Let’s face it. Most of us don’t have a lot of spare cash these days. Yet occasionally we still want to go out for dinner and have a nice meal. Here are just a few tips for dining out and while still sticking to your budget.
Use Twitter. Many of your favorite restaurants are on Twitter. Many of these same restaurants have Twitter specials. Whether it is Fuel Coffee giving you an extra shot for mentioning Twitter or Counter Burger offering a half priced appetizer, you can save on all sorts of things just by following some of your favorite restaurants.
Sign Up for Newsletters. Most restaurant newsletters are few and far between, so you won’t be cluttering up your inbox with overly frequent messages. But in return for a few kilobites here and there, you’ll get notification of happy hour times, special events, and sometimes… secret phrases or days when items are discounted.
Stick to Happy Hour Happy hours are a fantastic way to save cash. Some restaurants have up to 50% off appetizers and multiple dollars off of drinks. Granted, you’ll need to eat a little earlier (or a little later for those late shift happy hours), but if you can swing it, you can save some solid cash just by adjusting your mealtimes.

I’m sure most of you out there are already know this, but you can make it from Seattle out to wine country in the same amount of time it takes a bottle of red to properly breathe.

However, I’m not here to talk to you about wine.  Which I can assure you is to our mutual benefit, as all I have to offer on the subject involves the painfully embarrassing consequences that befall me those times I muster the bravery to take another shot at drinking it.  What I’d like to touch on today is an oft-misunderstood spirit favored by my curly-headed 70′s hero, Ron Burgundy:

I love Scotch. Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly…

And down into my belly it has gone on many a fair occasion.  Sadly, my lack of respect for the true potential of this Scottish delight has led it to make almost as many return trips from my belly as well.  Cutty Sark, J & B, Chivas Regal — these are the names I had associated with Scotch throughout the years.  It’s not that I particularly enjoy slumming it on the bottom shelf, I had simply been under the impression that it was all going to go down like battery acid anyway.  It’s almost comical that it took a certified “master of whisky” to set me straight on the subject.

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Little Big Band, photo courtesy Storms PhotoGraphic. See Little Big Band and others in concert on November 20, 2009. www.burkemusem.org

There have been a number of excellent events this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition but the concert sponsored by the Burke Museum this Friday, November 20, may be the best of them. Tribute to the Spirit: Little Big Band is an evening of Native American music, story telling and dance at Meany Hall that blends contemporary rock, rap, and jazz with traditional Native culture. This is going to be an exciting show that neatly illustrates how cultural traditions are continued and progressed by contemporary artists whose work will go on to influence future generations.

Representatives from seven different First Nations hit the stage for this unique event that features a number of dynamic performers including Grammy Award winning singer Star Nayea, Tlingit storyteller, actor and musician Gene Tagaban, Preston Singletary, Tlingit glass artist and electric bassist, and Swil Kanim, Native American violinist and comic.

Tickets are available at the door and in advance at Brown Paper Tickets. The concert is tied to the Burke’s excellent exhibit Indigenous Voice Reply, an exhibit that takes a look back at the representation of indigenous people at the original A-Y-P fair, how the fair shaped the history of the Burke, and gives a chance for modern people to respond to the past.

The concert is followed Saturday by a free one-day symposium at UW’s Kane Hall featuring World’s Fair historian Dr. Robert Rydall as the keynote speaker that examines the portrayal of indigenous peoples at the A-Y-P and other world’s fairs of the time.

Hey, all! I’m super-excited to go see the “Farewell Seattle” show of Jupiter Crash (who are leaving town for brighter climes). Among other bands opening the show is a local metal/prog rockers Hills Of Elysium, who I’ve caught before and love (and I’m not all that in to metal).

Should be a good show, so I hope to see you there!

Hey! Guess what’s happening tomorrow? OK, time’s up. It’s BLOGSGIVING. Bloggists meeting bloggers, meeting readers, having a real time. Get yourself over to Central Cinema tomorrow from 6 to 9 with a donation in hand and warmth in your heart. Arrive early for your best shot of scoring some free tasty vittles — caramel apples and pizzas — and getting a sip of a mulled beverage. We’ll be playing all of your favorite videos (have a suggestion, drop us a note or leave a URL in le comments. But first, click over to blogsgiving.org and let us know that we’ll see you there.

Oddfellows Drama by seadevi

I couldn’t pass up posting this picture by seadevi. Remember to put photos in our pool and maybe one of us will interrupt their workday to post your amazing pic.

Alberto Garcia Aspe helps plant a tree with Dallas, TX-area Home Depot associates

Even though the Seattle Sounders got knocked out of the running, the MLS Cup still takes place here in Seattle on Sunday, November 22, at Qwest Field. Real Salt Lake will battle the LA Galaxy and at the end up the day one of the teams will be declared champion.

