Waaaay before Madonna titillated and Britney did it again (and again), before Shakira bellydanced her way into mainstream households, there was burlesque.

In Seattle, we're no strangers to it.

Sinner Saint Burlesque (clockwise from the upper left) Evilyn Sin Claire, Georgia Myles, Dane Ballard, Ember Divine, Flora Felice, Valerie Veils and Inga Ingenue (photo credit: Damien Jones)

At the upcoming 18th annual Miss Exotic World Burlesque Pageant, dubbed "The Superbowl of Striptease," Seattleites are suggestively shimmying and dancing all over this Las Vegas event, which is the "main event" of the All-Star Burlesque Weekend at the Palms Casino Resort. Two returning champs from last year -- The Von Foxies (Best Troupe) and The Heavenly Spies (Best Duo) are from here. Having seen The Heavenly Spies at The Bedroom Club a little while ago, I can say that title is well earned. The show's producer, Pa-Ooh-La the Swedish Housewife, also hails from the Emerald City.

Sinner Saint Burlesque is competing for Best Troupe (one of only FIVE worldwide selected to compete) and it's this Seattle group that needs to raise money to send its eight members to the Miss Exotic World competition. (The only dancer not pictured, Angel Alabaster, is also competing.) For that reason, go check them out at a fundraiser they're holding Friday, May 23 at Club Noc Noc (1516 Second Ave.), the venue they regularly perform at on Thursdays. On Friday, they'll perform at 9:30. It'll be $15 at the door, $10 in advance.

One of their dancers, co-founder Inga Ingenue, is competing for the Miss Exotic World title -- one of only 15 performers in the world who'll be competing for that honor. Not bad for a first-timer.

Other Seattleites who will bump and grind with the best of them are Ravenna Black (Miss Exotic World) and Indigo Blue & Lily Verlaine (Best Duo). Saint Sinner dancers are all graduates of Indigo Blue's classes and Ravenna Black used to be with the troupe.

The All-Star Burlesque Weekend is organized by The Burlesque Hall of Fame.

A Seattle-based filmmaker who was detained in Nigeria in April while shooting a documentary about the oil industry's impact on the people of the Niger Delta will be among those participating in an interactive forum Monday, "Lives and Truth at Stake in the Niger Delta."

The P-I wrote several articles about the filmmakers' plight, including what they said upon their return, but this forum will plunge deeper into the story.

In April, director Sandy Cioffi, producer Tammi Sims, and photojournalists Sean Porter and Cliff Worsham were detained on April 12 by Nigerian government officials. They were on one of several trips they've made to the country over the past two years to work on their documentary, "Sweet Crude." The two were released after a week, but only after intervention by Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, D-Wash., and other government officials.

Now Cioffi will appear on a panel with an International Human Rights attorney, a Nigerian journalist and others to discuss the devastation caused by oil extraction on the Niger Delta and its inhabitants. They also talk about the increasingly risky business of being a journalist trying to document such stories.

Tickets are $10 at the door ($5 for students) or available through BrownPaperTickets.

The panel is from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Kane Hall 130, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Panelists are:
Katrina Anderson -- Human Rights Attorney
Joel Bisina Nigerian -- American Founding Director, Niger Delta Professionals for Development
Sandy Cioffi -- Filmmaker, Sweet Crude
Sowore Omoyele -- Nigerian journalist, Sahara Reporters
Tom Rhodes -- African Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists
Moderated by Marcie Sillman, Sr. Reporter KUOW

If a million-dollar prize is enough incentive for you to take seven weeks of tribe trials, back-stabbing competitors and a tropical paradise full of peril, then go for it at the "Survivor" open casting on Sunday. Typically, "Survivor" producers look for "strong-willed, outgoing and adventurous," and those adaptable to new environments (according to KIRO-7's previous pitches for recruits).

Erik Reichenbach on "Survivor: Micronesia -- Fans vs. Favorites" (Monty Brinton/CBS)

Go to KIRO-7's web site to download the 19-page application, which asks questions like, "If you were stranded, who would you most want to be stranded with?" and "What would be the craziest, wildest thing you would do for a million dollars?" But this is a good question, too: "What would you NOT do for a million dollars?"

Each application must be accompanied by a 3-minute (or less) video that tells producers who you are and why you would make the ultimate survivor. "Be creative!"

