Just returned from my fifth consecutive Tour de France. It was the most boring Armstrong victory ever, yet the U.S. television audience was up 30 percent over last year's high.Americans are often slow to catch on.Last Tuesday, thunder and lightning emanated from the tour's headquarters in Paris.The tour's director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, claimed in L'Equipe newspaper that testing of Lance Armstrong's blood samples in 1999 revealed the drug EPO.Most Americans do not believe Armstrong used drugs.And most Europeans I've talked to think Americans cannot face the truth about certain subjects - Iraq, cycling and drugs, etc.
The mantra for youth sports used to be, "It's not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."It didn't matter the outcome of your T-ball game because after you yelled "Two, four, six, eight" and shook hands, you got a juice box and a handful of orange slices.People a generation older than I reminisce about when baseball was played in someone's back yard with trees and bushes as the bases.Unfortunately the innocence of youth sports suffered a premature death.Seven-, 8- and 9-year-olds try out for spots on teams that travel the state. Like little soldiers in matching uniforms, they spend four or five days a week practicing drills, preparing not to play their sport, but to compete and win.This often comes at a great price.
Re: Dennis Wilken's column "Getting our ducks in a row," Aug. 24:It's great to be an American! Only in America can a person think in the abstract and compare the treatment of a duck to a war on terrorism, and then insult our President by calling him a "Pinhead" for the actions he has taken. Then the person "spins" the facts of the President, and his Administration, during the Vietnam War without fear of federal retribution. Only in America. Perhaps Mr. Wilken should spend more time reviewing U.S. history and less time frequenting the "clubs" on Lower Queen Anne.
To publish a serious magazine in this city, so the rap goes, is a uniquely Seattle form of economic suicide.Connoisseurs of such matters point to the legendary gold standard of local magazine publishing, the old Seattle Magazine - which, despite its Bullitt family connections, folded in 1970. Its current, unrelated namesake does deliver stories of substance, but the modern Seattle Magazine is just as likely to run cover stories listing Seattle's neighborhoods or doctors or lawyers - advertising-driven agendas that shout "glossy." ColorsNW magazine, on the other hand, is the exception that seems to be proving the rule
Theater, Live Music, Visual Art, Cinema, Other Stuff. Here's what's happening in the arts world.
In 2003, Drinks on the Links was established. The response to the new offering has been "tremendous," according to Madden: in its first year 25 teams signed up, and in each succeeding year the number has approximately doubled. Now, in its third year, nearly 100 teams - with six to 10 participants each - gather weekly at Interbay Golf Center to imbibe, socialize and practice their putting skills.Madden attributes the success of Drinks on the Links to several factors. First, there's the nostalgic nature of the activity, and secondly, the desire to reclaim sports as pure enjoyment rather than as a vehicle for capitalistic excess.
Fox Noir ClassicOtto Preminger made one of the masterworks of film noir, the mystery-romance "Laura" (1944), but he went on to do several terrific movies that, though lacking the haunting aura of that sublime death-dream, arguably delve more suggestively into the nitty-gritty textures of the noir zone. Two of them aren't out yet on DVD in this country, "Fallen Angel" (1945) and "Where the Sidewalk End" (1950). But one of them is about to be: the fascinatingly slippery "Whirlpool" (1949), releasing Sept. 6.
Gazpacho is a cold soup of Spanish origin that's ideal for late-summer meals, when tomatoes smell like tomatoes and the afternoon sun still feels warm on your shoulders. It's exceptionally healthy and easy to make, and is a nice treat for lunch or as the center of a light dinner They say that there are as many recipes for gazpacho as there are Spanish cooks: it can be made thin or thick; ice-cold or room temperature; chopped, pounded, blended or sliced; with almonds or bread or neither. I like gazpacho that is tomato-y and a little tart, blended evenly and topped with homemade croutons and chunks of vegetables for extra flavor and texture. Chopped, hard-boiled egg is another good, traditional topping - especially if you're making a meal of it. I prefer the soup when served at room temperature or only slightly chilled so the cold doesn't dull the flavor, although others like to add ice and serve it exceptionally cool.No matter how you vary the recipe, it's crucial that you use the best ingredients you can get your hands on - especially the tomatoes, which should be the ripest, reddest you can find. Because our local tomatoes are at their peak in late August and early September, now is the best time to make gazpacho. The soup is best when it sits overnight, so make enough for a couple of meals, kick up your feet and enjoy the last few days of summer.
