Maybe next year, Edgar.
Maybe next year, Edgar. Christopher Ruppel / Staff

Are the Democrats going gut funding for ST3? Yesterday, the Democrats – who control both chambers — voted 60-37 to change the way the state collects car tab taxes. Those taxes, and the algorithm that inflates tab prices for more expensive cars, fund Sound Transit 3, a ballot measure we all voted for. The main loser will be light rail. Without those taxes, it will cost Sound Transit $780 million in direct costs. Indirectly, it will cost $2.3 billion. Now, the bill heads to the senate.

Lakewood is appealing the $15.1 million verdict in police wrongful death lawsuit: In 2013, Lakewood police shot and killed Leonard Thomas, an unarmed black man. A U.S. District Court judge found the police had acted with malice and complete disregard for Thomas’ life. But, the city is appealing the verdict. This will cause the case to go on for months, maybe years. The cost of legal fees alone are racking up — they are currently approaching $4 million.

New development is pushing a SeaTac community out of their homes: The residents of the Fir Mobile Home Park in SeaTac are a tight knit community. But, the future of their homes and their stability is uncertain. Unless they win a lawsuit, there is government intervention, or help of some kind, the families must leave soon. Everyone, especially the community’s children, have been doing everything they can to prevent this from happening. Read the entire story filled with incredible pictures by The Seattle Times’ Erika Schultz.

Edgar Martinez got the short end of the stick: Again. If you go to the Wikipedia page for “designated hitter,” you’ll find a picture of Edgar Martinez. He is arguably the greatest designated hitter (DH) of all time, so much so that the MLB’s DH award is called the Edgar “Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.” Yet, Martinez has not made it into the baseball Hall of Fame. Yesterday, he was 20 votes short of making it. Next year is his last year of eligibility. Understandably, people are pissed. Also, aside from baseball, Martinez is genuinely just a standup guy. Here he is at the Women’s March last weekend.


Thank you to my good friend and maverick filmmaker (his words) Jimmy for helping me understand baseball.

Speaking of heroes (Martinez, not Jimmy), I’d like to tell you about another one who I know a bit more closely.

An update from my alley: Our alley is not a private place. There’s a tall, looming apartment building behind our house that stretches for a good portion of the block. I’m certain many of the residents can see into my top floor bedroom window. It’s okay, I draw the blinds most of the time. I think the lady that yells at construction workers, as well as transient, loitering, youths, lives in one of these apartments. It’s her perch, her watchtower. Think “Rear Window,” but angrier.

An excellent vantage point
An excellent vantage point NG

My roommates, Nicole and Marcy, told me this story once that involved The Voice of God and a lot of grape jelly. They had just come back from a camping trip and were transporting supplies from the trunk of Nicole’s car into our house. We are fortunate enough to have some private parking spots behind our house, a stretch of grass, and then our back door. Talk about acreage. But, we don’t have a fence or anything. One of the camping essentials they were moving was a Costco-sized jar of grape jelly. Tragically, they spilled it on our back lawn. Desperately, they tried to scoop it back into the jar with a large chunk of glass. As anyone knows, this is a highly inefficient way to scoop jelly. The ordeal lasted for awhile with no end in sight until a disembodied voice shouted from above — “Just leave it!” Nicole and Marcy looked skyward for the source. Finding no one, they drew the only possible conclusion: Divine intervention.

As you can see, the alley is shielded from no one, whether it be The Voice of God or nosey neighbors. It is the stage, its occupants merely players.

The stage is set
The stage is set NG

One of my favorite alley acts is performed by a person I’ve dubbed Backyard Bruce Lee. He is my hero. BBL has a dedication, a drive, comparable to no one. He is committed to his artform: Nunchucks. BBL paces the length of the alley, the tails of his Naruto headband shifting gently in the wind behind him, twirling nunchucks. He kicks his leg, does a little nunchuck move to his side, spins around and does more nunchuck moves above his head. I have no idea what the proper nunchuck terminology is. BBL does these elaborate nunchuck practices usually late in the afternoon for who knows how long. Sometimes, I’ll leave when it’s still light out and catch a glimpse of BBL working up a sweat. When I come back, the alley is bathed in darkness save for the weak din of the street light reflected off of BBL’s still-twirling nunchucks. Imagine this, but by a solo white guy, in the dark behind your house:

