At Last!

The building across the street used to be a gem-sorting concern, but it closed down around three years ago.  I think the owners retired.  They were looking kind of old and creaky.  Following that, it became a graffiti magnet, as is what often happens.  But then shortly after that, there was all kinds of activity going on inside.  I heard that it was going to be renovated into a music venue with rehearsal rooms.  The work went on for a very long time and then abruptly stopped.  It became pretty obvious that the project was dead.  And that was really too bad.  It would have been nice to have had a place across the street.  So it went back to being a graffiti magnet and way-station for homelesses and various sketchy types.  But suddenly, there are signs of life again.  They're painting and repairing the facade.  I went over there and talked to some of the guys doing the work and it's going to be an arcade and cafe.  Well, that sounds fine.  I hope it's a nice place to hang out.  I'm not much of a player but I do like Galaga.  So it looks like Shorty's is getting some competition.  Game on!

Your Sunday Squirrel

Here's a guy from last weekend.  He was quite friendly.

Torchlight Parade

I was there.  It was enjoyable.  The weather was pleasant and the spectators weren't too drunk.

Cops!

Anna Faris and her husband, Andy Dwyer.  He's a Seahawks fan for realz.

A furry on roller skates!

Ed Murray and - I'm guessing - his husband.

Who doesn't love cops playing bagpipes?  Not me!  OK, what I'm trying to say is that I like it when cops play bagpipes.  That's all!

The pickle float.  For some reason, there was a lot of impressive break dancing going on.

The Alaska balloon.  There was also a Holland America balloon, but that was boring.

So I stayed about an hour and a half and left before the dragon showed up.  In the past, that's been my traditional point of departure.  But I left early.  One thing's still for sure: drill teams make me sad.  Very sad.

Once More, Friends

This week I'm venturing into the studio once again to record two albums back-to-back.  Why?  It's a sickness.  That's the only explanation I have.  So I might be a little lighter than usual with the squirrel shots.  Anyhow, that's the drum kit I'll be using on the second album.  It's a fine old Rogers.  For Album 7, I used their heavy-duty Drums West set, which was also fine.  And very blue.  But this is sparkly and everybody knows that sparkly sounds better.  

Your Sunday Squirrel

 

 

These guys are all from this week.  I wish the light had been better.  It was overcast both times I went to Denny Park, so you get the same squirrel looking different from shot to shot.  I'm reading a book called The Portable Veblen at the moment.  It's the story of the relationship between an ethically-challenged researcher and a woman who believes that she understands what squirrels are saying.  She's not crazy, just hopeful.  You know, I've never thought squirrels were trying to communicate anything to me.  These Eastern Grays don't chitter very much - or at all.  Sure, they chirp, bark and growl, but they're not overly vocal.  The book takes place in Palo Alto, CA, so maybe they have more vocal varieties down there.  OK, so I don't think squirrels are trying to talk to me, but I do think that they keep track of me.  After all, I'm a guy with food who doesn't try to kill them.  These are two positive things.  I feel that they've alerted each other that I'm a reliable food source and they should only be moderately afraid of me.  They did a study on prairie dogs and found that not only did they have a warning signal system, but they were also able to describe the threat in rudimentary ways, like coyote or human or fat human and so forth.  Though not quite as social as prairie dogs, I'm sure that squirrels can describe both good and bad things.  I'm pretty sure that's why they have no problem running up to me.  Or maybe I'm completely mistaken and squirrels are all erratic morons.   

Your Sunday Squirrel

This guy was pretty bossy and not very nice to his fellow squirrels, but he was also photogenic.  Hey, it's nature.  Nature is cruel.  That's just natural showbiz.  I had a much better picture of him, but for some reason, it didn't make it to my photo pholder.  Anyhow, this fellow is still at Denny Park, so if you go there, you can give him a peanut.  Squirrels like that.  

This Is What I've Been Doing Lately

This is the middle-of-the-line drum kit I've been hitting lately.  Last album, I played drums on five tunes.  I was a semi-nervous wreck about the whole thing.  I even brought in a real drummer for brush work, since my in-apartment electro set didn't allow for that. By the way, he sounded great.  But now I'm drumming 24 tracks between two albums.  So far, things are going well.  There are a few problem children, but nothing that can't be shoved into place by tracking time - which is early August.  In addition to the drumming, I'll also be playing saxophone and, of course, singing.  I've been temping steadily since recording my last album, but I'm taking time off to get these tunes down.  It's funny, I had this delusion that I would have everything down cold by the first part of June.  As of today, I'm still trying to get tunes to scan; I'm changing lyrics left and right and altering beats.  Funny how that works.  One of the things that made drumming those five tunes difficult last album was that I had contracted a wicked case of tennis elbow.  It was pretty terrible.  Every time I flexed my right arm was like being moderately electrocuted.  And I had to flex my right arm a lot.  After getting the job done - amid a lot of grumbling from my engineer - I took some time off and started weight training for all the muscles around the problem area.  You know what?  It worked!  These days I practice for hours and everything's fine.  Sure, I sweat buckets, but that's normal.  Everything feels good.  I mean, I went in this morning and Anthony (one of many people I sure this room with) was there, drumming and also sweating profusely.  He's better than me, as well.  Everybody is.  But it gives me a chance to get out of Belltown.  The room is right in between Fremont and Ballard.  It's actually in a fairly desolate area, which appeals to me.  I'm really not liking Belltown right now - due in part to my lunatic neighbor, Devil-Talking Lady.  More on that later.  For now, I'll be doing this drumming-thing a lot.  Every day.

The Pride Parade

It was last week.  I went.  This is the only photo I took.

Your Sunday Squirrel

I finally ran into some squirrels at Denny Park yesterday.  Well, hooray.  There were three of them and I managed some good shots.  This is one of them.

I Went to the Zoo on Friday...

and this is what I saw:

 

 

 

Otters and butterflies.  And nothing else.

Oh, I also went to the Case/Lang/Viers concert on Thursday.  My sound engineer was playing guitar with them.  Everybody sounded good.