"Intimate Apparel," now playing at Intiman Theatre, unfolds like a beautiful bolt of cloth, shimmering with every movement.Lynn Nottage's poignant play, inspired by her own great-grandmother, who made intimate apparel for wealthy New York women, is set in 1905 Manhattan and peers into the lives of an African-American seamstress and the women around her.THE LOWDOWNIntimate Apparel: Tuesday to Sunday, through Sept. 24. Intiman Theatre. Tickets $10-$46. Call 269-1900.
Mentioned in dispatchesPrevious reports of the Uptown Sunday in the Parks Celebration on July 24 omitted mention of several awards tendered at that time.In the photo (by Ann Pearce), Uptown Alliance president John Coney (right) presents Larry Phillips, King County Council member representing District 4, with the Uptown Park Award in recognition and appreciation of "his many contributions to our community, especially for securing $800,000 from the Conservation Tax Fund for our new Uptown park site purchase."
Efforts to fix up Big Howe field near the Queen Anne Community Center got a boost in June when the Department Of Neighborhoods awarded the project a $100,000 matching grant. But organizers of the Big Howe Improvement Project (a.k.a. B-HIP) still have a ways to go before they come up with the $418,000 needed for the total cost of the project.It could have been worse. Project organizers originally thought the price tag would be half a million dollars, based on preliminary research into projects of a similar size in Seattle, said B-HIP co-chair Eleni Ledesma. "But we really tried to scale back and be a little frugal," she said.
Re: Dennis Wilken's column "Getting our ducks in a row," Aug. 24:It's great to be an American! Only in America can a person think in the abstract and compare the treatment of a duck to a war on terrorism, and then insult our President by calling him a "Pinhead" for the actions he has taken. Then the person "spins" the facts of the President, and his Administration, during the Vietnam War without fear of federal retribution. Only in America. Perhaps Mr. Wilken should spend more time reviewing U.S. history and less time frequenting the "clubs" on Lower Queen Anne.
The city's garbage and recycling trucks are upgrading their exhaust systems and converting to biodiesel and ultra-low sulfur fuel in an on-going effort to reach Seattle's current climate protection and air quality goals. "Most people don't associate the word "clean" with the garbage trucks that rumble through their neighborhoods every day," Mayor Greg Nickels said. "But these changes will cut up to 90 percent of the exhaust pipe pollution and make a difference in keeping our air clean."
Having a blast! It's that simple. When I showed up for a Danskin training program I felt out of place. Most of the other trainees were svelte 20-somethings with racing bikes ready to do their stuff. There I was all white-headed with a bicycle loaded down with panniers for grocery shopping."Raise your hand if you've ever done the Danskin before," said the trainer."Twice," I said after raising my hand. "The first time at age 60. The second time at 65. Now I'm 66."The first time I did the Danskin, was the most fun of my life. Hoards of young women ran by me calling out, "You're looking great!" Spectators along the roadside shouting out my race number, "Way to go, two-ninety-two!" The cumulative total of all the praise I have ever received in my lifetime wouldn't equal what I received during one Danskin Triathlon: it's probably the most supportive environment on the planet.
The King County Democratic Central Committee last week joined a growing list of organizations opposing Southwest Airlines' proposal to move its operations from Sea-Tac International Airport to Boeing Field. It was a nearly unanimous vote, with only two committee members from Shoreline voting against a resolution that 70 other members from 17 legislative districts approved, said committee spokesperson Dan Becraft, of Laurelhurst.