I love the idea of a KEXP/Open Space hybrid.

But I hope it includes some Northwest Native elements in it.

We could always breed tigers in the massive Chihulhy glass that's across the street at the Gates Foundation anyway.

I'm sorry, but I didn't see KEXP + Tigers.

So cast a vote or six for each. It's easy.

Everyone don't forget to yell to/at the Council also - they have to do an ordinance if the Center wants to sign a contract with anybody. In the extremely unlikely event that the mayor makes a silly recommendation (as well all know, a completely impossible thing), the Council will be our last bastion. Groom them now.

@4, yes! Council members should hear from you, especially Sally Bagshaw (sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov). She's chair of the Parks and Seattle Center committee.

@4 is correct.

email AND phone each city council member.

If ten people do it, it's a big deal.

Not into skateboarding, but I would like to see them re-build once since Bill & Melinda took their space over a year ago.

Also, think about how these entities would function when the Bite of Seattle comes to town? Or Bumpershoot? With a Native American exhibit, hey lookie here, smoked salmon! or hey, a tribal pow-wow dance.

With Chihuly, I see nothing that would blend or meld with events like Bumpershoot or Bite of Seattle.

I notice, after the actual voters, that the Chihulhy hired guns finally showed up with some script kiddies to try to fix the poll.

Took them a while.

Barf. 51 percent for Chihuly? Something tells me it's rigged.

Polls are a stupid way of deciding a major devlopment project affecting both Seattlites and tourists. If the Mayor cannot make this deciion on his own, what good is he?

Fuck fucking Chilhuly and his bullshit glass vomit. It's already all over the region everywhere you look. If people want to see Chihuly's stuff, create a walking tour of the city's Chilhulies, or send tourists to Tacoma Glass Museum fer chrissakes.

Ugh. Sorry I don't have anything constructive to add. This has felt like a fait accompli from the get-go.

if it ends up being the Chilhuly museum ... then Seattle residents should get free admission

Interesting. When I voted--and it had hundreds of votes then--the Chihuly museum had 4%. Now it has 60%.

I believe that's what's known as 'statistically unlikely'.

60% for Chilhuly? Is Chilhuly getting all his employees to log and and vote for him?

@9, @13 - they hired script kiddies to vote for them. Those votes appeared around lunchtime - ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Not a coincidence.

This poll has been thrown, right? 55% for the chihuly museum? Can't be.

Strip Club!

lmao at everyone voting for chihuly museum just to troll the stranger

@9, 13, 15: yes. This is also what we call "working against Seattle residents' best interests."

Because, if you can't rip off public park land for private interests, what's a bought and paid for city council for, after all ...

well, other than ripping off people for a tunnel we never wanted that doesn't do what the viaduct it replaces does in terms of freight capacity and physical quantity of vehicles and transit ...

Gee, the only one that makes money for the city is in the lead. Big surprise. But then I forget that the one's who are bitter about Chihuly leading are all for someone else paying for their roads, schools, bike lanes and parks.

I misread option four as "Cthulu Museum", and now I'm disappointed that it's not an option. Tell McGinn we need more Eldritch Horror in our Seattle Center!

#21, if it's a money maker, put it on private land and make all the money you can.

Hey guys, there is already a Chihuly museum. It's in Tacoma across the bridge from the history museum. Big steel cone, from that Toyota commercial, can't miss it.

(OK, well, it may as well be a Chihuly museum.)

Will will be down there with his baseball bats to smash this as soon as it's built.

Right Will?

@26 also, lots of Chihulhy glass just across the street at the Gates Foundation. See the plans.

@24 is correct.

@27 you rent the bats. I sell you the balls, cause I don't think I'll get those back.

FYI, the Fun Forest was a private corporation, set on public land. That's why they paid "rent" to the city, just like the Chihuly museum would. I don't think it is any other proposal's budget to pay rent. That's why I like the Chihuly idea, it would benefit the city of seattle, and we taxpayers.

@29 (WiS).

So you are backpedaling from your earlier empty threats?

Pathetic.

Invasion of the Mall Art Fans.

And I'm with Mike, a Cthulhu museum would be infinitely preferable.

The mayor is a "smart man"? He's certainly demonstrated that with his actions since taking office, hasn't he?

Cienna, I have a nice, tall, icy glass of Kool-Aid waiting for you. What's that - you're already all full up of Kool-Aid?

@32. Huh?

I always promised to rent the baseball bats.

I never promised to rent the baseballs themselves. I'd be a fool to do so, since they'll probably end up inside a Chihulhy shop ... and by selling them, the liability rests on the wondrous citizenry that buys the hardballs.

I'll see if I can get Ichiro to lob one in to the Chihulhy shop for free.

host -t ptr 173.160.142.233
233.142.160.173.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer chihuly.com.

