(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Ten mentally unstable individuals will throw themselves into the final battle, the final chance to win the title of the ultimate #Spiceawarrior. Who are they? Let's have a look…

Bart "The Coalminer" Mihailovich: The Riverkeeper made it to the final round last time, or rather, he made it until ten seconds before it started. Then he had to make the run for the bathroom and instant disqualification. This time, he's out for revenge.

Kris "Thunder" Crocker: You know her best from her Untappd account, and now as one of two newcomers to #Spiceawar. Can she shake up this year's contest? Time will tell, but rumor has it she's dark horse.

Leif "We Don't Know Who He Is" Sanders: A late replacement player, we don't know who Leif is. Does he even exist? He probably does, but if he is a true contender or possibly just a ringer is anybody's guess.

Liz "Caught A Bad Break Last Time" Hetland: After a strong start, Liz caught a bad break with the Wheel of Misfortune, and got sent out earlier than she probably should have. Could this be the year for a comeback kid?

Mark "Is Always There" Simonds: His two other outings didn't lead to much, but we feel Mark will give it his all this one last time. This is the man everybody sees everywhere around town -- will he also be seen topping the contest?

Patrick "The Onion Bowler" O'Halloran: Two Spiceavore contests without victory, Patrick has recently kept it real in other lesser contests. Will the practice pay off? Is this Patrick's year to shine? We shall see. We. Shall. See.

Paul "Probably Won't Be There" Dillon: Rumor has it Paul will drop out of the contest without notice. Again. Just like he did last time. And repercussions will be severe when if this happens again.

Remi "Will Win This" André: I mean, I'm writing this, so what else would I say? Victory in the first Spiceavore contest, second place in the second… I'm pretty awesome.

Shaun "Doesn't Want His Name Printed" Whatsisname: Team winner in the first one, Shaun couldn't quite reach the wuthering heights in #Spiceawar. Coming out of retirement this one last time, Shaun has his eyes firmly on the prize.

You: You have the opportunity. The last spot will be auctioned off -- proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation -- and you can the final, legendary ultimate #Spiceawarrior.

And! Let's not forget our judges, two faces from the last #SpoBREW: Vik "The Mouth" Gumbhir, our intrepid MC from that contest, will join Barry "Spokane's Lone Chelsea Fan" Geraghty (aka #SpoBREW's beer wench) to keep a strict eye on the contestants.

Join us for the event, Saturday, 2:30pm, at Saranac, to watch the spectacle, sample the wares, and partake in many surprising surprises.

Friends of SpoCOOL, and charity aficionados will recall us supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation during #Spiceawar, something we're doing once again with Nuclear #Spiceawar. 

For those in need of a reminder of the impact of CF and CFF, here's a quick overview:

CF is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. It causes progressive disability and often early death, and more than ten million Americans are symptomless carriers of the defective CF gene. The median predicted age of survival for a person with CF is mid-30s; when the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation started in 1955, it was elementary school age.

And with Nuclear #Spiceawar, we're hoping to raise some money for CFF. How? Through fun!

First, the awesome people at Saranac will be donating $1 from every item sold from that week's Nuclear #Spiceawar menu. I mean, how generous is that? And you benefit from it too, not only by enjoying a great meal, but by knowing you're helping a great cause at the same time.

Furthermore, you may or may not have heard that there will be an opening to compete in the contest. And yes, there will be (at least) one spot open. How can you compete? By bidding for it!

All the proceeds will go to CFF, and you can bid for a spot in the contest, be it for you or somebody else!

In other words, helping a great cause will give you the keys to be part of what guaranteed-ish will be the spiciest contest of the year.

Head down to Nuclear #Spiceawar -- Saranac, 2:30pm, Saturday -- and there will be other ways to contribute, all which will give right back to you, in terms of prizes, food, and other crazy stuff.

Talk about a win-win situation!

We like Untappd and we like Orlison, which means we like that Untappd will be featuring a Orlison badge over the next few months. (We don't really like badges, but that's neither here nor there.)

From tomorrow, February 1st, through April 1st, you can get the Drink No Evil badge by checking in to two of Orlison's brews throughout that period. Hey, it's kinda dumb, but also kinda cool to see a local brewery participating in what truly is our kind of social network.

Speaking of beer and social media, New Belgium's Spokane rep and intrepid #SpoBREW judge gave us a shout about a cool opportunity: The brewery recently released SnapShot, a light, tart, wheat beer (which sounds different in an interesting kind of way), and it's being backed by a contest where they're giving away (locally) a cruiser bike.

Tag your Instagram photos of a SnapShot with #SnapShotSpokane and #21 (to indicate you're older than 21) and you will be entered in the drawing. Even cooler: for every entry, New Belgium will donate $1 to Second Harvest. Drawing will take place on April 1st.

Finally: We might not love Chipotle, and we might not love that they're debuting a Hulu TV show, but we do love that the show stars Ray Wise.

I mean, come on. Ray Wise! Twin Peaks! Reaper! The original Robocop!

Farmed and Dangerous -- a series that will explore «the outrageously twisted and utterly unsustainable world of industrial agriculture» -- will debut February 17th on Hulu.

So, Luna.

It has, of course, been around since the dawn of man, and pretty much everybody has an opinion about it. There was a time it was considered one of the best restaurants in Spokane, though I think we can say with some certainty that time has passed.

That's not to say Luna is bad. It is just fine, like it always has been. In fact, everything is what it always was. The menu, the decor, and the clientele. I mean, really, I've rarely seen as much blue hair as I saw here.

The food? Just fine. Good. A perfectly decent brunch spot.

Is there anything to really say about the eggs Benedict that couldn't be said about any good, baseline versions of the dish? I don't think so. The Bouzies English muffin might be a step or two above the same old, but not to the point you'd run out, yelling to the sky about the experience you just had.

It's comparable to something you'd find at an upscale-ish hotel. Predictable; good; safe.

The creole polenta, too, fared the same way. Not bad by any means, but pretty much what one would (and probably should) expect. The andouille sausage had a bit of a kick to it, I suppose, but not to the point where your grandma would have a fit over it.

It's all safe. Does that make it dull? Well, yes. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Luna is one of those spots you visit every odd year or so, and kinda think «hey, this wasn't too bad» while you help your grandmother into the car.

We probably need spots like Luna. Plus, hey, the interiors are very nice.