Posted Sun, Sep 18, 8:11 a.m.

Lillian Daniel: another reason not to speak with strangers in the next seat.

Posted Tue, Aug 16, 7:32 a.m.

One of the joys of being an artistic migrant worker (stage actor) was time spent--usually a couple of months at a stretch--in great (and not so great) American cities. A gig at the Kansas City Rep (Jan-Feb; essh. Fortunately three seasons at the Milwaukee Rep in the early '80s offered ...

Posted Thu, Aug 11, 8:08 a.m.

Attention Mr. Gunn: I'm polite and energetic, too. When Dialogue Direct canvassers have wished to directly dialogue with me saying, "Want to save...?" I've civilly said, "No. Leave me alone." When they turn and follow this potential donor trying to move away from them I stop, turn, look them in ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 5:45 a.m.

"I don't see any way that the City would ever prevent someone from developing their property because it had been used for selling street food- even if there is a movement." Perhaps. Likely a hamster-wheel of advisory ballots, though. The article is referencing SEATTLE, correct?

Posted Sun, Apr 17, 10:23 a.m.

They may have been "Bart-struck" and contracted Ms. Whoriskey's services despite having "little experience at being in charge of a theater," but Mr. Brewster, this is a failing of the Intiman Board. Having successfully helmed Seattle's Town Hall you, of all people, know this to be true. As Fisher Howe ...

Posted Sat, Feb 26, 2:30 p.m.

"...the media/electronic industry complex soldiers on in its quest to make 3-D the next big thing in consumer spending habits." This is being promoted as the future with every turn of their marketing souls. Why? They've found a goose laying golden 3-D eggs. This has much less to do with ...

Posted Sat, Jan 29, 4:36 a.m.

Old Seattle: Never confronting a problem it couldn't further discuss. New Seattle: Same as the Old Seattle.

Posted Sat, Nov 20, 4:16 a.m.

Class of 1972, Anacortes High: There is a flip-side to this piece: Some of us couldn't wait to get out of high school, couldn't wait to put all of THAT behind us; wouldn't dream of attending a reunion. (Sidebar: Why are people in their 50's on Facebook, anyway? Can't our ...

Posted Fri, Oct 8, 5:05 a.m.

Using the Boxwave capacitive iPad stylus is ideal for this fat-fingered consumer (great for use on a smartphone, too). All kidding aside, it does not "physically connect[ing]" with the iPad--unless one considers placing their finger on the capacitive screen just such a connection As a college professor, I use my ...

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 9:53 a.m.

Good piece. Another conversation worth having is the destruction and defilement of sacred spaces of First Nation Peoples in the Western Hemisphere by these Christian, Jewish, Muslim interloping Johnnie-come-latelys. The Abrahamic faiths do not have a pleasant record in regard to this respect.

Posted Wed, Aug 4, 7:11 a.m.

There is an element of people wanting their cake and eating it, too. They want the freedom to express their opinions without a crumb trail. This often leads to a wretched excess of invective and incivility. A good rule of thumb: would you say what you have to say in ...

Posted Wed, May 26, 6 p.m.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. http://aseriesofsmallacts.blogspot.com/2008/07/sign-your-real-name.html

Posted Fri, May 21, 10:36 a.m.

"So maybe when we test students to see how good their teachers are, we're testing the wrong people. Maybe we are testing the victim. Maybe the answer is to test the teachers. Raise the bar for admission to the profession and for continued employment." Not a bad idea--just as long ...

Posted Sat, Dec 19, 6:03 a.m.

A recent column by Stefan Stern in the Financial Times was specifically addressing the purported "newfound toughness" of the board of General Motors when they showed (former) CEO Fritz Henderson the door. But some of Stern's thoughts could easily apply to the non-profit board cousin in Seattle's "long-in-the-dark board" at ...

Posted Thu, Dec 17, 10:59 a.m.

