spanning_time

Putting the Baby To Bed

2007-05-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

We started this blog over a year ago because there wasn't anyone paying attention to all the random happenings around town, or rather they weren't being collected in any organized fashion. There was definite purpose. Over the course of the last year though, other blogs have picked up the slack and are doing a damn fine job of keeping track of the things that we considered our domain. Sure, we could keep this going, but it doesn't make sense to be a vestigial tail to the Seattle blogosphere. So we're done. Turn your attentions to Seattlest, Metblogs, and SLOG for your various WTF event listings (they're each doing their part - and we'll turn our attentions to Seattlest in that regard). We're going to keep the upcoming.org calendar going, but for the most part, spanning_time as blog is done.

Now don't fret. Those of you that know us in real life know that we're all over the Seattle blogosphere, so there's no shortage of opportunities to read our stilted prose. We've also made the leap to print with a column in The Stranger, which is still incredibly exciting and scary as hell. There are also some ideas percolating around about new projects that get us excited, the main one being another blog more in the "A Revolution Stunted" vein, the other centered around brunch. We'll see how those work out, and we'll likely make a post here just to let you know about them once they're more solid.

Thanks to all of you for reading, for your comments, and for your suggestions. It truly meant a lot to us. The spanning_time blog might be gone, but the spirit certainly lives on, and every one of you helped to make it what it is. Now get off the Internet and go do something!

Now this is how you celebrate 4/20

2007-04-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

[via BostonSteamer]

Notes & The New spanning_time Creed

2007-04-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

- The above phrase appears in a very excellent article from the Washington Post. It describes the results when a celebrated violinist took up his instrument to play in the arcade of a Metro stop during rush hour. Great exercise, and a very worthy read despite its length. If that article doesn't reinforce the spirit of this here blog, we don't know what does.

- spanning_timer Ario spent the weekend in San Francisco. He was lucky enough to be there for the ultimate in s_t events: Bring Your Own Big Wheel. For this event, adults grab a big wheel (you know, the one for kids) and race down San Fran's hilly streets. Much like our own Idiotarod, it involves costumes, drinking, and a whole lot of fun. It's definitely on our list of things to catch someday. For now, view the link above. We'll share pictures once they show up on Flickr.

- Last night's video game festivities were more fun than we expected. They certainly need more marketing help (we'll remind you next month), but with the dual tournaments for Guitar Hero 2 and Street Fighter 2 (on the Super Nintendo!), they've got an idea we're willing to support. We came in third in the latter tournament, which was surprising since we spent the bulk of every match trying to make sense of the oddly mapped controller buttons.

Dusting Off the Cobwebs - Console Gaming Competition

2007-04-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

So where have we been the last month or so? Well, we hit SXSW and came back exhausted from that, and since then have been busy with...important work stuff. In any case, we were prodded by a reader this weekend, so we're back after a bit of a blog-break. Here's something we promised to fill you in on once we had more details.

Tonight is the start of Console Chaos at Rebar. It's a monthly (2nd Mondays) video game competition sponsored by Pink Godzilla. The only new details we have to offer are that doors are at 7pm, and that the cover is $5. They haven't really offered much information outside of that. But who needs more details anyway? It's video games, it's competition. Just show up and get humbled by someone that's wasted more time playing games than you spend sleeping (and no we're not referring to ourselves there).

You Should See 300

2007-03-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

We saw 300 last night. We'd recommend you go see it as well. It's definitely got the feel of a comic book movie, but it's much more Sin City (also Frank Miller) than Superman Returns. It's ridiculously violent, but not repulsively so. The story works well enough, only getting mired down with pesky monologues near the end of the film (seriously, it's almost like it was adapted from a play at that point). But it's still a must-see.

A few months back we posted about Rize, the documentary by David LaChappele on the krumping dance phenomenon. While the pacing of that film left something to be desired, the actual dance footage was beatifully shot, with oversaturated colors, adjustments to camera speed and an overall sheen that drew you in. 300 uses a similar mechanic for the fight scenes, with adjustments to color (desaturated this time) and film speed working to enhance the overall effect. People often say about these movies that it feels like a comic book come to life, but those words aren't mere cliché here. Momentary freezes remind you of a comic frame, but that moment is fleeting, a cinematic homage to the source material.

We didn't have the internal hype for this movie that we could have, but having seen the film, our hype-meter is at a maximum. Go see this film. You can even one-up the Cinerama experience and catch this at IMAX (we'd recommend it - the bigger the screen the better).

Agree with us? Think we're full of it (regarding this movie, not our personal life)? Leave us a comment.

The Next Snakes on a Plane?

2007-03-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

If this isn't a joke, you can bet we'll be there opening day.

Tidbits

2007-03-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

- Another blogger has put together a list of the Top 10 uses of "the 'N' word." It's a great read. [Thanks Audrey!]

- We picked up some praise from Seattlest this week. It wasn't entirely surprising since we'd answered some questions about the A Revolution Stunted series, but we continue to be amazed by the overall response. We get outed in the post, but it's not like we took our blog anonymity very seriously anyway.

- Mark your calendars (in pencil) for the next sample sale. From one of the vendors:

I think we'll be back in Seattle doing something similar, but on a bigger, less basement-of-a-now-defunct-chinese-restaurant sort of feel on April 22.

- Captain America died this week. Some people are taking it far too seriously, but being comic readers, we're pretty sure this won't be permanent. He'll be back. As for as those saying this is some sort of political allegory, sure, it could be that, but if you actually take a look at some of the storyline in question, the writing is sharp as a sledgehammer and half as subtle. If you're looking for a comic that really has something to say, read Uncle Sam, which features beautiful art by Alex Ross, a wonderfully nuanced storyline, and an open-endedness that can only exist in a form not meant for kids (the Captain America storyline has to work on two levels, which weakens it a bit).

- Things we forgot to mention in Weekending: new opening at OKOK, new opening at BLVD, and 300 opens today for you comic book movie junkies.

Weekending

2007-03-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

ByDesign - NWFF is exploring the intersection between art and technology this weekend, with a series of films and events featuring true masters of their craft in the areas of music, graphic design, and overall artistic badassery. We're most excited about 8-Bit: A Documentary About Art and Video Games, which is making its Northwest debut.

Seattle Notables Costume Party: The McLeods are at it yet again. They've got the art exhibit, now they're throwing a party to celebrate Seattle's microcelebrities. We're dedicating ourselves to joining those ranks for next year's exhibit, but we have yet to figure out how we'll make ourselves more (in)famous. In any case, costume party Friday. It's going to be insane. Expect to see nipple on the Flickr photostream.

LebowskiFest: The bowling on Saturday is already sold out, but the screening of the Big Lebowski features The Real Dude, and a whole lot of people drinking white Russians. We're sure that this is going to be a memorable time. Watch out for nihilists. Congrats to BostonSteamer for all his work coming to fruition.

Bot Battles: The Transformers movie doesn't come out until the 4th of July, but this should be a good stopgap. One 12 foot square ring. Two robots enter, one robot leaves.

We Got It For Cheap

2007-03-06T00:35:00.000-08:00

This weekend spanning_time made our way down to 6th Avenue for a sample sale that we picked up a flyer for while out on our various Friday adventures. We didn't have a chance to give a heads up to our readership, but we're posting now to give you the heads up for future events. Sales reps from a few different companies got together to do a one-day sale of some of their excess inventory. T-shirts (and other things) were plentiful, and it was all at low, low, prices. We picked up some stuff we're pleased with, and would have picked up more had we showed up earlier. In any case, they'll be doing this sale again at some point in the future, and we highly recommend you shoot an email to the powers-that-be to get on their mailing list. It's worth your while.

Here are the clothing lines that were represented this time around (likely to change next time):

Invicid
Obey
Option-G
Paul Frank
No Star
Hecklewood
Monsieur T

The Revolution Continues...

2007-03-06T00:27:00.000-08:00

- The "N" Word? Banned in New York.

- There's a backlash against rap? Ya don't say...

- Oprah, you know we love you, but perhaps you should do a bit more research before wielding your mighty hammer of influence.

[via Slog, ReluctantNinja, and Seattlest]

Rock Music, Rockin' Robots, and Rock Stars

2007-03-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

We've picked up a few new readers over the last month, drawn in by the videos and commentary we were posting. It'll be interesting to see how many of them stick around now that we're going back to more activity-oriented posting, but we must stick to our original mission: filling your free time with random activities around Seattle.

We're just getting our heads back into that world (trust us, it's dark and sordid), and have to mention these things to you in case you're lacking things to do tonight (and you shouldn't be - it's First Thursday!). Also, for you new readers, be sure to either join the spanning_time group on Upcoming.org or subscribe to our calendar in your app of choice (click from the badge on the blog).

