Mute Steve Kornacki, unclench your jaw, and scroll through these sweet scenes from Sea-Meow. by Megan Seling

Photos by Madison Kirkman

Sea-Meow, which bills itself as Washington’s largest cat convention, invaded Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall over the weekend and brought with it appearances from the Two Crazy Cat Ladies, Moshow the Cat Rapper, and Christopher Watson aka the Catluminati, as well as a cat costume contest, a cat-calling contest, cat bingo, and dozens of vendors slinging everything from cat beds to catnip to cat coffee. (That is, cat-themed coffee that benefits cat rescues and not, like, coffee for cats.)

But most importantly, there were cats. So many cats. Old cats, young cats, kitten cats. Cats available for adoption, cats available for snuggles, and cats being pushed, carried, and cradled in backpacks and strollers and those bags with little clear bubble cutouts that make them look like grumpy-faced astronauts. 

Election results won’t be in for several hours, and even then, it may take days to know who won. So close Twitter (what are you still doing on that hell site anyway???), mute Steve Kornacki, unclench your jaw, and scroll through these sweet scenes from Sea-Meow.

Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman Madison Kirkman

Follow along for continuous Election Night 2024 coverage! by Stranger Election Control Board ????

Welcome to the General Election 2024 Live Blog. Election Day is here, and it’s time to grab your anxiety meds and vice of choice and tuck in for a wild ride.

Chances are, we won’t know the results of the presidential election tonight (though we’ll likely know who won Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan by the end of the night—we’ll keep you posted.) 

But in the meantime, we should have results for some of our most important local elections before we all go to bed tonight. As always, we’ll be lurking at their parties, judging their snacks, and capturing the election night magic/anxiety/crushing defeat.

If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time! But run, don’t walk. 

Check your voter registration here. If you’re not, you can still register and vote at one of seven voting centers in the county, which are open until 8 pm today. Remember to bring your Washington State driver's license, and a state ID, or memorize the last four digits of your social security number when you go. If you’re already registered to vote, awesome. The ballot should be in your mailbox unless you took it out and put it somewhere weird, but if it’s not, you can print out a new one or go vote in person at a King County voting center. Once you’ve filled out your ballot, find your nearest drop box here. 

Once you’ve voted, if you need to be with people who are just as stressed as you, come on by The Stranger and KEXP’s election party at the Crocodile. The party started at 4 pm but we'll be there until midnight—join us!

Now back to business. Want a refresher on the races as we count them down? Check out our endorsements here. 

Here’s a very non-exhaustive list of the things to know going in: 

• We’re going to elect a new governor! (Bob, you better have food at your party this time.) Both The Stranger and the Seattle Times endorsed Bob Ferguson, and he was squarely in the lead in recent polls, so we’re not too worried about MAGA-dude Dave Reichert running the state.
• Alexis Mercedes Rinck! The most recent polling puts the progressive newcomer a whole 24 points ahead of Council appointee Tanya Woo. Woo came in second in the August primary, but Woo’s campaign manager called the gap between the two candidates (Rinck’s 50.2% to Woo’s 38.4%) “brutal.” It looks like Woo’s big business supporters abandoned her in the general, so we’re hoping to send a proper progressive to City Hall tonight. 
• Now here’s one for the books, folks—a real blue-on-blue showdown in the 9th Congressional District. We’ve got 14-term Congressman Adam Smith, who is also a House Armed Services Committee bigwig, going head-to-head with civil rights firebrand Melissa Chaudhry. What’s the primary dividing line? What else: Gaza and the ongoing horror show that Smith pretends to wring his hands over while quietly writing blank checks for the next round of airstrikes. He's made empty calls for a ceasefire, while Chaudhry has called for an arms embargo. With no fears of a Republican winning in the state's only majority POC- district, it'll be interesting to see if the race serves as a referendum on Smith's support of the Israeli genocide. 
• Have you read about Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s opponent in this election? Local families say David Olson is cozy with Moms for Liberty, a far-right parents group that opposes inclusive policies and lessons on race, gender, and sexuality in school; and he helped the Peninsula School District push away critical race theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training while parents and students raised concerns about racism and discrimination in his district. The race for Superintendent of Public Instruction is a nonpartisan race, which is likely why the most recent polls show that 21% of voters plan to vote for Reykdal, 18% for Olson, and a whopping 61% had no idea who they’re voting for. We hate this, and we’ll be watching it closely. 
• All eyes are on Clallam County. This little bellwether county at the top of the Olympic Peninsula has backed every presidential winner since 1980. Will they keep their streak? 

Check back regularly—we’ll keep you updated through the night!

Outgoing Governor Jay Inslee Takes the Stage 9:26 pm Jay Inslee speaking at the convention center. SECB

Inslee was the last to speak at the WA Dem election party, opening his speech by saying, “I’ve been waiting for Bob Ferguson to take over my job for years…”

People Are Doing Therapy Crafts at the Crocodile 9:11 pm Color the pain away. BILLIE WINTER

Sure, we got a lot of good news locally, but holy shit things are still VERY TENSE. So folks are crafting, donating to Shout Your Abortion, and, of course, drinking at the Crocodile to soothe the stress.

Shout Your Abortion's free swag at the party. BILLIE WINTER Cheers or something! BILLIE WINTER Attorney General Bob Ferguson Declares Victory 9:02 pm Bob Ferguson made it clear he's not gonna take Trump's bullshit (if it comes to that, please god don't let it come to that). SECB

Ferguson declared victory in the Washington State Governor’s race from the stage at the WA Dem election party, as he leads his opponent, former US Representative Dave Reichert, by about 13 points. Ferguson declared that if the presidential election results in another four years of Donald Trump, there is no other statewide candidate in the nation more “prepared to defend your freedoms against that administration than I am.”

Everything We Know So Far About Local Results 9 pm

Alright folks, do yourselves a favor and turn a blind eye to that "other race" going on (unless you’re a glutton for punishment and want to dive headfirst into an instant doom spiral). But hey, there’s actually some decent news in the local returns. Here’s your super-quick breakdown that won’t exactly soothe your soul but might take the edge off:

• Nick Brown is mollywhooping Republican Pete Serrano in the Attorney General race. Brown, who has that “Obama” appeal we’re told, is ahead 56.85% to 43.06%.
• Chris Reykdal, who’s held down the Superintendent of Public Instruction role since 2017, might not be packing up anytime soon; he’s beating David Olsen 53.1% to 45.84%.
• Over in the Commissioner of Public Lands showdown, Dave Upthegrove is trouncing Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler 54.6% to 44.87%.
• Sal Mungia’s narrowly ahead of Dave Larson, with 50.6% of the vote to Larson’s 49.91% in the race for State Supreme Court Position #2.
• Seattle is maybe, possibly, finally, saying goodbye to Tanya Woo. The never-elected city council member currently trails Alexis Mercedes Rinck 42% to 57%. 
• In Congressional District 9, genocide enabling Adam Smith will most likely defeat Melissa Chaudhry. The race currently sits at 70% to 30%, respectively. 
• In what we believe experts refer to as a one-sided ass-kicking, Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott has a gargantuan lead of 68% to 31% over Andrea Surez in the race to replace Frank Chopp in the 43rd district.
• And in what should be a surprise to no one Bob Ferguson is likely our next governor. He currently leads Dave Reichart 56.47% to 43.34%

Turning to the initiatives… 

The good: Initiatives 2066, 2109, and 2124 are sinking fast, with nearly 60%, 70%, and 54% of counted ballots giving them the thumbs-down. There’s a little light at the end of the tunnel!

The not-so-great: Initiative 2117 is pulling 53% in favor.

Still, three out of four ain’t bad! 

And finally, in the race everyone was teetering on the edge of sanity about for the last five months. In the state auditor’s race, Pat McCarthy leads Matt Hawkins 59.21% to 40.66%. If you’ve been losing sleep over this one, maybe you’ll get a nap tonight. 

Nick Brown Feels Good After Initial Results (But Won't Wear Sparkly Cowboy Hat) 8:56 pm Nick, why won't you wear the cowboy hat too? SECB

Nick Brown thanked his team and his supporters and told us he didn’t see a world where he wouldn’t win at this point. As of 8:39 pm, Brown had 56% and his opponent, Pete Serrano, had 43%. As Brown thanked everyone and headed to main ballroom to give a speech, he pointed out his kids, who were sporting those blue cowboy hats.

All But One Initiative Rejected 8:45 pm State Representative Nicole Macri reacting to tonight's local results. SECB

Spirits were high in the Defend WA room at the WA Dems Election Party. Defend WA organized the campaign to reject the four initiatives that sought to repeal the Capitol Gains Tax, the Climate Commitment Act, Washington’s public Long Term Care program WA Cares, and a law intended to reduce Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions. Voters roundly reject the first three of those initiatives, I-2109, I-2117, and I-2124. Unfortunately for Washington’s hopes to decrease our reliance on natural gas in favor of electric power, voters appear to have voted yes on I-2066, which would effectively prevent the state from trying to electrify anything in any building. Insane. State Representative Nicole Macri said Defend WA knew that would be a hard fight because of a lot of early misinformation about the law I-2066 sought to repeal. She says Washington tried to get ahead of the nation, but the change confused voters, and they seem to want the state to go a little slower. But the results aren’t finalized. At last check, numbers showed 51.1% voting “Yes” and 48.84% voting “No.” Also, Macri said the fact that the capitol gains tax remained in place was great. “We need this,” Macri said.

Holy Fucking Shit, Shaun Scott 8:37 pm Shaun "Holy Fucking Shit" Scott speaks. SECB

“Holy fucking shit!” screamed the man next to us, reading the election results from his laptop. “Shaun Scott–67 percent.” That’s as far as he got before the emcee took over to lead a call and response shout of “I believe that we can win.” Rep. Darya Farivar got 87.52%, while Alexis Mercedes Rinck got 57.32%. She acknowledged the anxiety people may be feeling about the presidential race, but she and the crowd kept up the energy.

Election officials have not counted all the voters, but all three candidates are looking like winners, which would be a serious victory for local progressive politics and a rebuke of reactionary conservatism.

Rep. Farivar told the room that they all had work to do.

“I’m so grateful that locally we have Alexis to defend things at the City level,” she says. “I am absolutely thrilled I’m going to have a partner in these shenanigans.”

Scott began his speech by saying his victory came five years ago to the hour of his 2019 defeat running for City Council—and that tonight he finally got it done for the essential workers, the students, the parents, the teachers, and everybody who would benefit from the economic justice he campaigned on.

Alexis took the mic last. The crowd cheered when she said a queer Latina would represent them on Seattle City Council.“But I know I stand on the shoulders of many who pave the way and I promise I won’t be the last.”

The TV is back on, but people are too busy hugging and shaking hands to pay much attention.

Suarez Is Cheery, Losing 8:34 pm Suarez promises to run again. SECB

Suarez kept a cheery attitude despite dismal results—31.4% to Shaun Scott's 67.7%. She says she can't swing back from her poor showing at the first drop. But even though she lost, Suarez maintains that she won.

"When you run, you win just by getting your message out there," says Suarez. "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."

Saurez hugged her small group of supporters after her results dropped. She comforts them by promising to run again. She's not sure for what, but she's always had one eye on the citywide council seats in 2025.

No One Seems to Notice the Local Election Wins at the Dem Party 8:17 pm Look, y'all! Local results are in! SECB

At the large WA Dem party at the convention center, all eyes remained fixed on the national races as Dems swept local results. Speeches will come later, but initial results show the Governor, Attorney General, and Lands Commissioner races all went to the Dems. 

The First Batch of State and King County Results Are In! 8:06 pm

See statewide results here!

