photo, eldan goldenberg [flickr]

• 43things works in mysterious ways. Two users find themselves about to check-off “run off to Vegas to get married” [robotcoöp]
• Based on North America’s Placed-based Food Traditions, we’re squarely in the middle of Salmon Nation [strangemaps]
• playing the NIMBY card on Erica C. Barnett’s Pike/Pine doomsday scenario[dailyweekly]
• a crackerjack plan to pay for the new Sonics arena by taxing a few jocks [horsesass]
• a double-feature gift pack from your pals in the Sea Navy: a star-studded (if members of Harry and the Potters are your sort of stars) mp3 revealing the true spirit of x-mas and a recipe for sweet potatoes. [theseanavy]

via tamu

The first thing most non-Seattleites think of when our fair city is mentioned is rain. However, a truer, more accurate, association should be, dare I say, greatness. Yes, greatness.

You see, what Samantha was saying in regards to our art scene [mb] is true across all industries/genres. There is a laissez-faire mentality present here that encourages open-mindedness and creativity and allows people to take chances. No matter what it is – medicine, information technology, transportation, food and beverage, entertainment – a person can come to mother Seattle and be nurtured, be given the opportunity to grow into beauuutiful butterflies all they can be ah, screw it, superstars.

So on this, the fifth day of city gifts, my true love gave to me – and the world – 5 gold rings¹. That is to say, 5 people who have emerged from Seattle’s chrysalis and ascended to the top of their fields².

#1 Dr. William Hutchinson

Surgeon turned founder of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, [#] one of the foremost cancer research centers in the world and home to no less than 3 Nobel laureates.

#2 & 3 Bill Gates and Paul Allen

College dropouts turned co-founders of Microsoft. [#] (I don’t need to write this explanation, do I?) After creating Microsoft and driving it to be the biggest software company in the world, in true Seattle fashion both have gone on to create their own philanthropic organizations [gates, pgallen] that fund a significant number of worthy causes worldwide.

#4 Jeff Bezos

Rocket geek turned founder of Amazon.com. [#] When you’re sitting at home ordering holiday presents for your loved ones instead of being crushed at the mall you can thank Jeff. In addition, Bezos’ new project, Blue Origin [#], is working on making “an enduring human presence in space” a reality.

#5 Dan Savage

Former video store clerk turned nationally syndicated writer of Savage Love [#] and pioneer in bringing sex/dating advice into the mainstream. Without Dan we’d all still be reading Playboy Advisor and wondering how to best slam a U.S. Senator [wiki]. He’s also got a soft side and has written at least two books about parenting and is a contributor to NPR’s This American Life [#].

Whilst Josh’s selections for this evening should keep your feet tapping, we have some more recommendations if your feet are worn out and you’re looking for something more tweedy.

• UW Historian Herbert Ellison talks about Boris Yeltsin and Russia’s Democratic Transformation at 4pm. Hearken back to a time when the only person a Russian leader was trying to poison was himself, with vodka.
• Also at 4, Princeton scholar Ato Onoma comes to town to discuss Property Rights in Postcolonial Africa.
• Architecture and Urban Planning pairs up with a local Danish foundation to present a panel on Sustainable Planning and Design in the Northwest and Denmark at 7pm.
• Speaking of the frigid north, the UW Program on the Environment and the Alaska Wilderness League bring noted Arctic photographer Subhankar Banerjee to ask the question: America’s Arctic: Is It For Sale? at 7pm.

photo, tapes ‘n tapes via tapesntapes

• Thanks in no small part to the strongarm tactics of indie marketing guru Clell Tickle [youtube], Tapes ‘n Tapes soared to the highest ranks of fame among more discerning listeners. Of course, there’s also the matter of their personal theme-song worthy “Insistor” [mp3], with its rolling inarguable hooks, spaghetti western stylings, and candidate for lyrics of the year (“I will be your badger”). Their live show only builds on the already raucous and engaging nature of the Loon. Tonight’s show is at the Husky Union Ballroom, on the University of Washington’s campus, with local troubador-musical theater stylings of “Awesome” and the Long Winters. [ticketswest]
• I still feel guilty about missing Small Sins earlier this year [mb]. Luckily, they return to Seattle tonight with more like-minded labelmates the Little Ones and Panda and Angel. [neumos]

It’s a little strange to think that I’ve spent nearly every Saturday of the last year at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Store. I’ve been there for workshops about comic books and stories of mischief and mayhem, for art walks and trick or treating and a variety show. I’ve met some great kids and made new friends with interesting grownups.

On Saturday, December 2nd we’re having our one-year anniversary party. I’m a little hesitant to tell you about this because last year at the grand opening I was so busy I didn’t have any time to see anything that was happening in the back room. I’ll be there again this year, and I’d really like it if y’all would give me a break.

Because we’ve got a lot of things going on. Sherman Alexie will be around to announce the winner of the Three Elements writing contest. Sean Nelson and Nate Lashes will sing some songs, and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head will be making another appearance. Ellen Forney will draw cartoons and Deb Caletti and Ryan Boudinot will read for us.

And donuts. There’ll be donuts.

