That’s right, there’s a pillow fighting epidemic going on and frankly, I find the entire mess distracting! Just when you thought pillow fights at culturemob.com were a thing of the past.

So, I’m minding my own business thinking of interesting topics to blog about when all of a sudden I receive this message from lady3jane. Her comment: Here’s another update on the pillow fight aftermath: http://www.myballard.com/2008/03/20/pillow-fighters-relent-give-up-feathers/

So I checkout the myballard.com blog and read that organizer Brook Fulton and a few of her friends make nice with the Seattle Parks Department. As a result the SPD are off the case. Well done. Now I can get back to blogging about jello right? Wrong! I continue to read the blog and discover that “World Pillow Fight Day” is this Saturday…Tomorrow! And sure enough, there’s another link to yet another blog (Seattlest.com), which then leads me to another blog (improveverywhere.ning.com). So now I have the full scoop on the next TWO pillow fights! With all this pillow fighting going on, I’m wondering what are the best fun things to fight with? Here’s my top 5 list.

1. Snowballs
2. Jello
3. Water Balloons
4. Pillows
5. Tomatoes

To find fun events in Seattle, go to CultureMob.com

I don’t know if it’s the sunny days or the upcoming full moon (which will horrifically have an advertisment on it from Rolling Rock’s new moonvertising scheme- can they do that to our moon?), but things were crack-a-lacking last night on the streets of Seattle. Tons of people were out crawling around, dancing, drinking, and howling. The Freestylers were hanging out on the dance floor at Qool, DJ Nyx’s Wednesday night home of Seesound Lounge, jamming to Dylan Rhymes and getting ready for their FREE show tonight at Trinity’s Free Bass night. The floor was hopping.

Over in Pioneer Square Contour is closed for a few days for renovation but Trinity picked up the slack with their new night Pulse; no cover, local house deejyas, and live musicians! Last night Jason Curtis, Lloyd Tatum, Jules V and Derrick Deepvibes rocked it straight through until 2AM. Club Heaven was also bangin’, with $1 PBRs, Von Dewey and Kristina Childs on the decks can you go wrong? Of course the best music of the night was at the Baltic Room as Noisemaker laid down the glitch with birthday boy Loki. Happy birthday indeed.
Glitch? What the hell is that? Find out tonight at Tost with Ana Sia, the crunk ass deejay from San Fran who spins the fatty bass, or as she puts it on her Myspace, “glitched-out sexed-up bassy and beautiful global slut psy-hop”. Come and hear what the future sounds like. Ana Sia will be on with Danny Corn at midnight after our boys Marmalade finish jamming with their funky selves. See you on the dance floor.

This Just in: Okay, it’s not just in but it’s the buzz about town. Turns out the Seattle Parks Department isn’t down with last Sunday’s Ballard Pillow Fight (see previous CultureMob.com blog).

The Seattle Parks Department reportedly spent six hours cleaning up the feathers and debris left behind from the pillow fight. Several blogs have posted that they are also seeking information to track down the pillow fight organizers.

You know what? I think they’re right. They shouldn’t have to clean up that mess for a bunch of adults staging a pillow fight…right? I’m just grateful it wasn’t a Jello fight.

To find fun events in Seattle, go to CultureMob.com

About 2.5 weeks ago I broke the story about YSL, the best blogger on all things hip-hop in the Northwest (previous culturemob blog on YSL). The man can run a clinic on how to blog with impact. Check out his latest blog on one Sonny Bonoho. By the way, Sonny has this tune called “Telling You Feat Playboy Tre” on his myspace page that’s the best of ol and nu skool rolled into one! Luv it!

Anyway Y is YSL the real deal? He’s motivated to document goings on in the city. He’s motivated by the scene and he’s motivated to make the process of blogging fun. Remember fun? Then remember YSL at blogsiswatching.com. Trust me, he ain’t payin’ me to say this.

Hip-hop news flash: Cancer Rising just got added to the Sasquatch Music Festival! Congrats! Go see them on May 24th at the Gorge Amphitheatre!

