As you probably know by now, Earth Hour is tonight [#, wiki]. From 8 to 9 PM (local time), people around the world will be turning off their lights and anything else that uses electricity to promote conservation. Google is black all day.

Are you participating in this symbolic demonstration or are you too cynical and anti-establishment? Hilarious and/or profound arguments for and against in the comments, please.

Oh, and our first poll using the new system:

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Solution:
Barrie referred to SPUD as a CSA, when it is clearly not a CSA but a food-delivery service. She also could not have seen the SPUD website as the web had not been invented when the Encyclopedia Brown books were published. Finally, Erica C. Barnett commented on the post, which is impossible as she never reads Metblogs, only pro-Hillary websites.

When confronted with this, Barrie admitted she was put up to this by Bugs Meany, who was using the alias “Sean Bonner” to make everyone’s lives miserable. The stolen bicycle was returned. Also, Sally Kimball is a lesbian, but you knew that already if you read The Case Of The Girl Sally Was Totally Hot For But Didn’t Know How To Come Out About It Without Breaking Encyclopedia Brown’s Heart And Oh Bugs Meany Stole Some Comic Books But That’s A Total MacGuffin I Mean Come On Being A Tomboy But Always Able To Pick Out The Etiquette Mistakes Doesn’t That Scream “I’m Going To Get A Civil Union And A Subaru The Moment I Turn 18″ To You?

If this is totally non sequitur to you (and it should be), blame Wesa and Ryan for making me post this piece of an e-mail conversation yesterday.

photo by Tom Dobrowolsky [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Starbucks isn’t caving to the California Supreme Court’s demand that they repay baristas tips split with shift supervisors. What a wonderful of corporatespeak clashing with the law. [dailyweekly]
• The police are trying showing up at clubs without bringing along a decibelometer. While I often think it’s too loud and bass-heavy inside Neumo’s; that doesn’t mean I want the cops showing up to harass the owners to quiet things down outside. [lineout]
• Would safer toys really kill Archie McPhee’s? Possibly. Given that the proposed law excepts BB guns but not Devil Ducks[myballard]
• Prefer not to spend July in Chicago just to hear the great lineup at the Pitchfork Festival? This is why you love KEXP [kexp]

Sample comments on today’s weather, mercilessly stolen from various Seattle Metblogs authors on Twitter:

• Oh hey there, wintery mix.
• SNOMFJ. Surprise icefall again and again
• The Flying Spaghetti Monster is not well pleased with those in charge of the SLEET in SEATTLE in nearly APRIL
• DAMMIT STOP SLEETING IT IS NEARLY APRIL AND THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR
• *almost* snowing in pioneer square… wtf?
• I dub this month: Apruary
• OMG WEATHER. Seriously, though, what the fuck? Next, I predict a rain of locusts and frogs and scorpions. Cats and dogs living together.

Got a grumble about the weather? Add it in the comments!

After reading about how SPUD, the organically local CSA, is kinda taking over Seattle and Pioneer Organics, I did a little investigating. I too want to jump on this local food delivery bandwagon so the research was two-fold. If you’re interested in getting local(ish) food delivered to your door, here’s a breakdown of what’s available in Seattle. Or at least what I had time to look at.

SPUD: Confusing website. Seems like they offer the most though, by letting you choose all your grocery needs, way beyond the produce section. But I have no idea how much anything cost because there were just way too many links, with too many words. I go on first impressions, so I was immediately turned off by this.

Pioneer Organics: Probably the next biggest Seattle CSA enterprise. But if you ask around, there seems to be a lot of discussion on how they seem to give rotten produce every now and then. Like a pear here and a pear there. Sure, they’ll replace it for you, but when you’re paying $35 a month and you have to talk to someone about said rotten pear it just didn’t seem worth it. They do deliver and I like that they could either surprise you with that weeks produce, or you can pick the items on their website, like SPUD.

Full Circle: This one I just don’t get. You have to pick up your food? Couldn’t I go to the grocery store for that? Or the Ballard/Fremont/University District Farmer’s Market? I kept searching.

New Roots: Everything I wanted and them some. Easy website. Not too many links. Personal bins for single people. Price was easy to find. Produce is a surprise and there’s no obligation to stay for a period of time. There isn’t even an order form. You actually get to talk to someone on the phone, without being put on hold and having to listen to Seal over and over again. The only downfall as of yet is that all they offer is produce and coffee. And that during the winter months, they go to California for some of their produce. Both of which are fine by me. I’ve been buying oranges from Venezula for 29 years now, so getting something from Oakland is fine by me.

So you probably know which one I’m picking. And I think everyone has their stories, good and bad, about each service. I believe the best way to choose the right one for you is to just go for it and see what happens. The worst that could happen is that you overdose on brussel sprouts, which might just make your mommy very happy.

When I moved to Seattle three years ago, I thought I would only be at my current place for one year. The biggest complaints I have are that my apartment is small for the three of us and the last bus out to Alki in the evenings is 12:30 – which requires cabs when shows last longer than midnight. That said, it is beautiful at the beach regardless of the weather or time of year. Also, everytime I think about leaving West Seattle, I discover yet another awesome addition to the neighborhood. It would be fair to say that I’m conflicted about moving, especially since my Craigslist RSS is constantly feeding me apartments that are either in places I definitely don’t want to live (Kent, where?) or way too expensive for my budget ($1850, what?).

Thus, yesterday, while I was attempting to narrow my search criteria, I stumbled upon a strange option in the housing listings: A bomb shelter whose owner is “trying to find a use for it.”

(This image was ripped straight from the ad.)

