As the rest of America observes July 15 as National Ice Cream Day, we’ll be raising a cone (filled with whiskey) to the opening of our new Narrows bridge.

How will we be celebratin' the premiere of Tacoma's latest international icon?

* Waitin' in traffic on way to party.

* Namin' first-born child Gertie.

* Drinkin' till bridge appears to be gallopin'.

Love it or hate it, what will you do to salute our span?

Alaska Airlines announced today it's offering nonstop (if everything goes well) flights from Sea-Tac to Hawaii. One-way ticket: $109.

Aloha and mahalo!

When the weather turns perfect like today, my first thought is to head down to Ruston Way or Owen Beach to relax and enjoy Tacoma's waterfront.

But the downside to that area is when the sun gets low, the eastern shore is the first to be in the shade, thus shortening the potential length of time for full sun enjoyment.

So in a quest for the perfect sun spot, I think we finally found a winner last night: Take Five Mile Drive at Point Defiance and stop at the Gig Harbor viewpoint. It has grass, it has picnic tables and it has one of the best views in the city as the sun dips below the Olympics.

Shhh. Don't tell anybody else.

Any other recommendations for sun that lasts?

I don't know about you, but I like cheering for people from Tacoma.

But that's not the only reason I'm going to log on to TeenVogue.com and vote for Brooke, 18, to win the Style that Rocks contest. If Brooke wins, she gets to play stylist for "The Red Jumpsuit Aparatus," who are, as far as I can tell, the 'NSYNC of screamo.

Here are some other reasons I'm voting for Brooke:

1. She's cute as a button.

2. She allegedly works at Embellish, where I got my last haircut. This means I can casually drop things into conversation like "Oh, you like The Red Jumpsuit Aparatus? A girl at the salon I go to is their stylist."

4. After going to Sasquatch and seeing the terminally hip (knee-high leather boots and absolutely gigantic glasses as far as the eye could see), it's refreshing to see someone who doesn't look like Urban Outfitters threw up on them. Just sayin'.

5. She's smiling with her teeth and is therefore not a poser.

6. If you've gotten this far, it means I've written and you've read an entire post about Teen Vogue. Now we have to vote.

Someone got a Memorial Day surprise at south 19th and Oakes streets. By late Monday night, the impromptu lawn furniture had been neatly stacked on the curb to haul away, so I'm guessing this wasn't planned by the home's occupants.

So here's the question: Is this art?

At the end of her set Saturday at the Gorge, Neko Case thanked everyone for coming out, especially “people from Tacoma.”

Awwww, thanks, Neko!

We knew you wouldn't forget about all the good times we've had together.

For a full report on the Sasquatch Music Festival, read EJ's story from Saturday or check out his fine work on Bring the Noise.

Its workers slink around in low-cut shirts and black leather pants. Its motto emphasizes "slow massage." Its logo looks as if the naked lady on trucker mud flaps has found new work.

The mantastic spirit behind innovations such as beer, ESPN and Keira Knightley has now given us Tight Cuts, a fratishly upscale barber shop that directly targets the heads of those with a Y chromosome.

If you're lonely and bald, now's a good time to double up your Rogaine dosage: A shop at Sixth and Pearl is set to open in mid-June.

So here's the question: Would you go here? Why or why not?

100th Monkey is tonight at Bamford & Bamford pottery.

The last time I heard, there's a DJ and belly dancer scheduled to perform, but no art pieces.

So I'm taking bets: With 200 artists, free wine and 24,000 square feet of pottery, how long 'til the impromptu mosaic installation begins?

Tonight, 8 to 10 p.m., 3001 South Huson St. Free. Bring a bottle of your own or some snacks.

I'm starting to think this kid is a wicked genius.

AP Photo

Tuesday, May 22, 2007 can officially be declared BEST. DAY. EVER. for the region.

Seattle was blessed with the #2 spot in yesterday's NBA draft lottery. Could that mean the Sonics/Storm franchise is saved?

Federal Way's Apolo Ohno danced his way to victory last night on Dancing With the Stars.

Bothell's Blake Lewis competed in the American Idol finale and while he's clearly the underdog, he had the most enthusiastic crowd support of the night with his reprise performance of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name."

AND, the winning song in Idol's songwriting contest was written by Seattle residents Jeff Peabody and Scott Krippayne. The song is more Spirit 105.3 than 107.7 The End.

