The Stranger

In the past half year I have to admit that I found things that were genuinely of interest to me, at least, and were well written and that I had a good laugh reading. (The article on the opening of Focus, the «Athenaeum» of Seattle as both informative and hilarious).
That said, I do find the regular «Last Days» getting to be old-​hat and certainly cherry-​picking.
I mean, like,
«My Last Days/​Yesterday evening»:
I was waiting at Mercer & Queen Anne for the «D» Rapid Line to Ballard. A group of three Asians (Korean? Chinese? I can’t tell the difference) were standing, speaking in an almost inaudible voice. A light-​skinned African-​American woman comes by and asks them «Do you have a dollar?» I can’t hear what the Asians say, but a minute or two later, I hear the black woman say «You don’t like black people do you? Slant-​eyed bitch!» They didn’t say anything.
Luckily, when the Asians and the black lady got on the D after it arrived, the latter didn’t continue to berate them.
I cherry-​pick as well as anyone else, and I could fill up a week’s worth of incidents where only black people were being racist.
I don’t believe in prejudice, and I think Dr. King would agree with me that racism of whatever color is wrong. I honor Dr. King’s memory by writing this review update.
But that said, I don’t think The Stranger will cope to the fact that racism exists among blacks. White people shouldn’t have to be the only ones concerned about not being racist, and I’m a person of color myself.
In the parallel, dildo-​inflated/​infatuated universe of The Stranger, there is only violent crime committed (1) by white policemen and (2) against black people.
There are two sides to every story, and the one not told by this newspaper, my best guess is that police get «this way» because they frequently are on the receiving end of verbal abuse: taunts, heckles, threats, rage, hostility from others. They may few ways to let off their steam other than the typical «man» ways our society has given them.
What I dislike the most about of readership of The Stranger – which targets the young generation, obviously – is that they are told WHAT to have a conscience about (racism, black-​on-​white) rather than being able to have an individual conscience that is independent (of being told).
I don’t need to be told what to think or care about («Republicans Are Creeps» (2÷1÷16). Why should they?

In the past half year I have to admit that I found things that were genuinely of interest to me, at least, and were well written and that I had a good laugh reading. (The article on the opening of Focus, the «Athenaeum» of Seattle as both informative and hilarious).
It is also funny, unintentionally I am presuming, when The Stranger lambasts British actress Charlotte Rampling for being «offensive» and «ignorant» for her remarks about racism against white people, when it prides itself on being offensive and takes it as a badge of honor.

That said, I do find the regular «Last Days» getting to be old-​hat and certainly cherry-​picking.
I mean, like,
«My Last Days/​Yesterday evening»:
I was waiting at Mercer & Queen Anne for the «D» Rapid Line to Ballard. A group of three Asians (Korean? Chinese? I can’t tell the difference) were standing, speaking in an almost inaudible voice. A light-​skinned African-​American woman comes by and asks them «Do you have a dollar?» I can’t hear what the Asians say, but a minute or two later, I hear the black woman say «You don’t like black people do you? Slant-​eyed bitch!» They didn’t say anything.
Luckily, when the Asians and the black lady got on the D after it arrived, the latter didn’t continue to berate them.
I cherry-​pick as well as anyone else, and I could fill up a week’s worth of incidents where only black people were being racist.
I don’t believe in prejudice, and I think Dr. King would agree with me that racism of whatever color is wrong. I honor Dr. King’s memory by writing this review update.
But that said, I don’t think The Stranger will cope to the fact that racism exists among blacks. White people shouldn’t have to be the only ones concerned about not being racist, and I’m a person of color myself.
In the parallel, dildo-​inflated/​infatuated universe of The Stranger, there is only violent crime committed (1) by white policemen and (2) against black people.
There are two sides to every story, and the one not told by this newspaper, my best guess is that police get «this way» because they frequently are on the receiving end of verbal abuse: taunts, heckles, threats, rage, hostility from others. They may few ways to let off their steam other than the typical «man» ways our society has given them.
What I dislike the most about of readership of The Stranger – which targets the young generation, obviously – is that they are told WHAT to have a conscience about (racism, black-​on-​white) rather than being able to have an individual conscience that is independent (of being told).
This is a newspaper that espouses and, image notwithstanding, disseminates conformity.
As a brown – but not black – person, I’m tired of having to take a back seat («Black people to the front, WE call the shots, not you!») while The Stranger, like most of Seattle’s civic institutions, pretends that it isn’t racially biased itself in favor of African-​Americans.
Blush, Stranger, blush for once.
(In my review of the downtown YMCA I couldn’t say that there is preferential treatment and admiration of black people without Unilocal yanking my review).

