net/">Iker Spozio</a>, who provides the lyrical artwork for her recordings. Furthermore, she told David McKenna of <a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/12296-rockfort-colleen-interview">The Quietus</a> that she fell out of love with music for a spell, but she eventually found her way back, in part by pursuing other creative endeavors, such as sculpture and ceramics. Of late, she's also been listening to a lot of Jamaican and African music from the 1970s, like <strong>Lee "Scratch" Perry</strong> and <strong>Francis Bebey</strong> (find her favorites <a href="http://fracturedair.com/2013/05/24/whatever-you-love-you-are-cecile-schott-colleen/">here</a>). </p> <p>At first, I couldn't hear it on the new record, but those influences gradually assert themselves in subtle ways, like the polyrhythmic drumming on "Breaking Up the Earth." As more specific influences, she cites Brigitte Fontaine, <strong>Arthur Russell</strong>, and <strong>Moondog</strong>, particularly <em>Moondog 2</em>, which she wrote about in <a href="<a href="http://www.adequacy.net/2013/05/artists-on-albums-aoa37-colleen-on-moondog-2/">this piece</a>. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/62e1/1371651667-colleen.jpg" alt="colleen.jpg" title="" width="475" height="356" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Second Language</li><li class="imageCaption">Colleen in Spain</li></ul></div></p> <p>While Schott recorded her first three records for The Leaf Label, her latest appears on <a href="http://www.secondlanguagemusic.com/index.html">Second Language Records</a>, which has released music by <strong>Vashti Bunyan</strong> and <strong>Òlöf Arnalds</strong>, who share her interest in the natural world, but Leaf is continuing to promote her catalog (all of her previous recordings, including the 2006 mini-album, <em>Colleen et les Boîtes à Musique</em>, are available at <a href="http://theleaflabel.net/buy/colleen-bundle/">this link</a>). Over the past few weeks, Schott has also been playing sellout gigs across the European continent, so I think it's fair to say that <strong>she hasn't been forgotten</strong>.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HO_LvC9IKNQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;">The Weighing of the Heart <em>is out now (orig release date: May 13). </em></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/colleen-weighs-her-heart-on-new-album#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17034375&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> New Releases http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/colleen-weighs-her-heart-on-new-album?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17034375&id=comments 0 Colleen Weighs Her Heart on New Album Photo by Iker Spozio Second Language Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:22:15 -0700 The Stranger "The Age of Leisure Is Dead, and the Art of Conversation Is Dying" http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-age-of-leisure-is-dead-and-the-art-of-conversation-is-dying http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-age-of-leisure-is-dead-and-the-art-of-conversation-is-dying Paul Constant <p>I try hard not to link to XKCD every time a new one is published, but you really ought to <a href="http://xkcd.com/1227/">bookmark today's cartoon</a> and revisit it every time you hear someone complaining about how today's technology is destroying the brains of the etc. and society is tumbling down the etc.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-age-of-leisure-is-dead-and-the-art-of-conversation-is-dying#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060431&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> History http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-age-of-leisure-is-dead-and-the-art-of-conversation-is-dying?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060431&id=comments 7 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:20:33 -0700 The Stranger Trans* Pride http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/17060886/trans-pride http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/17060886/trans-pride Dominic Holden by Dominic Holden <p>Our fair state provides some of the country’s strongest antidiscrimination laws for <b>transgender people</b>—which is great. But cultural discrimination is a more tenacious bug. Even in Seattle, trans people are routinely subject to contemptuous stares, cruelly ignorant medical care, hate crimes, and derision from their gay brethren. The remedy is <b>visibility and support</b>. In solidarity with our trans brothers, sisters, and siblings of queer gender, trans and nontrans folk should show solidarity at Trans* Pride. We may have passed gay marriage, but our <b>fight for equality is not over</b>. (<em>Assemble at 5 pm, Broadway and E Pine St, march at 6 pm to Cal Anderson Park, party till 10 pm, <a href="http://transprideseattle.org">transprideseattle.org</a></em>)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/17060886/trans-pride#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060886&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Suggests/Other http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/17060886/trans-pride?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060886&id=comments 0 Trans* Pride Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0700 The Stranger 11th Annual Rosé Revival http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/16973949/11th-annual-rosandeacute-revival http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/16973949/11th-annual-rosandeacute-revival Bethany Jean Clement Drink delicious pink wine while watching the sun set over the sparkling Puget Sound. Yes! by Bethany Jean Clement <p>This festival of rosé (yay!) takes place at Ray’s Boathouse, with a <b>sparkling Puget Sound sunset view</b> that’ll knock your socks off (though hopefully you’ll be wearing sandals). It’s the ideal setting for drinking delicious pink wine (and salmon-colored, too; they’re the best) from more than <b>30 Washington wineries</b>, with summery white wines and snacks, too. If the weather is crummy, keep drinking and take solace in the knowledge that it’s a fundraiser for <b>Save Our Wild Salmon</b>. (<i>Ray’s Boathouse, 6049 Seaview Ave NW, tickets at <a href="http://wildsalmon.org/events/upcoming-events">wildsalmon.org/events/upcoming-events</a>, 6–9 pm, $35</i>)</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/16973949/11th-annual-rosandeacute-revival#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16973949&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Suggests/Food & Drink http://www.thestranger.com/suggests/16973949/11th-annual-rosandeacute-revival?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16973949&id=comments 3 11th Annual Rosé Revival Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:00:00 -0700 The Stranger The Genetic Spirit of Bob Marley http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/the-genetic-spirit-of-bob-marley http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/the-genetic-spirit-of-bob-marley Charles Mudede <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="500" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_GZlJGERbvE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>(<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/marymoor-park/Location?oid=24816">Marymoor Park</a>) I do not much care for <a href="http://www.stephenmarleymusic.com">Stephen Marley</a>'s new dubstep remix of his father's classic "Buffalo Soldier" on <em>Legend Remixed</em> because he employs the <strong>American version of dubstep</strong> and not the earlier and more dubby (meaning much closer to the original Kingston dub) British version. But I will always have the deepest respect for his brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damian_Marley">Damian</a>'s massive 2005 tune "Welcome to Jamrock." Indeed, I have often wondered if it can be considered the last great song by Bob Marley, because it is here that the genes he deposited in Damian are almost fully expressed. The <strong>mightier-than-god toasting</strong>, the deep dub-space between the beats, the elongated but hiphop-heavy bass line, the powerful political message—it all sounds as if the genetic spirit of Bob Marley had taken command of Damian's body and successfully communicated through the 21st century cultural medium that had conditioned it. The rastaman possessed the rastaman. <em>Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley & Stephen "Ragga" Marley with Ghetto Youths Crew, and the Green. </em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/the-genetic-spirit-of-bob-marley#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060001&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Tonight http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/06/19/the-genetic-spirit-of-bob-marley?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17060001&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:58:02 -0700 The Stranger Study Guide Questions for The Stranger, Volume 22, Issue 42 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/study-guide-questions-for-the-stranger-volume-22-issue-42 http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/study-guide-questions-for-the-stranger-volume-22-issue-42 <p><em>We're observing <strong>Slog silence from now until 11 a.m.</strong> while we have an editorial meeting, but look—we made an <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/IssueArchives?oid=17053259"> entire paper's worth</a> of stuff for you!</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.thestranger.com"><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/cce8/1371657278-cover-400.jpg" alt="cover-400.jpg" title="" width="400" height="553" /></div></a></p> <p><strong>1.</strong> In a lengthy piece, BRENDAN KILEY writes about how <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/once-more-with-feeling/Content?oid=17055929">boring theatrical promotion photographs are</a>. How many people in the world could this "problem" possibly affect? Be specific and show your math.</p> <p><strong>2a.</strong> Is the news team's <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428">guide to the mayoral candidates</a></p> <p>(a) as flippant as</p> <p>(b) more flippant than</p> <p>(c) way more flippant than you feared it would be?</p> <p><strong>2b.</strong> As an exercise in persuasive letter-writing, please compose a 300-word <a href="mailto:dholden@thestranger.com">e-mail to news editor DOMINIC HOLDEN</a> explaining how this jokey mock-fest of a guide is unhelpful at best and downright harmful to political discourse at worst. Remember to use your vocabulary words, and try not to be too lecturing in tone!</p> <p><strong>3.