See King County results here! 

We're reading and thinking and typing as quickly as we can to bring you some analysis very soon...

For now, a cat in a stroller:

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Hey! We Were Watching That! 7:59 pm Turn it back on! SECB

Somebody shut off the TV at Saint John's. The presidential race is looking a little scary, isn’t it?

Nick Brown Jumped in the Ocean This Morning 7:55 pm Yes, that *IS* Nick Brown. SECB

Attorney General candidate Nick Brown woke up at 5:15 this morning and jumped into the ocean to start his day. Then he did some other campaign stuff, and right before heading to the Dem watch party, he had dinner with his campaign team and Governor Jay Inslee. Brown said he’s excited for his chances tonight and he had a better ground game than his opponent. As we chatted, someone walked past and said, “That’s Nick Brown.” He looked up, confused for a moment, and then said, “I gotta get used to that.” The charm is charming.

Upthegrove's Mooching off Brown’s Campaign 7:49 pm Dave Upthegrove and his husband Chad. SECB

Candidate for Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove just arrived with his husband Chad. Upthegrove doesn’t have his own suite at this thing, it would have cost him $2,000, which made us gag. We appreciate thrifty Upthegrove stashing his stuff in Attorney General Candidate Nick Brown’s room. Upthegrove says he feels good about his chances to win his race, and he hopes to be toasting with a glass of champagne at his parent's house later tonight.

Meanwhile, at Our Election Party at the Crocodile... 7:46 pm Billie Winter

Thank god for Miss Texas 1988.

You Have 15 Minutes to Drop Off Your Ballot 7:45 pm

This ballot box on Capitol Hill even comes with live music! 

Polls close in 15 minutes! But the party is just getting started at this dropbox on Capitol Hill... pic.twitter.com/ddNfGYQw63

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) November 6, 2024

Capitol Hill Protest Update 7:30 pm

A total of five people have been arrested for property damage, according to SPD. The property damage was, apparently, spray paint. They used the helicopter for some spray paint.

There are now five total arrests. The group has broken up. We will update here with additional information if anything changes. pic.twitter.com/YcmKUium3V

— Seattle Police Department (@SeattlePD) November 6, 2024

Loose Protest Leads to Arrests on Capitol Hill 7:10 pm

The Seattle Police Department made at least four arrests for property destruction at a protest on Capitol Hill tonight. Some flyers posted earlier in the week called for people to show up at Cal Anderson Park at 6 pm on Election Day to protest the “genocide abroad and a militarized police state at home.” Apparently, a lot of cops are out on the hill tonight on their bikes according to one of the photographers we have assisting us with election coverage. SPD said the King County Sheriff’s Office has their helicopter out to assist them with the situation.

The Social Justice League Will Save Seattle 7:08 pm People are too nervous to party at Saint John's. SECB

We’ve arrived at Saint John’s in Capitol Hill for the combined election night party for progressives Shaun Scott, a candidate for the 43rd District, District 46 Rep. Darya Farivar, and Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the Seattle City Council candidate challenging appointee Tanya Woo for Position 8. The Stranger endorsed all three of these progressive candidates this year, and if the results tonight are anything like the midterms, all three are likely to win.

It’d be a jolly vibe if everyone wasn’t so goddamn nervous about the presidential election. The people wearing Harris/Walz shirts are looking from their phones to the big screen TV showing minute-by-minute updates from NBC. The room was filling up and a group of guys asked to sit at our table, including Harrison Jerome, a volunteer with the Rinck campaign from the start because he thinks she’s good on housing affordability. “I’m a renter and I want to live in Seattle and by my parents,” he said. “But it gets harder and harder every year. Feels like if you didn’t move here in the ’90s you pretty much have no hope of owning a home.” As we talked, his eyes barely left the screen.

A minute later, Rinck walked in the door, trailed by a cameraman from Fox 13 with a blindingly bright light. On the back porch, she tells me she tried to take it slow today. She made some calls, did some sign waving, and ran off the pre-election jitters. She says that over the past few weeks, voters have been eager to share their personal experiences with affordability, safety, and their loved ones struggling with substance use disorder.

“They just want to be heard,” she says. “...They want to know how the City can play a role in addressing those things.”

Boooo, Bob Ferguson!  6:56 pm Ferguson's folks are turning people away at the door. SECB

Ferguson won’t let anyone in his party. So excited for this man to represent the Democratic Party. Big tent with no room for the people. ☹️

He won't let us in and we're jealous because we want to make friends with this girl. SECB Good Gossip (but No Free Booze) at Andrea Suarez's Party 6:49 pm TELL US WHERE WOO'S PARTY IS, ANDREA. SECB

State House candidate Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle fame hosted a small gathering at Cotto (no free booze, remind us to Venmo request Brady). In a small crowd of less than a dozen, Suarez gave us lots of attention. She said she had never seen us in so much clothing! We called her rude in the moment, but we forgive her. She also loudly prompted We Heart Seattle's Tim Emerson to tell us how many people the organization has housed this year. He said eight. Suarez said there's a lot of good We Heart Seattle does, but people get fixated on the times she's moved tents and stuff. She said more coverage should come about the positives of her controversial organization after the election.

But after an Aperol spritz, we really gossiped like girls. We learned that Suarez recently officiated a wedding for two of her "original litter pickers," relitigated her talent show-related trauma, and shit-talked consultants.

Suarez also tattled on Council Member Tanya Woo, who told us she wasn't having a public party. Turns out she's hosting a gathering on the waterfront. Suarez grumbled about Woo not agreeing to a combined party. She said she feels a little insecure about the fact that people came to her party early so they could get to Woo's event in time for the results.

Speaking of, Council President Sara Nelson popped in briefly. She left around 6:15 pm, probably to get to Woo's event, according to Suarez. Feeling snubbed, we plotted briefly to crash Woo's party. We offered to pick up litter for 3 hours in exchange for the address for Woo's secret party, but she didn't rat her all the way out.

Unfortunately, we just missed Council President Sara Nelson. She kept plenty of space between us before she rushed out the door.

Oh Hey, Kay!
6:39 pm And another one. SECB

Democratic convention delegate Kay Acholonu doubled up on the cowboy hats, sporting the one from tonight and the one from the Democratic Convention. 

Immaculate Vibes at Representative Pramila Jayapal’s Party 6:33 pm DO THE HATS LIGHT UP????? SECB

In a swath of empty, lonely, cold rooms, Jayapal’s party set itself apart as the place to be in this convention center tonight. She lucked out that the air conditioning in her room crapped out, we walked in and immediately felt like we were actually at a party, not a failing mega church’s Sunday service (seriously convention center lighting is terrible for the vibes). Jayapal says she expects Democrats to win the presidency tonight, as well as the House. We noted that one of her former campaign staffers, Shaun Scott, is on the ballot tonight, and she says a whole host of great new and old local candidates are on the ballot this year, name-checking Bob Ferguson among them. We left Jayapal with a drink in her hand and in conversation with Leesa Manion, who seemed relieved to no longer be standing in a mostly empty room.

Do You Need to See a Picture of a Cat Wearing a Cheeseburger Hat? 6:29 pm

That fucking New York Times needle is back, goddammit. 

A cat in a cheeseburger at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN You Have Two Hours Left to Vote, Seattle! 6 pm

Washington polls close at 8 pm! Not even registered? There’s still time! Haven’t dropped off your ballot yet? Find the nearest drop box and get to it! 

As Hannah Krieg wrote on Monday:

As of 9 am Monday, 50% of King County’s 1.4 million registered voters cast a ballot. That’s a much higher engagement rate than in typical odd-year elections, where less than half of registered voters usually participate. However, turnout still falls short of the nearly 86% we saw in 2020.

Young people need to pick up the slack. About 21% of registered voters are 65 or older, but with a whopping 71% of those voters turning in a ballot, they make up 30% of the returned ballots. As for voters under 35, they account for 28% of all registered voters, but make up only about 19% of the returned ballots. Young people: You tend to vote better than old people. Sorry, not sorry. Please get to the ballot box!

Early Birds Arrive at the Big Dem Party 5:53 pm King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion (center) starting the party at the Convention Center. SECB

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion arrived at the Dem party at the Convention Center. She looked around for a second and commented how quiet everything was. They’d only just opened the doors, but we agree with her. Manion said she feels like the election will be solid on the local level, and she’s “going to live in the land of hope” about the presidential race.

And Now for a Message from the Great Riz Rollins 5:33 pm

Riz Rollins has entered the chat with some thoughtful words for the night, from our election party at the Crocodile: 

          View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by The Stranger ???? (@thestrangerseattle)

Alllllll the Democrats Are Gathering at the Convention Center, Where They're Passing Out Sparkly Cowboy Hats 5:20 pm It's giving Cowboy Carter. SECB

We arrived at the Seattle Convention Center to the smell of popcorn and the vibes of one of those conferences where you learn to sell real estate. Candidates expected here tonight include US Senator Maria Cantwell, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson, Governor Jay Inslee, US Representative Pramila Jayapal, Candidate for Attorney General Nick Brown, King County Councilmember and Public Lands Commissioner candidate Dave Upthegrove, and the Defend WA Coalition who mounted the opposition to the statewide initiatives. Excited to see Ferguson spend the whole night avoiding someone placing one of these sparkly hats on his head.

Chris Reykdal Is More Nervous About Presidential Race Results Than His Own 5:14 pm Brandy the dog (left) and Chris watching early national results before Washington's numbers come in. COURTESY OF CHRIS REYKDAL

“It’s been a long 18 months, but I’m glad it’s over,” says Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal. Just home from work, he plans to swing by a function with the Thurston County Democrats tonight. He'll be back by 8 pm to lock in and watch the numbers.

Reykdal got screens. His campaign manager’s got screens. They’ll be watching the county-by-county numbers in his race, as well as races in the Legislature, the open State Supreme Court race, the Commissioner of Public Lands Race, and the I-2109 ballot measure to repeal the state’s gains tax, a big deal for education. They’ll throw MSNBC on the TV for the presidential. The clear favorite, Reykdal is more nervous about Trump and Harris than his own race.

The Superintendent race is technically a non-partisan, but the only non-partisan part about it is that voters won’t see either candidate’s political preference on the ballot. Practically speaking, the Democrat-endorsed Reykdal and his Republican-endorsed challenger David Olson have vastly different visions for our schools.

Reykdal is a progressive former teacher, former state legislator and the two-time OSPI incumbent. He cares about feeding poor kids, diversifying the workforce, paying teachers what they deserve, and protecting queer and trans kids from the onslaught of “anti-woke” attacks from right-wingers.

Republican-endorsed David Olson is one of those right-wingers. As a member of the Peninsula School District school board, he made friends with his local chapter of Moms for Liberty. He said in his nearly 11 years on that board fighting DEI and “critical race theory” was one of his proudest moments.

Despite this clear contrast, a Northwest Progressive Institute survey of 571 likely voters found that despite the stark ideological divide, 61% did not know who they were voting for. Of those who did know who they supported, Reykdal held a narrow three-point lead (21%) over Olson (18%). 

Andrew Villeneuve, founder and executive director of the NWPI, said in an email that the lack of party affiliation explains the large group of undecided voters in this race, even though previous polling shows Washingtonians are enthusiastic about Reykdal’s policy positions. “For those voters taking the time to study the candidates, it should become apparent pretty quickly that Chris is fired up to tackle the tough issues head-on.” (The NWPI has worked with Reykdal for years on issues like no-cost meals and school seismic safety, he says.)

Rekydal says that’s just a reality of his race. “I do think it’ll be closer than it was four years ago, but I also think it’s just the fact that there isn’t an obvious D or an R by a name,” he says. “They just don’t have the traditional political cues.”

