Though you’ve probably seen this already, it would be criminal to neglect this touching tale of a wild animal’s preference for iconic favorite local bargain beer that’s sweeping the nation’s airwaves:

Bear guzzles 36 beers, passes out at campground
A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday. [cnn]

I guess if Rainier’s good enough to be the only beer on tap at the Cha Cha, it’s good enough for local wildlife (of all species).
If the PBR family of beers didn’t have such a non-marketing advertising strategy, the bear could’ve looked forward to a lifetime of endorsement-funded luxury.
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Incidentally, the Mountain was not named after the beer. [snopes]

Remember seattle.metroblogging’s fascination with the spinning arrows around town? Well, the California-based artist, Above, is interviewed in today’s Post-Intelligencer [p-i]. His website, goabove.com includes a gallery of his installations, some in video format.
Neither resource explains how he attaches the artwork to powerlines. It’s a trade secret.

Seattle’s exhausting summer festival schedule continues this weekend with Hempfest. Celebrating thirteen years of of drug war protest, activists will gather at at Myrtle Edwards Park for two days of good clean fun that’s free to the public.
As if that isn’t enough — there’s also the Seattle Tattoo Convention , which I hadn’t heard of until signs started appearing along Olive Way last week. This one’s less free — $15 to $20 per day.
I have yet to attend either event. Has anyone? Any volunteers for special metblogs correspondents?

This week, the Seattle Weekly uses the occasion of Hempfest to produce a very special “drug issue” (don’t worry, they still get in their quota of monorail hate),which appears mostly to be an excuse to run a mean open letter to and and unflattering cover photo of Courtney Love [sw]. Really, when can we get over it and stop picking on her? Does she even live here anymore?
I know, I know, the Stranger ran a Courtney Love “rememberance” pullout section last year [stranger], but at lest they gave the topic a little perspective. Maybe it’s a rite of passage for local alt-weeklies?
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Other highlights include a goofy, poorly researched rant on the unspecific dangers of caffeine. I guess slow news is good news.

The segway was banned in some states since it was introduced, how long until pocket bikes are banned as well?
I have a part time job going to an office once a week on 14th and Jackson. Next door to this office building is a bar, I think, and patrons hang out in front working on their pocket bikes. These things are loud for being 18 inches tall. I’ve also seen them for sale in a auto repair shop on the corner of 11th and Pine. Read this story for more information on these lil off-roadsters ( it has video too).

It looks like Seattle residents will be able to continue grocery shopping without crossing picket lines this summer. Management and various employee unions came to an agreement late last weekend — workers agreed to pay part of their health care benefits to avoid a strike, saving all of us from the agony of non-union checkouts. [p-i]

For all of you looking for compost materials (in the form of Zoo Doo) at this years Woodland Park Zoo’s Fall Fecal Fest, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The Fecal Fest has been canceled due to chlopyralid.
From their press release:

SEATTLE – Woodland Park Zoo has canceled this year’s Fall Fecal Fest due to an herbicide contamination of the zoo’s highly coveted Zoo Doo. The herbicide, chlopyralid (klo-PEER-uh-lid), is commonly used on hay and wheat fields in eastern Washington for the control of broadleaf weeds (non grass-like weeds). Unlike most other common herbicides, chlopyralid does not break down in the heat of the composting process. It remains active to the detriment of susceptible plants, primarily members of the pea, sunflower and tomato families.

Zoo Doo? The twelve year old inside of me can’t help but snicker and giggle.

In a front-page story, the Post-Intelligencer says, “Broadway struggles to regain its hipness.” [p-i] above a picture of the street kids asking for money for kung fu lessons.
I, possibly out of ignorance from not having lived here long enough, wondered if the headline is a bit of an optimistic history re-write.

A King County judge ruled that Initiative 83, which would have made it illegal to build the monorail on city streets, was not proper because the recall campaign was an attempt to reconsider “what had already been voted on by the people of Seattle.” [p-i]

Further appeals and countersuits are in the works, but for now monorail supporters and those just exhausted by the neverending controversy can breathe a sigh of relief.

Some things of note this weekend:
Blazing Saddles at the “Fremont” Outdoor Cinema (Friday location actually more in Wallingford, at Stone and North 34th), tonight at dusk.
Sunday: David Byrne at Summer Nights at the Pier, 7 pm, $32. Tickets still available when I last checked, but ain’t nothin’ wrong with lurking nearby for free.
Was anyone else a bit taken aback by some of the Friday movie choices at the Outdoor Cinema this year? I haven’t seen the venue so I don’t know how visible it is from the street, but it seems a little weird that you could be taking a late evening stroll with the children and look up to see Deliverance projected on a giant screen. And need I say From Dusk Til Dawn?