Seattle

The City Sleeps

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Stealing down an ally on a cold dark night
I see a halo in the rain around the street light
I stop and look, and listen to the sound
As the raindrops penetrate the silence all around
Alone, I gaze into the glistening street
The distant thunder echoing my heartbeat
Urging me on to a secret goal
Away from the light from this lamp on a pole
So I turn, slip away into the rain
Drifting like a spirit through the shadows in the lane
Clutching the tools of my trade in my hand
An old box of matches and a gasoline can
Darkness envelopes the scene like a shroud
A veil of emptiness hangs from the clouds
Filling up the cracks in this desolate place
Cradled by the night in an icy embrace

Moving to the town like a ghost in the rain
A dim reflection in a dark window pane
Blackness beckons from every side
Creeping all around like an incoming tide
A broken window in an empty house
I slip inside and begin to douse
The whole place with the fuel that will feed the fire
And push back the night, taking me higher
On out of the darkness in a defeaning roar
The match in my hand is the key to the door
A simple turn of the wrist will suffice
To open a passage to paradise
I pause, I think about the past and the gloom
The smell of gasoline permeates the room
Everyone has a little secret he keeps
I light the fires while the city sleeps

(Like the 4th of July)

The match makes a graceful arc to the floor
And time stands still as I turn for the door
Which explodes in a fireball and throws me to the street
I hit the ground running with the flames at my feet
Reaching for the night which recoils from the fire
The raindrops hiss like a devilish choir
Dying in the flames with a terrible sound
Calling all the names of the sleepers all around
But then in the arms of the night, they lay
Their dreams sprout wings and fly away
Out of the houses in a gathering flock
Swarming overhead as I hurry down the block
I make my escape with the greatest of ease
And savor the darkness, drop to my knees
And the lightless window, my hand on the latch
I reach in my pocket, and pull out a match

(Like the 4th of July)

— MC 900 Ft. Jesus, “The City Sleeps”

So, the big news of the moment is that we appear to have an arsonist running around North Seattle. It’s really freaky to think about — thirteen fires in the North Seattle area over the past three days, the majority of which have been definitely determined to be arson, and now there’s a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Local weblogger Danelope had a night of listening to sirens, and included links to Seattle Police scanners streaming audio (which, unfortunately, wasn’t working for me when I just tried to listen in) and a resource that I keep forgetting about, the live 911 incident list for Seattle. A little unnerving to go down the list, though, as right now there is an active “Fire in Building” listing at North 61st and Phinney with multiple units responding. While it’s a little tough to be sure, it looks like it’s at least possible that the local fire departments might have another busy night ahead of them.

It’s also a little concerning because Prairie’s sister Hope just moved into a new apartment in the North Seattle area. While so far the arsonist seems to be avoiding populated buildings, and there haven’t been any injuries, there’s always the possibility that a fire might spread to other areas. We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that North Seattle’s big enough that any new fires don’t hit Hope’s area — or if they do, that everyone’s alert enough that nothing happens.

Freaky stuff.

Almost amusingly, though, it’s almost starting to seem that my time living in Seattle is going to be punctuated by fires of one sort or another. The summer I moved down here was one of the driest in Washington in a long time, actually putting the state into official drought status, and there were fires all across the state for much of the summer. When I went with some friends to see the Barenaked Ladies perform at the Gorge in central Washington, much of the weekend was scented with woodsmoke, as we were often no more than a few miles away from one of the fires.

After getting everything set up at the campsite, we packed ourselves into two cars, and headed down a quicker route back to the Gorge for the show. The way there was fascinating — currently, huge amounts of the state of Washington are on fire, and there were amazing clouds of smoke from the fires just 40 miles away or so in the sky. The smoke turned an otherwise clear night to a completely opaque murk. Just fascinating to see — and the smell of burning pine in the air was an added reminder that all this stuff wasn’t that far away.

While I can’t come up with any notable fires over the past two summers, earlier this year the Jensonia Hotel, next door to my apartment building, went up in flames three times over the course of a couple months (two of which I got pictures of, in January and in March), eventually being damaged enough that it has been permanently closed down. I still haven’t heard any word on whether or not those fires were ever determined to be arson or accidental, though.

And now we’ve got this going on right here in town. I’m quite curious is the responsible party is going to be sticking to North Seattle, or if things are going to spread. You can be sure I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open.

Of course, all this did give me an excuse to post the lyrics to MC 900 Foot Jesus‘ “The City Sleeps“, written from the point of view of an arsonist on the prowl. This, of course, prompted Prairie to comment, “You WOULD have just the right creepy song in your collection!” :)

Benefits to being a music whore, I guess. ;)

Seattle Storm Lauren Jackson in the buff

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See what I get for not paying attention to sports? I almost entirely missed hearing about the latest overblown controversy involving an adult choosing to pose naked for a magazine being sold to adults (though not an “adult magazine”, i.e., porn).

From her statements in this Seattle Times article, I think that Seattle Storm team member Lauren Jackson has exactly the right attitude about her photo shoot.

