Labor Day is when the balance tilts. It is for each of us, our own personal equinox. It is still warm but summer is no longer. Our tan is still there but will only fade. There is no sand in sight, but it is still in our shoes.

Produced by Liner Notes.

This program describes how the crisis is finally forcing policy makers, politicians, and government officials to reconsider the punitive policies of the past two decades and consider alternative approaches to incarceration and parole.

• Shanghaiist can't wait to meet the tattooed Louis Vuitton pigs that are coming to town.
• Phillyist commenters spent the early part of the week debating whether Barack Obama is an asshole. Phillyist concluded that the political assholes were, however, the St. Paul police for their treatment of a local photographer covering the RNC.
• Bostonist mapped out the city for newcomers.
• Torontoist reintroduced their series of interactive Flash panoramas with a look at the city's first scramble intersection in half a century.
• LAist caught on to John McCain's big whoops during his RNC speech; he accidentally used a North Hollywood middle school's facade instead of a D.C. army medical center.
• Seattlest applauded their local working class heroes when the teachers and the Boeing machinists went on strike this week.
• DCist kept track of an unusually high number of bomb threats and whackos with assault rifles not far from the U.S. Capitol on Friday.
• Chicagoist found some old creepy/amazing photos.
• Londonist noted one of the capital's churches poking fun at some of the more patronizing aspects of the UK ban on smoking in public indoor spaces.
• SFist simply couldn't resist sharing with you the good news about VP candidate Sarah Palin's exclusive luncheon in the Bay Area.
• Gothamist was intrigued by photographs of Hart Island, a prisoner of war camp and a missile base (it also housed a prison and a women's asylum) in the Bronx.

That's right, little turtles. Soak up that sun while you can. The forecast is clear and sunny as far as we can see for the next several days, but you never know when the real September will stand up. This and other shots of sun worship available today and everyday in our Seattlest Flickr Pool.

First things first: Brett Paulson, barman at Txori, responds to recent violent incidents in Belltown by circulating a petition that asks Governor Gregoire to send in the Washington State Patrol "to help eradicate the open air drug trafficking." Txori is two doors from Wally's, a convenience store that's a magnet for low-lifes, and Paulson's beginning to think it's safer to walk through Belltown's alleys than its sidewalks. Councilman Tim Burgess is on the case as well, asking the mayor for stepped up police patrols. "But the city says they don't have the manpower," Paulson says, "so everybody's jazzed about the petition." There's a copy on the counter at Txori, others making their way around the nabe.

That said, hail to The Local Vine, just named one of the country's top ten wine bars in the upcoming issue of Bon Appetit. Co-owner Sarah Munson was celebrating last night with visiting winemakers Tom Hedges (Hedges Family Estate) and Gary McLean (Barons). The magazine article also praises TLV's culinary consultant, Jason Wilson, who, truth be told, hasn't been on hand for almost a year. Still, Wilson's in the papers this week as the consultant for a new line of flavors from Dry Soda, in the stores by November.

Farewell, next, to Marjorie, closing tonight after a decade at the corner of Second & Battery. The folks from Buckley's Tavern on Lower Queen Anne bought the whole building, so Marjorie's Donna Moodie has to find a new spot. Farewell to pulled pork sliders and mac & cheese at happy hour. Lead barkeep Ben Sherwood is moving up the street to Tavolata; he won't even have to reset his GPS. And Donna herself? Telling faithful clients in the patio last night that she's still looking for the perfect spot.

Not farewell just yet: Cascadia. Yes, chef Kerry Sear is moving to the new Four Seasons downtown (and taking most of his kitchen and service staff with him). But he's not going to close up entirely, not with the fall season of private parties coming up. He's turned the place over to Columbia Hospitality, a local outfit that manages boutique hotels and conference centers. Asking price for the space: $1.25 million.

Across Battery, Scott Carsberg isn't in a hurry, either. The online listing for Lampreia is down from $750K to $475K but, again, that's just for the space, not the name. Carsberg is moving into new quarters in the Gallery, still abuilding at Second & Broad; little chance he'll move before the New Year.

Moving to Issaquah as soon as the tribal Snoqualmie Casino opens is Tini Bigs general manager Patrick Haight. Stepping in (but only as a consultant) is barman extraordinaire Jamie Boudreaux, late of Vessel.

And still up in the air: whether Juju's Marcus Charles will be taking over the vacant Crocodile. His barkeep says that she expects confirmation in a week or so.

For all that, we still can't quite imagine state troopers dealing with Belltown crackheads.

This reminder to get in some more road time before the rains come is brought to you by the always active Seattlest Flickr Pool.

