This picture of my friend and 2045 compatriot Joe may be the most delightfully horrifying thing I have ever seen. If you were going to do a modern remake of H.R. Pufnstuf mashed up with Pee-wee’s Playhouse, this face would be both it’s basis and inspiration.

Please send all therapy bills directly to Joe.

Well, it seems those polls have their limit and today I came upon one such bus whose poll had snapped off.

I haven’t a clue as to how it happened exactly as I walked by after the actual snapping, but it was a pretty impressive sight. The driver seemed a bit bewildered. I’m assuming this doesn’t really happen all that often.

Finally, Seattle has it’s own vegetarian Dim Sum, first spotted on the slog, with the newly opened Vegetarian Bistro. Dim sum is three dollars for three pieces, which is reasonable considering it doesn’t take a whole lot of this stuff to fill you up.

In New York, I used to frequent Vegetarian Dim Sum House which was not only delicious, but also amazingly cheap. The prices are really good at Vegetarian Bistro and I definitely enjoyed my meal. My only wish is that the dim sum menu was a bit larger, but hopefully that will come with time.

The meal started off with some nice jasmine tea while we browsed the menu. We opted to get the following dishes.

Steam Hum Bun
This was easily my favorite because it was both delicious and hard to pin down.

Pan Fried Bean Curd Roll

A great mix of taste and texture. The outside had a paper thin quality to it that seemed crackly and crispy while the inside was soft and tasty. The sauce it came with added a nice touch.

Deep Fried Mash Potato
Not my favorite, and more or less what one would expect, but still good overall. The crispy outside and soft inside make for a nice experience. Plus, it’s fried potato, so it’s an easy crowd pleaser if you drag the frightened and uninitiated for their first dim sum experience.

Kung Pow Beef
This was pretty spicy but had an undercurrent to it that reminded me the meals I would have in Taipei. Whatever is the source of that taste, I haven’t a clue as I’m happy to leave it as a point of mystery.

Pumpkin Cake
For desert, these little cakes were made to look like pumpkins. The taste was that of a black bean sweet desert. I like the subtly-sweet taste though it’s not for everyone.

Dim Sum Wishlist

There are a few things I would like to see them add to their dim sum menu as business picks up. The names and picture are from my favorite dim sum place in New York.

• Sweet and Salty Balls
• Rice Flour Rolls with Mock Ham and Coriander
• Mashed Taro Treasure Balls
• Monk Dumplings
• Steamed Sesame Paste Buns

Once a year I violate my “no music reviews” policy and trot out my annual favorite for you to applaud, explore or ignore. Choose wisely.

This year’s choice? Year of Meteors by Laura Veirs. After ripping this CD into iTunes, it has been played constantly to the point of annoying anyone within my personal blast radius. I’ve seen it termed as folk music, but it certainly doesn’t feel like folk to me. It just feels smart and clever without any sense of pretense. Plus, I saw her standing on a street corner at one point and, well, instant crush.

Year of Meteors on
iTunes
Easy Street Records
Amazon

The Runner Up

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention The Blue Scholars and their self-titled debut. This is unquestionably young hip-hop, but it screams potential. Take a listen to track 4, Motion Movement, and if you aren’t sold, you aren’t human.

2004′s Pick: Heroes to Zeros by The Beta Band

The trailer just came out for Cthulhu the movie and it looks damn good. Check it out.

Cthulhu Movie Trailer

For those who don’t know, it’s based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. It’s being shot and produced in Washington and Oregon and the screenplay is written by Seattle’s Grant Cogswell. The way this thing sounds, I’m pretty sure it’s going to open at Cannes.

As a result, I haven’t been paying attention to the Lunch with The Mayor auction. The bidding currently stands at $187.73 and will probably end around $250. In the comments, someone mentioned that the current high bidder is “xans_mommy”. Is that my mother? I gave her a ring last night and the answer is no. Is this some sort of sugar mommy? I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine.

