The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog

The Democrats Have 60 Votes in the Senate for Health Care Reform

editor@thestranger.com (Jonathan Golob) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:38:37 -0800

With Senator Lincoln's agreement resulting in the magic number of sixty, the Senate's version of the health care reform bill will proceed to debate—a key step.

This version, like the House bill that passed earlier, contains a public option. The senate's bill allows states to opt-out of the public option.

Lieberman, the ass, has stated he will not vote for any bill containing a public option. He has agreed to vote to open, but not close, debate on the bill—helping Reid achieve the sixty votes he needed today.

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Today The Stranger Suggests

editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0800

Brunch

Hudson

Down East Marginal Way, in the middle of the warehouse district, is the best place to recover from your Friday night. The menu at Hudson is pleasantly surly (the stern mug of an ancestral horse thief stares out from the cover), but the staff and clientele are all charm. It's the kind of place where young bucks show off their new back tattoos and half-deaf old men shout at each other about diodes. Their cheesy grits are the thick, yellow kind with sautéed shrimp on top. They taste like roux and herbs, a little smoky and a lot savory. It's a steaming plate of hangover manna. (Hudson, 5000 E Marginal Way S, 767-4777. 8 am–midnight, brunch until 3 pm.)

BRENDAN KILEY

More restaurant reviews in Get Out »

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Reading Today: A Nickname for Mike McGinn?

editor@thestranger.com (Paul Constant) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:04:35 -0800

We have several poetry readings, several boat-type readings, and a book about looking at Puget Sound like an artist today. Then there are the book events we are actually going to hear about. To wit:

Friends of the Library is hosting a Mini-Book Sale today at Magnuson Park. No, the books aren't mini. The sale is mini; they'll only (?) have 10,000 books for sale.

At Seattle Mystery Bookshop, it's time for Derek Haas. Columbus is about an international assassin who is nicknamed "The Silver Bear." I think "The Silver Bear" would be a great nickname for our new mayor.

Dr. Ken Croswell talks at Pacific Science Center. Croswell, who knows about "stellar evolution" and "extrasolar planets," discusses what life on other planets could be like. This is like awesome with a side of awesome, soaked in awesome sauce.

Anthony Alvarado & Friend(s) are at Pilot Books today. Alvarado is the author and illustrator of Throwing Bones, which is a "macabre" selection of weird stories. You can read more about the book and Alvarado's great little publisher, Gunbaby Graphics, over here.

Mary Karr reads at Third Place Books tonight. Karr is a very rare thing: a memoirist who doesn't suck. Lit is about her drinking problem.

The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.

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The Morning News: Health Care in the Senate, Capitol Hill Shooting, and Another Reason The Tunnel Will Destroy Us All

editor@thestranger.com (Garrett McCulloch) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:25:00 -0800

The Battle Continues: The Senate votes on whether to begin debate on health care reform today. Democrats were close to reaching the 60 vote threshhold last night. Every fucking Republican still pledged to vote against it.

Shooting on Capitol Hill: A man was shot in the chest last night, and was in critical condition at Harborview. Few details at this point.

The Tunnel—Still a Crappy Idea: The Sightline Institute looks at the Brightwater sewage treatment tunnel's problems, and says the viaduct replacement tunnel could be just as much of a clusterfuck!

Kids These Days: State school superintendent Randy Dorn wants a delay for math and science testing requirements. 'Cause, you know, the tests aren't working.

There are Always Test Prep Classes: Now available when you're five years old, apparently.

At Least Some People Aren't Dicks: People have donated over $100,000 worth of food to the Rainier Valley food bank that was robbed last week.

Berkeley Protesters: Dozens of the people occupying a campus building at UC-Berkeley were arrested last night.

Today in Smashing Particles Into Each Other: The gigantic particle accelerator in Switzerland is almost ready to resume experiments to create Big Bang-like conditions.

It's the History Eraser Button, you fool!