Go ahead and scold us for loving the Yankees. This Seattlest's first baseball game ever was at Yankee stadium, and we just can't separate from the love. Yet, our new hometown team, the fightin' Mariners, actually kind of smacked the Yanks down. Nothing terrifically exciting happened—no super-dramatic plays, no bases-loaded homers, or anything. But, the Mariners managed to keep the Yanks down til the 8th inning, when they scored their one and only base run off of a single. Lame. Boring. However, the Mariners did break a few bats with their forceful hits, so...okay, fine—go Mariners!

This afternoon, talks broke off and union local 751 president Tom Wroblewski made the following statement:

Brothers and sisters: The strike will commence at one minute after midnight tonight. This Company disrespected the process, bargained illegally and most of all, disrespected the finest Aerospace workers anywhere on the planet by failing to meet your expectations (...) If this Company wants to talk, they have my number, they can reach me on the picket line.

And with that, 25,000 area residents just got the day off. Good luck to everyone involved and be safe.

Boeing biplane, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr user bill98117

The Cascade Bicycle Alliance also reported today that Seattle earned a Gold rating from LAB because of the city's "commitment to and investment in improving conditions for bicyclists."

Judges from the League of American Bicyclists were impressed with Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan, projected to develop a 450-mile bicycling network over the next 10 years.

Apparently, Seattleites are no slouches when it comes to commuting by bike. A full 4 percent of us do it, the Alliance reports, which is 10 percent above the national average.

In other bike news, again courtesy of Cascade Bicycle Alliance, Mayor Nickels proposed funding to build the last "missing segment" of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The trail, as anyone who has ever ridden, walked or run on it knows, is an awesome example of a functional urban trail, stretching from somewhere up on the North end of Lake Washington, all the way out to Golden Gardens Park. But there is still one mile-and-a-half long hole on the Burke-Gilman Trail between the West side of Fred Meyer in Ballard and the Ballard Locks. Nickels wants to spend $8.6 million in his next budget to complete that last link over the next two years. According to Cascade, funding will come from the Bridging the Gap levy funds dedicated to bike and trail improvements, the 2007 King County Proposition 2 Trail and Open Space levy, and from grants.

Now, if someone could just come up with a functional fix for the South end of the Ballard Bridge, we might just actually buy that Gold rating. Still, kudos to Nickels and the Cascade Bicycle Alliance for working hard to improve the state of bicycling infrastructure in the city. What they're doing may not be perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than what we had before.

thanks for putting that picture in our Flickr Pool borborigma.

In an attempt to make sense of last weekend's performance by our local gridiron teams, Seattlest is looking to other sources for inspiration.

“Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.”--Napoleon Hill

If true, the Huskies and Cougs are on the verge of some seriously mind-blowingly good stuff in the very, very, very near future, because last weekend the teams lost by a combined total of 60 points. However, with both teams returning for their home openers, and with the Seahawks kicking off the NFL regular season, Seattlest is cautiously optimistic for good things this weekend. Our cup is decidedly half-full. (Must be the sunshine!)

This weekend:

Huskies vs BYU (noon Saturday at Husky Stadium, FSN, 950 KJR)
Last weekend, we predicted a Husky loss against the Ducks would result in cries to fire head coach Tyrone Willingham. We were wrong. So poor was the on-field play during the 44-10 loss that, as one pundit put it this week “Tyrone has already lost his job. Now it’s up to him to try to win the job back.” Seattlest can’t really find fault with the logic, no matter how much we love Willingham.

This week, the Huskies face 15th-ranked Brigham Young, who are riding an 11-game winning streak. The Huskies haven’t beaten a Top-20 team in nearly five seasons. Even with the home-field advantage, the Dawgs are a 9-point underdog. Has the team quit on Willingham? This week will tell. Prediction: Joe Smiths 30, Jake Lockers 12

WSU vs Cal (3:30 Saturday in Pullman, FSN)
Wazzu didn’t fare much better than the Dawgs last weekend, looking mostly befuddled against Okla. State, losing 39-13. Cal is coming off a stomping of our green-bleeding hearts last weekend at home. Starting defensive tackle A'i Ahmu is suspended for the first half after a week of hitchhiking to and from courthouses. Our singular hope for the Cougs is that they got around to actually practicing special teams this week. Prediction: Smokey Bears 42, Cats 17

Seahawks at Buffalo (10 a.m. Sunday, Q13, 710 KIRO)
Head coach Mike Holmgren kicks off his final season at the helm of the Seahawks on the road at Ralph Wilson Stadium. (What’s with naming buildings after living people? That’s creepy.) Anyway, clichés abound…it’s hard to win on the road, they want to win one for the coach, the Bills don’t know they are bad yet, etc. Big-Play Babs and Rocky miss the game for being naughty. Seattlest thinks the Seahawk defense is poised for an exceptionally good season, and that’ll be the difference in this one. Prediction: Road Hawks 24, Bison 16

In other area football news this week:

Former Seahawk QB and coach Jim Zorn had a lot of people scratching their heads with his play-calling after last night's loss to the Giants. Some tin-foil hatters even think he deliberately ran the clock down in order to accommodate the GOP convention schedule.