Come and visit us between 12 and 5 on Saturday. And say hello–I’ll be that redhead behind the counter.

The passenger jet plane has completely transformed our world. And while the first jet airliner (the De Havilland Comet) wasn’t built in Seattle, the Boeing 707 was, and it was the plane that launched the Jet Age in 1958.

Now, think about this. If you’ve flown a plane to any place in the world, you probably flew on a 7X7 — the hump-topped 747s for intercontinental runs, the 737s for the short-haul flights in the US (and the only plane Southwest flies), the 757s and 767s that fill in various niches with hub-and-spoke flights, or the sleek new 777s that United flies to Europe. These planes turned what was once an expensive, multi-day slog in car, train, bus or boat into just a few hours of plane time (along with the hour security wait and humilating patdown and your bags ending up in Phoenix instead of Portland). Huge new airports like JFK and DeGaulle were built to handle the big new jets. The idea of the “jet set” — wealthy socialites and movie stars flying to San Tropez for the week just because they could afford to — captivated gossip rag readers until the arrival of deregulation in the late 1970s. And did deregulation ever change things. Suddenly, planes were affordable for anyone to fly, and thanks to Southwest and People Express, Grandma was just a $99 round-trip ticket away. The jet is how we get from Point A to Point B in this country. And that jet, unless you’re flying an Airbus with US Airways or JetBlue or an old MD-80 with American, is going to be Boeing.

All of Boeing’s passenger jets are still built in Renton and Everett. And even as Boeing outsources for parts, the 787 will be built right here in the Puget Sound region.

And the 707 and all its descendents built Seattle. Boeing was the financial backbone of Seattle from the 1950s until Microsoft and the medical research industry displaced it in the 1990s. Tens of thousands of Seattle families depended (and still depend) on Boeing paychecks. And when Boeing suffered in the 1970s, Seattle suffered.

So, remember that next time you cram yourself into an all-too-small airline seat — the plane you’re on probably comes from metro Seattle. Our Gift The Fourth is the Boeing 7X7 series planes that carry the people of the world — and all the pandemic viruses that will kill every one of us.

Two useless asides:
1. Two rows in front of me at Safeco Field sit a gaggle of women who have had Mariners season tickets since the Reagan administration. Boeing used to have a deal where they’d deduct the cost of season tickets from your paycheck over the course of a season.

2. In 1955, Tex Johnston rolled a prototype 707 over SeaFair, and it’s now part of the Seattle cultural mythset. Here’s a bit on that.

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See also: Gift the First, Gift the Second, Gift the Third

Read about gifts from around the metroblogging world with this updated guide [la.metblogs] or follow some of these technorati tags being used across the metroblogging network: Metblogs7Gifts, 7Gifts, Metroblogging7Gifts.

• Getting snowed in in loungy apparel sucks. It’s even worse when snobby clerks refuse to help you dress up when you come in dressed down [seattlechic]
• An elegy for genteel public spaces, motivated by the closing of the Ave’s last remaining head shop, of all places. [seattlest]
• A manifesto for Seattleites sick of being held to Midwest and East Coast standards [seattle.lj]

photo, via samantha [flickr]

Cat Power + the Memphis Rhythm Band // the Showbox // 28 November 2006

At last night’s Cat Power show Chan Marshall had food poisoning.

Writing a review feels pointless and unfair. I’ve had food poisoning and when I was sick I didn’t even want to expend the energy required to lift a glass of grape juice; so the fact that she dragged herself onto the stage, sang, and sounded pretty was a huge achievement. It just wasn’t much of a show.

If you’re interested, though, there’s a rundown after the jump.
(more…)

We’re supposed to have to snow more tonight; so you probably don’t want to stray too far from home. If you must leave, my thought is that go somewhere warm, that serves drinks, and has comfortable places to camp out if you get snowed in.

To that end, Little Miss Sunshine is ending its run at the Big Picture next week. It’s still one of my favorite movies of the year, with just the right mix of visual and verbal humor, awkward family dynamics, a surprisingly good child actor, a hilarious Volkswagen van, a depressed Proust scholar, and a horrifying beauty pageant. There are also tons of shots of sun-drenched highways rolling past, which is a great reminder of what our November has been desperately lacking.

Early next week, the Big Picture goes into full-time corporate holiday party mode; so if you’ve been meaning to watch a movie, lounge on the pseudo-living room furnishings, drink adult beverages, and eat popcorn out of a champagne bucket before the end of the year; the time is now. [bigpicture]

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if you decide to stay in, spend some quality time with your computer and a credit card: buy your tickets for Joanna Newsom [dragcity] to guarantee a spot at the Showbox [ticketswest] when she performs songs from Ys, which is bound to be the weirdest and most wonderful album you’ll love all year. And if you’re feeling spendy and willing to face the awful music about how we’re ruining the planet, Elizabeth Kolbert will be speaking at Town Hall for Seattle Arts & Lectures next Tuesday [zipcon].

In the midst of this horrible weather comes something that should inspire a chill in all of our souls: Nick Lachey invests in Tacoma Rainiers. This essentially means that 33% of the Mariners’ AAA team is now under the control of Jessica Simpson’s alimony, as far as I can tell.