SeattleCasbah.Com

of festivals and block parties and beer

This last Saturday was a double-feature, with solo lunch at the Ballard Seafood Festival (where I had alligator, appropriately) and the Capital Hill Block Party, featuring Pela.

I won't really talk much more of Pela, I think readers here fully well know of their superlative ability to bring the rock. Well rest-assured, it was brought. So how does one top both the eating of alligator on a stick and Pela? Throw in bands like 'Hey Marseilles', 'The Girls', and 'The Moondoggies' and you have yourself a great Saturday afternoon (beats the shit out of going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and maybe, Home Depot).

Many beers, hot weather, and good company - must be summer in the city.

Mysterious orbs grow under the Ballard sun.

Not quite the music scene in Ballard today, but this guy was happy so...

 

Stairway to Heaven?

The Girls are not girls. They are ironic!

Taking pictures of a homeless man's feet.

Pela, busy defining the verb, "rock."

A statement on post-modern capitalism or random Capital Hill street art?

Drinks at the Satellite Lounge provide a perfect way to wind-down.

More photos here.  

It doesn't always suck to work in Redmond...

 

A view of the mountains with Mt. Rainier in the background is a lot better than say, a parking lot in Tukwilla. There was bald eagle earlier in the day right over the valley.

We get so caught up sometimes in traffic and work that its easy to forget that we are living in one of the most beautiful regions on the planet.

A Standing Ovation

What a great weekend, Seattle. 70's, Sunny, with plenty of time to visit friends, welcome in new family, and take in a hike while I was at it.

This is Luke. Yes, I need a haircut.

The Rhoades family finally has a boy named after a Jedi. Life is good.

Sunday morning started with a quick hike up Tiger Mountain and then I grabbed the camera to hit some of Seattle's parks - really the envy of the rest of the country, I'm not kidding.

More Photos

Tongue Mountain

What a hellish day.

On Thursday, I decided to break in the Audi with a hike. After consulting Ira Spring and Harvey Manning's 100 Hikes in Washington's South Cascades and Olympics, I decided to head out to Randal, WA to tackle Juniper Peak, an 8 mile hike at the northern edge of the Gifford Pinchot national forest.

Hitting the road early, I had planned to reach the trailhead by 11am, peak around 1pm, back in the car by 4, then home for dinner by 6. In reality, I didn't reach the trail head until 3pm, spending a full six hours in the car. To make matters worse, by the time I found the place, only enough sun remained for the shorter, much shorter 3 mile Tongue Mountain. What happened?

I blame Harvy and Ira. Their directions sent me on the wrong road. And it took me 20 miles of forest service road to figure it out. So 20 miles out means 20 miles in. By the end of the day I had taken the car on nearly 50 miles of dirt roads and would end up paying for it - the belly pan broke and somehow, I lost the liner to the wheel well.

Anyway...it was getting to be late afternoon and I decided I didn't have the time to do the longer hike, so settled for Tongue Mountain trail, which shares the same parking lot. Its a super super short hike - just 1.5 miles up and 1.5 miles down. Small reward for the effort it took to get there, but on the bright side, I did get great views of Rainier, Adams, and Helen's, which isn't something you see every day. When I reached the peak, I decided that the hike was worth all the hassle (it wasn't, but that's what I keep telling myself).

"at least I have this sandwich which has been in my car for 5 hours."

Tongue Mountain Photoset

Jayson's Epic Journey

My ill-fated Wonderland Trail 2008 journey has been well documented in these pages, but today another chapter was added: the publishing of Jayson's pictures documenting the 3 days of my personal failure. I mean, look at me:

Do I look like a man confident of finishing this hike? Apparently Quasimodo had a love child with shower curtain and out pooped Jacob.

Anyway, he's got some good shots that I think do an excellent job of providing some narrative to the trip.

Jayson's Wonderland Trail photos

(Update: John has put his pics up now as well)

garden photos

can you feel fall in the air? I decided to spend a lazy Saturday editing and uploading some photos - here are some shots of my parents garden taken on previous visits to Lakewood, WA.

flickr gallery

Times Square, deserted

The problem with Times Square is all the people, but without the people, it isn't Times Square. At 6am on a Saturday morning Times Square is yours to rule, but what is a king without a fiefdom?

The shuttered shops and shady hoods on the corner finally gave me the Times Square that New Yorkers secretly miss: dank, dirty, and tourist free. As the sun slowly arrived to announce the morning, the tourists slowly filed out onto the street to enjoy their day. I tipped my hat to the brief glimpse back that I was granted and shuffled down into the waiting subway.

gallery

Fairfield, CT

Arija moved home to Conneticut in June to resume her post-bac studies at Fairfield U. She invited a bunch of us out for the weekend - it had been ages since I last stepped into a house, even longer since I spent an entire weekend with friends just relaxing and goofing around. Great weekend, I was sad to see it end.

We miss you, Arija!

photos

Coney Island

With the alarm clock ringing at 5am, I blinked back dry eyes and slowly, oh so very slowly dressed and tried to get the brain flowing again after a Saturday spent at the Dive Bar's Reisling wine tasting. Damn you, Germans.

The reason for the early morning awakening was two fold: first, to rise and spend at least one productive day exploring the streets of New York (a day that would have me hitting four of New York's five boroughs - but more on that later). And second, to meet the sunrise over Coney Island. While I failed in beating the sunrise, I was on the beach before 8am, which considering already described circumstances, was a fairly impressive feat (i thought). An hour and a half riding the rumbling Q train finally brought me to my destination, but not before going through Brighton Beach, New York's russian community. What I loved most about cold war Russia was still evident in Brighton - blonde women, teased hair, and too much makeup, even at 8 in the morning.

Being close in proximity to Brighton, Coney Island has its share of russian immigrants however these appeared to be of the retired kind. I stepped off the train platform into utter desolation - at 8 in the morning, nary a soul stirred in the bright sunlight. Garbage strewn everywhere, evidence from the previous day's Mermaid Parade. It was perfect.

Though piecemeal chainlink ringed what was left of the park (a good portion of it burned down long ago), it was not so big as to prevent a thorough exploration. The park, and its history, is scheduled to begin dismantling after labor day this year and with it, dies the birthplace of Nathan's and the rollercoaster. What will follow is anyone's guess, but I do imagine the end of Astroland will look much like it did this morning.

pics

The Bronx Zoo

With today being such a fantastic day, I pulled myself out of bed before my customary 1pm wakeup time to visit the Bronx Zoo with friends Tara and Michelle.

A telephoto lens is a must have for wildlife photography, captive or not. It was so much fun taking photos and trying to cajole these animals to pose for us. Not that they listened, but I found the monkeys to be the most responsive to "hey, look here!".

The Bronx Zoo is one of the oldest zoo's in the country and sits on almost 300 acres of land. Its an easy trip on the 2 train, getting off at Tremont. There were tons of people there, but the park is laid out so as to minimize the effect. The only place we couldn't get into was the Gorilla exhibit and the monorail (which hasn't opened yet).

I've broken up the photos to two galleries, with birds getting their own billing (get it...birds...billing...bills...nevermind).

The Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo - Birds
Tara's photos