When Dorkbot, the group that mixes art with electricity, decided to postpone gatherings in Tacoma for a few months, many of you went into mourning.

But, my dorky friends, you can see some of Dorkbot's finer works if you find yourself in South Lake Union anytime between Dec. 8 and Jan. 11. Some of their electric and interactive art will be displayed at 911 Media Arts Center, at 402 Ninth Ave. North at Harrison Street.

I know SLU is a ways away, but you could drive partway there and let the SLUT do the rest of the work. (That's South Lake Union Trolley, ya perv.)

Among the art featured is something by a man named Mike McKracken. Art is awesome. Electricity is awesome. But pile on top of all that wonderful-ness someone named Mr. McKracken, and you've got a winner.

Kool Herc. Grandmaster Flash. Sugar Hill Gang... and now, GritCity.

Let's not beat around the bush: It would be difficult to overstate GritCity's impact on hip hop.

Let us begin with the four pillars of hip hop culture:
Breakdancing
Graffiti art
Djing
MCing

Is it a coincidence that there are four members of GritCity? No. (I'll save you an afternoon of guessing: I'm the breakdancer.)

Cole, who, as an MC, prides himself on his lyrical mastery, put it this way:

We're living in the GritCity
Give us no pity
On the inside, it's so pretty

Got two bridges and a dome
And affordable homes, Homes.

From Point Defiance out to Old Town
To the Tideflats and back down
You down with 253?
Yeah you know me.

As I said, it's difficult to overstate our impact.

And yet here we've been toiling away in obscurity, far from the limelight and recognition that only a county executive could provide.

Well, folks, I have good news. Finally, someone has noticed. I received this e-mail today (KFNet has already posted, natch): "On Friday, January 18, 2008, Musica will make history with the presentation of the very first Pierce County Executive's Award for Excellence in Hip Hop."

Yo, when John Ladenburg gives you a plaque and shakes your hand, you know you've made it.

Here's the link to nomination forms. I trust you'll do the right thing.

A photo that goes along with Niki's story today on the Tacoma Beer Society caught Kevin Freitas, left, (www.kevinfreitas.net) and Michael Pierce, right, (in-tacoma.net) enjoying some product at E9.

I can't decide what's better fuel for a writer: Coffee or alcohol.

My vote: Why pick just one?

Thanks for stopping by our virtual GritCity Thanksgiving dinner.

Here's what we have on hand:

Wild Turkey bourbon
Yellow Jello
Fireworks

What are you bringing?

Dearest readers, I'm sorry I've been gone this week. It's not that I've been in Paris or, like, finishing the album about my cat. It's just that I've been a little ... grumpy.

Today, in the face of a four-day weekend, I realized I have no reason to be grumpy at all. In fact, I have plenty of reasons to be thankful. Here are just a few. Feel free to steal these for yourself.

I'm thankful that I've finally taught myself how to karate kick and punch people in my dreams. The unsatisfying lack of impact in dreamland used to ruin any violent dreams I had. But, through hard work and dedication, I can finally kick someone and feel like I'm kicking someone.

I'm thankful for soup, without which nothing would have sounded good for four meals this week.

And finally, I'm thankful that the GritCity T-shirt is in its final design stages. And I'm thankful that we can afford to buy more than one dozen of them to give away for free!

There. Three things. Phew.

OK, I am.

It's a humble vice, though: Coffee.

Caffeine is a cheap thrill in and of itself, but there's something about coffee that inspires good talks. Fidgety types can indulge their fidgets: stirring a spoon or chewing a stir stick. Obsessive-compulsive types can obsessively arrange their empty sugar packets just so on their saucers. Shy types can talk while staring into their latte foam. Loud types can regale the poor suckers sitting next to them.

With a cup before you, it's a level playing field is what I'm saying.

And Tacoma's got a new venue for good talks: the independently owned Satellite Coffee. It's in the old Temple of the Bean spot above Supernova salon and tattoo on Division and North I streets. It's a cozy building, with a cool crow's-nest perch overlooking Wright Park. I stopped there last Thursday, the day after their soft opening, and got a silky-toasty americano. Satellite pulls shots from Stumptown beans, and as far as I know, it's the only spot in our neck of the woods to serve the revered Portland roaster's stuff.

Read more about Satellite here.
Ogle Stumptown's admirably specific bean varietals here.

Go forth. Gaze at navels.

I was tired of looking at Celine Dion when our blog came up, so I was forced to post something.

What's going on out there?