This ratty old ‘zine is still around?
I used to think of The Stranger as a great source of local news, back when I was a young teen and completely naïve about the world.
Then I grew up and gained some worldly experience.
The Stranger only bothers to print articles about their friends. They literally have a personal attachment to each person they write about, such that they are not informing Seattle about anything new, rather they are showing off their connections and claiming that their personal ‘zine is somehow more informative than actual newspapers, going so far as to bombard residents with their silly little voter’s recommendations; about one flier every single day for two weeks. What a waste, considering they all went from the mailbox straight to recycling.
You get two stars only because you entertained younger me. You don’t deserve any.
Oh, and Dan Savage has next to no business placing judgment upon ANYBODY’s sex life, as his column is more want to do despite being there for «advice.» Spoilers: his advice all boils down to you needing to have more sex partners and shaming people who do not enjoy giving or receiving oral. SO sex positive /​sarc

Not being a Seattle native, I can only go what I’ve seen in the past few months that I’ve seen the newspaper.
The writing is so hackneyed and jaded that it’s difficult to take seriously – but I think that’s the point. at least I really hope that’s what the point is. It’s not overly apparent that they are doing this, which I think is why so many people hate this newspaper. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I still don’t think that semi-​jokingly vilifying while people is very clever nor the way to raise consciousness (which I think/​hope is their overall intention).
The reason this is a 2-​star review is the because of the great coverage of who is playing where at every venue in Seattle. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they figure out a way to insult white people in the music announcements section though.

Back in 2010, THE STRANGER had an editorial saying that ordinary people ”should shoplift to make ends meet”. No one signed the article of course.
I thought this was curious, as «„of course“» this suggestion would not get their avid readers in trouble!
Or cause consternation and HORROR to shop keepers everywhere!
Look, it is not hip to steal, but try telling THESE ”reporters” that.
This is a weird paper. Sometime very good, thoughtful, better than the Seattle Times frequently, sometimes worse that the worse druggie-​college rag.
I read it every week, as I like DAN SAVAGE’S column (he is a Godsend to young people everywhere, gay or straight) and LAST DAYS… I like the paper. I really like it. .
but if I ever figure out who wrote that shoplifting piece…

Nov 7 2014 update:
I hope the exodus of writers will free up enough $$ for secondhand copies of The Elements of Style and Roget’s Thesaurus for the lingerers in Editorial who really need them.
— — -
The arts editor Jen Graves, theatre critic Brendan Kiley, news reporter/​Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Sanders, Rob Brezsny’s syndicated column, and maybe the stalwart Savage Love column, and of course the concert listings and the Lustlab/​Lovelab ads, are the only reasons now to read The Stranger. Whether this is a sign of my age or a sign of deterioration of quality at The Stranger remains to be seen.
News item in which two teenaged girls are robbed at gunpoint: not newsworthy.
News item in which two men are attacked in Capitol Hill: newsworthy.
News item in which a veteran loses his house and is evicted months after foreclosure, no mention at all that the veteran inherited the house and borrowed close to $ 650,000 five years BEFORE having a debilitating stroke, and then being evicted.
News item in which a young immigrant is shot dead at a Link station, people show up for a memorial, fine. Reported quotes that the immigrant was profiled for fare evasion, when all passengers are checked by fare enforcement. Claims the fare evader was shot for no reason: video shows fare evader reaching for his gun when transit officer physically restrains him from leaving. Video shows fare evader pantomiming attempting to use ORCA card to no avail: comment testimony claims that the ORCA card was stolen along with other cards in a wallet during an armed robbery. Stolen ORCA card usage, it is reported by a commentator, syncs with video surveillance at stations. Is this ever reported by The Stranger? No.
I’ll tell you this though, The Stranger sure loves to delete/​eliminate on-​topic, polite, apolitical, fact-​filled comments on its online posts. It didn’t used to be like that. It used to delete only the spammy and abusive comments.

This publication is always entertaining with exactly 3 — 6 regular features I look forward to each issue. They also do a great job of reviewing and recommending live entertainment around the city. Also, they try to get people interested in local and national politics which is a noble thing to do. My favorite part about The Stranger is that their office is located in Capitol Hill so there is a lot of extremely local advertising and editorial attention.

