AltWeeklies Wire
An American Journey: Commemorating Robert Frank’s Landmark Booknew
Driving from New York to San Francisco, Robert Frank couldn't have foreseen how his photo essay The Americans would define both him and his adopted country. This short documentary is one of several tributes this year marking the 50th anniversary of that landmark book.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-21-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Why Slavic Immigrants are the Most Visible Face of Opposition to Gay Marriage in Washingtonnew
To them, the issue isn't just about homosexuality. The bigger fear is that the government will start dictating how they practice their religion, in an echo of the oppression they experienced at the hands of communists.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
12-14-2009 |
LGBT
Sen. Patty Murray, After a 'No' on Iraq, Has the President’s Back on Afghanistannew
One of 23 senators who rolled the political dice and voted nay on the Iraq War, Murray and her colleagues have been cast at the least as prescient and at times heroic. But now, Murray has declared her support for Obama's plan for Afghanistan.
Seattle Weekly |
Laura Onstot |
12-14-2009 |
Politics
Biodiesel Blows Up, but Not in a Good Waynew
Interest in biofuels has sank, a drag for one Seattle start-up called Imperium Renewables, which built a gigantic biofuel-production plant in Grays Harbor County. Earlier this year, the company laid off most of its staff at the plant... and on Wed., Dec. 2, there was a massive explosion there.
Seattle Weekly |
Mark D. Fefer |
12-14-2009 |
Environment
How a Designer Found a Niche Packaging Music in Something You Can’t Downloadnew
Byron Kalet has been applying the basic conventions of popular song—rhythm and tone—to an audio magazine he calls the Journal of Popular Noise. Recently, he released Residential, a collection of tracks by Foscil that is limited to 300 copies.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J. Barr |
12-07-2009 |
Music
Q&A: Jay Farrar on Kerouac, 'Big Sur'new
Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar has been reading Jack Kerouac since he was a teenager. But writing the music and lyrics for the soundtrack to One Fast Move or I'm Gone, a documentary about Kerouac's semi-autobiographical novel Big Sur, provided plenty of firsts for the songwriter.
Seattle Weekly |
Chris Kornelis |
12-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'The Maid': From Chile, One of the Year’s Best Moviesnew
Not many films, or actresses, would let the central female role of a movie be underestimated for so long. Blank-faced, bone-tired, and implacable, Catalina Saavedra delivers a wonderful, slow-brewing performance as Raquel, a 41-year-old Chilean maid who's served one family her entire working life.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
12-07-2009 |
Reviews
An Army Sergeant's Case May Help Explain the Surge in Non-combat Deathsnew
In Sgt. John M. Russell's chaotic Army world the morning of May 11, the enemy was closing in. The big Texan had talked of conspiracies, woken up from constant nightmares, and broken down in tears, wishing someone would put a bullet in his head.
Seattle Weekly |
Rick Anderson |
12-07-2009 |
War
'Ninja Assassin' is a Hard-R Blood-Fest with Much CG and Many Severed Limbsnew
Having braved zombies in 28 Days Later, Naomie Harris now faces a centuries-old clan of ninjas who have been hiring themselves out, Blackwater-style, as government mercenaries. Sad to say, the undead were more fun.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-30-2009 |
Reviews
Tags: Ninja Assassin, James McTeigue
Colton Harris-Moore is the Northwest's Answer to Frank Abagnale Jr.new
At age 16, Harris-Moore was already a prolific, if sloppy, burglar. Facing a felony charge in 2006, he absconded and disappeared into the island's forested wilds. After seven months he was caught, only to escape and disappear again. In the year since his escape, he has officially been named as a suspect in two separate incidents in which the perpetrator stole and then took a joyride in a single-engine airplane, and is rumored to be the culprit in a third.
Seattle Weekly |
Vernal Coleman |
11-30-2009 |
Crime & Justice
No Subject is Sacred for Vic Chesnutt, Including JFK's Sexploitsnew
All great artists are misunderstood in one way or another. When Vic Chesnutt is considered at all, it's often as a tragic figure whose past missteps continue to haunt him. But throughout his work a salty sense of humor can be found alongside much tenderness, rage, and self-doubt.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian J. Barr |
11-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
'Planet 51' Mainly Succeeds at Reminding You of All the Better Movies That Inspired Itnew
Handsome doofus Chuck is a chip off the Buzz Lightyear block, and Planet 51 lacks Pixar polish (particularly in its writing). Still, it's not a bad knockoff.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
11-23-2009 |
Reviews
Carl Sagan Protege Cliff Mass is Changing the Way Weather is Forecasted in Americanew
Mass is pushing the National Weather Service and the American meteorological community at large to move from a largely deterministic model of communicating weather forecasts to more complex, computer-driven "probabilistic" models.
Seattle Weekly |
Mike Seely |
11-23-2009 |
Science
Kenny G on Weezer, Barack Obama and 'Wayne's World'new
Kenneth Gorelick, the man who has moved more than 48 million records -- one of the most satirized men in pop culture -- recently gave us a call from Puerto Rico before a gig.
Seattle Weekly |
Chris Kornelis |
11-16-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Kenny G, smooth jazz
Nirvana: Back in 'Bleach'new
The first Nirvana album was probably the last one you heard, but it marks a critical chapter in Seattle music history. It's worth going back to for a fresh -- or first -- listen, even two decades after the fact and long after grunge was laid to rest.
Seattle Weekly |
Chris Kornelis |
11-02-2009 |
Music
