Gentlemen, (and a certain group of select ladies) put away your razors. Today marks the first of 28 days of unbridled follicular growth. (yes, follicular is a word. look it up.) Sound vague? Let me explain.

A group of 100 facial-hair growing contestants have come together in a month-long competition consisting of two wheeled races, nights out and lots of fun to benefit local charity, Treehouse. Tonight, Blue C Sushi marks the kick-off of this competition. While the thought of beards and ‘staches mixed with raw seafood and udon have been met with conflicted emotions, no one can argue that the cause is wonderful, and that it will be entertaining. Proceeds benefitting Treehouse will help fund their multitude of programs that support the positive growth of foster children. So if you’re not excited about the other kick-off happening today (and if you’re reading this, chances are you’re not), join a sea of hair and fish alike and vote on your favorite fuzzy sculptures for a good cause! For more info or to get involved in the 28-days of hairy madness, check out the official Beard & Stache fest website.

This is via Ann Donovan via Lori Metcalf (Director of Administration, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle)

The following highlights feedback received from community members who attended the four streetcar forums in July 2008. The forums were held to present the preliminary concept route map for streetcars, and then discuss details associated with the line through each of the neighborhoods. The four forums were held for: the Central Line, Ballard/Fremont Line, University Line, and First Hill/Capitol Hill Line.

The first section below presents general comments that would apply to all of the potential lines. It lists the Pros and Cons heard at the forums. Then for all lines as well as the individual lines, questions raised by attendees are listed.

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Seattle Climate Action Now has launched a new program called “Give Your Car The Summer Off”.

With transportation causing almost 50 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, why not try something different: Give Your Car the Summer Off.

We know that one size does not fit all. So we’re sharing lots of ways to get to your favorite summer events and destinations, saving money and reducing climate change pollution at the same time.

Incentives. These include discounts at the Woodland Park Zoo, SAM, Pacific Science Center, Tutta Bella, and more to be announced.
Online tools. Mostly links to trip planners and non-car transportation options.
CAN “In A Box”. The box provides everything you need to get your planning party started.
Car Free Days.

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!

As Dylan mentioned, we are having the Blarch Badness Awards Ceremony this Friday, March 14th.

We’re sorry for the short notice, but we had some technical difficulties. (Which of course translates to me being lazy. Sorry!) In any case, we really hope you’ll come. Not only will the winner be announced, but they will be showered with fantastic prizes. Oh yes, prizes*!

For the non-champions, there will be snacks! And Dylan to abuse! And I owe several people beers (maybe you’re one of them)! And really, it’s 6:30-8:30, so it’s before you were going to go out anyway (and/or before your bedtime). So no excuses!

Skylark Cafe (all-ages)
Friday, Mar 14, 2008 ~ 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
3803 Delridge Way, Seattle
RSVP

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* Thanks to our very generous sponsors: The Hotel Max, Sub Pop, Neumo’s, and the Northwest Film Forum.

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Image above is entitled, “Mob Games,” and is Docutorial?’s winning NYE photo-contest entry. Will our party be as cool? Maybe not, but you won’t know unless you’re there.

So, it hasn’t exactly been a rosy ending to what was a promising start and what can only be called a mid-level debacle. But we have to finish the damn thing, don’t we? (According to the other Metblog authors waving sharpened sticks at me, yes, we do.)

To deal with the blown brackets and broken sites, I’ll just put the last three blogs that appear to be standing in the final:

Accidental Hedonist (the only blog left from the Squirrel Bracket)
Seattle Daily Photo (which got caught up in the site shutdown mess)
West Seattle Blog (who has the most votes of the non-cheating blogs)

And the site still won’t let me embed stuff (good job on the design, Head Office), so you’ll just have to go elsewhere to vote:

VOTE IN THE GRAND FINAL

VOTING CLOSES 5PM ON FRIDAY.

And then at 6:30pm on Friday… The Trophy Presentation at the Skylark Cafe, 3803 Delridge Way in beautiful West Seattle. Come meet bloggers and their spawn. Heckle me! And drink our beer (if we have any).

And the other semifinal is a rematch of last year’s consolation matchup. Will Seattle Daily Photo prevail again over West Seattle Blog?

UPDATE: The new system is stripping all sorts of code, including the code that links to the polls. So, if you want to vote in this, GO HERE.

Wednesday night at 9 PST, we’re done.

Meanwhile, the other semifinals — and the mudslinging fun that has broken out around it — continues.

Home stretch, folks. It’s almost over.

Well, well, well. What a mess we have here. A bunch of folks who just have to muck things up for everyone. Vote spamming. Ballot box stuffing. Ballots that slip in after the buzzer.

So, I’ll tell you what. Lookout Landing, Huskies Fan, Seattle Bubble, you’re all in the semi-finals.

But here’s my first and final warning. If I even get a whiff that anything funny is going on, you’re all out of the tournament. Capiche? If one cheats, then I’ll assume that everyone is cheating.

With that said, vote early and vote often.

UPDATE: OK, what part of the above did you all not understand? I’m pulling the plug. You don’t know how disappointed I am with all of you.

And as a reminder, the other two quarterfinals are still running — West Seattle Blog vs. Kirida closes up tomorrow night, Seattle Daily Photo vs. Glitter Pissing on Wednesday night.

One of the points of Blarch Badness is to get small good local bloggers more exposure in an increasingly noisy Seattle blogging world. Kirida, which is on a surprising run into the Final Eight, fits right into that model. Mona is a 25 year old native of Saipan who blogs about life as a sailor-mouthed mother in West Seattle. The folks over at West Seattle Blog nominated her for the tourney, saying that she’s the funniest blogger on the Westside. I would have to disagree — she’s one of the funniest this city has to offer, and it’s time she stopped being a West Seattle secret. Of course, now West Seattle Blog has to face the very blog they nominated. How ironic.

I pried an interview out of her while she was changing her husband’s adult diaper.
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Last of the quarterfinals now. Seattle Daily Photo held off a late challenge by Blogging Georgetown, while Glitter Pissing continues its Cinderella run.

Did Cinderella piss glitter? Or was that Snow White?

Hurry, sale ends Wednesday night at 9pm.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
Seattle Bubble/Accidental Hedonist (closes Sunday night)
Lookout Landing/Huskies Fan (closes Monday night)
West Seattle Blog/Kirida (closes Tuesday night)

The original bracket post

And that’s the quarterfinals. Just two rounds to go, starting with the first semifinal on Tuesday. I really need to shorten the time periods up next year.