marchdecember

So I've discovered the biggest problem with Washington State's new smoking ban. It's not that it's hurting business or anything like that. It's that thousands of intoxicated idiots are now spilling out onto the streets in order to smoke. Now we have to put up with them and their comments. Like last night's "Happy New Years, Honey!" And tonight's "Hey, you stupid f***!" Thanks. Thank you very much.

*According to Ratemyprofessor.com

It's poor Steve Powell.

Here are some comments about him.

"I would NOT recommend him unless you want to be pulling your hair out all quarter or thinking of ways you can get him fired."

"So I made a big mistake when choosing Powell for Chem. What a nightmare. He has no experience, he's very hyper and has no connection with his students. I'll probably have to take it over again."

"Nice guy but sucks at teaching."

Ouch. I don't have a picture of Steve Powell but here is someone who kind of looks (and acts) the same.

But Professor Powell (don't call him doctor) can take solace in knowing that my favorite professor is rated pretty poorly too. Now, I never took the KLeffler for Econ 200... just 431, but he's awesome in my book. I just wish I was awesome like him. AWESOME KLEFFLER!!!

As for poor Steve Powell, he's a newbie... younger than me I think... and he'll fare okay once he puts some time in and goes to the Keith Leffler School of Teaching Awesomeness!

A few days ago I decided I was really, really, really sick of the rain. I've enjoyed the nice temperatures, but the rain was really getting to me. That's when the friendly people on the news told me that we've had 26 days straight of rain! And anything the friendly people on the news tell me must be true. So here we are, 26 days of rain, and things are crazy. People's houses are falling down hills. Rivers are overflowing. Lakes are rising. Water is absolutely everywhere. It's crazy.

Check out these photos from KIRO showing the waters in Lake Sammamish.

And things aren't any better to the south.

I haven't seen it this bad in years. The poor soil can't handle any more rain, and there's LOTS of rain to come! How will things fare tomorrow when the Seahawks are playing at Qwest Field. I suppose a few might wish we hadn't blown up the Kingdome.

Max really hates those anti-smoking commercials where people stick horribly gross things in their mouth. Jennifer hates them too. Max says:

I find that WAY more disgusting then most anything else on TV right now. What I really hate it when they put them on during dinner time. Hello, I’m trying to eat dinner with my family, I don’t need to see some dead rotting creature of cat vomit in someone’s mouth right now.

Your thoughts? Post them here.

In a recent interview with the Seattle Times, Dan Rather commented on the importance of Seattle in the 21st century.

Recent trips to China and to North Korea taught him, he says, that Seattle is regarded as a sort of subcapital of the United States, "which surprised me." He came away perceiving the historical center of gravity has shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and specifically the Northern Pacific.

"Whether you are talking about the 21st-century economy or, God forbid, a new world war, it is in the Northern Pacific," he says. "A great deal of the pages of this century will be written on the axis of Seattle-Vancouver to Tokyo, Pyongyang and Beijing."

Seattle as the new New York? Very interesting.

WOOHOO! The Seahawks are goin' to the Super Bowl!

Did you know the Seattle Seahawks could have been the Seattle Slugs? So Seattle is going to go Seahawks crazy over the next few weeks. If you've got pictures of people with 'Hawks Fever, send them to marchdecember@gmail.com

I'm seeing a lot of panhandlers around lately. There is always a guy at the southbound exit at I-5 and NE 145th, but that's been true for as long as I can remember. But now panhandlers are finding other places to stand around with their signs.

For example, at the corner of NE 145th and Aurora, there's a panhandler in a Blazers jacket. He often stands there in the mornings with a sign that says something to the effect that he needs money for himself and his family.

Also, now there is a guy who likes to panhandle by the movie theater in Woodinville. That shopping complex is almost always jam packed, so I bet he makes a lot of money from rich snobs, as well as poor snobs like me. Well, I'm not going to give him any money.

