This Seattlest took one look at the weather forecast and headed to sunny Florida yesterday. Now here we are in our hometown of DeLand, population 24,375 (per 2006 census). Our mother doesn't have wireless at the house, and is operating off a 1997 iMac. It's cute and compact, but slow as hell, so we headed out this morning for the one source of public wifi in town: Boston Gourmet Coffeehouse. A couple of things about......

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Hello out there in Seattlest-land, this is your friendly editor Seth. We've kicked a fair amount of ass, figuratively speaking, in 2007, but in 2008, we want to further our plans for world domination. To this end, we're going to hire a news editor. This person will be available during the day to break news, shine light on stories that are hiding in the dark corners of our city, and, of course, completely rip off......

We're not sure exactly what this is...seems like it's some voice software reproducing some of the comments Amanda Knox has made in relation to the slaying of her roommate in Italy. In Italian. With English subtitles. And music. And slides.......

If you've noticed a ton of error messages in Seattlest comments today, you're not alone. Our technology team in NYC is working to fix the problem as we speak, as it's affecting the entire -Ist Network. We appreciate your patience while they re-implement the SQL coding process for optimal FTP performance or whatever the hell they do. In the meantime, please don't repost your comments. Even if you do get an error message that says......

Photo posted to Live Journal Seattle by iheartretards.......

The way Seattlest's routine works out we're afforded precious little time down in Tacoma, so we're particularly unqualified to speak to the panhandling scene there as opposed to here. Maybe someone more familiar with the City of Destiny can explain the need for the panhandling ban there, though? We do spend a significant amount of time downtown Seattle, and there are panhandlers around, but they tend to either be so consistently present as to become......

This weekend Mr. and Mrs. Seattlest drove out to North Bend to cut a Christmas tree down and haul it back to Seattle. No, we didn't hike up Si with an ax and harvest a sapling, although that does sound fun. There's a tree farm out there by the name of Crown Tree Farm. It was our first time getting a tree from anywhere other than those road-side dealies or the enclosures that pop......

The glorious fall sunsets have disappeared along with the mouldering husks of Halloween pumpkins, and according the weather report, we can all expect a long, cold, wet weekend. But this being the Northwest, that's never stopped us from getting out and about; here's the weekend plans of your intrepid Seattlest contributors: By the time this hits the digital newsstands, Jeremy is going to be on his way to Fadó for post-work cocktails; after that......

Here are three vaguely computer-related crimes taken from recent headlines in Seattle, Chicago and New England. Seattle: "Man pleads guilty in cybertheft case." A 35-year-old Seattle man has pleaded guilty in federal court to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme that utilized peer-to-peer file-sharing programs to gain access to private information from dozens of victims. Gregory Kopiloff admitted during a plea hearing Monday that, through LimeWire and other file-sharing programs, he used......

Unconfirmed reports from Halloween night place a Peet's "Coming Soon" sign at Broadway and Denny. Maybe a scary mask obscured someone's vision? Dunno, but we're interested to find out. A Peet's at that intersection would be a preemptive strike in anticipation of a Broadway light rail station. Anyway, we're stuck indoors right now and can't get over to Denny to check it out. Since you performed so spectacularly last week getting a shot of the......

Today we'll be playing the part of a slobbish, washed-up Seattle Police Detective. Our character has spent years busting pimps, dopers, gangbangers and the occasional Amish fellow. And for what? A goddamn string of broken promises, broken bones, two ex-wives and a bad liver. Happy Halloween. So, doll face... What are you wearing?......

In central Illinois in the 1990s Seattlest was a wee little college freshman exploring the twin wonders of new music and new drugs. Nirvana, for example, was making some music we got really into, so much so that we learned of Aberdeen, WA, even though we'd never been to the West Coast, much less the Pacific Northwest, or Washington, or Seattle. At nearly the same time we encountered our first vanity steroid users. Some guys......

Adult gorillas aren't cute. The last time we saw one at the Woodland Park it climbed a tree and crapped a giant turd into its giant hand. Parents were shielding their poor children's delighted eyes. Baby gorillas, though, seem pretty cute. Check out this video we found on the Big Blog.......

Hello all-- News from the front lines of the blogging revolution: We've killed guest comments. Well, to be accurate our corporate overlords have killed guest comments. Ist-wide, the vast majority of spam and boorish behavior comes from guest commenters. As many Internet pundits have observed, total anonymity seems to make even the nicest person act totally insane. It hasn't been much of a problem here at Seattlest, and I'd like to thank those guest commenters......

This company pissed us off with their graffiti-esque chalk attack advertising recently in Downtown Seattle, but as far as we know not much came of it. Well, an anti guerrilla advertising site was created, but to our knowledge the city of Seattle didn't hold the company responsible for all their visual litter. It's a different story in Bellevue, though. The city to the East is apparently less tolerant of this job site's hyper-aggressive marketing schtick,......

