Death of a Newspaper

I have been reading the Seattle PI since January 1993. Not a super long time compared to the 147 years the paper has been around, but its not a short period of time. So much has happened. The PI has been my personal companion the entire time I have been in Seattle. Nothing else has made it with me this long. I'm one of those goof balls that "saves" newspapers. I didnt save them all, but I did manage to keep a paper every time something "big" happened. I pulled some of these old PI's out to look at today, and wanted to share a few headlines. June 28, 1999 "Dome goes out a winner!"Ms beat the Rangers 5-2. Dec 20th 1998 "Impeached!" Then, President Clinton was impeached and the PI gave us 6 pages of coverage. Oct 8, 1995 "The Magic never ends!" M's rally to beat Yankees to force a deciding game. The M's had never been in this position before. For Seattle, this was crazy and insane all at the same time. Yes, the Sonics had won a Championship in 1979, but the baseball team had never made it to the playoffs. This was silly, wonderful, stuff and the PI covered like we lived it, in a very fun and celebratory way. Not like the New York Times was covering the Yankees...they were stuffy. We lived it up and the PI lived it up with us. Like a friend, the PI was there to tell everyone who would pony up the 25 cents, the entire story....all the details. Oh, but I didn't just collect the paper when they had made it to the payoffs. I saved a paper from September 21st, the day the M's pulled into first place tie with the Angels with a 11-3 win over Texas. The M's went on to beat the Angels in a one game playoff. (I was there for that one). My Oh My, one of the best days of my life. The PI put together special editions to celebrate it over and over. I honestly think the PI helped keep the Ms success story afloat to allow the city council overturn the stadium vote, making Safeco field possible. Maybe Safeco field is was the house that Griffey, and the PI built. Now years later, I can look at these papers, and it all comes back to me. I just don't know if going online to see old editions will have the same feeling. Probably not. But this is the World we live in. I "get" news real time now...it comes to me over my iPhone or my blackberry, or on Twitter. Reading the paper in the morning is merely a ritual. I already know whats in there, I just wanted to see how the PI was going to cover it. The impressive thing about this, is the PI writers always kept my attention. I wanted to get their spin on things. September 14th "10 trying to board jets in NY held" A Nation, still shell shocked, is desperate to make sense of the unthinkable. March 1, 2001 "6.8 SHOCKER". Strongest quake in 50 years. The PI was there to help us sort through these big stories with details, not sound bytes. At the end of the day, you cant beat a paper for getting the details. No TV, Radio, or Twitter Tweet can compete with a great writer. Whats sad about this, is people seem to be finding comfort with knowing less. The headlines alone seem to suffice. The sound byte IS the story. No wonder a company like Enron or World com could get off the ground. By 1999, America had moved clearly into "sound byte" Territory. Details were fuzzy, but it was ok, the "bigger picture" was clear as day.

Maybe there is a bigger price to pay for losing our local paper, and other cities losing their papers, and I hope I'm wrong. Either way, I'm going to miss Seattle PI. I'm going to miss it a bunch. The PI was always there. Come Wednesday, it wont be in the driveway, but instead, it might be in my inbox.

I don't know about that.

The year of being MAD!

Aren't we PISSED OFF!!!.....at Something? Oh yeah, let it rip, we are angry. This is the year of being MAD! We are so mad at a lot of stuff in 2009. Mad at work... Mad about Pay freezes, or worse, the sense we are not going to make as much as we did before...or worse Mad because we lost our Job. Mad because we cant FIND a job. Mad because we cant get the money for school. Mad because our homes are worth a lot less (remember bragging about all the equity we had?) and no one wants to buy them. Mad because we cant pay the rent....cant pay our bills. Mad about the Stock Market collapse. Mad because (for some) our taxes are going to go UP AND deductions are going away. Mad because now retirement just got put off until like... never. Mad because our 401K now looks like a .4b. Mad because we cant do all the things we did a few years ago, like buy a latte. We are mad because we cant SPLURGE like we used to. Like a little kid on a big giant financial TIME OUT.... this sucks wind! Put into to the corner and shut down from our crazy spending sprees. WTF I thought that card was good!? Ok, so maybe it was Nuts to buy a new car EVERY year. Or a HOUSE every 2 or 3 years ( Think about that one) Buying Stuff...Shopping Nordstoms/Barneys/Tiffanys/Prada - Living La Vida Loca! ....That's what the weekends were for... Ugh! That impulse weekend trip to Vegas just ain't in the cards. The annual girls week trip... the week with the Guys ...cancelled. The family trip to Europe...Ugh, no. Even the trip to Grandma's house was a little "lite" at Christmas time. Family Reunion? Sorry, cant make it. Everything is being scaled back. So quietly, we are boiling inside. Steaming about this F***ing economy and waiting to explode about something or on somebody, with the realization this is way more than a recession. Worse, this thing ain't going away anytime soon. So we are mad at anything and everything. The person driving slow in the right hand lane. The CIO who just walked away with 300 Mill... A-Rod... The Octomom.... The Bachelor... we are even pissed off at the weather. Normally, we can tolerate a little snow, a little rain, but this year, the weather seems worse (and maybe it is) and it does because we don't feel good about everything else. We just want to sleep this off and call it a bad dream.

