The Skerik Story

Let us speak, then, of Skerik.

Yes, that Skerik.

So here’s the basic story: For whatever reason, my partner wanted to go hot tubbing, and, frankly, public baths were never really my thing. Yeah. Whatever. Go figure.

So as we walked from Wallingford to the U-District, we passed The Rainbow, and who should be on the bill but Crack freakin’ Sabbath?

Hot tubbing? Beer with Skerik? What, is this really a hard choice?

Something about body temperatures and sperm production, the amount of alcohol consumed, and so on.

We conceived our daughter after that show.

Yes. Really. Thank you very much.

So to some degree, it can be said that my daughter would never have been born without Skerik.

We’ve joked about it before, because it just annoys more prudish people in the family to hear the connection of this wonderful child to something that scares them like the idea of a “Crack Sabbath”, but yeah, at some point we have to admit that it really is true.

Thank you, Skerik. ‘Twas one of the stranger Valentine’s Days I’ve ever experienced, but also, in retrospect, the damn happiest of them all.

____________________

Colyer, Troy. “Crack Sabbath | 02.14 & 02.15 | Seattle”. JamBase. 18 February 2002.

Happy Winter Feel Good Time

And there is this, last week, from Monica Guzman for SeattlePI.com’s Big Blog:

They say Seattle is a secular city, but not everyone here agrees with the statement on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s latest Seattle bus ad.

Photographer Josh Trujillo spotted this alteration on a Metro bus last week. The full message? “Yes, Virginia … There is no God.”

Freedom From Religion is no stranger to controversy — even here. Last year the group stirred up trouble in Olympia when it placed a sign alongside a Christian Nativity scene in the Capitol announcing calling religion “myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

This year’s holiday-themed message is a bit more tame, but no less stern, said foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor.

“The main purpose is to express something that’s true that doesn’t get said very much — there is no god — and it shouldn’t be a taboo,” she said. “If people are mad about it, it’s because it’s true.”

And she also put together a lovely little capsule timeline of the last twenty-five years of Washington state’s blithering and dithering over religion.

Happy Winter Feel Good Time! May these days, and all others, too, treat you well.

Flexibility

Make of it what you want:

According to SPD spokeswoman Renee Witt, the man was shot in the “butt area” and a bullet also grazed his ear.

Thank you, Jonah.

Happy Hallowe’en

Happy Hallowe’en, rock and roll, and all that jazz. Er, I mean ….

Wow, it’s been almost a year since I posted anything about the return of Tacoma’s legendary garage band The Sonics. But it’s time to catch up, and if e’er there was a testament that rock and roll will never die, it will be the band’s Seattle triumph. The Sonics are playing the Paramount. And I have a ticket.

Meanwhile, over in more diligent pastures, the News Tribune‘s Ernest Jasmin has been faithfully following band-related developments. Some of those posts, from Bring the Noise:

• “The Sonics’ Jerry Roslie laments taking four decades off, works on new songs“, October 21, 2008
• “Happier Sonics thoughts“, October 27, 2008
• “Girl Trouble’s Bon Von Wheelie on the greatness of Bob Bennett and her favorite Sonics song“, October 28, 2008
• “Mudhoney’s Mark Arm on how he fell in love with the Sonics“, October 29, 2008
• “In case you’re wondering what the Sonics look like these days“, October 31, 2008

Fellow Tacoma band Girl Trouble, by the way, an enduring fixture of the Northwest rock scene that turns twenty-five this year, is slated among the openers for tonight’s ass kicking. Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden are also on the bill.

If I’d bothered to write this sooner, I might have said, “See you there”. As it is, nobody’s going to read this before showtime. Although, in truth, if there is anyone at the show who has ever read this blog, I would be surprised, so it doesn’t really matter, anyway.

Trick or freakin’ treat; I’m seeing The Sonics tonight. Only now, as the day creeps onward, is it really setting in.

Happy Hallowe’enie. Enjoy the candy.

Wait Wait … in Seattle

It’s just a personal thing. And a local thing, I guess. Click the link, and it should be easy enough to figure out what to do next.

Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!, June 28, 2008

Live from the Paramount, and featuring Jonathan Poneman as the live guest … answering questions about Celine Dion.

Seriously.

(And the celebrity panel consists of Adam Felber, Paula Poundstone, and Paul Provenza, and while I have nothing bad to say about them, it’s not exactly news, or particularly special in terms of the show.)