DOWN WITH PANTS!

The big news on Monday at work was the drunken rampage that my boss went on Friday night while attending the New Model Army concert at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle.

After work on Friday, my boss, let's call him G, went to the Diamond Knot in Mukilteo for some beers. About seven hours later he resurfaced at the show shitfaced beyond belief. Everybody he knew at the show promptly avoided him in any way possible. Part way through the show he started yelling at the band trying to play him a song and continued the rest of the evening pissing off not only the people around him but the band as well. Fists were almost thrown on a number of occasions.

This is all a pretty normal experience, we have all been there at some point. Not a big deal right? Well, how many of you have actually made it onto the band's message boards? It's true. The message boards blew up the next day with the reports of this drunken "old guy".

G apologized on the boards and emailed a couple of the people he wanted to fight and apologized to them as well. Through all of this G and one of those people started emailing back and forth and somehow or another G ended up with his resume.

So it comes full circle. The drunk almost kicks your ass, you get a job working for the drunk. Seems pretty logical. Anyway, We had some good laughs at G's expense and maybe soon we will have a new co-worker.

The Down With Pants! crew rushed out of the house to the movie theater on Wednesday night after realizing that Shrek 2 had opened earlier in the day. We got in just in time for the previews which featured both the new Harry Potter movie and the new Pixar movie, the Incredibles (both of which look really good, if you like that kind of thing).

Shrek 2 did not disappoint. I was prepared to not like Shrek 2 thinking they would make it unbearably sappy or tone down the humor. But when the movie opened to the clips of Shrek and Fiona on their honeymoon and they showed the Little Mermaid attacked by sharks, I knew we were in for a good ride.

It's a ton of fun, it's exciting and it's heartwarming. It's everything that the first one was and maybe even more. I'm not sure if it's better that the original but it comes mighty close. The DWP! crew gives it two pants down!

Today, after fouling up my template that I was using I decided to go with a new look for Down With Pants! Please bear with me while I iron out some of the problems and get it looking nice again. Thanks!

The Seattle Storm's 2003 season was a big disappointment. They started out very strong and looked incredible and destined for the playoffs. However injuries to Kamila Vodichkova and Adia Barnes exposed the big hole on their team, depth, and the team struggled the rest of the way finishing out of the playoffs despite having league MVP Lauren Jackson.

The Storm return the main players that got them off to a hot start in 2003. Jackson, Vodichkova and Barnes are joined by two time all-star Sue Bird and crowd favorite Simone Edwards as key returning pieces of the puzzle. They are joined by newcomers Sheri Sam and Betty Lennox who are both former all-stars. Lennox was also rookie-of-the-year in 2000. These players should put the Storm over the top and should guard against a catastrophic downturn if the injuries continue.

If the Storm can stay healthy they are the best team in the league. If they lose one or two minor pieces they are still a very good playoff team. However, if they lose Lauren Jackson, it pretty much will be the same as last year. In the preseason while Jackson nursed an injury the team struggled mightily losing by 39 points to Phoenix. On Sunday, with Jackson in the lineup and healthy she scored 29 and beat Phoenix by 10.

Whatever the outcome of the Storm's season, if you are in Seattle or anywhere near a WNBA team, please come out and see them play. The action is incredibly good and the crowds are always electric even when the crowds are sparse. It is never a lock that the WNBA will return and the only way to make sure it does is to attend games. Hopefully we will be able to see these great players like Jackson and Bird playing professionally in the US for the rest of their careers.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Since my engagement most of my time spent on-line has been taken by looking for reception sites. Down With Pants! pledges that he will start updating again very soon starting today with a preview of the 2004 Seattle Storm WNBA season which tips off tomorrow.

Also, don't miss our new blog, Love-A-Palooza 2005, a blog devoted entirely to our experiences in planning a wedding. Not much has happened yet there, but soon we will begin updating it regularly.

Lost amid the proceedings on Saturday night was our Friday night adventure at Graceland in Seattle. Southern Culture on the Skids of course rocked the house as they always do, although the lack of their keyboard player who is no longer with the band does hurt their sound a bit.