History Eraser Button (Ren and Stimpy) - The most amazing bloopers are here

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This Weekend at the Movies

editor@thestranger.com (Lindy West) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:08:44 -0800

Visit our film page for all your wide release needs, including Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, The Blind Side, Planet 51, and more.

Plus, Charles Mudede explores the New Italian Cinema Festival at SIFF Cinema, and I review the Burning Fuse Festival at Grand Illusion.

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"It's Not in the P-I" Goes National

editor@thestranger.com (Brendan Kiley) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:59:30 -0800

On NPR's On the Media. (The Stranger's story about the project is here.)

Paul Mullin accompanies this announcement with his usual broadside.

There’s a stereotype about Seattle, and especially its artists, and even more especially its theatre aritists, that we have an inferiority complex. We have trouble believing that anyone who lives and creates their art here can really be doing work of such quality to deserve national recognition. After all, if you’re such a good playwright (or actor or director or designer), why the hell are you living here?

Alas, I think there’s some truth to this myth. But I also earnestly believe that in the next few years we’re going to see the stereotype so completely exploded that it will never be able to reconstitute to haunt us again.

If this coverage by NPR proves one thing it’s this: the rest of the nation actually does give a damn about what we do in this city. They actually do care what happens to our newspapers, and they actually do want to know about what kind of original theatre we’re doing here, what stories we’re telling, uniquely, as Seattleites.

What they don’t care about, what they will never care about, is how carefully and exquisitely we craft a restaging of some chestnut from the canon, or the play that knocked ‘em dead off-Broadway last year. And this isn’t because those stories aren’t good, it’s because those stories aren’t uniquely ours. Seattle theaters that dedicate themselves exclusively to craft and the canon and providing a local outlet to New York’s latest exports are museums. And Seattle will never have as good museums as New York, Chicago or LA.

He's got a point. And if some theater somewhere in the city had been willing to work with Paul on this project (on his admittedly fast timeline), our city's professional acting talent could've read the scenes for the national radio audience.

But there wasn't, except for North Seattle Community College, whose student-actors got the chance instead.

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Jeffry Mitchell Wins a Joan Mitchell Grant!

editor@thestranger.com (Jen Graves) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:32:13 -0800

Joan

Jeffry

The foundation isn't yet listing this year's winners on its site, but our 2009 Stranger Genius is now a 2009 Joan Mitchell winner, too. He gets $25,000. Here are last year's winners.

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Today in Traditional Marriage

editor@thestranger.com (Dan Savage) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:45:39 -0800

A man was just sentenced to 11 years in prison for beating his wife—with her consent.

Timothy Thompson, a former news reporter for Portland radio station KXL, will have 11 years and 6 months in prison to think about the severity of what he did to his wife Susan and their three young children, Knapp said. In a bench trial with no jury, Knapp found Thompson guilty of eight counts of assault and one of criminal mistreatment.... Since his arrest, Timothy Thompson said the bruising came from a single occasion when the couple’s “game” of correction got out of control. That story was clearly a lie, McKey said. The bruising was almost unbelievable—purple, green, yellow, red and blue. Knee to waist. Breast to navel. Looking more like the lividity of a corpse than injuries to living tissue, they were administered over years with such exacting care that no one would even notice them on a fully-clothed Susan, McKey said.

The beating game came to an end when the police were called to the house because a woman was screaming. Thompson wasn't home but the police noticed cuts and bruises and that Susan Thompson, "was barely strong enough to lift her infant son." The Thompsons—Mr. and Mrs.—argued that the beatings were a game meant to compensate for Susan Thompson's "lack of discipline" growing up. The couple also wanted a "traditional American family," complete with a submissive wife who stays home with the kids, but Susan Thompson had a hard time submitting. So, beatings. It was all supposed to be "titillating and fun," Mr. Thompson told the court—it was supposed to be consensual sex play—but the court didn't buy it and neither do I. First, because Susan Thompson was punished when she tried to call her parents, which smacks—sorry—the typical abuser's attempt to isolate his victim. And then there's this:

In April of 2009, the beatings escalated to 70 to 100 swats a day. Thompson decided to start using a surveyor’s stick instead of a belt because his arm was getting sore, McKey said. After he was done, daddy would sometimes have the children take the rod and smack the bruises, too, to “let mommy know she had to learn her lesson,” McKey said.