Northwest Native Cultural Center. Please.

You know, though, you guys could simply block 173.160.142.*, erase the votes from their IP, and re-open the poll, no?

Might be a good time to upgrade the system as well to minimize vote stuffing with setting a cookie or two, or limiting the number of votes a given IP address can enter. Not one, or else you'd seal off most offices, but perhaps 5? 10?

They have been fabricating and buying public support for this all along; this is very fitting.

By the way, it's trivial to vote multiple times. Here's how:

http://podcasts.thestranger.com/blogpoll…

That's the poll link. Just erase all cookies from podcasts.thestranger.com and voila. Vote stuffing. It would be trivial to write a script that could stuff any such poll tool.

Anyone want to see a number of votes that makes it sound like the entire West Coast of the United States wants us to breed tigers under the Space Needle? It would probably crash the Stranger web server, but we'd have our tigers!

that old PIRATE, he used internet to PIRATE 800 votes for his bong museum, crafty ol' one eye...

Tigers are forever.

And they love to eat eyepatch-wearing glass pirates!

I emailed the mayor in favor of KEXP. I just don't see a glass museum bringing in that many people where KEXP and an open platform would bring lots of locals back again and again (along with music fans from Portland and VBC). It would also complement EMP.

Plus I pretty much can't stand that one-eyed fraud who takes credit for other people's work.

C'mon guys, Chihuly is SO overblown...

@40 - That word, 'trivial'; I do not think it means what you think it means.

@45, no, it's just a straight function call with a randomized time delay before it forces a connect string again.

now, doing that where you use a bank of IPs, that's more interesting.

(your mileage may vary, depending on what you code with)

I'd just like to point out, trolling polls is something Slog may as well have a patent on. To be fair.

you can vote twice, just clean out your cookies. duh.

how about we be wise about this instead of divisive -

give Chihuly/ The Wrights the space they want. The City will see $1 million in income from it, and the place will drive more tourism, and create even more revenue for local businesses

additionally, part of the Chihuly plan is to build a $1 million childrens' play area at Seattle Center, and pay another $1 mill for it's upkeep over the next 20 years. So with Chihuly and the money comes an awesome additional playground for local kids.

Then, get KEXP on grounds too. Since Chihuly is paying more rent and driving more taxes to the City, give KEXP very cheap rent, and give them access to either the stage Bumbershoot used for their Center Stage area (between EMP and the Center House) or the Mural Ampitheater. Preferably the Center Stage space, since it would locate them near EMP and the food court.

Then we get everything. And the City as a whole benefits instead of just one special interest group.

As it is, none of the options can pay rent except Chihuly or the Fun Forest. So if it's not Chihuly and the playground, keep the fun Forest and the rides and their rent, because the city is having some massive financial difficulties in case no one noticed, if the rides are upgraded they'll draw more people than any of the other options (remember, 90% of the KEXP space will be offices).

@7 - the skateboard park has already been replaced on the Center grounds over at 2nd & Thomas. Amazing you care to comment on this issue since you obviously don't go to Seattle Center.

If the Mayor is smart and wise, he'll get Chihuly and KEXP to come together with a plan that will include them both on campus, and that will make Seattle Center a better place, not just a place with one of them. This will take vision though, not some punting to a blog poll or phone calls and emails from special interests.

Think of Seattle Center with the world's best glass art museum, a kick ass KEXP space and summer concert series, EMP (te state's most popular museum), the Space Needle, an awesome children's playground, skateboard park, Pacific Science Center, Vera, SIFF, McCaw Hall, the Children's Museum, a renovated Center House, Initman, and the other theaters. All costing the city very little in additional money. Lots of private groups like SIFF, Vera, Chihuly, KEXP, etc renting space and still 17 acres of open space, with room for festivals.

McGinn could make this happen. I hope he's smart and does it, it could be a legacy for him.

@51 um, that's the personal choice of the bat renter. I just sell them the ammo.

@46, are your eyes brown, Will? I think your eyes are probably brown.

i am vehemently against the chihuly museum, but lol, stuffing the ballotbox is a page right out of slog's playbook.

just a bit funny? c'mon. slog deserves it, just a bit.

Puhleez, anybody with even rudimentary knowledge of how cookies work - and where to find the files on their computer - can easily rack up this many votes in a couple of days, assuming they have nothing better to do with their time,which it appears SOMEONE did.

heck, just issue a call to the cookie directory and delete it. doesn't anyone know how to use low level file i/o anymore? it's just an array of pointers.

Such pretty brown eyes . . .

now, this would be way more interesting run on a blade server with multiple virtual browsers that randomized connect times and TTL and had a cache of IP segments to use. Not just a single range, but one with a couple of disparate segments.

or that used multiple wireless devices to cycle login going from different places in the browser cache to the SLOG page and then to the article.

or just fat finger the delete key on the cookie directory for the file after you hit the vote submit button, but use an array of devices to do it, so that you show up with different browser connect and OS strings.

but no, you had to be obvious about the hack.

and for that you get an EPIC FAIL.

