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Look outside. It's like "Lord of the Rings: Two Towers" after the trees get pissed off and walk over to the tower and destroy everything.

Sure, trees are great because they create oxygen and stop ozone depletion and do everything else you read in high school earth science textbooks, but what about when they destroy your house or car? What about when trees attack? You're not thinking about oxygen if you're not breathing -- because a tree killed you. So grab your axes, kids, we must make a preemptive strike against trees!

OK, the above is nonsense, but seriously, I have never seen so many fallen trees before. They've crashed on houses, fences, cars and power supplies, causing most of us to lose power last week. Some people are still without power and sadly the storm's death count is up to 13.

And now we're in the clean-up stages. According to the P-I, "whether the tree or the splintered limb that crashed into your house belongs to you, your neighbor or the city, experts say you're still responsible for the damage." That's why Scott has been spending the past couple days sawing up a tree that fell on his neighbor's property at his family's beach house.

"If there is an issue of liability, it's going to come down to whether the person knew that that tree was unhealthy or dead," said Kristin Alexander, spokeswoman with the state Attorney General Office. If the tree was healthy and fell naturally, then insurance will pick up the bill, which is the case for most people with homeowner's insurance.

That's a big bill to pick up. The Seattle Times reports, "Last week's wind storm caused at least $7.3 million in structural damage in King County, according to the county's emergency management office...It reports another $1.5 million in personal property damage." Check, please.

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It's about that time again for me to shamelessly self-promote. It's a big weekend for the band. We're playing in Everett at Jimmy-Z's on Friday and then on Saturday...

We make our great return to the land of Tacoma for an all-ages show at Club Impact on 9th and Pacific downtown. The show is $8 and doors open at 8. Trans Union, The Jury, Cadaver Graye and Systole are also on the bill. We'd love to see everyone out
on the holiday weekend, including you, Santa.

Mark your calendars for shows in Pioneer Square at the J&M Cafe on Thursday, Jan. 18 and at The Central on Thursday, Feb. 1. And I'm out. Hizzo, hizzo, hizzo.

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I'm sure most of you won't be reading the blog today because you're out of power. According to the P-I, "a one-two punch of howling windstorms and heavy rains left at least three people dead and more than 1 million homes and businesses without power... One woman died after being trapped in the flooded basement of her home, while falling trees killed two others."

Nearly an inch of rain fell in one hour at the weather service's north Seattle office, according to the P-I. A record rainfall of 2.17 inches was set in Seattle for the date, breaking the old record of 1.24 inches on Dec. 14, 2002. I believe it. I walked to the post office at lunch yesterday, a two block trek, and I came back into the office looking like I had just gotten out of the shower -- a fantasy for some of the women there, I think.

Many of the people I work with don't have power, and many stayed home to assess damage to their homes. Yikes. Dad said a 45-foot tree nearly missed his neighbor's house as it nailed their porch.

Most of the Eastside is out of power, but behold: the hamsters at my ghetto apartment building in Ballard are still on their wheels and we have electricity. Take that, upper-class Eastsiders. Go keep warm in your 7-series BMW's. You can call me to learn how amazing the hour-long episode of "The Office" was if you can get your cell phones to charge.

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“The War on Christmas” is the conservative movement that’s fighting back against those who try to remove the "Christ" in Christmas. I wrote about Bill O’Reilly and Pope “Eggs” Benedict on the frontlines of the war last year, and this year we find, strangely enough, a rabbi maintaining the religious connection to the Christian holiday.

I know I’m a few days late on this story, but it’s too asinine to pass up. Last week, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky asked the Port of Seattle to add an electric menorah to Sea-Tac Airport’s holiday displays, which includes 14 Christmas trees. After being “stonewalled,” Bogomilsky threatened litigation against the Port for ignoring his request for equal representation. Instead of using common sense and plugging in a $20 menorah next to the trees, the Port took drastic action and removed all 14 Christmas trees -- pissing everyone else off.

On December 11, the Port distributed a news release announcing that it employs a bunch of spineless, politically-correct idiots and would be re-displaying the trees at Sea-Tac.

"This has been an unfortunate situation for all of us in Seattle," said Port of Seattle Commission President Pat Davis. "The rabbi never asked us to remove the trees; it was the Port's decision based on what we knew at the time. We very much appreciate the rabbi's willingness to work with us as we move forward…There's been such an outcry from the public -- from people of all faiths -- who believe that the trees should be reinstalled."

The release said, “A key element in moving forward will be to work with the rabbi and other members of the community to develop a plan for next year's holiday decorations at the airport.” Yeah, or just use some common sense.

We’re still lucky enough this society isn’t so politically-correct that we’re still able to have holiday decorations in public places, so, Port, cover your ass and display a variety of decorations that reflect the major religions Americans subscribe to. There will always be those people who won’t be satisfied with the most honest attempts to appease the library of religions this time of year, but the easiest thing to do is satisfy simple requests. Invoke the holiday spirit by giving instead of taking away.

"I think the whole thing is ridiculous and really out of proportion," Bogomilsky told the P-I shortly before the port made its announcement to reinstall the trees. "People should turn to the Port of Seattle and say, 'Wait a minute, what are you doing? Return the trees and give people the spirit of the holiday back.' Right now, nobody's happy." Merry Christmas.