Sorry, but it's not a consensual adult sex game if you're forcing your children to participate. Christ.

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Currently Hanging

editor@thestranger.com (Jen Graves) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:41:37 -0800

David Lynch's paintings at the Santa Monica gallery Griffin. More images and an interview here. I asked myself, would anyone pay attention to these if they weren't by David Lynch? I think they would. At least some of them. See what you think.

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Viaduct Park?

editor@thestranger.com (Brendan Kiley) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:03:45 -0800

Maybe this is really dumb question, but... would it be possible to save a piece of the Viaduct as a park/outdoor concert and performance venue? Kind of like the High Line in NYC? It could start at Seneca—walk out of the Seattle Art Museum and take a stroll to Pioneer Square? Or hear a concert at sunset?

I know, I know: earthquake, crumble, mass death. Plus giant vats of political poison from the Viaduct wars.

But Kadeena Lenz of WA DOT just gave me a ray of hope: "I'm not sure anyone's seriously thought about that as an option—with this project, nothing seems improbable."

She's got a meeting today with a project manager. She promised to bring it up.

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Word of the Day

editor@thestranger.com (David Schmader) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:44:54 -0800

Palienated.

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Gov. Gregoire's Budget Speech

editor@thestranger.com (Eli Sanders) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:03:34 -0800

As Will mentioned, Gov. Christine Gregoire spoke last night at a fundraiser for Jeanne Kohl-Welles near Ballard and, during the talk, made a notable declaration.

Below is video I shot of the speech—which also serves as a great primer on the huge budget mess this state is now facing.

"It goes without saying, today has not been my best day," Gregoire began, nodding toward the news of the state's $2.6 billion budget shortfall. "But you know what, I gotta tell ya, If it was ever a time to have a Democratic governor, a Democratic house, and a Democratic senate, now is the time." She promised her proposed budget would be brutal ("It will be nothing like you have ever seen in your life") and then she declared:

An all-cuts budget is not the value of the people of the state of Washington. We must step up to our responsibility to this state and look for revenue to get the job done.

For the declaration, start at 3:37. Or, to learn all about the $2.6 billion shortfall and get up to speed on Gregoire's thinking about how to deal with it, watch the whole damn thing:

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Precious: Brutal New Classic or African-American Bruno?

editor@thestranger.com (David Schmader) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:34:44 -0800

I am a fan of Lee Daniels' Precious—which chronicles the ridiculously hellish life of a Harlem teen in 1988—for some reasons included here.

But I'm also interested in the ongoing anti-Precious backlash, the most vitriolic contribution to which so far comes from the New York Press's infamous contrarian Armond White:

Shame on Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey for signing on as air-quote executive producers of Precious....Not since The Birth of a Nation has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as Precious. Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show. Offering racist hysteria masquerading as social sensitivity, it’s been acclaimed on the international festival circuit that usually disdains movies about black Americans as somehow inartistic and unworthy.

Courtland Milloy at the Washington Post continues the criticism of Perry and Winfrey:

Of course, "Precious" would not have received nearly as much media buzz if Oprah Winfrey and Tyler "Madea" Perry had not signed on as executive producers. Oddly, neither has made a movie about rising above a challenging background and becoming a wealthy and influential entertainer.

Asked by Entertainment Weekly magazine why she got involved with the project, Oprah said: "I realized that, Jesus, I have seen that girl a million times. I see that girl every morning on the way to work, I see her standing on the corner, I see her waiting for the bus as I'm passing in my limo, I see her coming out of the drugstore, and she's been invisible to me."