</strong> In her column Never Heard of 'Em, in which she reviews music she's never heard before, ANNA MINARD <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/never-heard-of-em/Content?oid=17056195">reviews the Clash's <em>The Clash</em></a>. At what point does she become just a naive idiot sitcom character, like Rose from <em>The Golden Girls</em> or Balki from <em>Perfect Strangers</em>? Has she already passed that point? Support your claim with examples.</p> <p><strong>4.</strong> BETHANY JEAN CLEMENT <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pig-head-situation/Content?oid=17055059">eats pig head and cow lips</a> in this week's restaurant review. Between this and news intern CALLAN BERRY's recent Slog post about eating foie gras, do you think that <em>The Stranger</em>'s food section is trying to gain lucrative page views as a shock-eating contest designed to outrage vegans? Or is there still a single iota of culinary curiosity at play behind these "investigations"?</p> <p><strong>5.</strong> During <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/meet-your-merrymaker/Content?oid=17055908">a long interview with Sean Nelson</a>, music writer DAVE SEGAL does manage to mention that Nelson worked at <em>The Stranger</em>, yet doesn't manage to say that he worked at the paper for 10 years. Does the fact that Nelson picked up a full-time paycheck at <em>The Stranger</em> for a decade change your perception of this piece? Shouldn't it?</p> <p><strong>6.</strong> CHARLES MUDEDE published four pieces in this week's <em>Stranger</em> (<a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/an-oversimplification-of-her-beauty-the-cinema-of-the-black-weirdo/Content?oid=17055918">here</a>, <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/nothing-but-beautiful/Content?oid=17056191">here</a>, <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkding-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=17059794">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/festive/Content?oid=17059816">here</a>). How many of those pieces did you read? Use fractions.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/study-guide-questions-for-the-stranger-volume-22-issue-42#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059485&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Housekeeping http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/study-guide-questions-for-the-stranger-volume-22-issue-42?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059485&id=comments 6 Study Guide Questions for <i>The Stranger</i>, Volume 22, Issue 42 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:00:28 -0700 The Stranger The Wednesday Morning News http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-wednesday-morning-news http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-wednesday-morning-news Goldy <p><strong>I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.</strong> Just days before an expected Supreme Court decision, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has become <a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/lisa-murkowski-becomes-third-gop-senator-to-support">the third Republican US senator to come out in support of gay marriage</a>. Back in March, Murkowski said her views were "evolving," making her the rare GOPer to voice support for that controversial theory too.</p> <p><strong>Not a donut.</strong> Speaking at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate, President Obama called for a renewed effort to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/19/obama-to-renew-calls-for-nuclear-reductions/">reduce the world's nuclear weapon stockpile</a>.</p> <p><strong>And after all we've done for them.</strong> Angry over the US negotiating directly with the Taliban, the Afghan government backed away from peace talks and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/world/asia/taliban-kill-4-americans-after-seeking-peace-talks.html?hp&_r=0">broke off talks with the US</a> over future military cooperation. </p> <p><strong>Apparently lacking anything more important to do than pass an unconstitutional bill that has zero chance in the Senate, the Republican controlled US House votes to ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization.</strong> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-usa-congress-abortion-idUSBRE95H1GU20130619">Fuckers</a>.</p> <p><strong>Pro-Life!</strong> Anti-abortion group Ohio Personhood, which is struggling to get an amendment on Ohio's ballot that would define life as starting at conception, is <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/19/2178971/personhood-ohio-assault-rifle-fundraiser/">auctioning off assault rifles</a> and ammunition to support its pro-life campaign. </p> <p><strong>No wonder Republicans are so afraid of voter fraud.</strong> A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to voter fraud for <a href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/virginia-man-forged-thousands-of-signatures-on-newt?ref=fpb">forging thousands of names</a> on petitions to qualify Republican Newt Gingrich for the 2012 Virginia presidential primary ballot.</p> <p><strong>I blame Boeing's labor unions!</strong> Orders at the Paris Airshow topped $100 billion after European discount flyer Ryanair finalized an order for <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-air-show-day-three-idUSBRE95I0SK20130619">175 Boeing 737-800s worth $15.6 billion</a>. Ryanair is also working on a deal to purchase 200 737 MAX aircraft worth $20 billion. With news like that, no doubt Boeing will be forced to move more jobs out of Washington and into low-wage states.</p> <p><strong>Just in time for Obamacare.</strong> The American Medical Association has voted to officially declare <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-obesity-disease-ama-20130619,0,6060310.story">obesity a "disease."</a></p> <p><strong>Never shake hands with a Venezuelan.</strong> Kimberly-Clark is investing $37 million in Venezuela in order to ease that nation's growing <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-venezuela-kimberlyclark-idUSBRE95H0M820130618">toilet paper shortage</a>.</p> <p><strong>And yet it takes four decades to build a light rail line. </strong> Just weeks after its dramatic collapse, a temporary replacement bridge has <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Traffic-returns-to-Wash-bridge-that-collapsed-4609163.php">opened to I-5 traffic</a> across the Skagit River.</p> <p><strong>Take that, Seattle Center.</strong> New York City has just installed 25 <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/18/new-yorkers-get-free-power-in-the-parks/">free solar-powered cell phone charging stations</a> in parks and other public spaces.</p> <p><strong>Small business is the engine that drives our economy.</strong> A 20-year-old Seattle woman has been arrested for <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Charge-Lady-thug-pimped-kids-in-Kent-Seattle-4608453.php">pimping her 16-year-old friend</a> and another teen through ads placed on Backpage.com. </p> <p><strong>Because we all know he was buried in cement in the end zone at the Meadowlands.</strong> The FBI has ended <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/19/jimmy-hoffa-remains-search-day-3/2437417/">a search for Jimmy Hoffa's body</a> in a field near Detroit. </p> <p>And finally, well, why spoil it for you?</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="500" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ganRbr-WBiI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-wednesday-morning-news#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059060&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> News http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/the-wednesday-morning-news?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059060&id=comments 24 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:56:31 -0700 The Stranger "Ladies can eat me and call it a juice cleanse." http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/ladies-can-eat-me-and-call-it-a-juice-cleanse http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/ladies-can-eat-me-and-call-it-a-juice-cleanse Jen Graves <p><a href="http://m.vice.com/en_ca/read/im-sick-of-ladies">Sarah Nicole Prickett has a piece in <em>Vice</em></a> about what we call each other. Do you say "ladies"? Yeah, she's not into that.</p> <p>I say "ladies." When I use it, I'm mocking all the things she sees the word as actually signifying, but so what. We share the goal of hoping that everybody will do more than "knowing about 'privilege' and 'slut-shaming' without having the faintest fucking idea how to weaponize privilege or <em>be</em> a slut." If you rail against slut-shaming but haven't tried being a slut, you really might give it a shot; works wonders for the soul.</p> <p>I don't like <em>Vice</em>. (<a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-vice-removes-fashion-spread-of-female-authors-committing-suicide-20130618,0,2649718.story">Hi.</a>) I'm skeeved by the subtitle of her piece, "Hardcore Values," or the testosterone driving her line, "Women kill." Don't tell me to be a badass, motherfucker. (Hey bros! Catfight!)</p> <p>Still, she points importantly to the fact that mainstream media, as always, sucks: TV shows use "girls" or "wife" in the title, but almost never "women."</p> <p>And another thing I do want to say: I love the fact that, unlike even five years ago, women are rocking the internet with unapologetic writings <em>just about being women</em>. There's a base level out there of gender conversation and confrontation that feels unprecedented in my adult life.</p> <p><a href="http://m.vice.com/en_ca/read/im-sick-of-ladies">Here again is Prickett's piece</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/ladies-can-eat-me-and-call-it-a-juice-cleanse#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055052&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> The Ladies http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/ladies-can-eat-me-and-call-it-a-juice-cleanse?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055052&id=comments 9 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:52:38 -0700 The Stranger No Right to the World City http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/no-right-to-the-world-city http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/no-right-to-the-world-city Charles Mudede <p>There are two types of cities that really matter: the world city and the global city. New York City is an example of a world city; Seattle of a global city. The world city is defined by the size and composition of its population; the global city is defined by the extent of its connections to international markets. The world city is what always the global city desires to become. The world city has character; the global city doesn't—in appearance and function, it is to the network of capital accumulation and distribution what a circuit board is to the system of a computer. </p> <p>During the booming 90s, the cores of world cities were gentrified. In our post-crash times, they are <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/a096d1d0-d2ec-11e2-aac2-00144feab7de.html#axzz2WTkLrPTI">being plutocratized.