7:00 PM – Kim-An Lieberman & Arne Pihl: Poetry Reading
Arundel Books
Arundel’s 1st Thursday reading series
[LINK]

7:30 PM – BodyLove: Readings
Richard Hugo House $5
“Shift Peer Recovery Network and TumbleMe productions present: Bodylove: Queer Bodies Revealed Through The Spoken Word! In celebration of national eating disorders awareness week.”
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Daniyal Mueenuddin: In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Elliott Bay Book Co.
A lovely debut collection of related stories. Mueenuddin is from Pakistan’s Punjab region and his writing is deeply rooted in his rich and varied culture.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Peter Singer: The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty
Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs $5
The Australian philosopher (Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), University of Melbourne) argues that world poverty is ethically indefensible and lays out a seven-point plan to combat it, including personal philanthropy, activism, and political awareness.
[LINK]

Ready your palates (and wallets) Seattle; this Sunday our fair city will play host to COCHON 555, a national tour-de-force of pig loving culinary prowess.  As summarized by their ticket agent:

A group of top Seattle chefs will each prepare a 70lb heritage breed hog from head to toe for this friendly competition. Guests and professional judges will determine a winner based on creativity, classic preparation and overall best flavor. The winner will be crowned the “Prince of Porc”. In addition, five selected winemakers will showcase their wines.

The five Seattle chefs slated to compete are:

• Tamara Murphy, Brasa Restaurant
• Johnathan Sundstrum, Lark
• Jason Wilson, Crush
• Anthony Hubbard, Chow Foods
• Matthew Dillon, The Corson Building

Local wineries featured/competing:

• McCrea Cellars
• Cadence Winery
• Fidelitas
• K Vintners
• Buty Winery

I’m not one to flagrantly throw around the term food orgy, but let’s be honest about what this really is.  Utilizing the full range of one of the most savory meats on the planet, intermingled with artisan wines, specialty beers, desserts, and caviar?  It almost makes it worth the $125 ticket price ($25 industry discount available).  However, upon learning that the bigger picture of this event is to help raise awareness for the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, the greater good of that ticket price is sounding much more manageable.  Tickets (only 250 available) can be purchased HERE, and are still available at publication of this post.

Even if you’re unable to attend, make sure to check back with Metblogs on Sunday evening for a full wrap-up and report from the bacon-line trenches.  On second thought, better make that Monday morning; no need for our fair readers to suffer through my pork coma-induced jibberish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COCHON 555
Sunday, March 8th, 5-8pm
Bell Harbor International Conference Center, Pier 66
2211 Alaskan Way
Seattle, WA 98121

Dan Deacon offers a sneak peak of his latest album “Bromst” at NPR.

The absurdist electronic composer is known for his frenetically paced and sweat-drenched live shows.

Dan Deacon performs at Bumbershoot in 2008. (Photo by JoshC)

“Bromst” will be released March 24 and Deacon will be playing the Vera Project on April 25 backed by an 11-piece band.

The historic schooner Wawona took its last voyage this morning, from the place where it has been genteelly rotting by the Center for Wooden Boats to a dry dock where it will be disassembled and its most notable parts preserved [NWS]. (There was a press conference about it this morning, but I, uh, slept through it.)

Most of her most historic features–which would, I imagine, be most of them–will probably end up in MOHAI when (if?) it moves down to the Naval Reserve Building in South Lake Union Park, and Northwest Seaport is still planning to do an “on-land interpretation” of the ship in the park.

I go visit the Wawona pretty often, and the sentimental parts of me are sad that she’ll be gone. But she was looking pretty rough, eaten through by beetles and with her masts missing. I imagine she’s gone to a better place.

If you’re interested in her full history, Joe Follansbee’s book is an excellent resource.

6:30 PM – Student Readings: Literary Fiction I
UW Bookstore, U-District Bookstore Café, Fireside
Students of Scott Driscoll’s UW Extension class read selections of their own work.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Chris Cleave: Little Bee
UW Bookstore, U-District
Cleave’s second novel meanders from Nigeria to London, stumbling between improbabilities and coincidences, until finally veering to an emotionally manipulative conclusion.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Salvatore Scibona: The End
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Annie Dillard really likes this novel, but I’m going to overlook that, and give it a read, anyway.
[LINK]

Let’s just go ahead and post this headline (via vulture [nym]) so we can spend the afternoon recoiling in horror and thinking about how the houseboats will look on stage:

Sleepless in Seattle May Awaken on Broadway in 2010 [nyt/artsbeat]

Call me when they adapt Joe Versus the Volcano, which is obviously the best Tom Hanks–Meg Ryan RomCom to date.