So. What now?, besides playing the lottery. (Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't bought a lottery ticket, a LOT of lottery tickets). My Dad says this is recession is a "good" thing..a time for cleaning house. Look, America (and it seems the World) got too carried away, as we have done many times over the years (late 1800's and of course the roaring 20's and the ga ga 80's). Caught up in a orgy of materialism and money worshiping. The Party was even BETTER than Prince said it would be in 1999, and we went BIG!... Sometimes, I feel like after those Towers came down, people said "Better get my living in, like TODAY!" and we all went a little crazy. We were all like George and Weezy on the Jeffersons, and baby, we were "Movin on UP!!! and UP and UP....and UP!!! In the end, the bills had to be paid, and boy the bill was a Whopper!!! There is not enough Tylenol in the World to cure this financial hangover.

BUT!.....I'm Optimistic for the future, and believe we are on the brink of a new age. A lot of amazing things are in store, and the opportunities will be many. The last thing we need is a downer attitude ( as easy as that is to have right now). Yep, we took a big hit, big as we have ever taken in our lifetime, but come on... we have to get off the mat, dust ourselves off, roll up our sleeves and get with the program!!! Being Mad isn't going to help anyone. If anything, be Glad. Be Glad you're alive! Be Glad for your friends. COUNT your blessings. Be Glad for your family. Be Glad for today. Be Glad for what CAN BE. Collectively we can have positive mojo, and the faster we will get out of this thing. Really. Be Glad! Spring is around the corner, and better times are ahead. ...and hey, lets enjoy these prices. Stuff may never be this cheap again

OSCAR TIME!

The Oscars. I read somewhere that The Oscars is the "Superbowl" for women. You know, I don't get that. I think men...and even straight men like me, really enjoy watching the Oscars. The Oscars IS a must see event for a LOT women AND men. I love it. Love the red carpet. Love the Kodak theater. I love the tension, the show itself. I especially enjoy some of the Oscar hosts. (Billy Crystal is my all time favorite). I promised my wife I would take her one day to see the Oscars in person. (We have been to the Kodak Theater, but not during the show). (And don't bet against me, I've been to some pretty big events...almost a Zelig kind of attendance to big events in my lifetime, but that's another blog for another day). I have had two decent chances to go in the last 15 years, and can count one acquaintance, Tom Whitlock, (who won an Oscar for co-writing the song "Take my breath away") as the only Oscar winner I have met in real life and "hung out with". Tom is a humble, down to earth, great guy. I met him first back in 93'. And not to veer off the subject of Oscars, I met a couple at a dinner last night who are the proud parents of a daughter who won an Emmy. She did the opening visual effects for the TV show "Dexter". They were talking about the care of the Emmy, and just how sharp the wings are on the statue. Cool stuff. But...back to Oscar. I will pull it off and go one Year. Winning an Oscar is a life changing event. If you think about the money and the eternal status that goes along with one of these things, its mind blowing. You can see why anyone in Hollywood, or beyond, would love to be one of the privileged few to give an acceptance speech and go through the roller coaster ride that is Oscar. To put your heart and soul into your work like ALL of the nominees have, and to NOT win, has to be a heart breaker, I dont care what they say. So much "Pop" goes along with winning the Oscar, that just being only a nominee has its rewards. You get the title of "Oscar Nominee"on all of your future work. I wonder if that "Nominee" tag, helps you or hurts these Stars? Is it a continuous reminder of what was missed? OR is it a "tip of the cap" for doing such an outstanding job, that they were in contention. Meryl Streep hasn't won since 1982! 6 Nominations and counting. I wonder what she is thinking. At least she has won. Kate Winslet has never won, and she has been nominated many many times. You gotta think this is her time. But, it may be Anne Hathaway moment. Her Ex Boyfriend however, will be listening to the Oscars on a radio... from Prison. Doh! Back to the show. The Oscars. Have you seen all the movies??? I hate watching the Oscars and being short on seeing all of the nominated movies. Its part of the fun. I haven't seen "MILK" or "The Reader". I will probably get to see "Reader" this weekend.