The Big East Coast Dump Results...  5:04 pm

Several polls on the East Coast just closed, and the New York Times is projecting: 

Trump wins Florida, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Harris wins Maryland, Massachusetts, and Delaware.

Polls are still open here in Washington for another almost 3 hours! Get your ballots in! There are tons of local elections worth voting on! 

Here's another cat in a backpack.

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Vermont Goes to Sanders and Harris 4:30 pm

But you already knew that wouldn't happen, didn't you?

Related: New York Times called Kentucky and West Virginia for Trump. 

Don't worry, we have more cat pictures for later.

MSNBC Calls Indiana for Trump 4:06 pm

Don’t panic. It’s early.

Here's a picture of a cat preparing for space travel.

A cat in a backpack at the Sea-Meow convention at the Seattle Center last weekend. MADISON KIRKMAN Melissa Demyan's Brain Feels Like Goo 3:55 pm Demyan with her partner in their special occasion tracksuits. COURTESY OF MELISSA DEMYAN

Melissa Demyan, the brave labor organizer taking on Rep. Larry Springer, the Stranger Election Control Board’s least favorite so-called Democrat in the State House, says her brain feels like goo right now. Her campaign’s reached more than 63,000 voters, knocked on 10,000 doors, made 1,300 phone calls, and pitched 500 signs in lawns. And this morning, she and her partner put on their matching Adidas tracksuits—saved for special occasions—to do some last-minute get-out-the-vote effort. When The Stranger called her (we only took 5 minutes of her precious time, we are very considerate!), she said she still had one more “lit drop” before she could head to her party at Ixtapa in Redmond Ridge. She plans to treat herself to a sipping shot of the nicest tequila in the house while she watches the results roll in for her race and across the country. Jane Fonda will not be in attendance.

Iconic actress Jane Fonda endorses labor organizer Melissa Demyan to unseat 20-year incumbent Rep. Larry Springer in the 45th LD, who she said we should really call a Republican. Fonda also asks voters to vote NO on the Let's Go Washington initiatives. pic.twitter.com/0jaW7IYQmc

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) October 11, 2024

Every action counts for Demyan. She came within striking distance of Springer in the primary, but he outspent her about five to one. Still, given the outpouring of community support and her team's tireless ground game, she anticipates a close match. Either way, Demyan’s proud of the race she and her supporters ran. Demyan felt especially hartened when a supporter responded to a campaign text to tell her that her 8-year-old is telling everyone they encounter that she’s her favorite candidate besides Kamala Harris.

Melissa Chaudhry: Not Stressing, Eating Cake 2:45 pm Why didn't you send a picture of the cake, Melissa? COURTESY OF MELISSA CHAUDHRY

After a long weekend of door knocking, flyering, and general get-out-the-voting, U.S. House of Reps candidate Melissa Chaudhry is ready to celebrate with her supporters and the broader movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. “I’m doing party prep and not stressing. I repeat—not stressing,” Chaudhry told the Stranger Election Control Board in a phone call this afternoon.

She’s throwing a party at the Mall of Africa Restaurant in SeaTac where her supporters will enjoy food, non-alcoholic drinks (coconut water appears to be the crowd favorite, she says), and a cake frosted to resemble her campaign yard signs.

Until then, Chaudhry says she’ll be keeping up with prayer, but she won’t be praying for a victory. Her competition, Warhawk Rep. Adam Smith, secured more than 50% of the vote in the primary. Flushed with cash from the defense industry and pro-Israel PACs, Smith has a pretty good chance at winning the general too.

If she loses, Chaudhry says she will continue to do “much of the same work” she’s done on the campaign.

“Dozens and dozens and dozens of people have told us that they're registering to vote or their whole families are registering to vote for the first time because of my campaign,” says Chaudhry. “And that's the kind of grassroots engagement and political empowerment that we need to make democracy real.”

She also hopes her campaign sends a clear message to Smith that his constituents want investment at home, not in genocides across the globe.

A Rainbow Appears
1:44 pm Don't forget to breathe. SECB

As we were preparing all our election night coverage, this rainbow appeared over the city. Good omen? 

Seattle's only news roundup. by Charles Mudede

We wake up today with this certainty: None of it mattered. The secret documents, the sky-high covid deaths, January 6, racist statement after racist statement, the economic crash, the sexual assault allegations, the pussy grabbing, Moscow,  Roe v. Wade, the conviction, and what have you. All of it amounted to a hill of beans. And there will certainly be more outrages in years to come; and once again, they still will not matter one dot. If we, on the left, come to this understanding, we can move on by simply asking: What, then, does matter? What truly counts in American politics? What is its actual ground? This kind of clear thinking might prove to be invaluable.

We also have to accept the fact that California no longer represents the future of America. In the past it did, but not anymore. The future is now found in Texas. Elon Musk knew this. He relocated himself, Space X, and X to what has become our whole country: the Lone Star State.

Kamala Harris only won deep blue states: And Trump is going back to the White House because millions of people decided to "sit this one out." And the Senate returns to the GOP. As for the House, its final composition is yet to be known. Now, how are we to read all of this, and, particularly, the outcome of the presidential race? Well, Trump's first term in office is something like the first book in Octavia Butler's Parable series, Parable of the Sower, which was published in 1993 and features a Trump-like president who basically strips America of its economic assets. The second term will be like the second book, Parable of the Talents, which was published in 1998 and features an out-and-out Christofacist president who promises to “Make America Great Again.” Butler never completed the third book in the series.   

"Welcome to how our only world ends. It will be like this every summer: getting worse, and worse, and worse until there’s nothing worse left."https://t.co/vs5HAmUloY

— The Stranger ???? (@TheStranger) July 23, 2024

Florida and South Dakota gave abortion access the middle finger. But Arizona, Colorado, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, and Nevada protected reproductive rights. However, with the Senate, and possibly the House, under GOP control, the whole states’ rights business might turn out to be worth no more than the salt you put in greens.

The Stranger Election Control Board had a good night. Alexis Mercedes Rinck is going to beat incumbent Tanya Woo for Seattle City Council Position 8. The same goes with Democratic Socialist Shaun Scott. He will certainly beat Andrea Suarez in the race to represent Washington’s 43rd Legislative District. And the man who did not catch the Green River Killer isn't going to Olympia. Bob Ferguson handily defeated Dave Reichert for the governor seat. Sen. Maria Cantwell gave her opponent nothing but the boot. And, altogether, it seems Washington became bluer, saner, a little world, a precious stone, set in the reddest of seas.   

Now that the whole country is basically Texas, Seattle might consider not staying in bed with conservative council members. Now is the time to get up and go hard to the left.   

Voters showed Washington State Ferries (WSF) some love this time: The Prohibit Carbon Tax Credit Trading initiative  went down in flames. This means WSF will get electric ships and some badly-needed government cheese. However, the Ensure Access to Natural Gas measure , which wants to decelerate Puget Sound Energy’s departure from carbon liberation and protec the buyers and sellers of natural gas statewide, left the gate in the lead: 51% to 48%.

Joe Kent is facing a second round of wound licking. His opponent in Washington's 3rd Congressional District race, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is, at this point, ahead by 4 points.

The sun will be out today. That's something.

A termite mound that's been around for something like 34,000 years was recently discovered in South Africa. Of course, termites haven't called this mound home for thousands of years. And this is a shame, because termites are really delicious. You catch them during the rainy season; this is when termites take to the sky with lots of fat in their bodies (they are trying to start a new colony—the circle life, that sort of thing). A little cooking oil and a few minutes on the burner turns these brown critters into a tasty snack.

Let us end with this scene from Downtown 81. Ronald Reagan is president. Hip-hop is emerging. And Jean-Michel Basquiat is getting his groove on in the ruins. What I want to point out is the way he moves. So smooth. So cold. So internal. This is being with others to be by yourself. This is exactly how I feel today. Dancing to the aftermath.    

One Really Great Way to Cope Every Day of the Week by Megan Seling WEDNESDAY 11/6  

Drink Sad Girl Shots and Eat Cheese at Situ Tacos

(SHOCK) In a state of post-election shock? Me, too. Lean into the overwhelm with a bracing gulp of el Jimador tequila and a salty cube of Tillamook cheese—otherwise known as the Sad Girl Shot. Situ Tacos owner Lupe Flores claims this combination got her through the pandemic, and it’s likely an ideal salve for our current despondent situation, too. I generally try not to suggest alcohol as an antidote to despair—as wine writer Marissa A. Ross wrote in the wake of Anthony Bourdain’s death, “Drink to celebrate life, not to deal with loss”—but the Sad Girl Shot is just too perfect an invention. Plus, Situ Tacos is also hosting Floaters, an exhibition of artist Devin Liston’s bubbly, surreal, Dali-esque paintings of everyday objects like billiard balls, in their glitzy gold back bar Tilda’s Lounge tonight. Instead of doom-scrolling, go feast your eyes on art and knock back a few drinks, and if you’d prefer to abstain from booze, you can always skip the shots and opt for a tub of Situ’s divine queso. Best of all, 25 percent of the night’s proceeds will go to the Lebanese Red Cross, so you’ll be fighting nihilism by supporting a worthy cause. Sad girls por vida! (Situ Tacos, 5239 Ballard Ave NW, Sad Girl Shots are $6, chips and queso are $10) JULIANNE BELL

THURSDAY 11/7  

Go to Another World with SIFF’s Cinema Italian Style Film Festival

(DENIAL) What’s America? You don’t live there. In fact, you’ve never even heard of the United States. You live in a bubble. Your days are steeped in simplicity and unbroken serenity, untouched by the ever-looming threat of Christofascism and student loan repayment. Your life is bliss. And what you have heard of are the sun-dappled olive groves of Italy. Consider snagging a seat at one of SIFF's chic Cinema Italian Style screenings, particularly if you’re into guised critiques of the bourgeoisie. Or amp up the distraction factor at Art of Studio Ghibli, which celebrates the legendary Japanese animation studio’s poetic, intelligent approach to nature and the more-than-human world. (Thanks, Miyazaki—you’re giving us a reason to live right now.) Sean Baker’s Anora, which follows a sex worker who marries a Russian oligarch, might feel a little too “real world-y” at the moment, but his clear-eyed approach and lush visuals are always a draw. (See full film listings on EverOut) LINDSAY COSTELLO

FRIDAY 11/8  

Break Shit

<a href="https://file13records.bandcamp.com/album/hamburgers-ep">Hamburgers - EP by Atom & His Package</a>

(ANGER) Ever since I saw Bob Trevino Likes It at SIFF this year, I’ve wanted to visit a “rage room,” especially as a woman who, like the main character in the film, has always been taught to be kind and polite, never violent. Lucky for us, we have our own version up in Lake City that invites you to smash glasses, sledgehammer a toilet, and more. We recommend emptying your mind and listening to this absurd little song while you do it. If you’re not into destruction, you can punch out your anger at Cappy’s Boxing Gym in Central District or Seattle Boxing Gym in Interbay (they both offer your first class free!). And if you’d rather drink a beer while throwing sharp objects, there’s always axe throwing in Capitol Hill and White Center. (Rage Industry, 13333 Lake City Way NE, sessions start at $40) SHANNON LUBETICH

SATURDAY 11/9  

Have You Tried Being Less of an Asshole?

