crosscut.com : Culture / Ethnicity

Vanity profanity! The 600 license plates banned by the state

Crosscut — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:00:01 PDT

Try as they might, some motorists can't outsmart officials when it comes to custom license numbers. On the other hand, sometimes seemingly illicit alphanumerics are actually demonstrably proper.

Sausage Links, sex, satire, and rock 'n' roll edition

Crosscut — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:03:01 PDT

At Horse's Ass, David Goldstein has a lengthy investigative story detailing a case of sexual harassment at the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). According to a 62-page document obtained from public records, a young woman who worked at the DNR quit her job after being harassed by 68-year-old Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland. The story goes on to say:

Our cultural amnesia

Crosscut — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:01 PDT

In the midst of exponential growth, Seattle can't remember how to be Seattle. It's time we went back to school and learned how.

A-Rod as the new Katie Holmes

Crosscut — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:35:01 PDT

Seattleites like to believe there's something more important than money. Which is why when Alex Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners for the Texas Rangers and a $252 million contract, people were pissed. A-Rod had said he wouldn't sign just for money, but in the end, that's what he did: departed for a dead-end team that paid him more than he was worth — and more than they could afford. You may remember what Seattle fans did when he returned to Safeco Field in 2001 to compete against his old mates: The fans spewed venom, booed, and dumped baskets of play-money from the upper decks. It was a rare show of resentment from live-and-let-live Seattle. Our egos were bruised and illusions shattered because A-Rod could be bought.

The Sonics' hidden fan base

Crosscut — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:33:01 PDT

Like every one else over the age of 40 who lived in Seattle during 1979, I can remember that glorious spring when the Sonics dominated the NBA. Similar to the Mariners in 1995, the Sonics run to the championship created a sense of greater community in Seattle. The night they won, I was sitting in the Moore Theatre watching some foreign film as part of the fledgling Seattle International Film Festival. The film suddenly stopped, and someone walked on stage to announce: "We Won!" The film ended a few minutes later and everyone walked out onto Second Avenue hearing car horns, people yelling, total pandemonium. And remember the parade? It may have been the last time downtown Seattle had energy!

Getting the jitters

Crosscut — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:00:01 PDT

Starbucks' "third place" concept is under pressure from laptops, McDonald's, and a decline in snob appeal.

Sausage links, Seattle SuuuuuuperSonics edition

Crosscut — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:00:01 PDT

Today's the day of reckoning for the city of Seattle and the SuperSonics. Judge Marsha Pechman will rule at 4 p.m., and we'll know who wins this OK Corrall shootout. Mayor Greg Nickels will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. to discuss the decision (live on the Seattle Channel). Here are the pre-announcement perspectives: state Rep. Bob Hasegawa, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat, Stranger writer Josh Feit, Crosscut writers Ross Anderson and Sue Frause. ...

Harvard finally gets its act together on gender studies

Crosscut — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:00:01 PDT

It had offered a mere 76 courses. Now with addition of "Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Greece" and 29 others, the curriculum is at last worthy.

Where else but Seattle?

Crosscut — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:15:01 PDT

On a cloudy Sunday in early June, I spent the morning with poetry bookshop proprietors Christine Deavel and John Marshall. The results of our conversation were an article on the poetry bookselling biz for Crosscut and a Q&A for Poets & Writers about Marshall's first book, a poetry collection published by Oberlin College Press called Meaning a Cloud. The middle section of his book is called "Where Else," which takes on the subject of Seattle directly, for example:

Pagan or perv? Nude etiquette in Fremont

Crosscut — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:14:01 PDT

I went to the Fremont Solstice parade June 21 for the first time in many, many years and saw the famed nekkid bike riders. But I have a few questions about the etiquette of public pagan nudity in Seattle, so weigh in if you have an opinion.

The trail less traveled

New West — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:01 PDT

A walk into Western spaces can make you feel as if you're alone here, that the landscape is a blank canvas for your story. But yours is neither the land's first story, nor its last.

The Wing Luke Museum takes flight

Crosscut — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:00:01 PDT

The handsome new space is a striking work of architecture, and the exhibits make up a "meta-museum," continually asking questions about how a museum should relate to its community.

With Hispanic help, Democrats hope to win in Eastern Washington

Crosscut — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:00:01 PDT

They have a lot of faith in Vickie Ybarra, who would be the first Democrat since 1992 to be elected to the Legislature from Yakima County. Meanwhile, Democrats also have their eyes on Doc Hastings' congressional seat.

Seattle's Hollywood 'Head Hunter'

Crosscut — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:20:01 PDT

For Northwest history geeks, the most anticipated film event of the season is a rare chance to see a rare film, the just-restored 1914 silent, In the Land of the Head Hunters by Seattle's photographic master Edward S. Curtis. Known most for his monumental work photographing North American Indians, Curtis is mainly remembered and widely collected as a still photographer. Yet he also worked in film (including a stint for Cecil B. DeMille) during cinema's infancy. The "shadowcatcher" caught moving pictures, and his feature will be on screen again in June.

The ghost of Mike Lowry

Crosscut — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:01 PDT

At Seattle's 7th District caucus, the elder statesmen of the Democratic Party seemed oddly out of place. The youthful grassroots have displaced the bosses of old, and white guys in ties smell like yesterday's news.

Folklife '08: Seattle folks are the life of the festival

Crosscut — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:01 PDT

Our summer intern learns that the best part of Folklife isn't to be found in the festival schedule — but in her fellow Seattleites, who put on quite a show of their own.

Love the warrior but hate the war, and other weekend ruminations

Crosscut — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:00:01 PDT

Also: Whom to blame for gas prices, kudos for the schools supe, Sound Transit's latest audit, and polygamy's free pass.

The newcomer name game

Crosscut — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:00:01 PDT

The Chinese have a saying: "One move is like two house fires." It's very disorienting to be in a new place, even if you moved within the U.S. and can therefore depend on the cultural differences between your previous burg and Seattle to be, relatively speaking, minimal. I've lived in the Northwest for nearly six years and Seattle for almost three, and I'm still doing double-takes over little things, such as proper nouns.

A great ex-pat life — but a long way from home

Crosscut — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:00:01 PDT

Seattle's French Underground: Ensconced in metro Puget Sound, French nationals nonetheless feel the inevitable tug of the homeland. Conclusion

Educated abroad, they are France's new foreign legion

Crosscut — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:00:01 PDT

Seattle's French Underground: Today's graduates are more likely to have studied abroad, and they're more open to leaving France for career opportunities — glamorous and humble. Many of them are settling in metro Puget Sound. Part 3