April 26th is the 14th annual Dining Out For Life event in Seattle to benefit the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. The Lifelong AIDS Alliance provides support services and advocacy for those who are affected by HIV and AIDS. 150 local restaurants will donate 30% of the total bill to Lifelong AIDS Alliance (NOTE: Some will not donate 30% of the alcohol bill, some will).

My boyfriend and I went last year and had a lovely dinner at Market Street Grill in Ballard. I’m not sure where we’ll go this year, but I’m in the mood for somewhere new. Since some of the participating restaurants offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner under this event, it’s likely that we’ll end up eating two meals out tomorrow. It will be an indulgence, but at least it’s an indulgence that benefits a good cause.

I’m open to suggestions on participating restaurants. Where would you go for lunch or dinner tomorrow?

FoodSeattle.com has entered the crowded restaurant recommendation business with a unique offering – an iPod-compatible restaurant guide [fs] featuring menu recommendations and a variety of search methods (neighborhood, price, cuisine, etc.). Best of all, it’s free and updated regularly to include new restaurants and menu changes to existing restaurants.

Zagat, the Microsoft of restaurant guides, charges $30 annually for a mobile version of its content (and nothing yet for the iPod).

^{Thanks to astute reader Ben Horsman for the tip!}

photo by teppei via mono [#]

• Instrumental experimentalism galore at Neumo’s tonight. Japan’s MONO is a post-rock band who are known for destroying audiences with waves of massive sound. They recently produced a more restrained, cinematic album with World’s End Girlfriend, who along with local noise rockers of Kinski round out the bill. [neumo's]
• An indie new-wavey evening downtows with the U.K.’s Kaiser Chiefs, NYC’s Walkmen who recently recorded a concept album of 2006′s favorite rediscovered songwriter Harry Nilsson by doing a track-by-track cover of his (and John Lennon’s) Pussy Cats, as well as Portland’s sunny dispositioned Little Ones. [showbox]
• True fans of Russian-born anti-folk singer/songwriter Regina Spektor probably already have the necessary tickets to see her performance. The rest will need to scour the sidewalks hoping for salvation in the form of spare tickets, scalpers, or unsuccessful craigslist sellers. [themoore]

Some contractors this morning were digging in the street at Dexter and Harrison when they hit a 20-inch water main, flooding several nearby streets.

We’re starting to hear reports of brown water and low water pressure at some nearby homes and businesses. Drink the bottled stuff for a bit, and think a kind thought of the poor guys whose job it is to clean up that mess.

[Seattle Times]
[KOMO]

Recently my roommate and I, sushi afficionado extraordinaires, discovered the magic word ‘Omakase’. Essentially it means that you would like the chef to give you whatever is best that day. Having just enjoyed a delicious and unique meal at Shun, near U. Village (full omakase reviews after the break), I got to thinking about using the term omakase in other fields. When we sit down at the sushi bar and say ‘omakase’ the chef relishes his (or her?) chance to show off just how well they can do while at the same time you get to enjoy the fruit of his labor. It isn’t that the sushi is not always amazing (it is) or that he doesn’t normally try (he clearly does), its just that somewhere in there, he has the extra trick up his sleeve, just waiting to be asked for. So I got to thinking about the use of this word in the rest of the world: What if I sat down in front of Ichiro and said that word. Would fancy bat work and trick dance steps down the baselines come out? Would the M’s start winning? Or say I said it to Mayor Nickels. Could we solve the tunnel/viaduct problem if we just asked someone to omakase it?

Full Reviews of 3 local Omakases after the jump.
(more…)

Back in 2005 the state legislature approved a trial program that allowed 20 state liquor stores and 38 state-contracted liquor stores to be open on Sundays. Per published reports, Sunday sales during this program are expected to exceed profit projections by 56 percent.

That’s why the Washington State Liquor Control Board will let 29 more state stores do business on Sundays, starting in July.

Also, the legislature axed a 42-cent-per-liter surcharge on booze that also was enacted in 2005. After the surcharge is removed, our state’s excise tax on distilled spirits will still be $19.39 per gallon, the highest in the nation. Eighteen other states run their own liquor store, the average excise tax is just $9.59 per gallon.

David Ozgo, chief economist for the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council, said dropping the tax is a move in the right direction for Washington, which has higher excise taxes on liquor than any other state.

photo by scigirl [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• “we do not regret trading the cruise-y elegance of Volunteer Park for the much wilder beauty of Lincoln Park” [nerdseyeview]
• rumor mongering about the delightful possibility of a Swedish invasion [seattlest]
• Spend a day with the Gossip. They’re shooting a music video tomorrow and need extras. [reverb]
• Hugh Foskett, playing the role of Connor Oberst in Canada. [moderatewashingtonian]
• Stock up on consumer grade post-ironic t-shirts while catching up with your pals in the Long Winters when they have a free in-store performance at the Broadway Urban Outfitters. [freeyrradio]
• … and the award for corny headline of the day goes to … [tvgal]

Trapped In The Closet Live. Yeah, the Slog and 3IG have already put this at the top of their recommendation lists, so this is less than original. But hey, people absolutely loved it last year. The Brown Derby Series got raves from the cracked hilarity of their tweaking of R. Kelly’s unintentionally intentionally hilarious hip-shlock-era. And if you miss it tonight, it also runs on Wednesday and Thursday. Like you’re going to miss it. (Re-Bar, 8pm, $12)

Richard Preston. The Hot Zone author turns his attention from the microscopic to the macroscopic — California’s primordial mega-trees — in his new book The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion & Daring. The excerpt I’ve read is fascinating. (Town Hall, 7pm, $5)

The Electric Six/Test Your Reflexes/Night Kills Day. Wikipedia describes the Electric Six as ‘”energetic” and “unique.”‘ I have no idea what that means, but they’re a Detroit rock band, and that usually means they can rock out with the best of them. PS to Neumo’s: No incense please. (Neumo’s, eveningish, $12)

El Dia de Los Ninos/El Dia de Los Libros. A celebration of children, families, reading and Latino culture emphasizing the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. (South Park Library, free, 6:30pm)

Tyler Burnett Band/Daybreak/The Droneys. Just mentioning them because Tyler Burnett sounds like the love child of Tyler Florence and Carol Burnett. Heh. (Nectar, sometime tonight, $5)

Ah, there’s nothing that makes a person feel so safe and happy as hearing a couple F/A-18s roar just overhead, rattling windows, setting dogs to howl and babies to scream. Even Tom Tomorrow loves them!

Wait a minute.

On the list of love/hate relationships we have in Seattle (see also: rain, drawbridges, the Mariners, Dan Savage, and Sanjaya Malakar), there’s always the Blue Angels, those jets that fly overhead every year during Seafair. They’re fun to watch, but listening to a jet engine screaming just overhead can be just a little unnerving.

Then one of the Angels had an air-to-ground collision incident.

Rest easily, Lt. Cmdr Kevin Davis.

Meanwhile, even the Angels’ most heartfelt supporters had to stop for a moment of sober reflection: the thought of one of the jets accidentally falling into Mount Baker or Mercer Island isn’t a happy one.

No word yet on whether they’ll fly at Seafair this year.

[Seattle P-I]
[Seattle Times]

Mere days after the death of Boris Yeltsin, communist propaganda springs up on the streets of Seattle.