Monthly Archives: June 2010

Sports

Lauren Jackson is the Shawn Kemp of the Storm

The Seattle Storm are a WNBA-best 14-2, and have won all ten games at KeyArena. Let’s learn a little more about them, shall we?

Lauren Jackson

As a Sonics fan, your pleasures come from the past. Like checking out Shawn Kemp’s 1995-96 game log. Kemp dominated opposition that year, scoring 20 points or more in 41 games and leading the Sonics to a franchise-high 64 wins.

Lauren Jackson is replicating Kemp’s best season with the Storm this year. Like Kemp, Jackson easily posts up slower or smaller defenders. Or she steps back and shoots from outside. Jackson can dominate the boards, as she did last night against San Antonio when she grabbed as many offensive boards as the entire Silver Stars team.

Jackson’s game has a facet that Kemp’s never did–three-point shooting. Left alone 22 feet from the basket against San Antonio, L.J. didn’t hesitate to fire in a three-pointer. She has 29 for the season, tops on the Storm.

In truth, Jackson is more dominating than Kemp ever was. Jackson has won two MVP awards, and looks headed for another this season. She won WNBA player of the week last week for the 17th time in her career, most in WNBA history.

Jackson’s sporting a new look this season. Red hair, for one thing. But she also seems a step faster. Storm broadcaster Dick Fain speculated on last night’s broadcast that this could be because Jackson played in her native Australia during the WNBA offseason, a much less strenuous task than her usual offseason stop, Russia. Hope is that the reduced wear and tear will allow Jackson to play a full season, something she hasn’t been able to do the past two years. Injuries kept Jackson from playing in the playoffs since ’07. Not coincidentally, the Storm have lost in the first round of the playoffs each year.

Jackson finished with 31 points and 15 boards in the Storm’s 86-72 win over San Antonio. The Storm have won five games in a row. They next play Saturday at Los Angeles, a game to be televised on ESPN2.

News

Glimpses: “DSC_0002”

Another shot of local street art from gabemeier/BaldManIsWatching, one of our Flickr pool all-stars. Starting today, these brothers are tackling the city’s new assault on street art on their blog in a series of posts, so please be sure to check it out.

Visual Arts

Glimpses: "DSC_0002"

Another shot of local street art from gabemeier/BaldManIsWatching, one of our Flickr pool all-stars. Starting today, these brothers are tackling the city’s new assault on street art on their blog in a series of posts, so please be sure to check it out.

Arts & Entertainment

On the List: June 30-July 6

The ladies of Stripped Screw Burlesque at the Rendezvous Jewelbox this weekend.

Tuesday/Last minute! Hey Marseilles play a free show at 6 p.m. in support of their newly remastered reissue of their fantastic orchestral pop album, To Travels and Trunks @ Sonic Boom Ballard

Wednesday

  • Contemporary Classics’ Zanna, Don’t!, a madcap contemporary musical fairytale, plays through Saturday @ Seattle Rep’s Poncho Forum
  • Rhett Miller and his Old 97s alt-country @ the Showbox
  • Brat Pack novelist Bret Easton Ellis reads from his new book Imperial Bedrooms @ Elliott Bay Books
  • Widespread Panic is sure to jam, jam, and then jam some more @ the Paramount
  • Dr. Bent Francis Mboyo Ndombo, president of Congolese United for Social Change, gives you a brief history that explains why the Democratic Republic of Congo has two lies in its name alone @ Town Hall
  • The Herb Garden Patio opens (during happy hour: Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m.) @ Cafe Flora

Thursday

  • Stripped Screw Burlesque tackles the American Dream in Paradise Glossed @ the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theatre
  • Closing night of the Safdie Brothers’ Daddy Longlegs @ Northwest Film Forum
  • A panel discussion on the future of “Walkable Urbanism” @ Town Hall
  • After Art Walk, vote for which artist gets $500 @ Pioneer Square Caffe Vita
  • Ambiant pianist Keiko Matsui plays the second of four nights (through July 3) @ Jazz Alley
  • Irony alert! Caged animals get to eat special Independence Day-themed treats @ Woodland Park Zoo

