By Marc J. Elzenbeck Hot as the Dot-Com bubble may have been, the AI bubble is blazing. There are strong connections between now and then. At its height in 1999, a smallish company named Sun Microsystems made computers key to powering the graphical internet, and its stock was bid to a staggering 10x price to…
Announcements, April 2024
Honorary Deputy Sets Out to Slow Speeders
Due to staffing shortages in unincorporated areas, the King County Sheriff’s Office has updated its General Orders Manual to certify residents for recording and reporting speeders. A volunteer is pictured on Cemetery Road deploying a county-issued radar gun and camera recorder. According to the Deputy, “One little red Honda is going to get a very…
Island Resilience, March 2024
Looking for a Good Neighbaaa
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Call me stupid. My auto and home insurance stayed nearly unchanged for the most part of a decade, with only minor upticks reflecting an occasional policy adjustment. Towing coverage was added on a couple vehicles, plus a separate umbrella covering teenager mishap, malfeasance, or vandalism. Starting in January 2022, both basics…
March 2024, Poetry
Southbound From Donbass
By Ivan SnowaTranslated by Marc J. Elzenbeck I see you on the beach so healthywith umbrella yellow and the sunheating strong and rolling overinto my skin with pleasant panic. You’re with the babies smilinglaughing but beckoning me backfrom the waves where I’m drowningI snap awake and grab the wheel. Scraping the mile marker post47 just…
February 2024, Island Voices
CowExist II
By Marc J. Elzenbeck With much care, and over months, our foster cow Leslie’s terrible wound began to heal under daily debriding and cleaning. Amazingly, what had been a deep, two-foot-long gash in her left shoulder, imitating for all appearances a hanging flank steak, gradually closed back together and began smoothing out into short-haired Holstein…
February 2024, Poetry
You in Preview (Paris in the Winter of 1913-14)
By Rainier Maria Rilke, translated by Marc J. Elzenbeck You who I foreseethe lost beloved who never comesI won’t know your favorite songsso have stopped trying to stopthe waves of your next momentswhich will surely obliterate this landscape. The cities, towers and bridgestwist and turn in their coursesof lands forever tremblingin the thrall of intermingling godswho…
Editorial Page, January 2024
Olympia Set to Appoint “Rubber Barons”
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Washington State is eager to further cut carbon emissions. To that end, it’s anticipated to pass a law requiring residents to buy ultra-low rolling resistance tires when replacing original (OEM) equipment. Officials promise this will save hundreds per driver in fuel costs. This is true. For a given car or light…
Announcements, September 2023
Saint Ophelia Closes Out Summer with Backlot Encore
Vashon Theater’s “Backlot” has hit its outdoor big screen stride. A late summer Sunday night performance by the up and coming St. Ophelia was hopping, gathering a full crowd that enjoyed superb sound and visuals. Blending elements of Head and the Heart style lyrics with high-level country-ish composure, the group is distinctive and easy to…
August 2023, Island Voices, Memoir
CowExist
By Marc J. Elzenbeck Cattle were domesticated from wild aurochs starting about 10,500 years ago. Roughly speaking, an auroch is to a farm cow as a timber wolf is to a cocker spaniel. These were amongst the biggest, baddest land-borne mammals left over from the Pleistocene, so by “domesticated,” what they mean is “captured and…