Applications and videos aren't due until July 15 but if you go to the casting call Sunday it might be a good idea to have the materials in hand already, even though blank applications will be available on site. The auditions are ONE take of ONE minute. It's first-come, first-serve. You MUST be at least 21 to compete.

What: Survivor Casting Call
Where: Great American Casino, Lakewood
Location: 10117 South Tacoma Way, Lakewood, Washington 98499
Phone: (253) 396-0500
Date: Sunday, May 18, 2008
Time: 3-7pm

Reporter Scott Gutierrez passed along yet another quirk to his story earlier this week about the Renton developer who unearthed human remains and remnants of a casket that likely were buried more than 65 years ago on the property.

Gutierrez reports that if the landowner opted to leave the remains there, he could file for designation as a “historic” grave site and gain a tax exemption for that exact spot where the remains are buried, according to state officials.

“The bottom line is it may be possible to apply for a cemetery property tax exemption for a "historic" grave site, if all conditions are met,” said Mike Gowrylow, Department of Revenue spokesman.

“Nobody in the office today can recall ever getting an application to exempt a single grave site from property taxes, and we would have to go through a careful review on any such application before we could make a decision.”

The applicant also likely would have to designate the property as a cemetery site in the deed, Gowrylow said.

Police excavated the property at 2211 Edmonds Ave. N.E after a jawbone was discovered. They found remains, along with metal poles and brackets that likely were part of a casket, and ruled out the likelihood that a crime occurred.

Authorities estimate the casket hardware to have been crafted between 1910 and 1940. Until 1943, it was legal to bury your dead on your own property.

Allyson Brooks, director of the state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation said she increasingly hears reports of unearthed graves, unmarked cemeteries or tribal burial sites as urban development transforms what were once rural communities. Early settlers often buried family members on their farms without leaving records of the graves’ locations. They get unearthed as new homes get built or people add driveways or swimming pools, she said.

“When I first came to this state 10 years ago, I’d hear of one or two a year. Now we get a few a month,” Brooks said. “There are a lot more abandoned graves or historic cemeteries than people realize.”

On a whim that gave away my youth, I asked assistant photo editor Eustacio Humphrey earlier this week how news photographers managed in the years before digital photography.

It's not that I haven't heard the stories dozens of times, 'cause I have. But the way memory cards and Photoshop have revolutionized photojournalism never ceases to amaze me.

A few minutes later, P-I photographer Grant M. Haller stopped by my desk and showed me this photo.

It was taken in 1986 at the airport by a Boston photographer. Haller was on his way to Alaska to shoot an assignment for the P-I. What's in all those boxes?

You guessed it -- photo processing equipment.

"I ruined more sinks around the country with more chemicals than you know," Haller said.

He looked at the picture and chuckled. "I can't even imagine going through the airport security they do nowadays."

We heard that a robot was offering some hope in Magnolia. We went to see, and sure enough, we found "Thorny," the robot of Thorndyke Avenue. Check out his story here.

City Light sent out a press release this afternoon saying it has to stop accepting new applications for help paying electric bills.

Project Share, a City Light program in which people contribute money towards helping low-income people pay for electricity, has run out of money.

The press release quoted Barbara Evans, a Project Share coordinator in the Mayor's Office for Senior Citizens.

"It's hard. If your lights are off and you're about to be shut off, it pains us to say go somewhere else," Evans said "But we're coming down now to a point where there are so many people seeking help and only so many dollars. The resources are not keeping pace with the need."

Inflation and a slumping economy are among the factors cited by many of those who are seeking Project Share assistance for the first time this year, Evans said in the release. Also, this is the time of year when electric bills for the late, colder winter months begin to appear.

"We're hearing from many people, 'My rent is going up, groceries are going up, gas is going up and my hours are going down,'" she said in the release. "These are the new needy. "

All contributions to Project Share directly benefit low-income customers in financial distress. None of the money raised is used for administrative purposes. Contributions are tax deductible.

To qualify for assistance, a person must meet income guidelines based on family size. Assistance varies depending on a person's circumstances. The most recipients can receive is $250, plus up to $250 more in matching funds for any payments they make on their own.

The average Project Share pledge recipient is a single parent with two children, making less than $1,500 per month and living in public housing.

