Mural (background) by Tom Quinn

Spokane is in a peculiar place where style cycles have sped up to where they are lapping our lag in following fashion trends. While Urban Outfitters spends millions marketing the new 90′s look all over the world, a good chunk of people in Spokane never gave it up to begin with. And why should they?

What really caught my eye were these boots. I used to rock a pair like this in the 4th grade at Brentwood, but they were a little too forward for the times and I was teased for wearing “hooker boots.” I had proudly bought my laced-up beauties from my Uncle in our family’s Wolf Point, Montana department store. “I’ve replaced the heels twice,” she bragged. I would too if I still had a pair like that. Let’s hear it for eco-friendly thrift!

Apparently the owners thought it too offensive to display the word “Ass” on their signage, so a Ren and Stimpy style donkey with obscenely large testicles takes its place.

Make of it what you will.

Hoopfest by Jack High

Even local authors Jess Walter and Sherman Alexie are fans, taking their love of hoops to new literary, ahem, heights:

We play basketball
because we want to
separate love from
hate, and because we
know how to keep score

Sherman Alexie, Why We Play Basketball.

But this weekend, separating love and hate during Hoopfest wasn’t as effortless as in years past. Spokane Police were mandated a DUI quota by contacting three motorists per hour this weekend as part of extra impaired driving patrols. One Geiger inmate escaped from a Hoopfest work crew.

The talk of the tournament was about a shooting between rival gangs. Three victims unrelated to the incident were injured, fortunately all with non-life threatening injuries to the foot and shin. (One of the assailants was responsible for a gang-related stabbing outside Club Uno last fall and was scheduled for trial September 20th.)

“We have a gang problem in Spokane. We have related crimes and they are continuing to be more violent. So when you have Hoopfest, and all those variables, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Jennifer DeRuwe, Spokane Police Department Spokesperson

Do you feel last weekend’s incidents at Hoopfest will dissuade people from participating  despite their love for the game? It is estimated that Hoopfest contributes about $30 million dollars of economic impact to our community. What will be the cost of this shooting? What can be done to prevent 19 and 20 year old young men from firing into a crowd?

Spokane is a city full of khaki, blue and gray. When people deck themselves out in black around here it is often meant to signify something. To some it is anti-social and threatening. To others it is a sign that someone isn’t bound by confining social norms and is more likely to accept you for who you are.

Next time I’m riding around without my backpack I’ll just follow suit and clasp my U-Lock around my neck. Problem solved!

“I’ve done it all,” he said, waving to a broken cheekbone.

Pick-up line: “You’d make a good jockey with that slim figure of yours.”

Another verbatim quote: “I love Spokane. I live in that tower there and have a great view out over the river. I’ve been riding for thirty years. When they tore out the track I was through. That was it for me.”

Make of it what you will.

Make of it what you will.

Make of it what you will.

Do you think people in Spokane are more likely to wear red and green during the holidays than in other places?

Three cheers for the three piece suit!