Even the grafitti can be nicer. MS

(BARGAINING) DO BETTER. It’s the directive that has echoed through social media comments for years as the quick quip that critics post anytime anyone does anything that even mildly rocks their delicate sensibilities. It usually (understandably) is met with eye rolls. But… have you tried it? Have you actually tried to do better? Maybe if we’re all the best versions of ourselves, we can cancel out some of the 72 million selfish bigots who voted for the racist rapist and preserve some goodwill in this world. Lead with kindness. Have patience. Smile at dogs. Randomly text your pals and tell them that they’re the most gorgeous and hilarious beings on the planet. Offer to bring a meal to a sick friend or rake up leaves for an elderly neighbor. Hold open a door, pay for someone’s coffee, and don’t laugh when a tourist falls off their rented scooter. Be everything those 72 million (and counting!) motherfuckers are too selfish to be. Fake it ‘til you make it—or uncontrollably collapse into a crying, shaking heap of blood, guts, and flesh on the floor—baby! MEGAN SELING

SUNDAY 11/10  

Live That “Two Benadryl and a Lifetime Movie” Life

(DEPRESSION) Several years ago, I heard about “Two Benadryl and a Lifetime Movie” on the C-Word podcast and never forgot it. The depression cocktail has since become the remedy I give to myself and my loved ones who are experiencing insurmountable amounts of sadness. While it doesn’t necessarily need to be those little pink pills and Lifetime’s Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas (although it’s a great combination, TBH), pick any mind-numbing film or television show and pair it with an indulgent (but safe) amount of sleep-inducing potion. Other variations include two cups of chamomile tea and an Adam Sandler movie, two hits of weed and a Martha Stewart Living marathon, or two bowls of ice cream and an old season of Project Runway. Personally, I will be taking two melatonin and watching Lifetime’s adaptation of Flowers in the Attic before drifting into a sweet slumber (or dissociative oblivion, we’ll see). AUDREY VANN

MONDAY 11/11  

Go for a Long Walk and Discover Who You Are Now

You don't even have to go up hills if you don't want to. MS

(TESTING) This is my cure-all for when I feel out of control and need to take back my agency because it’s simple, and you set all the parameters. You control when you walk, how fast you walk, how long you walk, and how many steep inclines you choose to brave or creatively avoid. You can break out into a run or sit down on a wet park bench in the morning drizzle to absorb the book, podcast, or music you’re listening to. Counting steps is nice if you’re into goal setting, but so is leaving your phone at home and soaking in the quiet. Let disinhibition lead you. Screw the clock. Fuck obligations. Clear your schedule and just go. Walking is one of the simplest ways to connect with your autonomy and the human spirit, whatever that means to you. Turn home when your legs ache, and when you get that restless, sick feeling, get your ass off the couch and go walk again. VIVIAN MCCALL

TUESDAY 11/12  

Prepare for Battle

Shout Your Abortion mural on Capitol Hill. MS

(ACCEPTANCE) This is here. It’s real. Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. A lot of bad shit is going to happen, so we need to donate and fight and organize. Don’t get complacent in our blue state. I know a lot of you out there will legitimately be fine, but don’t let your privilege get in the way of seeing that many, many others will not. Donate to the ACLU. Donate to abortion funds in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Donate to the National Immigrant Justice Center. Do whatever Pramila Jayapal tells you to do. Organize a friend group to attend this talk at Town Hall on Thursday about taking collective action and building civic community. Join a mutual aid group (like Super Familia, South & East King County, and Homies Helping Homies). Give food to a community fridge. Volunteer. Foster dogs. Do literally anything to give back to your community. Tell people you love them, and mean it. It’s time to show the fuck up, Seattle. SHANNON LUBETICH

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Hannah Krieg

A perfect day for a biiiiiig walk: We could all use a little sunshine right now. Today, Seattlites can expect on-and-off sunny skies—I think the weather nerds of the PNW call it “sunshowers”—and temperatures in the high 50s. 

Council President Rinck: We got another ballot drop last night! Here in Seattle, Alexis Mercedes Rinck has only expanded her decisive lead on the City Council’s faildaughter Tanya Woo. And it's not just Woo that Rinck’s got beat. Her vote count trumps the combined total of the 2023 City Council victors and she’s got a 26,000-vote lead over Council President Sara Nelson’s 2021 campaign. Rinck may be a minority opinion on the council, but she represents more of the electorate than any other member.

Nail-biter: Washington’s 3rd Congressional District is still too close to call. U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez leads her far-right challenger Joe Kent by about 12,000 votes. We should have a clearer picture in the coming days, but for now the whole country is watching—this race is among the handful that will decide if Republicans retain their majority in the House. 

Another close one: It’s still a tight race for I-2066, the hedge fund millionaire's initiative that would ban the state from encouraging electrification.

Something good on Twitter: After a landslide victory, State House elect Shaun Scott has earned a meme.

???????? pic.twitter.com/RNI4iERKsK

— Shaun Scott ???????? (@eyesonthestorm) November 6, 2024

Joever: Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation to concede she had lost the 2024 presidential election. She kept her remarks very positive, very boilerplate Democrat. If she truly believed  Trump is the threat to the American people he is, she should have come for blood. But, no. The Democrats love to capitulate to the right. And, it's part of why they lost so spectacularly. They championed an extreme and inhumane immigration platform, shrugged their shoulders at Israel’s utter decimation of Gaza, and totally abandoned working people crushed by the weight of the affordability crisis. I know you’re smart and you already know this, but as the #Resist libs start to re-recognize the ever-present threat of fascism—the precarity of reproductive access, queer and trans liberation, immigrants’ rights, workers protections, and more—remember that the Democrats' constant sidesteps to the right landed us here. 

well, as long as you had fun! https://t.co/FtJ9HJ4T8P

— Lead Actor from Pixar’s Sodas (@ByYourLogic) November 7, 2024

Trump transition begins: President-elect Donald Trump’s allies have started lobbying for positions in his administration. According to CNN, Trump will use these positions to “reward” those who have remained loyal to him. That’s also a key feature of his plan: make the administrative state, or what they often call the “deep state,” more friendly, thus radically expanding the executive's power and efficiency. Some top positions seem narrowed down. Trump’s likely considering 2024 co-campaign manager Susie Wiles, his former budget director Russ Vought, CEO of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins, or his former US trade representative Bob Lighthizer for White House Chief of Staff. Rumor has it he will also find jobs for loathsome little rat Elon Musk and anti-vax nut job RFK. Cool.

Off the hook: Trump’s victory may mean the end of his two federal criminal cases related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his mishandling of classified documents. His team delayed the cases until after the election, banking on a victory so Trump could fire special counsel Jack Smith and end the cases. As for his New York hush money case, Trump is scheduled for sentencing later this month, but his team will likely argue he’s entitled to constitutional protections afforded to sitting presidents after his election. 

Solidarity: Yesterday, Cascade PBS workers staged an informational picket outside their workplace to pressure their bosses to meet their three demands in their contract: higher wages, better benefits, and strong workplace protections. And, boy, do they deserve higher wages. According to their press release, the Cascade PBS CEO made nearly seven times the average unit member’s salary in 2023. Greed is a fucking disease.

Today at noon, @CascadePBSUnion members used our lunch break to rally for fair wages and a fair contract. If you’re in the area, drop by and say hi - we’ll be the ones in the bright red shirts ✊ pic.twitter.com/ZR9pEwK6jV

— Cascade PBS Union (@CascadePBSUnion) November 6, 2024

In honor of our incoming commander-in-chief: He’s a theatre girly.

Captain Kim sightings: Numerous! by Megan Burbank

With the dawn of the theocracy looming, I’ve been in desperate need of brain-smoothing distraction this week, and I am pleased to report that, unlike the several hours I spent watching MSNBC and drinking three proseccos Tuesday night (for me this is a lot!), I had a very enjoyable time watching this very special Men Tell All episode of The Golden Bachelorette, in which the men are invited back to compliment each other and cry onstage before a live audience as Joan’s journey continues. It’s very nice when the stakes of the show you’re watching are “Will this nice but boring lady with bright hair extensions find love?” and not “Will we still have human rights tomorrow?”

Can you believe that reality TV ruined American politics and, after all that, we’re still begging for it to ruin our minds? I can, because the most wholesome thing to happen to me in the last 48 hours was listening to Charles L. express his delight as he entered the studio where Men Tell All was about to be filmed. “So nice!” he says in his usual tone of vaguely surprised cheer. “Gorgeous!”

Punctuated by ads for the RSV vaccine, Tylenol Arthritis Pain, and a network drama that’s just about emergencies, the Mansion Men are finally back in each others’ arms, this time before a Bachelor Nation audience and a grinning Jesse Palmer, who wears a suit that does not seem well tailored for a man of his upper body strength. The menswear guy on Twitter would not approve, and I don’t either! How much has Charles missed these men? asks Jesse. “Every minute!” says Charles. I love Charles!

It’s time for a look back at the season so far, and all the antics Joan’s suitors got up to. Pascal chuckles at footage of himself. Kim grins as he sees himself fall down playing kickball. The men love each other! They are best friends!

The men were fed burgers for some reason. ABC PRESS

“I am such a better man than I was because of them,” says Gary, looking dapper in his signature glasses. It’s the first of many comments about how being on The Golden Bachelorette has made someone a better person, father, etc. It’s not clear how going on awkward group dates with Joan has made any of these guys “a better father,” but I’m just going to let them stand in their truth.

During a little chat about the Snoring of Gregg, Gregg says that Pascal’s complaining has actually impacted him for the better: “I’m now inspired to take care of my sleep apnea!” he says. Cheers and applause! We love men taking care of extremely basic health problems only after being publicly shamed about them on television! Hear, hear!

But that’s not the only health report! Our valiant naval officer from Mountlake Terrace, Kim, reveals that he separated his shoulder playing sports on The Golden Bachelorette. Jonathan is mocked ruthlessly for being too good at stripping on the Chippendales date. Hey, did you know that Pascal’s salon is called Pascal Pour Elle? I looked it up! Also, it’s not in Chicago. It’s in Glencoe. We’ve been deceived!

Michael discloses the semi-horrifying information that he was diagnosed with cancer right before filming and chose to go on the show anyway! He is applauded for this choice, but if he were my father, I would tell him to start his treatments promptly instead of going on reality TV. Michael! I am glad you’re doing better and also, please make better choices!

Looking back on his time on the show, Gary praises the friendships he made along the way—the only true love stories this franchise can consistently deliver, despite its promise of idealized heterosexual romance. That’s not what Gary’s here for! “The bromance here was just absolutely unbelievable,” says Gary. Hell yeah!

Now it’s time to hear from blushing girl dad Keith—oh, sorry, I mean Caterer Jack. I’m struggling to tell these jolly older white men apart. I goofed! It’s definitely Jack! Jack is wearing a cartoony salmon-colored suit, which makes him look like he owns a casino, says the friend I have roped into watching with me, and I agree. For some reason, everyone in the studio eats a burger and there is on-camera chewing, which I hate and never want to see again.

Now we’re getting a glimpse back at Jonathan’s journey, and I’m pleased and amazed to report that Jonathan is not only wearing a fully buttoned shirt, he’s wearing a cravat! That’s right, the man who never saw three top buttons he didn’t want to just ignore is dressing like a little aristocrat, and I don’t mind at all! Mark wrote out affirmations for Jonathan when he got eliminated, says Jonathan, and they both cry when Jonathan describes how it made him feel to be seen and loved by a new friend. I am worried men don’t have very many opportunities to make friends! Is this why they think Joe Rogan and Elon Musk are their friends? I wish they’d work it out like Mark and Jonathan and leave the rest of us alone!

“I just started bawling,” says Jonathan. “It meant so much to me.” It feels good to share!

