The National Film Challenge is coming up in October, this competition pits teams across the nation against each other to create the best film they can in 48 hours. Of course there are other little rules but you can read those yourself. As of right now Seattle has two offical teams. Start your own or join team Seattlewood. The winners get their film added to a DVD that will get nationwide distribution as well as theatrical release.

Today it was raining. It often does that here in Seattle. It doesn’t give you a license to drive worse than you normally do. If someone wants to, nay, needs to merge into the lane you are in and the lane next to you is empty and you are not immediately exiting the freeway, please move the hell over. Some of us drive trucks…and have a hard time seeing your tiny Mini-Cooper that is so arrogantly not budging. Its almost as if you feel you will get where you are going faster than me if you do not allow me onto the freeway. Also, do me another favor. When you are in an exit only lane and you know that you are not going to exit, please signal…please get the hell over…please do not back traffic up so that I have to sit there on the 405 or the 5 or any street at all. I mean seriously, this isn’t LA’s 405…this isn’t trying to drive in downtown Dallas, Houston or Chicago. Its not difficult and we can all share the many many lanes that the Department of Transportation have given us.

It’s that time of the year again, where a young adult (or maybe an old teenager) in an ill-fitting suit is sent to my area to knock on doors, and try to sell magazine subscriptions so that he (or she) can “better himself” (or herself). I do admit that I am a rather crochetty grouch, and inclined to look suspiciously at everything, so I will be up front. This may be a scam, AND it may not.
But after reading the stories on the Traveling Sales Crew Information Website I have to say that I would never buy a magazine subscription from a door-to-door salesperson even if they were legitimate. There’s just too high a probability that they’re not.

No time to read all four major sets of endorsements and the voter’s guide? Without endorsing any candidate or periodical, we proudly provide this hastily-compiled voter’s guide in easy-to-print PDF format and easy-to-view HTML.
the endorsement list: [html, pdf]
note: Metblogs isn’t endorsing anyone, just trying to make your lives easier while trying not to make too many transcription errors.

Be sure to set aside a few minutes to buy a stamp and put your ballot in the mail today. Or, be old fashioned and go to your local polling place and make a poll worker’s day — today is Washington’s primary election.
For those of you living in King County and confused about where to go to vote, look it up using your name and birth date or address. [metrokc]
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No time to read the voter’s guide to make your own decisions? Pick your favorite periodical and use their opinions as a cheat sheet:

I’m going to assume this guy is the 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM Electric Bonsai Band (Not Electric, Not a Band).
The Bite of Crossroads was not crowded, and not too bad. Of course, I was there on a Sunday, and Saturday or Friday had possibly been worse. The bites seemed to be priced well: 4 bite coupons for $5, or a book of bite coupons for $12. The wording on the poster seemed to imply there were 20 coupons in the book, but it was quite ambiguous. In any case, I didn’t buy any coupons. I was there for my usual lunch, and ready to kick back and do a bit of peoplewatching. Not really in a mood to chase from stall to stall getting the food I needed.
From eavesdropping, families seemed to be having fun. One mom commented to her kid, “it’s just like trick or treating” (yeah, lady, except on Halloween it’ll be free). I didn’t bother participating for two reasons: (1) the restaurants participating are all occupants of the mall. If I feel like trying something new, they’ll be there next week. (2) I’ve been coming to the mall for four years now. I know what I want. I know where to get it.
After lunch, a quick wander around the main area of the mall…
Starbucks (the one by the half price books, not the one out in the parking lot) made a huge mistake with their bite, says the husband. Aforementioned bite was a shortbread cookie, pathetic when you consider their proximity to Coldstone Creamery, who were offering up an icecream and cake creation. Aforementioned husband claims that something in the coffee arena, say, COFFEE, would have gone over much better. It’s true that the only other drink being offered by the Bite of Crossroads was a bottle of Coke’s new low-carb offering — C2 from… QFC.
And speaking of low-carb, I was interested to note there were a lot of decently low-carb bites available. We’re not talking zero-carb options here, but as a for-example we have (from memory):
mini ribs from Jones BBQ
teriyaki chicken from Sushi Zen
vietnamese chicken salad from Papaya
some sort of greek salad from Ebru
sweet and sour (chicken? pork? I don’t remember) from Dragon Wok
And there’s your five buck meal complete with a “dessert” if you count the sweet in “sweet and sour” as a dessert.
I was disappointed to see that Boba, the new bubble tea place, hadn’t gotten their act together in time to open for the Bite. Other new happenings: the impending arrival of Silver Platters this fall, and Paris Miki has moved around the corner from Barnes and Noble. JoAnn appears to be settling into their new space, much to my surprise. I can’t quite get over a sewing store taking center stage (pardon the pun — they’re located right next to the stage) in the mall. I still want some sort of department store.

I’m out of town for the next week, but I took this picture of the window decorations in the new terminal A at the SeaTac airport before taking off.
(Also, I wanted to try the panorama feature of my camera.)

Tonight me and some friends will be at the Fun House to see a “Freak” burlesque show and a rock concert. It should be fun. I will be there a little after 9, cover is 10 dollars and 8 if you wear a costume. Should be an awesome time! Hope to see you there. :)

one of 900+ wednesday night vigils.

In news of the “… we walked uphill barefoot to school both ways,” it turns out that people complaining about their time spent in Seattle traffic are total wimps. Seattle drivers of today have about 13 extra non-car hours compared to their 1992 counterparts. [psbj]
What they’re doing with that time, no one knows. Perhaps contemplating how bad it must be to live and drive in Los Angeles if being the 18^th worst metro with 47 in-traffic hours per year feels soul-deadening.
–update: Robert Sigel interviewed Ron Sims about Seattle’s marked improvement on Wednesday’s All Things Considered. [npr]