To celebrate the upcoming game, MLS stars will join with Home Depot associates (Home Depot is an MLS sponsor), MLS W.O.R.K.S, the league’s community outreach arm, the Seattle Public Schools, and local volunteers join with KaBOOM, an organization whose goals is to bring playgrounds to kids, in building a brand new playground in one day.

From 9 am to 2:30 pm, volunteers will work hard to build a playground on the grounds of Van Asselt Elementary School at 8311 Beacon Ave. As soon as the playground’s built, they’re having an opening ceremony which is currently planned for 2pm. (Subject to change).

I’m not even going to pretend that I have anything resembling positive feelings towards the “Twilight” series of books and films, because I don’t, but I AM impressed by the special “New Moon Menu” debuting November 20 at midnight at Gold Class Cinemas, the upscale theater with a Redmond Town Center location, that offers a bar and a lounge in addition to a full menu delivered by a patron’s own personal server to the fully reclining armchair from which they’re watching a movie on a super-wide digital screen. It’s quite a lavish way to watch a film, definitely a big change from the cineplex. Gold Class’s full bar and kitchen gives them the opportunity to customize the movie experience based on the movie, which they’ve done to delicious effect for New Moon.

The “New Moon” menu pays a culinary tribute to the story’s themes with “Vegetarian” Stakes, a/k/a picatta seared chicken satay over parmesan risotto and sauteed spinach (I’m not quite sure how chicken gets to be vegetarian, but, boy, does this sound tasty to me); Lion’s Love, which is paprika seared lamb chops with roasted vegetable cous cous; and Bella’s birthday cake which is red velvet cake with sour cream frosting and dark chocolate sauce.

The cocktail menu is appealing, too: Bella’s Papercut combines Absolut Mandarin, Cointreau, and Grenadine. Edward’s Cold Touch is concocted with blueberry Stoli, Poma, Sprite and Blue Curacao. Jacob’s Warmth heats things up with Clover coffee with Bailey’s, Rumpleminze, and whipped cream.

If you’re a Twilight fan, you’re probably already delirious with excitement about New Moon and really don’t need any encouragement to go see it, but why not go see it in style?

Today I went to the final sing-along party for the Henry gift shop installation “I know, I know” by Jenny Zwick and Joe Park. When I arrived, neither of them were around- but their life size cut outs were. Their faces and bodies had been projected on to wooden silhouettes and anchored on a boat marooned in the left corner of the Henry gift shop. Below the boat, a strobe light and wind-blown metallic strips simulated a stormy sea.

Jenny and Joe hadn’t worked together before this installation. Their names were drawn out of a hat by Gift Shop curator Matthew Offenbacher and then they were given two weeks to come up with a piece to entice gallery-goers.

According to Regina Hackett, the two vendors who ran the Henry’s gift shop went belly-up, providing the imputes for Offenbacher’s whimsical gift shop project. Offenbacher hopes the exhibitions at the shop will “fall like dominoes: a cascading cavalcade of adventurous, collaborative, celebratory artistic energy.”

I dinked around the space, touching the artist’s installation drawings on the wall and eating Offenbacher’s delicious (and spicy) chocolate cookies.

Jenny and Joe arrived and began to unpack their ukuleles and banjos. “What a beautiful ukulele!” exclaimed Betsey Brock, the Henry’s communications director. “Did you know that they sell combination ukulele-banjos in Seattle?” Jenny said, before unearthing a tiny wind blown piano (called a “Melodica”).

Jenny began to strum the banjo and Betsey began to sing. Since the piece was an open installation, any visitor could come in and sing along. Most of the folks who wandered in looked confused – but pleased.

After singing the same song for almost half an hour, Betsey brought out ukulele-versions of songs by Radiohead, the Magnetic Fields and Rihanna. They were a hit.

“I have an urge to drum something” Offenbacher said emphatically. Unable to find a tambourine, he settled for hitting the sides of the marooned boat.

By the time I left the installation, the weather had turned from dreary to dark- but my mind was still somewhere tropical and Hawaiian.

The next artists to be paired up at the Henry are Claire Cowie, Sol Hashemi and Jason Hirata. Their installation launches November 20th. You should go.

Tomorrow at Queen Anne Books (1811 Queen Anne Avenue N, i.e. on the west sidewalk just north of Blaine), the store is holding a Book Fair from 3:00 to 5:30 pm to benefit McClure Middle School: 20% of every purchase made at the fair will be donated to the school. For your entertainment, school librarian Kristan Gale has also organized a showcase of students to read their original writing during the fair.

The store will also have a Wish Table, consisting of books needed for the school’s library. If you buy a book from the Wish Table to donate to the school, you will receive a 20% discount on all your purchases.

If you cannot make the Book Fair, you can still help local schools: The bookstore is holding a Shop Local For Schools campaign all this weekend, where 10% of your purchase will be donated to the school of your choice.

So if you like books (especially work by local novelists), and you like schools, you may want to pay Queen Anne Books a visit this weekend, especially on Sunday afternoon for the Book Fair.