MISCmedia MAIL today discusses the mayor’s big (albeit still tentative) arena deal; attempts to reach common ground with local Muslims and/or Republicans; non-techbro reasons for the housing crisis; and the Mariners’ comeback all the way to .500! But these are all minor stories compared to the big event of the day, our own spectacular b-day party for both the newsletter and for myself, 6:30 p.m. tonight at the tenacious Two Bells in bountiful Belltown.

Wednesday’s MISCmedia MAIL doesn’t know any more than you about the sudden closure of the classic Guild 45th and Seven Gables cinemas. We do know a little about another police-brutality settlement; the International District’s “upzone” moving forward; what white liberals don’t “get” about the whole Evergreen State College to-do; and our big, boistrous birthday party (tomorrow, Thursday 6/8/17, at the tony Two Bells!).

The alt-right rally scheduled for Portland before last week’s slayings took place, as did several counter-protests, as did arrests and seized weapons and pepper spray. Also in Monday’s MISCmedia MAIL: Anschutz doesn’t want to rebuild KeyArena after all; Dale Chihuly admits to emotional issues but denies cheating an associate; a legendary local bar will be reborn; and a proposed high-rise with a rooftop dome.

The unspecified “clear threat” reported by Evergreen State College brass is, at least partly, the fallout from a heated email exchange about race and the limits of white “progressivism.” Your weekend MISCmedia MAIL also mentions local officials refusing to go backwards on climate change; another reason why encampment sweeps put people in danger; a guy who says he can build affordable housing units at half price; and a guy who wants to break up Amazon.

I think Seattle’s still a great tourist destination. Come for the fish throwing; stay for the political resistance organizing! Other stuff in our month-dawning MISCmedia MAIL includes more reaction to the outrage in Portland; why this year’s homeless count can’t really be compared to last year’s; a black author cancels her Seattle trip after death threats; and Folklife lives!

Wednesday’s MISCmedia MAIL starts with a great honor for one of my fave cartoonist/novelist/playwrights. It goes on to mention the “dirty” aspect of cleaning up Lake Washington; big-big plans for the UW; the apparent end to one of our era’s most famous couples; and five years after the Cafe Racer slayings (so many senseless slayings ago).

Memorial Day weekend came close to home, as we remember two people who gave their lives defending America’s highest values—here in the Northwest, at the weekend’s start. Tuesday’s MISCmedia MAIL also has words on B.C.’s new (and much less oil-industry-friendly) government; another dead whale washed ashore; and an “aurora” in Seattle that’s not an old U.S. highway.

In your big holiday-weekend MISCmedia MAIL: The Pike Place Market’s new part, or at least part of that new part, is now open; Folklife’s last hurrah?; the White House hates rail transit and old people getting jobs; Nike’s overseas labor policies are back in the news; and gazillions of weekend activity listings.

After more than four years, we’re close to a permanent police-oversight system. MISCmedia MAIL today also discusses the potential hypocrisy of taxing pop in Latte Land; rapid rehousing’s potential shortcomings; a Seahawk’s feud with a Seattle Times writer; and a word for Manchester (by the sea).

Twin Peaks is back. Or rather, something mostly new under that title and with several of the old show’s characters has arrived, and it’s a beaut.  Today’s MISCmedia MAIL also looks at more Chris Cornell reactions; the death of a major local lit n’ history figure; one person named Grant dissing another; and a major Belltown arts-creation space going away.

As you’d expect, we talk a lot in today’s MISCmedia MAIL about Chris Cornell’s life, death, and legacy. Plus: more on the “My Family’s Slave” controversy; Ed Murray’s accuser wanting a trial anywhere but here; Mount St. Helens memories; and the usual plethora of weekend events.

It’s that time of year again. That occasion when we’re reminded of larger-than-life sights, sounds, and dramatic spectacle. MISCmedia MAIL denotes this today, as well as: the recent uproar over a local, modern “family slave” saga; Kshama Sawant’s “Socialist muscle”; another Seattle federal judge striking another blow against bigotry; and a bear in a tree.

“Pence would be worse,” the argument goes. We ponder that argument and its limits today at MISCmedia MAIL. Also: a disappearing piece of exurban “vernacular architecture;” a threat to the Hanford cleanup; the police-accountability plan and its discontents; and another Mariners bullpen collapse.

As the “other Washington” moves ever closer to who-knows-what, here we’ve got still more rain to deal with. Well, that and the “Big One” earthquake coming any century now. MISCmedia MAIL also deals with the end of a legendary local bar (as we’ve known it); a suit against a tiny record label that got itself some unreleased Prince songs; the local literary legend who was a mystery to his bio-dad; and two women of color vying to either change or keep the Legislature’s status quo.

A new week of MISCmedia MAIL begins with a postmortem on Paul Allen’s big in-town music fest; a list of 13 important Washington books (and one Washington book publisher); more on America’s worst broadcaster; and Seattle’s second hockey championship in 101 years.