With "Last Days," Portland-based director Gus Van Sant has made a movie only he could, and perhaps should, make. There is a sense of inevitability to the film that registers far beyond its minor-key meditations on fate and fatality. Van Sant's previous work, especially "Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho," seems to lead directly to this leap of artistic faith. His affinity for society's outcasts and loners, coupled with his distinctly Northwest ethos of fractured individualism and overcast quietude, that finds perfect expression in this daringly intimate story of a death foretold.A quiet, haunting portrait of a drug-addled rock star hiding out in murky isolation in a decrepit mansion in the woods, "Last Days" moves with a languid yet relentless momentum to its chilling closing shot - a scene that recreates the final act in the life of Kurt Cobain, the Aberdeen-born founder of Nirvana who suicided in 1994 at the age of 27.
Maybe it's busy work. Maybe it's a thirst for knowledge. But I had a wonderful time tracking down two words this week. It all began at breakfast, when someone asked if I'd pass the saltcellar.Why is it called a "saltcellar," we wondered. It was suggested that they kept a barrel of salt in the cellar and named its table container the same thing.Well, maybe. But I wasn't convinced.And what was the name of the tall, silver piece that had a round piece midway up the column that held the saltcellar, pepper shaker, oil and vinegar cruets and possibly one more item? Reaching as deep as we could into the recesses of our minds, no one could remember.So the search was on.
"Strippergate" is back in the news. Glaring front-page headlines announced recently that the King County prosecutor will pursue criminal charges against the owners of Rick's Strip Club - Frank Colacurcio and his son - for allegedly funneling illegal campaign contributions to city council incumbents Heidi Wills, Judy Nicastro and Jim Compton two years ago. The three had voted in favor of a controversial rezone benefiting the club. The city has placed a $650 lid on an individual's contributions to a candidate per election. The Colacurcios are accused of dodging that limit by slipping cash to friends, relatives, and associates who then gave that money to the three incumbents. Relentless coverage of these illegal donations dominated the news during the 2003 election and contributed to the defeat of Wills and Nicastro. Just for good measure, voters also kicked Margaret Pageler out of office even though she had nothing to do with the scandal. Lacking a credible challenger at the time, Compton was narrowly re-elected.
As photo shoots go, this one ranked pretty low on the Excito-meter. The article was on Sound Transit's possible decision to pass on building a First Hill light rail station. A photograph of the pending site, the U.S. Bank on Madison Street seemed appropriate. This is the sort of assignment that takes five minutes, including parking. It took about 15, but not because the building was an uncooperative model. This paper's photographer, Bradley Enghaus, set up shop across the street from the bank and was putting his camera on a tripod when he saw a patrol car. It was moving slowly in his direction, then pulled up on the sidewalk and stopped a few feet from him.Two officers got out of the car. One approached him, the other stood back impassively with his arms folded across his chest."What are you taking pictures of?" the officer asked.
What the Capitol Hill Business Improvement Association has called "blight" and what the Seattle Police Department would deem illegal has now become a national and international poster-art resistance movement. And its birthplace is Capitol Hill.Replacements Needed, a loosely knit peace collective, began modestly enough in March 2004 during a brainstorming session of "hair farmers," as co-creator, current head and graphic designer, Thomas Hays called them. "We were watching the news one night and a couple of the older guys were sitting there talking about Vietnam and how the body counts and visuals really helped influence the public against the war," Hays recalled.They debated on how best to reenact this experience in 2005, Replacements Needed was born. But the end result of that meeting and the current state of the group could hardly have been envisioned by anyone present.
What is that bird that plunges into Lake Washington feet first and comes up with a live fish with nearly every dive? It's the osprey. The osprey is a highly successful species with a nearly worldwide distribution. We are fortunate to have osprey breed in the Pacific Northwest, spending nearly six months in our area before returning to their wintering grounds. A significant number of nesting osprey reside along the Duwamish River and can be seen commuting over South Seattle to fish the waters of Lake Washington. The osprey is easily observed. A vocal species, an osprey's loud, clear "keyew-keyew-keyew" calls will immediately draw your attention to the bird. In flight, you will see this large, narrow-winged hawk's distinct kink at the elbow accented with dark wrist marks. Perched birds are distinguished by a white cap, a dark brown eye-line that broadens behind the eye and white chin, throat, breast and belly.
The way mortgages are done in America is about to be turned upside down. Nestled down in Federal Way are the offices of Pacific Guarantee Mortgage, a fast growing company that has dozens of representatives working in and around the Seattle area. Owned by husband and wife team Sara and Jeffrey Mills, PGM recently launched the American version of an Australian-style mortgage that utilizes a homeowner's checking account to drop typical mortgage life spans in half."As much as it sounds like a cliché, there are no disadvantages, but I have to preface that and say this product is not for everyone," asserted Mills, who noted folks that have good credit, are responsible financially, and can manage their funds well typify their customer base.