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

EdwinDeux posted the 253rd comment in what is sure to go down in history as the GREATEST CONTEST IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!

Edwin's winning comment?

"I want all eyes on me, when I win this. hehe"

Edwin, you are a visionary. Congratulations. We'll be contacting you shortly about the procurement of your prize!

Thanks everybody for participating. You guys are HARD CORE. It took me an hour to approve all the comments, but it took you guys a mere 20 minutes or so to get us well above that number. If you made comments you never saw posted, it's because it was after we hit the 253 mark.

I'll follow this post up soon with another including my favorite comments from the contest. Possibly some "outtakes."

You guys rock.

A New Day Has Come! A day in which GritCity has something of value to somebody -- four tickets to see Celine Dion in concert October 18, 2008.

All you have to do is start Taking Chances and participate in the contest that's happening right now.

1) Submit the 253rd comment on this blog post and win.

2) You can post as often as you like.

3) You can only post every 30 seconds due to spam settings (sorry, that's annoying and something I can't change).

4) Comments will be moderated and approved in the order in which they were received.

5) "Inappropriate" or "ineligible" comments will not be considered as valid entries.

6) We're giving you until Monday at 5 p.m. to get to 253 comments. If it takes you that long, we will feel deeply disappointed in you. I mean, I Drove All Night to get you these tickets!

7) If turnout is dismal and we don't even get 253 comments OR if the person who submitted the winning comment cannot be reached or is not eligible to win, tickets will go to the person who came closest to that number without going over.

8) For more info and a link to the "official rules," click here.

That's The Way It Is!

Want to participate but don't know what to say in the comments? I'll give you some topics.

• The peanut is neither a pea nor a nut. Discuss.

• The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Discuss.

• Ireland Online is reporting that Celine Dion recently hinted that this upcoming tour could be her last. Discuss.

• Who's your favorite Fraggle? Discuss.

Ready?

AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz

GO!

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Contest is over! Thanks for playing!

I'm not a Celine Dion fan. Not until I saw this clip!

Doesn't this make you kind of curious about her show, in a rubbernecking train-wreck-a-comin' sort of way, just in case she unleashes something like this on Tacoma?

The good people at MLKBallet have many talents.

First and most obvious: Dance. If you've never seen one of the tuition-free ballet school's performances, you really should. It'll warm your heart ... and make you want to buy leggings and leg warmers.

Second: Charity. Alexa Folsom-Hill (the executive director) and Kate Monthy (an instructor) are the founders -- and they're in their mid-20s. Quick comparison: In my mid-20s, I feel pretty good about life if I can wake up within an hour of when I intended, and have certainly not managed to create a charitable dance school out of whole cloth.

Third: Timing. They seem to have a MOVE! performance juuust when I'm starting to wonder when the next one will be.

Unfortunately, I have bad timing, and haven't been in town on the same weekend as a performance in a year. If you're lucky enough to not be like me, you're in luck. MOVE! returns this weekend at the School of the Arts Theater.

Details:
When: Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Where: 1118 Commerce, downtown Tacoma
Cost: $14, available here.
Why: To help make tuition-free ballet class possible. And to see performers like: NorthWest Dance Syndrome, Josh Reisberg & Free Ya Mind Productions, Joel Myers & Lisa Fruichantie, Metro Parks Dance and MLKBallet’s Student Company.

You may have heard that one Ms. Celine Dion has announced her 2008-2009 concert schedule, which includes a stop at the Tacoma Dome. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (purchase them here), but because we GritCitizens are so well-connected and love our faithful readers so much, we've managed to score four tickets to give away to one of you this Friday (a whole day before they go on sale!).*

Here's the deal: We'll have a designated blog post this Friday at approximately 11 a.m. (Pacific time!). The person to post the 253rd comment (represent!) to that designated contest post will win four tickets to the Tacoma Dome show, which will be held on October 18, 2008.**

Each ticket is valued at approximately $100. We will be moderating our comments that day, meaning that they have to be approved before being published to prevent any foul play -- every comment will be approved unless someone tries to post anything particularly heinous.

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Important notes:

1) In order to post a comment on our blog, you need to be a registered member of TheNewsTribune.com. I'd suggest taking care of that sooner rather than later if you're interested in this contest, just in case you run into any technical difficulties with that process.

2) The winner will be contacted by email and/or phone, so make sure you're using legitimate information in your registration account!

3) Read the official fancy-schmancy rules here.

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* We struggled at first to find a link between GritCity and Celine, but then we remembered how SNL's Ana Gasteyer used to imitate Celine and proclaimed herself "The greatest singer in the world!" We frequently proclaim ourselves "The greatest bloggers in the world!" so that settled that.

