Here are some of the photos I took on our recent trip to Seattle for the Folk Life festival… there’s not really a narrative, but I wanted to give an idea of the color and sheer energy that goes on there. We had arrived very late the night before, due to a delay on United. We went for a walk in the morning after breakfast around the neighborhood near the hotel, walking up 5th Ave. North on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill to get to a spot where there was a nice viewpoint. Although I’ve never eaten at this particular restaurant,…
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Overnighting in Seaside, walking the Prom UPDATE: Seaside, Oregon is definitely a place I’d visit again, perhaps as a base for exploring and photographing the Oregon Coast. We picked it at random as it was about as far as we felt driving the first day, after going through Astoria and Tillamook (did stop for some squeaky-cheese curds, which I worked on all day). Seaside is one of those places that’s got some authentic charm and history, although there are a lot of big new high-rises along the prime beachfront spots of its classic “Prom” or promenade. You can see the…
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Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: BLTT&C at Hump’s Cafe in Clatskanie By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 26 May ’09, 3.30pm CDT PST UPDATE: We drove towards the Oregon Coast and down towards San Francisco in kind of a random fashion, and next time we’ll do it a little differently to minimize long driving days and maximize hanging out in interesting places days. We stopped at this funky local place after crossing a bridge from a very industrial area of southern Washington into Oregon. It was a pleasant surprise once inside, full of quirky decor and homey touches. The…
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Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Golden Gardens Sunset By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 25 May ’09, 10.31pm CDT PST UPDATE: When I lived in Seattle, I sometimes rode my bike or the bus out to Golden Gardens Park in the afternoon. It’s just a really nice place to spend some time. David and I walked along, smelling the smoke from a number of campfires on the beach (the parks department provides big iron fireboxes). It was the end of the Memorial Day weekend, but plenty of people were there to grill, picnic, chill, or even get married (there…
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Their grandad wrangled the flipflops while their owners played in the shade, waiting to enter the hula show venue. Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Herd O’ Flipflops By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 24 May ’09, 4.40pm CDT PST UPDATE: We were in line for a hula showcase (being fans of Hawaiian music and culture) and I noticed the guy behind us instructing a bunch of pre-teen girls to stay in sight, and he’d watch their shoes so they could run on the grass lawn in front of Bagley Wright Theatre. This meant that he had to kick a…
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Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Missed The Pirate Wench Workshop By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 24 May ’09, 3.25pm CDT PST UPDATE: Drat, there’s always something going on that you’re going to have to miss. This looked like it would have been fun.
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Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Gradec Croatian Tamburitza Orchestra By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 24 May ’09, 3.14pm CDT PST UPDATE: We were waiting for the next act, after a long day wandering around mostly in the corner of the Seattle Center site near the Northwest Court Stage. This room seemed to have become the default “indoor folk venue where we stick acts that don’t have enough draw for a big outdoor stage” place. In years past, there was a coffeehouse vibe and this kind of act was in the Alki Room, a multi-level place with good sight…
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UPDATE: And then I saw these guys – two conga players, a maracas player, and two guys playing ELECTRIC mbiras (they were wearing battery powered amps. An empty sound gourd can just be seen in front, decorated with cowrie shells, being used as a tip bowl. The musicians were wearing animal skins and singing – I’m not sure the crowd realized how radical their electrified sound was compared to the trad sound of the other group that was in the Alki courtyard performing area behind me. Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Electric Mbira By: GinnyRED57 Originally…
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UPDATE: I own a kalimba, a small African musical instrument played on metal keys braced on a soundboard or soundbox. These musicians are playing mbira, larger versions of the same instrument that are attached to calabash gourd sounding bowls. This makes it difficult to see how the artists’ thumbs play the repetitive patterns and melodies. I took more pictures with the big camera trying to lock in an image of how the woman on the right was playing, but the singer’s butt kept getting in the way. These folks were very good, very traditional. Ginny I can has iPhone?…
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Looks like we arrive about two ours late. UPDATE: Sure, we paid for Economy Plus, and we had more legroom, but I need more buttroom and hipbone room these days. At least the flight was smooth, in spite of the air traffic control audio that warned the pilots about wind shear at 1300 feet. During the flight, David slept and I watched “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” which turned out to be not brainless, rather sweet, and quite funny. Ginny I can has iPhone? Via: Flickr Title: Our ride is finally here By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 22 May ’09, 9.26pm CDT…