We came home from the festive "Christmas Shopping in Magnolia" extravaganza a few weeks ago, well stuffed and ready to spend the rest of the evening as supreme couch potatoes. When I snapped on the tube, "Police Academy"-the ultimately forgettable movie-appeared.The only reason the movie was able to hold my attention was because someone had taught Bubba Smith-a former classmate of mine at Michigan State-to speak in sentences longer than five words. Seeing Bubba got me to thinking about Michigan State football and how, when I attended school there, MSU regularly went to the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.That was back when every year the winner of the Big Ten conference played the winner of the Pacific Eight conference, as they were known then. Today, both conferences have picked up a couple of new members, and because of the BCS juggling of bowl games, nobody knows at the start of the season what teams will end up in the various bowls come New Year's Day.My family had been living in Detroit slightly over a year-having recently moved from California-when the trip to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl presented itself as the perfect excuse to go back and visit my surfin' buddies for a week.
Jeremiah White, 8, prefers the snowy grass to the dry streets of South Massachusets Street during the annual MLK Day rally and march.
He doesn't like chocolate or Mexican food, but he absolutely loves Dryer's vanilla ice cream and sharing the Gospel of Christ. For the Rev. Earl Palmer, an ordained Presbyterian minister for 50 years and currently senior pastor at University Presbyterian Church (UPC), retirement does not mean giving up what he loves. Serving as UPC's senior pastor for the last 16 years, Palmer plans to remain at the church until a 13-member committee finds a new pastor. The process could take up to a year and a half.
A new year has begun.Unfortunately, the new year in the United States looks, in many ways, a lot like the old year.For example, according to U.S. News and World Report, the vaunted U.S. economic recovery touted by that great liar George W. Bush is only a revival for those folks who don't need one.Median family incomes for the average American household during the past 25 years have risen less than 1 percent annually, for a 25-year total of 18 percent-way below cost-of-living increases once inflation is factored in.Most American families actually lost money.But median income for the top 1 percent, the folks most of whom have inherited or-if you read the daily business pages, full of stories of crooked executives-stolen their way to the top of the economic dung heap, while profiting from our more and more skewed-toward-the-already-rich tax tables, has gone up 200 percent.Another way of looking at this in layman's terms is:You have 30 children, and the oldest gets 10 or 15 times more than the other 29 combined.And never even makes his own bed, much less yours.From 1980 to 2004, the wages of a typical worker (once you factor in inflation) fell, while among the top 20 percent of earners in the United States, incomes (even without counting perks) rose 60 percent. They are not all working harder than we are.
Recent wind and snowstorms have cut off power, iced roadways, and shut down Seattle schools. They have also downed 12 large trees in Seward Park's old-growth forests, changing its varied habitats. Paul Talbot is an amateur naturalist, president of Friends of Seward Park, and a board member of the Audubon Society. For the past two years Talbot has spent the first Saturday of every month leading walks in Seward Park to educate the community about the park's history and ecology. This month's walk's topic was the effect the 12 downed trees will have on Seward's plant and bird life.
We love our trees in Seattle, but some trees are more equal than others. When the Dec. 14 storm smacked the city with 60 miles per hour winds, Nolan Rundquist's thoughts drifted toward a couple of his favorite copper beeches. The city arborist said both trees, one on First Hill near St. James Cathedral and the other on Queen Anne at First North, came through.Other Capitol Hill trees didn't fare so well.
Jerry Dawson and the DaNell Daymon and Royalty Choir perform at the 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, held at Mount Zion Baptist Church Jan. 12. The event was sponsored by Seattle Community Colleges. (Click Full Story for coverage of the Jan. 15 march.)
READINGsMLK'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ACCEPTANCESunday, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. and Monday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. Presented as part of Mirror Stage Company's Feed Your Mind series. Both events will be on the Seattle University campus. The Jan. 21 performance will be at Pigott Auditorium. The Jan. 22 performance will be at Schafer Auditorium in Lemieux Library. $5 donation suggested. 686-3729 or www.mirrorstage.org.SEATTLE POETRY SLAMWednesdays, 8 p.m. An evening of competitive performance poetry. Slam, featured poet, live music. Capitol Hill Arts Center, 1621 12th Ave. $5. 21+, ID required. 388-0521 or www.capitolhillarts.com.DANCEMISS MARY'S DIAMOND DANCEWednesdays, Jan. 17 - March 14, 2 - 2:45 p.m. A class combining basic ballet with simple movement, for ages 4 - 5. Will perform at last class. $108 due at first class. Seven Star Women's Kung Fu, 525 21st Ave. Register at houseofluxurymary@yahoo.com or visit www.freewebs.com/houseofluxurymary.LOVE LESSONSSaturday, Jan. 20 and Jan. 27. Dinner, 6 p.m. and show, 7:30 p.m. A new cabaret that explores the journey of a love relationship through Salsa, Tango, Swing and Tap. All shows will be followed by a short introductory lesson and open dancing. Dinner, show and dancing, $60; show and dancing only, $25. There is a $5 discount for those under 21, if the dance following the show is 21+. Century Ballroom, 915 E. Pine St. 325-6500 or www.centuryballroom.com.K.J. HOLMES DANCE PERFORMANCESunday, Jan. 21, 8 p.m. Dance artist, teacher and performer K.J. Holmes brings her 26 years of experience to Seattle in an evening of dance improvisation. Velocity Main Space Theater, 915 E. Pine St., second floor. $12 - $15 sliding scale. 