Oh, those foibles and behind-the-scene political/personal shenanigans of our non-profit volunteer boards. The unfortunate corollary of all this internecine squabbling invariably falls right into the artists' laps. Placing at risk reputations of artistic institutional excellence, if not successful capital fundraising. Our cousins in our Symphonies share a similar burden with ...

Posted Fri, Aug 14, 11:53 a.m.

The mendacity of the handlers of these frightened and ignorant citizens regarding end-of-life-counseling is disgusting, to say the least. When these same scared and uninformed people are faced with the responsibilities of caregiving for loved ones at the end of a terminal condition, as many of us have, will they ...

Posted Wed, Feb 25, 7:57 a.m.

Finally, a commonsensical article on higher education. Education in this country has been subsumed by a entire assessment industry fixated on metrics, rubrics and ratings, all the while fetishizing the passing of tests. High standards? Pooh. What's their test score(s)? Can they compose a coherent sentence? Formulate a series of ...

Posted Wed, Oct 8, 8:33 p.m.

RE: Van Dyk comment: Gamesmanship? Frankly, more of us are concerned about a Mesopotamian war that is costing us $10,000,000,000 on a monthly basis; a Wall Street / Bank bailout costing us $700,000,000,000--$1,000,000,000,000; today's statement by Sec. Paulson promising additional bank failures despite this bailout; retirement portfolios down 20-25% since ...

Posted Sat, Sep 20, 10:56 a.m.

Pencil at the ready: Here's a vote for the Trapnell Ticket! But, Susan, beware: as the quasi-anonymous comment from "Cameron" shows, you'd better fasten that proverbial seatbelt--when it comes to politics, remember what George S. Kaufman said... Laurence Ballard

Posted Sat, Sep 6, 3:54 p.m.

With Friends Like These...: Disingenuous, morally bankrupt conservatives like to complain about the excesses of 'liberal bloggers' while conveniently overlooking the abuses in their own backyard. Paul Constant over at The Stranger links to a right-wing blog about "...eschatology, world missions, God's Law and Society, theonomy, Christian Reconstruction, pro-life activism..." ...

Posted Fri, Sep 5, 3:15 p.m.

We Know: What the (truly elect and wealthy) Rightists like Mr. Carlson especially miss in all of this talk of beau monde and haut monde among 'those elite liberals' is the inverse snobbery of the nonpareil NASCAR set: an imperturbable perception of some corner on an imagined market for patriotism, ...

Posted Sun, Aug 31, 5:34 a.m.

The Missing Link: Yet--for non-profit theatre--the least understanding (and contact) these arts boards have is with the very migrant artists their audiences actually pay to see. Laurence Ballard

Posted Mon, Aug 11, 11:08 a.m.

"With supporters like these...": Messieurs Goldstein and Sharkansky are fine, often very good writers. The problem lies in the degree of anonymity allowed on their (or any) blogs. I snooped around for a while as a poster on Horse's Ass, but gave up due to the sheer, stultifying lack-of-quality found ...

Posted Wed, Aug 6, 10:10 a.m.

Hmmm.: Are you certain you're not confusing honeybees with wasps--ie: Yellow Jackets? I was born on Whidbey and raised on Fidalgo, and was only stung by honeybees as a child when I stepped on them. And, yes, they were everywhere. Honeybees are extremely non-aggressive away from the hive; weeding, hoeing, ...

Posted Sat, Jul 26, 6:40 p.m.

The arts are for everyone: One of the reasons I have returned to non-conservatory college teaching is to assist in the creating of seed corn for the arts in the 21st century. America often reminds me--in many unrelated ways--of a giant high school; the arts are an elective: not compulsory ...

Posted Sun, Jul 6, 9:13 a.m.

RE: Looks like the Daily's solution is Facebook: While the Daily's attempt at control is to be lauded, dealing with Facebook is another matter. Ever try to cancel a Facebook account? After reading how instructors from Secondary Schools to Universities were opening Facebook accounts to check up on students--they will ...

Posted Fri, Jul 4, 9:03 a.m.

