You guys. In less than a week, there will be dinosaurs in Key Arena. Dinosaurs.

Walking with Dinosaurs is an adaptation of the BBC series, although I’m not sure “adaptation” is a big enough word when we’re talking about turning a tv program into life-sized animatronic dinosaurs. In Key Arena. Putting on a show. “The show includes the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the terror of the ancient terrain, as well as the Plateosaurus and Liliensternus from the Triassic period, the Stegosaurus and Allosaurus from the Jurassic period and Torosaurus and Utahraptor from the awesome Cretaceous. The largest of them, the Brachiosaurus is 36 feet tall, and 56 feet from nose to tail.” Each large dinosaur takes a team of three people to run.

The show is 96 minutes long, with intermission, and recommended for ages 3 to 93. It runs from April 29 – May 3 , with three performances on Saturday and two on Sunday. Reviews of the show’s narration are running to the lukewarm, but reviews of the dinosaurs themselves are rave. Tickets, through Ticketmaster, look to be running between $25 and $70.

For Dan Deacon’s last tour supporting his album, “Spiderman of the Rings,” the electronic wizard traveled light. His equipment was a tangled web of midi cables, effects pedals, an iPod strapped to a bannana  and a tiny keyboard that he set up on the floor amidst the audience.

Dan Deacon performs at Bumbershoot in 2009 (photo by Josh Bis).

Surrounded by the crowd his shows were equal parts stand-up comedy, sweat-soaked dance party and adolescent goofiness. He’s just as likely to start a dance contest amidst a crowd circle as he is to command the audience to stage a relay race in the middle of the set.

His latest album, “Bromst,” is a much more, dare I say, mature effort. The songs are more fully realized and stretched out. Amidst pounding beats and a wave of synthesizers Deacon also adds softer glockenspiel tones for a much more varied and effective album start to finish.

For this tour Deacon brings himself and an ensemble of 14 musicians to the Vera Project on Saturday, April 25.

The show starts at 7:30 with Future Islands, Teeth Mountain and Skeleton Breath opening.

Tickets are $11 and available at The Vera Project.

Garth Stein writes about why in the May issue. Read it online!

The capital of the Pacific Northwest is blessed with divine geography, frontier spirit, and an abundance of both artists and geeks. Plus, it’s not even that rainy.

7:00 PM – Ana Castillo: The Guardians
SPL
Central Branch, Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium
“In her latest novel, Castillo tracks the lives of Mexicans who illegally cross to the U.S. for work… presented in cooperation with The Elliott Bay Book Company. Books will be available for purchase and signing.”
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Carol Zelaya: “Turn Off Week”
Barnes & Noble University Village
Sharing the writing process and illustrations.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Cheap Wine and Poetry: Christa Bell, Matt Gano, Peter Pereira, Judith Roche
Richard Hugo House Cabaret, $1/drinks
Carla Grenz hosts.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Geoff Dyer: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The London author promotes his fourth book: “”Two 40-ish men seeking love and existential meaning are the protagonists of these highly imaginative twin novellas, written in sensuous, lyrical prose brimming with colorful detail … Both novellas ask trenchant philosophical questions, include moments of irresistible humor and offer arresting observations about art and human nature. For all his wit and cleverness, Dyer is unflinching in conveying the empty lives of his contemporaries, and I doing so he’s written a work of exceptional resonance.” – Publishers Weekly”
[LINK]

We just wrapped up our third day of the Hunger Challenge with a fantastic stir fry. Here’s how I made it without the need for fancy preservative-packed specialty sauces:

• 1/2 package firm tofu, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon safflower oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 crown broccoli w/ stem, cut into bite-size pieces (yes, including the stem)
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• 3 oz sugar snap peas
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup brown rice

In a small container, mix soy sauce, sugar, and 1 clove garlic. Add cubed tofu, cover with lid, and let marinate for an hour, occasionally flipping the container.

In a medium size sauce pan, add rice and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and ignore for 20 minutes.

In a hot wok, add safflower oil and heat. Add onion and saute for one minute. Add carrot, garlic, and jalapeno. After a minute, add broccoli stems, followed by broccoli, sugar snap peas, and zucchini. Saute until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add tofu and marinade mixture, saute until vegetables are coated and tofu is heated through. Serve over hot rice.

Happily, I feel better about using a wider variety of vegetables today. For breakfast, we had an egg, a pear, and a slice of bread. Lunch was leftover red beans and rice (which has gained a nice zesty flavor from sitting in the fridge due to the hot Italian turkey sausage). For snack, I had an orange. Fruit, vegetables, carbs, and protein. I think we did fairly well today.

The last two breakfasts this week will consist of (rolled) oatmeal. Not very imaginative, but good for us. We have a bit of fruit for snacks. Lunch will be leftovers. Dinner either Thursday or Friday will be spaghetti with homemade pasta (using our last egg and a cup of flour), marinara sauce, and the rest of the vegetables we didn’t use in the stir fry (broccoli, yellow onion, garlic, zucchini, and red bell pepper).