Storm star Lauren Jackson, after being asked in 2000 and again in 2002, finally agreed to bare all for an artistic Australian photo magazine called Black+White. Jackson appears on the cover, with the title “The Athens Dream,” in tribute to the upcoming Summer Games in Greece. Wisps of Jackson’s bleached-blond hair dangle over her creamy skin. Inside the magazine, Jackson, 23, reveals everything except her, ahem, down under.

[…]

“Do you really think it’s that big a deal?” she pondered when asked about the nude pics after practice yesterday.

[…]

Feeling too young at 18 to participate in 2000 and too busy with her Storm season during the 2002 shoot, Jackson mulled over the idea for this year’s magazine with her family in the offseason.

She wasn’t paid to pose, but she was flown to Sydney to work with award-winning photographer Steve Lowe and a makeup artist in a private session that took about seven hours. Jackson handpicked her pictures, getting complete control over the process.

After the Olympics, all the photos used in the magazine will be auctioned to benefit charities.

“I feel really comfortable with my body and shape I’m in, and I know I’m not going to be like this forever,” Jackson said. “I was really nervous at first, but it was conquering one of my fears. I felt very much empowered at the end.

“It’s me all over and I’m really happy with the photos. As athletes you work so hard to get in shape for competition. This celebrates the athletic body and how much work you put in. We do it the right way; we don’t starve ourselves.”

Jackson said she doesn’t view the shots as objectifying women, either. Especially because the magazine, which will sell for $40, is equal parts men and women.

[…]

“I really did it with the Australians in mind,” Jackson said. “It’s a prestigious thing in Australia. Believe it or not, but my mom and dad (Maree and Gary) loved it. My dad saw it the other day, called me and said he was so proud of me.”

Jackson’s teammates share the sentiment. Bird loved Jackson’s hair, and fellow Australian Tully Bevilaqua adored the cover shot.

“She looks sensational,” Bevilaqua said. “The human body is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Damn skippy.

I just may have to do some shopping before work tomorrow.

Purely for research purposes, of course.

Sci-Fi museum to open in two months

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Paul Allen’s new addition to the EMP, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, is due to open in approximately two months, according to the Seattle P-I.

About 13,000 square feet of the Frank Gehry-designed EMP will be dedicated to the new Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (which was initially dubbed SFX, for Science Fiction Experience). This new sci-fi wing will have three levels of exhibit space and add more than 1,000 square feet of performance space to EMP.

Exhibits and artifacts celebrating such movies and television programs as “Star Trek,” “Planet of the Apes” and “Dr. Strangelove” will be complemented by objects or exhibits aimed at demonstrating how the literary genre sometimes leads to real scientific developments or technological achievements.

I’ll be very interested in checking it out, of course — my only worry is that I found the EMP to be fairly ridiculously overpriced, and I wasn’t a large fan of how the displays were set up (very little textual information, as there were PDA-ish handheld audio devices to guide you through, which were too heavy and kind of a pain to use). Hopefully the SFX doesn’t have these same issues, though as they are part of the same complex, who knows.

Guess I’ll find out in June, huh?

Exploring the new Seattle Library

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Seattle’s library system has been in something of a state of flux ever since I moved down here. Just about the time I came down, the central public library moved into a temporary space just a couple blocks down 8th street from my apartment, across from the Seattle Convention Center. The old building was torn down, and construction began on the new library building.

As I’ve watched the new library building go up over the months, I’ve always been more or less confused by what I was seeing. Lots of diagonals, parts of the building jutting over other parts — it looked interesting, but it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Seattle's new library

Today, though, thanks to a pointer from mahalie, I finally have some idea at what I’ve been looking at all these months — and not only does it make sense, but I really like what it looks like the end result will be.

It turns out that the Seattle Public Library‘s Libraries for All site has an extensive collection of information on the construction of the new central library, including press releases and meeting minutes dating back to 1998 and continuing throughout the construction process, photographs of the library’s construction, and something I’d been wondering about for ages — a floor by floor breakdown of the new building.

Suddenly, it all makes sense, and where before all I’d seen was a confusing jumble of girders and construction equipment, now I can see where all this is likely to end up. According to the status report the grand opening is tentatively set for May 23, 2004 — and you can bet I’ll be there to finally see the end result.

Holly Chernobyl

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My friend Holly, whom I’ve known since we both lived up in Anchorage, is going to be performing in tonight’s Pizzazz! Talent Show at Bumbershoot! She’s performing under the name ‘Holly Chernobyl’ — here’s her mini-interview from the Stranger:

Holly Chernobyl / Queen o’ burlesque

When did you first realize that you had Pizzazz!?

I burst from the womb singing “Life is a cabaret” through a mouthful of Quaaludes.

Who do you count as your influences/inspirations?

My mother Judy Garland and my father Mae West. And drag queens.

If you could have one talent besides the one you’re showcasing in Pizzazz!, what would it be?

Talent, schmalent. I have mutant fucking powers. I’m a superhero.

When you get to be rich and famous, what will be your biggest extravagance?

