Perhaps you've seen them, sitting on a news rack, inside a local restaurant or store or even stapled to a telephone pole, ready to be taken by any passerby for free (or sent to you for a small fee).They are zines, largely self-published mini-magazines ranging in size from that of a few papers stapled together to something approaching a regular magazine. But there is no practical limit to what their creators can choose to put out. From music coverage to long-term comic arcs to personal diaries - also known as perzines -if someone wants to write or draw something, and unleash it to the world, they can
I never thought that turning the key in the ignition of my vehicle would be a financial commitment with enough stress attached to it to make me run for a bag of chocolate or a financial adviser.
n these days of higher gasoline prices, more and more people are opting to take the bus. And with airline costs steadily climbing, that big silver Greyhound has suddenly gotten a little more appealing. During my first couple of years as a college student, I became quite adept at "ridin' the 'hound" between Detroit and Michigan State University in East Lansing. Bus travel in those days was common for us students without cars. The trips themselves were usually lengthy exercises in boredom with a few notable exceptions.
Sometimes you can look casually at the nightly news and know that the world, even with all our modern homogenizing technology, is a very inconsistent place. For example, in England, everybody is eligible for medical care-the National Health-but there is a second tier, more expensive, supposedly better treatment, you can choose to pay for.
Now in its 11th year, the Capitol Hill Block Party has inked itself firmly into the must-see category on your summer concert calendar. On Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26, the Hill will be alive, and it may be wise to consider ditching your ride for the weekend. Sponsored by The Stranger, KEXP-FM and others, more than 50 bands will take up five stages along East Pike Street between Broadway and 12th Avenue. Last year's lineup brought the rock world's biggest names - Silversun Pickups, Spoon and Against Me! shared headline honors during the two-day event - and this year's Block Party-goers have an endless weekend of quality music to look forward to.
The Bite of Seattle is a massively successful event that attracts attendees and vendors from all over the Puget Sound and beyond. And this year was no different: packed with people, the smell of good food, the sound of good music while ribbons of water fly out of the International Fountain and onto absolutely delighted children.
Last weekend's arson that destroyed a duplex at the 1900 block of Eighth Avenue West was yet another mindless attack on other people's property that could have rendered unimaginable results.
Two months ago, we wrote about a pending City Council vote on Mayor Greg Nickels' Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) plan. We objected to it because it would give millions of dollars of tax breaks to developers who, in return, were only required to set aside 20 percent of their new units to renters at levels slightly below market rate - but hundreds of dollars above what most Seattle tenants could afford.
I'll admit: My first thought, upon hearing of Mayor-for-Life Greg Nickels' new tax on plastic grocery bags: I am not putting my dog's poop in a reusable cloth bag.Seattle's efforts of late to enforce conservation are occasionally veering into are-they-really-getting-paid-to-think-about-this? territory (as with last year's approval of miniature goats as permissible pets due to their ability to mow lawns without using fossil fuels - a City Council decision that will save many dozens of gallons of gas per year, in a city with only a few months a year of prime grass-growing season and precious few goats). But all in all, Seattle is on the right track with such measures. This is how changes in our resource consumption must inevitably happen: countless small steps at a time, where ordinary citizens' daily habits and institutional buying habits alike are changed by incentive (as in the bag tax) or fiat. The name of the eraThe last half of the 20th century, a.k.a. "The American Century," will, in the course of history, likely pick up another synonym: the Era of Waste. For the last 60 years, Americans have devoted themselves in an ever-greater frenzy to the notion that happiness is best obtained through Stuff. We run through far more Stuff, per capita, than even similarly wealthy nations in Europe or Japan. And our capitalist culture, in all its anarchic glory, has been more than pleased to sell us that Stuff and then sell us replacement Stuff when our Stuff gets broken. (Does anyone ever actually fix anything any more?)
SensibleLet's face it, charging for a plastic bag in grocery stores won't dramatically change the world or reverse global warming. That said, the city's recent efforts to prohibit the use of plastic bags and styrofoam containers, as well as charge a small amount for the purchase of a paper bag if someone doesn't bring one with, are worthy of support.
A decade-long effort to shift nighttime Boeing Field-bound flights from over Magnolia to over Elliott Bay has stalled in the King County Executive's office, according to King County Council member Larry Phillips and Magnolia pilot Dan Labriola.
Construction of the Brix mixed-use project and preparations for Broadway's light-rail station are putting a strain on north Broadway businesses. Nonetheless, merchants look forward to a fresh look for Capitol Hill's largest business district and an exciting new transportation option. Sound Transit's underground light-rail station will be located just east of Broadway and south of East John Street. The station will have three entrances and is expected to attract about 14,000 riders a day, according to Sound Transit's projections. Construction of the station is scheduled to begin in early 2009 with the demolition of the recently vacated buildings the transit agency purchased during the last 18 months.
A large duplex under construction on Queen Anne Hill was a total loss following a three-alarm arson fire that was started shortly before 11 p.m. on Saturday, July19, according to the Seattle Fire Department.
REUSE PLAN FOR FORT REMAINS CONTENTIOUS The last in a series of long, sometimes-contentious public meetings was held July 19 about re-use plans for soon-to-be-surplus Fort Lawton land next to Discovery Park, and - as usual - there were many objections.
FUN RUN, PARADE ATTRACT HUNDREDS FUN RUN TURNOUT BEATS EXPECTATIONS Hundreds came out with enthusiasm to spare last Saturday in support of Queen Anne Helpline's annual Crown of Queen Anne Fun Run/Walk and its other activities.