Instead of making a movie about how she beat the odds, Oprah has taken to divining ugly life stories from black girls she passes in her limo. Maybe the Obama girls should stay off the sidewalk for a while.

In "Precious," Oprah and Perry have helped serve up a film of prurient interest that has about as much redeeming social value as a porn flick.

To me, a honky watching Precious, the fact that Precious was made by a black filmmaker, based on a novel by a black writer, and co-produced by two media titans who also happen to be black communicated something to me about the film's value and, I guess, it's "truth." But according to Armond White (who, like Courtland Malloy, is African-American), it's all a con:

Perry, Winfrey, and Daniels’ pityparty bait-and-switches our social priorities. Personal pathology gets changed into a melodrama of celebrity-endorsed self-pity. The con artists behind Precious seize this Obama moment in which racial anxiety can be used to signify anything anybody can stretch it to mean. And Daniels needs this humorless condescension (Hollywood’s version of benign neglect) to obscure his lurid purposes.

And then there's this: The testimony of Mo'Nique, who portrays Precious' biggest monster, mother Mary. From an interview with the Associated Press:

AP: How would you describe the film?

Mo'Nique: It is about a forgotten people. It is about obesity. It's about molestation. It's about cruelty. It's about HIV/AIDS. But it's about triumph—and that's the beauty of the movie. People say, "How do you walk away saying it's beautiful?" When you watch it and you understand, through it all, somebody can pick themselves up and keep it moving, that's beautiful... So I was proud to be a part of something that is very honest, and Lee Daniels, baby, he's going to give it to you. He's going to give it to you raw. No chaser, no lollipop licking, this is it. It's the dirt, it's the grime, it's what we're afraid of.....I don't know of any other director that would have given two fat, black women the opportunity to do what we did... The world needs to see it because guess what, Mary Jones exists, baby. So does Precious.

Why I bolded that line above: Despite any and all claims of racism or black-on-black betrayal, Precious represents something all decent people must celebrate: A serious movie filled with almost nothing but great parts for African-American women (that also happens to be directed by a gay guy).

Precious begins its Seattle run today.

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Coming Soon to Strangercrombie: Art Piñatas

editor@thestranger.com (Jen Graves) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:34:39 -0800

For Strangercrombie, we asked six local artists to donate one-of-a-kind piñatas—but we had no idea they would do it up like this. The piñatas are starting to come into the office today, and they are Seriously. Freaking. Amazing.

Here's a sneak peek at one of them, made by Coco Howard. She photographed it in the forest (!).

That's a suicide note in his left hand, poor guy. He is full of felt organs that she also made. (It's like she made dozens of works of art in this single piece.) Will anybody be able to bring themselves to smack the crap out of any of these things?

Unbelievable. (I'm not being nice; you know me.) And for a good cause.

This is just the beginning. More next week.

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We Want Poison: "Kill Bill" or "Last Samurai"? Which Does Meiro Koizumi Want to Make?

editor@thestranger.com (Jen Graves) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:13:20 -0800

The Corner of Sweet and Bitter at Open Satellite

This morning the video artist Meiro Koizumi got on a plane with his wife Yuka and went back home to Japan after having spent two months at the Open Satellite residency in Bellevue, thanks to curator Yoko Ott. His art is very much still here: He has two shows up through January 9, My Voice Would Reach You (a 10-year survey of 11 videos) at Seattle University, and The Corner of Sweet and Bitter at Open Satellite.

I've written plenty about Koizumi already here, so you probably want a rest. But last night he gave a talk that was also a performance, so I just want to share it for those following the issues involved in his work. The central issues are freedom and abuse, as I wrote last week ("On Whether the Artist Is Cruel").