Charles L. loves to dance in public now. ABC PRESS

Now it’s time for a look back at Charles L.’s time on the show. As we cycle through footage of Charles L. hugging the men and Joan, it becomes clear he loves to give a hearty backpat in every embrace, kind of like how you’d pat your dad on the back when you hug him, or how he pats you on the back when he hugs you, assuming he’s not been lost to Fox News. If that’s you, RIP. I have a Tax the Rich dad, and I am sure he would enjoy talking to you about our state’s regressive tax policies!

Speaking of nice dads, Charles L. thanks his daughter for encouraging him, but wait a minute! It looks like Charles L. has dyed his signature salt-and-pepper locks for Men Tell All, and while I miss the gravitas of his previous look, we can and should forgive him. After all, it’s not unusual for contestants on this show to attend the reunions with much more intense facial updates, and it’s refreshing to see a man on TV who can at least move his forehead. Foreheads are so expressive! Something is truly lost when it’s just a smooth plane of skin, sweaty and still.

In addition to his transformative hair journey, Charles L. says he’s changed in ways that are less visually jarring. He’s found friends, he says! He loves to dance in public now! Feel the rain on your skin, Charles! No one else can feel it for you!

“This is such a kind of treasure to me,” says Charles of his friendships with the men on The Golden Bachelorette. “He just exudes this newfound confidence,” says Charles’s daughter Sophia. “My body is lighter than before,” says Charles in agreement. An audience member says Bachelor Nation thinks Charles should be the next Golden Bachelor, and I am pretty sure it will be Mark or Jonathan, but Charles looks very pleased nonetheless. 

Looking much like a roided-out John Krasinski, Jesse continues the festivities with a look back at Kim’s time in the mansion. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! PNW representation at last! Footage rolls of Kim fixing the dishwasher (helpful!) and then trying to get everyone to participate in his “Mansion Men” song (creative yet overbearing!). Kim laughs as he watches his past self compare himself to Beethoven. I kind of can’t believe he did that either.

Captain Kim's "Mansion Men" song getting the respect it deserves. ABC PRESS

But there’s a surprise in store! This is not the end of Kim’s songcraft! Because the Los Angeles Gay Men’s Chorus enters the studio, and they’re going to sing Kim’s song! That’s right: “Mansion Men” is getting a respectful, tuneful rendition, and Kim’s face lights up with joy. Now that it’s being legitimized by people who actually know how to sing, suddenly everyone is getting into Kim’s song, but no one more than Kim himself, who sings along gleefully. Aw, I’m happy for him!

With the performance concluded, Pascal is now forced to discuss his emotional journey to breaking up with Joan, which was where we ended last week’s episode. “It’s very emotional,” he says. “It was a very difficult decision I had to make,” one he hopes “didn’t hurt her.” Pascal’s beloved shildren, Maxim and Natalie, are in the audience. Maxim looks just like a very small Pascal.

And now it’s time for the grand entrance! Joan is here! Gary tells her it was “a true honor” to be on the show, and he greets Joan’s mother, who is in the audience and recovered from the illness that inspired Gary to write her a prayer. The one who looks like Jay Inslee (his name is Bob; I’m sorry) talks about the Wayward Lesbians of Marina Del Rey, which is just his cute name for having Thanksgiving with his gay daughter and her many lesbian friends. Joan says something self-congratulatory about the moment when Bob told her about his many adopted lesbian daughters, but she shouldn’t because it was really all his doing. Once again, Bob, may I join this Thanksgiving celebration?

Jonathan has some big news to share: He has “met someone” and is “happy.” Good for Jonathan! Jonathan has found a family! (Is it too early post-election to be making Cider House Rules jokes? Don’t tell me!)

As for Pascal, he tells Joan he just wants what’s best for her and would like for her to be his frond. Joan says she would like to be fronds with all of the remaining Mansion Men, which is nice, because she definitely didn’t seem interested in dating very many of them, despite the premise of the show.

Joan, probably explaining how she doesn't feel ready to date despite being on a dating show. ABC PRESS

With everyone happily ensconced in the frond zone, Jesse grins and releases the season’s bloopers. We see Pascal cut a wig on Charles. Men say they don’t snore but are shown snoring. Kim does yoga. The men dab their sweaty brows over and over and over again. Jonathan twerks. Joan is interrupted by a rooster. Filming equipment falls down. Ha! Ha!

But enough gentle hijinks! It’s time for a peek at next week’s season finale, and it’s clear that a vulnerable and tearful time is coming for Joan. Joan stands stoically next to Jesse and promises that some of the tears to come are happy tears, but I’m not convinced. With all due respect, I’ve seen a lot of weeping this week, and I know what true agony looks like. I’m ready to cry about something that ultimately doesn’t matter! Don’t take that away from me, Joan!

Captain Kim sightings: Numerous!

This week’s rating, out of 10 anchor emojis: ⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓

Columnist Meg van Huygen recommends the Nghiện (“Addiction”) at Ramie, a dry, leafy take on a Boulevardier that combines whiskey, Vietnamese amaro, yuzu bitters, vermouth, and rice paddy herb. by Meg van Huygen

Hey, look, it’s my cocktail column! It’s back after a seasonal hiatus and not a moment too soon, because… I heard y’all need a real stiff drink. Whewwwww. 

It’s just as well that this is late. Back in the spring, Ramie opened up in the old Omega Ouzeri space at 14th and Pine, serving new Vietnamese fare and craft cocktails, and I was a little reluctant to rave about a brand-new restaurant before the kinks had appeared. Now that it’s had a minute to settle in, Ramie’s running like a top…. and this little cocktail of theirs is still spinning around my mind.

Brought to us by Thien and Thai Nguyen, the chef-siblings behind Vietnamese desto-resto restaurant Ba Sa on Bainbridge Island, Ramie is named for a plant in the nettle family that’s native to Southeastern Asia and is usually used to make fabric. Where Ba Sa does contemporary Vietnamese classics with high-level sourcing and a few riffs on traditional dishes, à la Monsoon or Ba Bar, Ramie takes it a couple steps further. The completely bespoke menu has quickly drawn comparisons to Musang in re: waxing creative on the traditional stuff.

An example of the sibs’ inspired creativity is the cá chiên (“fried fish”), a butterflied branzino served with chimichurri made from perilla leaves, cucumber kimchi, fried shallots, and a custardy onsen egg that arrives in a little bowl of fish sauce, ready for you to mix it all up. The canh khoai mo, meanwhile, is a veggie risotto with ube puree, pickled fennel, herb oil, crushed hazelnuts, and a pesto made from sawtooth coriander and ngò ôm (also known as rice paddy herb—more on this later). You get it. All your favorite stars from Vietnamese Food have been recombobulated into a fresh new supergroup, and each dish is a mashup of their distinct talents and personalities.

This MO is extended to Ramie’s bar program as well. Led by Jen Rae—an alumna of Barnacle, Deep Dive, and Bateau, as well as the cocktail facet of experimental fermentation-themed popup Amino—the bar’s got a cool spread of cocktails that starts with well-loved concepts like the margarita or the Manhattan. But Rae’s folded in some botanicals that’re perhaps less commonly seen in Seattle’s cocktailscape, like longan, rau răm, fish mint, garlic chive, lemon basil, and calamansi.  

The one I love is the Nghiện. This word means “addiction” in Vietnamese, and the drink comprises Suntory Toki Japanese whisky, yuzu bitters, May Amaro from Sông Cái Distillery in Hanoi, and vermouth blanc that’s been house-infused with ngò ôm—that aforementioned rice paddy herb. This drink revs up like a whiskey-powered Manhattan but drives like a Boulevardier, with the earthy amaro and the sharp citrus-floral edges from the ngò ôm and yuzu bitters eventually blooming through the wall of booze. It’s a drink you want to take your time with. Inhale the air around it before you take a sip. Consider the innovative entrees. Contemplate your next move. 

Yeah, baby, I like it raw: With whiskey, amaro, vermouth, and a few droplets of yuzu bitters, the spirit-forward Nghien is pretty much all unadulterated booze. Meg van Huygen

Let’s take the Nghiện apart. You might already know the green-appley, lightly honeyed Suntory Toki whiskey, for relaxing times. The simple, clean yuzu bitters are by The Japanese Bitters out of Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan (they also make an umami bitters that really pops in a dry martini). The Mẩy Amaro comes to us by way of Hanoi-based Sông Cái, a gin distillery that’s spent eight years developing the liqueur. The amaro is inspired by the medicinal tinctures used by the Red Dao people in Vietnam, and it’s named for medicine woman Lý Mở Mẩy, who consulted on the recipe. A combo of sarsaparilla, lapsang souchong, galangal, rose petals, fig, poppy, orange peel, horehound, angelica root, and dandelion root, all macerated in a neutral spirit made from rice and molasses, it’s sorta like smoked root beer. If you’re a fan of the classic European amari, well, you may or may not recognize this one as being in the club. 

Originally from Portland, Rae has a strong background in wine, and it definitely informs her bar program. She switches between two different vermouths here—Yzaguirre Reserva Dry Vermouth and Vermut Lustau—and both are infused with the ngò ôm, a marshweed with flavors of lemon and cumin that grows throughout Southeast Asia. These choices are both dry as hell, made from coastal Spanish vineyards, with a bright yellow tone and mineral finish. 

 “I really like Spanish vermouths,” Rae says. “I think people really don’t know about them or even realize they exist.” 

They’re obviously not the usual suspects you’ll find in the vermouth slot behind most American bars, though. Where’s the Dolin and Carpano Antica?

“Yeah, the bar industry is very brand-driven,” Rae says, “and I actually think it’s a huge problem. Just like chefs, we have producers that we like, and it’s just as important when building a bar program, to bring in the right spirits for your bar program that you like and be less influenced by big brands.”

She also points to bartenders often catering to homogenized American tastes—that is to say sugar. “In the history of craft cocktails, they tend to be super sweet, even vermouth!” she says. “I think it’s really important when you’re behind the bar to create your own style and their own palate. So I’ll always be like ‘Mmmm, this needs to be drier or more savory.’”

“It’s not just about my personal preference, though,” she adds. “The style of food that we’re doing here is not Western, so it wouldn’t make sense to try to serve Western drinks made for a Western palate.” 

It’s not just the Nghiện that’s making trails on Rae’s cocktail list. The Hoa Anh Túc cocktail (“poppy” in Vietnamese) is a canny cover of a margarita, with tequila, tangerine, red aperitivo, peppercorn, lime, and garlic chive, then edged with black volcanic salt and garnished with a sprig of chive. Lots of frooty juice in here, but it’s tempered wayyy down by the piney, sharp peppercorn and the alliaceous twang of the chive. Among a handful of other artisan wines, she’s got a melony amber mtsvane-rkatsiteli wine by Dila-O in central Georgia (the Republic of), fermented in open clay qvevris with natural yeast, and a bright vinho verde by Quinta de Santiago—members of the Vinho Verde Young Projects group of vibrant young winemakers in Portugal. The drink menu feels cultivated and thoughtful, like someone spent some real time thinking about what you wanted for your birthday, hand to chin, gazing at the heavens. Except your birthday is your dinner. It’s just what you always wanted.

With an innovative New Vietnamese menu and a uniquely curated bar program, Ramie is a noble successor for Omega Ouzeri’s old spot, and they’re utilizing the space beautifully too. Seeing as the Nghiện is pretty much all unadulterated booze, it’s more of a dinner cocktail, so have a seat, order yourself some fishy dishes, and take your time with it. (Well, unless you’re an old barfly like me—it can be an à la carte bartop drink too, if you’ve got the liver for it.) Regardless of where you are with your addiction I mean personal relationship to booze, the Nghiện will rehab all your Western expectations of the cocktail classics.

