weekly weekly reader : food coma abbreviated edition
This week’s weeklies go head-to-head (again) in a battle of the theme
issues (again). The territory this time around is food, perfect for people who love to
take newspapers on the bus and flip through the pages saying “ooh! I’ve
been there. oh! I should go there.” as they see their favorite
restaurants listed in catalog fashion.
Reacting to the Seattle Weekly’s pictures
of pretty people and pretty places format, the Stranger gestures at transcending the
typical directory feature by focusing on street food. The concept is almost immediately undermined by their admission that Seattle doesn’t actually have much of a street food scene, although great efforts are made to develop the concept. The Weekly has their own
street shout out, offering a free download of Seattle restaurants for your
iPod called iDine [#] — bound to simplify indecisive wanderings.
Before you’re filled with despair, the good news is that both weeklies
have pretty great news sections this week. The front half of each paper is filled with articles that are legitimately important and interesting and some that should probably make you angry. The Stranger covers the effect of
Seattle University expansion on East African businesses[#], Capitol Hill police
brutality [#], and religious intimidation of Microsoft’s resolve on the
anti-gay discrimination legislation[#]. Meanwhile, Seattle
Weekly reports on the US skipping the world’s fair [#], the eco-efficiency of the new Ballard library [#], the local death toll from the Iraq & Afghanistan reaching 100 [#], and the changing face of local co-ops [#].
Lack of enthusiasm for reading about food induced a general malaise regarding the task of this week’s weekly weekly roundup. Apologies to those who count on this summary to make their reading decisions, but making it much beyond the features was too much this week. Maybe after the food coma passes. Those of you who like to look at lists of restaurants and like excellent news sections are very much in luck!