Last night's talk was perfectly earnest to start out. Koizumi gave background that explained why he created the video Work Like A Dog, in which he subjects a Mexican day laborer (for pay) to some humiliation involving a hot dog, a miniature American flag, and weightlifting on camera. He discussed the rising nationalism in Japan, and how it is changing the way Japanese people feel about singing their own national anthem (the mitigation/aftermath of postwar guilt). He discussed coming to America this summer and immediately being taken to a baseball game, where he watched the national anthem being sung unproblematically, and then being taken to Home Depot, where he saw day laborers standing outside ("It's not that we don't have these things in Japan, it's just that they are hidden"). He also talked about the history of Bellevue—his original subject in coming to Open Satellite—which means the transformation of Bellevue from a Japanese strawberry farming community to being emptied out by internment to today's high-rise Bellevue, dependent on new but familiar systems of inequitable labor that are, again, connected to global politics and economics.

And then he brought up an image of the movie poster for "The Last Samurai," and Tom Cruise's giant serious face (surrounded by long, flowing hair) came onto the Henry's projection screen. Music (I can only assume the movie's soundtrack) began to play over the sound system—cheesy and effective music, the kind of music that moves you to cry if the movie director wants you to cry.

Koizumi explained that he saw "The Last Samurai" on the plane. ("It's like 'Dances with Wolves' but about Japan," he said.) Its nationalistic, hyped-up portrayal of Japan was so pseudo and so absurd that he found himself laughing out loud—until he looked around and saw two women crying. He stopped laughing and started being amazed: what was this work of art that could make one person fall down laughing and another cry her eyes out?

He thought of "The Last Samurai" versus "Kill Bill"—the "sick" image of multiculturalism versus the "healthy" (aware, smart, edumacated, post-PC, etc.) image of multiculturalism.

Which would he rather make in his own art?

He delivered the answer as if he were channeling "The Great Dictator," his voice rising as the music got louder and louder. It's hard to see and hard to understand, but I tried to capture it on video as soon as I saw it happening. (Video on jump)

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pun(c)tuation: New Gallery Opening Tonight

editor@thestranger.com (Grant Brissey) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:07:43 -0800

Jaycee
(Click to Enlarge)

pun(c)tuation, a new gallery directed by local artist Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes opens tonight at 6 pm with a show called The Shogunate Revisited, featuring works from artists Mike Wagner and I AM. It's located at 705A E Pike Street (right next to Honey Hole). The show promises, among other things, Japanese wood block print-influenced works displayed "against a backdrop of video-art installation that will loop archival footage, classic moments from Akira Kurosawa and John Hughes movies, as well as a short film that was shot in Japan the summer of 2009 by graffiti writer, photographer and producer TEWZ (Chicago)." Also present will be wine from Long Shadows Vinters, and vegan fare from Loving Hut. It's a chance to check out this latest gallery addition to Capitol Hill. Get there.

From the press release:

The show examines the artists’ common influence in Japanese wood block print, manga and historic figures including Utamaro, Hokusai, and Katsuhiro Otomo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled over Japan for more than 300-years, yet creativity thrived despite (or perhaps because of) this oppression. Wood block prints were called ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world” — a world of the courtesans, brothels, and Kabuki theaters frequented by an urban class growing in wealth and size, who celebrated a lifestyle free from government-imposed restrictions. This installation reflects the relationships between political oppression and artistic expression, economic growth and social structures, the impact of technology on communications and communities, and the tensions that lead to a restructuring of our worlds.

Mike Wagner is a painter, conceptual artist and non-commissioned public illustration specialist, born in Philadelphia raised in Seattle. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, this year his paintings have been featured at Zeitgeist Coffee and FlatColor Gallery — including a series showcasing the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

I AM is a self-trained Sharpie maestro, comic book and video game illustrator. Originally from Philadelphia but now calls Seattle home, his work has recently been seen in Kushi Bar and Venom.