See someone? Say something! by Anonymous

good boy, Mitten Bakery ????

"Who's a good boy?" you petting your cute dog next to me. I asked "Oh me?". You said, "Well if I get two good boys out of it ya!" - I didn't get ur #!

Smokin Hot at Smoker Dad

I Saw U at the Sunset Tavern at the Smoker Dad release show. You were wearing a tight jean skirt, and you told me I had a timeless beauty. Same, girl.

Barrettes at Hop Vine 10.28

I stared, we waved! I looked up how to sign “ur super cute” but was too shy. I like your hair, sweater, how you cover your mouth when you laugh!

I saw u x2 @ SBP

UW & Fremont. You were tall & brunette w glasses. I’m shortish and brunette w glasses. You seemed interested, I’m shy. But I’m interested too

Party at Porter

We were both on the floor at the Porter Robinson show. You were in front of me, tall and blonde. Thanks for making an incredible show even more fun.

Bus 49 Connection

Tall guy in tan sweater, wearing a black mask, purple-haired girl hoping to meet again. We made eye contact a few times in cap hill and I was too shy to look at you. Kinda felt like I was in a kdrama—wanna be my Lee Min Ho?

Dieu en Mouvement

BV Lincoln SQ: 3:30, Sunday. You were exiting. Tall, dark, a beautiful print coat, thin glasses, I said I liked your outfit. You are art in motion.

Fellow Magnetic Fields Fans

We sat in the balcony turret the first night of 69 Love Songs. Thanks for singing along with me! Hope you got to come back for Papa was a Rodeo.

Is it a match? Leave a comment here or on our Instagram post to connect!

Did you see someone? Say something! Submit your own I Saw U message here and maybe we'll include it in the next roundup!

The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Nathalie Graham

One more for the blue: After a neck-in-neck race, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez officially won re-election to the House in the 3rd Congressional District, beating out far-right challenger Joe Kent. Her win is another step forward for Democrats as they try to take back the House and retain a shred of power in the coming administration from hell. About two dozen races nation-wide still need to be decided.

Please spare us, H5N1: The Centers for Disease Control want more testing done for bird flu after blood tests on 115 of dairy workers showed 7% had bird flu antibodies, meaning they'd already contracted the disease at some point. Previously, we only confirmed 46 cases of bird flu jumping from cows to farmworkers. This new study suggests that bird flu has infected many more people than the confirmed cases. Experts say this indicates the H5N1 viruses are a greater threat than we realized. Great! Another flu just in time for the vaccine-doubters to take office. 

Wet weekend—and then week—ahead: Friday will likely be our last dry day for a while. Get your galoshes ready. The rain starts Saturday and it'll continue at least throughout the week.

I hope you like rain this weekend! ????️

It could be wet for the State H.S. football tournament games across the Puget Sound region. #pnw pic.twitter.com/JAvPx7hegV

— Jake Whittenberg (@jwhittenbergK5) November 8, 2024

That's nice: Boeing said it will pay the employees the money they lost while being furloughed during the machinists' strike that started in September. 

Egyptian flooding: A pipe leak at the historic Egyptian Cinema on Capitol Hill shut down the 108-year-old theater for the "foreseeable future." Repairs will be expensive and take months. The universe does not want me or my people (progressives, art house movie lovers) to be happy this week. 

INBOX: The SIFF Cinema Egyptian is going to be closed for "the foreseeable future and the Fine Arts building leadership expect that it will take multiple months of building closure to assess, repair and reopen." Sad news especially during what is a big time of the year for film. pic.twitter.com/v2ItPx5Lpi

— Chase 'Hutch' Hutchinson (@EclecticHutch) November 7, 2024

Another hit while we're down: Don't forget, five light rail stops will close this weekend. Starting at 10 pm on Friday through 5 am Monday, Westlake, Symphony, Pioneer Square, International District/Chinatown, and Stadium stations will all be closed and inaccessible. Trains will run between Lynnwood and Capitol Hill and between Sodo and Angle Lake. Shuttle buses will be available to bridge gaps between open and closed stations. It’s all part of the crawling effort to connect Line 1 to the Eastside line.

Sign of the times: Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale rocketed to the top of Amazon's bestsellers list this week.  

Racist texts: In the days after the election, Black and Brown people across the country received spammy, racist texts telling them they had "been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation" and that the senders' "executive slave catchers" would pick them up. State attorney generals say they will root out who sent these texts. A second Donald Trump term means the masks covering the depravity in America are well and truly off. Racists are emboldened. 

Nobody panic: Forty-three monkeys escaped from a medical lab in South Carolina. "There is almost no danger to the public," a local police chief said. No danger? Isn't this how Planet of the Apes started? 

Israeli soccer fans attacked in Amsterdam: Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch's Ajax faced off in a Europa League soccer game Thursday. After the game, people attacked Israelis in hit-and-run scooter attacks. Five Israeli fans went to the hospital, but have since been released. Around 20 to 30 other Israelis sustained light injuries. Police arrested 63 people, and ten are still in custody. Context, as always, is important. In the days leading up to the match, social media videos showed Maccabi fans "chanting anti-Arab slurs, praising Israeli military attacks in Gaza, and yelling 'fuck the Arabs,'" according to CNN. Ajax won the game 5-0. 

And now, something from Ashley about the cops: 

Fill’er up: The King County Jail officially lifted misdemeanor booking restrictions for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) allowing officers to finally lock up all those pesky Target shoplifters and people who tried to use the bathroom at PCC one too many times and ended up trespassed. I wrote about how SPD Deputy Chief Eric Barden told officers in a department wide email Tuesday that they should book people into jail whenever a public safety interest existed and only show additional discretion when the department neared their misdemeanor bed limit of 135 people per day. Most people charged with misdemeanors spend less than a week in jail, so could be a lot of people cycling through, which King County Department of Public Defense Interim Director Matt Sanders said will ultimately make it harder for people to hold down jobs, maintain housing, and secure behavioral health treatment, ultimately undermining public safety in the city.

Did you hear about San Francisco's new mayor? He's a centrist Democrat and he's the heir to the Levi's fortune. Daniel Lurie won the ranked-choice voting election with 56.2% of the vote. Incumbent London Breed only received 43.8%. San Franciscans made clear they are sick of seeing poverty and being confronted with crimes of desperation. Unfortunately, as we know very well in Seattle, electing a centrist may hide the problems for a bit, but it will do nothing to fix them. 

A porn gorge: North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia have unrestricted internet access for the first time in their lives and they're using it to watch mountains of porn and jerk themselves silly. Boys will be boys! 

Need something to do tonight? The world is bleak. Why not laugh a little at an improv show? The improv theater I wrote about for my column is having a battle of the star signs show tonight followed by an open-to-all improv jam. I'll be performing on the Scorpio team even though I'm not a Scorpio (don't tell anyone). 

A song for your Friday: This just feels like the sound of my psyche right now. 

 

 

Best of the Northwest Fall Show, SECS Fest, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15 by EverOut Staff

Well Seattle, it's been a hard week and there are difficult days ahead. Take care of yourselves and each other this weekend. If you're looking for something to do to take your mind off things, we're recommending events from Best of the Northwest Fall Show to a Community Fruit Pressing at Republic of Cider and from Seattle Hmong New Year to SECS Fest 2024. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week.

FRIDAY READINGS & TALKS

Carson Ellis with Jon Mooallem
If Portland City Illustrator were a job, I'd want that role to go to Carson Ellis—something embedded in the Rose City-based artist's naturalistic, folk-inspired, muted, yet richly detailed aesthetic falls in perfect harmony with the Pacific Northwest landscape. Ellis' adult debut is an illustrated memoir filled with paintings depicting memories from a 20-something-year-old journal. One Week in January digs into Ellis' first experiences living in a Portland warehouse in the early 2000s, during which time she met future hubby Colin Meloy (who, as I'm guessing you know, fronts the Decemberists and penned Wildwood). LINDSAY COSTELLO
(Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill, free)

The Stranger's only news round-up. by Nathalie Graham

International District stabbings: On Friday, someone stabbed five people in what appears to be a random, unprovoked attack in Seattle's Chinatown International District. The same person is believed to be responsible for other stabbings in the neighborhood that occurred between Thursday and Friday. In total, police believe the suspect stabbed nine victims in two days. Police arrested the suspect on Friday. His bail was set for $2 million.

Back at it: Around 300 people gathered over the weekend at the Space Needle for a rally against Donald Trump's re-election. It feels like we were protesting Donald Trump's presidency just yesterday. Time is a flat circle when your country keeps electing a fascist.  

Hundreds of immigrants, students, activists and union workers are protesting in Seattle against U.S. imperialism, violent policies against migrants, police violence and structural economic violence and exploitation by the capitalist class. pic.twitter.com/dZ9JFFPAii

— Guy Oron (@GuyOron) November 9, 2024

Wet, wet, wet: The rain is here. I hope you like it. 

????️ Showers are here to stay, with wet conditions on track through the week. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/0yM2lMdZH7

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) November 11, 2024

Income tax when? According to 2023 census data, the median wages for tech workers in the Seattle area last year was about $157,200. That's a $14,000 increase from 2022's tech-worker wage estimate, according to the Seattle Times' FYI Guy. Meanwhile, the median income for non-tech workers in Seattle was about $81,100 and only bumped up a measly $2,800 since 2022. 

Vaccinate your kids: Stop being stupid and get your kids their shots. Whooping cough is on the rise with nearly 1,200 cases documented statewide. Of those cases, over 80% are in children. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re starting to see the impact of waning immunization," Dr. James Lewis, a health officer with the Snohomish County Health Department, told KIRO7. 

Help SIFF staff out: Go see a secret staff pick on Wednesday and throw a few bucks in the kitty to help support SIFF workers who are out of a job now that the Egyptian Theater out of commission. 

A pipe burst at The Egyptian and SIFF staff need our community’s support!

Join us on November 13th at 7pm for a free screening of a VERY secret and VERY good movie. Tickets are free, but please donate to the fundraiser linked on our web page! https://t.co/AjQjZHaWJf pic.twitter.com/GLANjC3Hrs

— Northwest Film Forum (@nwfilmforum) November 9, 2024

Analysis suggests Gaza dead are mostly women and children: New analysis from the United Nations Human Rights Office found that 70% of those killed by Israel in Gaza were women and children. The UN verified the details of 8,119 people killed in Gaza from November 2023 to April 2024. Of them, 26 percent were women. Around 44 percent were children, most commonly between five and nine years old. The report said the data indicates "an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare." 

Wildfire to the East: Dry, windy conditions are to blame for a brush fire in New Jersey that now covers 39 acres. The blaze is currently 30% contained. Meanwhile, at least six more fires are burning in the state. And at the same time, two acres burned in the middle of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, killing a teenage park ranger. Wildfires have increased in east coast states thanks to historic droughts. Boston to New York City and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C are under red flag warnings. The bad news is everything is going to get worse thanks to who we elected president. 

Meanwhile: A California blaze tearing through Ventura County is 31% contained and still covers 32 square miles.

Trump chooses UN ambassador: New York Rep. Elise Stefanik has been chosen to fill the role. Stefanik, who serves as House Republican Conference Chair, is a Trump loyalist with little foreign policy experience. Trump called her a “strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.” 

Bird flu in Canada: The first presumptive case of bird flu in a human has been identified in British Columbia. The infected person is a teenager who likely contracted the illness from contact with animals. So far, the virus hasn't spread from human to human. 