- Ellen Forney is doing another performance/reading of "I Love Led Zeppelin." We were so excited to see this we actually made the trek twice to catch it (we only caught the Q&A the first time due to traffic), and it was completely worth the effort. Ellen's work is very human, very funny, and very Seattle. At the Wild Rose, 8pm.

- This is a bit more academic, but there's a talk [.pdf link] on "The Art and Science of Social Robots" at UW. Cynthia Breazeal of the MIT Media Lab will talk about her research program, which focuses on the interaction between humans and robots. So in short, when the robots make their first moves to overthrow the world, it may be tips from this night that make all the difference for humanity. UW's Kane Hall 120, 7pm.

- McLeod Residence is having a preview of their newest exhibit, a series of photos and etc. of Seattle Notables as part of their weekly happy hour. That's cool and all, but by now you shouldn't need any prodding to go to the McLeod Residence. Just go!

Whoa, It's Our Blog-o-versary!

2007-02-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

We almost completely missed the one-year anniversary of spanning_time. We've managed to stick with this for a full year, which is a bit surprising to us, but we're glad we've done it. We've already told you all how much we appreciate your readership today, but consider this post a reiteration. Thanks for your time, your participation, and for the comments. Huzzah to you! As always, let us know if there's something you'd like to see here - we aim to please.

Now we're off to take a celebratory nap.

A Revolution Stunted: Until Next Year...

2007-02-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

This is the last post for the A Revolution Stunted series. It's an occasion, so I'm going to break out of the Editorial We for a moment. I'm glad my readers (this means you) have not only stuck around, but have enjoyed the series. I wasn't sure how it would be received and I won't be so quick to doubt my readership in the future. Thanks to everyone for the comments, both here on the Interweb and in the real world. Really, it means a lot to know my words weren't falling on deaf ears.

So how do you close out a series like this? It's been a fun, frustrating, disheartening, and enlightening exercise finding these videos every day and I'm really glad I did it, if only to get some thoughts out into the world. I feel so much pride in my history (as you should for yours), but it's hard to feel so powerless about where things stand. There's so much potential, so much progress left to be made and sometimes it doesn't feel like anyone's stepping in to fill the void. I certainly didn't do this to propose solutions, but venting about the problems has to count for something, right?

So to close things out, I'm flipping things a bit. After a month of samples of the revolution being stunted, here are three videos to close things out on a hopeful note. The revolution may be stunted, but the revolution moves on, and that's what matters most. Until next year...
________

This is from an episode of The Boondocks that posits that MLK didn't die, but instead ended up in a coma. This speech closes out the episode, and sums up things up nicely.

James Brown represents both the shame and the glory. He was a drug abuser and wife-beater, but he was also one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known. R.I.P.

This is the book they're referring to at the beginning of this clip.

A Revolution Stunted: The Second-to-Last Day Blowout

2007-02-28T01:11:00.000-08:00

Only one more day of videos left, so here's a blowout of three classics that we don't think would stand on their own, but in aggregate make for a fitting post. If you're up on your memes, there's no way you've missed these, but consider this a reminder of Internets past. If you're not so Internet-addicted, we're doing our part to catch you up. How these fit the series requires no explanation.

A Revolution Stunted: Black Cocaine

2007-02-27T01:44:00.000-08:00

We came home tonight to find a man outside our building very obviously having a bad drug reaction. He was flailing about, pants around his ankles, looking like he was doing a cross between dancing and fighting. We watched from our window while waiting for the cops to show and it just made us sad. This was a man probably trying to escape his problems, but at this point his chosen solution was in itself the problem. Rather than feeling hopeful he'll get the help he needs, we're now feeling guilty for being the catalyst for someone getting in trouble with the authorities. We know it's a silly reaction, but we can't help it. Guess this is one of those "ripple effects" from drugs in the community.

A Revolution Stunted: Little Man

2007-02-25T22:31:00.000-08:00

In honor of the Academy Awards, today's video is for one of the worst movies to ever grace theaters. We've dogged on the Wayans before in this series, but we have no problem doing so again. Other movies in the running included Soul Plane, White Chicks, and Big Momma's House, but really, there's no shortage of crap to choose from. And that's the problem. "Black" movies don't have to be bad movies. We had The Color Purple, we had Roots (yeah, it was a mini-series, but whatever). We can have movies as good as The Departed, but we're going to have to stop supporting the worst of the worst first.

A Revolution Stunted: What What

2007-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

Today's video has been making the rounds the last couple of days, and understandably so. It shows up here not because of the content. We actually think it could be considered progress that this video can be made, shared, and not entirely demonized. So on that front, it's a sign of how far the revolution has come. That said, the production on both the video and song leaves a bit to be desired (compare this with RuPaul's output, where the production values are a lot higher). So we applaud this video for what it represents, but we include it here as a reminder that being part of a niche is no reason for quality to slip.

Weekending

2007-02-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

Drunk Puppet Night 7: We haven't been to one of these, but the last time we saw "puppets for grownups" it was a puppet porno flick at the Grand Illusion that left us a bit emotionally scarred. We're hoping this is more funny than traumatic.

Bruce Nauman @ The Henry: We would have been sucked into this exhibit anyway, but it's only intensified with the latest piece at the McLeod Residence, which has us all amped up about the art possibilities of light (and the use of "amped" was not an intentional pun).

WeTube @ NWFF: Pay money to do what you do while you're getting paid.

Upcoming @ Rebar: "Sponsored by Pink Godzilla, this is a new night of video game competition- games will be announced soon. Fight your way to the end of each season and come out the victor! More info soon...."

A Revolution Stunted: How to Not Get Your Ass Kicked

2007-02-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

Chappelle's Show gets a lot of credit for bringing racial humor to the forefront, but a few years prior to his breakout hit, Chris Rock also had a run as the Funniest Man In America with a similar style. His HBO show had plenty of great moments, the below being one of them. We thought of posting an Al Jolson in blackface video, but decided we wanted a funnier segue into the weekend.

A Revolution Stunted: Two For One Post - Twice the Shame!

2007-02-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

On account of our being late in posting a video for yesterday, here are two for today. The first follows the same logic as yesterday's (all of yesterday's statements apply), an abomination that squeaks through in the guise of music. This one's certainly got more of a minstrel aspect to it however - seriously, didn't they have anyone with any knowledge of history in the editing booth!? The second video explains that minstrel/rap connection a bit more. You'll want headphones for that one.

A Revolution Stunted: This is Why I'm Hot

2007-02-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

We're late with this one and we apologize. We thought this would have happened long ago, and yet somehow it took until the 22nd. Now on to the video.

This song is blowing up, and has even made it into our head, but for as catchy as it is, it angers up the blood. The legacy of great New York MCs leads to this?

I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't 'cause you not, this is why this is why this is why I'm hot.

Chris Rock explains it best, but it's hard to defend the current state of rap and hip-hop. CNN of the ghetto? Not so much anymore.

A Revolution Stunted: Smackfest

2007-02-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

This video doesn't necessarily need to be singled out for just this series, it's demeaning to all of mankind. Apparently the cost of one's dignity is a lot lower than we thought. Wow, just...wow.

Holy Crap, It's Free Pancake Day

2007-02-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

We've been so caught up with "the revolution" that we haven't been spending much time on our bread and butter, things to do around town. We caught wind (by way of FierceFlawless) that today is the return of Free Pancake Day at IHOP. It was one of our favorite days last year, and despite the fact that today's a busy one at the s_t day job, our spirits are high upon hearing the news. Pancakes for lunch, dinner, whatever. This is a big faceless corporation looking to fill your belly. Let them.

A Revolution Stunted: Def Poetry Jam - The N Word

2007-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Some days choosing these videos is easier than others. Something will stick out as part of our day, then it's just a matter of finding to right video to convey what we had in mind. Usually it doesn't take too much. Today took a bit more effort, and we went through at lot of videos before settling on this one. It's definitely on the more serious side of things, and while it is spoken word, it's at least not the crappy kind. Instead, it more eloquently states the case against usage of the N word than we ever could. Listen with headphones on.

A Revolution Stunted: Tyra Banks

2007-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

There's another video of Tyra Banks overestimating the importance of her being the first black solo model on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition that was sent to us as a potential candidate. Don't get us wrong, that is a notable achievement, but it's not like she discovered a million and one uses for the peanut. However, if Tyra Banks is making this series of posts, it's because of the video below (something light to close out the weekend). Way to perpetuate the stereotype of the hysterical black woman.

A Revolution Stunted: I Was Once a Democrat

2007-02-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

(This one's about politics, breaking a spanning_time content barrier a bit. Don't worry, this isn't a political blog, nor will it be despite this departure.)

We're all for freedom of thought and freedom of political choice, but to put it simply, this guy's an idiot. We'd hardly say that Democrats are saints, but after the last few years it's a lot easier to see the divide between the two major parties, and even if they are just the lesser of two evils, the magnitude of that evil reduction should count for something. Kanye (egotistical blowhard that he is) was closer to reality than this guy, although we tend to think "poor" could replace "black" in Kanye's penultimate statement.

