"If you understood everything I said, you'd be me" - Miles Davis
"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees" - George W. Bush
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell
"Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government." - Lenny Bruce
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson
"They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we" - George W. Bush
Utility Fog Banner

  Mental Diet
Ladies and Gentleman, The Reverend Bruce Howard:

The Reverend was one of the high points of Seattle Cable Access TV in the 90's. He went through 3 stylistic phases: The slooooow vampiric talking head, then the giddy "Buddy Love" featuring pastel backgrounds and his nervous dog, and finally the dark cultish ranter complete with on-screen disciples. Many was the time that an innocent dive bar was terrorized by my co-workers and I demanding our friday night after-work fix of Bruce. Via MetaFilter

  Gleefully Celebrating Corporate Marketing
7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
Damn right I am, because the 7-Eleven at 4th and Denny in Seattle is one of 12 stores in the US and Canada converted into a Kwik-E-mart , complete with "real" Simpsons products. No Duff Beer though-not PG-13 enough.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
The Sandwich Rack.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
It can't be the Simpsons without donuts.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
I think Ralph is wondering what his popsicle would taste like if he dipped it in baking soda.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
They were good Squishees, though I couldn't get one that was all syrup. I also left the cup at work, so the pictures of Homer being chased by a pig will have to wait.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
Jasper Beardley is preserved in the freezer.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
Internet research ("so it must be true") suggests that the sign is part of the conversion. I wasn't sure.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
The detail is amazing. Comic guy is reading an Atomic Man comic, the no-parking signs say "violators will be executed" and the chair for the (real) security guard has a Kwik-E-Mart logo.

7-11 converted to
kwik-e mart for simpsons movie
Kwik-E-Mart (Wikipedia)

  About Time
"Comcast Corp. plans to drop Microsoft Corp.'s television software and on-screen program guide from its digital cable boxes in the Seattle area and the rest of the software company's home state."
This is good news. The new system has to be better than the current dreck. One example of how fubar Microsoft's software is: "E-mail" from Comcast is hidden under the "Settings" menu.

Comcast will no longer use Microsoft's TV software



  Where the Wee Folk Live
Even though I drive by it every day, I had no idea there was a Seattle neighborhood called "Tangletown"-it sounds like someplace out of a Neil Gaiman novel.

  So Long, Sonics
goodbye sonics
http://FineThenLeave.com/


  Holy Crap
"A gunman opened fire early Saturday in a home, killing six young partygoers and critically injuring at least one other before committing suicide when confronted by police outside.

The heavily armed shooter, dressed in black, fired repeatedly as he made his way into the house, killing four men and two women, police said. He then went upstairs and tried to get into a locked bathroom where a young couple were hiding. Unable to enter, he fired through the door before leaving the pair unharmed.
...
...the shooter left the home briefly and returned with a handgun and a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun, which Kerlikowske described as "a weapon not designed for hunting purposes but for hunting people." The gunman, identified only as a local man in his late 20s, also wore bandoliers of shells for the shotgun and carrying additional clips for the handgun, the chief said. In his truck, police found an assault rife and multiple "banana clips" carrying 30 bullets each. As the gunman walked the half block from his truck to the house, he spray painted the word "NOW" in orange twice on the sidewalk and once on the steps of a neighbor's home, police said."
This is unsettling. I've been to parties just like this, though not usually till 7am, and not on Capitol Hill. No angry voices, no fighting, no warning. The shooter doesn't sound like somebody who just lost it-he had stocked up. I wonder if we'll ever know what the orange "Now" was all about.
Gunman Kills Six, Self in Seattle Home

  Under My Feet
artistic seattle manhole
I had no idea that Seattle has artistic manhole covers
Via Extreme Craft

  Mass Hysteria
"Attention citizens the Greater Seattle Metropolitan Area. As we have received 1/16th of an inch of show municipal code N-774290.4.c is now in effect, requiring all drivers currently on the roads to drive their vehicle into a ditch at the earliest convenient moment. If you are unable to do so because your nearest ditch is already filled with vehicles, you may instead precipitate either a rear-ender or a fender-bender. Your compliance will ensure that local news stations have no difficulty obtaining footage for their "BlizzardWatch '05!!" coverage, which will begin immediately and continue until the last sludgy lump of ice has melted from the median of I-5.

Residents should also be aware that all chit-chat, small talk, and informal shit shooting must, by law, be confined exclusively to weather-related topics for the next 48 hours. We thank you for your cooperation."
Snow Advisory From Defective Yeti

Great Sneezing Buddha, tell me about it. I had to drive around King County all day today and people were driving like it was raining blood and frogs. The snow was melting as soon as it hit the ground (40 degree weather will do that) so what we had today was a classic "Seattle Snow Panic" only without the snow.