Do with that what you will.

ABC

"Just have fun with it," Apolo Ohno told me, sharing his advice for kids who want to grow up to be like him. "If you want to pursue something like this, just go for it. Do your best – there's nothing else you can do."

OK, so that was back in 2002. And he was talking about speedskating. But I'm pretty sure he was thinking about ballroom dancing.

Or maybe breakdancing. The "Dancing with the Stars" champion would always wear a red jacket while perfecting his b-boy moves in the hallways of Saghalie Junior High in Federal Way.

But you want to know the real reason for his success in "Dancing with the Stars"? I'm pretty sure it's because there were no rival dancers in the way to trip him up ...

The Associated Press file

I really should have asked him more about dancing.

What do you do when you're having a really bad day? Thanks for asking! I listen to Sufjan Stevens, put my little nose to the grindstone and take one very short little break to peruse BoingBoing. For work, obviously.

And I found the funniest thing ever. But I can't link to it, because all this puritanical listserv talk has me spooked. (Plus, like me, the language in this post is NSFW.) But, after all this talk about deception, I thought this was timely. (Lie. I just wanted to post it because it's funny.)

Basic premise: Someone thought it'd be an interesting social experiment (or just funny) to respond to all Craigslist "Missed connection" m4w ads with "That's my girlfriend." He posts the responses he gets to his web site, which you'll have to find on your own. Most of the responses aren't clever, but this one is:

The best response:

well that's fine if it were...im in now way trying to persue her...i just thought she should be told. word to your pregnant wife.

I like to read that in Kip from Napoleon Dynamite's voice. Bonus question: What's Kip's last name? Dynamite?

You may recall the head-scratching e-mail from "Doreen Deeble" that was sent over the TacomaArts listserv last week. You might also remember that we did a little digging and found that no such character exists. No, this was just a little self-promotion by R.R. Anderson. Who could blame him? It's difficult to get attention.

We knew all this. You knew all this. We've all since moved on.

But ... well, here are some recent comments from the listserv from bright, well-meaning people who missed the boat.

I thought the original e-mail message “condemning” Mr. Anderson’s “art” was ridiculous, but not necessarily offensive. I am however very disappointed to receive an e-mail with profanity included.

I was not going to reply to the RR Anderson debate because I don't think this is the place for such a discussion, but the latest post has spurred me to comment...

But the original message was highly offensive, bigoted and homophobic. The original post said: ONCE I CAME HOME FROM WORK TO FIND MY DAUGHTER SURFING THAT "HOLISTIC FORGEWORKS" WEBSITE, LATER THAT NIGHT MY DAUGHTER ADMITTED SHE ENTERTAINED HOMOSEXUAL DESIRES!

Such bigotry and stupidity is more offensive than the profanity in the other message.

So ... like the Energizer Bunny, this keeps going. Thanks, R.R.!

Today at exactly 12:59 p.m. we'll be at the peak of one of the lowest tides of the past two years.

So if you're unemployed (or get an extra long lunch break), you might want to head to the beach this afternoon.

If you need some ideas on where to go, or a schedule of other unusually low tides this summer, check out this story.

Where's a gritty Taco-woman to go on vacation? To our heretofore unannounced (and newly christened!) sister city of Chicago, o' course.

It's grimy, and it's got a big heart. We know how that goes.

After four days of loping around the city to great old neon-sign diners and bars and the eating of pizza and sammitches, and the drinking of cheap, delicious wine at hipster bistros, I concluded that Chicago's the big gender-neutral sibling we didn't know we had.

Not that we couldn't use a few things that Chicago has. (Yeah, there's the whole population thing, too – critical mass ain't just a bike group, and a greater population density here would surely help support growth in the arts, not to mention sprout something -other- than condos downtown.)

So here's my take-home list.

• Transit. (Did you know you could die if you peed on the El train's third rail? See what we're missing?)
• More resources for cyclists: paths, racks, drivers who don't want to kill them.
• A restaurant named TOAST. (self-explanatory)

I know we like to beat dead horses around here about what T-town lacks. But I'm proposing we just dress the dead horse up in a spangly tutu. Anyone else seen a great idea to steal from another city?

Anybody catch "The Colbert Report" last night?