Several months ago some guy tried to get us to give him gas money, and I told him that he was barking up the wrong tree. I don't have a job either, but you don't see me on the street begging for money. I mean, it would probably be more effective, but seriously. (Actually I have two interviews and a potential third one in the next few weeks, so things are a lot better on that front.)

There is often a guy panhandling on NE 124th in Kirkland, over by the Wendy's or Azteca. He will sometimes walk up and down the street hoping for people to give him money.

Of all the people panhandling, I have to say I find the one in Woodinville the most obnoxious. That's because he's not just on the street... he's in the shopping complex, so he's kind of in a parking lot too. When I go to the movies, I don't want to be confronted with some gross man trying to get me to give him money.

Have you noticed more people panhandling lately? Your thoughts?

You may remember a few months back when a Plaid Pantry worker down the street was killed on the job by a psycho who was roommates with a King County Sheriff's Deputy. Turns out the Sheriff's Deputy was all Brokeback Mountain with the killer.

A former King County sheriff's deputy knew his roommate had mental-health disorders, drinking problems and brushes with law-enforcement officers before the roommate allegedly used the deputy's personal pistol to kill a Kenmore convenience-store clerk, newly released records show....

Besides being surprisingly gay, the Sheriff's Deputy was unsurprisingly incompetent. I see no reason why people like this get the privilege that comes with being a police officer. What does it even take to become a cop these days? Do you just have to go to Crown College? Isn't it a BAD sign that the primary audience for police academies is Jerry Springer viewers? I'm just asking.

UPDATE: Sploid claims the psycho used the Deputy's gun to kidnap and rape an unsuspecting homosexual a couple days before the murder. Outrageous.

Fox Sports columnist Kevin Hench long ago predicted the Steelers to win. But Hench says he feels "dirty" being right, because the Steelers weren't the better team.

I've never felt so empty being right. I feel dirty. I wish I'd been wrong. The Steelers did not deserve to win this game. They were not the better team. O'Connor was right. Seattle was the better team.

So, Paul Tagliabue, how does a team lose when it outgains an opponent by 57 yards, controls time of possession and wins the turnover battle?

Like a crazed CIA analyst running through the halls of Langley screaming into open offices about some impending calamity, I've been shrieking hysterically about the terrible officiating in the NFL and warning that some day the brutal calls were going to affect the outcome of the Super Bowl.

That some day was Sunday.

The anchors from KOMO TV 4 met up with us little people down at Third Place Books on Saturday night. (So no, I wasn't really chillin' with Dan.) They answered questions, shook hands, signed autographs, and dealt with their grateful (and sometimes bizarre) fans.

They took questions from the audience, and I asked what their most embarassing on-air moment was. The best may have been Kathi Goertzen, who many years ago was referring to the Ford/Carter Presidential Debate. Unfortunately, on air she referred to it as "Cord/Farter." Oops.

Some of the fans there must really be into KOMO, because they knew everything. Someone congratulated Todd Johnson on his twins. I spent a few minutes talking to him about Cliff Mass. I think Cliff told my class that Todd was the best weather guy in town, but I wasn't 100% sure on that, so I didn't say anything about it.

Other people wanted to complain. You could see that some of the things they said maybe caught the KOMO crew a little off guard. Geesh. Get a life people.

Mike Dardis is a morning anchor for KOMO, and he showed up a bit late. He did tell us to go out and have a good time, so we headed out to Dick's in the U District afterwards.

We were even interviewed by a freelance reporter for Journal Newspapers. I'm not certain we were the best interview... she asked why we had come. I could tell a lot of people had come from all over the region to see their favorite anchors. But Third Place is just down the street from us, so we basically came because we had nothing better to do. Still, the KOMO gang is probably the only anchors we would go see. For some reason they are more approachable, more like a member of the family that you let in the living room every night.

There weren't a lot of people there, so every one was very accessible and very friendly. For some reason Eric Johnson and Connie Thompson seemed to be very popular. Connie Thompson is tiny! She does the midday news.