Contributions can be made via mail at City of Seattle/Project Share, Treasury Services, P.O. Box 34017 Seattle, WA 98124-1017, or online.

Here's something you might not expect from the biggest critic of those notorious Belltown crime videos:

A parody.

"My long-time collaborator George Clark and I shot, edited and posted this to YouTube in three hours yesterday," Alex R. Mayer, publisher of the neighborhood's Belltown Messenger newspaper, told me in an e-mail this morning. "George is filming and providing commentary, our friend Ralph is the crackhead with the long hair, and that's me in the black hat."

Mayer added the video was shot entirely in a "genuine Belltown alleyway." Watch it below and let us know -- did you laugh?

continue reading

Scene from the next Batman movie?

Nope.

It's a shot of downtown Seattle.

Reader photographer andy lachance posted it on MySeattlePix. And we used to to lead a gallery of Urban Seattle scenes.

See more from this photographer on his Flickr page. Urban alleys are a recurring theme.

To upload your own photos to our site, click here.

The Poker Players Alliance, a new group of poker supporters who are fighting against recent efforts to thwart their gaming, will be speaking out against Washington State's law banning online gambling.

Any kind of gambling that is not first approved by the state is illegal -- has been since the 70s. But a couple years ago, the state legislature made it clear that online gambling, meaning playing poker over the Internet, is a felony. And players are up in arms over it.

Lee Russo, PPA's Washington State Director, is suing the state and presenting his case to the King Country Superior Court on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., and the PPA will hold a rally and press conference outside the courthouse immediately following the hearing.

The rally will happen outside the Regional Justice Center, 401 Fourth Ave. N. in Kent at 10:30 a.m.

If you're thinking of heading down to Post Alley sometime this week, and you happen to be a fan of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" you might want to mark your calendar for Friday at 4 p.m.

Drew Carey is minority owner of the Seattle Sounders FC. (SoundersFC.com)

That's when comedian Drew Carey will be at Kells Irish Pub to tell Seattle Sounders FC members how they can get involved.

Carey is minority owner of Seattle's new major league soccer team.

"Drew had talked about creating a members' association so members have a say, a voice in some of the operations of the team," said Sounders FC spokeswoman Suzanne Lavender. "So he will be kind of announcing the format, how members can get involved in the council, and go into specifics."

If you've been to Kells, you know it's a pretty big place. But the Seattle FC has more than 15,500 members. It's not that big.

But no worries. The event will stream live online at SoundersFC.com.

It finally happened -- John Edwards is endorsing Barack Obama.

Quick -- is this the nail in the coffin for the Hillary Clinton campaign? Or just another in a series of hurdles that -- odds be damned -- can't slow the woman down?

The citizen videos that stirred up local passions in Belltown before they were pulled down from public view Tuesday are still reverberating online.

This morning I came across a blog post by Seattle resident Elan Ruskin that included this striking photo.

An electric box in Belltown reveals what many residents see under the 'posh' neighborhood's glossy surface. (Photo by Elan Ruskin; used with permission from Flickr)

Ruskin says he took it last January on the north side of Second Avenue between Battery and Bell streets -- just a block from the apartment building where those citizen videos were shot.

"I live in Belltown myself, and I don't know that I'd really characterize it as dangerous or criminal. 'Posh' is more the word I would use," Ruskin wrote. "Still, it would be nice to have a little less felonious activity in my back alley after midnight."

No word on who posted the sign.

Good news, everybody. Summer's coming soon. Real soon. Like, this weekend.

Summer's here! For a weekend, anyway. (Meryl Schenker)

A short heat wave is expected to hit Seattle starting tomorrow, with temperatures possibly reaching into the 90s by Saturday.

Hello, Vitamin D.

The hotness will undoubtedly crowd parks, parking lots and hiking trails -- and give African elephant Watoto a big welcome back to the zoo (she's feeling much better, by the way).

I asked some newsroom staffers where they would go to soak up the sun. Here are their recommendations.

Let us know where you'll go.

continue reading

Morgan Marshall's hat is not just a hat. Simply put, it's an extension of himself.

