An hour into the night the crowd grew silent as Jenise Silva took to the stage to announce the winners. Would Pie hold onto its championship title from last year or would cake bounce back to claim this year’s top prize? It was clear that the crowd was eager to hear the results as they provided their own drum roll leading up to the big announcement. more ›

They (whoever "they" are) say there's no such thing as a free lunch, and maybe that's true. But writer, activist, and man-about-town John Boylan has cooked up an awful lot of free and provocative dialogues over the years. more ›

There's not a lot going on tonight, but what there is, we can't recommend enough. What are you up to? more ›

Cake vs Pie? more ›

It's going to be an interesting week... more ›

MONSTER MASH: Many fans of mash-up music probably have The Hood Internet's website at the top of their bookmarks list -- and for anyone who doesn't, now's as good a time as ever to start. For going on four years, the DJ duo has given away a handful of mixtapes and hundreds of well-crafted party tunes, downloadable online. There's no doubting the duo's ability to pair indie rock with hip-hop, taking classic songs and making them even better, adding melody to hip-hop and giving indie favorites much needed attitude or a dance floor beat. This TI / Liars mash-up is a good example. This ODB / White Williams combo is a good one too. Even better than enjoying the tunes through headphones? Hearing The Hood Internet working live. more ›

SOMETHING IN THE LAKE WATER: Every time we try to count the number of amazing Canadian indie rock bands, we lose track at like ten thousand. Wonderful sounds seem to ooze from the country’s soil. It doesn’t matter to us how our northern neighbors became the undisputed champs of indie rock as long as they keep the goodness flowing down. But for all your Wolf Parades and Broken Social Scenes and New Pornographers and Godspeed You! Black Emperors, there is an underappreciated equally fantastic group. One of them is the post-rock/psychedelic rock/shoegaze band The Besnard Lakes. They’re touring in support of their latest release Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night, but to get a decent idea of who they are, one might note that their previous album included members of Stars, The Dears, and Godspeed/Silver Mt. Zion. Equal parts bombast and ambiance, we hear their live show is duly striking. Just watch this song build. W/ Julie Doiron and Hollerado. more ›

Every year, Sasquatch! invites both "world-renowned to burgeoning graphic designers and illustrators" to create a hand-screened posters for acts performing at the music festival. This year - for the first time - these posters will be up in a public exhibition. Thanks to Vermillion, who provided gallery space, the public will be able to browse through submissions from the Sasquatch! 2010 design invitational. Celebrate the new exhibition at the Opening Gala, May 1 from 6-8 p.m., featuring DJ Darwin of Mad Rad. more ›

ARBITRARY ART: Vital 5's newest Arbitrary Art Grant happening is going down tonight. The guerrilla event is taking over part of the parking lot on the 500 block of East Pine Street (near the intersection with Summit Avenue)--the outline of an art gallery's walls will be on the ground. The trick here is to get people to show up with a work of art tied around their neck; the people stand on the lines, forming the walls of the gallery and displaying the art. One gets the $500 grant. Just don't be late. 6-7 p.m. // 500 Block, East Pine Street // free to gawk, may pay to participate! more ›

Here's one that should have made it into Can't Miss It this morning but didn't: Tonight at Vermillion (1508 11th Ave), from 6 to 10 p.m., is the official opening of the new art show, "Des Madre: Fresh Latino Perspectives in America." Organized by Des Madre Arte blog, the show features sixteen mostly West Coast Latino artists, many working on variations of or inspired by contemporary urban street art. The show explores the complex relationship of the Latino community to mainstream American culture, a culture they're increasingly a part of. The work uses a variety of pop and classic imagery to speak to the cultural divide many contemporary Latinos feel from their parents and the cultures they come from, while at the same time remaining a distinct cultural entity in the U.S. more ›

The good folks organizing the fundraising and sundry volunteer efforts for the park-to-be/p-patch at Summit and John host an open house tonight to discuss their future plans. If you're interested in finding out more or even lending a hand, head to Vermillion starting at 6:30 p.m. The organizers promise to have "tasty snacks," which we found out from the flyers they left on everyone's cars near our place a couple days ago. It's a way to get the word out, sure, but considering they keep a blog and have had ads (and posts) running on CHS, it seems odd to deliver the message via paper flyers instead of hitting up every local website in town (hint hint) for coverage. Regardless, there's an open house tonight. more ›

FRIDAY: Formed back in 1983, the waning days of the Soviet Union, in the distant seaport city of Vladivostok, Mumiy Troll is one of Russia's most popular rock outfits. Moving from garage to hard rock to keyboard-heavy pop sounds, the group, founded by Ilia Lagutenko, represented Russia in the 2001 Eurovision contest. Yes, it's strange. The novelty alone should be enough to drag you out to Chop Suey tonight. With Anacortes' The Lonely Forest. more ›

It'd be easy to bitch and complain about certain aspects of the Capitol Hill Block Party. Sure, it attracts a bevy of tools who by the end of the night are barely-standing drunken douchebags. And yes, you have to put up with the poorly-scripted political pablum in between acts. Plus, in the aftermath, there's all that garbage. But in the midst of the typical festival chaos, there are plenty of things to praise about this year's block party. Here's our list: more ›