Hey, Seattle-ites! Did you know that it’s Metronatural Day, thanks to a proclaimation by our very own mayor Greg Nickels?

Do you even know what a “Metronatural” is?

Well, gosh, it’s Seattle that’s “metronatural”, at least according to the folks at Exclaim, a local marketing firm who have created for the City of Seattle the most moronic advertising campaign since “SayWA”. No, wait, I take that back: “Metronatural” is an even stupider advertising campaign than “SayWA”.

Edit: here is the definition provided for “metronatural”

Metronatural: 1. having the characteristics of a world-class metropolis within wild, beautiful natural surroundings; 2. a blending of clear skies and expansive water with a fast-paced city life; 3. one who respects the environment and lives a balanced lifestyle of urban and natural experiences; 4. Seattle

The Elysian Pumpkin Beer Festival kicks off tomorrow at noon at the brewery on Cap Hill. Tis the season for pumpkinny beer goodness so don’t let it pass you by!

If you missed June’s Urban Golf Event, there’ll be another one this Saturday at 2:00, starting at Cal Anderson Park. Teams are 8-10 people, and it’s a 9 hole/9 bar course.

If you came last time, bring your ball and play for free. Otherwise, bring along $3, a golf club if you have one, a fabulous golf outfit, and some money for drinks. In June, Link showed up to bust up the party [mb], and it’s always possible he’ll put in another appearance.

I’ve been pondering this riddle ever since my wife and I became expectant parents. How does one get around metro Seattle with an infant and no car? If Metro was sufficient, then my riddle would be solved since babies can travel safely and often comfortably without a car seat. But as we all know, Metro can be, how should I put it, lacking. Which leaves, as I can figure, three other options to supplement bus travel – Flexcar, taxi, and car rentals. Let’s tackle the pros and cons.

Flexcar is a great, affordable way to get a car in a pinch. The problem lies in the need for a car seat. Flexcar is hourly, so it’s not likely that anyone will use it for more than a few hours at a time (at least in my case). So to use a Flexcar with a baby would require me to carry a baby and a car seat to the car, install the car seat, install the baby, drive, uninstall the baby, execute the errand, reinstall the baby, drive back, uninstall the baby, uninstall the car seat, carry the baby and the car seat back home. No thanks.

Taxis are a bit of a mystery to me since I don’t use them often. Taxis are cars, so I assume that they are subject to car seat laws but have heard rumor to the contrary. But even if I didn’t have to use a car seat in a taxi, would I want to? If you decide to use a car seat, you have the same installation issues as with a Flexcar.

Rentals are easier since they are typically used for longer periods of time. A rental car can be delivered directly to you and parked in your garage. You can then install the car seat once and use it for the remainder of the rental period (say, a weekend). You can then uninstall the car seat and return the car. No big hassle. Kind of like, well, owning a car. Car ownership definitely has its perks (but at a high cost).

So riddle me this: hypothetically, if you have a baby and no car, how would you get around Seattle? I’ll buy a pint for anyone who can give me an executable solution. Wow, I do sound like a programmer.

Beirut // Crocodile Cafe // 17 October

The show begins with warm up music from the tiny green room and a modest parade entrance. I’ve been waiting to see Beirut live since a friend sent me an urgent e-mail demanding that I purchase their album, and Tuesday’s show did not disappoint. My favorite is the guy^[f] whose major purpose is to cheerlead by dancing, jumping around, screaming howls of encouragement, rocking the tambourine and handheld percussion, and joking about the early days, before there was a stage full of musicians, when Zach just played selected parts along with a CD. The technical difficulties of Beirut‘s transition to the stage seem long behind the band, with rich and complex melodies balancing on a thrilling point between loose and well-rehearsed.

The commentary from the stage is dominated by a running tally of the indignities of being underage in a club that doesn’t want to lose its license. Spending the evening confined to the van, being escorted to the bathroom by a bouncer, not being allowed to drink during the show. Oh, the sobriety (despite claims of spending all of that time in the van chugging liquor)! The plans to hold their next show at a house, where it will be easier to break the law! This petulance is probably not surprising since the music is borne of a kid who dropped out of school multiple times and wound up a vagabond in Europe, absorbing the spirit of a ragtag band of Roma-obsessed street musicians, traveling. A few issues with authority are all part of the territory.