Morgan Marshall wore his first special-edition Seattle Rainiers hat for eight and a half years, patching it up with duct tape and staples until it nearly fell apart. This is Marshall's senior year, months before Hat #1's retirement in late 2003. (Courtesy of Morgan Marshall)

Hat #2 made its debut in December 2003, on a hiking trip in Chile. (Courtesy of Morgan Marshall)

Here's Hat #2 last summer, accompanying Marshall on a firefighting gig in Tahoe, Calif.

When Marshall wants to prove he's been somewhere, like the mountains in Europe a year ago, he photographs his hat. (Courtesy of Morgan Marshall)

Celebrities have been photographed wearing Marshall's hat, including Alex Trebek and Mr. Rogers, seen here sporting Hat #1 in 2000. (Photo by Morgan Marshall))

"Everybody has this sort of idea of what they think they look like," said Marshall, 26. "In that image, I'm wearing this hat."

The hat -- a patchwork of fabric, duct tape and staples he doesn't wash but insists doesn't smell -- is the second he's worn of four limited edition Seattle Rainiers caps he and his family got 13 years ago, at a Mariners "Turn Back the Clock" event at the Kingdome.

He's worn it almost every day since December 2003 -- a streak almost as impressive as the hat it replaced. Marshall put on that hat -- also from the Mariners event, let's call it Hat #1 -- the day his eighth grade self first got hold of it and kept it on nearly every day for eight and a half years.

As its brim tore and the fabric ripped, the hat grew from an adolescent habit to a defining conversation piece and, finally, into a security blanket the lifelong Mariners fan took off only when he absolutely had to -- weddings, the shower, classrooms in Bishop Blanchet High School.

Hat #2 only strengthened the bond.

Marshall thinks two, maybe three days have gone by when he hasn't worn his prized topper.

"Everybody who knows me more than week knows it's part of my soul," he said.

We thought of Marshall when we read about David Witthoft, a 12-year-old kid in Connecticut who wore a Brett Favre jersey every day for four years.

To Marshall, that's kid stuff.

He wrote about Hat #1 on his application essay to Stanford University and was the only co-ed to pin his tassel to a beat-up baseball cap at graduation.

His father once told him that if he ever thought he wasn't getting enough respect, he should think about changing his headware.

But so far, so good. Marshall wears his hat all day every day as head of housekeeping operations at Stanford's Sierra Camp and Conference Center.

He guesses he'll be about 30 when Hat #2 retires and Hat #3 -- which waits for him at his parents' house in Wallingford -- gets its turn.

As for walking around with a bare head -- that's not an option. Not now, maybe not ever.

"I've written off that section of my peripheral vision," Marshall said.

When it comes to practical jokes, Marshall's friends couldn't have asked for a better target than his dirty, battered, beloved hat.

His freshman year at Stanford, while he mingled bare-headed at a formal event, a couple girls kidnapped the hat from Marshall's room and left only a paper tombstone -- adorned with an old picture of the hat -- as evidence.

Speaking of girls, no significant other has ever harassed him about his hatty habit. "I think they know that if they're really interested, they're going to have to put up with it," he said.

As for theft, Marshall isn't worried.

"No one wants to touch it."

Now you see them, now you don't.

If you wanted to see those controversial citizen videos that stirred up so much discussion about Belltown crime, you're out of luck.

The videos are no longer publicly viewable on YouTube.

The woman who filmed, uploaded and got both praised and panned for them confirmed today she made the videos private, but then said she was sure they'd "pop up again somewhere else soon." She also said she's gotten e-mails from Belltowners and others who say they're going to start posting their own own watchdog pics and videos (one of her neighbors already has).

The BelltownCrime YouTube page now features this message:

The videos are now private, if you are SPD or the city, please feel free to email if you would like to use the video - everyone else will need to use Google archives, sorry. I only took the videos for two weeks, and it was never my intention to keep shooting videos or to leave the videos on for a long time, just wanted light to be shed on the problem, it obviously worked (and got blown out of proportion a bit), now lets see if it makes a difference.

Thanks to the people who support the videos, and the negative comments were still appreciated because at least the city is talking! That is the first step, acknowledging a problem!

Just as with these videos, the news often does not capture the full story, or the correct facts. And, as with these videos, take what you see and hear with a grain of salt. ;)

continue reading

A couple of new "Spam Kings" have been crowned, thereby dethroning Seattle's own Robert Soloway, who got nailed last year by the feds after having his you-know-what sued off by Microsoft in 2005.