</a> Only the very rich can afford to live in the centers of NYC, Paris, London, and Hong Kong. As for the upper parts of the middle class, they are moving out of the world city to either suburbs or to global cities. But as all global cities want, one, to become world cities and, two, are caught in the process of gentrification, we can assume plutocratization to also be their terminal point. <br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2796/1371654737-img_20130614_051147.jpg" alt="IMG_20130614_051147.jpg" title="" width="400" height="400" /></div><br />.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/no-right-to-the-world-city#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059030&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Architecture http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/no-right-to-the-world-city?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059030&id=comments 7 No Right to the World City Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:30:23 -0700 The Stranger "Janet Maslin does not shop in the same grocery store I do." http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/janet-maslin-does-not-shop-in-the-same-grocery-store-i-do http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/janet-maslin-does-not-shop-in-the-same-grocery-store-i-do Paul Constant <p><a href="http://therumpus.net/2013/06/the-rumpus-interview-with-jess-walter/">This interview with</a> Washington author <strong>Jess Walter</strong> is the only kind of author interview I like: Long, digressive, and honest. It's probably the best author interview you'll read all month. <a href="http://therumpus.net/2013/06/the-rumpus-interview-with-jess-walter/">Get to it.</a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/janet-maslin-does-not-shop-in-the-same-grocery-store-i-do#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17053971&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Books http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/janet-maslin-does-not-shop-in-the-same-grocery-store-i-do?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17053971&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:12:12 -0700 The Stranger Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/come-out-come-out-whoever-you-are http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/come-out-come-out-whoever-you-are Jen Graves <p>During the Capitol Hill Art Walk last week, I saw this hanging in an unmarked studio in the Pound building. Are you the artist or do you know who is?</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/06/18/1371599974-img_1056.jpg" class="zoomable"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2013/06/18/thumb-1371599974-img_1056.jpg" alt="The purple eyeshadow! Which era Oprah is this?" title="The purple eyeshadow! Which era Oprah is this?" width="500" height="667" /></a><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">The purple eyeshadow! Which era Oprah is this?</li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/come-out-come-out-whoever-you-are#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055043&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Visual Art http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/come-out-come-out-whoever-you-are?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055043&id=comments 4 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:57:03 -0700 The Stranger GOP Congressman: We Have to Ban Abortion Because Fetuses Are Masturbating In There http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/gop-congressman-we-have-to-ban-abortion-because-fetuses-are-masturbating-in-there http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/gop-congressman-we-have-to-ban-abortion-because-fetuses-are-masturbating-in-there Dan Savage <p>So, yeah, <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/18/maddow-points-out-fetal-masturbation-theorist-is-vice-chair-of-houses-health-panel/">about this story</a>...</p> <blockquote><p>Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night noted that Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) was a leading member of a House subcommittee focused on public health and biomedical issues. Burgess said Monday he supported the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act because <strong>male fetuses pleasure themselves as early as 15-weeks after conception</strong>. The bill, which would impose a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, was approved by House Republicans on Tuesday. “It is one thing to be a random Texas congressman, Michael Burgess, saying that we should set laws for everybody in the whole country based on when <strong>he thinks fetuses masturbate</strong>,” Maddow remarked. “But this guy also is in charge of something. The House Republicans took the fetal masturbation theorist and put him in charge of their Subcommittee on Health.”</p></blockquote> <p>I haven't seen the proof. No one has. But for the sake of argument—<em>sigh</em>—let's concede the point: boy fetuses are in there pleasuring themselves. They're rubbing 'em out, one after another. And it's just the boy fetuses because, you know, there aren't any outlets in there where girl fetuses can plug in their itty bitty Hitachi Magic Wands. So! At the same time congressional Republicans are moving to ban abortion because THE BOYS ARE MASTURBATING IN THERE, Republicans in various states are passing laws that require women to submit to medically unnecessary trans-vaginal ultrasounds—against the will of the woman, if necessary, which meets <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/15/government-sanctioned-rape-in-state-virginia-and-texas/">the legal definition of rape</a>. (But whatever! there are boys masturbating in there! Priorities, people!)</p> <p>So, yeah, if boy fetuses are masturbating in there and we're passing laws requiring doctors to take their pictures... and make videoes... of horny boy fetuses and chaste girl fetuses alike... aren't Republicans in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/bob-mcdonnell-virginia-mandatory-ultrasound-bill_n_1327707.html">Virginia</a>, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/michigan_lawmakers_push_transvaginal_ultrasound_bill/">Michigan</a>, <a href="http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2013/06/13/wi-senate-advances-transvaginal-ultrasound-trap-bill/">Wisconsin</a>, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/opinion/sunday/kristof-when-states-abuse-women.html">Texas</a> basically mandating the production of child porn with their trans-vaginal-ultrasound/rape-that-lady laws? At least half the time?</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/gop-congressman-we-have-to-ban-abortion-because-fetuses-are-masturbating-in-there#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17058736&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Panic Politics Sex The Ladies http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/gop-congressman-we-have-to-ban-abortion-because-fetuses-are-masturbating-in-there?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17058736&id=comments 33 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:26:17 -0700 The Stranger Less Than a Quarter of Americans Have Confidence in Newspapers http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/less-than-a-quarter-of-americans-have-confidence-in-newspapers http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/less-than-a-quarter-of-americans-have-confidence-in-newspapers Eli Sanders <p>The low number comes via <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/06/18/majority-of-americans-dont-trust-newspapers-and-television-news">the Gallup poll</a>, which says exactly 23 percent of Americans think newspapers are worth trusting.</p> <blockquote><p>But newspapers don't stand alone. Confidence in television news has also been slipping — it's tied with newspapers this year at 23 percent, which is slightly up from last year's all-time low of 21 percent. Newspapers and television news rank near the bottom of <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/163052/americans-confidence-congress-falls-lowest-record.aspx">a list of 16 "societal institutions,"</a> according to the report. The only institutions television news and newspapers beat out this year are big business, organized labor, health maintenance organizations and Congress. Americans expressed the most confidence in the military, at 76 percent, and small businesses, at 65 percent.</p></blockquote> <p>Well. We can't exactly recreate this poll here on Slog, but we can ask the question this way:</p> <p>[ <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/less-than-a-quarter-of-americans-have-confidence-in-newspapers#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056804&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Media http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/19/less-than-a-quarter-of-americans-have-confidence-in-newspapers?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056804&id=comments 31 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 06:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Once More with Feeling http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/once-more-with-feeling/Content?oid=17055929 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/once-more-with-feeling/Content?oid=17055929 Brendan Kiley How LaRae Lobdell Changed the Way We See Seattle Theater by Brendan Kiley <p><span id="dropcap">T</span>heater press photos can be an editor's nightmare. I can't count the number of times I've reenacted this scene at <em>The Stranger</em>: The print deadline is hours away, and I'm upstairs with the art director, sifting through promotional shots for local productions. We're running multiple reviews that week and have room for only one image—but they're all wretchedly staid, with costumed actors in goofy poses, and about as flattering as fluorescent lighting. There are exceptions (dance photography tends to be better, since dance is so visual to begin with), but even the best plays tend to advertise themselves with photos that look like they were taken at a tackily themed prom.