Go to CultureMob.com to find out more about hip-hop events in Seattle

THURSDAY: Fans of Louisiana back-porch foot stompin’ music will enjoy the entertaining Captain Leroy and the Zydeco Locals who will be beating rubboards and wheezing accordians like no one’s business at The Tractor Tavern in Ballard. Prefer beats to bass guitars? The Freestylers have come all the way from the UK to kill us with their breaks at Trinity’s Free Bass Night which is actually free. Free Freestylers? Trnity will be going OFF. For those with more eclectic taste, don’t miss the Japan Nite US Tour 2008 at the High Dive in Fremont with five bands from Japan: Petty Booka, The Emeralds, Detroit7, The Beaches, and Scandal! With these awesome Thursday night shows, you have no excuse to be bright and perky at work on Friday morning.

FRIDAY: The Daddy of Dubstep, Mad Professor lays down the whompy shaky bass-thick reggae-inspired dubstep at Nectar in Fremont for you bassheads out there; for some cheap ($3 cover) and easy hip-hop, try Dante’s in the U District where DJ4Norml will be hittin’ it up. If you can’t decide, go with The Boredoms at Neumo’s up on Capitol Hill, with their mix of pop, jazz, punk, and rock you will find something to like- or at least dance to. The electroheads will all be at the SOFA party at the Underground Lounge, stay all night for the phat beats of Panty Control, Novatron, Ctrl-Alt-Dlt, and Rodimus. Wherever you end up, wear comfortable shoes.

SATURDAY: As we all know, Saturday is International Pillow Fight Day and the Seattle venue is Red Square at the University of Washington Campus. The pillow fun starts at 6PM and is a “fight to the death” so you might want to bring that heavy down pillow. If you make it out alive, A Gun That Shoots Knives will be getting down and dirty for free at the Blue Moon Tavern, they play with The Resets and Kled. Crazy jam band Flowmotion will be livening up the crowd up at L.A.B. up north, and then the real crazy party goes down at the Pacific Science Center at Kinetic until 4AM with three stages of deejays droppin’ it and most of the museum, like the tropical butterfly house and dinosaur room open to run around in. Beats and butterflies? See you on the dance floor.

In April the leader of one of the world’s great religions will be in Seattle for a five day workshop called the Seeds of Compassion; that’s right, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is coming to the Emerald City in hopes of creating a sustainable dialogue with educators, researchers, and policy makers regarding early childhood social and emotional cognitive learning programs. The big idea is that all humans are born with a seed of compassion inside of them, and if we nurture that seed in our children from a very young age, they will grow into compassionate, caring adults, and guess what? The world will be a better place.

It’s such a simple idea that it is radical, but this is no pie-in-the-sky conversation: this workshop is about action. The five days of seminars for children, teenagers, students, educators, parents, and leaders of business and community will focus on every aspect of compassion, from it’s scientific basis (the act of caring for another person creates physical changes in the mind and body), to the inter-spiritual nature of compassion, to directives for action for youth ambassadors. The simple Buddhist monk (which is how His Holiness refers to himself) will attempt to spread his message of peace, nonviolence, inter-religious understanding, and universal responsibility to the masses.

Events will be held around Seattle and the compassion convention kicks off with a benefit concert at Key Arena on April 11. At 4:30 the conversation begins with Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds, and the Dalai Lama talking about how the emotions inherent in the musical experience transcend cultural boundaries, unite us as humans, and serve as a vessel for greater global understanding. Then, Dave and Tim will straight rock out. When you combine a virtuoso guitar player like Tim and a songwriter with the passion of Dave, the results are electric and Key Arena will be going off like mad that night, despite the fact that there are only two little acoustic guitars on stage. As a recent DMB convert it still blows my mind how much Dave gives it no matter where or with whom he is performing. He can express all the emotions of the painful inevitability of the finite nature of love with just three plucks of the guitar; he can ignite a Gorge full of people to take chances, to live, and to love like this life is precious or something.

Tickets to the concert and the workshop are sold out but certain events will be webcast; for more information check out the Seeds of Compassion website where downloadable curricula for early childhood educators is available as well as volunteer and sponsorship opportunities. Imagine a world where teaching young children compassion is a first priority, where we understand that being a good person is essential to happiness and success, where the deep wisdom of the Dalai Lama lives in us all. Now that will be one sweet world.

