Your Sunday Squirrel

I went to Denny Park today and found this little fellow. He was pretty friendly. Squirrels have very distinctive body language. This pose, as far as I can tell, means "I'm curious about what you're gonna do next." I took pictures and then threw him a peanut. He was indifferent about the pictures, but pleased with the peanut.

Coming Soon to the Moore!

Showtunes! Oh, joy! To tell you the truth, I'm a big Irving Berlin fan. He was a guy who could only play in one key, but man, did he have chops. I'm certainly not going to this show. There's a big difference between a jazz standard and a showtune. It generally has to do with the arrangement. Showtunes are arranged with the vocals in the forefront, and a jazz standard is all about chord changes. So yes, I would probably not enjoy this thing, but feel free to go if you want.

Your Sunday Squirrel

I went to Denny Park today and there were squirrels aplenty. The only problem was that when I reached for my camera, they always freaked out and ran for their trees. Sorry, no new shots. This fellow is from the archives. Speaking of squirrels, last Friday was the 10th annual Squirrel Appreciation Day. It must have been some party at Denny Park, what with those squirrels being appreciated and all. At my current temp job, I work around a bunch of insulation contractors and similar tradesmen. They really hate squirrels. Likewise, I'm pretty sure that squirrels hate insulation contractors. Let's hope that Squirrel Appreciation Day will help them to mend their differences.

Meanwhile at the Market...

It's a gate. Or is it?

New Show at the Suyama Space

Last Friday, I got in on the opening for Eric Eley's in theater at Suyama Space at 2nd & Battery. Here are some shots that give the general idea:




If this conjures up images of WWI, that's exactly what the artist had in mind. He's a big fan of camouflage, so much of it is reminiscent of an artillery blind. I quite liked it, though it would have been doubly nice if the piece had a bit more depth. Since it was all hand-assembled, that would have meant a lot more work for Eley. One unintended byproduct of the structure is that it cast some pretty funky shadows on the wall. Observe:


Overall, it's a fine and interesting thing to see. It'll be at the Suyama Space until April 8th. If you're interested in seeing it, just go to Suyama Peterson Deguchi during weekday, business hours, ring the bell and enter. It's worth a gander.

Your Sunday Squirrel

Here's a little squirrel eating a very large bagel. It was pretty hilarious seeing him dragging it around, because it weighed nearly as much as he did. My guess is that after finishing it, he was so fat, he couldn't climb trees, so he became a ground squirrel and moved to Wyoming.

Your Sunday Squirrel

Here's a nice profile shot of a fellow from Denny Park. You know, I brought in my calendar to the place I'm temping and my coworkers were fairly delighted with it. And those people are never wrong. It's not too late to have your own. Go here to purchase. They make a fine Martin Luther King Day present.

After Hours

Gruppa Nol. Idu, kuryu

Be patient, the real business begins just after the one minute mark. I first saw this video in Russia many years ago. To this day, I still think it's one of the finest ever made. I even bought Nol's album just to get at this tune. It's about walking and smoking. It's very much about Russia. You have your worker and your rich guy, possibly an oligarch, and you have all sorts of chaos. Yep, Russia. My favorite part is the guy swinging upside down. Great tune, awesome video. To hell with Gogol Bordello, this is the real thing. I hope to cover this at some point. Sorry about the Skriabin being taken down, but enjoy this clip.

After Hours

Ah, Ukraine, you may be a very crappy country, but you do have some fine pop music.

Your Sunday Squirrel

I went ot Denny Park a few times this week, but the squirrels seemed mostly uninterested in peanuts. Most of them didn't know what they were. I'd toss one and they'd just look at it for a bit and move on. Then the crows would descend on it. Crows know what peanuts are. All of them. This makes me believe that they're actually smarter than squirrels. It's possible, but they can't climb trees nearly as well.

It's Not a Party...

...unless somebody loses their toupee:


This was the scene at the liquor store parking lot at 7th & Denny yesterday afternoon. So if you're missing your rug, it's there.

Happy New Year!

Here are a few cell movies from the exploding Space Needle:




This was a spectacular display - the best one I've ever seen. I was watching from Denny Way, between 3rd & 4th. After it began, people just stopped their cars in the middle of the street and gawked. Hey, it was worth breaking the traffic rules of God and man to get a gander. I shot six little films, but then I just had to put the phone away and watch. Did I mention it was good? And the weird thing was that with all those thousands of people milling around Belltown, it really seemed like a city. Of course, I couldn't get to sleep on account of all the drunks hollering and whatnot, but hey, it's New Year's Eve. That's what happens when you live here. I mean, most people had to do all this advanced planning, hunt for extremely scarce parking, wedge themselves into a bar, spent a mint on drinks, watch the Needle explode from not the greatest vantage point and then swerve back to the burbs. Me, I drank wine at home, strolled over to Denny, watch the fireworks and strolled back. The end.

On a personal note, for the last five or so years, I've kept telling myself that the following year was going to be better. And each succeeding year has just been worse. Yeah, there was no reason to celebrate anything. But this year was different. It was better than any of the last five years. It may have been the best year of the decade. I got to go to Turkey twice, but not before doing some time in crappy Ukraine. But hey, my relatives are all fine people and it was fun hanging out with them, drinking with them, watching them get married, etc. If trends continue, 2011 will be even better. So it is possible for things to improve. Honest, it is. Happy New Year - and buy my calendar, willya?