An AOL sports blog [aol] is reporting that superstar striker Thierry Henry is in “advanced negotiations” with the new Seattle MLS franchise (which they’ve already dubbed Seattle FC). Forgive my lack of words, but I’m a little too excited to think straight. If true, this is the kind of huge splash that will ensure sold out home matches for the first two seasons, at least.

Via Citizen Rain.

Overheard during Vampire Weekend’s call-and-response presentation of “One”, which figured into the last half of their set at Neumo’s last night: “Blake’s got a Myspace! (patent pending)”.

Maybe a real recap later, but for now:Were you there? Did you love the band more or less in person than on their records? (I thought that they started a little less loose and finished strong.) And what about YACHT? Life lessons and motivational speaking wrapped up in performance art rock! And now he/they have a girl in the band!

This phantasmagorical image is certainly eye-catching. Thanks for dropping it in our Flickr pool Slippery Joaquin! Feel free to send more our way.

So, say you want to go to a movie and have something to eat at the same time, maybe a cocktail or two. You’d go to the Big Picture, probably, or Central Cinema, or, you know, stay at home. But sometime in the next few years you might have another option. A luxury option. (Am I the only one who is starting to really hate the word “luxury”?)

A whole mess of investors are partnering up to put some luxury theaters in a suburb near you, and Redmond is at the top of the list.

Each complex will sport theaters featuring 40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, as well as a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking.

But the circuit will especially push its culinary offerings — made-to-order meals like sushi and other theater-friendly foods from on-site chefs (a service button at each seat calls a waiter). Moviegoers will have to pay extra for any food they order, however [Variety].

So. That’s about $35 for the movie/experience, plus whatever food you order. Sushi is a theater-friendly food? This kind of joint already exists in places like Australia, Greece, and Singapore, and to a less-extravagant extent here.

What do you think? Are you biding your time until this place opens?

Tonight is one of those murderously complicated music-going decisions that turns out to be much easier than you thought thanks to circumstances beyond your control. Through the miracle of self-release to indie-distriubtion, it’s likely that both headliners will probably have the honor of having the same album showing up on 2007 and 2008 year-end:

• In one corner, Upper East Side Ivy meets Kwassa Kwassa and wraps it around Western Euro classicism and turns up with infectious pop songs. Vampire Weekend seem to have catapulted from a CD-R band to SNL musical guest status in no time flat. While I disagree with them about the utility of the oxford comma, with the release of their official full-length eponymous disc this winter, I have forgiven them that point and fallen happily under their spell. The lineup is further sweetened by the presence of YACHT, Jona Bechtolt’s (flickr-blockr and macbook air envelope case inventor) solo glitchrock performance art spectacle. $10, 8pm [neumos]
• Bon Iver is what happens when Justin Vernon packed up his possessions and song ideas and spent a snowy winter isolated in a cabin near a Wisconsin artist colony. For Emma, Forever Ago is now out on Jagjaguwar and it is a work of solitary, haunting, yet accessible layered beauty. Stark and mostly acoustic, it is the perfect album for sitting on a train, reading a novel by Per Petterson in the rain. (Or maybe this is just me. Your ideal transport and reading material may vary, but the songs are fantastic either way.) With Phosphorescent, who, the last time I saw him/them played an entire set built of masterful loops with a creepy doll watching the audience the whole time. $10, 8pm [nectar]

Damn geography, time, and space for not allowing it to be possible to see both of these shows. But the choice is probably not so complicated. Vampire Weekend is sold out, Bon Iver isn’t quite yet. You do the math.

That’s the smallest Washington State Ferry you’ll ever see: the M/V Hiyu, with a maximum capacity of a miserable 34 cars. (By comparison, the ferries on the Seattle-Bainbridge run hold over 200.) It was already outdated when it was built in 1967. It’s too small to go more than a mile from shore. It had been semi-retired for almost ten years, used as a training vessel.

The Hiyu has now been pressed into service one more time. Last November the Illahee, which used to run the inter-island route in the San Juan Islands, was abruptly yanked from service (along with the Klickitat, Illahee, and Nisqually) for fear that their 80-year-old, cracked hulls might spring a leak.

The island residents aren’t thrilled. They’ve had the Hiyu on the interisland route before. It overloads frequently — meaning, people get left on the dock when the ferry leaves. Still, any inter-island ferry is better than none.

The Winners! Thanks to Mona @ kirida for sharing your picture.

So yeah, it’s been a good week and a half since we hosted the blarch badness awards ceremony at the Skylark Cafe. We’ve been meaning to get the final results up since then, but our esteemed tournament organizer has been caught up in work. I guess we’ll have to give him a pass…this time!

Before I announce the winners of the 2008 Seattle Metblogs Blarch Badness Tournament of Blogs, I’d like to again thank our sponsors for the fabulous prizes. Hotel Max donated a night’s stay at their property, Sub Pop threw in a bunch of cds (including the Flight of the Conchords ep that I am so coveting right now), Neumo’s gave away two tickets to a show of the winner’s choice and accoutremonts, and Northwest Film Forum ponied up tickets for a show at their establishment. Oh and thanks to Wesa for finding the super-sweet trophy as well. All in all, quite a bag of goodies for our winners.

This year might have had a tiny bit of controversy, but I think the ultimate winners were inevitable (and well deserved!). And so, without further ado, the winning blog of this year’s crazy tournament: West Seattle Blog! Who, in a fitting touch, live blogged the party. Congratulations, WSB!

Thanks also to the bloggers who attended the ceremony, all the bloggers who participated in the tournament, as well as the fine folks from Skylark who took care of us and fed us (among other things) pie and ice cream. (Pam @ Nerd’s Eye View has a great shot and recap of the ceremony at her blog.) I hope everyone had a good time. I’m already looking forward to next year!

OMG. If u luv lolcats an u luv Jones Soda, u can submit ur favorite lolcats an has teh chance 2 C it on bottle ov Jones Soda!

Or, translated: If you love LOLCats and you love Jones Soda, you can submit your favorite LOLCats and have the chance to see it on a bottle of Jones Soda! We’re not talking just one bottle – no. We’re talking about Jones Soda bottles across the country. Runners up will win free soda.
To enter the contest, check out the rules and regulations on I Can Has Cheeseburger.

And just for fun, here is the LOLCats translator.

photo by seattle bon vivant [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Happy Birthday Archie McPhee! [myballard] Now how about we pass a law that will immediately put you five million dollars in the hole and out of business by the end of the year? [seattlest]
• A modest victory for preservationists, Capitol Hill “White House” to be spared the wrecking ball by being developed into office space. Where do I sign up? [chs]
• Three guys on a mission to eat everywhere in the International District. [msg150 via voracious]
• Hardly your grandmother’s easter egg hunt. [flickr]

There’s been much hand-wringing over the three names that MLS in Seattle has proposed for the new soccer team [voting page to write in your favorite name.

Prediction: Sounders wins in a write-in landslide and the MLS, fearing a rocky start for the brand new franchise, relents.