Another abortion horror story: A woman in Georgia was 18 weeks pregnant with her second child when she miscarried. Despite her bleeding and her risk of serious infection, doctors could not perform a routine dilation and curettage due to abortion laws. They had to wait 24 hours or until the woman seemed like she might die unless she received the surgery. Sure enough, they waited until her hemoglobin levels were perilously low and then operated. While she survived, the pain and fear she went through was not medically necessary. Her pain was legislated.

Wicked whoopsie: Mattel released special dolls for the new Wicked movie. On the bottom of the packaging, Mattel listed "Wicked.com" to drive people to the movie site. Only Wicked.com is a porn site that makes parody porn movies. Mattel said sorry. 

A song for your Monday: You like to groove, right?

The Blood Brothers, Justine Doiron, and More by EverOut Staff

Stay busy with some of the many top-notch events happening this week, from The Blood Brothers to Justine Doiron with Becky Selengut and from Shrek Week to opening weekend of WildLanterns. And check out our November events guide to see what the rest of the month has in store.

MONDAY LIVE MUSIC

TRANSA Listening Party
Get a first listen to Red Hot Org's forthcoming compilation album TRAИƧA, a 46-track-long "spiritual journey" of trans storytelling featuring icons like Sam Smith, Teddy Geiger, Perfume Genius, Hunter Schafer, Beverly Glenn Copeland, and countless others. Red Hot Org writes: "As a right-wing movement continues to escalate a violent culture war against trans and gender-expansive people and our families, TRAИƧA carves out a global space for trans expression and healing." The nearly four-hour-long album will be played in full at the listening party and community gathering, with Transmasc Seattle tabling alongside other trans-centered local organizations. AUDREY VANN
(Vera Project, Uptown)

"These pigs locked me up to see what color I'd rot into!" by Suzette Smith

Like any fan of Seattle hardcore band the Blood Brothers, I have found myself at a show, pressed up against a wall of people, shouting the wrong lyrics to their songs. For instance, on their hit "USA NAILS" there's a hook where you think you're singing a cheer-style "one, one, and two!" but the lyrics are actually: "These pigs locked me up to see what color I'd rot into!"

The energetic screamo group was active from 1997-2007, during which time they released five critically-acclaimed albums, completed several European tours, and even played a set on Jimmy Kimmel Live, overcoming the reservations of the show's freaked-out producers. Perhaps the best indicator of their success is the fact that their US reunion tour—which hits Seattle on November 14 and 15—is selling out in several cities.

Ever ones to cut the bullshit, Blood Brothers don't have a new record; they're playing the fucking hits. Still, the tour is timed with Epitaph's anniversary reissue of one of their biggest albums Crimes (2004) on vinyl.

When we sat down to talk to Johnny Whitney, who fronts the band with fellow singer/screamer/guttural whisperer Jordan Blilie, he noted that plenty of lyrics websites list incorrect verses for Blood Brothers songs. "It's hilarious how wrong some of them are," Whitney said. "The lyrics on Spotify are not even close to what I'm actually saying. Just buy the fucking CD, and look it up. Come on, people."

We spoke with Whitney and Blilie separately, over sprawling phone calls that we have organized into this piece. For clarity, we're listing their responses together, as we seek to get into the nitty gritty of this group's  danceable, screaming-nightmare material.

Foremost, Whitney and Blilie both began by gushing about the other three members of their band: frenetic drummer Mark Gajadhar, vigorous guitarist Cody Votolato, and ultra-versatile bassist Morgan Henderson, who is currently best known as a member of Fleet Foxes.

"I cannot fucking believe that I got to work with these guys," Whitney says. "I just took all those things for granted at the time. Everybody was, and still is, coming from totally different places [musically], but there was always something really special about all of us together that was there from the moment that we started."

THE STRANGER: Johnny, I've always gotten the impression that you're the major force behind the lyrics.

JOHNNY WHITNEY: I came up with the majority of the lyrics, but it certainly was collaborative between Jordan and I. I would freewrite as much as I could, to have material to draw from, and going back to those notebooks kept things as free and fresh and not contrived as possible. The drawback of that approach is the lyrics are very abstract and hard to parse direct meaning from, but that's also kind of the point. I found myself writing about the absence of answers, or the absence of concrete truths that you can hold onto.

A lot of times, my process would center around coming up with a cool idea: a song name or some common refrain that we would want to work into a song, like "Burn Piano Island, Burn." Something that has a hook or conveys an image or feeling. Then we would reverse engineer the lyrics from that.

JORDAN BLILIE: I would absolutely say that I felt like Johnny was the driver, and for good reason. He's really good. When you see someone who is in a flow state, you do your best to accentuate and collaborate, to help mold and shape and add your pieces. It was always stuff that I was really excited to dig into. It was just that rich and that vibrant. The challenge for me was what can I add to it, you know? It always pushed me to try and come up with the most creatively-inspired stuff that I could.

You two have such an engaging stage style. People would call it sassy, but that has always felt like a description from people who have never been to a play and can't recognize theater. Do either of you have a background in theater arts?

WHITNEY: I wanted to be a child actor—I actually auditioned for that movie Blank Check (1994). Actually, a year after Jordan and I met, we were both in a Jr. High production of Alice in Wonderland. He was the Mad Hatter, and I was the Mock Turtle.

BLILIE: Why would you say that? [Laughs]

Jordan Blilie (left) and Johnny Whitney (right) Suzette Smith Jordan Blilie screams on the tour's first night in San Francisco. Suzette Smith

"USA NAILS" was such a hit, and it involved a phone number everyone could scream. How did that come to be?

WHITNEY: The name and the "1-900-USA-NAILS" comes from the chain nail salon, but we reverse-engineered it into a song about somebody using their one phone call from the county jail to call a phone sex line. It's the idea of loneliness, disaffection, and parasocial relationships with things that exist solely for their own profit or gain.

And yet it's also danceable. There are these moments live where you have an audience of people shaking their asses and shouting "to see what color I'd rot into!" Did you start with that idea and work backwards, or just jam it into that moment of the song?

WHITNEY: At that time, the band would all sit together in a room and have a kind of song tribunal about how each part should go. Then, at some point, we'd have a semi -finished version and [Jordan and I] would just try to fit lyrics to the songs. Especially on Burn, Piano Island, Burn. Some of those songs needed an editor so bad, right? I wouldn't change a thing about it, but looking back, there are parts where it sounds like everybody's playing a different song at the same time, but it kind of works, right? And for the lyrics, sometimes we just had to make it work.

That wasn't the first time Jordan whispered his lyrics in a guttural tone, but it's one of the more emblematic, right? How did that start?

BLILIE: By necessity—I don't have much of a range, you know? I have this weird baritone. Very early on we were drawing from crust punk, where you just have two voices screaming. And we didn't put a whole lot of thought into even what the other person was doing. But then, as we continued to develop, the stuff became more complex, and there was more room for different sorts of shadings of what we could do vocally. So it was just finding out: What is it I can do other than scream at the top of my lungs?

WHITNEY: Jordan's part at the end just works right? He was very inspired by Jarvis Cocker.

BLILIE: Yeah, you can trace that right back to Pulp. If you listen to any Pulp song, there's gonna be some whispery storytelling, with the compression cranked up so you can kind of hear every lick of the lips.

<a href="https://thebloodbrothersofficial.bandcamp.com/album/burn-piano-island-burn">Burn, Piano Island, Burn by The Blood Brothers</a>

BLILIE: Some of my favorite moments of writing with Johnny are the ones that we would where we would crack each other up.

Can you give an example?

BLILIE: Every lyric of "Guitarmy." We really got a kick out of the idea of opening our major label debut with the words, "do you remember us?" Because of the audacity, the absurdity of it.

So you guys all started this band when you were in your teens.

BLILIE: Yeah, we started when we were like, 15-16.

Are there any lyrics that have not aged well, in your opinion?

BLILIE: I'm sure they're the ones that we're not playing. [Laughs.] This question reminds me of something one of my professors said. It was my first class at UCLA, Queer Lit from Walt Whitman to Stonewall. In class discussions my fellow classmates would critique writing from the 1800s for not satisfying certain criteria, and our professor would say: You cannot look at the text backwards. You have to look at it forwards. You can't apply current day criteria to something that was written when that criteria didn't even exist. You have to engage with it in the context of when it was written. I don't think anything we wrote is in a canon warranting that level of examination, but it's useful nonetheless. It's a way for me to remind myself that I was 20, and I had the tools of a 20-year-old. It helps me to not beat myself up too much about it.

WHITNEY: There's a story behind this. When we were doing the song "Camouflage, Camouflage" on Young Machetes, Jordan and I were going back and forth on the lyrics. He was like, "Yeah, I'm great with all this." But he put a line through one verse, where I say: "All the girls in Montreal are smashing skateboards in the street." And I was just like: Fuck you, dude. I'm gonna keep this in. But he was right, because it sounds stupid, and it's like, really horny and makes me want to light my skin on fire. So I'm changing it to something else, probably something different every night.

Johnny Whitney (left) holds a crowd member's hand for support. Suzette Smith The crowd supports Johnny Whitney while he sings. Suzette Smith 

I wonder about imagery in Blood Brothers' songs that seems to be responding to beauty standards at the time. Like, in "Ambulance, Ambulance" you've got this blistering segue to the chorus: "What is love? / What is scam? / What is sun? / What is tan?"

WHITNEY: That's a double meaning. Because it's like tan—like suntan—but also tan is a blah color, right? It's like the color of a dentist's office wall. If you think of the idea of love being something that could feel on-fire, passionate, the color of a dentist's office wall is the opposite. Although, tanning does come into play in a lot of our lyrics. I've noticed as well.

Or on "Beautiful Horses" the lyrics are "gallop into your romance novels / dance atop heavy pectorals."

BLILIE: I think we were seeing an increasingly vapid culture, and we were trying to dig into that—dig into: What does it do to someone when they're bombarded by these sorts of images and messages? There was a lot of that in that writing; I can't say specifically with "Beautiful Horses," but I think "Trash Flavored Trash," would probably fit under that umbrella.

<a href="https://thebloodbrothersofficial.bandcamp.com/album/crimes-bonus-track-version">Crimes (Bonus Track Version) by The Blood Brothers</a>

In "Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy" there's an ongoing narrative of rats living inside a woman. It's like a play. There are characters. And the rats eventually chew out of her and try to find a new body to live in. I wondered if that was also about beauty standards or body dysmorphia?

WHITNEY: That song, it's about that, but it's also about manipulation, right? Not to get too personal, but I grew up with somebody who weaponized being sick—faked being sick—for their entire life in order to manipulate people and extract something they needed out of them. The character in that song is kind of a victim, but like a siren at the same time. They're trying to lure somebody in.

Is that person the rats, or are they Candy?

WHITNEY: The rats are in Candy. I mean, it's both.

What about "The Shame?" Your group resonates so much with "everything is gonna be just awful / when we're around" that you're putting it on t-shirts 20 years later. What does it mean?

WHITNEY: The whole premise of that song is having to sell yourself—how to commoditize yourself. It's about how you function in a capitalist society. You sink or swim by your ability to market yourself, make yourself desirable—whether it be in relationships, job market, blah blah blah. I've always been repulsed by that and was especially at the time we wrote it, which was in Venice Beach, while we were recording Burn, Piano Island, Burn. It was the longest time I'd ever been in LA, and that's the epicenter of being a self-salesman. That line encapsulates the feeling of being sold something. And you're in a position where, in order to survive, you have to be your own salesman.

Salesmen show up in other songs, like "The Salesman, Denver Max." That's another one that almost feels like a short story.

