• Dylan already mentioned the No News is Bad News event [mb], but here’s a day of show reminder. Come to City Hall to be a part of a discussion about the emerging media landscape in our city. “Seattle as a No Newspaper Town?” (The question mark means that the answer could be good, bad, or somewhere in between)  will feature Cory Haik of seattletimes.com, Jay Rosen of NYU, Kathy Gill from UW, and Art Thiel of the Seattle P-I. The whole thing will be moderated by Dave Ross who will be working to facilitate a discussion between panelists and attendees. Following the event drinks will be had. If you can’t make it to the Bertha Landes room at 7, tune your browser to www.nonewsisbadnews.org where there will be plenty of interactivity.
• Self-interest prohibits me from recommending anything else, but feel free to make suggestions in the comments.

update: almost the whole thing — from Dylan making introductions to me yelling about drinks and all sorts of confrontations about newsholes, wire services, and shareholder models in between — is recorded and available online. Sorry that we didn’t click the “record” button in time for Nick Licata and Jean Godden’s welcome remarks at the very beginning. [ustream]

6:30 PM: David Shields: The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead
SPL University Branch
I’ve been collecting morbid witticisms for decades (“Life is an STD,” “Breathing is an addiction”), which probably indicates that I have some sort of death wish. I don’t know if Shields has a death wish, too, but his book assembles personal anecdotes, quotes by famous people, and various death-related trivia for our entertainment and edification. [LINK]

7:00 PM: Various: David Foster Wallace
Richard Hugo House, Cabaret
Local authors Paul Constant, Cienna Madrid, and David Schmader read from the work of David Foster Wallace (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Infinite Jest, et cetera). [LINK]

7:30 PM: Aaron Glantz: The War Comes Home: Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans
Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs, $ 5.00
Journalist and author, Aaron Glantz, adds another chapter to the Post-Bush horror-show, with this damning expose of the shameful and inexcusable treatment of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve got to quit reading this stuff; exposes of the Bush years have become their own genre, but every new one raises my blood pressure another 10 points. I simply can’t believe the breadth and scope of greed, fraud, and inhumanity that was not only allowed, but encouraged, by the last administration. /rant [LINK]

7:30 PM: Abraham Verghese: Cutting for Stone
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The author and doctor has published a couple of non-fiction books to excellent reviews. With Cutting for Stone, his first novel, he unleashes a complex tale that spans generations and countries. [LINK]

7:30 PM: Richard Robbins & Gary Thompson: The Untested Hand / To the Archeologist Who Finds UsOpen Books
The poets read from their respective works. [LINK]

CORRECTED: QUINCY JONES IS TOMORROW 02/27. DEEPEST APOLOGIES FOR THE EGREGIOUS ERROR.

photo by seattle municipal archives [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• holy crisco! could Pony rise again from the ashes of a flower shop on Twelfth and Madison? [captothehill]
• best blame game in recent memory? “lawsuit blames sound transit for exploding toilet”, for the win. [seattletransitblog]
• some “hilarious” ideas for “scandals” that might sink Locke’s “lock” on Commerce. [dailyweekly]
• finally: insight into the selection of friends and enemies of slog list. cast your vote for a dog hiking service and see if Savage vetoes it. [slog]

Loney Dear at the Moore. More in the photoset [flickr]

“Are you by any chance a singing crowd?” Early in his opening set Emil Svanängen aimed to take advantage of a space assumed to be built for vocal music by asking for the audience at the Moore to help with some of the singing. Being the accommodating sorts who show up in time to catch the opening band, the Loney Dear fans in the crowd happily agreed and were then presented with a really long and super complicated (to my naive ears) figure to memorize on the spot. Bless their hearts, the assembled masses managed to catch on and sing beautifully. Later, embracing the acoustics, he sang un-amplified to the rafters. It was incredibly lovely from the front of the house, and if it was inaudible up top, they were polite enough not to complain.

(photos and more after the jump)

(more…)

Join KISS 106.1 FM’s morning hosts Jackie and Bender for heartwarming and inspiring stories of Seattle Children’s patients, families and staff. The Radiothon will broadcast live from the hospital, so tune in and make your pledge! KISS FM will also auction items on eBay and donate all the proceeds to Children’s.  Click here to see what’s on sale — just keep your grubby clicking finger off the signed Hannah Montana merchandise — I called dibs!

the Stranger confirms rumors of King Cobra’s demise. Friday’s their last night. [lineout]

I loved the contrast of the the shiny white walls washed by undulating colored lights inherited from once-gay / then hastily-straight Sugar coexisting with the rough and tumble edge of its successor. Their lineups were maybe too eclectic to find a niche in the very crowded block (Neumo’s and the Comet are mere steps away), but I thought that the move of Emerald City Soul Club’s incredibly popular Soul Nite to King Cobra might have been a good sign.

telekinesis, on day two of their tour. [flickr]

• Telekinesis, Michael Benjamin Lerner’s soloish analog-obsessed recording project/bandlike touring sensation, signed to Merge this year and recently appeared in the inverse burn to shine-ish One Shot series to reawaken the sleeping Crocodile [vimeo]. Smile pretty and you might end up in their photographic chronicle of their winter tour [flickr] as they’re playing a show tonight on their way down the coast to Noise Pop with New Zealand’s Cut Off Your Hands, and my favorite touchy-feely family-like bunch from New York Ra Ra Riot (now on local label, Barsuk) who I’ll happily recommend to you every time I can. After all, they have an electric cello! $12.50, 8p. [neumos]
• Also consideration-worthy are Annuals, who are never short of enthusiasm or willingness to add some extra drumming to the mix [mb]. With What Laura Says, Jessica Lee Mayfield, $12, 8p. [chopsuey]

The Olive 8 building may be ugly and drab on the outside (seriously, what were the designers thinking with those mesh patterned windows that look perpetually dingy?) but the spacious, light-filled first floor lobby is lovely, providing a charming backdrop for drinking what very well may be the best latte I’ve had in my life.

Nestled around corner from the front door, the coffee bar at the Olive 8 at first blush resembles any other coffee bar you see downtown until you realize that instead of offering the same old scones and muffins you can get just about anywhere, they have on display a collection of meats and artisan cheeses. Their torta rustica is a fine breakfast and if you want something more muffiny, so is the Nutella brioche. There’s even a yogurt bar to allow you to customize your yogurt breakfast or snack.

The coffee is the true attraction, though. Each cup of drip is individually brewed from your choice of beans, each exquisite espresso drink carefully crafted. The bar offers your choice of handmade syrups, including a ginger syrup that makes me want to weep for the pleasure of drinking it.

Trust me, I don’t usually get this excited about coffee but being someone for whom coffee is by necessity a special treat rather than a daily diet, I’m always thrilled when my special treat really is special. Regular coffee drinkers deserve a great coffee experience, too, though, and I can definitely recommend the coffee bar at the Olive 8 for that great coffee experience. Next time you’re in the vicinity of Olive and 8th, stop in and have a cup.