May 7, 2011

On June 19th, a group of self-described “sluts” and their proud supporters will take to the streets of Seattle. Now, had I reported this story alone, I would be called an offensive sexist along with whatever else the PC crowd could find in their vocabulary. Since the mainstream media is also calling these people “sluts”, however, I don’t think any of...

May 6, 2011

A couple of years ago, I was involved in an “effort” to educate businesses about photography and the law. Specifically, I tried to educate them that photography, in almost all cases, is perfectly legal in public or in places of public accommodation (casinos, sidewalks, shopping malls, hotels, etc). After a fellow blogger was illegally detained in...

May 5, 2011

This morning, I read on the KOMO News site that someone had set a newspaper box ablaze at Broadway & Thomas. http://capitolhill.komonews.com/news/crime/another-newspaper-box-set-fire/639240 After reading it, I went up to get a couple of shots because, well, that’s what I do. Supposedly, this was the second night in a row that someone had done this...

May 4, 2011

When I bought my scooter a couple of months ago, I was paranoid about riding it home. “What if a cop stops me?”, I thought to myself, “I don’t have proof of insurance yet”. When I got back to my nerd cave, I immediately jumped on the computer and pulled up my insurer’s website to get quotes. As I was scrolling through the...

May 4, 2011

Hello, my name is Juan and I’m 20 years old: Seriously, I’m 20 years old: Wait, did I say 20? Sorry, I meant 22: Screw it, can you just give me $100? Meth is one hell of a drug, and I don’t want to come down over the weekend. Some one over there on the East Side, help the boy out. I’m sure he’s good for...

May 3, 2011

Sunday was International Workers’ Day. A day which, every year, sees thousands of people march through Downtown Seattle. A day over which I am deeply conflicted. In 2011, in my heart of hearts, I know that I am watching “Decline of the Roman Empire, Part II – This Time It’s Personal”. Not only am I watching it, but I am living it. The...

Apr 30, 2011

Sure, you are underwater in your mortgage. Sure, you are at-risk of being laid off. Sure, you are one paycheck away from homelessness. Sure, you are experiencing the early stages of hyperinflation that will soon sap all of your wealth. Sure, your health insurance premiums have doubled again. Sure, your government is hopelessly corrupt. Sure, your country has the...

Apr 29, 2011

This afternoon, the City of Seattle agreed to pay the family of John T. Williams the sum of 1.5 million doll ars in order to avoid a lawsuit. That’s right, the “City of Seattle” which means “the 608,000 residents of the City of Seattle”. Did Ian Birk, the man who murdered Williams, pay $1.5 million to the family? No. Did Ian Birk,...

Apr 27, 2011

Mayor Mike McGinn, or as I like to call him, M3, has proposed a new initiative to make Seattle nightlife safer. The first part of his proposals involves cab stands. Mike would designate specific parking meters for cabs after hours, which would in turn make it easier to hail a ride home. These convertible cab stands are being proposed for Downtown, Belltown,...

Apr 26, 2011

Not long ago, the primary news source for Capitol Hill, the Capitol Hill Blog, ran a story about a man named “Joe”. You see, Joe is a man who lives in Pike/Pine, and Joe is upset that a nearby nightclub (The Baltic Room) has been increasing their noise level over the months. To try and solve his problem, Joe has called the police on several occasions, and...

Apr 26, 2011

‘The Seattle Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office have formed a unique partnership with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to develop a curriculum to improve the way police officers are trained to interact with people. For the past decade, police training has focused on tools and physical tactics for keeping officers...

Apr 24, 2011

When I awoke yesterday morning, that was the forecast. Not only was it the forecast, but my Twitter feed lit up like a Christmas Tree as news stations across Seattle rushed to be the first news outlet to post 100 “the sun is out!” tweets. This, in turn, caused me to massively unfollow just about every news station in Seattle. As I have posted before, I am...

Apr 19, 2011

Today, I rode my scooter up to Broadway in order to check out a couple of eateries, including our newest business, Yogurtland. After circling the block once, I found a parking space in front of one of the restaurants. I backed my scooter in so that my rear wheel was touching the curb (as is required by law), purchased my parking sticker, and hung it on my...

Apr 16, 2011

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an …….. ad for GEICO? Yesterday afternoon, a small airplane dragged an advertisement for the insurance company around the Downtown Seattle Skyline, and even went so far as to cross directly into the active landing path for Boeing Field. At one point, the advertising banner was separated from a landing...

Apr 13, 2011

Seattle schools have taken political correctness to a whole new level. See: http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=459668 To summarize, a 16 year old girl wanted to hand out Easter Eggs to a third grade classroom. The school agreed, on one condition: Instead of calling them “Easter Eggs”, the girl would have to refer to them as “Spring...

Apr 2, 2011

Oh my god, the sky is falling! The sky is falling! http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Seattle-street-signs-changed-on-April-Fools-Day-119099109.html It appears to be an April Fools Joke, leaving people laughing and confused on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Someone taped an “n” over the “k” on signs for Pike Street and vice-versa...

Mar 14, 2011

Last night before going to bed, I decided to flip on the late television news just in case a toxic radioactive cloud from Japan was headed our way. When I turned it on, however, the lead story was not the earthquake. Instead, the newscasters were giving us updates about a Downtown robbery. A man had been robbed in a parking garage near Pioneer Square, and...

Feb 13, 2011

It seems like only yesterday that O’Drama inspired a wave of naive optimism by winning the ’08 Presidential election … yet, here we are, on the precipice of the 2012 election cycle. Once again, I find myself in a familiar position of lonely alienation, for I have no candidate. For the 42nd year in a row, I am completely without representation...

Jan 28, 2011

Everyone is convinced that they have one, but few people actually do. I encountered this sign about 10 minutes ago outside J&J Gifts on First Avenue.

Jan 14, 2011

A few weeks ago, a woman swallowed a bottle of pills in an attempt to commit suicide. (see: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/06/facebook-friends-mock-womans-suicide-message/) Fortunately for her, she was not alone.  She had 1,000+ Facebook friends, and upon learning that she had ingested a fatal dose of medication, these friends sprang into action.  As...

Dec 14, 2010

How convenient. If every dollar brings us closer to a cure, then logic dictates that we know the amount required to reach that cure. I would personally like to know that number. How many dollars, precisely, must this foundation receive in order for leukemia to be cured? For some reason, just like breast cancer and other cash diseases, this magical number is...

Dec 6, 2010

Pretty soon, I won’t be able to shop anywhere. Not that I do anyway. Aside from computers, bicycles, and guitars, I don’t really have any possessions. At least not the normal possessions of a 40-ish American male. I don’t own a TV, house, or a car less than 10 years old. I buy new clothes roughly every five years, and I still wear shoes that...

Dec 2, 2010

Apparently, I dodged a bullet. You see, The Pacific Northwest was supposedly the target of a “terror attack” last week. According to the FBI, some ominously dark guy with ominously big lips (seriously, Angelina Jolie would kill for those things) and an ominously Muslim name tried to club a baby seal, rape a nun, and totally forget to TIVO American...

Oct 8, 2010

Well, it was bound to happen. After a pretty good run of about three months without being clobbered with a pee cee stick, today I got whacked again. This morning, I had some business to take care of, and that business required that I contact a local government agency here in Washington State. This being the case, I dutifully researched the phone number, placed...