Ok. Soooooo here is my predictions on who will win, and should win. Best Director - Should win David Fincher for Benjamin Button. Who will win - Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire". I just felt Button, even though it felt like "Forrest Gump" 15 years later, was slightly better than the rags to riches, fairytale like Slumdog.

(Toughest Category of the night because they were all so amazing) Best Actor - Should win - Frank Langella for his role as Nixon in Frost/Nixon. Stunning, simply Stunning. Who will win - Brad Pitt. (Since Forrest won, then so should Ben Button - Is that wrong?) Brad did a great job, and he is joined at the hip to another Oscar winner. Winning would make things around the house easier to deal with, no? Best Actress - Will and Should are the same here. Kate Winslet. I haven't seen the reader, but since didn't get nominated for Revolutionary Road, then wow, she must have killed it in "Reader" Kate was amazing in RR, and she is DUE! Best Supporting Actor - No drumroll for this one. Just think if Heath Ledger DOESN'T win? The worldwide Grown would be off the charts. Michael Shannon in Rev Road was just as creepy as Ledger's Joker...maybe even creepier...and he had no clown makeup. That would be a spooky scene. Its not gonna happen. You know, there is something to be said for giving the award to the "living" nominees. And no disrespect here, but the guy did kill himself. He took himself out of the game. No? Best Supporting Actress Should win - Tariji P Hensen. She was amazing in Benjamin Button. She is my dark horse pick. Who will win? Penelope Cruz??? She was just screaming in Spanish. So Naaaaa I am sticking with Hensen. Best Animated Movie - "Wall-e" Wall-E could have been the first ever Animated Best Picture. It was THAT good.

So who will win Best Picture? Should win I didn't see Milk, but Frost/Nixon was my pick for best Picture (and is not going to win) Will win? - The Upset of the night. Slumdog will lose to... Benjamin Button. Its going be a shocker!!!!

Enjoy the Show!!!

The JOY of Checking Out

Joaquin Phoenix is a REALLY good actor. "Walk the Line" is one of my favorite movies. The guy WAS Johnny Cash. But America is not talking so much about what he is doing on screen but rather what he is doing off screen. No one exactly knows. He says he has quit acting to do Hip Hop. Yeeeah Boooouy! His stint on Letterman is being called the most spaced out guest appearance of all time! Was it an act? Was he on DOPE? Its goofy...and its a very funny. Joaquin is living the dream... just "checking out" in a public way. I love that. I'm really surprised more of us haven't done this. I can tell you this. The guy is feeling NO stress...no pressure. The foot is off the gas pedal. Mr Phoenix is zoning...and I am SO jealous. I can't even zone out on the weekends... there is always a "honey do" or some unfinished work just waiting for me. That once in a blue moon "vacation" is no different, really, its just another exercise with barely enough time to just "chill". It seems its tough for most of us to just jump off the giant"wheel of cheese" for not even a moment. I think this is why this is such a big deal. The is guy is doing what most of us cant do... which is, step off the bus of life and CHILL~! Take a breath. ... take it all in and reflect. ...and to be completely misunderstood, like a walking "Stonehenge".

I say....stay funky!!

Somewhere, Andy Kaufman is cracking up.