</p> <p>In early 2012, photographer LaRae Lobdell began a one-woman mission to change that. She wanted, in her words, to reinvent "the visual landscape of theater culture." By taking pro bono portraits of actors, writers, directors, and designers, as well as more conceptual production shots—capturing a mood instead of just another put-on-your-costume-and-stand-over-there moment—she's altered the way we see Seattle performers. Her project has been so successful that, starting this week, ACT Theater is hosting an exhibition of more than 200 of her photographs, all of them taken in the last year and a half.</p> <p>Lobdell grew up on a subsistence farm in Eastern Washington and was mostly homeschooled, but she found her way to photography via community college. She wound up in Seattle and set up shop as a wedding photographer. Eventually, she got bored—plus, she said, "I wanted my summers back"—and started looking for a personal project to get her out of the wedding rut. Around the same time, a friend began introducing her to Seattle's theater crowd. Lobdell, who describes herself as an introvert, was hooked on the outsize personalities and dynamism of the people she was meeting, but dismayed at the sterility of their marketing photos.</p> <p>"Most of those images could've been shot any year, anywhere," she said last week, sitting in her sunny studio across the street from Gas Works Park. "There's no intrigue." So she began to offer her services, first shooting for <em>White Hot</em> at West of Lenin, and quickly built new relationships—with Washington Ensemble Theater, ACT, Intiman, and others—from there.</p> <p>"She started pretty insular, with who we think of as already visible in the Seattle theater community," said Caitlin Sullivan of the Satori Group, a performance ensemble that has been photographed by Lobdell. "But she has reached out in interesting ways—I've watched her expand her gaze and begin to follow smaller companies and develop longer-term relationships with artists she's interested in."</p> <p>Lobdell's ability to evoke a show's aesthetic was refreshing for newspapers, too. Just a few months after starting her project, she was being prominently and regularly featured in <em>The Stranger</em>, the <em>Seattle Times</em>, and elsewhere. "The secret sauce for her is taking the time to get to know people and shoot them in an environment that reflects their personality," said AJ Epstein, proprietor of West of Lenin. "She very, very quickly became the 'it girl' of Seattle performing-arts photographers. She went from nobody knowing who she was to everybody knowing who she was in a matter of weeks."</p> <p>Lobdell's project has also paid unexpected dividends: While taking pictures of artists in Intiman's summer festival last year, she got a few minutes to photograph Dan Savage, who was in the middle of directing his musical <em>Miracle!</em> at the time. A few months later, she got an e-mail from his publishers—they wanted to use one of her photos for the cover of Savage's new book. As Lobdell's project demonstrates, there's really no point in waiting to be invited to do something. Sometimes it's best to just do it. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/once-more-with-feeling/Content?oid=17055929#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055929&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Features/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/once-more-with-feeling/Content?oid=17055929&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055929&id=comments 0 Once More with Feeling brings a dextrous, knowing innocence to many of his roles, something between vaudeville and Beckett—as Lobdell captures with this wide-eyed look and those kittens. He’ll appear in <em>Waiting for Godot</em> at the Seattle Fringe Festival this fall. Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Who’s the Boss? http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428 Goldy An Unhelpful Guide to Electing Seattle's Next Mayor by Goldy <style>div#articleRight{display:none;}</style> <style>div#communityScroller{display:none;}</style> <p><em>Illustrations by Kathryn Rathke</em></p> <p><span id="dropcap">B</span>y this time next month, you'll have a ballot packed with all nine candidates running for mayor. The top two vote-getters in the summer primary election will advance to a head-to-head race in November.</p> <p>Before you vote, many of you will study the official voters' guide—and then <em>The Stranger</em>'s voters' guide that comes out on July 17. You will carefully compare their positions with your own values. Such responsible citizenry requires the most thorough reporting available on each candidate's positions—and if that's what you're looking for, stop reading.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c246/newslead-mcginn.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Mike McGinn</b></div> <p>Mayor of Seattle</p> <p>"I am trying to speed up the construction of light rail, but the motherfucking city council is run by a bunch of obstructionist assholes."</p> <p><b>Greatest strength:</b> His frankness often alienates politicos accustomed to getting their asses kissed.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> His frankness often alienates politicos accustomed to getting their asses kissed.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Hot wings. Also, under his watch, the Feds sued the city for police routinely using excessive force. McGinn may talk a good game—about keeping police in check, building light rail faster, and bringing back the Sonics—but he often fails to deliver.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Brown bear in bike shorts.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Environmentalists, youths, cops, cyclists, light-rail supporters.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> A car blows a tire every time you rub his belly.</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> Light rail in every home!</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> The Seattle City Council, the <em>Seattle Times</em>.</p> <p><b><em>Key endorsements:</em></b> <em>37th District Democrats, Cascade Bicycle Club, Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, Sierra Club, IBEW Local 46, Laborers Local 1239.</em></p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $236,069.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 22 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/e426/newslead-murray.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Ed Murray</b></div> <p>State Senator (43rd District)</p> <p>"I want to be Seattle's first gay mayor, and I'll sink as low as necessary to win."</p> <p><b>Greatest Strength:</b> Playing dirty. There's already a pro-Murray PAC to smear his opponents, and, as he told the <em>Seattle Weekly</em> last week, Murray expects this to be "the ugliest campaign Seattle has ever seen" if he can make it through the primary election. He'll also play up his ability to bring people together in Olympia, with examples such as approving gay marriage and funding the most expensive freeway projects in the state. In contrast, Mayor McGinn has never unified politicians around building freeways.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Murray's got limited knowledge of city issues. He may play up being Seattle's first gay mayor, but gays don't need <em>gay</em> light rail.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Prone to fits of pique.</p> <p><b>Biggest supporters:</b> Wealthy homosexuals.</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> His own deep-seated insecurities.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> RuPaul dressed as Harvey Milk.</p> <p><b>Campaign theme song:</b> "Gaston."</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> A collaborative, grown-up, utopian dreamscape—once he's finished running "the ugliest campaign Seattle has ever seen."</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> The 34th, 36th, 43rd, and 46th District Democrats.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $224,450.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 15 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6350/newslead-peter.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Peter Steinbrueck</div> <p>Former Seattle City Council Member</p> <p>"I don't oppose density—and I'm not a NIMBY—I just want it done right, in someone else's neighborhood."</p> <p><b>Greatest strength:</b> He's got name recognition as the scion of the Pike Place Market's savior and the devotion of neighborhood activists who hope Steinbrueck will protect them from the scourge of density and a functional mass-transit system.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Everyone's still pissed at him for chickening out on running last time.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Rachel the pig.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> NIMBYs, mossbacks, Daddy's friends.</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> The mid-1970s.</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> Developers, light-rail supporters, progress.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> King County Democrats; 11th and 46th District Democrats.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $115,999.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 17 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/b52e/newslead-marymartin.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Mary Martin</div> <p>Socialist Worker</p> <p>"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."</p> <p><b>How she can win:</b> Russian and Cuban forces invade the United States and viciously round up the inhabitants of Seattle.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> A group of teens, led by a young Patrick Swayze, escape to the hills and launch a counterattack against the befuddled Cuban commander.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> America's lack of class consciousness.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Fidel Castro.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Some guy named Joe.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> Best known for her role as Peter Pan, Martin is also the mother of actor Larry Hagman, who she gave birth to at the age of 18.</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> Havana.</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> Indifference.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> Some guy named Joe.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $0.00 (money enslaves the proletariat to its capitalist masters).</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 3 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/097e/newslead-harrell.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Bruce Harrell</div> <p>Seattle City Council Member</p> <p>"I was born in Seattle. I will probably die in Bellevue."