Of course, I immediately forwarded it on to our authors’ list, who all concurred that it was creepy in a “it puts the lotion on the skin” kind of way. I agree it would be awesome in some future horror film, but does anyone have any ideas for the room that doesn’t involve serial killing?

• SIFF takes a break from their excellent Global Lens series to bring you the equally excellent NFFTY.  Pronounced like “nifty”, this festival is;  the National Film Festival for Talented Youth gives you three days (March 28  – 30) of youth-made films, panel discussions, musical performances and more.  The films presented by talented young people dipping their toe into the cinematic waters include short narratives, documentaries, music videos and animations.  There are 73 films originating from all over the country and representing all kinds of viewpoints.  Of what I think is particular note is the Locals Only screening at 3 pm on Sunday featuring five films of various lengths from young Washingtonian filmmakers with an average age of about 17.

• Over at the Grand Illusion they are offering up an admission by donation screening of Rubin & Ed, a 1991 film directed by Trent Harris that stars Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman who take a bizarre road trip through a very strange Utah inspired by the need to bury Glover’s dead cat.  The Grand Illusion offers up a lot of great and/or interesting films that you just can’t see anywhere else; if you go to this film, please donate generously.  If Asian cinema is more your forte, check out the evening screenings of Lost in Beijing, an intense drama about love, violence, blackmail, revenge and redemption.

• Aaina is the Urdu word for “mirror” and it’s also the title of the South Asian women’s festival being graciously hosted by Central Cinema.  Performance art, visual art, and speakers aimed at the empowerment of South Asian women are part of this film-centered festival that features movies like Hearts Suspended, a short autobiographical documentary about the struggles of South Asian immigrant women to adjust to being held hostage to their H4  dependant spouse visas, and Enemies of Happiness, about women’s rights in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

• Midnight at the Egyptian:  dark thrilled Sin City.

• Demi Moore is one of those actors I like almost in spite of myself.  She’s made a lot of stupid career choices but when she’s on her game in a movie that makes an effort, she’s a great actor.  She costars with Michael Caine in Flawless, about a diamond heist in 1960’s Swinging London.  At the Harvard Exit.

• Asia Argento plays a drug runner caught in a power struggle with her current and ex-lovers in a non-stop erotic action thriller that takes place in both Paris and Hong Kong.  Boarding Gate opens Friday at NWFF.

awesome tilt-shift fiew of capitol hill by by e rose [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Um, What’s this? Baghdad Jim brought to Baghdad on Saddam’s dime? This will have no effect on McDermott’s re-election campaign, will it? [seattlest]
• And the headline winner is . . . “rogue whalers plead guilty” [pi]
• If this Zidane poster doesn’t make you want to buy or renew you NWFF membership, I don’t know what will. [hotsplice]
• Another day, another goddamn pillow fight. If we’re not there yet, the day when these go from spontaneous and charming to downright annoying is drawing near. [belltowner]
• Another day, another tournament. Of music! Slats FTW? [lineout]
• High priced hops threaten the survival of northwest brewers. Fuck! Drink up mateys! [myballard]
• Death Cab fan prefers acoustic renditions. That is, another hint of things to come on Narrow Stairs. Download away! [todiebyyourside, via vulture]
• As much as I liked seeing YACHT and Vampire Weekend last night, I am now a bit sad(er) that I missed Bon Iver. Also: I’d been mentally mis-pronouncing “Bon Iver” for months. [monitormix]
• Sad that you missed Vampire Weekend last night? And/or want to relive it again and again? This is why you <heart> the internet (and/or, more specifically ace taper Brian Connolly). [iamserio.us]

The WIG : it’s a blog! it’s an indie PR firm! it’s a concert promoter! It fits all heads. It’s all of these things wrapped up in a local package devoted to bringing high quality music to your attention all around town. This weekend they celebrate their fourth birthday with four shows on two sides of the great state of Washington.

The pre-party starts tonight at the Comet. For six ‘bucks you’ll have the pleasure of seeing a Blondie tribute band called Blackie, along with support from Paris Spleen, Misterss & the Misters, and Oh Man!. On Friday, the WIG takes Fremont, bringing up Birdmonster all the way up from California on a bill with Seattle’s own Shim & Das Llamas, and Portland’s Hockey. The next night, the bands speed across the mountains, trade headlining spots, and do the whole thing all over again (twice!) in Spokane.

Is it a betrayal of local music to admit that the act that I’m most looking forward to out of all of these wonderful bands is the one coming from furthest afield? So be it. This is what I wrote about Birdmonster the last time I saw them, at CMJ in New York a couple years ago:

Soon it’s a full-on guitar explosion accented by killer cowboy booted dance moves. The guys are in near constant motion, dancing alone or with each other, throwing themselves to the ground for maximum guitar intensity, and working up a sweat singing. Peter Arcuni expounds on the pleasure of being a blogger band. It’s a triumphant finish to a busy CMJ for the band as well as for all of the people who turned out for the show. To close, they bust out a couple of oldies (”Night”), debate over the finale (compromising by playing both “Geneva” and “Spaceman”). With no apparent green room to hide in, they huddle at the back of the stage to prepare for an encore. It’s incredibly cute, and their set is a definite highlight of the marathon. [mb_nyc]

The promise of seeing that kind of performance is exactly the sort of thing that might lure me to make the trek to Fremont.

(full lineup, and a whole lot of myspace links, after the cut:)

(more…)

Eighty out of Ninety-eight Gridskipper readers agree, Seattle retains its title for another year:

Most of the contests have been concluded, but there’s still time to help Gridskipper decide whether Washington D.C. is “more hetero” than Moscow; and whether Liverpool or Salt Lake City is the “least sexy”.