The bottom line? In an effort to increase the profits of the insurance companies, the Bush aristocracy and, in Washington state, the folks behind I-330 - all champions of small government and big business - want you to believe that by limiting liability lawsuits against medical providers you will be voting to reduce the cost of healthcare. Poppycock!What you will be doing is stripping yourself of one of the basic rights in our democracy, specifically your right as the little guy to take on the Goliath insurance companies when you feel you've been wronged.They trot out their ads proclaiming that the billions of dollars in lawsuits are raising malpractice premiums and driving doctors out of business. What they don't tell you is that, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2002 total healthcare cost rose to $1.553 trillion, and that only .62 percent - that's less than 1 percent - was paid out in malpractice premiums. That leaves 99.38 percent of health care cost attributable to causes other than lawsuits.
The swirling of the news - it is much like our autumn leaves being whirled aloft and down our streets from our recent blustery first winter storms.Except that the torrent of bad news isn't the first of the season. The wars continue, the indictments now spread from corporate scandals to high-level government officials, the hurricanes keep forming, what we call natural disasters (i.e., tsunamis and earthquakes) have a scale beyond comprehension. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a society that is ripping itself apart in disagreement, with the stealth destructive power of religion leading the way. A friend recently told me that he never discusses religion; what for?, he says - either you are just preaching to the choir, or no one is listening. But isn't that silence potentially more damaging?We can have a voice on Nov. 8.
Hundreds of little people and parents took to the top of the Hill on Halloween night. Merchants up and down Queen Anne Avenue opened their doors and doled out tricks and treats. Street traffic was at a standstill as, for a few hours, baby dragons, dainty fairies and mini-elves owned the sidewalks. The Hilltop village was abuzz with sugar highs and creative costuming.
The theme of Pacific Northwest Ballet's present program is "Past, Present and Future," drawing pieces from the company's repertoire and blending in new work.But as important as expanding the company's choreography is, the real future of any ballet company lies in its dancers - especially the group known as the corps. The corps forms the backbone of the company, a dependable line that backs up the soloists and the principals, with the goal of blending into one harmonious whole rather than shining in an individual spotlight.Dancers in the corps do get to break out on occasion - one of the advantages of being in a small company like PNB - and take over a solo spot in the show.Kiyon Gaines is one of those PNB corps members who have danced their way into the attention of the critics.
"Romeo and Juliet" is probably the most frequently performed of any Shakespearean play. One can't avoid it. It's on stages from high schools to Broadway. It reappears as a movie every few years, and so does the musical adaptation "West Side Story." So why, of all Shakespeare's plays, should this one be presented again in Seattle? One plausible reason is to offer fresh insights or staging. Seattle Shakespeare Company does indeed offer us a creatively staged version.You know from the moment the prologue begins that this production is going to be a little different. There, from the back of the stage, the narrator looks out over the cast members, each of whom is posed as if this were the final scene of the play. Front and center is the bier on which lie the dead bodies of Romeo and Juliet. OK, no happy ending here. It's a refreshing way to start.The setting is contemporary.
Just in time for Halloween, 5th Avenue Theatre serves up a hilariously macabre, slash-and-sing musical comedy. Yes, it's definitely comedic and entertaining. But it's also a morbid, bloodthirsty tale of horror.Widely considered composer Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece, "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is a show theatergoers either love or loathe. This little barbershop of horrors may not suit everyone's taste - too gruesome for the "Oklahoma!" and "Sound of Music" set, too much operatic singing for Stephen King fanatics. But if you like the films "Friday the 13th" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," just imagine Jason and Freddy singing.One thing is sure: For "Sweeney Todd" to succeed, you need talented singers, which you get in 5th Avenue's production, directed with flair by David Armstrong. Still, these actors must hurdle the same challenge faced by every performer who tackles this Sondheim classic. Because of the music's complexity and rapid-fire, tongue-twisting lyrics, it's difficult to understand all of the words, especially during the big chorus numbers. And that's the case at 5th Avenue. Otherwise, the production provides a terrific and terrifying evening of theater with a superb cast and glorious orchestra.
I've been working in Olympia the past few weeks.One of the people I work for down there is a news junkie, and so CNN is on their living-room television maybe eight hours a day.When CNN began 25 years ago, they literally covered the world, 24 hours a day. Now they run the same few stories over and over. They have personalities named Wolfen and Heidikins who analyze the few feet of video the network has somehow obtained - most of it taken in Washington, D.C. - ad infinitum.Soundbites of Bush, talking-head interviews with experts on what Pinhead just said, ad nauseam.I've read that all of the big American news outlets have cut down their foreign operations, reducing the number of those exotic foreign correspondents who once caused envy and desire in even the most pedestrian reporters' hearts. American news operations rely more and more on whoever is on the ground in foreign hotspots these days.