I will buy an island and create “Perfect Holly World,” where the sun shines every day and you get a tiara at the door.

Can art change the world, or just make it prettier?

I can do both, so pooh pooh on art.

J.Lo: Good or evil?

Evil. But God bless that ass.

Go Holly! The Pizzazz show starts at 7pm in the Bagley Wright Theatre — I’ll be there!

Water shutoff – again

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I just got home from work to find a note taped to the front of my apartment building letting the tenants know that unless our leasing agency pays our water bill in the next thirty days, water will be shut off.

This just happened three months ago. Admittedly, the water was not shut off in that instance, but getting the same notice again doesn’t exactly do much to instill confidence in me.

Needless to say, if anyone happens to be apartment hunting in the lower First Hill/Downtown Seattle area, I can wholeheartedly recommend avoiding the Park Seneca (recently renamed Alfaretta) Apartments, and I’d be wary of any building controlled by Kauri Investments.

Man-U 4, Celtic 0

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That. So. Rocked.

Manchester United vs. Celtic

Phil and I bailed from work a little after 7pm, caught the bus into town, and got off just about four blocks from Seahawks Stadium. Walked in, and found our way to our seats — which, as you can see from the above shot, were incredible! About thirteen rows back, practically right on the goal line. Even better, the entrance that the teams came out of to get on the field was directly to our left — there were a few too many people in the way for me to get a really good shot of them taking the field, though. Still, just being close enough that I could clearly see their faces was great.

Turns out that Seattle is definitely primarily a Man-U town. There were definitely Celtic fans in the crowd, but the roar every time Man-U scored or prevented a goal was pretty telling. The game itself was almost schizophrenic, though. Celtic played a very offensive game, and Man-U couldn’t seem to keep the ball out of their side of the field for the majority of the game, but the few times they did manage to push the ball down the field they scored almost every time. Their goalie, though, did an astounding job for the whole game — while the defense was good enough that Celtic didn’t get too many shots, he didn’t let any of them get through. Just gorgeous to watch.

In the end, Man-U took the game, four to nothing — a total shutout. There was also an announcement midway through the second half of the game that the final attendance tally was 66,722 people in the stadium! Blew my mind, and apparently that was record attendance for the stadium, too! Kind of funny when a soccer game creates more of a draw than the local sports teams do — but then, this was one hell of a soccer game.

All in all, one hell of an evening. While I’m sorry that Phil’s girlfriend couldn’t make it…damn but that was fun!

Update: Writeups are already posted on the local news sites.

BOO-YAH!

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My manager just came up to me and handed me a ticket to the Man-U/Celtic game tonight! Turns out his girlfriend has to cancel, and since we were talking about the game earlier…

…I’m in.

Too.

Freaking.

Cool.

See y’all after the game!

Flaming down Broadway

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Passing the torchI’ll expand this entry more later on tonight with pictures and such, but last night the Olympic Torch relay came through Seattle. I’d already checked the route maps provided by the Seattle Times and King 5 and seen that the route was scheduled to go within a block of my apartment at about 5:45pm! Since the walk home from work only takes about 20 minutes, I knew I’d be home in time to wander down and watch the relay come by.

Just before 5:45 I left the Shoebox and wandered down the hill to Pike Street. There were already a few other people standing on the corner of Pike and Boylston waiting for the relay to come by, and we chatted off and on for the next few mintues as we waited. Round about 6-ish or so some trucks came by handing out noisemakers for us to play with as the runner came by, so we each grabbed a few and kept waiting. And waiting. Apparently the procession wasn’t exactly keeping to schedule.

By 6:15 or so we were getting a bit chilly — though the temperature last night was in the mid-30’s, which isn’t too bad, there was a fairly constant wind that made things a bit colder — when a couple ladies came by selling t-shirts. We asked them if they knew how far along the runner was, and they said that he was still working his way through downtown Seattle! At that point, we all decided that a stop by the Rosebud to warm up sounded like a good idea, and off we went. I grabbed a table right by the street so I could keep an eye on the crowds still gathering along Pike Street to get a feel for when things were coming our way, and nursed a very nice Malibu Rum and Coke.

It was probably around 6:30 or so when we noticed that the news helicopters were now hovering almost directly overhead (side note: even when you know they’re news choppers, it’s a wee bit disconcerting to be able to look in the sky and see three hovering helicopters with spotlights trained in your general direction), and a few minutes after that people on the street started pointing down the hill. Everyone waiting in the Rosebud took that as our clue, and headed out to the street.

The next runner gets readyI hadn’t known this before, never having seen the Torch relay before, but it’s not done with one runner from start to finish through each town. Rather, they have multiple runners, each one carrying a torch for a short distance, at the end of which the flame is passed on to the next runner with their own torch for the next leg. As it turns out, they were switching runners just a block before the Pike/Broadway intersection, so I was able to get a couple shots of the new runner getting ready to go, the passing of the flame, and then the previous runner getting his congratulations. It was a pretty cool thing to be able to see — I’ll try to get my pictures up this evening.