I would have to earn about $12,000 more in California in order to earn the same after-tax income that I make in Washington State, and even if I did earn that income premium in California, I would likely not be able to save as much money each year because housing is more expensive in big cities in California. If I were to account for all of the cost of living increase, I’d probably need to earn $20,000 more each year in California to save the same amount each that I can in Washington State.

This spreadsheet really illustrates the power that income taxes wield over all of us…who knows, maybe this spreadsheet will even cause someone to move to a lower-tax state!

Click here to see the spreadsheet in a new window.

Note: Someone tipped me off soon after publishing this spreadsheet that I did not account for the fact that earning a higher pre-tax income in California would also potentially put you into a higher federal income tax bracket, and this scenario is not reflected in my spreadsheet (maybe in version 2.0?).

To those of you in disbelief that a deadly shooting could take place at a trashy bar/nightclub in Bellevue (Munch Sports Grill), let me teach you a lesson about trashy nightclubs: they tend to draw a dangerous crowd. As a result, your chance of getting shot there is MUCH, MUCH HIGHER than if you had gone out to the Irish pub across the street. This regrettable occurrence should come as a surprise to no one. If you value your life, you might consider avoiding the following venues:

-Munchbar
-Blue Martini
-Belltown Billiards
-Club Sur
-Most nightclubs in Pioneer Square

If you’re not sure whether the bar you’re going to is dangerous or not, a rule of thumb is that if you answer ‘Yes’ to two of the following questions, you should head elsewhere:

1) Is there a dancefloor inside the venue?
2) Is there particularly loud music anywhere inside the venue?
3) Is the venue charging a cover?

It is unfortunate that we all need to make conscious decisions in order to avoid danger, however, in that respect, choosing a nightlife venue is no different than selecting a mountain to climb: if you choose to climb Mount Everest (or go out to a nightclub full of lowlifes), you should expect a certain amount of risk (and even death).

More unfortunate still is that those who enjoy dancing must be extra vigilant. Is dancing something that people should be afraid to do? Of course not! Unfortunately though, dancefloors and loud music tend to attract trouble, and just because you wish things were different does not make it so.

Please stay safe and consider where you go partying before you get yourself into unwanted trouble.

The team of geniuses at Zaarly has tackled a few big peeves we’ve all had with the legacy ecommerce establishment:

• Traditionally, online merchants focus on products and are horrible at selling services
• It’s hard to find local products/services which due to their proximity may be more relevant to what I’m looking for

E-commerce isn’t totally broken today, but it doesn’t really provide a good avenue to finding good local service providers (house cleaning, outsourced chores, lawn mowing, personal chefs, et cetera), and it is no good at helping you find Services (major ecommerce sites like Ebay/Amazon are much more focused on selling products). All the daily deal sites made ecommerce more local, but they only gave us deals on restaurants, spas, and some other things that we don’t really want or need. Zaarly Storefronts changes is. It is local (which makes its service offerings more relevant), it includes products (which is what most of us buy online, anyway), it makes buying services easy, it provides a clear visual introduction to the service provider or product, and does all of this in one place.

The gist of Zaarly Storefronts is that it is local products and services with with engaging descriptions and photos/visuals that give you a good idea of what you’ll get.

Here’s an example: you want someone to clean your apartment every two weeks because you don’t have time to do it yourself. Zaarly Storefronts says “Meet your new cleaning lady, Geannie Meckler!”:

See, read, click, buy. Now your house is clean. It’s intuitive and effortless. I think that Zaarly’s ecommerce innovations are going to drive its competitors to change the way they list products and services, so perhaps Zaarly Storefront will change the way commerce happens even on platforms outside Zaarly.

Here’s an example of some of the local products available on Zaarly Storefronts (which reminds me of a sort of virtual farmer’s market):

Kudos to the team over at Zaarly for building a hyper-relevant ecommerce platform!

(click to enlarge)

Skateboarding in 1901 Maui Driving Shoes/Moccasins from Nordstrom from Cameron Newland on Vimeo.

Shoe performance while skateboarding: Acceptable.

I’m wearing the 1901 Driving Shoe in Brown available at Nordstrom.com for $89.95.

They have Church for that.

Thank you.

Big Pun’s Off Wit His Head from his 2000 album Yeeeah Baby is perhaps one of the most underrated songs of the last 20 years. Its production, though favoring synthesized instruments and voices to authentic live recordings, is peerless. I’d compare it to Puff Daddy’s classic “Victory (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)”. Off Wit His Head is prototypical thug rap layered over classical instruments (including a strong harpsichord, synthesized violin, and synthesized cello), but what sets it apart are its melodic vocal hooks that seem as if they’d be right at home in a classical operetta. Meanwhile, a computer-synthesized chorus adds a sense of grandeur and gravitas, which is precisely the kind of element that is necessary to balance out the whimsically amateurish synth instruments. The track is peppered with lyrics that show Big Pun to be an unapologetic hedonist:

“…I don’t give a fuck! Til I die, I’mma live it up…”

Other passages show that Pun knows his death is near, but illustrate his desire to stubbornly go down swinging:

“…I ain’t ready to die, bury me alive…”

The classically-themed beat, operatic vocals and frighteningly prescient lyrics were indeed a deadly combination: Big Pun died on February 7th, 2000, just two months before the album was released.