The Caveman and the Valentine

I've found a little game about a month ago to take my mind of "stuff" you know, things like paying bills and keeping my job... Online POKER! And this isn't a blurb on Poker, although I could tell you a bunch of stuff about the game that I have learned from playing it online these last 3 or 4 weeks, but I wont bore you with it. There is a connection though between Poker and Dating...many connections. That is, people see what they want to see. They really do. As we approach the Holiday that men fear and women love... Valentines Day...I guess, depending on where your love life is this time of the year, we have a movie coming out this weekend about going through life with the blinders on. We all do it...we see what we want to see. The shocker to many is really just coming to grips with the obvious (obvious to everyone but you). When He or She, is just not that into you. Now its not always the case. Sometimes people play a little poker and not try to show their hand too quickly, and play hard to get. When we see what we want to see, we sometimes come to this conclusion. We send out our "spies", (friends) to help us read the object of our affection, look for tid bits...and if we don't have the luxury of a buddy who can snoop for us, we draw our own, sometimes way off base conclusions on just how much so is into us. For those of us who are married, this intrigues us to share in the mystery of it all with our friends who are in this spot. I completely enjoy helping my Nanny read these guys she is dating, and helping her "de-code" all of the things they do and what it all means. I don't know why uncertainty of this sort is so much fun, but it is. Some mysteries we like. There is no mystery to Valentines Day. Its is one big giant, unavoidable WHACK! that women like to think will tell them EXACTLY where they stand...and I guess they are right. You cant blow off Valentines day if your dating, or if you are recently married. Few guys can take a Holiday from the V Day, oh noooo. I will let you in on a secret. 98 percent of all guys think its SUCH a scam, but we give in to all the baloney and buy the chocolates...the flowers...the tacky pink thong....the dinner of "insanity"...all of that to avoid going to the doghouse. The pressure and the stress for some guys is unbearable. I've seen guys do all sorts of goofy things for their girlfriends, using this day to "make up day" for their mistakes... (The Hail Mary) This ONLY works in the movies... and then I know guys who go in the other direction and break up with women just before Thanksgiving and don't date again until March. We call them Cavemen. Those Cavemen who brave the Holiday season with a girlfriend, they don't sweat Valentines Day... The Caveman V D strategy kicks in at about 4pm ON Valentines Day. I come from that school and I will see my fellow Cavemen at the card shop on the night of the 14th...the NIGHT of th 14th. , or even better, a Supermarket, where they sell cards, flowers and beer all in the same place! (Nirvana) Its so funny to go to the Card area to see all these guys doing the pseudo mad scramble over the cards that are leftover. They don't care what it is...they do a quick scan and buy it! Buy the card and check -the -box! Buy the flowers online and "check -the- box" Its out of the way...done. Over what? 5-10 minutes of fun in the dark? No wonder!.. And so it goes. Enjoy the card... the roses... the candy...enjoy the little teddy bear...enjoy it ALL. We love you! Really... we do!

Been there done that...No really!

My wife has finally agreed with me... I'm officially a Nut. See, I let her in on this hunch I've had for about Ten years, but never had the nerve to bring up. The hunch? I've been here before. No, I'm serious. I am 100 percent positive, this
is not the first time I have been on earth. I'm not
sure how many times I have been on the planet before, but I'm certain I was here (either in the UK (London) or the US (and East Coast City) sometime in the 30's and 40's. I may have even made it to the 50's. I simply have this connection with very old things, and especially with things centered just before and during WWII. Not exactly sure what I did for a living, but it involved a lot of travel. I spent a lot of time on trains. In dreams and with these "flashbacks" or is it Deja vu?, when I see old movies from this time. On a trip to Hawaii a few years ago when I went to Pearl Harbor, it seemed so much like I had been there before. Not sure if I was there during the attack, but wow, it just felt like I had been there. The same thing hits me when I go to New York. More Deja vu...I stayed up in times square on New Years Eve in 2001, and it hit me there as well. "I've been here done this before". Going to the Carlyle the night before to see Bobby Short play the piano... it was like wow, man I have been here before. Now I have only been to England once, and unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go into to London, but I feel this connection, this vibe and it grows more and more as I get older