686-7323 or www.danceartgroup.org.MUSICKOUNT FISTULAWednesday, Jan. 17, 9 p.m. doors. Also, Weirdlords, Axes of Evil. $5. 21+. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St. 866-468-7623 or www.ticketweb.com.THE ERWIN SCHULHOFF FESTIVALThursday, Jan. 18 - Jan. 28. The Erwin Schulhoff Festival includes two weekends of special performances and a panel discussion that draws on Schulhoff's wide ranging repertory for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. PONCHO Concert Hall, Kerry Hall at Cornish College of the Arts, 710 E. Roy St. Individual tickets are $15 general, $7.50 discounted. Festival passes are $50 general, $25 discounted. 325-6500 or www.ticketwindowonline.com.LICKThursday, Jan. 18, 9 p.m. doors. With DJs Mathmatix, Dewey Decimal and more. $5. 21+. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St. 866-468-7623 or www.ticketweb.com.HELL'S BELLOWSFriday, Jan. 19, 8 p.m. This accordion quartet plays like a single organ. New Moon Salon, on 14th between Pike and Pine.THE NACHOS CD RELEASE PARTYFriday, Jan. 19. With Black Daisy, DJ Sean Spits. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St. 866-468-7623 or www.ticketweb.com.FILMWEST SIDE STORYWednesday, Jan. 17 - Sunday, Jan. 21, 7 p.m. A classic musical. Central Cinema, 21st and Union. 686-MOVI or www.central-cinema.com.TO SLEEP SO AS TO DREAMFriday, Jan. 19 - Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. At Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave. $5 NWFF members, $6 children/seniors, $8.50 general. 800-838-3006 or www.nwfilmforum.org.THE PHOTOGRAPHER, HIS WIFE,HER LOVERFriday, Jan. 19 - Jan. 25, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. No 9 p.m. screening on Jan. 25. Paul Yule's documentary is an investigation into personality, crime, marriage, contemporary art and the nature of truth. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave. $5 NWFF members, $6 seniors, $8 general. 800-838-3006 or www.nwfilmforum.org.
A dark, traditional mahogany bar dominates the space. Rough-hewn wood planks serve as tabletops. Cast- off couches, which have seen better days, face each other to form a conversation pit. Red velvet drapes block the street light. There is an overall aura of intimacy.Welcome to the Hideout, Seattle's premier art- bar project.
After years of fawning coverage in local media, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was backpedaling last week. It had help.>The reason was a two-part investigative story by the Los Angeles Times, begun on Sunday, Jan. 7, and reprinted on the front page of The Seattle Times. It reported that "...the Gates Foundation has holdings in many companies that have failed tests of social responsibility because of environmental lapses, employment discrimination, disregard for worker rights or unethical practices....
The Turay Building, east of the vacant Wallingford Boys & Girls Club, 1310 N. 45th St., was finally razed on Jan. 9, despite many attempts at scheduling the demolition. The former guitar studio, donated by the Fremont Dock Co., will become an outdoor courtyard and small play area for club members when the newly renovated Boys & Girls Club opens this spring.
Mackenzie Argens recently signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her basketball career at the University of Washington next season, where she'll get a full-ride. t shouldn't come as any surprise that 6-foot, 3-inch Argens will play for a Division 1 school. She's played on the Roughriders varsity team all four years of high school.
John Creighton was elected president of the Port of Seattle Commission by his fellow commissioners at the Port's regular meeting last week. Other officers for 2007 are Lloyd Hara, vice president; Alec Fisken, secretary; Bob Edwards, assistant secretary; and commissioner, Patricia Davis.
We love our trees in Seattle, but some trees are more equal than others. When the Dec. 14 storm smacked the city with 60 m.p.h. winds, Nolan Rundquist's thoughts drifted toward a couple of his favorite copper beeches.Thc city arborist said both trees, one on First Hill near St. James Cathedral and the other on Queen Anne, came through.On the other hand, wind tunnel effects in several parts of the city knocked down trees like a row of dominos. On Beacon Avenue seven trees - maple, cedar, linden - were blown over. Seward Park also suffered, where a dozen old-growth trees, many of them Douglas fir, fell along with non-native specimens. The Park's "Heritage Tree," maybe 500 years old, is still standing.
All you need to know about George W. Bush's recent State of the Union address is that after making the central point of his speech a plea to balky senators to give his escalation of the war in Iraq "a chance," the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted the very next day to pass a resolution calling his plan "not in the national interest." And that many of the Republicans voting against the Senate measure said they, too, had reservations about the escalation.By the end of the week, Bush's somewhat pathetic plea was all but forgotten, drowned out in the headlines by some 3,000 boisterous anti-war demonstrators here in Seattle and what organizers claimed were a half-million congregating within view of the White House.Next week, our area will see another major anti-war event as the court-martial of Army Lt. Ehren Watada, the first officer to refuse deployment to Iraq, takes place at nearby Fort Lewis.A diminished presenceThe overwhelming sense of this year's State of the Union was that Bush has become not irrelevant exactly, but diminished - far more so than his lame-duck status alone would suggest. Except for the wary respect for the executive power he still wields, nobody would take Dubya seriously any longer. Nobody. Not Sen. John McCain, not Vice President Dick Cheney, not his wife Laura, not his dog Barney. Bush has lost all credibility with the public, and once that's gone for a politician, there's no recovering it.