  Aha
The Badhill route generator (King County only) is intended for bicyclists, but I can see putting it to use the next time Seattle suffers one of it's rare snowstorms.
Via robot wisdom weblog

Googling "seattle snow panic" revealed this gem:

"As soon as Seattlites see this unnatural white substance falling from the heavens, they shriek and gibber and panic and fear the wrath of their heathen gods. I can only conclude that Seattlites are a soft and weak people, ripe for conquest by the nomadic warrior tribes that stalk the frozen corn-tundra of my native Iowa.

They're called plows, people. They aren't rocket science. Jesus H. Balls!"
Absolutely true. One bright side is seeing all the expensive SUVs in automotively compromising positions. 4-wheel-drive doesn't help you stop.
Snowjob

  Comcast Follies
" Comcast, the top U.S. cable TV network operator, is being sued by a Seattle-area woman for disclosing her name and contact information, court records showed Thursday.

In a lawsuit filed in King County, Wash., Dawnell Leadbetter said that she was contacted by a debt collection agency in January and told to pay a $4,500 for downloading copyright-protected music or face a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Leadbetter, a mother of two teenage children, was a customer of Comcast's high-speed Internet access service.

The company, Settlement Support Center, based in Washington state, was using information that the Recording Industry of Association of America had obtained in a Philadelphia lawsuit over the illegal sharing of digital music files, said Lory Lybeck, the lawyer representing Leadbetter.

But no court authorized Comcast to release names and addresses of its customers, or notified his client that her information had been given to an outside party, Lybeck said.

"Comcast should respect the rights of privacy who pay them monthly bills," Lybeck said."
I'm no fan of the phone company, but I think I'll be choosing DSL when circumstances allow me to get broadband.
Link
Via Boing Boing

  Another Brush W/Celebrity
I met J.P. Patches today. I moved about 600 pounds of stuff into his garage and he gave me a t-shirt. Nice guy, the Patchster is.

  Here We Go Again
Winter begins in Western Washington state and that can only mean one thing: Flood alerts. Every year we are treated to rivers with funny names running over their banks and TV reporters in raincoats standing around in the dark looking worried. I'm just amazed that nobody ever says "Hey, do these damn rivers have to flood year in and year out? Is there anything we could be doing to stop or lessen all the damage these annual floods cause?". But no, the subject never even comes up.

  More Cold Killr Sightings
Buffoonery.org on the case

  Beware Of The Walls
coldk graffiti 1

coldk graffiti 2

I've learned more about the enigmatic graffiti mentioned in an earlier post.
The artist is "Cold Killer" aka "ColdK" and he's part of the "BOTW" or "Beware of the walls" crew. And they aren't paintings of evil pac-men, they're ghosts.
Stranger Article
Tom Harpel's coldk photos
Beans for Breakfast Blog has pics.
Murmur Blog has more pics

  Pictures
pac man graffiti 1
I've spotted quite a few of these around town.
I don't know if they're evil Pac-Men or what.
This one is by Seahawk Stadium.

pac man graffiti 2
Capitol Hill

pac man graffiti 3
U-district: this might be unrelated to the first two.

scuba graffiti 1

kerry lemonade stand
Lemonade stand for Kerry

sidewalk sale
Somebody doesn't get the concept.

  News Flash: High School still sucks
BELLEVUE (WA)-- Starting Monday, students are barred from wearing hats and hoods at Interlake High School, reinforcing a school prohibition against gang-related clothing.

The prohibition on headgear was announced to students Friday afternoon.

No gang incidents have occurred on the northeast Bellevue campus this year, but Assistant Principal Lynn Gill said Interlake is taking preventive measures to keep students focused on academics.

``There's stuff (about gangs) in the news, there's stuff in the community,'' Gill said. ``It's been an issue at other schools.''

I'm obviously a stone original gangsta, because I wear both hat and hood. Of course I belong to the notorious Brotherhood of White Delivery Vans: We Are Everywhere. Why do we bother putting people in jail when all we need to do is take away their hats and hoodies and presto-law abiding citizen!
Link
Via Metafilter

  Larva "Live" at the Cedar Stump Theater
bug band
Cool mural on the side of "The Trading Musician" on Roosevelt.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Link

  Various Chuckleheads
illegal turn
Here we have a buttmunch holding up about 5 cars while attempting to make an illegal turn across 2 lanes of busy traffic into a line of 10 cars waiting for a light. I really wish I was the car behind them so I could use my horn.

illegal turn
This is classic. Not 1, not 2, but 3 cars parked in a load/unload zone while they busily load/unload what-lattes? Actually the last car in the line is parked in a bus stop.

benz
One of the things I miss about my last job was the ability to have non-customers towed out of our lot. The nicer the car, the better. This arrogant jerk hasn't even fed the meter. Oh yea, I miss having cars towed.