A Revolution Stunted - Leprechaun

2007-02-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

We were just asked about this series that we've been doing and it brought up today's video in our heads. This video is actually the inspiration for this entire series. Why? Just watch the video and you'll quickly understand why it makes us hang our head in shame ("Who else seen da leprechaun say YEAH!"). There are a million essays by a million writers on the topic of media perception, but all those essays can be distilled into this one two-minute clip. Come on people, we can do better.

A Revolution Stunted: Blacknificence

2007-02-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

Dammit Dr. Kambon, you should know that the first rule regarding the revolution is that you don't talk about the revolution! (Longer version of the video here (which provides more context for his statements)).

A Revolution Stunted: Inside Looking Out

2007-02-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a clip especially for Valentine's Day. We considered posting this one instead, but that one's not nearly as funny in dealing with the same topic: Interracial dating. Our take: just find someone to love y'all. Happy Valentine's Day.

A Revolution Stunted: SNL Blackness Scale

2007-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Not the funniest SNL skit, but not bad for their modern era. The fact that you can make a blackness scale and have that humor be universal speaks volumes. It's sad when the concept of a blackness scale plays out in the real world (trust us, we know), but that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? Go Obama!

A Revolution Stunted: 1988 Dunk Contest

2007-02-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

We had some really great commentary about how sports is given too much of a priority over education, but we lost our train of thought as we got to watching these dunks.

A Revolution Stunted: I Got Me Some BAPES

2007-02-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

We're going to preface this post by saying we're total hypocrites. We love shoes, and we're going to go buy some stuff right after we post this. That said, as much as we love shoes, we've never danced in the streets or felt compelled to make a video (the former we do in our bedroom, but that's it). With all the problems out there in the world, why is the hoarding and display of material goods so high on the priority list? We don't know - we do know we'll have that question on our minds as we go shopping.

Note: For those not familiar, "BAPES" is the colloquial term for "Bathing Apes," a brand of shoe known for its bright color schemes, limited-edition runs, and high price tag.

A Revolution Stunted: One Rib

2007-02-11T02:12:00.000-08:00

We don't really have any commentary here. It's late, this scene is funny. Way funnier than the tripe the Wayans are putting out now. White Chicks & Little Man!? Seriously, what the hell? The Wayans used to put out quality parody, now they're the joke. (OK, guess we had a little more commentary than we thought.)

A Revolution Stunted: A N***a Moment

2007-02-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

It took a few episodes for The Boondocks on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim to get its legs, but we love it now almost as much as we did the comic strip. Scenes like the below are why this is so.

Not kosher for work on account of language (you're ok if you've got headphones).

A Revolution Stunted: Pastor Tony Smith

2007-02-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Church-going was never a regular occurence for us when we grew up. By the time we were a pre-teen we started to feel pretty uncomfortable about the whole thing - we enjoyed the stories, but it often just felt like a show. There was a lot of hypocrisy, and we eventually just couldn't deal with that. Then we started to really disagree with some of the ministers' statements, especially when homosexuality came up. It just didn't make sense to us that a Black preacher couldn't see the correlation between the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Rights movement. So much vitriol for something out of an individual's control. We haven't seen enough of Tony Smith to know where he stands in that regard, so we aren't insinuating that he's part of this problem, but we do know that a lot of the homophobia in the Black community is dished out from a pulpit on Sunday mornings. Here's Tony Smith keepin' it real for God.

Keeping It Simple: No Black Male Show

2007-02-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

We'll just let the description say it all:

Dealing with pop culture and black male identity, the performance narrative features songs, music, and dance exploring the icon of the black male in today's pop culture and American myths. Rux was moved to write the poem that led to this show after attending out the controversial exhibition Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary American Art at New York's Whitney Museum in 1994. This will be the Seattle Debut of the artist and his important work, which has toured all of the country. The New York Times called Rux "one to watch" in 2004.

We're going Friday. Buy tickets here.

A Revolution Stunted: Black Rage

2007-02-08T00:59:00.000-08:00

It's been years since we saw Chasing Amy, but this scene still manages to crack us up. We're admitted comic book geeks and we worry about Blacks' portrayal in the media, amplifying the humor in this excellent exaggeration. The angry Black man stereotype is still out there (yes, it does make us angry that this is so, keeping the cycle going), but if you're going to "go there," might as well use it for humor.

Not kosher for work on account of language.

Free Gluttony!

2007-02-08T00:43:00.000-08:00

Buy One Get One Free At Cold Stone

(We're a little annoyed the size on offer is only the Love It, since the Like It size is more than enough for us, but what you gonna do?)

A Revolution Stunted: BET Sucks Now

2007-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

We don't post this video because of what it is (a touching, sincere statement), but because of what it isn't. Back in the early days of BET it was trying to be more than just a vehicle for bad television shows or bootylicious music videos. We used to love BET; we remember rushing home from school to flip between Rap City and Yo! MTV Raps. Now we get to BET and wonder how they've managed to decline so far, so fast (we're sure the Viacom buyout helped that process along).

Some Stuff About Art

2007-02-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

These events aren't for a few days, but there's some preparation involved with the last item, so we're giving you some lead time. Being fabulous takes time.

- Indicators @ BLVD - A new art show opens at BLVD Friday. Their opening receptions are always fun, plus Shorty's is only a block away.

- Group Show @ Roq La Rue - Before there was BLVD, Roq La Rue was our favorite gallery. We've still got nothing but love for them now, considering the two galleries to be a bit of a gallery two-for-one deal. Their new group show opens at the same time Friday.

- Free Parking @ OKOK - Another group show, this one at Ballard wonderland OKOK. Opening reception from 6-10 Saturday. Everyone should support this store (one of many reasons to head to Ballard).

- Red Dress Party @ McLeod Residence - Think of this as people art. It's a McLeod Party with everyone (EVERYONE) in red dresses. You know this is gonna get out of control. We were most excited about the shoe potential, but we're thinking drag three times in less than a year is a bit much even for us. We'll probably change our minds once FierceFlawless gets back into town and convinces us to go. No, we won't be posting pictures here.

A Revolution Stunted: Fry That Chicken

2007-02-05T23:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's video featured a proud man taking watermelon-eating seriously. It was a bit eccentric, but ultimately harmless, marking just a humorous moment in Petey Greene's television legacy. Today's video just makes us sigh in disbelief and hang our head in shame. Our elders marched for this!?

Actually, You CAN'T Do Anything You Want

2007-02-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

We came across this essay and think it's one worth sharing. We very much subscribe to the notions of self-determination. Put your mind, body, and energy toward some goal, and in most cases you can get there, or at least close. Well, here's an essay along those lines, but a more realist take. We're realists too, but some people need reminding that the key to goal-reaching is goal-setting - your goals should be realistic otherwise you're just looking for disappointment.

A Revolution Stunted: Petey Greene's How to Eat Watermelon

2007-02-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

It's Super Bowl Sunday. There's going to be plenty of eating going on, so in that vein, here's a video that's about as old as we are, with Washington DC's Petey Greene detailing how to eat watermelon. It's not fair to say that this goes against the revolution (he was the revolution) but damn, does the world really need a video floating around of a black guy taking watermelon-eating so seriously? *sigh*

A Revolution Stunted: More on Keepin' It Real

2007-02-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

In honor of The Roots'performances tonight, here's their video for "What They Do," which deflates one hip-hop video stereotype after another. This post in no way is stating that The Roots are part of the problem; we find them and their music to be the opposite. Instead of focusing on materialism and all the trappings that come along with that, The Roots go a bit deeper, keeping things live literally (they're an actual band) and figuratively. We think hip-hop and music in general has the power to change lives, but too much of what gets exposure is out to do nothing but "party all the time." We just want some balance in the commercial landscape.

For those of you interested in more music by The Roots, start here.

A Revolution Stunted: B-boy Stance

2007-02-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

It's Friday. We don't want to close out the week with something heavy, so here's a video we came across yesterday. We find it hilarious. It's only tangentially related to the revolution since this is the comedic representation of taking something (in this case hip-hop) too far. There are manifestations of "keeping it real" all over the place, and in many of those cases "real" amounts to little more than "real dumb." Have a good Friday. Back to the soul-suckingly depressing videos tomorrow depending on our spirits.

Weekending

2007-02-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

- Yo-Yo Championship - We mentioned this before, we mention it again. It's fun, it's free, and you can eat a beignet while you watch people do amazing things. It's a total win situation.

- Lebowski Fest - The Dude is coming. Buy your tickets. Learn the script. Go bowling.

- Science Fiction Short Film Festival - We have a feeling there are going to be a lot of robots in this collection. Nothing wrong with that though.