After sitting though a mind numbing and gut wrenching performance by a god-awful band called the DT's (I said it sounded like an American Idol contestant who hooked up with some dirty guys to get back to her "roots" by playing Joplin-esque Rock & Roll), The Paybacks hit the stage. At first glance they promised to be nothing more than the DT's but they quickly grabbed everybody and jammed some good old-fashioned Detroit rock down their throats.

We've seen SCOTS three times now and twice they have opened our eyes with incredible opening acts. Last time at the Showbox we were introduced to Throw Rag which has become one of our favorite bands. This time it was The Paybacks who we will be sure to check out again.

On a beautiful evening in Seattle, your boy at Down With Pants! pulled out all the stops and got engaged to the most incredible girl in the entire world.

Following an fabulously yummy dinner at Ray's Cafe on Shilshole and a sweaty and amazing night of Salsa dancing at the Century Ballroom, DWP! and Death? decided to take in the gorgeous Seattle skyline at Kerry Viewpoint Park. When we arrived we found a table for two set up with candles, roses, cake and champagne.

After feigning surprise and wonderment over this magical table of love I settled in and after flubbing a few lines in my nervousness, popped the big question. "Will You Marry Me?" Through a stream of tears the answer came quickly. "Yes!" followed by a big kiss and more tears which continued throughout the night for both of us.

It was the happiest moment of my life. Nothing could possibly be better, only the wedding and the birth of a few junior DWP!ers will ever even come close. The love I have is true and strong and the most important thing in my life and I'm looking forward to many, many, many years of joy with Death? at my side.

Seems like I've been doing all sorts of ads lately for various things and I quite often direct you to big corporate webpages like Amazon.com. Am I starting to sell out? What has happened to my integrity as a reporter for the Down With Pants! movement? Wait a second, I know, I never had any. I sold out years ago, and I'm not going to change now.....so on to our regularly scheduled ad....

Blackbeard and Anne Bonny are awesome! Archie McPhee's newest action figures are out now and are super cool. Both of these kick ass pirates come with a ton of weapons and will kick your other wimpy action figures butts. G.I. Joe never stood a chance. If you place an order mention Down With Pants! and nobody will know what you are talking about, but I'll find out you mentioned it. I have my sources...

Lots of music news to discuss so let's get to it, shall we?

The Magnetic Fields have released a new album entitled i. All the songs start with the letter I. I have heard a couple of songs from it, it sounds very good.

The Beastie Boys have just released an awesome new single "Ch-Check It Out". The audio clip and the video are available at either BeastieBoys.com or at Launch.com. Their new album To The 5 Boroughs drops on June 15th.

Loretta Lynn and Jack White have teamed up to release Van Lear Rose. They have been playing the crap out of this album on KEXP and I have to say that I have liked every single song they have played.

Blender magazine named Starship's "We Built This City" as their worst song of all-time. It's hard to argue that although Limp Bizkit's "Rollin" or Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" would be my choices.

Upcoming Seattle Concerts we are excited about:
May 7th or May 8th - Southern Culture on the Skids - Graceland or The Tractor
May 14th - De La Soul and Ozomatli - Hec Ed Pavilion
July 16th - Reverend Horton Heat - Showbox
August 11th - They Might Be Giants - Woodland Park Zoo

The Down With Pants! crew celebrated a glorious May Day afternoon at Emerald Downs to gamble on the Kentucky Derby and watch the local ponies go at it. The Derby turned out to be a total wash with DWP! favorite Tapit finishing out of the money, however the rest of the day came up roses or mint juleps or big stupid hats.

In race 4, pre-race longshots Firey Isle and Quilceda showed they weren't intimidated by those other sucker horses and raced to a convincing victory giving DWP! his first win of the day, a $70.50 exacta victory.

Then in race 8, Thunzarr led the whole way and it was up to Matlock to get into the money. Late on the backstretch he suddenly turned it on riding fast and furiously possessed by the ghosts of the greats. With only a few lengths left he huffed and puffed his way past the game Murdock and galloped home in the place position bringing home $55.80 in the exacta.

It was easily the best day at the track for the DWP! crew as John pulled home a cool $1.10 in the day's first race. Nice job John! Now you have a burger at Wendy's calling your name!