Monthly Archives: January 2011

News, Real Estate

Seattle Real Estate Dumping Bargains in the Foreclosure Bin

In Q3 of 2010, CoreLogic had Washington underwater mortgages at somewhere between 15 and 29 percent of homes (scroll down this blistering ZeroHedge post to see the map). With an unemployment rate holding steady around 9 percent for the past…year, and the 99ers dropping off unemployment eligibility, that combination leads to the following statistics:

Realty Trac foreclosure heat map

In King County, Realty Trac currently shows some 1,400 homes for sale, with over 6,300 bank-owned properties. They say there were 438 King County foreclosures in December alone. This Bellingham Herald story breaks out Washington counties with the highest 2010 foreclosure rates; the percentages are frightening.

“The Washington Bankers Association says 33,000 homes went into foreclosure in Washington in 2010, and it’s going to be just as bad this year,” reports KING5. The legislature is considering a Foreclosure Fairness Act, to demand mediation between banks and homeowners. But if the economy doesn’t improve, widespread mediation may simply prolong the foreclosure crisis. 

All of these distressed properties act to further depress property values. This First Hill studio caught my eye, 500 square feet in a building that opened in 2002, going for $121,000: “[I]magine an open floor plan, granite tiled entry, slab granite counters, stainless steel backsplash, breakfast bar, & in unit w/d. Modern secure bldg w/workout, media, bus. center, & parking.”

This Photoshop job is epic!

HOA dues are just $170. It’s a block south of Seattle University, on Jefferson, so a developing neighborhood. It’s a HUD sale, being managed by HUD specialists BLB Resources, and the original list price was $135,000. That’s a discount of $13,500, and for a while, it’s going to affect the sale price of anything in that area.

I think you can see evidence of this in the Case-Schiller tiered index. As Seattle Bubble graphs it out for you, the low tier has fallen nearly 10 percent year-over-year. Seattle home prices in general are “hitting new lows,” the Bubble points out, but you’d expect the more economically insecure portion of the market to display the strain of prolonged unemployment most strongly. 

Oh, and one more parting shot from Seattle Bubble: “One in three Seattle-area home listings are distressed.”

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

SunBreak at Sundance 2011: Take Four

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Little Birds is the coming-of-age story of two girls who live near the Salton Sea (which is beautifully filmed, btw). Lily (Juno Temple) and Allison (Kay Panabaker) have been best friends since they were little kids, but now that they’re fifteen, Lily is starting to act out, while Allison is still content being more child than woman. When Lily meets a skater boy from LA, she wants to run away to see him there, and Allison, being a dutiful friend, is bound to accompany her. Of course, excitement and trouble ensues. Writer-director Elgin James definitely knows the film’s territory well (having been a street kid and a member of a gang himself) and he obviously has a great appreciation for strong women, but I know Thirteen and you, Little Birds, are not Thirteen.

Still from “Little Birds” (Photo: Justin Colt)

Little Birds was merely meh, but I Melt With You was just plain lousy…which I kinda expected. Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay, and Jeremy Piven (as per usual, playing Jeremy Piven) are college buddies who reunite once a year to catch up and act like they’re back in college. Now that they’re approaching age forty-five, they’ve all got their personal problems, but that doesn’t keep them from cutting loose in Big Sur with a shit-ton of booze and drugs. And had this movie just been about a week-long bacchanalia, it would have been shallow but fun. However, about halfway through, the film’s tone shifts wildly, and suddenly it becomes dark, maudlin, and self-important. What a joyless chore.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Vera Project Hosts the Return of Blake Schwarzenbach this Sunday

Blake Schwarzenbach is one of the best punk lyricists of the last 25 years. After reading his compositions, it’s no surprise to find that he is an Adjunct Professor of English at Hunter College in his spare time. Schwarzenbach is bringing his lyrical prowess to The Vera Project on Sunday with his new band, forgetters (no “the”, no capital “f”) and it will be a fantastic show.

Schwarzenbach’s new band is a bit of a throwback to his first band, the famously influential Jawbreaker. They played their last show at the Capitol Theater in Olympia in 1996, but Schwarzenbach returned to Washington later with Jets to Brazil, a much more solemn but just as amazing band. It’s been awhile since Blake has played here, as Jets to Brazil last came through town in 2003 and Thorns of Life, his short-lived punk-rock supergroup, never made it to our lovely state.

Middle-aged and older punks are sorely looking forward to the return of the punk troubadour and fans of Jawbreaker will not be disappointed with forgetters. If you need more encouragement to go to this show, it’s all ages and you’ll be home in time to rest up for work on Monday. If that’s not enough, here is a selection of my favorite Schwarzenbach lyrics.

