tulip festival

So I forgot to bring the camera and I haven't been able to download photos I took with my phone of the Tulip ( code for dust) Festival we went to this weekend in Mount Vernon. When I suggested this Friday night it sounded like a good idea. I told my wife that I would check the Internet, they had to have a website that would tell us if the flowers were still blooming. I looked and the last report said they still had some flowers blooming. Apr. 25th was the last entry. We went up on Apr. 28th. My eyewitness report. Not too many flowers, thank you. We paid $3.00 per person to go into the Rosengarrde. Still not many flowers, some yes, but not $3.00 worth. I know they had other events going on and they say the flowers bloom on natures time and all that shit, but come on. The bulb fields had been worked on some time ago, and the garden was all but finished. Sure it was a nice drive. We got to do some shopping at the outlet mall. But I wanted some flowers. I saw more at the market on Sunday. I will post pics later.

crazy clown submissive

I forgot I wanted to put this up. This is a photo of the melting goth submissive. you can't see the dog collar and leash, but trust me it there.

I just liked the way this one turned out by accident. Its from Harsh the other night.

Working for the news must suck.....

This is a shot of the news van outside our house at 9:30pm. I watched the news at 10pm and they were doing a live shot from next to the car the crazy guy busted up with an ax. They had to wait 5 hours for a 30 second new piece. That van must be real comfortable to hang out in for 5 hours to do 30 sec. worth of work. I can remember wanting to work the technical side of the TV news back when I was in high school. Now it doesn't seem so glamorous, watching them out my window. Its 10:15 and they still haven't left yet. Boring van. It seems like a office cubicle on wheels. Its has a cork board like some one might have in their office. But its cramped and there are 4 people in it. Its like a stakeout in the movies, but you can see inside, and they are bored. They are getting ready to leave now, 10:18pm.
As they drive off I look at the plastic shrink wrap advertising that covers the outside of the van and remember the van that Immortal Records gave Goodness when we were on the Candlebox tour. It was covered like that with the names and faces of all the bands on Immortal at the time, Korn, Incubus, Goodness, and others I can't remember now. When we started the tour we felt real stupid. As time went on we got used to it, sort of became a running joke. Then the bass player from Candlebox started tearing off pieces bit by bit. By the end of the tour the van looked like a patchwork of half names and faces, some sort of crazy collage done by the deranged, (or any korn fan for that matter).
I bet I know what its like to sit in that news van. It feels like hurry up and wait.

Standoff at Brandon St.

Well my wife called me this afternoon when I was still at work and as we were talking she looked outside and said something must be going on. She saw lots of police in the road. Thinking nothing of it we continued our conversation and said our goodbyes.

A little later she called and said something weird must be going on because they were talking on a megaphone telling someone to come out. Being the sound freak I thought, "honey get it on tape", "Use the camera record some video". She wasn't too into that idea, but I coaxed her into it a while later. I didn't get any megaphone of use, but some good sounds of her bitching at me. (note: save for later)

When I got home I took some photos. these aren't in chronological order. The first is the S.W.A.T. team vehicle in front of the house

This on is out our window of a police officer looking at the house.

This is the police loading the tear gas gun.

This is the smashed car that the man barricaded had allegedly busted up with an ax. I saw the ax sticking out on the new report. You can watch it here: http://www.kirotv.com/video/13208135/index.html

As I watched from the street dr called right when they started to launch tear gas into the house. Not long after the police told us they had already taken him into custody and he was no longer on the scene. It felt anti climatic, like waiting for a rock star to emerge from the backstage door, only to be told they have already left after you have sat for an hour.

I felt bad for the guys who were working on the houses next door. They had to finish after the cops left. The standoff lasted from around 2:00pm to 5:30pm or so. Kind of surreal to come home to. Its after 9pm now and the news trucks are still on the scene.

Not feeling older

So last night I got home from work and I was feeling run down. It wasn't an especially hard day, just middle of the week blues. Now I tend to go in a 1000 different tangents, so keep reading if I get off-track. So anyway when I got home I was tired. Now I had planned on going to the studio to record, but I had a low grade headache that had stuck around all day, and I was tired. But my wife said she was going to clean the house because her mother is coming this weekend, so I had to leave. Which was good. I really wanted to go to the studio and record, I just needed a boost, an extra push. I had also planned to go see Mono and Kinski play at Nuemo's. Though as has been the all to often case I couldn't make it to both. I did go to the studio, and we did record. It turned out great. We will return next week and record some more,but I didn't go out afterwards.

I just don't have the same fire to see live music that I used too. Its OK though, I have come to terms with it. For the time being, I just don't seem to want to go out to shows anymore. I call it a phase.

On that note I think I should let people know that if they get the chance they should go see "Grindhouse". I don't normally tell people to see movies in the theaters. I think most movies can be enjoyed at home. But this movie is definitely a theater viewing if you can. It will bring the nostalgia for those of us that can remember, and set a historical vibe for those that are too young, or just didn't go to movies in the past.

