Monthly Archives: November 2010

News

Third Prize is You’re Fired, with Annex Theatre’s The Secret Lives of My Coworkers

Everyone loves to bitch about their job. Even if you’ve got the best job in the world–quality control at the kitten factory–it’s still essential and cathartic to find something or someone at work to complain about. (Not any of you at The SunBreak, of course. OMG,

The Secret Lives of My Coworkers, the Annex Theatre’s new late night show (running Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 19; no show this Friday, but Saturday Nov. 6 is pay-what-you-can) keeps that all in mind, as local comedian Michele Colyn walks you through a team-building exercise in which everyone’s thoughts are heard and appreciated. Yes, Powerpoint and stock photos are involved. There’s a cavalcade of comedic storytellers, the roster of which switches up every night, all wearing employee badges and telling their personal tales of work woes. Don’t worry, you can volunteer to share your own stories of hellish job experiences (TPS reports, office birthday parties) after the intermission.

Friday night’s opening show ran the gamut on stories from how Monty Python quotes got banned at Nintendo to what it’s like writing for a college newspaper when your editor is genuinely crazy. The night closed with a story from David Nixon about his time working for a psychic hotline, which also serves as a sneak peek of his new solo show on the meaning of life, Center-Cut Ham Dinner Night Slide Show, opening tomorrow. (Check out a preview here, but avoid the comments section at all costs.  Here there be monsters.)

Theatre

Third Prize is You’re Fired, with Annex Theatre’s The Secret Lives of My Coworkers

Everyone loves to bitch about their job. Even if you’ve got the best job in the world–quality control at the kitten factory–it’s still essential and cathartic to find something or someone at work to complain about. (Not any of you at The SunBreak, of course. OMG,

The Secret Lives of My Coworkers, the Annex Theatre’s new late night show (running Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 19; no show this Friday, but Saturday Nov. 6 is pay-what-you-can) keeps that all in mind, as local comedian Michele Colyn walks you through a team-building exercise in which everyone’s thoughts are heard and appreciated. Yes, Powerpoint and stock photos are involved. There’s a cavalcade of comedic storytellers, the roster of which switches up every night, all wearing employee badges and telling their personal tales of work woes. Don’t worry, you can volunteer to share your own stories of hellish job experiences (TPS reports, office birthday parties) after the intermission.

Friday night’s opening show ran the gamut on stories from how Monty Python quotes got banned at Nintendo to what it’s like writing for a college newspaper when your editor is genuinely crazy. The night closed with a story from David Nixon about his time working for a psychic hotline, which also serves as a sneak peek of his new solo show on the meaning of life, Center-Cut Ham Dinner Night Slide Show, opening tomorrow. (Check out a preview here, but avoid the comments section at all costs.  Here there be monsters.)

Theatre

Managing Director Brian Colburn Exits Intiman Theatre Suddenly

This is out of left field:

Intiman Theatre Board President Kim Anderson announces that Melaine Bennett, Intiman’s Director of Development, has been appointed the theatre’s Acting Managing Director, succeeding Brian Colburn. The Board of Directors accepted Colburn’s resignation for personal reasons, effective November 1, 2010.

The odd shake-up comes on the heels of two productions–Lynn Nottage’s Ruined and a new adaptation of Molière’s A Doctor in Spite of Himself by Christopher Bayes and Steven Epp–that both “exceeded their attendance and single-ticket goals,” according to the theatre.

Film & TV

The Don of the Dead Visits Seattle: ZomBcon 2010

Proud zombie papa George Romero (left) meets and greets at ZomBcon.

Yes, that’s film director George Romero hanging out with a genuine Seattle zombie. Romero, Evil Dead actor Bruce Campbell, character-acting god Malcolm McDowell, and many other cult film luminaries were in town over Halloween weekend for ZomBcon, Seattle’s first “Zombie Culture” convention. Fun and viscera were had by all.

The SunBreak’s resident Horror/B-Movie Evangelist (that’d be, um, me) was there for (almost) every rotting corpse, scary movie screening, and zombie attack. Stay tuned to the SunBreak for detailed reports and interviews over the next few days.

Business

Weyerhauser Profits by Cutting Tax Rates, Not Trees

Weyerhauser just reported net earnings of more than $1.1 billion in the third quarter, which works out to $3.50 per share. That’s exciting news for shareholders, in that it demonstrates conclusively that Weyerhauser’s ongoing conversion to a REIT is a canny move. County and state officials might have a different take; the Wall Street Journal says REIT-sizing “should slash Weyerhaeuser’s tax rate to nil as it tries to improve results.”

It’s the single most profitable thing that Weyerhauser has done over Q3, in that if you exclude the $1 billion booked for tax adjustments, per-share profit falls to $0.25. In terms of actual business, Weyerhauser’s Cellulose Fibers division led the way, up $15 million in year-over-year profits, to $181 million total for Q3.

Otherwise wood products sales were affected by the weak housing market, said Dan Fulton, president and chief executive officer, adding: “The housing market also affects our Timberlands business, where we continue to defer harvest due to lower log demand.” Weyerhauser warned that fourth quarter operating earnings are expected to be lower than the third, due to soft markets in all areas.

Weather

Flood Risk Not High, Despite What You See

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Radar map image courtesy of the National Weather Service

As of Saturday, the UW’s Cliff Mass was downgrading the risk of flooding even over the Olympics and North Cascades, because models were showing the rains passing through today, rather than setting up camp and pouring for several days.

That said, today’s downpour is already well underway, and Seattle traffic maps are a motley of red and black. UW’s Probcast gives us a 15 percent chance of more than an inch of rainfall (maximum 1.4 inches).

The massive low that’s delivering this moisture is parked up in the Gulf of Alaska, and generating 30- to 40-foot waves out to sea.

That low is weakening, and tomorrow there’s only a ten percent chance of rain. Again, looking out the window, that’s a little hard to believe–but science says so. If you haven’t voted, you won’t be able to blame lousy weather for your lack of civic responsibility.