For the past few months, I haven’t seen BBL. I’d like to think he’s moved on to greener pastures. Maybe he found someone to teach him the nunchuck equivalent to wax on and wax off. Maybe his hardwork has finally paid off and he’s found the recognition he deserved. If anything, as the nights have gotten longer, the days colder and wetter, I hope he’s practicing somewhere else, like a warm, dry basement. Well lit, too. For now, I’ll think of him when I walk through the alley and notice his absence. It is a hole in my heart that can only be filled by the falling rain and the steady expansion of our alley lake.

Donald Trump would “love” to be interviewed by Mueller: He wants to do it, as soon as possible, and under oath. I hope it's televised.

Jeff’s ready to show off his balls: Yes, technically they’re called the spheres. Yes I know it’s — pardon this pun — low-hanging fruit to liken them to Jeff Bezos’ testicles but I'm going to do it regardless. Anyway, the plant-filled biospheres are opening to the public next Tuesday. I hope it’s cool cause that construction has been an endless nightmare and eyesore.

Everyone agrees that it sucks to drive in Washington: Personal experience aside — does anyone ever drive over the speed limit here? — a study by the financial website WalletHub found Washington was the second worst state for driving. The study was based on Cost of Ownership & Maintenance, Traffic & Infrastructure, Safety, and Access to Vehicles & Maintenance. Hawaii took the number one slot.

Mr. Trump goes to Switzerland: For the World Economic Forum in Davos. He’s going to promote his “America First” policies. We all wish he wouldn’t. When asked what his goal for the event was he said: “To tell the world how great America is and is doing. Our economy is now booming and with all I am doing, will only get better...Our country is finally WINNING again!” Great.

He here is arriving in Davos:


People are steamed over a Starbucks coming to Yosemite: I don’t know if you’ve been to Yosemite, but it's charming and rustic. Part of the charm of the Yosemite Valley is the food. It's not great, by any means. Unless you're shelling out the big bucks at one of the fancier hotels. My family went to Yosemite every summer when I was growing up. We would stay in the upper area in the Wawona region and usually make the long, winding drive into the Valley once during our visit. There aren’t many food options. All the ones aren’t big brand names. I can see how the thought of bringing a Starbucks — even a low-key, off-the-radar one as is planned — could be scary. What if this is just the tip of the iceberg? The nearly 23,000 people who signed the Change.org petition against the Starbucks are thinking the same thing: John Muir would roll in his grave.

Breaking news: I don’t watch broadcast news: and I only see the most viral of clips that permeate their way into the Twitter-sphere. If you’re like me, here are a handful of videos that are making their rounds on the Internet:

There was a car chase in Arizona:


Someone followed their GPS into a lake: And CBS used that one clip from The Office, so I respect them. They cut off a lot of the best parts of the clip but I’ll allow it for now.


1,500 construction workers built a Chinese train station in 9 hours:


A-I generated fake porn means we are deeply fucked: A redditor found a way to make face-swap porn. Using videos of celebrities, he was able to make convincing porn videos with porn stars’ bodies and celebrities’ faces. Now, there’s an app that lets anyone do it. The results are so convincing people actually believe they’re watching leaked footage of, for example, Emma Watson taking a shower. The access is spreading and the technology could quickly get to the point where distinguishing between what’s real and what’s fake becomes nearly impossible. How fucked up is that?

Blabbermouth Podcast is brand new today: Did the Democrats screw up the shutdown? We asked an actual Democrat, Rep. Pramila Jayapal! Plus Chase Burns helps Rich Smith consider the possibilities in a new "Golden Age" of drag.

Celebrate pre-Friday (aka Thursday) by: Meeting Seattle’s two most famous Rachels (Rachel Marshall of Rachel’s Ginger Beer and Rachel Yang of Joule, Revel, and Trove), watching the RuPaul’s Drag Race 3 premiere at one of several viewing parties, or catching the Queens of the Stone Age on their Villains World tour stop.