** The show isn't until Fall of 2008, which makes it feel like the world could end before the event is held. But the world could end tomorrow too! Doesn't that make you feel better?

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I closed the comments to make sure no one confused this post for the actual contest post. Check back on Friday!

Ah, Southern Illinois, land of my childhood.

I've mentioned its rope swings and summer camps and snuffly-nosed ponies.

I obviously have failed to capture the criminal underbelly. The grit, if you will.

From The Associated Press:

Two students at Southern Illinois University in this St. Louis suburb** kidnapped, paddled and burned a young man with freshly baked cookies after a drug deal went bad, prosecutors said.

Madison County prosecutors on Monday charged Rosario James, 23, and Jordan Sallis, 20, each with two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of robbery and aggravated battery.

Both were jailed Tuesday on $150,000 apiece.

Sheriff's Capt. Brad Wells said that Friday night, three men went to James' house to buy marijuana, but two of them grabbed the drugs and fled, leaving the third behind. The suspects held that man, who is in his late teens, and told him he needed to find $400 for the drugs, Wells said.

The suspects beat the man with a wooden paddle, burned his neck and shoulders with cookies immediately after taking them from the oven, shaved off some of his hair and poured urine over him from a soda bottle, Wells said.

"It was just sheer torture," Wells said.

** Ahem, Edwardsville is not a suburb of St. Louis. For the record, I spent two years at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. You know, the inspiration for "Animal House." That's a separate post.

So, OK. I bake cookies. I eat hot cookies off the baking sheet. Besides the occasional chocolate-singed lip (hott), I suffer no ill effects.

Color me skeptical. And hungry.

Someone explain this to me. And if anyone can find out what kind of alleged cookies were involved (snickerdoodles? peanut butter thumbprints? the mind reels), I'll bake you some.

There's something extraordinarily irritating about wind. It makes bad things worse: Cold days get colder, hard rains get harder and wildfires become impossible to contain. It makes perfectly fine things bad: Cars get crushed by trees and don't even get me started on the hair implications.

Why do we tolerate this behavior from the Earth? Sure, wind alters landscapes and blah blah blah, but I'm pretty happy with the way things are. Certainly, there must be a few trade-offs. There must be a few things I can be thankful for, wind-wise. Here's my attempt at figuring out what those are:

• Wind power - Or at least the idea of it. I'm not sure I've personally experienced the benefit of this alternative energy source, but I'd be happy to.

• Kites - Yay!

• Sand dunes

• Yesterday, I saw some sort of large bird of prey that looked completely stationary in the air. It just hung there without having to flap its wings and I thought "Man, if I was a bird I would do that all the time!" But then I thought, "What if that bird is actually trying to get somewhere and the wind is making forward movement impossible?" This is how skeptical I am of the wind. Still, the idea of hanging in one spot in the air with little to no effort seems like a benefit.

Any other reasons why I shouldn't consider wind the Earth's worst element?

In the meantime, keep up with the Lights & Sirens blog to see the effects of our latest storm.

Dear Tacoma anarchists,

I know how it feels. It's like you got out your markers and made pretty party invitations, then waited for hours, switching out the ice ring in the punch bowl and watching traffic reports to see if there were any big traffic jams in the area.

But don't feel bad. Maybe tonight you'll shut downtown down. Or, hey, there's always tomorrow.

And if you find yourself spiraling into self-pity, think about this: Today was a day every riot cop in Tacoma probably looked forward to, and it's been a real letdown for them, too. Poor things -- they've probably been reviewing footage, cleaning the nozzles on their pepper spray sprayers and guzzling Red Bull. And for what?

You'll get 'em next time, tiger. If not for the immigrants, do it for the riot cops.

Sincerely,

Yours truly

What do you do when you're pulled over and have $276,000 in a suitcase, yet can't explain how you got it?

This man froze. Not recommended.

According to the AP, the British Columbia man was stopped Sept. 21 by a state trooper in Seattle. Because he couldn't explain how he got the cash, the state gets to keep it. Most of it will go toward drug enforcement, and the remaining 10 percent will go into the general fund. Thanks, guys.

I'm the worst liar on the planet, but I'm pretty sure I could come up with something if $276,000 was on the line.

Some ideas:
1. "I've just visited the bank and was on the way to pay the dog sitter."
2. "Gates is at it again! My good friend Bill is always playing practical jokes on me like this."
3. "Oh, that's where I left my wallet. I am such a dingaling."
4. "At least it's not drugs, eh?"