Did you notice he used a screenshot from TheNewsTribune.com to introduce his rant against our state's new prison reform law?

Here's a bit of what he had to say:

What, no nap time? I don’t care if you’re convicted of serial killing or selling $20 worth of pot. You had your chance to live free and you blew it, mister. Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals!

But what do you expect from Washington state. It’s just a bunch of over-caffeinated, Northwest coast liberal elites already guilty of the crime of grunge music. The whole state should get 25 to life for Attempted Making Everyone Dress Like A Lumberjack.

If you missed it, the show is replayed again today at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

In other dateline Tacoma news, The New York Times assigned a reporter to write about our Craigslist hoax story, in which the house was pillaged by people responding to an ad. Turns out, the homeowner's niece has been charged.

I was listening to a Seattle Brand X radio station this week when "Blaine from Tacoma" called in for a contest. The DJ gave him 30 seconds to "Tell me everything you like about Tacoma."

Blaine says: "Uh ... crackheads, Subway, coffee ... getting my mail."

Then he was stumped speechless. That's all he could come up with.

But I'm not losing too much sleep over it: The song Blaine guessed would be played next was Sublime's "Smoke Two Joints."

I'm thinking Blaine was on his third.

So to help Blaine fill his fading short-term memory (and the remaining 25 seconds of radio air time), tell me, in one word, something you like about Tacoma.

At the lovely farmer's market opening today, we spied Daniel Blue, who filled us in on his newest project: A 20-banner poetry walk through downtown.

He was supposed to unveil the banners today, but there was a snag in the printing schedule, so they'll officially be up on Monday.

There will be four or five (I wasn't taking notes, folks) poems, split up between the banners. Walk around town to put the lines together.

If you'd like to write a haiku to celebrate (celebrate anything - summer, banners, walking, unicorns), please do so here and now. Laura?

Oh, Tacoma. If you don't stop being weird, I'm never going to get around to my day job...

Subscribers to the TacomaArts listserv were treated with a couple of all-caps screeds from "Doreen Deeble," who is against R.R.'s "slanderous" drawings. She drew the line when her daughter checked out the Holistic Forge Works Web site then admitted she "entertained homosexual desires." In her e-mail, she encouraged people to "ban" Anderson's work.

This is me fighting the urge to say "If anyone could make me entertain homosexual desires, it's R.R." That's just not true! (But it does make me giggle.)

Anyhow, I spent a bit o' time, with the help of investigative reporter Sean Robinson – who I personally would not want to cross – doing some research and could find no one in the state of Washington named Doreen Deeble. The number she gave is unlisted. A generic message greeted me when I called. R.R. hasn't called me back, even though in a phone message I absolved him from responsibility in forming my own sexual orientation.

I can't prove anything just yet, but I'd have to guess that perhaps R.R. was looking for publicity for his art show tomorrow. Silly R.R.! All you had to do was ask.

Thursday, May 17th, 5pm — Thursday, May 17th, 8pm
RR Anderson's AUTOMATIC DRAWINGS
Solo Art Show Featuring Tacoma's Most Holistic Cartoonist
Come by the Mineral Studio to see the work and meet the artist.
Show will feature four (4) new illustrated panels approx. 18 x 28 inches in size PLUS many of the original FEED>>TACOMIC political cartoons. All art work is available for sale at reasonable prices. If you're too cheap to buy anything you can print off your own cartoons from the website and bring them to the show for the artist to PERSONALLY INSCRIBE with an INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE! Even so, come meet the cartoonist, his parents or the lovely Ms. Darcy in person.

I wonder what sort of inspirational message he'd write to me.

Weird. Weird. Weird.

Last week, police reporter Paul Sand passed by my desk, wide-eyed. "Go read Lights & Sirens. That's all I have to say."

So I did. And it was the story about someone finding a dead fawn dressed in doll's clothes at the entrance to the Pantages. On deadline, I foolishly neglected to tell you all about it. The story was picked up by the Seattle paper(s) (as does really any story that reinforces the image that we're a bunch of gun-toting freaks), but I thought it had since died down ... then I got an e-mail this morning from an editor. Subject: "FW: FYI on your Faun Story."

Ah. This has got to be good.

The next time you drive by a dead animal on the side of the road, take a closer look. It might just be wearing a purple dress, a green vest or have its "nails" painted.

