Three things I now know about Seattle, in no particular order.
Every person in Seattle does something, but not in the way people in other cities do. By this I don’t mean they do especially different things, but that their “real” life isn’t taken too intensely. Someone in Chicago who works in a law office by day but has a band at night will kill you if you doubt the validity or their artistic dreams and will not hesitate to abandon a stable paycheck to play free shows at terrible art parties. That same person in Seattle doesn’t exert too much (if any) energy into that band, even while their band is (arguably) superior yet (probably) has a brighter future ahead of it. It’s as though the city equates lack of righteous artistic outrage with rewardable self-confidence.
Seattle sports fans like sports in a weird way. Qwest Field, where the Seahawks play, has been measured as the loudest football stadium in America, even though the Seahawks usually don’t give anyone anything to cheer about. Safeco Field, where the Mariners play, was built to save Seattle baseball just in time for the three best players in the game to leave town within six months of each other. The Sounders, Seattle’s soccer team, draw more fans per game than any other professional soccer team in the country while most Americans don’t really care about professional soccer. These teams are all mostly not worth cheering for, but it’s like Seattle doesn’t need to prove anything by winning; they built the teams and gave them glorious playgrounds, and for Seattleites that is evidently enough.
It is the last beautiful city in America. Yes, I’m serious.
— —
Some of you have asked, and I now have an answer: tickets for the 9/30 show can be picked up by following this link. I’ve also updated the clips page, now with my look at Billy Corgan’s journeys into space (inner and outer!), the true benevolent genius of Milton Bradley, and possibly the funniest interview I’ve ever conducted.
That’s all for now. Thank you as always for reading.
AMR
Chicago, IL / September 27, 2009