Former Coug QB Ryan Leaf may have been a bust as an NFL QB, but is dang good with his money.

Don't like football? Then check out animated flick Ratatouille at Hing Hay Park in the International District Saturday evening. The event is emcee'd by I.D. lunch bloggers MSG150. (An interview with them is coming soon!)

Oh, and the Yankees are in town.

1914: Nellie Cornish founds the Cornish School of Music (later broadened to "School of the Arts") on Capitol Hill. The famous Martha Graham, avant garde dancer, would be one of her first dance instructors; as of 2008, Cornish is still one of few nationally accredited schools of the arts.

May 30, 1923: Suave actor Rudolph Valentino and his second wife, Natasha Rambova, dance the Argentinian tango at the Hippodrome on 5th and University after judging a local dance competition/beauty pageant. Three years later, Valentino would die young and become the stuff of Hollywood legend.

Dec 1, 1924: City of Seattle Ordinance #48022 is signed into effect, placing new restrictions on licenses, "places of amusement," entertainment venues and "certain occupations." These restrictions will affect the city's dance venues until a 1977 ordinance lifts the regulation of underage dance halls.

July 23-August 11, 1928: Seattle proper's first and last dance marathon is held at the Armory. Shortly thereafter, such events were outlawed by city ordinance on Sept 5, 1928. The ban meant the dances just moved over the city boundaries into unincorporated King County, where one particularly epic dance-off lasted 1,545 hours straight in 1931. The disreputable but appealing marathons were finally banned by Wash. state in the late '30s.

So much more after the jump, including the spicy CD destination club Birdland and Seattle Bandstand!

"Pole Dance With A Partner" by Seattlest Flickr Pool Contributor smastrong. Dang.

1941: Lemeul Honeysuckle opens the Savoy Ballroom in the Central District, a predominantly African-American dance and music venue which would change hands and names throughout the next twenty-odd years but which was the hot after-hours jazz and R&B club in the '50s. Notable jammers: Ray Charles, the Dave Lewis Combo, Jimi Hendrix and Ron Holden. The Savoy Ballroom, known since 1955 as Birdland, finally closed its doors in winter of 1964.

March 16, 1958: Seattle Bandstand first airs on KING-TV. The show, like the national American Bandstand phenomenon, features local teens dancing to the "King Size Ten," or the top ten radio hits of the week; the show was such a commercial success that Yakima Bandstand, Spokane Bandstand, and Portland Bandstand soon followed. Seattle Bandstand broadcast live weekly on Saturdays until 1961.

1960s: Parker's Ballroom, now a sports bar on Aurora, is in full swing as a rock n' roll dance club. Famous people are showing up all the time, including a certain man fond of saying, "Great balls of fire!" HistoryLink's got the story:

Besides whipping the crowd into a riotous frenzy, the maniacal Lewis also had the poor judgment to leap upon the house's new piano (as per his usual live routine) to dance. Well, so the story goes, Mrs. Shoemaker rushed out on the stage mid-song driving the rockabilly wildman down with a broom and publicly scolding him for scratching her instrument with his shoes. As a direct result of that incident the management swore that there would henceforth be no more rock 'n' roll dances at Parker's.

1972: Pacific Northwest Dance, now known as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, is created under the leadership of Director Leon Kalimos and "ballet mistress" Janet Reed; two years later the School of Pacific Northwest Dance opens. With two reputable dance schools (Cornish and the PNB School), Seattle's identity as a fine arts center for the Northwest is cemented.

May 1985: Controversial church/teen nightclub The Monastery closes after allegations of child prostitution, drug use, and other illegal activities involving minors arise. By 1986, minister/owner George Freeman is in jail. The Monastery controversy and other factors lead to the Teen Dance Ordinance, which goes into effect on July 29, 1985 and places drastic, scene-numbing restrictions on underage dances and shows.

It's hard to know what to expect from a hardcore band named Fucked Up, but apparently it involves manboobs and a bunny mask. They're also playing tonight, at the Vera Project.