About three weeks ago, Jessica May, who just completed her first year of graduate studies in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville art and design program, started dressing roadkill in pet and baby clothes to catch people's attention near campus.

The 24-year-old from West Lafayette, Ind., said the idea stemmed from a year's worth of work dealing with nature. She said she was interested to see whether people would give more thought to the "wild animals" if they were personified by being dressed in human attire, such as a Polo from Baby Gap.

Although she has dressed, and given some manicures, to three raccoons and three possums, she said she is not trying to make a political statement: "I'm not trying to be any sort of militant activist for animals' rights or anything like that."
By Maria Baran, News-Democrat.

Phew! I was afraid that dead fawn was the work of a radical political activist or a bat-$#!* crazy gardener, but I'm reassured to find it was just a run-of-the-mill crazy-copycat.

So, now I want to know who did it and why, of all the weird stuff you could copy, you chose this.

Does the Tacoma Narrows bridge have it's own blog? It's hard to keep track. (It does have a MySpace page.)

If it did, this timelapse film by Kevin Freitas of the lights going out would probably make a good post.

Sorry for the long weekend, but I took yesterday off to recover from the marathon (I actually took it off because I'm working this Saturday, but it all worked out for the best because I couldn't have sat in a desk all day yesterday anyway ... unless I wanted to be stuck there permanently. But I digress.)

Aside from the ridiculous hills of the course and the mile 16 water station that had no water (but it did have plenty of people standing around to tell us there was no water. Grrrr.), it was fun. It was really exciting to see so many people out.

I got a bloody nose right before Point Defiance Park. Maybe this is messed up, but one cherished moment in the marathon was around mile 14, when we ran by the Hooters' girls. By that time, I had blood all over my face, hands and arms ... and there they were, jumping up and down in those ridiculous shorts like Chrissy wore on "Three's Company," shouting "Vanilla Berry or Chocolate Outrage?" (the kinds of GU they were handing out) like broken records. I don't know why that delighted me, but it did.

Oh, and the good news: Joseph and I met our goal of running the whole way. Yahoo. Apparently to celebrate, he's wearing his medal to work. I tried to talk to him about it, but he accused me of trying to get him to be normal, which is a very bad word. So ... yeah.

At the risk of subjecting myself to a medal-wearing-boyfriend again, who's up for Portland? Derek? Who else? We could have an actual training group ... with T-shirts and stuff.

Over the last month, photographer Drew Perine (aka my new favorite person) and I went out to a few Tacoma clubs to photograph and interview you all (y'all, if you will). You can see the fruits of mostly his labor in today's GO section, which has three different covers.

But this photo gallery is the sweetest part. Drew mashed his photos up with audio interviews and some background music to help identify which club you're at (McCabe's, Hell's Kitchen or The Loft).

You'll get to hear Dave Orton accuse me of checking out his tattoos. You'll also hear me ask him about his hair. He said he washes it every three months. What you won't hear is my follow-up questions. I told him I know product in the hair when I see it. He copped to combing Paul Mitchell through his coif.

That's right, folks: Can't pull one over on this reporter.

Lovingly borrowed from I Live On A Farm

I know you're all screwing around on the Internet waiting for five o'clock anyway. So spend your time helping me figure this one out:

If people who speak British English call cookies "biscuits," what do they call biscuits?

Earlier this week I hauled myself to the top of the towers on the new Tacoma Narrows bridge.

– Click on the photo to watch a little video I made. –

I came away with complete admiration for the workers who built this massive thing. As seen from ground level, it all looks pretty simple. But when you get up close, 500-plus feet above the water, you notice the small bolts and spun cable and concrete work that makes it all stick together – labor completed in driving winds and freezing rain.

"It's amazing to think: Every damn piece of this was put there by someone," state Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald said as we were standing on top.

It's the first major suspension bridge project in the U.S. in the past 40 years. I really believe these bridges could become an international symbol of our city, not unlike the Golden Gate for San Francisco.

(Shameless corporate promotion: There's a 100 page book about the bridge project coming out in July by News Tribune reporter Rob Carson and photographer Dean J. Koepfler. The perfect accessory for any Tacoma coffee table or bathroom.)

The topic that won't die: Fannypacks. I would like to point out that The New York Times is about eight months late to the party (yet how fashionable!).

