I smelled dead people

Well, actually, no I didn't. That's what I would've smelled if I'd gotten a whiff of the Amorphophallus titanum (that's right, that's its name) a day earlier. It is also known as a carrion flower/corpse flower, since it smells like rotting flesh. Apparently it reeks so bad that sometimes people vomit at its stench, and its aroma can waft a radius of 3 blocks.

But it only smells that bad for about a day. Some residual stinkiness can be smelled a day later. Alas, we were even after that baby stench. But we did get to see how giant it was!

The blooming Amorphophallus titanum (right) and Megan (left).

Detail of the flower.

It is disfigured, but not quite amorphous.

Deflowered?

That's all for UW's amorphous giant penis flower. At least for about the next eight years, when it'll possibly bloom again.

Seattle's top street murals: Part 6

(Also, 1, 2, 3 ,4, and 5)

You can find this one on the partially boarded up building  at 2nd and Yesler. Who doesn't like giant sea monsters swimming around?

Neumos

After over 2.5 years of living here, I finally made it to a show at Neumos. (I know, I'm laaaaame.)

The Peter, Bjorn, and John show was sold out, but the crowd was super blaaaah. I guess it was because it was a Tuesday night, and the opener put us all to sleep.

The most exciting part of the crowd was the college-aged girls:
Girl 1: Is the bassist the one you like?
Girl 2: No, I like the other one.
Girl 1: Oh look, he's coming over just for you!
Girl 2: (after a break in songs) Oh look, he changed his shirt! He's so into fashion!

Despite the general lack of enthusiasm from the crowd, PB&J played a great show. They're quite funny. I especially liked their funky/harmonica-y version of "Nothing To Worry About".

PB&J play at Neumos.

ANDDDDD they ended their second "encore" with the very apropos Lay It Down.

Oh hai, central cinema!

Central Cinema.
8/10 on my bangin' scale.

Who doesn't want to watch old/usually bad movies while stuffing their face? In fact, you can stuff your pie-hole with pie, which is what I did while enjoying "The Room" this Thursday at my new favorite movie theater in Seattle.

The movie was scheduled to start at 9:30, so we didn't try CC's dinner. Instead we sampled an array of snacks-- a pitcher of flowery (but not bad flowery) beer, popcorn with REAL butter, a hot dog (dubbed a pig in blanket) with aioli sauce, and blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

The pie was warm, but was also really thin. It was kind of like an actually good hot pocket, come to think of it. They baked each order separately, kind of like a big, oval ravioli made of pie crust, and filled with sugary blueberries. Not what I was expecting, but still tastier than anything you'd get at a regular movie theater.

Central Cinema: Where a Langston Hughes Film Festival and "The Room" share ad space.

 Mostly this place gets an 8/10 because they choose awesome movies. Who doesn't want to shout until they get hoarse, and throw spoons at a movie screen? Also, if you get there early enough, you'll get booth seating.

Up next week at CC: Vanilla Ice's "Cool as Ice" (I wonder if they will sell more vanilla ice cream), complete with hecklevision. What is that, you ask? It's when you get to be snarky via text message, and everyone sees your snark like subtitles at the bottom of the screen. That's probably worth the $6/$8 day of ticket price. Good thinking, Lisa!

Mamma Melina. Here we go again.

Mamma Melina (You can turn off schmaltzy music, don't worry)
7/10 on the bangin' scale
Near University Village

Mamma Melina interior. Check it out. Their paintings are on the ceiling!

Mamma Melina is a great example of NBNQP*.

Let me qualify that. The bathrooms: Pimp (heated toilet seats! WHAAT?). The service: Pimp (water refilled multiple times... I'm a guzzler). The atmosphere: Pimp (modern. Paintings on the ceiling. Actually, maybe it skirts the boundary of pimp and kitschy.)

The food: NBNQP. It's dece, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't have that extra something. No unexpected flavor to rave about. No Proustian moment, either. Is it wrong that I always hope to find an Italian restaurant that will remind me of my childhood? Possibly. Simple, delicious, cheap... like Italian restaurants in New York. Or, saliva-inducing the moment you think about it, like my grandmother's sauce. Let me know if you've found such a place in Seattle.

Photographs:

Part of the $15 Dine around Seattle (March) Menu- Mozzarella, wrapped in prosciutto, with greens. Nicely presented, flavors that you would expect.

Lasagnette. It was quite a large portion (despite the ette at the end of the lasagn-), and the sauce was pretty good, but the inside was not super flavorful.

Part of the $15 Dine around Seattle (March) Menu - Rigatoni con Panna, Spinaci e Funghi. I mean, it was once again, dece. But not super interesting.

Tiramisu. I always enjoy Tiramisu. So pretty. And good. No complaints here.

Would I recommend it? Prolly. The atmosphere was fun (and the TOILET SEATS!), and the food was pretty good. Just don't expect too much. Like me.


*Not Bad, Not Quite Pimp.

Big Mario's

Big Mario's New York Style Pizza
8/10 on the bangin' scale
Capitol Hill

A New Yorker, a New Jerseyite, and a Tennessean walk into a pizzeria in Seattle. No, it's not the start of a cheesy joke, it's the start of a deliciously cheesy meal.

Big Mario's has had a lot of hype. You know, it's the only true NY style pizzeria in Seattle, blah blah blah. Howevah, we found it did live up to many of our expectations.

Pros:

1. NY-sized slices. (Big.)
2. The pizza was medium thin, crispy, and not super greasy.
3. They had a wide array of slices available  (maybe 6-8 different pies at 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon).
4. They were playing 90s rap music.
5. Full bar.
6. Widescreen TVs for sports nerds.

Cons:

1. The interior seating area is small (although it's perfect for off-peak times), so be prepared to take your slice and run.

Feast on this pizza with your eyes:

A Big Mario slice of pepperoni, tomato, and basil.

A slice topped with artichoke and mushrooms.

Red bell pepper, ham, and ricotta (?)

Now go feast on it forrealzies. $3.75 for each of these slices, $2.75 for plain cheese.

Seattle's top street murals: Part 5

(Also, 1, 2, 3 and 4.)

If you live in Seattle, you know they're extending the light rail up north through Capitol Hill and (eventually) the U-District. Anyway, the temporary walls surrounding the hole that will be the Cap Hill light rail station are covered in art. The best portion of the wall is some dude puking up rainbow birds. I luvz it.

I wonder if the art is autobiographical. Some dudes Baso Fibonacci, Zach Rochstad, and Japhy Witte have their names written on it. If I ever meet them I'll ask.

Go see it before it gets covered by dirt or graffiti, and/or before the light rail is finished (scheduled for 2014, which means it'll probably done much later than that).