</p> <p><b>How he can win:</b> Harrell is the most eloquent and passionate speaker in the field, when he's fired up. If he can squeeze through the crowded primary to the top two, he could very well talk his way into the job.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Given a council career without a major signature accomplishment, there's not a lot backing up all that talk.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Mike McGinn's popularity in immigrant communities eats away at Harrell's Southeast Seattle base.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> UW Husky.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Oh god, we feel uncomfortable saying it, but black and Asian voters, we guess. We mean, it's not like Harrell doesn't talk a lot about his Japanese/African American heritage on the campaign trail.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> A Garfield High School and University of Washington star, he was recently inducted into the Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame.</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> Bellevue.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> Former Seattle mayor Wes Uhlman, King County Council member Larry Gossett, the Seattle Building & Construction Trades Council, 11th and 37th District Democrats.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $203,474.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 12 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d207/newslead-martin2.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Kate Martin</div> <p>Neighborhood Activist</p> <p>"Call me. Meet me for coffee. Tell your friends about me. Beg them to meet me for coffee."</p> <p><b>Greatest strength:</b> The Greenwood neighborhood activist always makes a point of remembering people's names.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> While she ran for Seattle school board in 2011, Martin has never held elected office. (Some say she lost that race, but she likes to think she almost won.)</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Often confused with Mary Martin.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> Kate Martin is running for mayor!</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Pet rock.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Trick question.</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> Panhandling is punished by death, and sidewalks abound in far-flung neighborhoods.</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> Every qualified mayoral candidate.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> Does family count?</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $2,847.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 4 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/91c2/newslead-joey.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Joey Gray</div> <p>Librarian, Ultimate Frisbee Pioneer</p> <p>"Disc in! Also, climate change!"</p> <p><b>How she can win:</b> Massive voter fraud.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Nobody but her close personal friends and family have any idea who she is.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Not actually a baby kangaroo.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Baby kangaroo.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> The 12 people who have contributed to her campaign.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> Was a pioneer in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, serving "as liaison between all flying disc sports and the International Olympic movement."</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> Lots more Frisbees.</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> Reality.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> [<em>This space intentionally left blank.</em>]</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $5,008.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> None.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/21cd/newslead-charlie.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Charlie Staadecker</div> <p>Owner of Staadecker Real Estate</p> <p>"You'll like me better or my name isn't Charlie Staadecker."</p> <p><b>Greatest strength:</b> The fourth-generation Seattleite and Franklin High School grad is sweetly avuncular—and a wealthy real-estate broker.</p> <p><b>Second-greatest strength:</b> Bow-tie collection.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Being the old-school businessman's candidate in a young, liberal city.</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> No one's ever heard of him until now.</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Orville Redenbacher.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Dale Chihuly (who maxed out to Staadecker's campaign), other wealthy business owners, his adoring wife, the bow-tie industry.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> His wife ties his bow ties!</p> <p><b>Vision for Seattle's future:</b> A chicken in every pot and a bow tie on every neck!</p> <p><b>Biggest enemies:</b> Regular ties.</p> <p><b>Key endorsements:</b> Dapper gentlemen.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $177,511.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> 4 percent.</p> <img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/3a05/newslead-mcquaid.jpg"> <div align="left" class="innerhead">Doug McQuaid</div> <p>Attorney</p> <p>"I'm one mustache less qualified to run for office than Randy Quaid."</p> <p><b>How he can win:</b> If every other candidate in the race dies, along with most registered Seattle voters, McQuaid may stand a fighting chance.</p> <p><b>Greatest weakness:</b> Bats!</p> <p><b>Medium weakness:</b> Doesn't play well with others.</p> <p><b>Little-known fact:</b> Last year, when he ran for judge, the King County Bar Association rated him "Refused to cooperate."</p> <p><b>Spirit animal:</b> Tequila.</p> <p><b>Base supporters:</b> Sadly, bats.</p> <p><b>Amount raised:</b> $0.00.</p> <p><b>Latest polling:</b> None.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059428&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> News/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/whos-the-boss/Content?oid=17059428&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059428&id=comments 17 Who’s the Boss? Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Underage http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/underage/Content?oid=17056168 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/underage/Content?oid=17056168 Jackson Hathorn Street Eaters, Ruby Pins by Jackson Hathorn <div align="left" class="innerhead">WEDNESDAY 6/19</div> <p><b>STREET EATERS, TENDER HIPS, 
ACAPULCO LIPS</b></p> <p><b>Street Eaters</b> have been hastening the end of civilization for a few years now. The duo's nervy, chunky, and <b>politically charged punk rock</b> tells tales about the brutality and traumas of modern life, often sounding like a less artsy Death from Above 1979. On their latest self-titled EP, the Bay Area band looks up from the carnage and takes a turn toward self-reflection. One standout song, "Window," pauses and asks, "Where did my freedom go, my naiveté?/<b>What good has wisdom brought me?</b>" These are questions that all maturing troublemakers have to ask themselves at some point. But amid all the <b>chaos and declamations</b>, cascading harmonies and a vigorous energy seem to shout out that, yes, there is <b>beauty and truth in the detritus</b>, and it's certainly worth fighting for. Elsewhere on the bill, count on <b>Acapulco Lips</b> to fully usher in our budding summer. The local band has expertly crafted roaring and hook-heavy garage-pop songs about leaving you in the dust—but trust me, it's in your best interest to keep up. <i>Heartland, 8 pm.</i></p> <div align="left" class="innerhead">SUNDAY 6/23</div> <p><b>NAOMI PUNK, RUBY PINS, FF</b></p> <p>Is there a more bittersweet feeling than getting into a band just as their demise becomes imminent? I finally checked out <b>Grass Widow</b> earlier this year and fell in love with their subdued and galactic post-punk, only to discover that the band is now on an <b>extended hiatus</b>. Tonight, we get to see the solo project from the group's onetime drummer, <b>Lillian Maring</b>, who recorded an album under the name <b>Ruby Pins</b> in nearby Port Townsend. I've only heard (and played to death) one song from the forthcoming record. <b>"Chameleon"</b> is enveloping, prickly, and intricate, just like so many of the spellbinding tracks by her old band, but Maring also adds a welcome earthier feel to this new song, and I can't wait to hear the rest of what Ruby Pins have to offer. I'm also belatedly getting into <b>FF</b>, a Seattle band that serves up a mighty mixture of <b>shoegaze, punk, and grunge</b>. With understated melodies and caustic guitars, FF look backward and forward into our <b>frenetically charmed</b> Northwest musical lineage. <i>Black Lodge, 9 pm.</i></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/underage/Content?oid=17056168#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056168&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Music/Underage http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/underage/Content?oid=17056168&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056168&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger The War This Time http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-this-time/Content?oid=17055890 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-this-time/Content?oid=17055890 Dan Savage Why Was I Thinking About Pat Buchanan, Gay Bars, and AIDS While Colorado Burned? by Dan Savage <p><span id="dropcap">F</span>our hundred homes went up in flames in Colorado last week.</p> <p>"Nature Takes a Fiery Toll Despite a Community's Efforts to Prepare," a June 14 <em>New York Times</em> headline read. They're calling 2013 the "most destructive wildfire season in Colorado history." The last wildfire season they described that way? That would be last year's wildfire season—the 2012 wildfire season—when 600 homes and countless acres in Colorado burned.</p> <p>According to research cited in the <em>New York Times</em>, six of Colorado's worst wildfire seasons have taken place since 2000.</p> <p>Reading about the wildfires in Colorado—particularly that "Nature Takes a Fiery Toll" piece—reminded of something the conservative Christian commentator/terrified white man/bigoted straight person Pat Buchanan had to say about "nature" back in 1983. And it was the second time in less than a month that Buchanan's three-decade-old remark sprang to mind.