All posts in: The Stranger

Uncategorized
14 Aug 2014

Chris Walla Departs Death Cab For Cutie

It is with such a heavy heart that we report Chris Walla’s departure from Death Cab For Cutie. Technically, this news was released yesterday morning, but I couldn’t even bring myself to write about this until late today. Death Cab For Cutie was the first band that I consider myself having any attachment to growing up. Having followed them from their first album until their latest and having seen them perform three times it is hard for me to grasp what the band will look like without Chris. I remember on my journey to becoming a music booking extraordinaire, I made my end goal being able to book either Minus the Bear or Death Cab For Cutie.

While most people are huge fans of their front man Ben, I’ve always been a fan of Chris. Chris, at one point, even ventured off to create his first solo album which I remember having on repeat during my teenage years. The band has been together for 17 years until now and while I am sad about this news, I know that this is just normal – that it happens to many bands, but I just didn’t want it to happen to my band.

Chris will perform his last show with the band on September 19th in Victoria B.C. for the Rifflandia Festival. His full statement released to The Stranger can be found at the source below. We’ll miss you Chris. Thanks for everything.

[Source]

Uncategorized
25 Jul 2013

Endearing Student Tries To Reach Out To Nirvana

Letter courtesy of Sub Pop via The Stranger

This might be the funniest blog post I’ve read all week, but of course, it was completely overshadowed yesterday due to the Macklemob craziness. Sub Pop recently received an email from a student at Virginia Tech asking if Nirvana would record a video for them wishing their university a happy homecoming so that this student could win a homecoming election.

The letter itself is too funny, but also raises some questions for which I have to list out here:

  • NICE stationary, but not very appropriate?
  • Virginia Tech – there’s no way you haven’t found out about this by now, are you slightly embarrassed?
  • Does this girl actually know who Nirvana is?
  • Would Nirvana ever do something like this?
  • The quoted prompt that she wrote for Nirvana to say in the recorded message. HILARIOUS.
  • Did she just really refer to Nirvana as a “her?” Last time I checked, Nirvana was a group consisting of only men.
  • The line “It presents great publicity for them…” pretty sure they don’t need that.
  • The list of performing artists followed by “three famous NFL players.” Sounds appealing.
  • More importantly, Nirvana doesn’t exist anymore. And as The Stranger mentioned in their article said girl would have been negative one-years old when Kurt Cobain died.

It’s too much! Well since Sub Pop figured the girl didn’t really know what she was talking about anyways, they decided to send her a video back giving her exactly what she wanted.

You can check out what happens at the source.

[Source]

Uncategorized
25 Jul 2013

Blog Roundup

photo cred | Jonathan Cooper

-Seattle was named the hardest working city today in the United States. [Source]

-Even though they are our exes, they’re still alive when it comes to social media and technology [Source]

-An interview with Girl Talk’s Gregg Gillis before Capitol Hill Block Party this weekend. [Source]

-Men get self-conscious too, you know? They’re now injecting fat into their butts so that they can keep their pants up! [Source]

-Google gives back to San Francisco by paying $600k to give 31 parks in the city free Wi-Fi. [Source]

-A note on marketing and how Warby Parker gets called the “Ryan Gosling of brands at the moment.” [Source]

–Time Waster! The News IQ Test. I may read blogs every day, but when it comes to news, I’ll admit that I’m not at the top of my game. I answered 6/13 questions correctly. That’s embarrassing. Curious to see how well you’d do? Click here to start the test.

-“They say you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Wouldn’t it make sense to intentionally surround yourself with people of great character and influence?” [Source]

Culture
21 Mar 2013

The Stranger: Wedding Crashers

Despite what my friends may have heard, I have never crashed a wedding. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to, it just means I have had the right opportunity. And even if I did crash a wedding, I would be the best non-invited guest to the party, I promise. You won’t be seeing me pull any of the tricks that Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn did in their film.

The Stranger has just decided to open up a new Wedding Crashers column and I am insanely jealous. I wish I could be a part of this!

[Source]

Uncategorized
05 Mar 2013

It’s A Day For Seattle Music

I’ve been talking up two Seattle bands lately – Hey Marseilles and Pickwick. Today won’t be any different. Today, Hey Marseilles released their new album Lines We Trace everywhere and if you haven’t heard it yet, it is a must. I didn’t get a chance to fully listen to the album until I got home from work, but while I was parking my car this evening I heard their single “Bright Stars Burning” on the radio and instantly had a proud moment. It’s amazing to witness people doing the things they love and it’s beautiful! And to hear someone on the radio who you have previously worked with…surreal.

In Pickwick news, I was unable to make it to their in-store shows these past couple of days, but I did want to let you all know that you can stream their entire album set to be released on Tuesday, March 12. here. Working with Pickwick last year on Quadstock was an absolute dream. I’m always so blown away by Seattle artists and their kindness – not that I had any doubt – but in case you haven’t heard, sometimes musicians have a reputation. The members of Pickwick are just as sweet in person as they sound.

Uncategorized
18 Feb 2013

The Slog Is Funny

I forgot that it was a slow news day today because of President’s Day! …therefore, I barely have anything to report unfortunately. Sorry y’all! However, that doesn’t stop me from staying up to date on everything that I’ve missed. I read The Stranger’s Slog blog every day and sometimes if I don’t read it carefully, I tend to miss some important schtuff like this post right here about how a pizza place in Virginia Beach is giving their customers a 15% discount if they show their guns at the time of purchase. Well, that sounds a bit scary, right?