@62 - and to b fair, KEXP has been running on air spots and sending emails to its members encouraging them to do the same thing. But in the end, the Chihuly people have been able to organize more people than the others.

@66 don't worry, they'll keep lying about it.

After all, they know it's deeply unpopular with the actual Citizens of Seattle.

Will -

your strategy is flawed. you think that chihuly is going to run away due to your rapier wit and e-penis length, stroking his snidley whiplash mustache and screaming "curses, foiled again!". Instead, you've pissed him off so much he's sending the eyepatch brigade to flood the mayor's office with calls and blow up ur polls.

all you're doing is galvanizing his supporters...or maybe that was your plan all along? maybe YOU are the chihuly plant...

@68 lol. I love it when you personally attack me. It means you know you've lost.

I'm in that place, renting those baseball bats, where you dare not look.

does your manager know you're renting baseball bats? I thought starbucks didn't let their baristas run side businesses...

The space is owned by the city (& therefore, in theory, owned by its citizens), but I seriously doubt the mayor or those the committee considered how the space will *directly* benefit Seattle's citizens. I think one of their top concerns, if not #1, is how much outside $ it will bring into the city.

So instead of wasting time polling people in Seattle, they should conduct a poll outside of King County, maybe up to Vancouver and down to Portland, and ask people how likely each proposal will draw them to Seattle, how likely they are to visit each proposal if they happen to find themselves in Seattle for another reason, and if they would never visit a proposal, even if you gave them a coupon for 25% off dinner at the Space Needle.

Thanks for learning me "e-penis", @68.

What should the mayor champion at the Seattle Center?

How about the exact opposite of whatever he thinks is good?

And, if all we're interested in is bringing people to the Center to spend money, call up Disney and see if they'll resurrect their proposal for the Center from 30 years ago. At least that idea has a better shot of actually showing a profit than this soon to be financial albatross.

@44 - I see what you did there. Well-played, sir!

@68 - I add my thanks to those of gg's - Thank You a Bunch for "e-penis". LOL!

@ Chihuly and his supporters for this project - If you're so certain that your idea is the best fit for Seattle and the Seattle Center, then why have you gone about proposing it in such a closed-door, underhanded fashion? Why have you larded all supposedly 'public' support for your museum with such obvious plants and stooges for your cause? Do you think we don't smell the giant rat you are trying to foist on us?

@WiS - Dude, you're embarrassing.

Again, why keep letting Will froth about breaking, smashing, destroying art - no matter who's art it is? Shame on the Stranger and especially shame on your supposed art critic Jen Graves for not speaking up about that.

Will is like 30% of the comment on this thread - one messed up dude.

Good for whomever messed up your stupid poll! I bet it's one guy/gal sitting at his/her desk laughing their ass off...

A lot of win in this thread, the least of which is Will's moronic opposition and phony crusade.

The Stranger got jobbed on its own poll, so they shut it down.

As Dan Savage would say: "You know what to do."

I guess it's only ok to sick your minions on someone when it suits your view.

Meinert seems to be the only person making any sense of this issue right now.

@78:

That's because Dave is probably the only one here, aside from the Chihuly/Wright shills, who stands to make any money off this deal.

And I'm not saying that's wrong on his part; he's a businessman, and that's what people who run businesses do - attempt to make money - but the rest of you on Chihuly's or Wright's payrolls aren't fooling anybody.

Oh, and yeah, there's a BIG difference between expressing legitimate opposition or displeasure with someone's actions or words, and engaging in a blatantly obvious manipulation like this. If you guys are so confident in the righteousness of your cause, why are you reducing yourselves to this puerile level of "discourse"?

#79,

Well put and for the record I am neutral on the Chihuly/KEXP issue. I'm just pointing out the inherent retard nature of WiS' argument/phony crusade.

I work for neither, but I do find the outrageous outrage over this issue is to be completely unwarranted.

You want KEXP in there? Fine. Show me how they plan to turn a bunch of office spaces with a small venue for bands into a profit turning venture.

You must really enjoy hearing their pledge drives, because that's what you are asking for more of by advocating for them.

I'm shocked that an organization -- or an alternative weekly -- would marshal its employees and friends to try to influence an online poll.

Oh, and those letters that went out from KEXP to its supporters, asking them to vote? Let's not talk about those, right?

(For the record, I think both ideas suck. Can we really not come up with something better?

@7 - the skatepark has been rebuilt on the NW corner of 2nd & Thomas between Key & SCT. Been open for a while now...

I love how the new version of this post on SLOG has direct email links for the city council.