last night a d.j. saved her life. sort of. can you identify him? [seattledailyphoto]

the Stranger’s intern steps off the reservation in favor of “bus rapid transit”, heads explode. [slog]

the honeyhole: racist, or just perpetually bad service to go with delicious sandwiches? [seattle.lj]

• A herd of 250 female goats arrived on the 800 block of Northeast 75th Street to graze on the brush. We can only hope that there’s still time to see them at work. [seattletimes]
• The members of Phoenix grew up listening to American music from the nineteen seventies and eighties, got together in a Versailles garage, and filtered their obsessions into a series of English language albums. Their first two records fused pop, soul, and electro influences; the latest veers toward jangly rock. If you remember the scene in Lost in Translation where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson spend the evening partying in Tokyo to fend off melancholic angst, you know just how compelling it is to hear these influences run back and forth through a French prism. The band closes their North American tour with two shows tonight — a free in-store performance at Easy Street in Queen Anne [#] and later closing out the evening at the Crocodile. [#]

Text messaging — speedily delivered, unobtrusive, and concise — is among the more perfect forms of communication. Not only can you re-live the fun of passing notes in class, you can also use SMS to get advice from Google or to vote for your favorite amateur performer in reality competitions. Now, a strange web application called wiffiti allows you to communicate with patrons of the Hurricane without even needing to set foot in the twenty-four hour diner.

Sure, you could send messages to the flatscreen while you’re there, nursing, creating, or trying to avert a hangover, but missives from the great beyond seem all the more diabolical and entertaining.

Fans of the late lamented SF/Western show “Firefly” and its movie sibling, “Serenity,” take note: It’s the one year anniversary of the release of the movie, and the Wayward Coffeehouse in Greenwood is hosting an event to celebrate.

Plans are still coming together, but apparently starting at about 3:30 or so, Wayward Coffeehouse will run a marathon of several Firefly episodes plus the movie. At around 7 PM a live music show will start, including Celtic duo Bedlam Bards and singer/songwriter/filker Michelle Dockrey.

Worst workout music in the world: Sigur Ros.

Discuss.

EDIT: OK, since I’m being goaded to add more background, I was at my local 24 Hour Fitness this week beating the sense out of my leg muscles on the treadmill when Sigur Ros came up on my iPod. And after five minutes of ambient Icelandic pop with lyrics out of a Penecostal revival meeting, I came to the conclusion that Sigur Ros was the worst workout music in the world. I was moving too slowly, losing my motivation to run, and really just wanted to go curl up in a ball and sleep for a while.

So, that’s where that statement came from. I can’t think of many other bands that could elicit the sort of ennui that is death to the 40+ minute workout I need to knock out the fat.

Oh, Google. Your Google Transit site for King County Metro has produced some hilarious and suicidal routes.

So, how do you respond?

In an e-mail, a Google spokeswoman said no other Google Transit regions were affected. She explained that a data error was causing a small percentage of people using the Seattle service to receive “accurate but sub-optimal” route suggestions.

That’s right. A route suggestion that includes crossing a busy highway to change buses? That’s “sub-optimal.” Is that the cool, hip new businessspeak for “insane,” “suicidal,” or “more akin to a bus tour of the West Coast than a transit ride?’

In fact, it appears that my route wasn’t even the most ludicrious. One commenter showed a route from Lower Queen Anne to Capitol Hill that was routed through Wallingford and the U District. Another one requires a flying car.

“Sub-optimal?” My car’s gas mileage is sub-optimal. (I mean, 18mpg in the city on a compact? You ever wonder why you’re bankrupt, Ford?) This is… I don’t know what this is. I just want some of these Google programmers and PR people to come try these routes out.

I’ve heard rumors of routings that make the Jersey barrier hopping, city touring, flying bus wishing routes we’ve seen so far sound positively… optimal. So, let’s have a little contest — find the Most Sub-Optimal Suggestion in Google Transit. And yes, it must be in the King County Metro system — no “walking on the Willamette” please. The winner will receive an Pitifully Small Prize. I don’t know what it will be, but I’ll find something appropriate. I’ll round up a couple other Metrobloggers to help judge.

So… have at it. Find the most sub-optimal King County Metro route in Google Transit.

Now at long last I am working downtown. I am enjoying being able to sleep in later in the mornings since it takes me scant minutes to walk downtown, but I’m finding the lunch options aren’t nearly as exciting as I imagined they would be. It seems my lunch choices are: A. Spend a lot of money, or B. Eat at Subway.

Somewhat ironically, considering that if I lived just a little down the hill I’d be in downtown instead of First Hill, I’ve spent most of my working career working somewhere that is not downtown. (Except when I lived in Burien. Then I worked downtown.) Somehow I’ve always managed to work in areas with not many places to eat so my lunch options are limited if I don’t want to carry one with me. Never mind saving a commute, I’ve always wanted to work downtown just so I would have a choice of places where I could go to lunch.

Oh, sure, Subway’s fine for a quick, inexpensive and relatively good for you lunch, but I can’t eat there every day. On the other hand, I can’t afford to spend $8 for a sandwich at the mall. (I work very near Pacific Place.) I’ve been walking around at lunch trying to expand my horizons, but most places are either variations on the same old theme (a tuna sandwich is a tuna sandwich no matter where you get it, although some are admittedly better than others) or are ridiculously expensive for somone who is working for a non-profit organization.

I’m hoping to find a few cool places (one I have found is Cafe Loops, on Olive and about 8th), but in the meantime I am definitely open to suggestion.

Obsessed as I am with events at the Seattle Center, I somehow managed to overlook the fact that the Pacific Science Center is hosting an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin goatherd, these ancient texts give us a look at history both spiritual and secular from way, way back.
The exhibit opened on the 23rd of September and runs through the 7th of January, giving you plenty of time to check out exhibits on the discovery of the scrolls, the science used to determine their authenticity, and, oh yeah, the scrolls themselves.	image courtesy Pacific Science Center

• If you weren’t already going, and feel like showing Neumo’s some love for canceling the Buju show, Japanese turntable master (and former Yakuza?!) DJ Krush spins tonight. [neumos]
• the Purrs play a free show to warm you up for their Friday night assault on Fremont nightlife. [easystreet]
• luring you to Ballard with promises of taco-filled stomachs and trivia-emptied brains [seattlest]

Ladies and gentlemen of the Fighting 43^rd: it seems that we have ourselves a winner. No hanging chads, extended recounts, ballot challenges, last minute switches in party affiliations to keep this thing exciting. Jamie Pederson, with the most money and a last minute flashy endorsement pre-wins the real election with today’s concession by closest competitor, Jim Street. [times]