As the economy tanks, local bars and restaurants, even in notoriously “foodie” Seattle, are feeling the pinch. Bars are adding food, and restaurants are offering specials, coupons, prix fixe, et cetera. Every day I get another announcement of some promotion or other, so in the spirit of giving, I’m sharing with you.

Chow Foods, the local casual dining juggernaut, is offering Blue Plate Specials, Sunday through Thursday, at the 5-Spot, Atlas Foods, Endolyne Joe’s, and the Hi-Life. Each dinner is priced to match the closing of the Dow, i.e. if the Dow closes at 8650, your dinner is $8.65. That’s an excellent deal. Only a limited number of specials will be prepared, though, so get there early to take advantage of the offer. In addition, Coastal Kitchen is offering favorite items from past Festival menus for $9.50, a different dish each day.

Starting in March, Sonya’s Skyy Lounge (1919 1st Ave.) will, at long last, again be serving food. Glen has hired chefs Tim Ormonde and Jordan Melnikoff to take over the kitchen, and the two have put together a menu that pays homage to Sonya’s favorites, while incorporating some tasty new items. In addition to Sonya’s venerated Man Du (Korean pot stickers, $8), the menu includes Flat Iron Steak Frites ($16), a selection of “Late Breakfast” items ($9-$11), and… pie! PIE! 206-441-7996

A little farther south, Chez Shea (94 Pike Street) has opened the Lounge for lunch, offering a mix of items that includes versions off the dinner menu, as well as lunch only entrees. Slightly cheaper than their dinner menu, Chez Lounge is a solid way to hook diners on the lovely food without breaking the bank. Not to mention, a lunch customer is a possible dinner conversion!

30 Seattle restaurants are participating in Dine Around Seattle (formerly 25 for $25), offering prix fixe dinners, Sunday through Thursday, for $30 dollars. Some of the participating restaurants are also offering $15 prix fixe lunches! Dine Around Seattle only lasts until March 31st. Restaurants include Nishino, Steelhead Diner, Ray’s, Dahlia Lounge, Andaluca… check out the website for full details.

Not that I’m having lunch downtown anymore really, since I’m unemployed. However, I did get the chance to try out Mod Pizza twice before leaving my lonely office aerie early last month. Located at 1302 6th Avenue (Union Square), this place is relatively new to the neighborhood.

I should point out that I am a rather picky pizza eater with all kinds of pizza rules and regulations that I will be happy to bore you with if you’re dumb nice enough to ask. That said, the pizza isn’t bad, especially for the price. For $6 you can order off the menu of predetermined toppings or you can design your own. I spent less than $10 for a pizza, a beverage, and a ding-dong (impulse buy). I was full, happy, and I really can’t say that there are a lot of places in the downtown office building area that can provide all that for less than $12. Plus, did I mention ding-dongs? It’s been years!

The crust is a thin wood-fired jobbie that, while not spectacular, is a good vehicle for the toppings. The sauce is a little on the sweeter side (rather than spicy), but is tasty. The toppings are what make this pizza worthwhile: fresh, plentiful, and varied. I got a plain cheese one time and an artichoke/onion combo another. As a whole, the pizza is light and fresh tasting, rather than a huge greasy gut bomb that no one wants in the middle of the day. Service isn’t “ultra fast,” but it is well-paced and you don’t spend your whole lunch ordering and waiting for your food.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fast, tasty pizza for lunch, I’d say definitely give it a go.

Remember a few months ago when we wrote about the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Twitter feed?

If you follow them on Twitter, they’ll follow you right back. But why? Do they really care that I’m about to down my 4th cup of coffee, or wonder what you’re making for dinner tonight? Well, probably not. However there is one key reason why they always follow back. Once they follow you, they can send you direct messages.

Now I hear the groans now. “I don’t need any more spam!” But these messages are absolutely not spam. In fact, they’re only sent when you request them and they are sent for great reasons. You can send the WSDOT a direct message via Twitter and they’ll send back pass information or border wait times.

How does it work?

Just send them a direct message via your favorite twitter client or SMS. Include the pass code, and they’ll send you a direct message right back with status information. The same format applies for border crossings. A direct message of border 5 will give you the wait time at the Canadian border at I-5.