Friday

  • Rewind Seattle, a specialized cover band, takes you back to the heydey of Eighties music @ the High Dive
  • Seattle’s International Beer Fest kicks off (and runs through Sunday) @ Seattle Center
  • If it’s the first Friday of the month, it must be the latest edition of late-night variety show Spin the Bottle @ the Annex Theatre
  • The burlesque sin-sations The Atomic Bombshells lay wanton waste to modesty tonight and Saturday @ the Triple Door
  • Convince yourself that winter will eventually end at an aspirational beach party. Don your shorts and flip flops while participating or spectating in hula hoop contests, beer ponging, flip-cuppery, and other summery pursuits. Fresh Espresso and DJ Four Color Zack provide a soundtrack @ Neumo’s

Saturday

  • Make it a double feature! The Best Worst Movie (the documentary about the making of Troll 2) and Team America are showing @ Central Cinema
  • You can’t go wrong with a name like “The All-American Comedy and Music Extravaganza” @ Chop Suey
  • Seattle’s Helladope headlines the Star Spangled Banger @ the Crocodile
  • As per usual, Audrey Hepburn is dreamy, this time in Sabrina @ the Grand Illusion

Sunday

  • Naturalization ceremony @ Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion
  • Stay home and watch the Sounders take on the L.A. Galaxy @ KONG TV
  • Family 4th fireworks show @ Lake Union/Gasworks Park
  • Really celebrate your independence with the ’70s radical dystopia of Punishment Park @ Northwest Film Forum

Monday

  • Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival begins its month-long performances @ Benaroya Hall
  • Deerhoof weird it up, rockingly @ the Vera Project
  • Born Anchors headline a “locals only” showcase @ the Crocodile
  • Yet another showing of so-bad-it’s-really-really-bad cult flick The Room @ Central Cinema

Tuesday

  • Hip writer Aimee Bender reads from her new novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake @ Elliott Bay Books
  • The Speakeasy Series Vol. 4 (New York!) presents music, film, and classic cocktails @ the Triple Door
  • Get old school Seattle with The Melvins, playing two sets @ the Showbox
Off-Task

12 Ways of Looking at Ravenna Creek (Photo Gallery)

2 Comments

“Before the arrival of settlers from the United States, the principal feature of Ravenna and Roosevelt was the creek that drained Green Lake and emptied into Union Bay,” mentions HistoryLink, in its entry on Ravenna.

“Ravenna Creek is a stream,” reports Wikipedia, contrarily.

It’s about 3,500 feet of creek (or stream), thanks to daylighting work that added 650 feet to its length. It arises in Cowen Park, then runs down to the bottom of a playfield, where it enters a pipeline that lets it empty into Lake Washington’s University Slough. A trail meanders alongside its meanderings, and small wooden bridges cross it.

As Heraclitus knew, it’s never the same creek twice.

Food

The World Cup in My Tummy: Losing European Teams

David Swidler is eating, drinking, and cooking his way through all 32 World Cup countries, much like he does at his site cookingvssports.com.

Three international powers: England, France, and Italy, played well bellow expectations, with Les Bleus and Azzurri being sent home after group play. However, the French team caused their countrymen to beam with pride by going on strike.

So if these three countries weren’t going to give it their all, I wasn’t about to return the favor. For a simple French breakfast, I went to Le Pichet and ordered a baguette et beurre. Then in honor of Italy, I went to Pasta and Co. and picked up ravioli and fettuccini for dinner. Wow, even their half-assed food is really tasty.

Seriously, if I ever win the lottery, I am going to get a house in Southern France or Northern Italy, and just eat and eat and eat and eat and eat, and then dress cats up like Charles Dickens characters.

For beloved England I made a cuppa. Truth be told, I love bangers and mash, however, after the “national disgrace” that was this year’s team, it was Typhoo tea purchased at Tesco. Now, here it is, the correct way to make tea: Tea bag into the cup, add hot water, let seep for five minutes, add milk and sugar as desired. There is black tea, there is Earl Gray, and that’s all you need.

Even though Greece and Switzerland aren’t soccer powers, they didn’t help their continent’s reputation. Also, by the next World Cup, Greece will probably be placed in some sort of trust that Switzerland will have look after. I got a lamb gyro at Niko’s in Magnolia, and for dessert Swiss chocolate. Very simple, but again, very delicious.

Western Europe, I wanted to do more! I got excited about the prospects of ordering spaghetti alla puttanesca, or making confit de canard avec moules-frites dans entrecôte from scratch. However, watching some of your teams has given mep heartburn as it is. You have four years to get younger and faster, not exactly your continent’s specialty. That would be dinner, and institutional racism.