</p> <p>The first time was back on May 17, when <em>This American Life</em> devoted an entire episode to the subject of climate change ("Hot in My Backyard"). The first third of the show featured a report from Julia Kumari Drapkin on the extreme weather conditions in Colorado in 2012: Record-breaking temperatures were reported all over the state, flowers bloomed earlier than usual, pollination patterns were out of whack, the state saw the lowest spring snowfalls in its history (snow equals water supply in Colorado), crops dried up and died in the fields, there was an outbreak of West Nile virus, bears came down from the mountains to kill and eat livestock because there wasn't enough food for them in the woods—and then fires started.</p> <p>Colorado state climatologist Nolan Doesken, the central figure in Drapkin's report, knows what's behind the "weirding" of Colorado's weather: man-made climate change. But Doesken is reluctant to level with Colorado's ranchers about why their world is burning down around them. They know something is wrong. "It's not right. Nothing about this is right," one rancher told Drapkin. This rancher, like all of Colorado's ranchers, relies on the state climatologist for predictions about weather patterns when determining what to plant (or whether to plant) and just how much livestock they will be able to support with the land. Telling these ranchers "what the weather has done, what it is doing, and what it will do" is Nolan Doesken's job. But he is afraid to do his job. He's afraid to tell Colorado ranchers the truth—and he has cause to be afraid.</p> <p>"Taking a stand can be dangerous," Drapkin pointed out in her report. "In recent years, climatologists in four states have lost their positions because of what they said publicly about climate change—Oregon, Virginia, Delaware, and Georgia. Democratic governors got rid of climatologists who didn't embrace climate change, and a 
Republican fired two who did."</p> <p>Colorado has trended blue in the last two national elections—it went for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012—and the state currently has a Democratic governor. But Colorado has historically been a conservative state (it went for Bush in 2000 and 2004), and the ranchers Doesken answers to are far more conservative than the average voter. And conservative voters don't believe in climate change—not even conservative ranchers who are witnessing its effects firsthand.</p> <p>"The fact is the people most directly affected by climate change around the state are also the most likely not to believe it's real," Drapkin stated in her report. "And they say all the reasons you've probably heard: It's a liberal conspiracy, or God's in charge, or the science is wrong or rigged or inconclusive. Even the word 'environmentalist' can trigger outrage."</p> <p>When a rancher Drapkin interviewed realized that she was doing a report on climate change, he chased after her in his four-
wheeler and threatened to smash her recording equipment—a shoot-the-messenger moment caught on tape.</p> <p>"Climate change is the last thing a lot of farmers and ranchers want to hear [about]," Drapkin sadly concluded. "They stand to lose so much if climate models come true."</p> <p>Listening to the ranchers in Drapkin's report—hearing the anger, denial, and fear in their voices—took me back 30 years. They sounded like another group of people whose world was on fire and who also couldn't bring themselves to face reality. They sounded like people I used to know. They sounded like those faggots who stood around in gay bars in 1983 insisting that AIDS couldn't be a sexually transmitted infection. Even as their friends lay dying, even as more of their friends and lovers became sick, they couldn't accept that sex had anything to do with this terrifying new illness.</p> <p>So what was AIDS if it wasn't a sexually transmitted infection? It was a conservative conspiracy, they said. Or the science was wrong. Or rigged. Or inconclusive. The medical establishment was homophobic and couldn't be trusted. The federal bureaucracy was dominated by religious conservatives and couldn't be trusted. Messengers were shot. Larry Kramer, the founder of ACT UP, was called a fearmonger and a drama queen. Randy Shilts, a gay journalist who called for the closure of San Francisco's bathhouses, was spit on in the Castro. The first grassroots AIDS activists who tried to pass out condoms were chased out of bars.</p> <p>Stupid, stupid faggots. Insisting that it wasn't true—insisting that AIDS couldn't be sexually transmitted, or insisting that AIDS wasn't that serious because "only" 1,500 gay men were sick in the summer of 1983—didn't prevent a pandemic. It <em>was</em> true. It was deadly serious. We would have to live very differently if we wanted to survive in this world. We would have to fight back. We would have to transform ourselves sexually, socially, and politically. And we did that, all of that, but precious time was wasted before gay men began to make the changes that had to be made, and countless lives were lost as a result of the denial and delay that paralyzed us in 1983.</p> <p>Which brings me to Pat Buchanan. In 1983, Buchanan wrote a vicious column for the <em>New York Post</em> about the emerging AIDS crisis. Buchanan gloated and celebrated a disease that had already killed hundreds and would go on to kill millions. Buchanan's reaction wasn't unique; almost all social conservatives at the time welcomed the AIDS epidemic with unconcealed glee. God's judgment had come at last, and it vindicated everything the TV preachers had been saying since Stonewall. Homosexuals were sinners, the wages of sin is death, and now the homosexual sinners were dying. Praise the Lord.</p> <p>The last line of Buchanan's acid column was etched into my brain the day I read it: "The poor homosexuals—they have declared war on nature, and now nature is exacting an awful retribution."</p> <p>That line—17 words—stung more than all the antigay sermons thundering down from the pulpits of all the American churches combined. Writing this piece, I didn't even have to look it up. I could recite it from memory. We had long been told that gay sex was unnatural—that <em>we</em> were unnatural—and now nature was moving to exterminate us.</p> <p>Every time I read about fires in Colorado or rising seas or Canadian tar sands or Native villages already being washed away in Alaska or preparations for the next hurricane that slams into New York City, a slightly modified version of Buchanan's 
vicious line about AIDS plays in my head. We have declared war on nature, and now nature is exacting an awful retribution.</p> <p>We have declared war on the water we drink and the air we breathe. We have declared war on the forests and the oceans. We have declared war on the <em>honeybees</em>. All of us have—liberal, conservative, independent. Some of us, however, are ready to start making the changes that must be made if we want to survive in this world.</p> <p>But the conservatives, the poor conservatives, they're like those faggots in gay bars in 1983. They're standing around, drinks in hand, insisting that the conflagration currently engulfing them—the conflagration that is engulfing us all—isn't happening. That it can't be happening. But just as denial and anger and shooting messengers didn't save those gay men in Chicago's bars in 1983, denial and anger won't save Colorado's ranchers in 2013. Nature is exacting an awful retribution.</p> <p>The only question is how much time will be wasted and how many lives will be lost as a result of denial and delay this time. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p><i>Dan's new book,</i> American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics<i>, is available now!</i></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-this-time/Content?oid=17055890#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055890&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Features/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-war-this-time/Content?oid=17055890&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055890&id=comments 9 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Drinkding with Charlse Mudede http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkding-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=17059794 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkding-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=17059794 Charles Mudede The Bar Under the Milky Way by Charles Mudede <p><span id="dropcap">T</span>he sun is setting on the city. During the day, whole countries of clouds passed beneath the blue sky. At this moment, the window to the universe is opening and <b>the stars are coming out</b>. The bar I'm about to walk into, Boxcar Ale House, is on the border between the Ballard/Interbay industrial district and the quiet neighborhood of Magnolia. Across the street from the bar, train tracks, train cars, manufacturing complexes, warehouses; behind the bar, roads lined by homes and apartment buildings. On one side, the world of work and exhaustion; on the other, <b>rest and recuperation</b>. The Ale House—which has a slim two-story facade but a long and bulky back—is something like a gateway from one zone (social reproduction) to the other (domestika).</p> <p>My reason for visiting this bar is the jukebox that's right next to the entrance, just below a window that looks out onto the outdoor seating area. This machine is <b>stuffed with pages and pages of music</b>. Not one of them has an image of a musician or an album cover; each only contains dense lists and sections of tiny writing. Indeed, to look for a band in the jukebox (turn after turn) almost feels like academic work—you scrutinize the pages like a scholar looking for some important but very small detail in a tome. It took about five minutes to find something I wanted to play: Portishead's "Wandering Star."</p> <p>I've always imagined this classic triphop tune to be inspired by this passage in the dazzling science chapter of James Joyce's <i>Ulysses</i>: "Of our system plunging towards the constellation of Hercules: of the parallax or parallactic drift of socalled fixed stars, in reality evermoving wanderers from immeasurably remote eons to <b>infinitely remote futures</b>." I also suspect that it might be inspired by the last lines of William Butler Yeats's "Who Goes with Fergus?": "For Fergus rules the brazen cars,/And rules the shadows of the wood,/And the white breast of the dim sea/And all <b>dishevelled wandering stars</b>." Beth Gibbons of Portishead sings: "The blackness, the darkness, forever." Later, I would sing, during the excellent karaoke session at the back of the bar, the Church's "Under the Milky Way": "And it's something quite peculiar/Something shimmering and white/It leads you here, <b>despite your destination</b>/Under the Milky Way tonight." For whom it may concern, during my visit, I ordered a plate of french fries, a plate of chicken wings, a shot of house tequila, and three glasses of house red wine. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border= ";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkding-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=17059794#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059794&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Food & Drink/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/drinkding-with-charlse-mudede/Content?oid=17059794&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059794&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Nothing but Beautiful http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/nothing-but-beautiful/Content?oid=17056191 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/nothing-but-beautiful/Content?oid=17056191 Charles Mudede Gregory Porter Is the New Lion of Jazz Song by Charles Mudede <p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he Grammy committee nominated 41-year-old Brooklyn jazz singer Gregory Porter's "Real Good Hands" for best traditional R&B performance this year, but those same people gave the award to Beyoncé. Nevertheless, proximity to Beyoncé's pop brilliance exposed him to a wider audience, and people began writing/blogging about his skills as a singer and the distinctive headgear—a thin hood that's tight around the ears and topped by a thickish hat—he seems to always wear. The whole arrangement has a striking effect; it gives his face the appearance of a man who, on a cold city night, heats his hands over a fire in a rusty oil drum. Indeed, Porter is so committed to this headgear (picture after picture and performance after performance) that I became convinced that it had something to do with protecting or hiding an ear-related medical condition. But nothing is wrong with Porter; his ears are just fine. He just likes that look, which frames his handsome beard and long eyebrows. Porter—who has released two albums, <em>Water</em> and <em>Be Good</em>, with <em>Liquid Spirit</em> due in September on Blue Note—also always wears smart vintage suits, ties that are as elegant as Roger Duchesne's in <em>Bob le Flambeur</em>, shirts that are almost bold, and shoes that have been shined by a man who has clearly spent a lifetime mastering the magic of shoe polish.</p> <p>As for Porter's voice, it's a baritone that makes you feel right at home; as for his style of phrasing, it feels very familiar (Lou Rawls, Johnny Hartman, Nat King Cole), but it is also like nothing you have heard before. And this is why the greatness of Porter is not easy to describe. If you listen to him one way, he seems to be rooted deeply in the tradition of jazz song, but if you listen to him another way, you hear a big, warm, blue voice that moves about the music like some liberated balloon rising and falling in the wind. Porter is not conventional, yet he is, and for some reason he easily manages to be both without settling on one or the other.</p> <p>For example, Porter's composition "But Beautiful," from the album <em>Water</em>, is seemingly about the ups and downs of love, about the way a romance can cause you so much joy and so much pain—but as Porter sings, as his voice moves from one line to the next, you get the feeling that this is not the whole picture. There is something else going on here that's lost between the gaps in the lyrics.</p> <p>Love is "a problem or it's play," he sings. "It's a heartache either way/But beautiful/And I'm thinking if you were mine/I would never let you go/And that would be/But beautiful, I know." What does "but beautiful" mean here? Nothing but beautiful? Everything but beautiful? And Porter puts as much meaning into that strange construction as Johnny Hartman does when he sings "Dedicated to You" on the jazz masterpiece <em>John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman</em>. "And if I should paint a picture, too/That showed the loveliness of you/My art would be like my heart and me/Dedicated to you." The expressive meaning you find in "dedicated to you" is the same as the one you find in "but beautiful," but we do not know what "but beautiful" means. It's as if the words can contain the feeling without really constructing a meaning, words as pure containers of feeling. One is enchanted by this sense of getting it and not quite getting it. This is how Porter plays with your mind.</p> <p>Then there is "Real Good Hands." It's about a man pleading to his girlfriend's parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. This is not the sort of situation most American men of the 21st century are familiar with or can even understand. Pleading for your girlfriend's hand? You mean the parents can actually stop you from getting married? Back in the day they could, but not anymore. Despite the anachronistic setting of the tune, Porter sings it with true feeling, true emotion. You can see the room in the old house, see the parents on the couch (paintings of MLK and JFK above them). You can see their concerned faces, their doubts, and you can see this 21st-century Brooklynite on his knees, begging for the opportunity to be "her man" because she would be in "real good hands."</p> <p>Porter's masterpiece, however, is "Be Good (Lion's Song)," a simply charming waltz about a woman who seems to be teasing a man (the lion in a cage). Or maybe it's not about that at all. Maybe it's about art, or about how an idea can dance around your limitations without ever really settling and revealing itself. The gaps in the lyrics give Porter the freedom he needs to do what he always does best: drift around a beautiful tune. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/nothing-but-beautiful/Content?oid=17056191#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056191&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Music/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/nothing-but-beautiful/Content?oid=17056191&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056191&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Much Ado About Nothing: Whedon's Shakespeare Is Horny, Cute, and Affable http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/much-ado-about-nothing-whedons-shakespeare-is-horny-cute-and-affable/Content?oid=17055934 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/much-ado-about-nothing-whedons-shakespeare-is-horny-cute-and-affable/Content?oid=17055934 Paul Constant <i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>: Whedon's Shakespeare Is Horny, Cute, and Affable by Paul Constant <p><span class="dropcap">T</span>his movie is a classic example of the they're-sure-having-fun-up-there concept of entertainment. It was filmed in a matter of days at director/adaptor Joss Whedon's own house, with actors who are all his friends, in cheap black and white on digital cameras. (Whedon famously conducts after-work readings of Shakespeare with the casts of his television shows and films, so he had plenty of practice.) And you know what? Everybody sure does look like they're <b><em>having fun</em></b> up there, to the point where you want to forgive the film's obvious flaws just because you feel like you're an invited guest at an intimate dinner party.</p> <p>This horny, very funny staging of <em>Much Ado About Nothing</em></p>is set in an opulent modern-day estate during a wedding, when distant friends and family gather together because <b><em>they have to</em></b>. It's a cozy affair, and the actors are all practically flirting with Shakespeare's language (standouts include Clark Gregg, who wins this affable movie's coveted Most Affable award; Nathan Fillion, who feasts on his small comic-relief role; and Amy Acker as a strong, confident Beatrice). There's some silly physical comedy, there's willful deception on a large scale, and, because <em>Much Ado</em>is arguably the world's first rom-com, every major player makes one asshole move that seems totally out of character. (Blame the writer for that last one.) <p>But it's light and fun and funny and delightful—it's so rare that a movie claps Shakespeare on the back like an old bud, rather than putting him up on a pedestal like he's in a museum. Who cares if some of the acting is a little hambone? (Alexis Denisof's Benedick wavers between charming and cartoonish.) Or that the music, by Joss and Jed Whedon, is simply <b><em>terrible</em></b>? Or that a few directorial tricks—a whooshing whiteout transition between scenes is more jarring than useful—seem more telenovela than feature film? Everybody is—all together now—having so much fun up there that you want to forgive them their trespasses. And so you do. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/much-ado-about-nothing-whedons-shakespeare-is-horny-cute-and-affable/Content?oid=17055934#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055934&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Film/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/much-ado-about-nothing-whedons-shakespeare-is-horny-cute-and-affable/Content?oid=17055934&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055934&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger The Pot Lottery Is a Bad Idea http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pot-lottery-is-a-bad-idea/Content?oid=17059489 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pot-lottery-is-a-bad-idea/Content?oid=17059489 Ben Livingston Cannabis License Lottery Looms by Ben Livingston <p>Last month, the state announced a proposal to hold a lottery for cannabis retail licenses if it receives more applications for pot stores than it intends to approve. The lottery will be held for each county, and the lucky few who win will essentially hold a golden ticket worth far more than the $250 application fee.</p> <p>This is a terrible idea.</p> <p>Arizona ran a similar lottery last year, after citizens voted to allow about 135 medical cannabis dispensaries across the state. The Arizona Department of Health Services divided the licenses among 126 so-called community health analysis areas. Some of those areas are in sparsely populated, rural parts of the state, and few people applied for those licenses. But in cities, including Phoenix and Tucson, the lottery pool was chock full of ticket buyers. The artificial scarcity in dispensary licensing led to several peculiar business dealings.</p> <p>For example, some entrepreneurs made back-end agreements to work with others if any party in the pact won a license (effectively allowing a person to buy more than one lottery ticket and increase the chances of winning). But dispensary owners have filed several lawsuits concerning these types of arrangements, when one party holding a winning lottery ticket allegedly refused to abide by their back-end agreement.</p> <p>In some cases, consultants who helped clients apply for licenses have ended up filing lawsuits.