- First Saturday at SAAM - The Seattle Asian Art Museum is going all out this month with a big celebration for the Lunar New Year. There are going to be workshops on Chinese art techniques as well as a Lion Dance by kung fu master Mak Fai at noon.

Mission, You're Awesome - Wishbone Tournament Tonight

2007-02-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Mission won us over last year with the first Rock Paper Scissors tournament they held, which was at once the inspiration for this blog and a source for our newest obsession. Now they've gone ahead of the curve (RPS is so passé) to hold their first Wishbone Breaking Tournament. That's right, breaking wishbones. We won't be able to attend, so we're putting it on you readers to make sure to give us a full report. We're really disappointed we can't make it. One thing we really want to know is if they are using real wishbones or if they've got some more quality-controlled, vegetarian-friendly option. It's all sponsored by Captain Morgan as a benefit for Seattle 826, so your boozy fun is all for a good cause.

We’ve traded in the Rock, Paper and Scissors, and this year are having a Wishbone Breaking Tournament. The Bone Pull! Same format as last year. Prizes for participants and winners.
...
Groundhog Day, 2/2/07, 8pm, 21+
64 entries, double bracketed, single elimination
$10 entry – register in advance at Mission
Prizes for winners and giveaways for participants

A Revolution Stunted: Bugs Bunny

2007-02-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

We remember seeing a lot of now-banned cartoons when we were a kid, and while we knew there was something wrong, we just focused on the fact that it was a cartoon and whether the humor worked or not. Now we're old enough to be a bit more upset by it. Bugs Bunny was hardly the only culprit, but this is just as offensive an example as any. What's annoying is that the race element is so unnecessary to the humor in this case. Up until the end, it's not racial humor, so the piece could have worked without it. It's a collision of lazy writing and racism. *sigh*

spanning_time Celebrates Black History Month

2007-02-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

A few months back we were looking at some video on YouTube and again made the comment that the people in the video were "setting back the movement." It's a phrase we've often uttered at things that just irked us in the media, most specifically as it relates to Black culture (news flash for those of you that don't know spanning_time in real life - we're black (and proud)). At that moment we decided to do something for Black History Month. We were originally going to spawn off a separate blog, but we think you guys can handle this project.

Every day (as much as every day is possible), we're going to be posting a video that relates to "the movement." For the most part it will be people holding back the revolution, but there might be some more positive moments as well (we don't want to lose all hope). We'll be including a few words of our own as well (just a few - we're too busy for diatribes). Don't worry, it'll still be in spanning_time spirit. (For those of you that are up on your Internet memes, there will be some classics revisited - this isn't necessarily about freshness.) The name for this series of posts will be "A Revolution Stunted." A post a day for a month!? Can we do it? Hope you enjoy it.

Scattershot: 1/29/2007

2007-01-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

- Trivia - spanning_time ended up at a music thing so we didn't make trivia night last Thursday. We're fine with that, and we're proud of our teammates, who were robbed on one question, and ended up being the best at not winning. Sounds like fun though, so we're hoping to check it out for ourselves.

- Sculpture Park - We have a bit of a misanthropic streak going at the moment, since we think the sculpture park would be great if you got rid of all the people. We bought some film for our Polaroid, but ultimately didn't even attempt any shots, since there were So. Many. People around. Also, the whole space just doesn't seem ready for prime-time. Seems like they opened it to make a date, not because it's really fit for consumption. In any case, we think there's plenty of potential here, and we plan to spend some time there getting shots before it's all tagged to hell by graf artists (at which point we'll head back for "after" shots).

- Obsession - You long-time readers have probably noted that around these parts we're a bit obsessed with obsession. Not the stalker-type of obsession, but the all-consuming depths to which some people take their hobbies. It interests us because the world is so full of pockets of enthusiasts. We'd like to find and just see those pockets operate, even if the area of interest means nothing to us. In that spirit, this NY Times article about the publishing of collections of old comics (culled largely from individual collections) is a great read. It also references one of our favorite comics as well, Joe Matt's "Peepshow," one of the best autobiographical comics out there.

- Yo-Yo Championship - It's this weekend. We'll be in Portland, but you should go because it's a great (free) way to spend an afternoon.

Weekending - Zines, Toys and Broken Wikis

2007-01-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

The List - We don't know how many of you were keeping tabs on the "I Go Out A Lot" List. Well, due to some Internet shenanigans, the list is gone gone gone. We're going to try to find that data and host it elsewhere, but for the time being, our stalkers are going to have to go back to doing things the old-fashioned way. We'll leave some hot cocoa outside our window for you.

Zines - We aren't really sure how the zine scene has changed since blogs have blown up, but this workshop would be a good place to find that answer.

Toys - BLVD is hosting a live action figure sculpting session to close out their current exhibit. We've often entertained the idea of being immortalized as an action figure (complete with badass glasses and red shoes), but it's so very very pricey. Maybe we'll learn enough to do this the DIY way.

The live sculpting will be a short
tutorial on his hand-built action figure construction process. It will
also be Leavitt's first public art performance since his "Push Button
Performer®" was done over 50 times in Washington State from 1999-2003.
...
This live sculpting event will
include not only figurative sculpting, but the engineering and
technical elements of prototype-quality production.

Weekending

2007-01-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

Here are things you should do this weekend. If you have a guest in town (as we know some of our readers do), maybe these are things to keep in mind.

- 24 Hour Bike Ride - This fits right in with our new fitness resolution for the year (never mind the Crunch 'n Munch we're currently inhaling), but alas, our bike is in pieces, and frankly, 24 hours of doing anything sounds like a lot (some more difficult than others). For those more bike-prepared, there are races, music, contests and all other sorts of craziness to take the edge off. Wear your helmet.

- Olympic Sculpture Park Grand Opening - We were talking with someone that works for SAM a couple of days ago and they said that everything about the park was within an inch of greatness, and that that took its toll on the overall impact of the space. That criticism did more to make us want to go than a million press releases, if only to see the reasons for their statement. It's a big to-do all weekend, so other than the crowds (and the weather), now is the time to go.

- Fencing - We don't think fencing could become the new curling around spanning_time. It's certainly quirky enough to pique our interest, but it all just goes by too quickly. Curling sucked us in at 3am with its Zen-like competitions, while fencing is way too frantic. That said, the competitions this weekend definitely sound like a good time, even without knowing what's going on.

- Movies - We went and saw West Side Story on Wednesday. It was more wonderful than we thought it would be, since the crowd was an appreciative one, clapping after songs and otherwise enjoying the spirit of the film. On the other end of the levity spectrum there's Pan's Labyrinth. Sure, it's a fairy tale, but it's rated R for very good reason. It's incredibly dark, and you should know that going in. Still a great film though, and well worthy of its praises. It reminded us of Little Otik, which we recommend as a rental.

We Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty

2007-01-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

Today's Word of the Day is "obsess." Appropriate for this post? Possibly.

Central Cinema, in their infinite programming wisdom, are showing West Side Story from the 17th through the 21st. Yes, we're going. We already have the soundtrack on vinyl, so we know the songs; we have the badass collector's DVD, so we know the structure of the film (and way too much trivia). So why are we so excited about seeing it? Because it's in the theater. Some people worry about the death of the movie-going experience, but there are just some movies meant to be experienced in all their theatrical splendor. West Side Story is one of them. Sure, a bunch of people are headed to David Lynch's screening of Inland Empire, but for us, gang choreography beats dreamy cinematography every time.

ps: In case anyone's thinking of buying us the official "I Feel Pretty" t-shirt, know that we wear a medium.

Test Your Useless Knowledge

2007-01-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

spanning_time is going to be joining a trivia league. It's one that fits right in with our blog-reading habits, so we're looking to destroy all comers. There are still a couple of weeks to register, and then you can be amazed by how much knowledge one set of individuals can have over nipple slips, bad pop songs, and crappy movies. Jillian's on Thursday is the new...whatever you used to do on Thursday.

You won't find categories like "geography", or "Nobel Prize winners" or "Scientific Formulas of the 1860's" anywhere near our quiz! Instead, all categories will be drawn from 5 genres: Television, Movies, Music, Personalities, and Ephemera (yeah, we had to look that one up too). In addition, you also won't find a boring list of questions that make you feel like you're back in Miss Jenkins' 2nd grade classroom. Instead, we've designed a multimedia show that will feature audio, graphic, and video questions. We even have a "Final Jeopardy-like" bonus round every week where you get to determine the value of the correctly answered question!

[via Shimp (our team captain)]

What You Should Do This Weekend

2007-01-12T19:03:00.000-08:00

- Go see the trains y'all (we plan to):
Pacific Science Center Model Train Show
33rd Annual Show
January 13-15, 2007
Admission is included in the regular PSC admission fees: Adults, $10; Seniors 65+, $8.50; Ages 3-13, $7.00;

Show activities vary from year to year and in the past shows have featured activities where youngsters learn safety around trains, make scenery (such as trees or rocks), and get to actually run trains on some exhibits. There are candy trains, trains that kids can ride, and even a strolling barbershop quartet.

