Everyone knew it was going to be harsh. For weeks, arts orgs around Seattle have been struggling with the fallout of the recession and its impact on their projected budgets for 2009. Now hard figures are coming out, and they're not pretty. Over on the Slog, Brendan Kiley has a report on the budget cuts at some of Seattle's largest theatres. ACT Theatre, following the wildly successful run of their annual Christmas show, A Christmas ...

tags: christmas show, intiman, christmas carol, budget cuts, new economy, orgs, fallout, recession, budgets, seattle, shape, struggle, christmas

photo by danny ngan [flickr] via our group pool [#] Was one your New Year’s resolutions to “‘blog more”? If so, you’re in luck. We’re looking for a few good Seattle-obsessed types to join the crew of Team Metblogs. The main requirement is that you have time and interest to volunteer to contribute to the site a few times per week about whatever Seattle-related things fascinate you. For more information, ...

tags: open casting call, nwas, flickr, new year, pool, photo

"Needle" by Seattlest Flickr Photographer S x 2 Capitol Hill Seattle is asking for your help in making a "Collective Hill Playlist" filled with songs about or mentioning Capitol Hill. Do you have any songs for the list? Sorry, but "Posse on Broadway" has already been mentioned.If you're arachnophobic, we'd recommend not reading this little item. A Ballard family that found a Black Widow spider in a bunch of grapes from their neighborhood Fred ...

tags: woodland park zoo, embarcadero freeway, black widow spider, ballard family, anonymous poem, posse on broadway, seattle transit, bunch of grapes, viral email, old postcard, seattlest, bug world, neighborhood news, west seattle, rainier valley, seattle area, flickr, fred meyer, woodland park, viaduct

Sanjaya, the bouncy-haired American Idol un-winner from Federal Way, is releasing a new album and a memoir(!) later this month. If you want a shock to the eyeballs, you should look at Dancing to the Music in my Head's cover art. Here: Whoops! We didn't mean to spring it on you like that! Go ahead, take the rest of the day off work.

tags: sanjaya, music in my head, dancing to the music, rest of the day, american idol, eyeballs, new album, memoir, shock

As of two minutes ago, it appears you can now buy music from iTunes from your iPhone over EDGE and 3G, not just Wi-Fi. Even better: all the music in the store appears to be DRM-free now [emphasis added]. I’m guessing Phil Schiller will announce it later on in the keynote. Maybe this is the “one more thing”? [From Daring Fireball Linked List: DRM-Free Music at iTunes Store]

tags: phil schiller, daring fireball linked list, iphone, itunes, free music, keynote, two minutes, fi

Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton found deadRon Asheton, the influential guitarist for legendary punk band the Stooges, was found dead early this morning at his home in Ann Arbor, police said.Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Brad Hill said the department received a call around midnight with a request to check on Asheton, 60, because the unidentified caller said he had not heard from the guitarist in a few days. Police went to his home and found him ...

tags: guitarist ron asheton, legendary punk band, ann arbor police, rolling stone magazine, rock guitarist, police sgt, unidentified caller, gifted player, rock revolution, thurston moore, energy music, brother scott, dte energy, rock groups, jack white, stooges, infighting, reek, detroit area, foul play