Now, I have to admit something. I didn't say this there obviously, but for a long time I've been a KING 5 kind of viewer. But Jennifer loves KOMO, so that's the news we watch the most. They are pretty cool, especially now that we met them. I was pretty impressed by almost all of the news crew.

Most of all I was impressed by the anchors willingness to answer questions and to respond to complaints. These people are anchors for a major news station in a major market. Their newscast was recently voted the Best Newscast in America. They didn't have to bother with us, but they were very approachable and very friendly.

They had a news camera there, so watch KOMO 4 News tonight to see if you see us in the audience or anything!

Here's some pictures I took of the event.

Here's the KOMO gang. Left to right: Eric Johnson, Steve Pool, Kathi Goertzen, Dan Lewis, Connie Thompson, Denise Whitaker, and Todd Johnson.

Here Connie Thompson was doing a magical vanishing trick. (She bent down to put something on the floor... water?)

Dan Lewis... did he move in between these shots? Or is he frozen in time?

Jennifer thought Kathi Goertzen was very pretty, but she disappeared before I could convince Jennifer to get a picture with her!

Dan Lewis signing someone's autograph. Dan told me he was surprised there wasn't more discussion of his hair. He does have the most amazing hair and has for as long as I can remember.

We had a good time! Fun was had by all.

It turns out our buddies over at KOMO appear to have found our entry about their visit with us regular Joes. It must be getting passed around the office, because almost half of our traffic today is from them. I can't tell who is visiting, but referrer logs do show a Kathi G. and a Connie T. That's kinda weird. Cause normally I'm watching them. And now... they're watching me. Also, I called Connie tiny. Oops.

Update: They probably are creeped out by this entry where I pretend I'm hanging out with Dan Lewis... as if that's a regular thing.

Update 2: A Dan L. and Eric J. dropped by a few minutes ago between newscasts. That's pretty cool! Seriously... I don't have a life and little things like this excite me. How sad.

Update 3: Steve P. dropped by around 9:50 tonight, so we've pretty much hit all the main anchors. We're missing Mike Dardis, Todd Johnson, and that new morning girl. (Denise Whitaker.) Mike signed his autograph with "Thanks for watching!" even though I told him I don't wake up that early. Good man, Mike, good man!

Update 4: Monday morning has arrived and I guess we're still popular with the KOMO gang. D. Whitaker and Todd J. dropped by. In case you're wondering, I only know this because the referrer tags show their usernames... the webpage is stored on a hard drive somewhere at Fisher Plaza, and I'm guessing they're hitting the server for the pictures or something.

I was out of town for the Nisqually Earthquake, so this kind of stuff is as good as it gets. Here's the quake as seen at Microsoft.

The voting for the Washington State quarter has resumed after the online tally was skewed by invalid ballots and repeat voters. The Indian Orca design had received 60% of the votes, despite being hideously ugly.

In other news, Christine Gregoire has taken office after a 2004 gubernatorial election that was skewed by invalid ballots and repeat voters. The Democratic candidate received less than 50% of the votes, despite being hideously ugly.

Can you help name these bands for me, please?

I really would like to know. I can win some tickets to one of these people, though frankly I might not want to, given that I don't know who they are.

UPDATE: The girl at the top left is Raven-Symone. (Thank you my lovely wife.) The guy at the bottom left is Roy Clark, from HEE HAW! I should have remembered that, and eventually did, so I can only thank myself.

But I don't know anyone else. Who are the homos on the bottom right, and what are they doing with one of the BeeGees?

UPDATE 2: Okay, my parents figured out the country guy in the middle is Trace Adkins. He sings the Honky Tonk Badonkadonk. Cool, I'll go see him if I win, cause I don't know anybody else. So we've got the guy from Hee Haw, the girl from the Cosby Show, and Trace Adkins. Who else? Who is the guy on the top right. He looks like the singer/songwriter type. And who are the guys at the bottom right. They look like one of those loser Coldplay wannabes. For all I know they ARE Coldplay. I don't know!

UPDATE 3: The guy on the top right is Kenny Loggins. It was bugging me and I finally figured it out. Now, anyone for the gay guys down at the bottom right?