Once again, I apologize to all of you who were hoping I’d organize something to make this happen but circumstances along with standing appointments made it just too difficult. Whoever wins it, I hope they walk in well prepared to ask some smart and tough questions. There are plenty of people who are willing to tell the mayor that they think he’s great, but it’s better for all of us to tell the mayor how things can be better.

Seattle Metro and Sound Transit are testing out wifi on some of their buses and I’ve been fortunate to be on four such buses this week. I flipped open my Gameboy DS and tried to get online to play a little Mario Kart against my friend Ivan Ho in NYC. (Seriously, you didn’t think I was going to use it to get work done?) The results? Not so good. I can get on the bus’ wifi connection, but there’s no internet connection there to actually get to the outside world. It’s all in the testing phase at this point, so it’s more than forgivable, but it certainly wets my appetite for some online Mario Kart goodness as I get from point A to point B. Wifi is currently being tested on the 48, 197 and 545 if you want to see if your luck is better than mine.

The Stranger released this year’s Strangercrombie catalog, a kick-ass fundraiser with what may be some of the best gifts I’ve ever seen and raises some serious money for Northwest Harvest. Among this year’s auctions are Karaoke with Senator Maria Cantwell (I would sooo take her to The Crescent), a Pampered Pirate Package and (getting to the point) lunch with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. The Stranger goes as far as to say that they hope I’m the winner.

Lunch with Mayor Greg Nickels
Mayor Greg Nickels is the bigger man. Despite our two-month temper tantrum about Nickels’s anti-monorail position (we even sold anti-Nickels T-shirts!), the mayor is acting like the grownup, willing to put aside our petty squabbling for the greater good. The winner of this civic dream pack will enjoy a power lunch with Mayor Nickels at his office. Thanks, Greg! (But here’s hoping pro-monorail leader Christian Gloddy, the guy who invented the nickname “Mayor Gridlock,” wins the bidding.) Priceless! Opening bid: $1.99!

So, should I do it? I like charities. In fact, some of my best friends are charities, but how much do I want to spend on something like this? I’m actually the top bidder right now as of 9:14 am on December 8th. My current maximum bid? 10 bucks.

Somehow I think I’m going to get outbid. If I have any friends who love me more than their money, feel free to pick this up for me. (Actually, if you love me more than your money, just give me your money and I’ll give you my love. Is that legal? In some states, yes.)

I’ve often wondered about the situation where a blogger asks another blogger to meet in person and meets the individual behind the blog or curtain or modified wordpress install. At the invitation of Ginnie, the author of I Absolutely Hate the Word Blog, I did exactly that. Much like enjoying a post-Dances With Wolves Kevin Costner movie, you know it happens, you hear about it happening to other people, but it’s never happened to you.

On this last night of legal indoor Seattle smokery, we met at 611 Supreme which met the requirements of one such semi-anonymous, sight-unseen meeting: well appointed exits (because you never know what sort of psychopaths write these blog things) and a decently fleshed out drink menu (because if you’re going to leave your apartment then you’d better go to a place that has a better selection than tap water, purple stuff and Sunny D).

What was learned? I had assumed from her prodigious writing on her site that she was a writer of some sort, but it turns out she’s not. I won’t reveal her secret professional identity (client-attorney blogger-blogger confidentiality), but she roughly lives in the category of those who are doing one thing and are searching for another as yet unknown thing. Oh, and if you find yourself clutching your keys for an extended period of time, it means you have to pee. I think Freud discovered that gem first. One last factoid to pass on: if you find yourself planning one of these meetings, make sure to clear the bar of anyone sharing a name of either of the two participants or you may end up talking to the wrong person for an extended period of time. I’ll let Ginnie tell that story.

All in all, it was a worthwhile excursion, but after you head home two obvious questions pop into your head.

Will they blog it and, if so, what will they say?

Episode222.mp3