According to The Associated Press, MySpace, and its parent company, News Corp., won their battle when the two spamming defendants failed to attend their hearing on Monday.

NEW YORK (AP) – The popular online hangout MySpace has won a $234 million judgment in Los Angeles over junk messages sent to its members.

MySpace says it believes this is the largest award ever under the 2003 federal anti-spamming law known as CAN-SPAM.

MySpace tells The Associated Press that the award was against two of the Internet's most prominent spam defendants, Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines.

Wallace has earned the nickname "spam king" for his past role as head of a company that sent as many as 30 million junk e-mails a day in the 1990s.

Texas pitcher Kason Gabbard is tackled by Richie Sexson (44) after Gabbard threw a pitch close to Sexson in the fourth inning May 08, 2008. (AP)

The official site of the Texas Rangers has an item on pitcher Kason Gabbard and his match-up with the Mariners tonight.

There could be some drama. Last time the twain met, Mariner Richie Sexson earned a five-day suspension by throwing his baseball helmet at Goddard's head. (They say he had his reasons.)

"I'm not all the way back, but enough to pitch," Gabbard said. "My arm feels great and my back feels great, my knees just aren't 100 percent. But my side [throwing session] went well. I didn't throw with max effort, but I'll be all right."

A friend of mine who was at the game said the brawl was the most exciting thing about it. Seattle fans seem to like trouble.

Seattle Police Officer Debra Pelich, a 13-year veteran of the force, works on Capitol Hill. (Grant M. Haller/Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

This weekend's discussion of the Belltown crime videos (which have now gone private -- more on that later) has many criticizing police for not being around when they're needed.

The response is a reminder of how critical -- yet how thankless -- policing can really be.

A reader just argued the point in a previous post -- saying people need to balance their attacks with support. But resident rage seems to come with the badge. What do you think?

Law enforcement is both like holding back the tide, and like ripples in a pond. You're never going to win, but you make a difference where you can. People need to respect the ones who are trying their best (most of them). Only the bad ones stick in your minds, only the worst make the news ... .

I do know that there are bad apples in most departments. But, also, I know that Seattle PD is overworked and understaffed. They have fewer officers per capita than the national standard. And why not? Would YOU sign up for this abuse? People try to hurt police officers, they threaten their families. There is a lower life expectancy, and a lot of pain that goes with law enforcement. LE personnel see the worst, most horrible parts of society, and then they are publicly disrespected in an online blog.

continue reading

Megan Mullaly and Roger Bart play a scene in "Young Frankenstein," which premiered at the Paramount last summer and earned three Tony Award nominations. (Paul Kolnik)

Theater lovers be proud. The Tony Award nominations were announced this morning and Seattle came away with two nods.

Intiman Theater artistic director Bartlett Sher is nominated for his directorial work in the revival of the hit "South Pacific," which had the second highest number of nominations -- 11. Only "In the Heights," a snapshot of New York Latino life, had more.

"Young Frankenstein," the Mel Brooks musical that premiered at Seattle's Paramount Theatre last year, earned three nominations -- for featured actress, featured actor and set designer. Here's our review.

Read more about the nominations from the Associated Press.

... and on his way to North Bend to chat about the environment.

Sen. John McCain in Seattle February 2008 (Mike Urban/Seattle P-I)

GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain was met by angry machinist union members and supporters upon touchdown at Boeing Field Tuesday morning. The Boeing workers are upset that he led an investigation that ultimately cost Boeing the lucrative Air Force tanker contract that recently went to Airbus.

He's expected to be greeted by enviro-protesters waiting for him at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center in North Bend (to talk about global warming on a chilly Northwest day).

Later this afternoon, he'll head over to Bellevue to raise some serious GOP cash. The Bellevue event, at the Hyatt Regency, bills $1,000 for the main reception, $2,300 for a VIP reception, $10,000 for a photo reception, and $33,100 for a special dinner.

He's done well here before.

There are likely to be many protesters from a variety of causes greeting McCain in Bellevue, but Planned Parenthood supporters, in particular, plan to gather across the street from the Bellevue Hyatt at 4 p.m. (McCain events start at 5 p.m.) While McCain has said he wants to work on global warming issues, the senator is decidedly GOP-Red on reproductive rights.