We stood facing the empty wooden chair bathed in soft lamplight.Little children wriggled on the floor in front of us - about two dozen or so kids from Shoreline's Briarcrest Elementary School. Outside, where the long lines wrapped around Third Place Books, the Friday afternoon rain had stopped.I returned my gaze to the empty chair where Sir Paul McCartney would sit. I didn't expect to be this close - 15 feet, maybe. I pinched myself. I was still there.And so we waited, about a dozen of us press types and the school kids and a couple of their teachers and the requisite advance men, knotted with nervousness. We'd been shepherded into an intimate, curtained-off space where the reading would take place while the Lake Forest Park anchor store was locked down.Eddie Vedder and Jill McCormick entered with their 17-month old daughter Olivia and took reserved chairs to our right. The couple, looking as serene and handsome as the stars of a Dumas novel, gazed beatifically at their daughter as she mixed with the older kids on the floor. McCartney was scheduled to read for about 15 minutes from his children's book "High in the Clouds." This event was for the kids, we were told - no talking to Paul.And so we waited. And whispered. It was like being in church.
The eye-catching corner of N.E. 45th St. and 15th Ave. N.E. has a new face.The retaining wall next to the University District Youth Center had been the site of a mural painted by youth for the past 10 years, but time took its toll while tags and graffiti obscured it. The Sanctuary Art Center decided give the wall a facelift as their fall project.They hired Jeffery Pankey of the Artistic Media Group to instruct painting, lead design sessions, and co-ordinate execution of the final project. Six youth participated
Some books of poetry, in their own quiet way, tug at you. Each re-reading, like sanding lacquer, reveals more grain and meaning.On of those is Christine Deavel's "Box of Little Spruce," published by LitRag Press.It's a small book - 20 numbered pages - that carries a lot of weight.Deavel owns and operates Wallingford's Open Books: A Poem Emporium, with husband John Marshall. It's one thing to sell poetry - it's another thing to write it. Deavel and Marshall are fine poets.
Gertrude, Zelda and Beatrice just cluck at all the media attention they've received lately. That includes an upcoming segment on The Today Show, numerous spreads in national magazines and a writeup this month in Seattle Homes & Lifestyle magazine.But the three represent a growing phenomenon in this country. They're so-called city chickens, Buff Orpingtons living in a modular, brightly colored, two-level pied-à-terre coop in Jennifer Carlson's back yard.Carlson, a landscape designer, is more forthcoming than her feathered friends about the popularity of city chickens, noting that she's taught Seattle Tilth classes about them at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. "We have standing-room-only classes of 40," Carlson said of City Chickens 101 and City Chickens 201. "Now I only teach city-chicken-coop-building classes."
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated Mother Nature's omnipotence. Hopefully, we are all sending money, supplies or volunteering to help the victims of this unparalleled national catastrophe. This tragedy sh ould also spur us take stock of our good fortune and impel us to improve our communities. For Seattle's 26,000 licensed dog owners, a meaningful and convenient endeavor would be cleaning up our neighborhoods. Unbeknownst to our four legged pals who provide unconditional love and companionship they may be the catalysts to beautify our Emerald City. Since most dog owners regularly walk their pets and pick up their droppings, why not collect litter too?
The woes of education are constantly wailing in our ears, so when I heard the sixth graders from Lake Washington Girls Middle School bubbling over with enthusiasm for their recent trip to Yakima, I realized that it was no ordinary trip.Lake Washington is a relatively little known jewel of a school tucked in the Japanese Language School building between MLK Jr. Way South and South 16th Street just off of Rainier Avenue South. The student body represents our city's diversity. Respect and tolerance for differing opinions binds them together, but school officials stress the importance of standing up and making one's voice heard. This is not a shy environment.There is a strong emphasis on contributing to community, and the curriculum is a dream for any lover of humanities: plays visited, plays performed, poetry, and tons of girl power.
Depending on your point of view, we are either fortunate or cursed with an abundance of wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. Most of these animals have lived on the earth longer than modern humans, and certainly longer than any of us have lived in Magnolia.Can we coexist with all this wildlife? I'd like to think so, so long as we use a little common sense and dispense with the urban legends.I'm a lover of wildlife, as is my wife. We put out food and water for the birds, cats, dogs, raccoons and any other critter passing by. Our yard is frequented by a variety of birds, neighborhood cats and the occasional opossum.Our other visitors are raccoons. There's a legitimate concern that feeding raccoons can make them too familiar with people, setting up potential confrontations, but that's not been our experience. We know and respect the fact that they are wild animals.
The Moyer Foundation on Nov. 2 celebrated its fifth anniversary with a special fundraising dinner at Union Station.The celebration marked a five-year history of giving back to the community and helping children in distress. The Moyer Foundation estimated more than 500 folks in attendance - including patrons, grant recipients and friends of the foundation."Our passion for helping children has been embraced by this community more than we ever imagined," said Karen Moyer, who co-founded the organization along with her husband, Mariner's pitcher Jaime Moyer.