It was a mere 67 years ago on this day, November 7, that Gertie galloped one last time and triggered bridge phobias around the globe.

Where were you when the bridge collapsed?

I jest, of course. Unless there are retirees who read GritCity, in which case I'd love to actually know where you were at the time and, furthermore, why you read this drivel.

I blogged this newsreel last year, but it's a classic so I'm dusting it off one more time.

Thanks to plenty of meth heads and a novel, Tacoma is known by some as "Methlehem." Awesome enough.

I'll take that over some clever drug+town name that could result from a surge in the abuse of a drug called Jenkem.

Never heard of it? Read on, my friend, from a Collier's County Sheriff's Office memo:

Jenkem originated in Africa... (it) is a homemade substance which consists of fecal matter and urine ... placed in a bottle or jar and covered most commonly with a balloon. The container is then placed in a sunny area for several hours or days until fermented ... inhaling the gas is said to have a euphoric high similar to ingesting cocaine but with strong hallucinations.

I'll spare you from most of the rest, but I feel obligated to include this gem, lest you think you should try fermenting some sewage:

All subjects who used the Jenkem disliked the taste of sewage in their mouth and the fact that the taste continued for several days.

Huh. Who woulda thought?

I'm not sure what to say about this, besides: Do not let me hear about you doing it. If I have to endure any jokes about the new aroma of Tacoma, I will ... do ... something.

(Thanks, Roxanne)

Hi! I'm back from Paris. And alive.

And enjoying the novelty of talking (in English!) and driving (in a lane!)

Say what you will about the French and their cheese, those guys are no wimps on the road. They can text-message while riding double on a bike, barreling down the Champs-Élysées, no helmet, wearing something chicly disheveled and smoking a cig.

But this is what I love about foreign countries: Not just the things that blow your mind by being so different, but the little rituals and notions of home that follow you no matter where you travel.

=> Read more!

Last night’s winning Daily Game lottery numbers: 2-5-3.

Maybe the person who keeps painting 2-5-3 around my neighborhood was trying to tell us something, like a modern-day Nostradamus with a spray can.

In case you missed it, here's a clip from last weekend's Dia de los Muertos events at the Tacoma Art Museum.

This sand painting looks like what I imagine would happen if a sacred Buddhist mandala and a Grateful Dead concert poster ever had a baby together.

Meet Ronald and Christina:

Photo from Amazing Race

This father-daughter duo from Tacoma is participating in this season of Amazing Race.

Here's a bit about them:

...Since Ronald was constantly traveling for work throughout much of his daughter's formative years, Christina hopes the Race will allow her father--a self-proclaimed workaholic--to stop and smell the roses and provide them with some meaningful time together.

Christina, I empathize. Not with the whole not-being-close-to-your-dad thing, because Brian Sullivan and I are pretty tight. I'm talking about the "Who's your Daddy" pullover that Ronald's sporting.

Allow me to have a flashback. It was my junior year in college, and my Dad, in town for Dad's weekend, attempted to purchase a shirt that oh-so-cleverly played on the Got Milk? campaign. How? By replacing "milk" with OSU's mascot.

It said:
Got beaver?

I said:
No. Not near me. Not ever.

Christina: Only you can stop your dad from wearing inappropriate T-shirts. Then, we're all winners. Good luck.

Tonight's the Day of the Dead procession. I won't be participating this year, but last year I partnered up with someone to dress as a skeleton bride and groom.

I wanted to write some tips for tonight's procession. Then I realized that everything I learned at Dia de los Muertos is applicable to my everyday life... and yours! Here's just a sampling:

Lesson No. 1: Eyeliner is as important as tequila (very).

Lesson No. 2: It's good to find a gay man who will put up with you.

Lesson No. 3: It's a good idea to act serious at important times in your life.

=> Read more!

Of course "10 Things I Hate About You" was filmed here, and so was "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle."

But now Tacoma gets another mention in a film ...

Skip ahead to about 1:15 for the good part.

(A version of this clip showed up on "The Daily Show" last night, including the Tacoma reference.)

Sooo, why is that bug headed to Tacoma?

I don't know if Point Defiance does this, but every year about this time, it seems that zoos go crazy with the jack o' lanterns.

So I made a little slideshow of Associated Press photos from recent years to show you what I mean ...

That last picture is a wild deer that got its head caught in a trick-or-treat bucket a few years ago. It was later freed, but developed a strong distaste for candy.