“We met in rain, you asked me in. Seemed like a good sign. Now I need a guillotine to get you off my mind.” – Sea Foam Green (Jawbreaker)

“Then she said, ‘Why, why, oh why, oh why? Why are you always like this? If I’m having fun then it’s breaking your heart. Besides, you said I could have it.’ Then the cops showed up.” – Bad Scene Everyone’s Fault (Jawbreaker)

“If you could save yourself, you could save us all. Go on living, prove us wrong.” – Save Your Generation (Jawbreaker)

“You’re not punk and I’m telling everyone. Save your breath, I never was one.” – Boxcar (Jawbreaker)

“Tasting you and rain, I walk down to the train, trying not to look down. This day could someday be an anniversary. Everything is light and sound.” – Sweet Avenue (Jets to Brazil)

“Turtle on its back in the desert sea and you look like a cool drink just slightly out of reach.” – Sea Anemone (Jets to Brazil)

“I’m a straight-up ghost in a tattered cape. Too small to fail but, baby, someone’s gonna love me someday.” – Too Small to Fail (forgetters)

Doors open at 7:30. The show is all ages and tickets are still available at only $11. Street Eaters are opening.

Drinks, Food

Gimme a Pink Door Hot Cocoa, and Schnapps On It

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It’s January, we’ve had a few nice days, and people are starting to bet we won’t get any more “big” snows, so it’s time for some more grounded winter behavior before we draw the Big One down on us.

Anyway, the East Coast is still getting pummeled by blizzards, after all. A little winter decorum is in order. 

A PR tipster just notified us about the Pink Door‘s “X-Rated Cocoa,” which sounds reason enough for a visit. (Unaccountably, I have never been to the Pink Door, but I know people who have.) Their hot cocoa features Callebaut Belgian chocolate, a taste of peppermint schnapps and a pink peppermint marshmallow, all for about $8.  

There’s also a six-dollar “G-Rated Cocoa” minus the schnapps, but you get an extra housemade pink peppermint marshmallow to even it out. 

We’re accepting other votes for best hot chocolate (alcoholic or not) in the comments. I’ve never been brave enough to try Dilettante’s chocolate martini ($5 at happy hour, 5-7 p.m.), but I have been in for one of their dark chocolate cocoas. I wonder if they have any peppermint schnapps just sitting around?

News, Politics

Cantwell & Franken Duo’s “Internet Freedom” Debuts an Instant Hit

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Maria Cantwell visiting a high school radio station to talk about low-power FM

This week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (and co-sponsor Sen. Al Franken) introduced the Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011 to “ensure the broadband Internet continues to serve as a source of innovation, free speech, and job growth,” says the news release. (Here’s an introduction to what’s at stake with net neutrality, if you’re curious.)

Unlike other senators you might name, Maria Cantwell is more than familiar with what makes the internet go, having made herself a multimillionaire as a vice president at RealNetworks. (She’s still proud of streaming a Mariners-Yankee game back in 1995.) She’s been lobbying FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on net neutrality since 2009, but was disappointed that the FCC’s December adoption of new net neutrality rules were not strong enough. It’s a free speech issue, says Franken at HuffPo. Adds Cantwell:

Network neutrality principles are the foundation the Internet was built on. They support a layered architecture, open standards, and an end-to-end design that gives end users the power to create and commercialize their innovation without having to ask permission from network operators.

The reason a seemingly technical issue such as net neutrality has become such a politicized fight is that the financial stakes are so high. If we let telecom oligarchs control access to the Internet, consumers will lose. The actions that the FCC and Congress take now will set the ground rules for competition on the broadband Internet, impacting innovation, investment, and jobs for years to come. My bill returns the broadband cop back to the beat, and creates the same set of obligations regardless of how consumers get their broadband.

The Cantwell/Franken bill pushes back hard on two fronts: regulatory specifics and enforcement. It creates a new section in Title II of the Communications Act “by codifying the six net neutrality principles in the FCC’s November 2009 Notice of Proposed Rule Making,” and forbids providers from engaging in pay-for-priority. It requires broadband to be provided as a stand-alone service, if requested, rather than bundled with other services.

On the enforcement side, should the FCC lack necessary clout, complaints can be filed at a U.S. District Court, and state Attorneys General are permitted to file on behalf of state residents. 

There are people who are against net neutrality, who claim to see it as a monstrous infringement on the “free” internet. (I have to put that in scare quotes because the result of this freedom would be that not much about the internet would remain free.)

As I understand it, to them, net neutrality is competition-killing government regulation run amok, although, again, these are the principles the original government-built internet was founded on. (So it’s a bit like trying to get the government’s hands off your Medicare.) When they ask that you “support innovation, competition, and consumers and oppose this effort to regulate the Internet,” however, they also link to AT&T for background. It is difficult for me to put myself in the mindset of someone who believes that AT&T and Comcast want nothing more than innovation and competition, so if they’re against net neutrality, it must be a bad idea. 

Ultimately, I believe, you find that for people for whom broadband is more important than a phone line, and who understand the asymmetric state of broadband infrastructure, the risk of undirected corporate control is a more immediate threat than government regulation. For people who are antipathetic to government in general, and who employ magical thinking when it comes to the free market’s benefits, nothing good can come of this.