[via Red Tricycle]

- We have to admit we have reservations about this one (they're good at declaring their amusement potential, but can they really bring the goods?):

It's the best anti-film festival the world has ever seen. Anti-film fests are a collection of movies and videos that are actually funny. Not polite type funny, not "I guess you had to be there" type funny, not "My damn 7-year-old is telling another damn joke" type funny, but real funny. The kind where the laughter has a 20% chance of becoming an abdominal injury. So, come on down to our awesome pit of awesomeness. Drink a beer, laugh out loud, and shout "What The Hell Did I Just Watch?" ya slacker.

What The Hell Did I Just Watch? Film Festival
Rendezvous, various times on the 13th & 20th
$10

- Also, who's down to go see some live wrestling?

Deconstructing the Internet

2007-01-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

Below you'll find a video that's making insane inroads in the blogosphere. Featuring the "World Freehand Circle Drawing Champion," we have to admit that he does draw a mighty fine circle, but we're not so interested in that. What's interesting is that there's no proof we can find about such a championship actually existing. If you search, you come up with links to this video. So in effect, the guy in this video is the champion purely because he says he is*, a exercise in self-perpetuation. It's not all that different from our own attention for Rock Paper Scissors. Hell, we haven't won a tournament (and we're honest about that), but we can sure as hell talk about the academics and theory behind it, and somehow that's enough.

So if you want to be a champ in something, just say you are. Chances are no one's going to check. We're not sure that's really a good lesson for the kids.

* - We're fine with being proven wrong, so if you can find information on this mythical league of circle-drawers, let us know in the comments.

spanning_time Supports Cheap Dates

2007-01-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

It's a bit odd to be typing about ice cream consumption when there's snow on the ground, but so what. Go here, print out the coupon, and get yourself a free sundae (with purchase of a sundae) at Baskin-Robbins. We're pretty sure whipping out a coupon won't impress on a first date, so bear that in mind.

R.I.P. Iwao Takamoto and Other Tidbits

2007-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

- spanning_time Deathwatch: The creator of Scooby Doo, Iwao Takamoto died this week at that the age of 81. Scooby Doo was never one of our favorites, but we loved the episodes with crazy guest stars like The Three Stooges, The Harlem Globetrotters, or Don Knotts.

- Zoo Puts Humans On Display: Surely there are better ways to get some vacation time: "One of the human apes, Josh Penley, said the experiment was a chance to 'get myself out of my comfort zone and to get a week off work.'"

- Top 10 Most Ridiculous Products for Babies: Number one creeps us out so much we already know we're buying it once we get around to procreating. We decided long ago that our kids are going to be little science projects. We predict a lot of neuroses in their future, and correspondingly high therapy bills.

Cookoff Postponed Again

2007-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Due to illness, the playoffs, and laziness, the cookoff is postponed until February. Bonus points* to any competitor who adopts a Valentine's Day theme.

*Note that bonus points are worth exactly nothing.

Spelling Bee Finals @ Rebar

2007-01-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight (January 8) is the final for this season of Rebar's series of spelling bees. We've never made it back since the first, but the promise of prizes and mini-games for the audience is a big draw, as is sizing up our potential future competition.

Seattle Spelling Bee Finals
Monday, Jan. 8th
8-10pm, doors at 7pm (come early to sign up for mini-games)
$5

Daily Comics For You (Yes You)

2007-01-08T02:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Seattle-based illustrator Jason Sho Green (he hit our radar after his wonderfully irreverent Valentine's Day cards brought him Internet fame) has started a new daily comic at one of his URLs, Youyesyou.net. His paintings often featured his twisted sense of humor, sometimes subtly; this endeavor makes that humor the focus. Take a look and add it to your RSS reader.

Press for The McLeod Residence

2007-01-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

The McLeod Residence had their first big gala for NYE. We were on the other side of the continent so we couldn't attend, but we've heard nothing but good things about the party, and the space is nothing short of amazing after the work that's been put in. Check the flickr stream from the photobooth to see how the party progressed. Once there's nipple and penis flashing, you know a party has passed a very important fun threshold. Nice work on the booth EQ!

There's an article about The Residence in The Stranger. You should read it.

Also, their grand opening is tomorrow. You should go.

Fried Rice Cookoff Postponed Until January 14th

2007-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

The fried rice cookoff has been postponed until January 14th to allow participants more time to prepare. So far there are four entrants. We've found a recipe that we think will work out for us, and next week we'll be interning at a Chinese restaurant to learn their culinary secrets. If you're interested in attending the cookoff, just shoot us an email (timespanning (atsymbol) gmail (dotsymbol) com) and we can probably get you squared away. As with the last cookoff we'll be posting the recipes.

Some Fun To Bring in 2007

2007-01-04T02:43:00.000-08:00

We're finally back from our adventures on the East Coast. It was fun, relaxing, boring, overwhelming, emotional, and any number of other descriptors. What it wasn't was spanning-timey. We're completely out of the Seattle loop, and long days on the couch are hardly fodder for entertaining posts (not that entertainment is any sort of prerequisite around these parts). We'll be re-engaging with Seattle over the next few days then things should get back to "normal." We're feeling some good spanning_time energy right now, which was helped by the fact that on our return flight we were at one point flipping between an Animal Planet show about animal freaks (think two headed animals) and Super Friends.

As a further welcome home, we came across the YouTube video below (thanks Ario!). Don't click yet. Go to this site and mess around with Line Rider first. The app itself is pretty addictive, but even in our obsessive brain it never even crossed our mind to come up with something this complicated. That's just the top of the iceberg though, since there's a whole fan community around this little webtoy that made the Internet rounds a few months back (if this is your first time with Line Rider, we're sorry you just lost those hours you just spent messing around). (We give props to the video creator for using music from Katamari Damacy, a spanning_time approved Playstation 2 game).

Hello 2007!

2006-12-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

in just a few hours we leave for part 2 of our NYC adventures. We're excited to leave head back to a more busy urban locale, and just wanted to say a few words in what will most likely be our last post of the year. We don't have any one grand thing to say, so we'll do this bullet-style.

- Thanks. That's for every one of our readers. You are but a few, but contrary to what we thought, we don't actually know all of you in real life. We didn't think we were doing anything here that warranted outside attention, but really, we do appreciate your readership.

- Change. For the last few days, we've been trying to think of what we want to do with this blog. We started it because there was a void in the Seattle blogosphere to help people find the "left of center" things to do. Since then, the bigger city blogs (Slog, Seattlest, Metblogs) have picked their game up significantly, and we never wanted this to be a place for merely duplicate content. So we could either go more obscure or go different. We're thinking the latter, but haven't quite figured out what that will be. We'll think on it a little longer and present something in our first State of The Blog Address.

- Happy New Year. But enough "big" stuff. You all have yourselves a great new year celebration. Stay safe, stay weird, and we'll see you in 2007.

An "Explanation" on Those RSS Explosions

2006-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

Occasionally (read: every 5th post recently), readers of spanning_time through Livejournal (via Feedburner) occasionally get an explosion of recent (or not so recent) posts, the equivalent of a vomiting blog. Turns out the limitation is with the way LJ handles RSS feeds, which seems to combine with something Google does to cause some admittedly annoying behavior. Not working for Google or LJ, there's only so much we can do here, but if any of our techie readers have ideas, we're open to them. Here's the response from LJ:

LiveJournal removes content older than 14 days from the syndicated account. If you update an entry that has been posted more than 14 days ago, LiveJournal is forced to repost the entry, because it cannot edit the entry if it no longer exists.

If any entries that you have not touched are reposted, please open a new request at that time, so that the support volunteers may investigate the problem. Thank you for the link to the discussion; we will keep it in mind when we investigate similar reports.

A Gift From Google

2006-12-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks Google, an RSS explosion was just what I wanted!

(Whoops.)

Merry Christmas from spanning_time

2006-12-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

spanning_time wishes you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it). Here are our Youtube gifts to you:

1) A Charlie Brown Christmas - Even Christmas is fair game for copyright infringement.

2) A Lighting Extravaganza - spanning_time longs for the day when we have a house of our own to overdecorate at least once a year. Until then, we take solace in the work of others. This vid is from a house in Monroe so we recommend a road trip for those of you in the Seattle area.

spanning_time in Foreign Lands

2006-12-22T22:06:00.000-08:00

We'd love to be able to tell you that spanning_time's absence from the blogosphere since our arrival in Virginia has been because of all sorts of mirth and merriment. Instead, all we can report is that 1) seeing Sportscenter for 4 hours straight can become a Zen-like experience if you let it, and 2) CSI is giving Law and Order a run for its money as the show most likely to be on at all hours of the day (we've watched half a dozen episodes today at least). But that's...ok. We run ourselves pretty ragged in Seattle (check the I Go Out A Lot List) and the rest is a welcome change. But never mind that, here's some observations from our little jaunt to NYC (trust us, this dated content is far better than a recap of how we feel about the Allen Iverson trade):

- Rainer Maria - This is still not a music blog, but this band's last two shows were the reason we went to NYC in the first place, so it's worthy of at least a mention. Great shows, and wonderful goodbyes. If you want some "secret" content, here's a link to a recording of the Saturday night show.