Maybe it's a thirst for knowledge, but I had a wonderful time tracking down two words this week. It all began at breakfast, when someone asked if I'd pass the saltcellar.Why is it called a "saltcellar," we wondered. It was suggested that they kept a barrel of salt in the cellar and named its table container the same thing.And what was the name of the tall, silver piece that had a round piece midway up the column that held the saltcellar, pepper shaker, oil and vinegar cruets and possibly one more item? Reaching as deep as we could into the recesses of our minds, no one could remember.So the search was on.
You've heard the joke about the cats in heaven who just loved the roller-skating mice, but Meals on Wheels is a very real program that helps hundreds of senior citizens stay in their Seattle and King County homes."It's a frozen meals program," explained Judy Ruehlmann, community program manager for Meals on Wheels. Program participants may order as many as 14 or as few as seven meals per week. The meals, prepared by a caterer in Spanaway, near Tacoma, are delivered once a week.Participants must be at least 60 years old and homebound or need assistance to get out of the house, either a person or a mechanical device such as a wheelchair, walker or cane.
Because my ex-wife is African American, and because I single-parented my two daughters through their teen years, I have a little bit more intertwined relationship with the oft-talked-about entertainment end of  "black" culture than many of my fellow palefaces.From 1993 to 1996 I knew rap backward and forwards. I could identify every prominent rapper by the distinctive way he said mother ... well, you know. My youngest loved rap, and I either had to listen so I could defend myself by making fun of the day's most famous misogynists using their correct names, or be considered an even older fogy than she already thought I was.I knew whom Tupac was running with and whom Will Smith was dating: up to the minute. I heard Mikey Jackson's music in my sleep, literally.It wasn't fun necessarily, but it helped me stay in contact with my kids as they passed through their turbulent teens. I did it that way because I remembered my own father, opera-loving Big Lou Wilken, storming into the house after work one day and screaming contemptuously at me because I was listening to the Rolling Stones."Adenoidal freaks who can't carry a tune and look like women," was the printable part of his diatribe.
The weekend of July 17 was a heated one! Sir Mix-A-Lot won an award for community service from Tony B. of Musica (see "Hip hop awards handed out in Columbia City," page 2). The award praised him for record sales and for his outstanding service and commitment to community. Congratulations Mix!Still, many questioned the voting process and made accusations of rigging the vote in his favor: isn't that how Bush was elected? When the smoke cleared, it turned out people had a lot to say about the glass ceiling that Black artists from Seattle find themselves trapped beneath. Here's what some of the voices of reason had to say about the situation:
Southwest Airlines wants you to think they have a corporate heart as big as Mt. Rainier. Last week America's most successful airline plopped its senior vice president Ron Ricks down at Boeing Field for a press conference concerning their desire to shift operations from Sea-Tac to the historic Duwamish River valley airport. Ricks told the crowd the airline wanted to build its own eight-gate terminal and accompanying seven-level parking garage across the tarmac from its airplane supplier's main stomping ground. The estimated $130 million bill would be on them, Ricks assured ... "Christmas in July for King County, Seattle, and Puget Sound," he crowed.It's a present all right, but not for the people of King County.
David Williams finds natural history stories wherever he looks and has incorporated these stories into his new book, "The Street-Smart Naturalist - Field Notes from Seattle." In the oaks of Martha Washington Park and Seward Park he sees something reflecting not only the natural, but the human history of the area.Washington state has only one native oak, the Garry or Oregon white oak, and it doesn't appear to like living in Seattle very much. According to Williams, "It's more common south of Tacoma, particularly on the prairies around Nisqually and Ft. Lewis, and on islands in Puget Sound."
David Williams stands with his right hand grasping a crow. His fingers gently but firmly wrap around the bird's legs. The scene gives the appearance that Williams holds a large black Popsicle - a Crowsicle. Observers might be tempted to ask, "This is science?"Science it is, though Williams and the crow are participating in the study for different reasons. He's there, along with University of Washington researcher John Withey, to study the birds. As Williams explains, "Being social birds, crows gather in roosts to converse and share information. In the summer breeding season, the number may drop as low as 300 because they stay and defend their nest territory instead of socializing." The remainder of the year can find over 10,000 birds occupying the roost.The bird waits patiently while Williams points out what makes crows such successful urban birds.
The learning curve was steep, but project officials and state regulators say it is leveling off. Basically, it will take continuing effort-and money-to keep construction of Sound Transit's Central Link light rail line within state and federal environmental standards. Sound Transit faces two big environmental challenges. The first is oil and other chemical pollution on property being vacated for the widening and reconstruction project. Most of it comes from former service stations and dry-cleaning establishments. And Sound Transit is encountering more of it than planners originally anticipated.