You saw it on the Super Bowl, and now you only have a few hours left! Denny’s is giving away free Grand Slams until 2pm. Too bad the one in Ballard is just a pile of construction dust right now.

Loyal Heights Community Center is presenting a free Adult Self-Defense Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 1 to 4 pm.  It is for men and women, ages 18 and up.  The workshop will be led by Master Uyen Pham from New York City.  The class includes a lecture and hands-on training about offense, ground-fighting, and multiple attackers.  Wear comfortable clothing and bring water.

Registration is limited so please call 206-684-4052 to reserve a spot.  This event will take place at Loyal Heights Community Center, 2101 NW 77th Street, Seattle, WA 98117.

So the correlation between the good ‘ole US of A and the Department of Eagles… is pretty obvious. Whether or not the intention of the members of this band was to connect themselves to the United States is still to be determined. (if you have any tip-offs, I’m genuinely interested)

If only this band were THE representation of the United States of America,  perhaps the world would like us more. But. I’m not here to spout off my opinions of American politics (I leave that discussion to more intelligent, more well-read people). Point being The Department of Eagles show on Wednesday January 28th, 2009 will go down in history as the best show of my life to date. I, Andrea(yaya), have never been more moved, more emotionally invested, more impressed by a conglomeration of musicians in my life. (I realize this assertion might seem like I’m using hyperbole. That’s probably half-true.) This was in stark contrast to opener, The Cave Singers, who left me feeling slightly underwhelmed. In fear of being offensive to a cult-Seattle following, I will only say one more thing about them. I feel the potential.

But onto the more positive side of things. Prior to their show, I really felt like the Department of Eagles would be a let-down. Partly because their album was so amazing, partly because I ran into an online video recording of them and was unimpressed with their live recording. I could not have been more wrong. Daniel Rossen is a melodic genius. The drummer and bassist could have carried a show on their own. Fred Nicolaus served as the underappreciated, undiscovered cog in this band wheel.

The greatness of the show can be attributed to not only the musical talent of the band, but to the new songs they played (!!!). And Daniel Rossen’s loop pedal. HOLY MACKEREL. The only way I can describe the intensity I felt is with a shameless reference to pop-culture. (ready?) While he was belting his way into the microphone, all I could think of was transforming myself into half-octopus/half-witch because with Ursala’s power, I could trap his voice in a sea-shell and put my ear up to it whenever the mood strikes.

I feel like my own personal attachment to this group has already partially discredited the positive experience I’ve had with the Department of Eagles, so IN SHORT you should make your own decision and see these folks live. Then I will pay you a penny.

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

• I am probably the only one who’s fascinated by the hot new practice of Slog editors using commentless posts to tell us that there are other stories in LineOut and the Stranger.
• Oh, hi Seattle “Met” Blogs. See you at the danceoff.
• Guess it must speak well for the redesign that I can’t even remember Capitol Hill Seattle‘s old look.
• Harborview and UW will be there for your death with dignity needs. [seattlest]
• beautiful data: KEXP adds track information to their MP3 stream. [nwmb]
• Archie McPhee is displacing a beloved Liquor Store, which has yet to find a new home in Wallingford. [wallyhood]
• Ron Sims says goodbye. [dailyweekly]
• Urban Golfer freed! or rather, not going to trial. [slog]
• Not even a tattoo can guarantee job safety at Microsoft. [gizmodo]
• Ferry workers hang on to their jobs, let go of their raises. [times]
• Maldives vs. Moondoggies, pictures from another sort of bowl game. [soundonthesound]

roller derby in key arena, bumbershoot 2006

With the Sonics blown out of town and turned into the Thunder, some of the space on the Key Arena calendar is going to be filled with another knock-down, drag-out sort of event. Starting the month, the Rat City Rollergirls are making the move from a hangar at Magnuson Park to the heart of Seattle Center:

Their first bout, scheduled for February 7, 2009, will debut all four teams including the Derby Liberation Front, Grave Danger, the Sockit Wenches and the Throttle Rockets at Key Arena.
…  
“It’s rewarding to be part of such a competitive, high-level sport with truly dedicated fans and players,” explains Maeleeke Lavin of the Rat City Rollergirls’ Derby Liberation Front team. “As part of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), we’re an organization run by women skaters for women skaters. Roller derby is not the female version of a male sport, and that fact, along with our do-it-yourself roots, gives us an authentic quality that many other mainstream sports lack.”

Tickets will run $19 for adults and $12 for kids, with season ticket packages available [ticketma$ter]. In the new 5,500 person seating configuration, bloodthirsty fans will no longer be segregated from docile families (or vice versa) so that they can all cheer and puzzle over the rules [wiki] of lead jamming together.

photo by todd bishop via techflash [#]

This weekend, as is his custom, Todd Bishop trolled some Seattle-area thrift shoppes and turned up a trove of t-shirts especially heavy on the Microsoft. He speculates that this Goodwill glut may be indicative of the latest round of layoffs, though I suppose this could be confounded the warming weather inducing a month-end spree of spring cleaning. [techflash]

All morning, the internet it was atwitter about the now-confirmed rumor that Ron Sims is on his way out of King County Executive office to take the number two spot at Housing and Urban Development. This is, of course, pending Senate confirmation, but the way that things have been going for Obama’s nominees so far (including those with minor tax forgetfulness) it seems like it’s time to start planning a going away party. [p-i]

Sacramento has started sending out utility bills with either a smiley face or a frowny face to a random selection of customers to encourage energy conservation. The results: a 2% decrease in energy usage since the practice started. Initially the practice included a scale of 2 smiley faces in recognition of greater energy conservation in comparison to one’s neighbors, a single smiley for good energy conservation, and a frowny in the event that one used a substantial amount more energy than the neighbors. After complaints regarding the frowny faces, the utility company dropped frowny faces and only uses smileys now.

The approach has now been picked up by utilities in 10 major metropolitan areas eager to reap rewards through increased efficiencies, including Chicago and Seattle, according to Positive Energy, the software company that conceived of the reports and contracts to produce them. Following Sacramento’s lead, they award smiley faces only. (source)

So when will we expect to see smiley faces? Apparently we already are.

“This is the next wave,” Todd Stames, a residential energy efficiency manager with Puget Sound Energy, told the Times. The company stared a pilot program in suburban Seattle with 40,000 customers in September. (source)

I’m sad though, apparently Seattle City Light has not picked up the practice. Our latest electric bill was for $60 (Nov through Jan) so I suspect we could have earned two smiley faces. Fooey. Anyone seeing this on their bills yet? Have a picture? Please share.