- Jewmobiles - In what seemed to be a Jewish analogue to Santarchy, there were at least five different sightings of RVs and trucks decorated to celebrate Hanukkah (Happy Hanukkah y'all). Not content to just have signs on the sides of their vehicles, the occupants yelled at pedestrians from windows, questioning their Jewishness or singing Hebrew songs along with their amplified stereos. We admired their enthusiasm.

- Late-night food - self-explanatory

- Late-night misadventures - We were walking back to where we were staying at 3am and came across a guy standing in the street at 11 Spring (see below), trying to knock down a pair of wooden sneakers hanging on a power line. We watched him for a half-hour as he tossed a shoe repeatedly, trying to get these shoes for his girlfriends, who's wanted a pair for years. He eventually gave up for the night once an annoyed resident found his own entertainment in throwing things at him.

- 11 Spring - The former carriage house at 11 Spring was a mecca for street artists. They'd come from all over the world to leave their mark. When it was slated to be redeveloped as condos, the owners respected the history and contacted The Wooster Collective who then spent months flying in artists who left gorgeous murals all over the space, finally opening it up for three days before the art was lost forever behind drywall. spanning_time spent four hours in line before narrowly making it in, and it was totally worth it. Just check out this flickr pool for proof.

The Next Cookoff Dish Is...

2006-12-22T21:43:00.000-08:00

So the winner of the Mac & Cheese cookoff, the one and only FierceFlawless, has debated at length over the next dish to be produced in the friendly cookof series we seem to have started. After much deliberation over sweet vs. savory, complicated vs. simple, she's decided that the next dish is:

Fried Rice

The date for the next competition is still TBD, but we're going to need all the practice we can get. For all of the bragging we did over our Mac & Cheese (judge's favorite!), we have zero confidence in our rice-making abilities and have never been able to make anything more complicated than the instant variety.

On the Road Again

2006-12-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

spanning_time is on an east coast vacation until after the new year. We would have come back anyway, but we started the trip a bit early this year in order to see the final shows for one of our favorite bands in New York City (Rainer Maria in case you're curious). From there we headed to Virginia to visit the family (where we are now), and we'll be here until we head back to NYC for New Year's. As always, we'll be posting our misadventures in order to track our dominion over the world around us. We'll be attempting to keep tabs on Seattle happenings as well.

R.I.P. Joe Barbera (1911-2006)

2006-12-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna Barbera duo that created the cartoons that acted as babysitters to our latchkey childhood (Jetsons, Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and so very many more), died Monday of natural causes. You can read the full details here, but we here at spanning_time want to send out a blog moment of silence to show our respect for all of his contributions to our lives. Thank you for doing your part to fuel our Peter Pan complex.

Three Links Plus One

2006-12-09T14:36:00.000-08:00

1 - Ignite Seattle - This new entrant to the Seattle unconference family held its first edition Thursday and it was fun, with interesting talks, a bridge-building competition (with popsicle sticks and glue guns naturally), and a nice cross section of the tech and art scenes. Keep an eye out for it. The next two links featured represention.

2 - Mcleod Residence - We get more and more excited about the Mcleod Residence as we hear more about it. Combining, art, tech stuff, and a bar, we can't quite wrap out head around what it's going to be, but that's sorta the point.

3 - RealityAllStarz - It's like 43things, but with points instead of personal fulfillment (which isn't meant as a dig).

Bonus - Heroes - We were hoping that Heroes would do well this season, and it's become a full-blown phenomenon. We've wanted so much to talk about this show every week, but we managed to refrain. NBC has made a smart move though and put every episode online for viewing, so there's no reason for you to not be caught up by the time this season starts up again in January. Trust us, Heroes is way better than Lost (contains spoilers).

The Cheezening in Review

2006-12-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

We know we've kept you in suspense for the week, but we've only now awoken from the food coma of last week's Macaroni & Cheese cookoff. Gathering just after 8pm Sunday night, the three chefs each presented their take on this American classic, complemented with some fried chicken from Ezell's to make it all a bit more healthy. Eating and judging commenced immediately, as did the viewing of A Christmas Story.

We didn't win it all. We took home the Judge's Favorite award, along with the only score of 5 on the evening, but we didn't win. The lovely FierceFlawless took home the prize, and it was well-deserved. Her entrant boasted remarkable density without feeling heavy, with the right balance of cheese to noodle, with an underlying hint of spice. J-Justice went with larger noodles, and his cheese mixture was so creamy that "silky" becomes an apt descriptor. Our own version featured four cheeses and shells, giving each bite a surprise quality as the melted cheese oozed from its housing. As clichéed as it sounds, there truly were no losers, as our mac & cheese-filled meals over the next few days could attest.

One of the best developments during this competition was the decision that this should be a regular occurence. Initially proposed as monthly, this might be moved to quarterly, but that's still TBD. The winner decides the next dish (the next is still unannounced). So expect more cooking posts in the coming months. If you're up for competing, we're taking all comers.

As promised, here are the recipes:

FierceFlawless:
via Puhleez
Special Notes:
Used 1/3 the flour
Used more cheese

J-Justice:
via Martha Stewart
Special Notes:
Added 1/2 tsp of crushed garlic
Double the cayenne
Use large macaroni
Use both pecorino and gruyere, half of recommended of each

TwoRedShoez (Us):
via My Mom
1 12 oz. package macaroni shells
1 egg, beaten
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can evaporated milk
1 small container (8oz?) sour cream
1/2 cup diced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced, sliced, whatever
Cheese - 2 1/2 cups (we're guessing, we just sorta made it up), half cheddar, rest mozzarella, provolone, parmesan mix
Optional: breadcrumbs mixed with thyme

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Prepare macaroni, drain
- Sauté onions and garlic (while macaroni cooks)
- Combine cream of mushroom/evaporated milk. Stir (clumps are ok).
- In a large bowl, coat noodles with egg. Add cream of mushroom/milk. Add onion/garlic. Add cheese. Stir 'til uniform. Add sour cream.
- Add mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle cheese on top.
- OPTIONAL: Brown breadcrumbs with butter in a pan. Sprinkle on top of mac & cheese mixture.
- Bake for 25 mins, until top is browned.

Curling Open House Today 12-5pm

2006-12-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

You all know how much we love curling. The grace, the science, the sweeping. We've missed every open house thus far this season, but we've finally remembered an open house on the day it was happening. Sure, there are plenty of options for things to do with yourself, but these open houses have some the best fun/$ ratios you'll find. With the Olympics being done you shouldn't have to contend with large crowds either.

Today is The Showdown

2006-12-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

In 8 hours (at 7pm), we'll be testing our Mac & Cheese mettle against some of our finest friends. We've mentioned the competition already, but what we haven't mentioned is all of the prep work that's gone into this "friendly" competition, with the Internet scoured for tips on how to ensure ourselves a win. We already know that the secret ingredient is "love," but not only have we done a test run with some tweaks, we've researched just about everything in our current recipe to see if it can be improved. We truly think this is going to be our Mac & Cheese opus. Considering we're posting about it again it's safe to say we're a little nervous. More posting likely later during the prep process, and definitely with the results (the new plan is to not only post our own recipe, but all four competitors as well).

Stuff this Weekend

2006-12-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday & Sunday
- Urban Craft Uprising: It's gift-buying season, and this is sure to be one of the best places to find something unique for both the ones you care about and the ones you're obligated to buy gifts for.

Sunday
- Curling on the CBC: So what if it's not the Olympics? This is the first big curling competition of the season, and will be getting far more of our attention come Sunday than football will. More locally, there's an open house next week, so clear your calendar.

Whenever
- Winterfest: This seems to be almost as grand in scale as Seafair, with ice skating, magic shows, jugglers and who knows what else, so whether you're with family or on some sort of date (even a quasi-date), this seems like a good option for the next month or so.

Like "You Got Served" With Christmas Carols

2006-11-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Friday) from 6:30-8pm Westlake Center is going to be filled with the sounds of Christmas cheer in addition to the sounds of Christmas commerce. We didn't even know this happened at all, but it's the 20th(!) annual Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition. Their press release says it's a Seattle tradition, but this is the first we've heard of it. It's definitely for a good cause though, as the teams compete to gather the most money to donate to the Pike Market Senior Center & Downtown Food Bank. Seattle, you continue to surprise us, and to quote Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing."

