Post# 2328.   A huge mess.    It started at first with a siren, that was nothing. Two sirens, three, still nothing. Three sirens might be something, but it won't make the news and you'll never find out what it was. Then a helicopter, loitering and loitering. None of this attracted anything besides my second-hand attention so far. Then the "Riptide" chopper arrived. I call it that because it sounds like that ridiculous-looking pink one from the television show with Perry King, Joe Penny and Thom Bray (Murray 'Boz' Bozinsky) back in the early 80's. They called her the "Screaming Mimi," (thanks to the Internet; I had forgotten that,) and is evidently now owned by Channel 4 - KOMO-TV, Seattle. A plug. This helicopter is so obnoxious that you are driven to find out at any cost what the event is, and every time I hear it I am also reminded of Thom Bray as a dork back when "dork" was a recognized condition.

Naturally, there was nothing on television local cable news or even on the radio. No one really does "news" anymore. I'm starting to believe they think it is too scary for us. Long, short .. it turned out to be this:


which I think we'd all agree is one beauty of a freeway wreck. Note the backup. As luck would have it, the bus was carrying a high school football team to the state tournament. Who better to get bounced around, all on and off one another? No one was seriously hurt. Would you just look at the Standing Around. That alone set a record, I believe, for sheer number of employees on local, county and state payrolls as well as for duration. I'm not sure on the latter - an avalanche rollover, with kids, might go 48 hours. Pretty light snowfall so far this year as compared with '07 and '06 though.

The wreck was caused by a car, following too closely, slamming on its brakes when a ladder fell off a pickup in front, causing the bus, following too closely, to slam on its own brakes to avoid the car and instead flying out of control, going off the freeway and rolling over. Lots of citations.

I knew a guy named Bray once. Dave. Nice kid, not a dork at all. And he turned out to be extremely normal considering all the hee-haws and what not.Rick Macherat ray finkle tim masters white christmas movie sam bradford charlie wilson's war

posted by Rick at 10:56 PM

Post  #2327.   Oh, the humanity .. 4-hour lockdown in Nordstroms.    When shots rang out at The Westfield Southcenter Shopping Centre of Tukwila, also known as "Southcenter," many of the thousands of people inside must have instantly thought, "OMG, it's another Dominick Maldonado!" That would be the shootup of The Tacoma Mall where the perpetrator first called 911 and told the operator what he was going to do and to "just follow the screams." I think Dominick's over-the-top performance is what got him 140 years instead of the more typical twenty. Today's event turned out to be nothing more than a beef among several gangbangers, killing one and wounding one, but it put a movie quality cap on a November Friday afternoon and evening. The performances ... first rate, from the girls streaming out of Nordstroms and tearfully reuniting with frantic moms in Escalades - Hold on, wouldn't Escalades be more Bellevue Square? - you're right, just make that waiting moms, probably not all that frantic; this is South Seattle after all, and Southcenter has sort of turned into a modern day O.K. Corral. From all that to the Harborview Hospital emoting/wailing lounge and gang survivor/revenge waiting area where the television cameras while kept at a distance were nonetheless able to capture the quotidian drama well enough for continuing newsbreaks late into the night.

Yeah, I know, hard-hearted. I realize that this kid misses out on a few years of drug-dealing and drive-by's, but in the long run we save the expense of one more jail cell. And if his friends find the shooter before the cops do, well, there you go. Two cells we won't have to build.

But what about the chillllldren? The Food Court was filled with children. Lady, don't worry about the kids, they do lockdowns all the time and are much better at getting the doors locked, drapes closed and under the desk with someone cute than we'll ever be. Remember the 50's, when everyone was all freaked out over nukes? Nuke drills were a picnic for us.

I used to work at Southcenter, the year it opened in fact. Buck-sixty an hour, and almost nothing happened the whole summer except that one false fire alarm where everyone just sort of stood around. I sold shoes. Career note: you do not want to sell shoes.Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 11:11 PM

Post# 2326.   It's gonna get ugly before it's pretty again.    It felt like 1789 as Congress grilled the auto executives. Suppose the Honorables really didn't know that CEO's take private jets everywhere they go? Of course they did; this was all just symbolic torches and pitchforks. I wanted to relate some goings-on from my own state. For instance, the president of my alma mater, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, is taking a $100,000 pay cut. Not to be outdone, the president of the other state school is giving back his latest raise. Folks, these two gents make $725,000 and $905,000, respectively, plus mansions. The one I can figure: Seattle is big time, and precious. But Pullman .. how could anyone ever hope to spend $725,000 a year in Pullman? You could buy the whole store. What store? The store - Pullman has a store. When WSU was established, they knew it would be smelly and attract mainly the type of students who wouldn't be comfortable in towns with, say, streets, so they put it in the far, far corner of the state, as distant from Seattle as possible.