A GritCity history lesson:

Let the record show: I predicted the hipster mustache. A good six months before The New York Times noted a backlash against metrosexualism and therefore, a proclivity of the slim-hipped, record-collecting sort to go scruffy, I saw it coming.
Last night at Bumbershoot, even one of the darling girls of CocoRosie was sporting a drawn-on French 'stache that made me think of Gauloises and gin. (oh la la)
So take this down: Fanny packs.
If you're British, go ahead and call it a bum bag.
I've counted exactly two in the past month, and honestly, I'm not necessarily endorsing this trend, but consider: Strap your cell and your debit card to your hip and you've got one more hand for a PBR. **
Just sayin'.

** Until everyone starts drinking Schlitz instead.

So anyway, the NYT offers its take on 'packs – in France, it's le banane, s'il vous plaît.

For his spring show, Takahiro Miyashita, the designer for the cult Japanese label Number (N)ine, accessorized his rock ’n’ roll frontiersmen with washed leather ammo packs in earthen tones. Phillip Lim created trim belt clutches that look as crisp and fresh as his nearly-all-white collection. And Kris Van Assche, the newly appointed Dior Homme, proved that even le banane – in bright yellow suede, no less – can look immensely sleek with a boxy gray suit with the sleeves scrunched up.

Niki, this means you. Haven't seen the Vegas fanny pack in eight months. What gives?

Anyone else in the market for a "belt" bag?

Sanjaya was SO two weeks ago, but if you're still not over it, you can get your fix today at the The Commons at Federal Way.

From Q13:

"Sanjaya will be at the mall at 4 in the afternoon greeting the public at Macy's Courtyard."

And here's more on the event from The News Tribune.

Remember the Tacoma Dome by Andy Warhol that Kelly blogged about last year? Well, here's the link. The basics?

Last week, I discovered a tale on the Web site for Tacoma guerilla poster art project Beautiful Angle that Andy Warhol had submitted a design for a painting on the Tacoma Dome. Could it be?

I blogged. I waited. Then a reporter handed me a book from our library marking the Dome's 1983 completion.

I cracked its black spine. (It smells like the Carnegie library I pedaled to as a kid.) After an intro titled "Stubborn Tacomans Get Their Dome," I found articles detailing artists' proposals for the project, with Mr. Warhol's among them.

I'm bringing it up again because it seems the folks at CB2 (spinoff of Crate & Barrel) have been reading our blog ... ok, maybe they just did a little research on their own. Here's what an e-mail ad I received from them this morning says:

15 minutes of name. Andy Warhol's collectible Tacoma flowers start the first quarter-hour of the party with pop fame and great name (embossed artist's signature on the back). Melamine flower power in psychedelic color combos and ruffled at the edge. How about framed on a white dinner plate? Image courtesy of the Andy Warhol Institute for the Visual Arts.

And here are the sweet, sweet plates. I'm ordering them today for our wall.

The Tacoma City Marathon has posted the confirmed entrants for the race here.

There are more than 300 runners in the marathon.

Anyway, an apology is in order. I initially worried (in this very blog) that the marathon wouldn't get off the ground. I am happy to admit that I was wrong.

For this to work -- and for people to want to return to the brutal course next year -- the organizers are going to need to be very ... organized. I mean boatloads-of-volunteers-handing-out-buckets-of-candy-like-at-the-Portland-marathon organized. We shall see.

So, who else is registered? Is anyone slower than me? Please, someone, say yes.

Update: Derek from Exit133 and I might be talking about doing the Portland marathon in the fall. Who's up for a training group? OK, maybe I'm being too ambitious ... let's talk after next weekend.

Lookie what I ran across on the wire, in a feature called "We Saw You":

"Sanjaya in sunglasses and a hat, shopping with his mom and sister at Harmony Lane and Tres Jolie in Beverly Hills."

Tres Jolie, for those of you keeping score, is a women's accessory shop. Harmony Lane is a women's clothing store. That's all I'm sayin'.

Go here to see about 100 photos of Sanjaya leaving the store.

Congrats to the winners of our dance off, Jessica from Tacoma and Jordan from Gig Harbor. They're going to see Justin Timberlake in concert for free!

To recap, Jessica's video is here and Jordan's video is here.

Great job, dancers! We salute you.