RE: Message vs. Messenger: Anonymous sources are not created equally. Anonymity serves a purpose--it is useful, even vital at times, in law enforcement or in news reporting. The online opinions/comments/editorials of strangers on any given subject are something less. Anonymous posting in comments sections--be they blogs or periodical websites--are the ...

Posted Sun, Jun 29, 10:17 a.m.

Anonymity be damned: Not a believer in 'clothes make the man' or sociology through 'Perry Mason' re-runs, I nonetheless believe, along with Mr. St. Clair, and others, that anonymity in the posting of comments plays to a baser instinct and lower denominator. With the exception of common sense (don't make ...

Posted Wed, Apr 16, 6:24 a.m.

The squeals of stuck pigs: Mr. Berger, beware: You'll likely engender bitterness in some; you've opened the door to the high-pitched, hysterical, shrieks of the Swagger Group screeching--oh the horror--class warfare. How unsporting, nay, unAmerican you are.

Posted Wed, Apr 2, 7:56 p.m.

RE: Buddy can you spare $5,000?: SP - So true, so true. The high-priced ways of Seattle (the town that never met a problem it couldn't further discuss - or - the little engine that wouldn't) certainly showed this native the door...

Posted Wed, Mar 26, 8:35 p.m.

Nail on the proverbial head...: As one of the few citizens who actually watched Sen. McGovern's acceptance speech in Miami live, cut my political teeth working for his campaign, and subsequently wrote-in Mo Udall on my November ballot four-years later, I couldn't agree with you more.

Posted Wed, Jan 2, 6:55 p.m.

Mr. Neuheisel did catch Mr. McKellan's Lear: And he's been reading up on the character of Edmund: Th' hast spoken right, 'tis true; The wheel is come full circle; I am here. Act V, Scene III Al-Laurence

Posted Sun, Dec 23, 8:36 a.m.

Thank the gods for January 2nd: Is it any wonder then, that some of us quietly and privately mark the passing of the Northern Solstice, a true guarantee of longer daylight, and then go for a walk...?

Posted Sun, Dec 9, 10:13 a.m.

Halcyon Days: Washington's initiative process was permanently crippled by the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Meyer vs. Grant, invalidating Colorado's ban on paid signature gatherers. Growing up in this State, initiatives were relatively few and far between; Washington had outlawed professional, paid signature gathering in 1914, and courts upheld the ...

Posted Sun, Nov 25, 11:01 p.m.

RE: Paen to pretention.: Part of the answer to your question likely lies in the simple fact that about 1 in 5 local residents have lived here for 5 years or less - that, and the truism: the older you get the more you know, and the less people care.

Posted Tue, Nov 6, 4:28 a.m.

Nope: Recorded phone calls = dismissal Sidebar: Now well into the first decade of the 21st century, we've reached the technological point where our telephone numbers - VOIP, Cell - may travel with us when we move to another district, town, or even state- instead of having to drop the ...

Posted Mon, Oct 8, 10:38 a.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: The greatest mistake of the Reagan Administration was Antonin Scalia. A hack? Hardly. Mr. Scalia is not a writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work. He is a brilliant jurist, a sharp - even frightening - man believing in the absolute ascendancy of ...

Posted Mon, Oct 8, 4:46 a.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: Have you read Medved's views on cinema? Contrary to the trotting out of Churchill's quote, the Arts - film, theatre specifically - are not binary. As a statement of truths, it is not a series of zeroes and ones. I repeat: he is ...

Posted Sun, Oct 7, 10:03 p.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: Addendum. Know too, that as Wills points out, disestablishment was meant to apply to a Federal government, not the States. (Most are aware that wouldn't happen until the Fourteenth Amendment.) However, any Federal government was to turn a blind eye and to hold ...

Posted Sun, Oct 7, 9:28 p.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: Terrific. You stick with a hack movie critic for your history; I'll go with my revisionist. Although you might consider actually reading the book: Head and Heart: American Christianities - before you dismiss the messenger. A man who works beyond the surface of ...