If you don't like gory movies, than disregard, cause the first part is very gory. But if you do try to make it out before it moves to DVD.

new sticker under the bridge

So when we were driving to work on Monday my wife and I saw a new sticker under the West Seattle bridge. Actually it was two. this is the first time I have seen a combo in this series.

I also saw some new stuff on the way back to the car. I received a message from a fellow graffiti fan who goes by the name phase 3 which is the name we chose for our latest musical experiment. he asked what the influence for the name was. For him it was the graffiti artist from New York named phase 2 and wanted to know if I had seen his work. I looked him up and found a little bit of history on graffiti. Phase 2 was the first to use bubble style lettering. When I saw these I thought of him.

I have wanted to take a picture of this piece for a while. Its on the back of an old boat covered in ivy.

graffiti I have changed

Some of the photos I have taken of graffiti I use in my own art. I like to alter photos for fun. Here is one of my favorites I use it as my computer desktop.

This is one I took a couple of years ago in Sam Adams park. Right after I came out of the bike tunnel this was on the wall in front of me.

Here is one that I used the graffiti as a background for the focal point of the photo.

I 'll post some more of the graffiti from around my neighborhood tomorrow.

Harsh photos

Well we headed down to harsh after practice last night and checked it out for a couple of hours.

Penetration Camp started out with some spoken word, then slowly built up into full attack.

Then NAHA layed down harsh beats.

Then 100 pieces kept up the distorted noisy beats.

After that they gave some one a bat and let him wield it on a pinata. Beer and bats not a good idea. They also handed out birthday cake, but I don't like to accept baked goods from people I don't know in a bar. Call me crazy I just like to know what I 'm putting into my mouth.

We left early cause I had to go to work in the am. Fun night , I will have to make it out to the next one.

Harsh!!!

Tonight after practice Grr and I will be heading out to Harsh at the Re-Bar. Its the noise/ noisy beats night that happens every third thursday. DJ's and some live performance. I haven't been to this one yet. Maybe I will have some pictures if my camera batteries charge in time. If they don't that will suck. Practice went great tonight. We will be playing at the studio next week to try and doo some tracking for a new cd type release with internet free downloads and other free stuff. Anyway enough babble I must head out to HARSH....

More Graffiti from the area

Here's some more of the graffiti I found when I was walking around under the West Seattle Bridge.



These two were hidden in an area between a fence and an on-ramp. I didn't stay long because someone was living there and I didn't want to disturb them.

This is my favorite. The squared letters are a type I have never seen before.

Boris

I thought I would say a few words about our cat Boris. He is getting quite old, I think he is 15 years old. For at least a year maybe more he has been blind. Yet he still is able to play with his catnip toy, usually at night. My wife was noticing the other day how he can toss the toy in the air and still find it when it falls down. Nitetime is when he tends to wake up. Other than that he sleeps most of the time, eats, and lets us know that we need to sit on the couch so he can sit between us and let us pet him. He's a good kitty.

Animal graffiti stickers

Over the last year I have noticed some interesting graffiti around Seattle. When I first spotted the wolf, it seemed like a very elaborate spray paint job. It was too far away from the street inside a condemned structure for me to get a close look. When I saw the building was being torn down I took a photo.

Later after my wife and I had moved to West Seattle I spotted the bear.

It was some time after when I saw the owl, just a few posts down from the bear.

Then a few months later I was waiting for my bandmates outside our practice space in Georgetown. I had forgotten my keys yet again, which is a whole different story. As I paced back and forth I looked over the train tracks and saw the moose.

He has since been taken down. I think I was very lucky to catch him because he couldn't have been up for very long.

I will be on the lookout for more throughout the city and will post them as they appear.

Drive

The newest guilty pleasure sitting in between “Big Cat Diary” on Animal Planet and “Painkiller Jane” on Sci Fi, is the new Fox high-speed drama “Drive”. After watching the two-hour premiere and the first installment of its Monday nightspot, I have a few ideas of where they are coming from.
Take one part “ Gumball Rally”, one part “Lost”, one part “24”, and a couple of shakes of “The history of violence”, throw it into the blender and mix it up. Out comes “Drive” a fast weekly cliffhanger with lots of shady characters and fast cars as well. I won’t ruin it for those people who haven’t checked it out by going much deeper, but if you haven’t set your dvr to record this gem, you might want to add it for next week. Don’t worry if you missed the first few hours you be okay. But don’t wait too long or you will have to wait for the DVD.

If you are still confused go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_%28TV_series%29

Don Ho

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/16/opinion/smith/main2689069.shtml

I heard yesterday that Don Ho had passed. I was hpoing to get to see him perform this year, but I waited too long. The most touching story I read of all the reports on his death was this one:

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=6371438

Look in to my window