Bedtime reading for the Raineys

At dinner tonight with my friend Jim Rainey and his charming family, I pulled out my camera to snap the above pic and Michelle mentioned that the Rainey clan soon would be appearing on M&M.

"So," Alison said after asking some questions about the blog, "we can read about you tonight until we fall asleep?" Sure, I said, that's what we do.

Ho ho.

The Raineys are visiting Seattle on a quick Pacific Northwest vacation from their home in Los Angeles -- South Pasadena, actually -- where Jim is a kick-ass reporter covering the presidential campaign and the media. Among his many excellent recent "On the Media" columns was this smart take on the "irony deficiency" in the hubub over The New Yorker's Obama cartoon cover.

Jim called in advance asking for Seattle tourist tips, which is kind of funny considering I never do anything here but go to the casino or the movie theater or the baseball park. But I mumbled some stuff about the outdoors -- kayaking, maybe, a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, a walk around Seattle Center, possibly a tour of the Hendrix-inspired Experience Music Project rock museum. Amazingly, they're fitting all those suggestions and a couple others into their short stay.

I think that impressed Michelle, who opined tonight that Seattle's a boring place to visit. "What could you possibly do here for three whole days?" Has she ever mentioned that she grew up in Italy?

Anyway, the Rainey mob seemed to like it here. The weather's gorgeous right now, for one thing.

We were all going to meet for dinner at our new favorite West Seattle restaurant, Matador, but when the Raineys showed up -- including Cole, 15; Libby, 14; and Hank, 8 I think -- we learned that Matador is an adults-only joint. Cole, endearingly: "Too bad for them, they just lost out on some business."

True that. We just walked up the street to Elliot Bay Brewing Co., where we ordered burgers and beers and caught up on LA Times gossip, the downfall of the newspaper biz, presidential politics, and music the cool kids are listening to these days. Cole's suggestions were all bands I've never heard of and already have forgotten. Libby says she's into Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell lately. (Fine, kid, but when you're done my mom wants her record collection back.)

The evening's only disappointment was that we completed dinner too late, by 15 minutes, to finish off with an ice cream cone at that West Seattle institution across the street, Husky Deli.

Still, a fun night was had by all, I think -- even Hank, who fell asleep on Alison's lap. The Lake Washington canoe race this afternoon may have worn him out.