Posted Sun, Oct 7, 11:16 a.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: He that is conscious of A Stink in his Breeches, is jealous of every Wrinkle in another's Nose. --B. Franklin, 1751 What's interesting is the tip-toeing around the quote from Plutarch's Sulla; his "Rome Demands Salt" mentality was a stance inviting barbarism. A ...

Posted Sat, Oct 6, 8:08 a.m.

RE: Give Internment a Chance!: It seems to be a hallmark of Right-wingers to quake (and quack) with fear at every real or imagined threat. They're 'fair weather friends' of the Constitution. You'd think by their rhetoric they'd be made of sterner stuff. But they quickly go all 'North Korean' ...

Posted Fri, Oct 5, 3:10 p.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: You began this thread with with a question about history, and so now we return. How many electoral votes does Pretoria have? "The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" May 13, 1935 ...no country ever has friends, it has interests. When those ...

Posted Fri, Oct 5, 2:17 p.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: Well, welcome to the club. The older we get, the more we know and the less people care. I'm waiting for my midnight knock, too. I'm fed up with having my patriotism challenged, questioned and defined by Right-wing commentators and my Bill of ...

Posted Fri, Oct 5, 12:28 p.m.

RE: Let the record speak for itself...: I've recently joined one of those American college campuses you've referenced, and I can assure you my "genuine search for the truth" continues unabated. Those "snide and toilet-centered remarks" you find so offensive by the Huffington Posts of the Blogosphere are found equally ...

Posted Fri, Oct 5, 9:48 a.m.

We've missed you...: ... those of us who like insightful film criticism, that is. (As opposed to dime-a-dozen 'movie' reviewers. You know the kind: those writers self-obsessed with the use of personal pronouns...) Crosscut just gets better and better.

Posted Fri, Oct 5, 9 a.m.

Seattle from afar: No longer drinking the 'green' and 'blue' kool-aid of Seattle, down here in NASCAR-land, Georgia Power has provided Savannahians on-line payment, emailed billing notices, and a paperless opt-out - only a few mouse-clicks away - for quite some time. Despite talking a great deal about environmentalism, City ...

Posted Thu, Oct 4, 7:17 p.m.

Art is not binary: Your basic premise, the frame of your question is skewed; the Arts are abstract, not an either/or - black/white - up/down - yes/no - right/wrong order. The answer to your question is: Both. It's a big world out there.

Posted Fri, Sep 21, 1:54 p.m.

"The Lion is the King of Beasts, and Husband to the Lioness...": G ~ Somewhere, Ogden Nash is smiling. (Maybe Bennett Cerf, too.)

Posted Tue, Sep 4, 4:31 p.m.

RE: guilty hypocrite or conflicted victim?: Thank you for proving my point.

Posted Sun, Sep 2, 6:20 p.m.

RE: guilty hypocrite or conflicted victim?: It's hardly unique to gays: Man allegedly having sex in women's restroom arrested Just don't try to imply that all or most gay men indulge in this behavior. We don't.

Posted Sat, Sep 1, 10:31 a.m.

RE: Hoisted...: Actually citizen let-me-reach-my-fingers-under-your-stall Craig was practicing his morse-code in the Blue State of Minnesota. Anyone who might swipe his hand "several times" under my stall divider in an airport restroom would be engaging in conduct I find 'disorderly' in the extreme. Sexual activity is illegal in public spaces. ...

Posted Thu, Aug 30, 8:09 a.m.

Whatever you do, don't blame the artists: Missing from this discussion about Institutions and how they allocate their budgets is any mention of the migrant artists who do the actual designing and performing at these places. The people who work one 8-week slot (if they're fortunate) or design one production ...

Posted Mon, Jul 9, 11:14 a.m.

Seattle REALLY needs this conversation: This "quiet expulsion" of those of us with lesser means continues apace. Seattle is losing many of the educated poor - artists of all stripes - due directly to the cost-of-living, especially housing, in this town. I'm one of them. Successful in my field, I ...