When he’s singing, Zach doesn’t sound a thing like a whiny twenty-year-old. His voice is big and deep and expansive beyond its years. His trumpet playing’s nothing to sneeze at either. The band’s performance is nothing short of tremendous. At any one time, there are eight or more things happening on the stage. Baritone saxophone switching to clarinet mid-song, accordion leaning into dueling ukuleles, guest violin players, doubling trumpet lines, percussion duties split between pounding on drums and tending to samplers, the action expanding into the audience. One woman keeps shouting nonsequiturs about Beirut’s popularity in New Orleans. Another remarks that the tambourine cheerleader’s rolled bandana headband look is dead sexy.

The songs are rolling and epic. Yes, it is awkward when they’re in service of the indignity of not being able to swill a beer during a drunken sailor song, but it is easy to imagine that it is the sort of music that has lifting the spirits of weary unwanted wandering hearts for centuries. Regardless, there’s no arguing with the heroic trumpet lines of “Postcards from Italy”, the synthesizer dance beat of “Scenic World”, or the mournful resiliance of “After the Curtain”. We also get to hear a few new songs: “Carousel”, from the EP they forgot to bring, a yet unrecorded “Closing Song”, and a cover (of a cover?) of the Arcade Fire’s “Brazil”. After closing with a singalong encore, we can only hope that someone bought a few beers for the van.

Aside: has the Crocodile always had cocktail service in the showroom or is this a brilliant new development?

Some people may be excited about the incredible Seahawks win over the Rams, some may be disappointed in the Huskies and/or Cougars losses in college football, and a very few might be gearing up for the Sonics who started their pre-season games, all of which occured this past weekend. However, the people in the know will have started to get a little excited about one thing and one thing only. Yep, last Friday was the first day of practice for NCAA basketball teams around the country, including our very own UW Huskies.

Just over two weeks until the best sport in the universe kicks off, people! Let’s hope those 15 days are enough to allow the whole barn-load of players who are injured to heal. Mark your calendars, make reservations for your favorite sports bar barstool because the November 3rd Exhibition against St. Martin’s will be the first game of the year. [schedule]

Oops. There goes my plan to drink less beer.

As reported by KOMO, politicians in Ocean Shores–including the Mayor and City Manager–are willing to give their all for a good cause. North Beach PAWS, an Ocean Shores animal shelter is releasing their third annual pin-up calendar featuring locals pols posing mostly nude, with a dog or cat carefully posed to hide the naughty bits.

“A lot of the gentlemen are senior citizens,” says Lorna Valdez, the head of the shelter. ” We have some real good looking fellows that are buff and in great shape and we’ve got others that are average or even portly, but they are smiling having a great time.”

For more information on Live Theater week, visit the website of Theater Puget Sound [site] or the Theater Communications Group [site].

It’s Live Theater Week here in Seattle, a week dedicated to celebrating the fine theater culture we have here in the Northwest. Live Theater Week in Seattle started on the 16th but it’s not too late for you to join in the celebration. On one night only, Thursday, October 19th (yes, that would be tonight), it’s the Free Night of Theater offering free admission to select theater events around town. For specifics check out the Seattle Performs website [site]

photo by Allan Engelhardt

• the municipal archives reveal a vision of Seattle’s pro-war days [westseattleblog]
• Using real estate values to plan efficient strikes of potential halloween hotspots. [capitolhillseattle]
• Local comics publisher opens local comic shop, comic book fans rejoice [boingboing]

Say that you’re a dairy farmer in Skagit County. (Plenty of my Seattle friends have contemplated becoming just such a thing, usually during drunken post-breakup outings.) So you’re a farmer, and your cows aren’t doing so well. They’re not producing much milk, they’re getting sick, and sometimes they’re dying. Do you think, hey, I think my cows are being electrocuted?

Well, perhaps you should. On Friday a Skagit County jury awarded a dairy farmer $1.1 million in damages after stray voltage from Puget Sound Energy shocked his livestock for months and possibly years [Times]. “Stray voltage is electricity that leaks out of an electrical system through places like overloaded power lines, or faulty or aging electrical circuits.” Because stray voltage fluctuates, it was difficult to tell for certain if that was the problem. The farmer “said he began meticulously measuring voltage levels on his farm, and found voltage spikes at certain times of day. Those spikes occurred even when all the power was shut off at the farm, leading him to the power lines themselves.”

Puget Sound Energy does not believe that they have been electrocuting cattle, so they will probably appeal the decision.