I have a love/​hate relationship with the Stranger, and I’m sure it’s mutual.
I love lots of things about it. I’ve been reading it since it was a tiny little 6 or 8 pages, with Dan Savage’s column and the I Saw U’s taking up 50% of the paper.
The Rocket was king then, and then the Stranger came and took the crown.
They still hold it, I admit. I’m grown up enough to appreciate the Weekly but I’m weird enough that they don’t really get my entertainment needs and so I find myself using the Stranger, like one should use a stranger, for your base needs, without even so much as a thank you.
So where’s the love lost, eh? I mean, that sounds like it’s meeting my needs, right?
Well, I admit I am one to hold a grudge. A serious grudge. For a long. long. time.
And this grudge is related to the way they covered a friend (celebrity)‘s death. It was reprehensible, reducing his life to a bad joke about drugs and fame lost. They completely missed the true person behind the headline, and for a local paper, they shouldn’t have gone for that cheap shot. And for that, I can’t really forgive them.
But I still use them when I need to, I just sneer the entire time so it’s even more fitting.

My «Go-​To» Rag for the Haps in Seattle
SITREP
Jetting in and out of SeaTac for work assignments keeps my head spinning. But when I want to decompress in a cutting-​edge environment, THE STRANGER gets me the information I want to see in relationship to the entire scene at once.
SETUP
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my iPhone. But what I’ve discovered is a «weakness» with our tech — or maybe an «insufficiency» — be it iPhones or laptops, tablets, what have you: these cool little devices are great at honing on more specific details of information when you already have a general idea of what you want to do.
For example, you know what movie you want to see (maybe «Wrath of the Titans», etc.) and so you can do a quick search on the iPhone and get the 411. Or you might know that Tango has a great happy hour with inexpensive drinks and munchies on Tuesdays going on and you want to confirm these specials, and so you jump on the iPad and get the 411.
THE RANDOM
But what if you really just want to «see» what random stuff is out there? Expose yourself to the bills and the ads and the what not: «What bands are playing?» Tonight? Tomorrow? «What venues are DJ or Band or Dancing or all combined?» All in a grid matrix on a sheet of paper so you can compare (EASILY) or contrast (EASILY) all the cover charges, the location-​neighborhoods? Oh, what’s this? A random ad for a cool burlesque night at Noc Noc is going on for Thursday. Oh, what’s this? Stumbling Monk is doing a special game night.
THE WEAKNESS
With my tech, it’s not easy for the eye to capture than more than the little «streaming» bursts that are on my little iPhone screen, or even on a tablet.
However, with the paper, I can look at a grid-​matrix all at once — left-​to-​right, with my peripheral vision catching just as much as my focus. And until we get to the level of holographic projections (ie. the movie MINORITY REPORT) where we can turn pages of light with our fingers, I think the tech will still be smart, but very truncated and very limited. If I can make this make any sense there is an relevant adage that states, «You don’t know, what you don’t know.» So if you don’t enough to ask for information on bands playing in Pioneer square, you aren’t going to remember to ask a search in your iPhone to get information on bands playing in Pioneer Square. But if you eye catches the ad placed by Central Saloon that gives the bands for the next 3 days, then you HAVE that information.
Bottom Line: for all the tech I have accumulated and use regularly, I STILL find that there sometimes just is not a replacement-​tech for the simple act of scanning and turning the pages of a news rag.
THE LOWDOWN
There are just some things that are tech can not encompass «randomly» that will get my attention as easily as turning the pages of a rag. And so that’s why I still rely on THE STRANGER, and why it is still one off the best offerings for the truly random pieces of information that I still enjoy having «my eyes scan over» since I may not always know to search for something specifically on my tech.

While combing around the Seattle area there was one thing in mind that I hoped they had for free rags. A newspaper where news was reported and considered to be under the radar or ignorable by mainstream media but more importantly a newspaper that had concert listings. Sure you can get all of that information on line these days but there is some fun in getting a free newspaper and finding a band you enjoy is coming to your town. I realize this sounds really old school but there are plenty of tech heads out there who like to go to a good old record shop and comb through vinyl and seeing the John Waters actress, Edith Massey on a cover of a John Mellencamp record. It is your own private little ‘discovery’ where you think no one else has made the link but you and Edith. What I say is true. Edith Massey really is on a vinyl cover of a John Mellencamp record. See it for yourself.
What I was looking for with The Stranger was the equivalent to Denver’s Westword. I didn’t exactly get that here but close enough. Whatever The Stranger may have holes in on information the Seattle Weekly newspaper seems to fill in the gaps.

Dan Savage loved the Iraq war, but was too much of a coward to actually volunteer to enlist. There is not a more cowardly murderous hypocrite than Dan Savage.
This is the newspaper of wanna be cool moronic wanna be hipsters. The writing is generally juvenille and trite, but the writers think they are brilliant. Charles Muedede’s writing is so bad it will bring you to tears. Idiots galore!

I like free papers to read on the bus. I like the cover art. And I like the event listings.
I don’t like the excessive snark but it’s what they use now to justify their «alternative» description.
I end up picking one up almost every week and flipping through most of it.