We'd like to take a brief moment to thank this week's advertisers on Seattlest The Next Iron Chef, starting Sunday in its quest to find...the next Iron Chef. The Darjeeling Limited, in theaters now. Busted Tees, where they have some shirts on sale for $9.99! The Heartbreak Kid, which has a special contest for Seattlest readers. You can win a pair of tickets to see the movie and a $200 gift card. If you're interested......

We knew that last winter's windstorm was a boon to salesmen of propane and propane accessories, but now it seems like it gave a little nudge to young lovers as well. Apparently there was a "baby boomlet" this September, nine months following the storm and mass power outages. This is always the cool part about big weather events: they bring people together. My roof is fucked up, my neighbor's roof is fucked up--we can set......

Last night, we trekked over to Madison Market to get our favorite toothpaste. (Yes, it is strange to like a toothpaste enough to go out of our way for it, but the stuff widely available does not make us want to stick it in our mouth and brush away.) The store is always insanely packed, and we dread going there because the lines, oh the lines. But yesterday found the store a relative ghost town,......

Someone buy one or several of the supposedly many 747 hulls that are about to come on the market and drop them in Seattle somewhere, please. Seriously, there is a dire need. One, they're cheap and you've got a bunch of software money to burn. It'll be like recognizing the old masters, but, you know, demeaning them at the same time...like when you bought your old man a house and then attached all those crazy......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

Sorry, "Guest," you're on your way out. Seattlest loves you--For the most part you who forgo the site's great commenter profile system to add your wisdoms to our posts are well-behaved and interesting, but our brothers and sisters across the country (heathens, apparently) are of the mind that people act differently when their words are attached to a name, any name, and that all commenters should be logged in. Starting today "guest" comments to......

The past two days, contributors Jeremy "The Seattle Samurai" Barker and Katie "The Kalama Quickdraw" Tiehen debated the age-old question of whether Seattle or Portland is better. Both Jeremy and Katie raised some excellent points, but that's what rebuttals are for. Katie rebuts Jeremy: [ED: Jeremy, writing for Seattle, alleged that Portland's ascension to Green-ness and "hipster paradise"-dom was not without social and economic cost--most notably, higher housing prices in the urban core, which pushed......

You asked for it, and now you got it.......

Seattle. Portland. Which one's better? You may say: "How can you choose? Each has their good points. It's like asking which religion is better." Guess what, asshole, that Negative Nellie attitude is the reason nobody ever asks for your fucking opinion. Jerk. Yesterday, Jeremy Barker advocated the pro-Seattle position. Now, it's Portland's turn. Why Portland is better than Seattle, by Katie "The Kalama Quickdraw" Tiehen Before we get into this, let's just lay out what......

Seattle. Portland. Which one's better? You may say: "How can you choose? Each has their good points. It's like asking which religion is better." Guess what, asshole, that Negative Nellie attitude is the reason nobody ever asks for your fucking opinion. Jerk. To the debate! First up, it's a pro-Seattle opinion. Seattle is better than Portland, by Jeremy "The Seatown Samurai" Barker When I tell people that I think Portland's gone down the wrong road......

Yesterday at about six o'clock in Westlake Center square there was a protest going on. Matching shirts, coordinated singing and sign stamping; it was the most together group we've seen demonstrating since...ever, probably. Westlake's mix of teenager hanger outers, office workers and shoppers gave them a wide berth, hanging out on the fringes as if gulping a huge breath of air before darting for the entrance to the mall. Don't look, don't acknowledge, don't--for god's......

Is the office slightly quieter today? Were there fewer parents dropping the little ones off at school this morning? Were there a lot more parked cars in certain spots around Wedgwood, Seward Park or Mercer Island? If so, then you noticed Seattle's very low-key signs that Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year is here. Growing up Jewish in New York City, we're always a little surprised when the New Year rolls around in Seattle......

We're starting to think that it's not just the Wedgwood Safeway that's a bit odd. We've started coming to the conclusion that it may the whole dam neighborhood. On a recent walk to our local PCC (which, for the record, is also odd in that it is ridiculously small for a liberal neighborhood with as much disposable income as this one seems to have) we spied the graffiti pictured here. We have to admit that......

This summer, Seattlest thought we were smart. Oh so smart. We were engaged. Our financial missteps were behind us. We’d plotted to start saving dough—to get a less-expensive apartment, sock the monthly savings into a high-yield account and, in a couple of years, look for a condo or fixer-upper in West Seattle. Rent something cheaper now; buy something modest later. Damn, it felt good to be a forward-thinker. So we searched for that less-expensive......