“All they have to do is show me that they’re carrying a weapon or they can show me their concealed weapons permit and they can get the discount,” says All Around Pizza owner, Jay Laze. So far, Laze says the response has been great. Brendan Kelly openly carries his handgun and says it’s nice to see a business appreciate customers like him.

and what does The Stranger think about all of that?

Of course, this is nothing new. Banks have been offering gun-lovers programs like this for over a hundred years now, in which you show your gun or hand over a statement of gun ownership to a teller and receive all the cash the bank has on hand. Hopefully other Virginia Beach businesses won’t have to suffer through a bunch of customers waving their guns around and asking about their discount policies.

Nailed it. Nice work, you guys.

Uncategorized
06 Oct 2012

From A Seattle Icon…

Boe Oddisey of the Boe Oddisey Scarf Dance and Art Company was spotted in leopard-print lingerie spreading his special kind of magic during Decibel’s sunny Do-Over at the Broadway Performance Hall Plaza last Saturday. Boe, who came to Seattle from Bremerton in 1971, gives out hugs and art and is available for private parties. He said, “Celebrate and seize the day… Exotic and/or all-age scarf dancing, comedy, abstract, acrylic painting, massage for you. Clean, sober, tobacco free, vegan option on life. Just do it. The time is now. We are here.”

The headline read “What’s Crappening?: News, Reviews, and Scarves” and that was all I needed in order to know that what would be outlined in the text below would include the infamous Scarf Man. Those close to me understand that I have a slight “inner Scarf Man” inside of me. Wait…let’s re-do that sentence. That’s definitely NOT what I”m trying to say. Scarf Man attends almost every major Seattle festival or event. He comes wearing very provocative and revealing clothing at times and is fully equipped with the most colorful scarves you’ve ever seen. There was one time when I saw him wearing a fuschia-colored puffy jacket. It was cold that day so naturally he decided to cover up a bit. Scarf Man is not a character, but he might as well be. He is that person that simply has no inhibitions about anything. He is the least self-conscious person I have ever met and even though I don’t fully understand him, I aspire to be a little bit like him. I aspire to someday reach a close level of carelessness (maybe not as high as his, but slightly higher than where I am now.) That excerpt above was from a recent Line Out post and I had to read his quote several times attempting to comprehend it.

I didn’t.

People
14 Jul 2012

Love, Seattle

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cEZTiVdmBf4]

A letter to Clay Bennett.

My friends Megan Leonard and Peter Edlund created this video along with Rachel Klein and were highlighted by The Stranger this week!

Congrats guys!

[Source]

Culture
19 Apr 2012

In the News…

Fashion

– Alexa Chung has made her Instagram private after several of her followers left comments for her on this picture saying that she was too thin. She responded, “Ok everyone thanks for the teen angst discussions. People are different sizes. I’m not trying to be thinspo for anyone.” [Source]

– Rag & Bone will launch a handbag line this fall. [Source]

– Nicki Minaj will develop her own fragrance. [Source]

– This photo of two models kissing in Urban Outfitters’ latest catalog has stirred up some controversy with the One Million Moms (OMM) Organization.

“The content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen who is the company’s target customer.” And they’re asking supporters to boycott the retailer: “Tell them you will also no longer shop at their stores if you hear this type of advertising continues.”

Whatever, man. There’s always some organization that brings up this issue every month. [Source]

– Marchesa may be launching a contemporary line very soon. [Source]

Music

– I’ve been waiting for this album, but I don’t have to wait much longer since Metric’s “Synthetica” will be out June 12. [Source]

– After debuting Tupac’s hologram at Coachella this past weekend, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are now considering taking it on tour with them. [Source]

Television

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP1YAatv1Mc&feature=player_embedded]

– Zooey totally sold me on the iPhone 4s in this commercial. It was the tomato soup.

– NBC will stream the entire 2012 Summer Olympics in London. I get that it’s popular these days, but it’s gonna be on NBC all day every day. [Source]

– MTV’s Teen Wolf will return in June for their second season. [Source]

Seattle

– The Seattle Center will partner with Coca-Cola and name them the “official beverage” of the space and will celebrate them at their Next Fifty event. [Source]

– Congratulations to The Stranger writer, Eli Sanders, for his Pulitzer on feature writing! So much of my Seattle news comes from this blog so I think credit should be given when deserved. [Source]

Other

– Tru Blood stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer are expecting. [Source]

– Angelina Jolie’s engagement ring from Brad Pitt is reportedly worth $1 million dollars. [Source

– Kanye West apparently broke up with Kim Kardashian via text. [Source]

– Dick Clark has passed away after suffering a heart attack. He was 82 years old. [Source]

– Victoria Beckham’s birthday cake…is not a real cake. It’s fruit. [Source]

 

Uncategorized
15 Mar 2012

Day in a Life of a Talent Buyer

Having worked in aspects of booking and promotions for the local Seattle music scene since I was in high school, I often get questions from people asking me what it is that I do. When Quadstock rolls around, people think it’s all gravy and that there really is nothing to it.

False, bro. This job is stressful and anyone who’s done it will tell you the exact same thing. It is, however, a long term project that produces rewards like the moment when it all comes together.

That’s why I’m glad that The Stranger decided to publish an interview today with two talent buyers in the Seattle area. In the post, Melissa Darby and Hunter Motto, who book for the Crocodile, tell it like it is.

Get ready to learn everything you never knew about the booking process here.