WHITNEY: I initially cribbed the idea for that song's lyrics from the Joyce Carol Oates short story, "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" It follows a narrative of a very dangerous, predatory man in the process of stalking and kidnapping somebody. “Denver Max” was a huge, uncomfortable gamble for me, because I wrote the entire song on my acoustic guitar, recorded it to a 4-track, and then played it for the guys—totally expecting them to hate it. It was really daunting to try to contribute as a songwriter; Cody, Morgan, and Mark are such talented musicians. I think they may have hated it; I don't really remember how we ended up recording it. It was nobody's favorite thing, but we just tracked it, and it sounded great and worked.

Have you read anything by playwright Caryl Churchill?

WHITNEY: Never heard of her.

"Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret" has a lyric in it that reminds me of her play Far Away, which has a scene of milliners making hats for people to wear at a public execution, so I always felt a symmetry there, because of the lyrics "the cross-eyed map of the afterlife is knitting tiny neck ties." 

WHITNEY: I'm going to be super honest, the songs that I'm the most familiar with the lyrics of, at this very moment, are songs that were going to be playing, because I've been rehearsing them. But I do remember, with that song, we were trying to be funny without being silly. Like, a cross-eyed map is a map that makes no sense, where you don't know where you're going. Knitting tiny neckties are noose ties. It's like dressing yourself up for death, right? It's trying to dress up something that's really heinous and horrible and incomprehensible, and also trying to navigate that, through a map that makes no sense.

At this moment you have cracked my understanding of a play you haven't even read. But I digress, I've read that "Celebrator" was a direct response to Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue."

BLILIE: That pumped up patriotism felt gross when taken in context with the images and much of the information that we were seeing come out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Is that why there are so many mentions of amputated limbs on Crimes?

BLILIE: The bulk of Crimes was trying to engage with war so that's where you get a lot of that grizzly imagery.

Well, personally, it's so nice that you're touring right now. Blood Brothers are great for when you need to scream, but you can't. You can scream along to the Blood Brothers in your head, or out loud at a show.

BLILIE: I'm glad that we could be of service, in that regard. It's hard for me not to go into a really bleak mindset when I look at our current political landscape. I find myself equal parts enraged and terrified. And there are times when I have to just close all news down. I guess it is a good time to get up and scream.

The Blood Brothers play the Showbox Thurs, Nov 14 and Fri, Nov 15. Thursday's show is all ages, and Friday's is 21+. 

This story was originally published in our sister paper, Portland Mercury.

My opinion: At this point it doesn’t matter what the NYT says. Either way they jumped the shark for the last time in this election.

After the election if we still have freedom of speech, we should reboot news around the simple idea of news written by experts. They must know the basic rules of journalism, imho that's much easier than the know-nothing journalist posing as everyman with a view from nowhere, trying to understand what they're writing about. They don't have any basis to judge, we give them far too much power. That system is rooted in a time when publishing was expensive but that hasn't been true for thirty years. the old system has run its course. This election, either way, is a lesson in how that system, if it ever worked, doesn't work today. The next news system will be sources going direct to interested readers.

Jay Rosen and I did a series of podcasts in the early teens called Rebooting the News. This was the basic premise. I believe more than ever that this is the best path for news going forward.

They did this at Wired for a while. I was invited to be a columnist when my main qualification was that I was an accomplished software developer. I think that's the way to go. Experts sharing their perspectives on current events.

Before Twitter existed, in 2002, I proposed to the NYT that they offer a blog to anyone who is quoted in a NYT article. If they had done this, the NYT would be what Twitter became, and it wouldn't now be owned by Elon Musk, for the benefit of humanity. I wish they had done it. It would have been a real moneymaker. And good for the flow of knowledge.

Undoubtedly WordPress has been excellently set up to get the best of Search Engine Optimization. That’s the reason why most of us are always reluctant to get away from the cozy comfort of WordPress and get the site hosted with third party. Also, transition to a third party means increased responsibility starting from the need […]

In his 1989 best-selling business and self-help book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey outlines a series of “true north” principles that help individuals attain their goals and adapt to change. More than 25 years later, do these tenets still ring true? And, what if we applied them to today’s search marketer? […]

Creating shareable content is key for spreading brand awareness and is a very important aspect for online marketing success. Not only is great content one of the most important foundations of your website, it is the driving force for online engagement and has been known to improve relationships with existing readers/clients as well as gain […]

Congratulations! You’ve made a very sensible business decision, and you’ve hired a copywriter to create some new content for your company. You’re holding (or, more likely, looking at a digital version of) some professional, compelling content. It does exactly what you need it to. But could you use it for anything new? Once you’ve paid […]

Today, consumers spend an average of 79 days conducting online research before buying. This means SEO, web design, and digital marketing agencies need a content marketing strategy that provides consumers with the answers they’re searching for while simultaneously generating leads to fill their agency’s sales pipeline. The marketing landscape has changed. Where agencies used to […]

Futuro medical graduated compression stockings. Firm compression 20-30mmHg (class 2). Improves circulation and reduce discomfort from leg fatigue, ankle swelling and other venous insufficiencies, for post surgical patients. Comfort band. Open Toe or toeless. With manufacturer guarantee. Sizes M,L,XL. See Sizechart. Price: USD41.85

Futuro medical kneehigh for both men and women. Improve circulation and reduce discomfort from leg fatigue, ankle swelling and other venous insufficiencies. Firm compression (20-30mmHg) for post surgical patients. Open toe or toeless. Reinforced heel. With manufacturer guarantee. Sizes S,M,L,XL. See Sizechart. Price: USD40.83

Futuro medical kneehigh for both men and women. Improve circulation and reduce discomfort from leg fatigue, ankle swelling and other venous insufficiencies. Firm compression (20-30mmHg) for post surgical patients. Open toe and heel. With manufacturer guarantee. Sizes M,L,XL. See Sizechart. Price: USD25.00

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra thigh high stockings with therapeutic massage effect. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Open toe or toeless. Reinforced heel for longer wear. With heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD34.33

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra pantyhose with therapeutic massage effect. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Reinforced heel and toe (RHT) for longer wear. With heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD37.35

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra knee highs with therapeutic massage effect. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Reinforced heel and toe (RHT) for longer wear. With heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD24.90

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra stocking with therapeutic massage effect, for right foot. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Open toe or toeless. Reinforced heel with heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD36.22

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra stocking with therapeutic massage effect, for left foot. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Open toe or toeless. Reinforced heel with heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD36.22

Albert Andre 140 denier medical compression Lycra thigh high stockings with therapeutic massage effect. Helps to tone the legs and reduce fatigue. Sheer stockings with Lycra. Reinforced heel and toe (RHT) for longer wear. With heel pockets for comfort. Suitable for drivers and working activities. Strong compression 14-18mmHg. See Sizechart. Price: USD21.13

Albert Andre medical graduated compression (bi-elastic) Lycra thigh high stockings with therapeutic massage effect. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Open toe or toeless. Reinforced heel for longer wear. With heel pockets for comfort. Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg). See Sizechart. Price: USD34.63

“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see, there will be an answer. let it...

Incorporate the Interbanks Funds Transfer as another means of secured payment for online purchases made on www.newlook.com.sg.

Informational article on venous pump, varicose veins, venous leg ulcers and their treatments. Extracted from product brochures, Kendall Lastosheer Graduated Compression Hosiery.

An online tutorial that shows shoppers in a step-by-step guide to search for hosiery and socks of interest and on how to place an online order.

If you have any comments regarding the hosiery shown on the website, you are most welcome to post your comments online at any webpage showing the product details. All comment links are available at the bottom of every product page on the website.

A new collection of over-the-knee by Garo®.

Opaque white over-the-knee stocking. Soft band with satin bow in polka dots. Goes well with skirt, dress, mini skirt/dress and shorts.

Curious to know what other shoppers have ordered? You can now see some general statistics for the top 10 most recent orders and top 10 most popular hosiery (past 7 days, 30 days, 90 days and overall).

A new collection of over-the-knee stockings by MusicLegs®.

Over the knee beautifully laced up in precious velvet.

Nero color for size 3 and size 4 of Albert Andre Therapeutic Pantyhose 180den.

Sheer silky soft with Lycra that is smooth to touch. Reinforced panty and reinforced heel / toe for longer wear. Suitable to use during driving and working activities.

A new collection of opaque over-the-knee by MusicLegs®.

Opaque over-the-knee stocking. Soft band with satin bow. Goes well with skirt, dress, mini skirt/dress and shorts.

A new collection of Therapeutic Stayup Stocking Class 2 by Micro5®.

Thigh highs medical graduated compression stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). The fabric is accredited with Meryl® SkinlifE that offers permanent bacteriostatic and antiodour properties.

Class 2 compression (30-40mmHg).

Comes in 3 size (S, M and L) and 3 lengths (Short, Regular and Long). See sizechart.

A new collection of Therapeutic Knee High Class 2 by Micro5®.

Knee high medical graduated compression stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). The fabric is accredited with Meryl® SkinlifE that offers permanent bacteriostatic and antiodour properties.

Class 2 compression (30-40mmHg).

Comes in 3 size (S, M and L) and 3 lengths (Short, Regular and Long). See sizechart.

A new collection of Therapeutic Stayup Stocking Class 1 by Micro5®.

Stayup thigh highs medical graduated compression stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). The fabric is treated with Sanitized® to give long-term antimicrobial protection, hypo-allergenic and anti-odour effect.

Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg).

Comes in 3 size (S, M and L) and 3 lengths (Short, Regular and Long). See sizechart.

A new collection of Therapeutic Pantyhose Class 1 by Micro5®.

Pantyhose medical graduated compression stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). The fabric is treated with Sanitized® to give long-term antimicrobial protection, hypo-allergenic and anti-odour effect.

Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg).

Comes in 3 size (S, M and L) and 3 lengths (Short, Regular and Long). See sizechart.

Opaque over-the-knee stocking from Music Legs®. Soft band. Soft and comfortable fabric for whole day wear. Goes well with skirt, dress, mini skirt/dress and shorts.

Onesize (5'~5'10", 100~175lbs).

Opaque patterned over the knee with matt look.

Made with microfibre giving you the soft and comfortable feel. Material is highly elastic and drapable to follow the contour of your legs.

Braided with LYCRA® for greater elasticity and durability.

Sizes 2 to 4. See sizechart at:
http://www.newlook.com.sg/sizechart.asp?style=GBKN150

Micro® thigh highs class 2 medical graduated compression stayup stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis).

Open toe. Class 2 compression (http://www.newlook.com.sg/sizechart.asp?style=M5AG838)

140 denier graduated compression pantyhose with LYCRA®. LYCRA® is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is stronger and more durable than rubber.

Having therapeutic massage effect, they are particularly suited as pre-therapeutical support at first symptoms of vein insufficiency, suitable for first varicose veins, swellings and strong heaviness to the legs.

Strong compression (14-18mmHg).

Micro5® class 1 medical stayup stocking with therapeutic massage effect. Graduated compression stockings. Stimulate blood circulation and hence avoiding vein dilation, tiredness and 'pins and needles' in the legs. Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis).

Open toe. **Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg)

Sizechart: http://www.newlook.com.sg/sizechart.asp?style=M5AG828

Medical compression pantyhose with therapeutic massage effect from Albert Andre®. 400 denier with Lycra®.

Helps in the treatment of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). Offers therapeutic massage effect.

With heel pockets to ensure good fitting and comfort. Reinforced heel for longer wear.

Class 1 compression (20-30mmHg)* with CE Marking (European Medical Device Directive 93/42/CEE).

See SizeChart.

The Smithsonian Magazine reminds us that "Barns are painted red because of the physics of dying stars", summing up a more detailed post by Google employee Yonatan Zunger on the nature of stars, the atmosphere, and cheap paint found on barns.