Good Morning WaMu J P Morgan Chase customers [wsj], here’s hoping that you can find a tiny bit of humor in this utterly ill-conceived photo that accompanies the login to your accounts:

(via what i learned today)

To celebrate Michael Jackson’s 25th anniversary of the Thriller video, Seattle Thrillers along with the rest of the crazy world we live in will act like zombies on October 25th. The first rehearsal was yesterday, but don’t fret. There are many more to come.

photo by Forrest Pangborn [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• the DECIBEL Festival starts tonight. Three Imagninary Girls explain it to you in terms that even non-electro warriors can understand. [tig]
• Greg Kucera & Regina Hackett tell you how to get your art represented. [arttogo]
• Boeing to challenge US News & World Report in the collegiate rankings game. [ideas.nyt]
• WaMu found a suitor in JP Morgan Chase. [slog]
• Everything you loved about 1621 12th Avenue is gone or soon to be that way. Latest casualty = Lower Level. [seattlest]

The WaMu ship has been sinking for months, now the call has come to abandon ship in a sense. Unable to save itself, the vultures started circling late last week. JP Morgan bought a large percentage of the company according to this article, with more news to come in the next few hours.

Standing Room, from the Seattle Municipal Archives

It’s that time of year again: yesterday was the first day of the University of Washington’s fall quarter. For many would-be students, both new and old, Wednesday meant packed buses, route delays, and even missed courses. A pile-up on the routes to the UDistrict as everyone tries to figure out which classes they’re taking impacts not only undergrads, but also those who teach them — faculty and grad students alike. A colleague of mine was almost late to her first day of language teaching, due to the 43 from Capitol Hill being 30 mins delayed due to increased traffic. Today, one day into the quarter, the 65 was not picking up passengers between 55th street and campus, due to overcrowding on non-articulated coaches around 9am. There seems to be a ‘capacity valley’ in the curve of distance from campus: if you’re distant enough from the UW, you’ll be assured of a seat, but by the time you get closer to campus, even standing room might be gone.

Metro does put more buses in place in sync with the academic year, but perhaps extra steps could be taken during the first week of classes, when nobody’s schedule is fixed yet and everyone is flooding on to campus to sit in on multiple courses.

The Smithsonian is one of my favorite places in the other Washington. I am pro-museum, anyway; I’ll go to just about any of them. We don’t have anything quite like the Smithsonian here but we do have many fine museums themed around art, history, technology, and other great subjects. Thanks to the Smithsonian, you can visit one of them for free this Saturday.

Saturday, September 27 is Museum Day. Give them some basic marketing data and get a form to print out that alllows you free admission to museums all over the US on Museum Day. Local museums include the Burke, the Log House museum, MOHAI, and SAM. Travel down to Tacoma and visit the excellent Washington State History Museum (Washington history is very interesting), or take a nice, long road trip all the way down to the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale. For a full list of participating museums, check out the Smithsonian site.

So, speaking of pizza [mb], last night I received a very surprised phone call from a friend informing me that sometime in the last month or two the Alibi Room has changed its menu to be almost entirely pizza. Pizza feels a little incongruous with the Alibi Room’s atmosphere to me, but checking the menu proves that it’s true, and that they’re aiming for a Via Tribunali vibe: “The Alibi Pie is simple rustic pizza using the highest quality ingredients that The Market and Seattle has to offer.  Our goal is to offer you a delicious tasting pie, that allows each flavor to stand out to its fullest.  Our pies have a slight char or blistering to them, this is intentional as it brings out the best flavors in the ingredients as well as gives crackle & snap to the crust.”

Let it be known that I will never complain about more pizza anywhere, but what I want to know is, has anyone tried it? Is it any good? I rarely go to the Alibi Room for food, but that could certainly change. More importantly, with another Via Tribunali space opening in the soon-to-be re-Crocodile’s back bar, is Seattle being taken over by pizza? I would sign that petition. Pizza for everyone!

Midnight at Seattle Arboretum photo via	nicoleanjolie on Flickr

“Park in the Dark” makes me think of teenagers doing things they maybe shouldn’t, but it’s actually a nighttime event for families that starts tonight at the Washington Park Aboretum. You will learn about critters that come out at night, and “Become a bat or a moth, test your sense of smell, and use your “deer ears” to hear night sounds.”

This also happens to be the only official take a child outside event in Seattle, as far as I can tell. Even if you don’t make it to Park in the Dark, you can still participate in take a child outside week – just take your kid outside! And should you find yourself perplexed by what to do once you get outside, they have a list of outdoor activities to get you started.

Here’s the gist:

Go to any Coldstone today between 5-8pm and you’ll get a free 3 oz scoop of one of two make-a-wishers Coldstone creations.

It’s almost Friday folks, so treat yourself.

There are few better ways to gain my sympathies than a cute dog wearing a cone; so how could I not pass along this information about a benefit for Jimjam, an adorable dog who was “brutally attacked by an unrestrained dog near his home on Capitol Hill.” Luckily, he’s expected to make a full recovery, but the best veterinary care doesn’t come cheap. Help fun his recuperation by going to Dinette on Sunday to buy wine and raffle tickets for gift certificates from Dinette, Moxi, Peso’s, Vain, Vivace, and expensive bottles of wine.