  People are Strange
I saw the damndest thing while driving today. I was on a long straight 4 lane road and behind a car in the right hand lane. The car had it's right turn signal on, so I thought they were going to turn. But after about a quarter of mile it was clear that the driver had just forgotten to turn the signal off. No big deal, that can happen to anybody. But then they turned off the signal and moved from the right lane to the left, without a left signal. And then came the good part: the right turn signal came back on and they kept driving, blinking away.

  Reason #2 To Have a Digital Camera...
Documenting Chuckleheads
bmw1
bmw2
Here we are in Fremont (a neighborhood of Seattle) at about 4:20pm. Rush hour has started and this street is very busy. And who is parked in a spot designed to be clear at this time of day? Why, it's a BMW. Why am I not surprised?

  Some Photos
pumpkin lady
Pumpkin Lady

sculpture
I don't know if this is abstract scupture or unfinished construction.

sky
I like the sky.

sky
More sky

wetlands
Renton's wetlands


  Just Wondering
honda cop
Just who pays for the Seattle police to direct traffic for the downtown Honda dealership? And why doesn't the dealership just switch the entrance and exit to avoid this problem?

  Why I Got a Camera
fashion victim

  The Bumpers, They Speak to Me
I've noticed "All Who Wander Are Not Lost" bumper stickers almost every day for the last couple of weeks. I don't know if they are suddenly more popular or if I'm just more sensitive to them. I do know that it's a Tolkien Quote

  Bah Humbug
It's Seafair time again. This annual event brings many problems into my life. The Blue Angels will be closing down the I-90 bridge right when I need it on my busiest day. The Angels will also be violating every local noise ordinance, all in the name of national security, with the attendent terrorization of pets and the elderly. And my personal favorite: The U-district parade, which never fails to gridlock my neighborhood and fill every available parking space after a full day of work in insane heat. I have to agree with Freedom to Fuck where he quotes Sideshow Bob : "Air show? Buzz-cut Alabamians spewing colored smoke from their whiz jets to strains of Rock You Like A Hurricane?'what kind of countrified rube is still impressed by that?"

  Car Slobs Beware
RCW 70.93.100
Litter bags -- Design and distribution by department authorized -- Violations -- Penalties.

The department shall design and produce a litter bag bearing the statewide anti-litter symbol and a statement of the penalties prescribed herein for littering in this state. Such litter bags shall be distributed by the department of licensing at no charge to the owner of every licensed vehicle in this state at the time and place of license renewal. The department of ecology shall make such litter bags available to the owners of water craft in this state and shall also provide such litter bags at no charge at points of entry into this state and at visitor centers to the operators of incoming vehicles and watercraft. The owner of any vehicle or watercraft who fails to keep and use a litter bag in his vehicle or watercraft shall be guilty of a violation of this section and shall be subject to a fine as provided in this chapter.

[1981 c 260 § 15. Prior: 1979 c 158 § 219; 1979 c 94 § 6; 1971 ex.s. c 307 § 10.]

I couldn't quite believe this law existed, so I looked it up. Apparently it is illegal in Washington State to have a messy car. What's next, a sock-wearing requirement?
Link

  I Have Got to Get a Digital Camera
Seen out on deliveries today:
3 fighter jets coming in LOW over I-5 to land at Boeing field.
A 6-foot-plus bald black man in a beige cocktail dress and ripped stockings.
The 2 kids walking their bikes with a live chicken standing on on of the seats.

  Thanks for nothing, #%^%$#*&*! Baseball
Since I drive for a living delivering books around Seattle I often depend on traffic radio. I have been listening to KOMO1000. Their pitch is "traffic on the fours, 24 hours a day, seven days a week". I like traffic reports every 10 minutes-it's very handy. Imagine my delight to discover their promise falls flat on it's ass whenever they broadcast Mariner baseball. I listen to as much "exciting" play-by-play as I can stomach and I still have yet to hear a traffic report. And with what-200 games a season, each one lasting 10 hours or more-there goes any hope of useful information when I need it. I'm just afraid the next traffic station I find will be full of crank right-wing talk-shows. I hate call-in talk-shows.

  A non-walking cliche
Those old sayings have a grain of truth in them. I actually saw someone today who could not chew gum and walk at the same time. Oh, I suppose technically he was walking, but his intense mastication so consumed his meager brainpower that he was only taking a step every 2 seconds-try it yourself-he was damn slow. I started to hope he would forget to breathe.

  Short thoughts and profanties concerning driving

Why the fuck did you buy a Miata if you're going to drive 58 in the express lanes?

You no signal, I no yield

Running red lights is bad, stupid. and dangerous. But I'll take official attempts to crack down on it a lot more seriously the minute I see a cop writing a city bus driver a ticket.

My nightmare is being stuck behind an elderly tourist who's lost.

It's a right turn, not brain surgery.

My traffic mantra: go through the fucking light, go THROUGH the fucking light....

Failing to sufficiently signal a left turn against traffic should be grounds for impoundment, maybe impaling.