Their work will be displayed against a backdrop of video-art installation that will loop archival footage, classic moments from Akira Kurosawa and John Hughes movies, as well as a short film that was shot in Japan the summer of 2009 by graffiti writer, photographer and producer TEWZ (Chicago).

See the full press release after the jump:

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Gov. Gregoire Opposes "All Cuts" Budget

editor@thestranger.com (Will Kelley-Kamp) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:03:14 -0800

At last night's Post-Election Analysis forum sponsored by Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Governor Chris Gregoire announced that, unlike last year, she expects there to be at least some new revenue to soften the expected cuts to balance the $2.6 budget deficit. Political operative Nigel Herbig tweeted this from the event:

At Kohl-Welles event, Gov. Gregoire stated that another cuts-only budget would not be acceptable.

This could be the first sign that the Democratic super majority could show some guts and raise revenue to balance the budget. They might not have a choice, since there is so little left to cut:

70% of the state budget is protected through constitutional, federal, contractual and other mandates, which means the Legislature would need to slash 27% from the remaining $9.6 billion in unprotected spending in order to achieve an all-cuts budget. I suppose that could be done, but only at the expense of great human suffering.

If the legislature leans on a cuts-heavy budget in 2010, General Assistance Unemployable (or GAU) could be toast. According to their website, GAU is described as a "state-funded program that provides cash and medical benefits for persons who are physically and/or mentally incapacitated and unemployable." Since GAU is only available for individuals who don't qualify for other government assistance, without GAU many of these people would be on the street. It survived elimination in last year's budget, largely because Speaker Frank Chopp defended the program.

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Pit Bulls!

editor@thestranger.com (Dan Savage) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:01:31 -0800

Such nice dogs:

Spokane County sheriff's deputies used a stun gun on an attacking pit bull dog. It didn't stop, so they shot it with a .45-caliber handgun, and it still kept coming. They finally killed it with a blast from a 12-gauge shotgun.

And so good with children.

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The Alaskan Stereotype

editor@thestranger.com (Jonathan Golob) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:51:54 -0800

After only a few weeks in Alaska, I'm convinced of one fact: If Sarah Palin is a racist, it wasn't from her childhood in Wasilla. (What am I doing in Alaska? This.) By most measures, the Anchorage area is more ethnically diverse and integrated than most places I've been in the lower 48. That's not to say Alaskans have not exhibited prejudice; rather, aside from a seething anti-native sentiment, people seem focused on aspects other than race when stereotyping others.

How you're dressed counts for a lot. (Bringing a pea-coat up here, in retrospect, was a poor decision; never have I had an article of clothing inspire such ire.) Anything beyond the practical draws attention, all negative. A thick coating of aggressive humility is requisite. Looking the part of a down-to-earth, humble working man or woman counts for quite a bit, it seems—perhaps even more than acting that part. A piece of the Palin puzzle fell into place when I finally recognized this pattern. To her hometown supporters, I suspect, there was no more damning criticism of Sarah than her costly clothing shopping sprees. It's telling her book and public appearances all strongly deny even the most obvious and demonstrated facts of her campaign-financed wardrobe revamping.

The Alaskans have also proven quite prickly about minor offers of help, basic interactions like holding open a door or offering directions. Being self-reliant, projecting the image of not needing anyone or anything to get about your life, seems to matter deeply. Nowhere else has the phrase “Can I help you find something?” been loaded with such malice. This seems like a place filled with outsiders, individuals who didn't fit in well elsewhere. The general attitude is blurred between a desire for acceptance and interpersonal connection and a sour-grapes fuck-off-I-don't-need-you-anyways. Todd's membership in the AIP clicks for me a bit more now.

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Teabaggers Turn On Palin

editor@thestranger.com (Dan Savage) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:48:26 -0800

This is pretty delicious...

I guess the Noblesville, Indiana Going Rogue book signing didn’t go very well yesterday because 300* or so of the 1000 people with wristbands were asked not to tread on Sarah Palin and then she tried to make a getaway with Baby Trig and several duffel bags full of cash but wingnuts have learned to protest about everything these days, so they were having none of it. This is the best thing you will see about horrible, horrible Sarah Palin on the internets all day and until the end of time.