Okay, it isn't that far in the corner, but only someone who had spent time at WSU would be able to find it on a map. Okay, half of us probably.

This economic thing is going to get awfuller and awfuller, just wait. The good part is now that we're inured, it won't really bother us all that much. Just another catastrophe. In addition, Customer Service should improve dramatically. I remember the last one when for a brief time the customer was semi-right for awhile. Deflation is really bad, the economists tell us, but you won't hear us seniors complaining as we stock up on Depends and give the cat food to the cat!Rick Macherat Washington State University President Elson Floyd University of Washington President Mark Emmert

posted by Rick at 9:30 PM

Post# 2325. The Sooz.   There is no other reason for doing an entry today than to share a picture, this one:



Seattle Times photographer DEAN RUTZ captured the Suzzallo Library magnificently. We can longer build things like this.Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:31 PM

Post# 2324.   All choked up.    The salmon have returned! No, I am not kidding. Watch this movie and see the miracle for yourself. It is part of the bribe mitigation for the massive New Second Runway Project at Seattle-Tacome International Airport, often referred to erroneously as the "Third Runway." Our cost was only a shade over $1,013,000,000.00. Well worth it, all would agree. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:59 AM

Post# 2323.   Now appearing in Seattle Parks: The Aristocrats!    I reckon this one will more or less write itself. Nudists nekkid nudity bareass .. fountain .. public parks .. children .. Parks Board .. complaints .. overruled .. hairy .. approved .. discretion .. no problem .. cover eyes .. freedom. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 12:39 AM

Post# 2322.   Epiphany would be a stretch.    You'll be glad to hear that last night I typed a rambling trip to nowhere, re-read it, then deleted the entire thing in disgust. Not that today will be any better, but at least there won't be two stinkers in a row.

Worrying about the economy. Paulson was on again today, looking and sounding grim. It must be strange to have a job which you know is going to vanish in two months and still act like you care. There is so much going on that we'll never know about. I just hope some young historians are taking good notes. Normally at a time like this, I would be buying. Not a lot, just things which have been driven down excessively. Not this time. This feels like "The Big One," an earthquake country metaphor that is never far from our thoughts.

Just think, for a kid born around 1994 or so, terrorism, endless war, endless preparation for the last awful thing which won't happen again, awful things, screwed-up economics, buying everything from China even though it's poisoned, and having Arnold Schwartzenegger as (a successful!) Governor of California is all completely normal. Junior High 2008 is even normal. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 9:53 PM

Post# 2321.   Cynical observation #527.    My house is assessed for about $100,000 more than it could ever possibly fetch in the most freewheeling economy one could imagine and Eleven Times what I paid for it. There is this other house, however, my lottery house,


beautiful isn't it, which recently sold (dang) for $5,800,000. Despite that lofty transaction, the latest assessment has it as $4,400,000 a year later. Magic, huh? Not really, just gettin' things done. Those rich folks are saving about ten times the amount I am overpaying every year. All for a (probably) brief trip downtown to the right office with the right high priced (worth it) lawyer. That's how it works.

So, in case you were worrying about the tax burden to be shifted enormously to the wealthiest among us by the new Administration, Don't. They'll be okay. See, the super-rich never have to (ugh) touch money. Everything that comes in is channeled elsewhere - trusts, foundations, offshore and other "venues" which you and I haven't even imagined yet, and things they buy acquire are simply paid for, taken care of. You mean they don't pay any income tax at all? Oh no no no ... of course they do. There is a representative 1040 done up if for no other reason than to document some worthy donations and to feel part of the greater ohana.

If President Obama isn't going to get all that additional money in taxes from the rich people, where is it going to come from? Deficit spending, blame it on Bush. Should work for about a term and a half. Even though everyone makes fun of Cheney's "deficits don't matter," deep down we all know he was right. They don't. A few years of vigorous inflation and we pay can pay the National Debt off like a minor earmark, assuming we ever bother. That's the beauty of debt.

The interesting thing about economics is that money doesn't behave like other elements of science and math. That's why Economics is Magic, and not a science, and why we can do all these nutty things with it and still the world doesn't explode. Pay close attention, watch the next year and take notes.

