Wac6arts

The Sonics Were Never this Hip

I always thought Key Arena was fine place to see basketball. Couldn't understand what the Sonics' problem was with the venue.

Well, anyway, I saw the Rat City Rollergirls at Key Arena last night. It was quite an entertaining show, with roller derby matches, drum and air guitar performances, interviews from the stands, decent stadium food, cheerleaders in drag, and one or two things I can't begin to explain.

One of these things I can't explain is the ritual pictured above, performed by the members of Grave Danger, one of the four roller derby teams.

When the cloaked and daggered ritualists set off, they left behind what the emcee described as a "gigantic, bleeding cupcake."

Powell Street Cable Car Turntable Turnaround Dance

At the end of the Powell Street run, two cable car workers turn the car around while a boombox on the street sets a beat. This video from last night. Beautiful evening walking weather.

Jay Z - The New Sinatra

This is a guest post by my brother, Mark Carleton. Mark, my brother Tim, my nephews Steve and Wade, Steve's girlfriend, and I, all went to this show to celebrate Mark's birthday. Mark is graciously providing these photos under a Creative Commons non-commercial use, attribution license (credit: Mark Carleton). Please link to this blog when using these photos under such license.

Jay-Z played to a sold out house at the Pepsi Center last night in Denver. It was my first Jay-Z concert. I was expecting it to be good and he didn't disappoint.

It was an impressive show. The music and performance were solid.

The lighting and the graphics projected on the stage backdrop added to the show and made it fun to watch.

Jay-Z is a great entertainer and showman. He lives up to the accolades as "the new Sinatra."

Tweet Me Harder @ Arcane Comics

The Tweet Me Harder duo webcast live from Arcane Comics in West Seattle last night.

I was the oldest person there, by a long decade, though I didn't feel resented or unwanted. No one actually talked to me unless I initiated conversation, but, then again, no one talked to anyone else who came by himself or herself. And yet everyone smiled, made way when someone needed to get through, said "excuse me" when tripping over you.

I had a fine time. I found a spot near an outlet that I could plug my iPhone in, permitting me to run the #tmh tweetstream on battery-sucking 3G during the whole show. 

The show, the crowd, were . . . wholesome.

If anyone was selling anything or sponsoring anything, I missed it. By contrast, public events for tech geeks are practically Times Square with all the bling and booths and banner ads. This event could have been held in a public library and been more commercial.

Milling about after the show, I tried to pick up an Iron Man comic book but that's just not happening for me anymore. I came home and read On the Brink by Henry Paulson (a kind of grown up comic book) instead.

And here's an interesting fact for you: the younger, geekier generation may tweet with ferocious attitude, but it does NOT swear.

Half a dozen of us hovered over the pizza boxes at the end of the show (there was free cheese pizza, ham wraps, veggies and dip, cookies and soda), no one wanting to take the first slice. Finally I asked the gal who was putting the stuff out and she said it was okay and I took the first piece. I pocketed a coke to take home which was probably really uncool especially since the sodas ran out, but that is the kind of thing I learned to do in the artsy crowd I hung with when I was in my 20s.

Lord knows I tried to get someone to go with me. Tried to get my youngest son, but he had cooler plans. Tried to entice of my favorite clients, but he had a date. Tried to persuade one of my partners at the firm that he needed to scout fresh material for his podcast list, but he's too busy doing deals to spend a Friday night away from his family. I'll bet my brother Tim would have gone with me.