Date: Friday, December 1, 2006
Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Where: Westlake Center & Pine Street between 3rd Ave. & 7th Ave.
What: 40+ teams compete in a caroling competition to raise funds for the Pike Market Senior Center & Downtown Food Bank.

Schedule:
(5:00 - 6:00pm) Pre-Figgy Entertainment: Christmas in the Northwest artist, Doxology will perform on the main stage in Westlake Center.
(6:15 – 7:15pm) Caroling Team Competition
(7:30-8:30pm) Caroling Competition Finals and Award Ceremony

[via Rachel]

Mac & Cheese Cookoff This Weekend

2006-11-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

In some sort of cosmic synchronicity, spanning_time has managed to become part of a Mac & Cheese cookoff this weekend on the same day that Union is hosting one of their own. The one at Union is a bit spendier than we'd usually post about here, but it's a benefit for Farestart, so we're willing to support it regardless. It's a reasonable substitute for the smaller DIY version in which we're taking part. We've already tweaked our recipe, and we think we've got what it takes to win. Should we do so, we're more than willing to share our recipe if there's interest.

Union's Mac 'n' Cheese Cook-off!

Join us for all-you-can eat Mac 'n Cheese cook-off at Union benefiting FareStart!

Enjoy this comfort food favorite as prepared by Seattle area's top chefs including Ethan Stowell of Union, Seis Kamimura of BOKA Restaurant + Bar, Renee Erickson of Boat Street Cafe, Robin Leventhal of CRAVE, Steve Smrstik of 35th St. Bistro, celebrated food writer Cynthia Nims and others...

You love Mac 'n Cheese... see who makes it best!

So That's Where We Get It From...

2006-11-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Mama spanning_time has just informed us that today she's going to be watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in her own marathon. Gotta love it.

Blogging From the East Coast

2006-11-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

We just had a long post eaten by Blogger, so we're going to be a bit more brief this time around. We're typing this from our less event-filled home in Virginia, where we'll be for the next few days of our Turkey Day vacation. Last night we made a trip to Jillians and saw a couple of noteworthy games we'd like to share with you.

Possibly our new favorite arcade game is Panic Park. Released in 1998 by Namco, the game cabinet features two horizontally-aligned levers, one for each player. These levers move along the same track, giving players the chance to bump, nudge, or otherwise alter their opponent. The game itself doesn't feature one involved narrative, but instead consists of 5 randomly selected mini-games, each of the "collect the coins," "avoid the barrier" variety. Very simple to pick up, and addictive once the competitive juices start flowing - nothing like bumping your opponent into lava at the last second to take the win. We don't know of this game existing in Seattle, but we plan to work on that, with emails to both Gameworks and Jillians. We're big-time bloggers here, so we've got all kinds of pull.

The other "game" isn't a game at all, but a horse-racing simulator. Derby Owners Club allows players to create, train, and finally race their own horse. We're not sure if this is ultimately for cash and prizes, but you can actually save your horse's stats and take it with you. This wasn't a casual game in the slightest, with the players there keeping tabs on their progress in notebooks, discussing strategy on occasion with the others there. We didn't get it at all, but couldn't help but to be fascinated by it, which counts for something, right?

Checking on the PS3 Front Lines

2006-11-17T01:02:00.000-08:00

So we managed to make it up to Northgate to check on the campout situation for the PS3. There was a crowd of about 50 outside Best Buy, with a group of around 6 friends upstairs at Target. Best Buy was telling people that they expected 34 units, while Target had a sign only listing 8. We heard no mention of a list at Target, but one of the people in line mentioned he planned to buy 4 units, one to keep, the rest to place on eBay. We didn't survey the Best Buy line, but they had buying limits in place (one per customer) to avoid some of that sort of behavior. Moreover, they had a list of people allotting every unit they had. The list was filled up when people started lining up Wednesday afternoon (!). The catch with the list is that people still had to stay outside the store in line, which is fair. And those people beyond the 34? They're in line in hopes that those original people lose their will to stay, that their credit cards don't work, or that by some miracle of supply chain management Best Buy gets more PS3s than they're expecting. spanning_time is writing this post from the warmth of home. We salute these enthusiasts and entrepreneurs for their efforts, but we'd rather play our PS2 than camp in the cold for a PS3.

(There aren't expectations for this same sort of mayhem Saturday night for the release of the Wii. Best Buy is expecting over a hundred, with resupplies every few days. Nintendo has stated that everyone that wants a Wii can get one before Xmas.)

It's Late Notice But...Scrabble @ Westlake

2006-11-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

This event snuck up on us since we got the release for it a few weeks back, but this is definitely worthy of your time if you work near Westlake Center. What else are you going to do on your lunch hour? Eat? Psh.

The RealNetworks (which, of course, anagrams to AN OK WRESTLER) Man vs. Machine competition will be held at downtown Seattle's Westlake Center on Friday from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM Jim Kramer, the 2006 US Scrabble Open Champion, will be enclosed in an isolation booth as he tests his SCRABBLE skills against the RealArcade version of the game. Jim has a chance to win $10,000 if he can beat our game. Serving as Masters of Ceremonies for the competition will be John Williams and John Curley, Anchor for Seattle's Evening Magazine.

A Weekend Based Around Endurance

2006-11-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

It's a bit late to do a weekend recap, but so what, we're just now recovered and we're going to do it anyway.

- Stranger Than Fiction. Recommended. Sure it's a bit schmaltzy at the end, but the overall movie experience is a good one. Will Ferrell does a good blank everyman, and the story has some interesting spanning_timey overtones to it. We're willing to say it's the feel-good movie of the season, but we're prone to cinematic clichés. In all seriousness though, we liked it and think you will too.

- Seattle MindCamp 3.0. Once again we didn't stay the 24 hours, as we felt our 12 was enough. We got to see the new Nintendo Wii in action (very fun, even just to watch), got drawn by the Drawbot, and of course attended a variety of talks. Mind Performance Hacks and How to Open Source Your Life were most directly spanning_time-centric. We'd love to be able to mention the lucid dreaming talk, but we left before that began.

- Shorty's Pinball Championship. We expected to show up, eat a hot dog, watch some pinball and leave in an hour or so. We ended up there for SEVEN hours - and we weren't in the tournament. The tournament ran for nine hours total, and we stuck around because a friend of ours was competing (he ended up taking third, taking him to around #160 in the world rankings). Of interest to us was the disdain competitors had for the vintage machines, learning that the nachos at Shorty's are pretty tasty, and further cementing that we suck at pinball, since the scores being put up were orders of magnitude above our lifetime best.

PS3 Launch Tomorrow

2006-11-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Any gamer worth his salt already knows that this is the biggest week in recent memory game-wise. The PS3 launches tomorrow, while the Nintendo Wii launches in just a few days. These are both Big Deals. And yet, spanning_time is more interested in the phenomenon of camping out for the consoles than in obtaining one of the consoles for ourselves. We're thinking of making a run to local retailers to survey the campout scene and compare it to what we've seen online. As an example, here's video from the Union Square Circuit City:

Shorty's Pinball Tournament Tomorrow

2006-11-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Beer, hot dogs, pinball. What more could you ask for? Shorty's is one of spanning_time's favorite Seattle destinations, and one of our favorite times to go there is for their annual pinball tournament. There's not much need to show up for the whole thing (we'll admit watching someone else play pinball is only so exciting), but it is a good excuse to stop by for a midday hotdog and beer.

Double Elimination Head to Head Competition
Doors open practice begins at 11am
Registration at 1pm
Competition starts at 2pm
Endorsed by the IFPA

Winner takes the grand prize of a vintage pinball machine and 25 points for the world player ranking list. 2nd Place is 15 points. 3rd is 10 points and 4th is 5 points.

Lots other prizes!

Entrance fee is $5. Spectators are FREE!
Must be 21 or over to enter (because, well, we're a bar)

[via Seattlest]

In spanning_time News

2006-11-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

- Seattle Mindcamp is this weekend. It's got -5 tickets left, so it'll be beyond a packed house. We're hoping for entertaining talks, delicious food, and productive nerding. We won't be blogging from there (there will be more than enough of that), but we'll do a recap of the event.

- The Rock Paper Scissors World Championship is tomorrow. No, we're not going, and no, we don't want to talk about it. Here's an interview from a guy who is. [Thanks Rebekah!]

- It's official. A burrito is NOT a sandwich.

Learn the Art of Seduction

2006-11-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is a timely post, considering the big comment explosions coming in the wake of this week's maintenance of the lapdance status-quo. If you want to learn the ins and outs of seductive dance (for yourself, your lady, or your fella, we don't judge here), there are classes available for you. Since we'll be indoors the next few months, might as well make it sexy-time.

