Lore from Olympia and the surrounding communities.

And, boy, is he pissed. From the Seattle Times:

As I watched the Iraq war begin, I completely trusted the Bush administration. I thought we were going to prove all of the left-wing antiwar protesters and dissenters wrong. I thought we were going to make America safer. Regrettably, I acknowledge that it was I who was wrong.

[snip]

I now know I wrongfully placed my faith and trust in a presidential administration hopelessly mired in incompetence, hubris and a lack of accountability. It planned a war based on false intelligence and unrealistic assumptions. It has strategically surrendered the condition of victory in Iraq to people who do not share our vision, values or interests. The Bush administration has proven successful at only one thing in Iraq — painting us into a corner with no feasible exit.

I will never trust any of them again.

The city plans an anti-tree topping campaign? Sounds ominous:

Today we went to a training session for the city’s Neighborwoods program. The program coordinator, Micki McNaughton, gave a presentation for the first part, and then we planted some trees for the 2nd part.

Presentation is maybe the wrong word.  It was a friendly and energetic conversation and explanation of the program and general care of young trees from a woman with obviously love for both trees and her job.  I have handouts, with notes on them; I almost wish I’d had my camera to take pictures of her sketching on the whiteboard the various sections of the tree, how they work, etc.

Topping is her particular nemesis, and apparently the city is getting ready to roll out a huge anti-topping campaign soon.  My favorite trees in the whole city, lining a street which I’ve loved since before I moved to Olympia, are all in serious trouble because of topping done in the 1950s.

And yes, then we (me, C, and two other attendees) went out with Micki to a site where we planted three flowering plums along Capitol Way south of the freeway, and yes, we worked in the rain...

The Neighborwoods program is one of the best things that the city of Olympia does: trees, civic involvement and betterment. Goes to show that cities can do good things to get people more involved. Conversate over at epersonae's emergency weblog (best blog name in Oly, by the way).

[from doubleagent records]

The former leader of Tiger Trap, The Softies, and Go Sailor has always been a productive overachiever - giving us a seemingly endless avalanche of mellifluous albums to treasure - but the past 5 years have been uncharacteristically quiet.

After moving to a small Canadian lakeside town, she started a family, developed into a mature singer/songwriter akin to Nick Drake, Tracey Thorn, Elliott Smith and Isobel Campbell / Belle & Sebastian, and created her solo masterpiece, "Cast Away the Clouds", the spellbinding continuation of an impressive career.

May, 18 2006 at Midnight Sun
113 Columbia St, Olympia, WA 98501
Cost: $6

w/ Jenny Jenkins and special guests, all ages

If you travel a mile south of McCleary and pass the intersection where the Mox-Chehalis Road East joins Mox-Chehalis Road, you will see no trace of the once promising community of Sine. Yet early in the 20th century this settlement counted 52 resident families and had a school with 85 students. Sine had a post office, grocery store, dance hall, and shingle mill. If not for Henry McCleary, it is possible this area would have been known as the home of the twin towns of Summit and Sine.

The Sine family left their home in Monongalia County, West Virginia (on the Pennsylvania border) in March, 1891. The trip to the new State of Washington required 10 train changes. Upon arrival they spent their first week with George Wade, a relative of Mrs. Sine, up the Wynochee. The final leg of the trip to what would later be known as Sine was made by oxen team.

Read more...

Here is Burke. He is representing Olympia in The New York City Beard and Moustache Championship. Here's what Burke says (via NYCGMCB):

I work at a restaurant called Ramblin' Jacks located in downtown Olympia. I'm just a lowly kitchen worker there, washing dishes, prep cooking, and I'm in charge of loading/unloading the smoker. The owner is a local guy who owns 2 other restaurants. I've been working for him for about 3 years now and he thinks I'm awesome, but is hesitant to make me a line cook because of my beard.