Tomorrow night, if you are willing to brave it down to the Showbox SoDo, there's the always-sublime TV on the Radio with mucho up-and-comer Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Nightcap is a new late-night variety event at the Triple Door, curated by Lily Verlaine. For Saturday's debut, Lily will be joined by Mama Lou: American Strongwoman, Lara Paxton of Circus Contraption and The Aerialistas, burlesque care of Paula The Swedish Housewife, Elizabeth Ripley (formerly of the Seattle Opera) accompanied by a live pianist, and the jazz sounds of the Matt Jorgensen Quintet.

Sunday night marks the end of the Dead Science's weeklong Villainaire Festival of Culture with their all-ages record release show at Neumo's. Here's a clip of them playing earlier this week at Wall of Sound:

And finally Sunday, there's John Reis of Rocket from the Crypt/Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu fame with his new band, the Night Marchers, and Colour Revolt at King Cobra.

Kushi are Japanese skewers, bamboo or metal. Threaded with a sardine, a prawn, peppers, pork belly or chicken hearts, they're grilled over makeshift charcoal braziers and served up to passersby in Tokyo. In Belltown, you get to sit. In fact, you'll be served on the new open-air deck along Second, a 40-seat expanse at sidewalk level, while executive chef Billy Beach grills your mushrooms or gizzards (over imported coals) inside.

This is Kushibar, from the folks who brought you Umi Sake House. It opened to the public last night with an ambitious menu of more than 80 items on skewers costing $2 to $5 apiece, with happy hour combo platters available. Ten-buck minimum.

Some 20 or so soups and noodles bowls as well: stir-fried yaki udom "street style" as well as the usual soupy suspects (chicken broth with pork, corn, egg, scallions), all in the $8 to $15 price range. House ramen, $11, in a bowl big enough to bathe a puppy, lacked punch; not a drop of soy or hot sauce to be seen. House beers on tap include Sapporo and Oly (now part of Pabst, alas).

Typical opening night madhouse, with kitchen staff overwhelmed by blizzard of orders. Will no doubt improve, but several parties gave up and left in despair, kushi-less.

Kushibar, 2319 Second Avenue, 206-448-2488

The whole affair started with a big menu presentation. The server brought a big cart to the table and essentially walked through the menu options, offering a visual display of meat cuts, vegetables, and more. What we remember most were a big lobster (averaging four pounds that evening) and a big potato (which looked like it could feed a family of four).

A big loaf of bread made its way to the table, along with our appetizer: jumbo lump crab cake. Big nods of approval from us. Moist and crab-meaty, but with a big pricetag ($16) for just one on the plate.

One of us got the classic surf-and-turf combination, which started with a (big) salad, followed by a plate featuring a single-cut filet mignon, a lobster tail, and big spears of asparagus. The other got a big-ol’ bone-in ribeye steak with Lyonnaise potatoes. No doubt about the winning dish: the ribeye was both big in size (Flintstones big, said our server) and big in taste, with lots of flavor coming from the marbling and the bone. The filet mignon was big in texture, but no match for the ribeye in appeal. And while the lobster tail was swimmingly big, it was not so big in taste.

The big question, then: does size matter? You’ll pay big bucks for the privilege of eating at Morton’s. You’ll get nice service on your big night out. You’ll have big choices of big ticket items that range from big time to, well, big whoop. Choose the right steak and you’ll get a big payoff. And dessert can be a big ending. One gets a big billing: Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake. You’ll need a big stomach to eat up all this food. Maybe that’s why we saw a lot of big doggie bags as people walked out the doors.

Normally, we are thrilled at the prospect of men, or otherwise ostensibly male-looking people, wearing not-pants. We remember our first visit to Seattle and seeing a kiosk at the Fremont Fair for a then-fledgling Utilikilt operation. Our friend bought one and proceeded to look v. stunning in it. Sure, sure, a large part of that was because he was hawttt. But the more important reason was that he had excellent fashion sense to begin with, which was only enhanced by this new, exotic garment that he had added to his sartorial lexicon.

Since moving here, though, we have grudgingly and barely tolerated the Utilikilt and we still wrestle with it philosophically. We say that because we fully support the Male Trouserless Initiative. On the other hand, we scoff at the apparent need to (hyper-)masculinize the elegant kilt, but that could just be our aberrant penchant for wearing actual skirts talking. To each their own, no? So what really sticks in our craw—and not in a good way—are the dumpy ways we frequently see Utilikilts worn. Our internal Tim Gunn bristles and wails.

Listen, be-kilted dudes, things will turn out much better once you realize this fundamental fact: kilts are not merely substitutes for pants. They require different outfit considerations and even minor behavioral adjustments. Furthermore, they are, for worse and worst, still "exotic" pieces of menswear. As such, they are visible. Thus, wearing a kilt while violating good fashion and s