Beginning Burlesque Dance/Movement aka Bump & Grind with Miss Indigo Blue
Learn to move like a burlesque star!
Mondays 6:30 - 8:00 - Ongoing!
Northwest Actors' Studio, 3d floor
Cnr 11th & Pike, Capitol Hill
$30/drop-in, $140 for the remaining classes:
Nov 13, Nov 20, Dec 4, Dec 11, Dec 18
Register at www.nwactorsstudio.org

Because it's Funny

2006-11-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

In case you missed this among all the more attention-worthy items floating around the Interweb the last few days, here's an analysis of the political alignments of some of your favorite comic book characters (check the comments, some of them are pretty insightful). Nice work Dave's Long Box.

[via Seattlest]

Vote Today

2006-11-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is just a reminder to get out there today and vote (or mail off your absentee ballot). We know it's rainy, but go vote...all the cool kids are doing it.

Just Because this is Pretty Neat

2006-11-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

Are you tone deaf?

We got 88.9%. Top that!

Bad Google, No Cookie!

2006-11-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

That RSS explosion? Not anything we did. We blame Google. In any case, sorry for the inconvenience.

Pretty, Witty and Bright

2006-11-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

We feel no sense of shame in admitting that we are positively addicted to West Side Story. We've got the crazy, super-deluxe edition of the DVD, we've got the original soundtrack...on vinyl, and you have no idea how many times we've almost bought an official West Side Story t-shirt. So despite the gray weather, you have no idea there we are for this talk/performance tonight by Marni Nixon, who dubbed for Natalie Wood in the film. If she sings "I feel pretty," we're going to cry.

Here's the copy:

One of the best-known and best-loved singing voices in the world, Marni Nixon dubbed songs for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, and Deborah Kerr in the King and I. She debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at 17 and continued her career with Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Stephen Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein, and many others. She has performed on Broadway, starred in her own Emmy-winning TV show (Boomerang) in Seattle, appeared in concerts, theaters, and night clubs and has released classical recordings, and toured extensively with both Liberace and Victor Borge. Still an active and compelling performer, she has written her own behind-the-scenes story in I Could Have Sung All Night. She returns to the Seattle stage for an evening of stories and song illustrating her six decades of performing.

[via Metblog]

The Halloween Aftermath

2006-11-01T15:17:00.000-08:00

We didn't make much mention of Halloween around here, since it's not like it really needs much help from us. We hope you all went out with your Dan Savage masks and had a grand time. spanning_time managed to come up with a costume in time for Halloween-observed on Saturday, dashing any of our political aspirations by crossing the gender barrier as a sexy nurse (Yes, pictures exist, and No, you can't see them). Fun times were had by all.

So now what? It's November, it's cold, but there are still good things out there to enjoy. For one, there's pumpkin ale (if you're into that). For two, it's Cupcake Harvest Season. For three, it's voting season, and you could even span_time while helping the cause (spanning_time is socially responsible). But most importantly, and for four, it's curling season. That's right, it's time for more weekend afternoons spent making an ass of ourselves out on the ice (and convincing our readers to come along for the fun). The first set of open houses has already passed, but try to keep your weekends open because there's definitely going to be a spanning_time event for this soon (maybe we'll get cupcakes, drink beer and vote on something just to make this post have some sense of cohesion).

In any case, welcome to fall y'all. We'll do our best to fight the urge to hibernate and keep you updated with the relevant information to fill your free time with levity.

Help Out the Science Fair!

2006-11-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

In the pre-s_t days, we attended the SOAP-sponsored Science Fair, and we have to say it was a good time, with big-ass baking soda volcanoes ("big-ass" being the technical term for "very large") and crazy experiments with electricity. It messed with your reactions because every few seconds you were distracted by either a bright flash or loud noise. Despite such reflex-exhaustion, it was fun. They're looking to have another and need your help (yes you!). Here's the copy, and more details about this will be forthcoming as it gets closer.

Weird Genius Real Science Fair
Jan. 20th, 2007
In an old schoolhouse down in the valley (location to be revealed, in Seattle)

Calling all mad, weird, funny, and real scientists! The third Weird
Genius Real Science Fair is scheduled to occur in just under three
months, and we are beginning to take science project submissions. At
this time we are requesting just a rough outline of what you wish to
demonstrate about the wondrous workings of science and science related
automagic. For example: I would like to do a waterfall of delicious
beer to demonstrate how potential and kinetic energy relate to each
other. I'll need a hose, a wall outlet, and some nachos. Mail those
submissions here -> science@inability.org

This is a 21+ event, with beer, and multiple volcanoes. We are not
responsible for your white labcoat du jour, and we maintain the right
to refuse any project that will put us in jail, burn the entire place
down, kills/zombify, or harm seemingly innocent picklesquashes no
matter how much those bitches deserve it.

At this time we are also looking for volunteers, inquire within. Mail
here -> science@inability.org .

Questions -> science@inability.org. Look for a formal announcement of
the event that you can send to your friends, family, and colleagues
sometime soon. For now, dream that impossible (but quantifiable and
provable via scientific method) dream.

ABOUT US:
The Seattle Outsider Artist Project (SOAP) is a Washington State
non-profit dedicated to undifferentiated creative proliferation in the
community. Please contact us immediately if you create anything.

Seattle Outsider Artist Project
contact@seattleoutsider.org

SOAP is a sponsored program of The Shunpike: "The Shunpike Arts
Collective strengthens the Seattle arts community by partnering with
artists to more effectively present and distribute their work."

Recapping E.A.B.F.A.T.M.D.

2006-10-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, Burrito Day was a bit of a mixed bag. We did manage to keep the day burrito-centric, but that isn't saying much as the day was plagued by an extreme lack of appetite. After a trip to the grocery store to stock up the day before, we woke up with not only no desire to eat a burrito, but no desire to eat at all. Certainly a bit problematic.

We skipped breakfast and headed to the food bank to help there. We met up with Bostonsteamer and spent the day sorting food, building boxes, and moving things from Point A to Point B. It was surprisingly brief, and it was good to catch up with Bostonsteamer. The food sorting was organized by the Jewish Family Service, which runs the food bank near spanning_time HQ. We only note the organizers to add context to how inappropriate it was to have Borat's "Throw the Jew Down the Well" stuck in our heads for hours after discussing the Borat movie with Bostonsteamer (he had the same problem, and he's Jewish).

After that we headed to Cocina Cantina for lunch where we had what amounted to the only real burrito of the day (and the only meal of the day). It was tasty. So while Bostonsteamer and his other cohorts had much more success with their Burrito Day (he closed the day with four burritos), spanning_time had to close out the day with a burrito count of one. Pretty sad, but we still got to help and be part of the festivities, so that counts for something. Thanks to Bostonsteamer for setting it all up.

This Week in Film

2006-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Two things that may have slipped under your radar:

Gumby 50th Anniversary Celebration @ NW Film Forum
We have to admit to liking Gumby more as a concept than a show, but we still respect the Gumby contribution to the world of animation. Maybe this retrospective will turn us into a full fan.

Just For Kicks @ Harvard Exit (Scion Film Series <- free with RSVP) - Monday, 10/23 Only
We're admitted shoe fanatics here, so we were all over this film screening as soon as it was announced. For the rest of you, your reason to attend is partially to get a peek into this obsessive little world, but mainly to watch a bunch of guys (and yes, it'll be mainly guys) walking around staring at each other's feet, since you know the attendees are going to dress to impress - from the ankle down.

Eat a Burrito For All Three Meals Day - Sunday

2006-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

In real life, spanning_time knows some of the best people around. They, like us, are willing to take on all manner of personal projects, some important, many not-so-important. Bostonsteamer has ordained this Sunday as Eat a Burrito for All Three Meals Day, which has been on upcoming.org for a while, and which we propose to you as a spanning_time-worthy event. Bostonsteamer even went the extra mile and set up 1) a volunteer opportunity at a food bank and 2) a potluck afterparty for all participants at the Alibi Room. We fully support Burrito Day, and we're making our trip to the grocery store tomorrow to prepare. You should do the same. Why? Well, why not?

A Moment For Nostalgia

2006-10-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today turned out to be filled with nostalgia, with discussions and subsequent downloads of The Transformers and G.I. Joe, but what brought us to make this post is the news of a Fraggle Rock movie. We hope they can live up to Jim Henson's legacy. They'd better include the doozers too. It's a bit early to announce, but expect word of a spanning_time gathering once this movie comes out.

Be Careful Out There

2006-10-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

spanning_time is typing this post from outside of spanning_time HQ, as the fire alarm is currently going off. We still get wireless and it seems to be a false alarm, but after seeing someone get hit by a car a few minutes ago (they seem to be more OK than not, although they were taken off by ambulance to the hospital), we want to tell you to just stay careful out there. Not just 'cause we want the readers, but because here at spanning_time, we care about each and every one of y'all.