crosscut.com : Mossback

More fun than Deliverance!

Crosscut — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Spend your summer vacation in Eastern Washington, an exotic locale where lakes are slippery, the Scablands surprising, and wheat farmers are smashing stuff for fun.

RFK Jr.'s plot to destroy the planet

Crosscut — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:00:01 PDT

Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently paid a visit to Washington and sang its praises, but I'm not sure why he'd be welcome these days.

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.

Googie resurrected in Ballard?

Crosscut — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:00:01 PDT

The group Sustainable Ballard is sponsoring a bike rack design contest. The winners will have their racks made and installed at key neighborhood locations. Sustainable Ballard says there is a "dearth" of bike racks in Square Head City. Winners of the competition will be announced at the Ballard SeafoodFest July 26-27.

A design-savvy city defined

Crosscut — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

A report lays out a road map, backed by polling that revealed surprising attitudes of Seattleites and Portlanders about their hometown architecture.

Last stand for the Alaskan Way Viaduct

Crosscut — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:00:01 PDT

As the process to replace or remove Seattle's elevated waterfront freeway grinds on, a last-ditch pitch is being made to keep it standing.

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.

Go, Nuke Building!

Crosscut — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:37:01 PDT

The University of Washington's More Hall Annex, aka the Nuclear Reactor Building, has become a cause celeb for fans of mid-century modern architecture and atomic history. The UW is planning to demolish the building, but a graduate student, Abby Martin, has mounted an effort to get the structure listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. Time seemed to be running out, but it ain't over yet.

The Rose City blooms while the Emerald City fades

Crosscut — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Portland and Seattle are among the top 10 "best-designed" urban areas, but Seattle ranks lower in part because of its record on historic preservation.

Finally, some good Seattle sports news

Crosscut — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:44:01 PDT

When I edited Seattle Weekly, I issued a ban on soccer coverage. Why edit a newspaper when you can't, very occasionally, act like a tin-pot dictator and shape it to your perverse desires? I left the paper two years ago but hoped the new editor would realize my no-soccer edict was a lifetime ban. Apparently not. There's a new dictator in town, and the moratorium has been lifted. The editor himself has written a column about soccer in Seattle. The good news: He's not buying the hype that it's the next big thing.

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.

Screwed by the Okies — again!

Crosscut — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:00:01 PDT

Who's to blame for losing the Sonics to Oklahoma City? That's the question being kicked around town. But I wonder why it is that "world class" Seattle keeps getting its collective ass kicked by the Okies.

The dangers of imperfect storm predictions

Crosscut — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:24:01 PDT

In the wake of the investigation into the 2006 "Hanukkah Eve" rain storm that hit Seattle and drowned a Madison Valley woman in her flooded basement office, I questioned the terminology of "100-year storms." In doing a quick survey of media stories, I found that central Puget Sound had experienced a minimum of six "100-year storms" in 20 years. I concluded that the term was misleading. Now, with the terrible flooding in the Midwest this year, it's becoming clear that the terminology is hurting some flood victims.

When animals attack, and also when they don't

Crosscut — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:00:01 PDT

It's the time of year when animal-human encounters are on the rise. Bears are picnicking on hikers, moose are invading trailer parks, and muskrats are blamed for destroying entire towns. You could be next.

Seattle revels in heliophobia

Crosscut — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:05:01 PDT

With sunny, hot weather now and the coldest spring in memory starting to fade into the past, local media ramped up its predictable gloom-and-doom coverage of sunshine. The Saturday, June 28, edition of The Seattle Times carried a classic of the genre: "Sun isn't always good news," blared the headline previewing the first warm weekend of summer.

Helpful Civic Suggestion #1,987

Crosscut — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:02:01 PDT

Now that everyone, including the former head of the state Department of Transportation, is riding Metro, can some savvy Seattle ad agency please put some thought into campaigns that revitalize an under-used resource? I'm talking about those dreary, pathetic interior overhead advertising rack cards. Can it really be that the only paid advertiser in town is Jobdango?

Ballard landmark lawsuit will be dismissed

Crosscut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:00:01 PDT

Now that the Ballard Manning's/Denny's has been thoroughly demolished — I took a look at the site last evening and believe me, the landmark structure is hamburger — owner Benaroya will be ending its legal action against the city's Landmarks Board.

The 'uncivilized' interview

Crosscut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:01 PDT

The art of the Q&A is tricky, and TV pundits have often turned it into a public form of waterboarding. Bill O'Reilly runs his own little Guantanamo on Fox. NBC's Tim Russert, however, understood that intelligence could be gathered more humanely.

Good mourning, Ballard: Googie is gone

Crosscut — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:06:01 PDT

The My Ballard blog reports that the landmark Manning's/Denny's diner was demolished early this morning. A demolition permit was issued by the city just last week.

You don't need a hybrid to guzzle less

Crosscut — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:29:01 PDT

Driving an economy beater may help the planet in some small way, but most people are looking for a more fuel-efficient ride. Would you recognize one if the miles-per-gallon rating was staring you in the face? Probably not, according to two Duke University professors, Richard Larrick and Jack Soll, who published the results of a study in the latest Science.