Its all so odd. I love this city I've never been to, and I only know it from TV and Movies and books...OR, who knows, maybe I did live there before and during the War. Maybe I did hole up in a place to avoid the constant Bombing...Or maybe (and I don't think this is the case), I was in the English Army. I do know that I rode a motorcycle and had the chance to drive a convertible...maybe it was mine. I have this HUGE reprint of the "Casablanca" Poster. Its once of my favorite movies....is it all so strange to think this? I guess the belief that some of us lived more than one life cant be as crazy as thinking a loving God will send almost 98 percent of us into some fire filled Hell, and reward a tiny few angelic peeps with a trip to heaven? Have you ever felt that you have been here before? Have you ever seen an old movie and thought, "Maybe I did sit around the radio and listen to all those shows, or grabbed bottles of milk from the from porch and put them in an "icebox"?.. "OR Maybe I did live without AC on hot summer night or stand in line and had a hot meal in soup kitchen"... "Maybe I did do the jitterbug or voted for FDR" Or perhaps watched a baseball game in old Yankee Stadium with Babe Ruth at the plate? No?, well I have. OR, maybe I'm like Michael Phelps, and I've hit the bong to many times this week. . ..Ugh..I wish. But really, I'm telling you... I've been here before. ;)

You want to move HERE???

Did you know that half of the U.S. Population would move if they had the chance? Try to guess where 38 percent of you said you wanted to live? Seattle!!! My city is the third most desired city for folks wanting to move. Imagine that... All I can say is...

Just what are you people SMOKING????

Seattle????

Let me let you in on some facts about this place. There is no such thing as GREYS ANATOMY HOSPITAL. It doesn't exist. Matter of fact the show is shot in L.A. Another thing, this picture on the left was taken during one of the 6 days when it didn't rain or lately SNOW. The weather is GREAT 6 days a year over the summer. We have a tradition of celebrating the 4th of July with umbrellas. Memorial Day? Rain. Labor Day ? Rain. Easter ?, Rain. Chances are REALLY good it will rain on your birthday. If you like wearing sweaters, then you will LOVE it here, as you can wear them almost all year. Employment??? We had about a GAZILLION layoffs in Seattle in the last few weeks, with Starbucks, Boeing, WaMu, and Microsoft, all had HUGE layoffs. No one has a Job in Seattle now so even if you could move here, chances are you couldnt find work to save your behind. Want a house? Home prices in the right neighborhoods will set you back close to a Million bucks. (The homes that have this "Frasier" view (I always called it the "Frasier view"), start at 3 Million and go up from there) and that's AFTER the recent drop in home prices. Before the price drop, I couldn't write down the numbers because I personally cant count that high. The "reasonable neighborhoods are about an hour a way from downtown, which means you will have a two hour commute because the traffic is some of the worse in the Nation. Sports? The Seahawks won only 4 games this year. The Mariners lost over a 1oo games last season. Our NBA team was so bad, they MOVED. The Washington Huskies in football lost every game they played this year. The Washington State Cougars won only one game...they beat the Huskies. We are the Anti - Boston of sports. We haven't won a Major Championship since 1979. Its LOSERVILLE Death. We lead the Nation in Suicides. We have owned that title for decades. Kurt Cobain (a native of the State) killed himself right here. The worst Serial Killer in history is Ted Bundy who was tried for 25 murders but had 10 other cases that didn't have enough Evidence to get conviction, but was said to kill anywhere between 25-300 victims...of course he is from here. Even the history of Seattle is DIRTY! Skid Row came from Seattle. Back in the day this was a city of Prostitution, Gambling and drinking. You can still tour some of these places in the "Underground Seattle tour". Gold Diggers came back from Alaska and blew their new found fortune right here. It was sin city before Vegas was around. Even our most famous schoolteacher is well... her name is Mary Kay Letourneau and she married an ex-pupil 10 years after she raped him when he was just 12. I blame this all on the cloudy days.

But Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! People are caught up in the "Sleepless in Seattle" fantasy. They think this place is like the set of "Fraisier" or the cult hit "Singles". Most people who visit, REMARKABLY, catch it during the 6 days dryspell, and they tell everyone how nice Seattle is, and make a big deal about our Space Needle (Yawn) our Mountains and our BIG Mountain (Rainier) Its a VOLCANO My friends and its going to BLOW! one day and its going to be UGLY)!!! or the Starbucks on every corner (and they are on every corner in YOUR town, too) or the local Salmon (they are disappearing and pretty soon will be all farm grown) you can treat yourself to at one of the many Seafood restaurants down on the waterfront. Its fantasy!!! Its not all THAT. You would have WAY more fun in Florida, or Hawaii, or Southern California. OR, the two cities that beat Seattle / San Diego (#2) and Denver (#1). Now I can see why someone would want to move to these places, but

Seattle?

To quote Tony Soprano... "Foggetaboutit!"