Two square city blocks are shut down with yellow tape. SWAT teams and police cars.

So far reports are a bomb threat (so says my bus driver), four bank robberies (according to miscellaneous crazy woman), and just now I have been informed only one bank has been robbed (now being discussed in CyberDogs).

Stay tuned for more details!

It’s time for a new round of Crocodile-related nostalgia, now that the new/old space is creeping ever closer to being finished, tickets are starting to be on sale, and bands are listing the venue in their tour schedules. John Roderick went in to the unfinished space and took a good look around [SW]:

I was excited to see it, but a little reluctant too, dreading the prospect that they’d remodeled it into some Belltown bridge-and-tunnel meat market. Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t treasure the decor of the old Crocodile. But it was a completely unpretentious, utilitarian space, and there are a thousand ways they could have gotten it wrong in trying to transform it into something new. The first person I saw wearing Armani Exchange was going to get a kick in the biscuits.

I am really, really excited for this reopening.

Today, the White House released a state-by-state fact sheet detailing impacts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan currently being played with by the Senate. 40% of Washington’s jobs are in Seattle/King County, so the plan, if passed (and if it works), would have a direct affect on the Seattle-metro area. The White House estimates the impact of the plan for Washington is:

* 79,700 jobs created or saved, 90% in the private sector
* Tax cuts of up to $1,000 for 2,450,000 workers and families
* $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for 4 years of college, for up to 67,000 families
* An additional $100/month in unemployment insurance benefits to 404,000 unemployed workers
* Extended unemployment benefits for another 44,000 laid-off workers
* Funding to modernize at least 138 schools
[LINK]

And now, we wait. Or, if you are me, you send annoyed emails to every Republican in the House and Senate. I’m not so good at waiting.

One of Disney’s most successful animated movies, The Lion King gave rise to one of Disney’s most successful stage productions, the Tony- and Olivier-award winning The Lion King. It’s an exciting spectacle of sight and sound and it’s playing the Paramount Theater from February 11 through March 15.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know the story: it’s a common enough fairy tale theme, anyway, the young prince who must make his way through a cruel, cold world, finding friends where he can, before eventually rising to the challenge of defeating the villian and assuming the throne as king. In this case the prince is a lion, portrayed onstage through elaborate costuming that brings to life all the creatures of the jungle. The real thrill in The Lion King is the visual feast it presents and the catchy songs you’ll be humming long after you’ve left the theater. Tickets are available through the Paramount; if you’re interested in the show you’ll want to get them as early as you can.

APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) features our very own Mt. Rainier in today’s post. From the website:

Explanation: Are those UFOs near that mountain? No — they are multilayered lenticular clouds. Moist air forced to flow upward around mountain tops can create lenticular clouds. Water droplets condense from moist air cooled below the dew point, and clouds are opaque groups of water droplets. Waves in the air that would normally be seen horizontally can then be seen vertically, by the different levels where clouds form. On some days the city of Seattle, Washington, USA, is treated to an unusual sky show when lenticular clouds form near Mt. Rainier, a large mountain that looms just under 100 kilometers southeast of the city. This image of a spectacular cluster of lenticular clouds was taken last December.

If you didn’t notice, the mountain is out this morning, and I am cursing myself for leaving the camera at home.

Does it seem like it is way too early to be thinking about summer to you? I’ve had enough of the winter already so I’m perfectly content to dream ahead to the summer which is why I was so pleased to discover that the Seattle Center is surveying the Seattle public to help determine the selections for their Summer Movies at the Mural festival in August.

If you’re a fan of outdoor movies and would like to cast your vote, click the link and put in a good word for the movies you’d like to see.

photo by CrystalChroma [flickr] via our group pool [#]

crocodilecrocodilecrocodiles.

• The Crocodile is having local bands play shows in the midst of their construction zone. With pictures! Video later, apparently. [lineout]
• Dr. Dog will be playing the Crocodile on 14 April, but since they’re aiming for a Marchish opening they won’t be the first show. [twitter]
• Oh, and it’s really just “the Crocodile” now. No more Cafe, at least in the name. [threeimaginarygirls]
• Jim Anderson is staying at Chop Suey. [threeimaginarygirls]

noncrocodiles

• Charlette Lefevre of Broadway’s Museum of Mysteries (and CHCC vice president) wants Capitol Hill to become one of many communities to mint its own local currency [wiki], which prompted a poll to determine whose picture should grace the bills. As usual, I say vote squirrel. [chs]
• there’s areal special election today [kingcounty]; if you hurry you can still drop off your ballot in one of 10 county-wide drop boxes. [kingcounty]
• What Seattle really needs is more nicknamed buildings. Play your part. [seattle.lj]
• Alaska Airlines starts direct service to Austin several months too late for SXSW. [bizjournals]
• the McLeod rumor mill churns with tiny bits of speculation, news of a partnership with the Freeborns (Rendezvous, et c.), and renewed hopes for an eventual re-opening. [reverb]

This is sort of unexpected: the Seattle PD has arrested two soldiers from Fort Lewis under suspicion of committing three armed robberies in the U-District back in January. The assaults, which were closer to the fraternity/sorority area than the Ave, were part of a crime wave which prompted numerous email warnings from the UW Police department to students and university employees. If proven, this would be a somewhat surprising resolution to a series of crimes which I think many people believed was connected to problems on the 4500/4600 block of the Ave and the accompanying drug-dealing there…

Who needs a Sundance panel when you have the backing of Amnesty International?
The 17th annual Seattle human rights film festival is stock full of eye-opening issues that affect our world. True, the line-up looks a bit skinny compared to the number of films showcased at the Sundance film festival, but from February 4-8, you can take a look at the issues which are not as far removed from us as we’d like to imagine.

Wednesday Feb 4th
One Water, 7pm Foege Auditorium, University of Washington
In Partnership with the UW Global Health Resource Center

Thursday Feb 5th
In Prison my Whole Life, 7pm, Cinerama 

Friday Feb 6th
At the Death House Door, 7pm, Northwest Film Forum
Letter to Anna, 9pm, Northwest Film Forum

Saturday Feb 7th
Breaking Ranks, 11:30am, Northwest Film Forum
Fire Under the Snow, 1pm, Northwest Film Forum
To See if I’m Smiling, 3pm, Northwest Film Forum
Female Faces of War, 5pm, Northwest Film Forum
The Sari Soldiers, 7pm, Northwest Film Forum
Shame 9pm, Northwest Film Forum

Sunday, Feb 8th
A Journey Through Hell, 11:30am, Northwest Film Forum
Argentina: Turning Around & Voice of a Mountain, 1pm, Northwest Film Forum
(double feature) 
Come Back to Sudan & As we Forgive, 3:15pm, Northwest Film Forum
(double feature)
Sand and Sorrow, 7pm, SIFF Cinema

Tuesday Feb 10th
Pray the Devel Back to Hell, 7pm, Varsity
In partnership for the Global fund for Women

For more details, check out the official shrff website.