Go to Rumproast to read angry comments left on Sarah Palin's Facebook page by some real disappointed real Americans.

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Britain's Insane Plan to Deal With Internet Piracy

editor@thestranger.com (Charles Mudede) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:43:04 -0800

Is this the future of the internet?

The British government has brought down its long-awaited Digital Economy Bill, and it's perfectly useless and terrible. It consists almost entirely of penalties for people who do things that upset the entertainment industry (including the "three-strikes" rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the net if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement, without proof or evidence or trial), as well as a plan to beat the hell out of the video-game industry with a new, even dumber rating system (why is it acceptable for the government to declare that some forms of artwork have to be mandatorily labelled as to their suitability for kids? And why is it only some media? Why not paintings? Why not novels? Why not modern dance or ballet or opera?).

So it's bad. £50,000 fines if someone in your house is accused of filesharing.

I find it hard to believe that this law is actually being considered by people with human-sized brains.

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Do Your Balls Hang Low?

editor@thestranger.com (Dan Savage) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:40:05 -0800

Sure they do. But why do they hang low? And why don't they hang lower? Why isn't your scrotum bright red? Why doesn't your scrotum have feathers? Science has the answer.

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SL Letter of the Day: Hot & Drunk

editor@thestranger.com (Dan Savage) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:06:26 -0800

I met a guy about two months ago through weird and serendipitous circumstances on my last visit back home to Tucson and he's great in so many ways. We get along really well, have a lot of common interests, his friends and family that I've met so far I like and they like me. It gets cuter: we're both musicians and we make beautiful music together and have played two shows together. I kind of gave up hope on sharing any of my kinky proclivities with new guys I meet so as not to scare them off (electricity, needles, knives), but he's down and even has some kinks of his own that I haven't tried but think I could get into (watersports). I had given up my dream on getting to peg someone that I was really attracted to... and this guy is down... and it's awesome. I really love giving head, and he really loves eating snatch and I never knew 69 to be so good. We're GGG sluts for each other.

This is where the sad part comes into play: he's the most severe alcoholic I've ever met. He's really young (22, I'm 25), but he's in so deep with alcoholism that he has the DTs on a regular basis.

The rest of TSO's long letter—and my short response—after the jump.

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Our Lil' Old Theater Scene

editor@thestranger.com (Brendan Kiley) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:05:45 -0800

Is the subject of a profile in the NYT... travel section? The article doesn't say much about Seattle theater except that it exists, it includes/ed people like Bart Sher, Kurt Beattie, et al.

Also: "Offbeat delights abound."

In the "offbeat" category:

Teatro ZinZanni, for instance, offers a five-course meal and a European-style cirque act, sometimes with aerial performing in the relatively small space. Another entertaining staple is “The Twilight Zone: Live!,” a long-running stage re-enactment of episodes from the Rod Serling series, at Theater Schmeater.

Is it an insult to have a city's theater scene profiled in a travel section, by a writer who doesn't show much curiosity about it? Or is it a compliment? Does it signal that the scene is of interest to the generalist, not just the specialist?

More fundamentally: Does it even ~~fucking~~ matter?

UPDATE!

I'm taking the "fucking" out of the last sentence because it made the question sound more petulant than I feel. And now commenters (and several email correspondents) are all: "You're a sneering dumb irresponsible jerk who's all threatened by the NYT travel writer." And I don't feel threatened or sneering or jerky about it.

I'm guessing the "fucking" caused the confusion. (As the fucking sometimes does.)

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Lunchtime Quickie: A Stuffed Animal Dog Show!

editor@thestranger.com (Kelly O) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:58:19 -0800

Move over risky-business-underwear-girls. Little Channing's about to out-viral your asses...

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