Yes Folks, the MIT Enterprise Forum on Mergers and Acquisitions is sure to be the EVENT OF THE MONTH!! Year, perhaps?

MITEF is known for putting on a great show, and the topic of Mergers and Acquisitions is always important.

Did I forget to mention that I’ll be one of the panelists? Sorry if I didn’t mention that earlier. Don’t let that deter you. It should be a good event nonetheless.

As always, your trusted friends at CultureMob can provide you with more info:

MIT Enterprise Forum on Mergers and Acquisitions. Thursday, March 20th. 5:00 PM at Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.

This Pillow fight Ballard video clip shows you the aftermath of this ravishing pillow fight.

Although no one was wounded, many people walked away with feathers in their hair. I’m down with that (get it??? DOWN???)

Go to blog.culturemob.com/ballard-pillow-fight for more information about this event.

Go to culturemob.com/events to discover more events in Seattle.

Make my jambalaya spicy, put okra in the gumbo, fry up the sliced pickles, and turn up the Zydeco! Captain Leroy and the Zydeco Locals bring Cajun music to Seattle on Thursday night at the China Harbor Restaurant, a cross-cultural evening of rockin’ jams and foot stomping, not to be missed whether you are a zydeco fan or have never even heard of the happy dancing music from the South.

Zydeco music originated in the late 19th century on the streets of New Orleans in the French-speaking community which was at the time a melange of Creoles (Francophones of mixed race from the Caribbean islands) and Acadians kicked out of Canada by the Brits (and the source of our word Cajun). The first zydeco song to make it big was about green beans, or les haricots; somehow the English translation of the word became ‘zydeco’, and the name stuck.

You won’t need any translation Thursday night as Captain Leroy and the Zydeco Locals bring music from the wet swamps of Louisiana to the wet streets of Seattle. Zydeco is all about dancing with a partner, and the syncopated beat and clacks of the rubboard will make your toes go off like you were on a porch in the bayou. The Captain sings in English and French as he plays the accordian; add to this the passion and energy inherent in zydeco music, and you’ve got a party at The China Harbor Restaurant. Please pass the green beans!

This Sunday in Ballard was a pretty normal afternoon at the intersection of Market and Leary; the shoppers were out munching on cupcakes, dads were pushing drooling toddlers in strollers, teenagers were lining up for the 10000 B.C. matinee, and cell-phone talkers were gabbing away. Then, at precisely 2:22 PM, a whistle blew, and all hell broke loose: Ballard pillow fight!

For exactly five minutes it was all out war as over a hundred people pulled pillows out of backpacks and shopping bags and went nuts on each other. In the melee I recognized friends, said hi, and then slammed them in the face with my CareBears pillow. After the first minute the feathers started flying and filled the air with that magic snow-feel, which soon transferred to my mouth, then my lungs. Can you catch bird lung from inhaling pillows? I guess I’ll find out soon. Can you get rid of pent-up aggression from beating your friends and strangers with a pillow? Heck yes.

I don’t know if you have ever pillow-fought for five whole minutes, but it’s damn good exercise. It’s possible we discovered the next Tai-Bo, the next fad aerobics class. The Flashmob pillow fight was a free-for-all, one of those manic events where you just laugh and laugh the whole way through. We need more pillow fights in the world, more new experiences, more things that make us unable to stop laughing.

After five minutes of absolute bedlam, the whistle sounded again; everyone put their pillows away and walked off like nothing happened. Feathers drifted along 23rd Avenue, freed from their cases. Bystanders were at once confused and intriqued, with a big “WHY?” stamped across their collective furrowed brow. Here’s why, and you might want to write this down: THERE IS NO WHY. We pillow fought so we could pillow fight; to do something with no reason and no why behind it. The shoppers, the stroller-pushers, and the cell-phone gabbers might not remember what they consumed or yakked about, but everyone will remember the day an impromptu pillow fight broke out in Ballard, for no reason whatsoever. They’ll laugh and remember to add more silliness to their lives. And then they’ll choke up a feather.