Total spent so far is a whopping $54.50. That leaves us with $5.50. I was thinking I could pick up some cheese to use in a salad with the spaghetti. We have one small pear left, so maybe I can afford a wedge of blue cheese. We only have oil, salt, and pepper to make salad dressing with, so I’ll likely skip the dressing entirely (which is what I typically do anyway).

I am curious how much everyone typically spends on their weekly groceries. On a good week, we average about $100 (including alcohol) for our household of 2, though we occasionally feed friends. I tend to try out new recipes fairly often and we do love our cheese, so some weeks we blow the budget. My husband mentioned yesterday that he heard of a woman who can feed her family of 4 on $800 a year, I believe using coupons and very careful planning. That is $15 a week. *whistles*

6:30 PM – Lois Bernstine: Sixty Seven Secret Years
Richard Hugo House Cabaret
An awesome debut from a 67-year old author; Bernstine’s autobiography touches on race, class, gender, and the Great Depression.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Andrei Codrescu: The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara & Lenin Play Chess
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall, $5
Award winning author, poet, NPR contributor, et cetera, returns to Seattle to promote his wacky new novel.
[LINK]

8:00 PM – Wild Card: Last Chance Slam: Poetry Reading
Spitfire Grill, $5
Final opportunity for poets to qualify for the Grand Slam. Personally, I always preferred Eggs Over My Hammy, hold the Hammy. Yes, I realize that I’m not funny.
[LINK]

Yonder Mountain String Band at Showbox at the Market

This weekend, Yonder Mountain String Band played to a sold-out crowd just down the street from Pike Place Market. And in fact, their opener, Baby Gramps, could have easily passed for a busker from the market, with his gravelly voice and eccentric wardrobe.

And while Baby Gramps was nothing if not eccentric, the crowd at the concert might have given him a run for his money. There were plenty of plaid-claid hippies, a few old-timers, and a fair share of stoner kids right out of Dazed and Confused.

But when Yonder Mountain String Band made their appearance, with Sam Bush playing alongside, every single person in the room couldn’t help but tap their feet to the group’s raucous rhythms. Having now seen Yonder more than any other band (as of this weekend), I wholeheartedly recommend checking them out once- their brand of bluegrass is unlike anything else you’ve ever heard.

Sam Bush playing fiddle with Yonder Mountain String Band

Day #2 has gone rather well. For breakfast, we had an egg, a small slice of homemade bread, most of a piece of bacon, and 1/3 of an orange. Light breakfast, but we had an unanticipated guest last night who stayed over, so we shared our meager breakfast with her. Our goal today was to try to incorporate some fruit and more vegetables into our diet. For snack, we had an orange, and for lunch we had leftover red beans and rice (which actually turned out more like jambalaya and was very tasty!). For dinner, I whipped up yet another lentil dish: Megadarra. Megadarra is the ultimate cheap and healthy food: 1 cup lentils, 1 cup brown rice, 2 cloves garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 whole caramelized onions, cooked separately and then baked in the oven. We served this with a spoonful of Greek yogurt over a bed of freshly washed lettuce leaves. We are going to split a pear for dessert in a bit.

One of the rules for this challenge is to not accept free food from friends and family. When I went to my volunteer job today (I volunteer 5 hours a week at a local women’s shelter), it turned out to be volunteer appreciation week. I accepted a slice of cake. I know it is not a huge transgression, but I felt that it somehow violated this rule. My husband broke down and partook in the free coffee at Microsoft. I also slipped and bought a cup of coffee at school today for a dollar, which I am adding to our $60 budget.

Here is the current breakdown of food. We have just under $28 left for the week, which gives me some leeway to pick up a few more vegetables and some tofu for tomorrow’s stir fry. For lunch tomorrow, one of us will have leftover lentils from Monday and the other will have leftover red beans and rice. Thursday, I think we’ll have leftover Megadarra for lunch and I’m still thinking of ideas for Thursday’s dinner: maybe a simple winter squash soup with some of the Greek yogurt.

All in all, we have so far thus avoided buying packaged or prepared foods, and overall we are eating fairly consistent with the way we normally eat. Our portion sizes are a bit smaller, we are more mindful of random snacking, and I am planning our meals a bit more than normal. I believe we’re going to pull this off with enough money left to buy a beer at the end of the week.

After not an inconsiderable amount of pleading from his supporters and some serious self-reflection, former Seattle City Councilmember Peter Steunbreck has ended months of speculation by electing not to run for election as Seattle Mayor.

Announcing his decision in a Facebook group dedicated to supporting his now completely hypothetical run for office, Steinbrueck says that instead he has instead accepted a one year position as Loeb Fellow at Harvard University but encourages his supporters to continue “an open dialogue about our hopes and dreams for the future”.

Do you like really long lines, annoying kids and pure chaos? Well, get your free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream all day today! I won’t be attending but someone please get some Cherry Garcia for me.