</p> <p>Dr. Bruce Bedrick, an Arizona-based chiropractor and pot-vending-machine seller, opened a firm to help potential applicants. According to Maricopa County's online records, Bedrick and his company commenced two civil suits against clients who successfully obtained a license.</p> <p>If we make the same mistake in Washington State and implement a lottery for retail cannabis licenses, we will likely see bizarre business deals, a high-stakes-poker mentality, and needless lawsuits over pot stores. I say the state should ditch the lottery proposal and instead process applications as they come, without artificially inflating the value of retail pot licenses. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border= ";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pot-lottery-is-a-bad-idea/Content?oid=17059489#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059489&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> News/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-pot-lottery-is-a-bad-idea/Content?oid=17059489&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17059489&id=comments 1 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Poster of the Week http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/poster-of-the-week/Content?oid=17056170 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/poster-of-the-week/Content?oid=17056170 Aaron Huffman Poster by Zack Bolotin by Aaron Huffman <p><span id="dropcap">T</span>his band-names-as-tattoos idea may have been done before, but certainly not as awesomely as this. Zack Bolotin's lines are delicate but tough, and the two-color design serves the poster perfectly. Check out more of his work at <a href="http://zackbolotin.com/">zackbolotin.com</a>. <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/poster-of-the-week/Content?oid=17056170#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056170&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Music/Poster of the Week http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/poster-of-the-week/Content?oid=17056170&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17056170&id=comments 0 Poster of the Week Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger Meet Your Merrymaker http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/meet-your-merrymaker/Content?oid=17055908 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/meet-your-merrymaker/Content?oid=17055908 Dave Segal Sean Nelson's Solo Album Is 40-fied Gold by Dave Segal <iframe width="70%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F94811804"></iframe> <p><span class="dropcap">S</span>ean Nelson is 11 hours away from turning 40. His golden Garfunkel curls now feature some graying at the temples. The six-foot-five vocalist/lyricist/actor/ex–<em>Stranger</em> writer/editor arrives at a Pioneer Square coffee shop wearing white horn-rimmed glasses with earbuds dangling from the pocket of his denim jacket. The former Harvey Danger frontman sheepishly admits he was listening to Oingo Boingo on the walk over, blaming his older brother for getting him hooked on that band's spazzy goofball pop when Nelson was living in Southern California. "The songs you hear when you're 12 never go away," he states, correctly.</p> <p>As a song title from Harvey Danger's excellent 2000 album <em>King James Version</em> puts it, "This Is the Thrilling Conversation You've Been Waiting For." Nelson is a brilliant raconteur who deserves his own talk show. The reason for <em>this</em> convo is the release of Nelson's first true solo album, <em>Make Good Choices</em>, out now on white vinyl via 
Really Records.</p> <p><em>Make Good Choices</em> was written and recorded while Nelson was slaloming through a hectic schedule of acting jobs, playing with the Long Winters, reuniting Harvey Danger and cutting their final album, writing a book about Joni Mitchell's <em>Court and Spark</em>, and doing the <em>Nelson Does Nilsson</em> cover project. <em>Make Good Choices</em> is exemplary big-vocabulary rock, one of those special records that yield a new favorite song with each successive listen. Right now, mine is "Price of Doing Business," which is the quintessence of melodic jauntiness, but spiked with lyrics about a soured relationship, spotlighting Nelson's forte of contrasting bright tunes with thorny scenarios.</p> <p>LP opener "The World Owes Me a Living (and I Intend to Collect)" is utterly effusive and perhaps the only song ever with a chorus climaxing on the word "wherewithal"—an anthem of frustration and powerlessness, the track reveals Nelson's ingenious skill for arranging vocals and concocting indelible earworms. This talent also animates "Creative Differences" and "Hey, Millicent," imbuing them with concentrated sonic sunshine. Nelson's favorite vocalist is Paul McCartney, and that worship has paid huge dividends.</p> <p>"[Arranging vocals] is an area I feel confident and ambitious about," Nelson says. "Singing is the main thing for me. I wanted it to be a record where the vocals are right out there. Even though it's very simple in most respects, there are twists and turns in the chords that are there because I felt I had to at least make it a little more interesting. The four songs I did with [Chris] Walla are as good as anything I've ever been a part of."</p> <p><em>Make Good Choices</em>' nine-year gestation (it was started in 2003—when Harvey Danger were on hiatus and the Long Winters, with whom Nelson played keyboards and sang harmony vocals in the mid '00s, were in between tours—and finished in 2011) was also due to Nelson's difficulty with self-
evaluation. Unlike many musicians, he tends to underestimate his art's worth. "The reason it took so long is that it was just my project," he says. "Lots of people contributed generously to it in great ways, but it wasn't a band, a group effort in that way. I have a gaping blind spot in my own ability to assess my own stuff. For me to have said that this record is done and good and deserves to live in the world required more mental-health counseling than recording sessions. I got the counseling and did the recording sessions [<em>laughs</em>]."</p> <p>As noted, Nelson possesses a keen knack for writing gloriously uplifting music that competes with skeptical, cynical, and neurotic ideas. Is he constitutionally incapable of writing happy lyrics?</p> <p>"It's something that some people I've been close to certainly have accused me of. I really like the contrast. A lot of the bands I've loved have a sort of opposition in the words versus the melody and the harmonic and rhythmic life of the music. When I was younger, I understood that it was a trick I could go back to, but it does reflect the way I think about the world. There is no unmitigated joy for long, but all sorrow can be tempered by humor. If you have any sense of short-term history, you know that to just wallow in misery is... in the end, you <em>have</em> to laugh or you will perish. I guess at some point I decided that I didn't want to perish.</p> <p>"Depression is a real theme in my life," he continues. "Exploring that disjunction is necessary for me. But also, the kind of pop music I love and love to write is the only music I feel fully qualified to make. I don't have a ton of music theory; I couldn't pull off a dirge, because I don't have the skill to do it in such a way that it didn't sound like a punishment to listen to. 'Brooklyn Bridge' is the only slow song on the record, and in a way you could see it as maudlin. But the maudlin-ness is sort of baked into it, so I think it's humorous.</p> <p>"When you look back at the harshest feelings, it tends to be funny. You don't live in the visceral emotion of it forever. If you do... you're doomed if you keep living like that. You can kind of honor the fact that it hurt at a certain time and then laugh later."</p> <p>Nelson says that the songs on <em>Make Good Choices</em> are personal, as exemplified by "Creative Differences," in which the titular subject is cited as the crux of every band situation or relationship. "I found that the limitations of friendship became my big theme. It did correspond to the years where the friendships I thought were the most lasting and important crumbled away. I got divorced and wound up in a series of screwy relationships that I thought would be important and great, but in fact were pretty doomed—<em>pre</em>-doomed, I would say. Everything I wrote in that decade seemed to be about that, in one way or another. A lot of the feelings expressed in those songs—I wouldn't say I'm <em>proud</em> to have had those feelings. But I think it's an accurate record of a certain kind of low emotional place that nonetheless is real."</p> <p>You could probably see this question coming from miles away, but here goes: What's the best choice Nelson has made—and the worst?</p> <p>Without hesitation, he says, "The worst choice remains not letting Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra accompany Harvey Danger when we played 'Flagpole Sitta' on [<em>David Letterman</em>], because we thought it would seem inauthentic if we did let them play with their massive horn section. These are, like, a couple generations of the best studio musicians alive. And they don't do it for everybody. And we said no, because we thought it would seem uncool to people in Seattle. <em>Honestly</em>."</p> <p>Best choice? Leaving <em>The Stranger</em>?</p> <p>"That hole?" Nelson says with a chuckle. "That was a good choice in some ways." Then he gets to the <em>real</em> best choice: "Realizing that satisfaction can only come from within myself. That made it a lot easier not to get hung up on what other people think. It took a long time. That's not to say I'm Mr. Self-Esteem. I still am riddled with self-doubt all the time."</p> <p>Viewing the circuitous, epic journey to complete <em>Make Good Choices</em>, Nelson muses, "It was funny to me that it was easier for me to reunite [Harvey Danger] and put all our silly demons to rest than it was for me to admit that my record was finished. But the amount of time that went by was necessary. I'm slightly bashful talking about the whole therapy angle to it, but the thing that had to change was not the songs; it was me. Then I did." <img src="/images/rec_star.gif" width="10" height="10" alt="recommended" border=";0"" /></p> <p><i>This article has been updated since its original publication.</i></p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/meet-your-merrymaker/Content?oid=17055908#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055908&id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Music/Feature http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/meet-your-merrymaker/Content?oid=17055908&show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=17055908&id=comments 0 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 -0700 The Stranger