It’s hard to go wrong with counterculture, distributed for free. I love Savage Love especially, though many of the columns are excellent as well. Bonus points to Dominic, who is one of my favorite staff reporters.
Plus, the cover designs are consistently awesome!

So much snark, so much love.

Why people be hatin’ on the Stranger? It’s FREE!!!
Dan Savage + IAnonymous + The lust lab + shows + reviews + local happenings + slanted politics + dirty ads in the back = RAD
Am I right or am I right? There’s always cool local art/​photography and inspiring event notifications. Plus I like wrapping presents in the dirty sex line ads in the back!

The only interesting reads in here were I Saw You, I, Anonymous and the !!! section of Lustlab.
Now it’s just fifty pages of bitter complaining about EVERYTHING. They probably don’t get invited to birthday parties because they protest the smoke that the candles make. It’s so toxic and negative… I wonder if any of the writers and readers ever let themselves have any amount of fun without having to commit hari kari afterward.

I use the paper-​version for the following reasons:
–I quickly scan through all the music ads to see if I want to go to any upcoming shows
–To keep me mildly entertained if I’m trapped at a Starbucks and didn’t bring my usual reading book
I use the website for the following reasons:
–To decide if I hate or like Dan Savage this particular week
–Cool search function to find out what movies or music acts are going on that very night
–Reading the very self-​indulgent «I, anonymous»
I usually stay away from reading the articles in general because I think they are TRYING TOO HARD… to be what? I dunno… different (read: obscenely opinionated) I guess. Apparantly bashing anything that’s somewhat considered mainstream or especially conservative, is what the Stranger’s all about.

The Stranger is like a bratty 14 year old who just recently started developing political ideas, became vegetarian and developed an interest in indie music and movies.
They’d be adorable if they weren’t so annoying.

I pick up The Stranger every week to read Last Days, Savage Love, No, You Shut Up, I Saw You and Free Will Astrology. After I read those I skim the cover stories — usually they’re great too. Come election season, I turn to The Stranger endorsements because even if I don’t agree I’ll be entertained and I’ll probably learn something.
Remember when Obama got elected? And the story about it was written while the editor was still drunk and was full of typos and exclamation marks? Fabulous. I also love when they call out local politicians, even ones that they’ve endorsed recently, when they think that said politicians need a reality check.
The Stranger makes me feel more connected to what’s going on in my city and is a refreshing source of local news, especially now that the Seattle Times (a piece of crap masquerading as a legitimate paper IMO) stands alone.

I must say, I’m a fan of the Stranger. It’s so perfect that it comes out on Thursdays, the first day of my typical weekend… so I can go, grab lunch, and read it over my tasty, tasty food (or sometimes not so tasty). Also entertaining to read on the bus. There’s been more than once that I’ve laughed out loud reading it on the bus, receiving some of those «crazy bus rider» stares. I don’t care… it was too damn funny!
First thing I always flip to is Savage Love… damn, that man can be brutally honest and a complete smartass all at the same time. Awesome! Yes, I realize that he’s the editor of this paper, as well. I trust The Stranger to inform me of my entertainment options (there’s been several shows that I’ve found out about by reading this) and I get my «news» here as well, in the Last Days column. Again, I realize that there’s much more going on in the area, but I don’t have a tv that I can watch… so don’t judge me!
Stranger Intern, Drunk of the Week, Police Blotter, and the I Saw U’s are the other things in here I read on a consistent basis, mostly to my amusement (and disappointment when there’s no message for me in the I Saw U’s).
I don’t know about their biases and other various complaints that people have, but I don’t read too much into anything.
Slightly reminds me of The Chronicle in Austin… which may be why I’m such a dedicated reader.
As a matter of fact, it’s a beautiful day out, I’m gonna go and pick up a Stranger to read outside right now!

This paper has really gone to the dogs over the past couple years. Definitely in need of new blood, from the editor-​in-​chief on down the line.
Sad to say the only thing of interest these days is «Ombudsman» A. Birch Steen’s snarky column on the Table of Contents page. And maybe once in a while David Schmader prints an amusing «Hot Tip» in Last Days. But he’s like a Pavlovian dog. Anytime Hizzoner Mayor 5-​Cents proposes something idiotic (like say a 20 cent fee on bags or build a tunnel), Schmader is there applauding wildly. He’s a loyal soldier on Team Nickels.
No longer (well, at least the last two weeks) are Letters to the Editor printed in the paper version. And pretty much, the movie times have disappeared too.
And what happened to Lloyd Dangle’s «Troubletown» comic strip? The Mercury in Portland still prints it.
Miss Matisse and Adrian Ryan’s columns have vanished too. And so has Charles Mudede’s Police Beat.
The Stranger is a shell of its former self. Borrrrrring!