If Economics is Magic, why don't you use it to fix your property valuation and taxes? Because we're ants and it doesn't work for us.Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:21 PM

Post# 2320.   Home of the week.    In case you were wondering where on earth would someone purposefully design and live in a place like this,


that would be Seattle. Yes, the ceiling is indeed bare, unfinished, raw, as-poured concrete, or at least very carefully and expensively designed to look that way. I called my cousins in New Mexico to ask if the chairs were the ones from the bus station in Gallup, but they're sure their chairs are still there. That object by the artsy is a working lamp. The view from this unit is (1) Experience Music Project, (2) Space Needle. Do you know that there are people who purchase property specifically to have a view of those two structures? Not only that, you can put it in your real estate ad - unobstructed view of EMP and the Needle, Studio, $2,950,000. Do you ever get the odd feeling that you may actually have died some time ago and this is really Hell? I do, sometimes.

One thing I always wonder about when studying featured homes in the Sunday supplement is what the heck do those people do all day? They have no Stuff. Modern homes and condo's have no storage at all, so it couldn't just be put away. In the example above, that thing on the glass coffee table is their book. One of the owners is shown in another photo reading it. In a chair by a bare concrete wall in sort of a corridor. Is it all Zenny and that's why I don't get it? Is the rain and I'm not depressed enough?

If you want to experience something totally Seattle and unfathomable on a massive scale, check out our new Four Seasons Hotel. To be profiled here in the near future, for sure. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:42 AM

Post# 2319.   Another of my many peeves.    We're moving into Flood Season this week, and it's always a joy to experience with the newer reporters the joy of mispronouncing names of our numerous rivers. See, when immeasurable acre feet of ocean moisture slams up against mountains and it's kind of chilly out, rain falls giganormously. You have to see it to believe it as all that rain eventually rolls downhill to us. Mainly into the streets and houses of people who have recently moved to Washington from California, flummoxing them completely. Tonight, JIM FORMAN, one of our most battle-rigored television reporters who has covered every gawdawful nighttime news story you could imagine, from the Green River Killer to hellish forest fires, snapped. For some unfathomable reason he decided to put on a cutesy small child to tell what she thought of the floods.

Arrrrgggghhh. No, I have nothing against small children, with some qualifications like having to see or hear them only very rarely and when I'm in an excellent mood. Why people let them be shown on television is beyond me. She allowed that there was a reawwy wot of water, or something like that. Right after that I understood why her parents raced out in the rain with her in tow as soon as they saw the TV-truck and lights: they have named her "Trinity." Of course, in remembrance of the Atomic Test Site. (Or the FatherSonandHolySpirit, one of them anyway.) A child that auspicious must be on TV I guess, even if it's just for the annual floods.

I listened to part of the President-elect press conference today. It seems we're planning to help a lot of people. That's swell. In fact, I'm detecting a frantic race toward victimhood all across the country, making me a little nervous what with 1099's just around the corner. My house is paid for, and I don't even have a credit card balance, deliberately. I hate paying interest even more than taxes. What a waste of money, though I wish I had felt like that a few years earlier. That sucking sound you heard from Wall Street this week was all the Obama supporters bailing, taking their gains and looking for other places to hide the money for eight years. (The McCain crowd did it a few weeks ago.) I suggest mattresses.

Finally, in other election news, our area passed a $17 BILLION or thereabouts issue for


mass transit. Trolleys. "Don't call them trolleys; they're Light Rail." Trolleys. And not a moment too soon. Of course, we haven't a clue as to how we're going to pay for it. They tell us that that ridership will cover operating costs and pay back all the development money in no time at all, and the roads and freeways will be wide open once again. Everybody likes that notion because "everybody else" will be riding the trolleys. Sorry, Light Rail. Rick Macherat President Imanutjob


posted by Rick at 11:13 PM

Post# 2318.    Cleaning up.    I opened up a new bottle of Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid. This stuff has no scent, but there's even more: non-toxic, biodegradable, hypo-allergenic and even follows the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy. Besides all of that, it works real good on the dishes. See, I can be earthy too. Nice thing about environmental products is that you can use as much as you like, and I do enjoy using a lot of dishwashing liquid.

I recycle too, and not just because I live in Seattle and you have to. They inspect the trash, you know, and I enjoy the challenge. We put the trash out just this morning. It is Brother's main chore, has been for over forty years, and he loathes it so very much.