UPDATED 5/6/06: We only need the band in the bottom right for a chance to win! Does anybody know who it is? I've never seen them before in my life!

UPDATE 5: Okay, well, the contest is over and the bands have been announced. The mystery band? Jars of Clay. Who I not only have seen before, but I actually went to a concert where they were playing. Errr... oops!

Check out this picture of people in line for free tickets to Alice in Chains free concert in Seattle.

Uh oh. Alice in Chains' fans are OLD!!! Also, isn't an Alice in Chains concert without Layne Staley kind of like a Beatles concert without John Lennon? Except John Lennon wasn't as good?

I mean... not to take away from AIC in any way. Like, if we take the analogy further then Jerry Cantrell is kind of like Paul McCartney. I'm talking about the old McCartney... the one before he got married again and injected his entire face with botox.

Part of me just thinks it's really wrong. And another part of me really wishes I'd been able to go. So let's summarize.

• Alice in Chains fans are old fogeys
• An AIC concert without Layne seems kind of wrong
• ... but I would have gone in a heartbeat.
• The Beatles aren't as good as Alice in Chains

I think my work for today is done.

So for some reason people still find this site searching for serial numbers for The Sims. I'm not sure why, because not only do we not have any serial numbers for The Sims, but we probably own every Maxis game ever made, including The Sims, The Sims 2, Sim City 4, The Sims Superstar, The Sims: Mowin' the Lawn for Uncle Hick, and Sims 2: There's No Way Your Computer Can Handle This Game.

So I was thinking, I don't have any Sims serial numbers, but what if I had RON Sims serial numbers?

Cool! I'm kinda torn on Ron. I give props to the guy for being brave enough to run for governor with the agenda of creating a state income tax. I mean, it's probably a horrible idea, but I'd rather hear it straight from Sims than have to see through Gregoire's false smile.

"Sure I won the election!"

On the other hand, Sims is an old school Seattle liberal. He'd do well as mayor of Seattle. But he's not really cut out for a county as large as King County, which is outgrowing it's Seattle roots. Seattle isn't that big of a city. It's actually pretty small, as population goes. It's impressive because it has this relatively large downtown with lots and lots of tall skyscrapers, and it's really beautiful. But most of the people in the region live outside the city. So how can you serve those people in Woodinville and Covington if you're building light rail between Seatac and downtown?

There are a lot of people who are insist that we not be the next LA. We don't want crazy urban sprawl. That's okay, because we're not the next LA. We're more like the Bay Area, where our physical geography limits growth. But the Bay Area also has tons of freeways. We don't have nearly enough freeways. A couple days ago they opened 405 up early, and not enough people knew about it to clog up the commute home. I left work at 5 for a 6PM appointment. I got there at 5:15. When the freeway system actually works, you realize that things are actually quite nice.

The big news in Seattle today is that the Seattle Supersonics, as well as the WNBA Seattle Storm, have been purchased by a group of investors from Oklahoma City.

Of course, the new owners claim they do not intend to move the team. That makes total sense. A group of investors from a completely different city (one hosting the New Orleans Hornets but without a permanent basketball team) have purchased a basketball team 1500 miles away. Does it seem likely that they are buying it for the sole purpose of moving it?

77% of Seattle Times readers think so. I get that this is a sensitive issue for some, but investor groups who lie to people like this ought to be publically flogged. Why not just buy the team and say "we're moving it." Instead you create false hope.

In a town with crumbling freeways, a school district in crisis, and two brand new shiny stadiums (not to mention a recently renovated area for the Sonics), we just don't have our heart in building a whole new facility. Bye Sonics. We probably won't miss you all that much.

UPDATE: Now that I think about it, what kind of person invests in a basketball team? You're talking about an investment that can't succeed unless the government spends lots and lots of money every 15 to 20 years for a new facility. The only reason you own a sports team is civic pride. That's why Paul Allen owns the Seahawks. That's why Nintendo owns the Mariners. These are very expensive toys for the very, very rich.