First we find out that Paul Klugman, the Nobel Prize winner in Not-Bush Economics got his inspiration for entering the field from The Foundation trilogy by Asimov. So, today I read that Alan Greenspan, presently very much out of favor despite a reign of two decades at the right hand of The Almighty, received his from Ayn Rand. Sister-in-law bought me copies of those two books after I mentioned never having read them. Where I went wrong was not completing the thought to include the fact that I never intended to read them either. Too long for one thing. But anyway, is it any wonder the entire economy is screwed up? Next thing you know O'Bama will appoint someone at Treasury who was into Green Lantern III. And you will not believe the site I found when doing research for this thought: RELIGION OF COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS ESPECIALLY SUPERHEROES. Isn't the Internet outstanding!? Be sure to check out this site and share at least one example with a friend. They'll marvel.Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:48 AM

11232317.1270 to win.    Everyone should write something tonight because it's, like, historical. I was listening to Carl Bernstein this evening doing just that, very eloquently. At least until The Shirtless One interrupted him to say something surreal. He likes surreal things, I guess.

Still, shouldn't it be 197 to win? We go through this charade every time with all the pundits trying NOT to say it, but the West Coast is a given, folks. So subtract 73 and call it around dinnertime instead of making everybody stay up on a schoolnight. I went with CNN for the climax just to see if they let Wolf or the new kid do it. Wolf still has the better agent, so it was the Monotone of the Endless Sentence who rang in the New Age. The vibe between those two guys is palpable; they do not like one another. Meow. Probably not too many people were watching when Bob Schieffer did call it about an hour earlier. He made the obvious statement to Miss Katie who looked at him blankly. (Little weak in the math department there.)

But what about the election itself? The politics, the change, the historicality, the future? Oh yeah, there was that too. Remember though, it was basically just just the ultimate reality show. New episode starts tomorrow: INDECISION 2012!!   Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:42 PM

11232316.160 Minutes.    I did say that I would never watch 60 Minutes if the old man retired. Well, he did, and I did, and after about a year they have regained their footing and are producing good pieces again. The old man wouldn't have let Katie Couric and Shirtless at CNN on his set though. Lightweights. Whenever she makes an appearance it irritates me, because I think she should stay over at The Evening News, working overtime to improve that program. Then I think, whoa, it's probably better when she takes the day off. It isn't that I don't like her, everybody likes her. We like her on daytime television with lots of people screaming outside in the background and getting on television with their signs. Still amazes me - how long has tv been around?

So she does her little piece, only they Make Sure to photograph her FOX-Style, all crossed bare legs at crotch level, then a slow, provocative Camera 1 slide in. I call it The Fatal Attraction shot. Only she's 50+ fracking years old! Do they really think there are armies of slobbering Newman's at home just panting for that uncross and wet shot who will then rush out and buy whatever the sponsor is pushing? If so, they're insane. No one watches the ads on 60 Minutes. A pee before Rooney is one of America's most enduring traditions. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 10:52 AM

11232315.1Nicole.    Spain has done it again. This is clearly one country which does not care what others think of it. A judge has ruled, and the process has moved forward accordingly, to sort out the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. Mass graves are being dug up, and they are doing a search for any surviving members of the Franco regime who may still be alive in order to conduct appropriate justice. Let's see, in order to have any kind of significant position in government, a young Francoite would have had to be, say, at least twenty at the start of the war, making him 92 today. Round 'em up and string 'em up boys!

Incidentally, Franco, the Generalissimo himself ... still dead.

You probably saw Nicole Kidman on the front of Parade this morning. Smiling away, as if the many people who work for her and cater to her whims have assured her that she is prettier than ever.


Nicole, in case you get this, you aren't. Sorry, not any more. But why would the people at Parade do this spread on me and write down me saying how my ability to notice things and respond to things is more profound than it was now that I've learned to handle life's challenges which have been sent my way and .. because people wanted to see just how awful the botched mouth job really looks. Rick Macherat


posted by Rick at 11:56 PM

11232314.1Some more folks got shot.    Yes, two more. The rain pretty much washed away the impromptu gutter memorial for the youngster shot Thursday as well as much memory of him having ever having been among us. These new shootings will probably be remembered for longer, perhaps even beyond the next ones which will likely be this evening with it being Saturday night and all, because the people were somewhat whiter and less poor. Also, they were standing in the street in a much better neighborhood.

Also, and I don't know this for an absolute and true fact but only supposing because of years of experience, but the circumstance of white people getting shot downtown only a few blocks from five television stations would have drawn every Medic One unit for miles in all directions, whether they were CPR'ing some old lady, scooping a bum out of the lake or whatever. So there's that. I'm guessing this yet another thing you're bitter and cynical about? You'd be guessing about right.
Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 9:49 PM