The only reason you buy a sports team thousands of miles away is to move it. There is absolutely no interest in securing a proper facility here. The deals have probably already all been made.

Yesterday afternoon Jennifer and I hopped on I-5 and headed to Lynnwood. On the way, we saw the otherside of the freeway (southbound) was suddenly empty. Then came a slow moving motorcade of ambulances and police vehicles. Behind that, a massive traffic jam.

Given that the motorcade was for the Edmonds Police Chief, who died suddenly of a aneurysm Tuesday, I wasn't going to mention it here. But the Seattle Times beat me to it. And it turns out this motorcade was the doing of the Edmonds police, and came as a surprise to WSDOT and the State Patrol.

A police motorcade from Edmonds to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and back to transport the body of Edmonds Police Chief David Stern snarled the I-5 afternoon commute for about two hours Wednesday and startled state transportation officials.

The motorcade consisted of several dozen motorcycles, police patrol cars and a medic van.

It traveled below freeway speeds, and traffic saw delays from about 3:15 p.m. until about 5 p.m. as cars were stopped while the motorcade passed.

The state Department of Transportation was caught by surprise when the motorcade began, and learned of it through its I-5 traffic cameras on the freeway.

The State Patrol hadn't been contacted either, spokesman Jeff Merrill said.

Well, that wasn't very nice.

A man from Olympia who recently converted to Judaism has decided that his 12 year old son should now be circumcised.

According to the Seattle Times:

A divorced Olympia-area man who has converted to Judaism is fighting a court battle in Oregon to have his 12-year-old son circumcised against his ex-wife's wishes.

So far, Oregon courts have squarely sided with the father, who has custody. The man's ex-wife lives in Oregon.

So what does the boy want?

In court papers, the father claims the boy gradually concluded that he also wanted to convert to Judaism and understood that it required circumcision....

But the mother responded by going to court, saying her son told her he was afraid to defy his father but didn't want the procedure.

Now, I'm all for circumcision. I think it's great, and a great time to do it is not too long after birth. You know what a bad time to do it is? When you're TWELVE YEARS OLD!!! If this kid really wants to get circumcised, great. Let him make that choice when he's 18. Geesh.

We went to downtown Bothell today to see our very own Blake Lewis! I watch American Idol each week to see what crazy new thing he's going to do. His take on Bon Jovi was nothing short of amazing, so I think he's going to do well for himself. Blake came to Bothell to his adoring fans. (One was crying.) We weren't going to get a good view of his concert, so I decided to stand in a line where he would be walking through to the concert. Good idea, no?

Jennifer says to me on the way there... we always stand in the wrong place for these types of things. Well, not this time! That's what I said at least.

So Blake finally shows up (he was in a parade, but we skipped that thinking we were all smart) and he's walking towards us and I have the Nikon out and then he takes a sudden left. WHAT!?!?! For all the pictures I took, only one came out, and even that one wasn't in focus. With all the 12 year old girls, it was hard to get a good shot, and certainly not a steady one.

So on the way back to the car, I took a look at the one shot I did get. Here it is!

Wow.

Well, congratulations Blake on being the biggest thing to ever hit Bothell! Feel free to drop on by still when you're super famous!

Oh... and Jennifer was right. Like always.

Jennifer and I left home yesterday only to find ourselves stopped on our way to 522. Our first indication something might be wrong was the helicopters hovering overhead. Tragically, a horrific accident had just occurred a few blocks to the east... a truck went out of control, hitting pedestrians and killing one. One eyewitness was clearly shaken and disturbed by what he'd seen.

Today the woman, who was walking to the local Park and Ride, was identified. Pedestrians and bus riders are very common on 522, my beautiful wife being one of them. She says drivers on 522 aren't respectful and cautious when it comes to those getting about on foot. She has almost been hit multiple times.

Flowers are not being left at the spot where one woman died. We haven't driven by yet (part of me has avoided going in that direction) but it's interesting to see an outpouring of grief by a community who up until tonight didn't even know the victim's name.