Seattle Daily Photo: March 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #37: 9 On Board

It is spring break for many school children in Seattle this week. I saw these moms having such fun with their kids. They had all climbed on board a giant teeter totter at Salmon Bay Park and were bouncing and laughing and enjoying each other and the sunbreak in the weather. Made me smile just to look at them. Hope you are enjoying this week, too! This is my iPhone Wednesday shot where I take and edit the image using an iPhone and creative apps.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rainy Metropolitan Night

This two-toned Honda scooter caught my eye on 2nd Ave in Downtown Seattle. The taxi happened by just as I took the shot. We are enjoying more rain. Which would you take, the scooter or the taxi on such a night? I've been drawn to taking photos of scooters since falling in love with a neighbor's cool Vespa when we lived in San Francisco. I've featured several shots here over the years starting the first month I posted. They are just so visually cool, especially the vintage ones. One of the fun things about blogging friends is the enthusiasm and special passion they share about things with their viewers. This is dedicated to two avid riders, blogging buddies, Chuck of One A Day-Mostly Seattle, and Joni of Art by Joni James. Although they may not ride a Metropolitan, they are true scooter aficionados and have many friends they ride with. Me, I know nothing about scooters except I like to shoot them and the folks that ride them :-). Like this retro fashionista. . . a lot of you may remember.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Cherry Tree Bench

The Yoshino cherry trees were dropping petals like pale pink snow in the breeze when I visited the University of Washington Humanities Quadrangle late in the afternoon. This bench was a great place to sit in the quiet and watch people strolling, talking photos, and enjoying the afternoon sunbreak on the lawn beneath the gnarled bows

This evening is the start of the eight days of Passover observance, and I am wishing all who celebrate it a lovely week.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Bridge: Railing and Shadow

Today I'm joining Louis La Vache of San Francisco Bay Daily Photo and friends in a Sunday Bridge Series (click the link to see other interesting bridge shots from many cities). This is the curved railing of the vintage Dr. Jose P. Rizal Bridge casting a shadow on the walkway. It spans between Beacon Hill and the International District and is a favorite photo spot for skyline views with freeway light trails. Many of the bridges in Seattle utilize this green paint that keeps the metal safe from corrosion. It reminds me a little of the palm fronds a lot of children will be waving during processionals this Palm Sunday morning. Wishing all those celebrating the beginning of the Christian faith's Holy Week a very lovely day.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The View From View Ridge

The View Ridge neighborhood enjoys spectacular eastern vistas of Lake Washington, the Eastside, the Cascade range and Mount Rainier. The housing began development in the late 1930s and continued through the 1960s. Members of the famed Seattle grunge band Soundgarden took their name from the Soundgarden wind pipe art installation on the grounds of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration adjacent to Magnuson Park at Sand Point, which is where this street leads at the water's edge. The crosswalk you see below is where the Burke Gilman Trail crosses 65th. The city of Kirkland lies across the water, and the Cascade Range is beyond. Here's an interesting bit of neighborhood history for you.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Montlake Birch

We are not through with the gray yet, but the skies are beautiful and dramatic. We are having a mild spring storm this week and the cloudscapes move rapidly. This birch in Montlake was just beginning to leaf out and stood in stark contrast to the darkening evening sky. You can see more skies around the world at Skywatch Friday here. Hope it's the start of a great weekend for you!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

OK, Spring's Here, So Where Are All the Chicks?

A passerby seen from the window of a Ballard cafe. . . So, what caption would you write for this photo? A little creativity challenge for you: If this were the book cover, what would your title be? First paragraph in the short story you'd write for it? Have fun with it. I'll look forward to reading your answers!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #36: Pillar to Post

Walking along the Sound yesterday I noticed these worn old dock posts still in formation but with no discernible task anymore. It's my iPhone Wednesday shot where the photo is shot and edited with the iPhone and available apps.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Open Door of Hattie's Hat

This is the hand painted logo on the front door of the popular 100+ year old dive bar and restaurant in the heart of Old Ballard, Hattie's Hat. I've always loved the tile work that adorns the exterior, and here it is seen through the propped open door's glass. This is one of the few places in Seattle to serve Poutine, that comfort food delicacy commonly enjoyed by friends north of the border (pronounced poo-tin). But the establishment is most known as a popular neighborhood watering hole and a place to grab a tasty meal before or after shows at close-by music venues on Ballard Ave. They also draw crowds for their weekend all day brunches.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Mr. Wayne's Head Shot

"Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much." ~John Wayne

I saw this sweater-wrapped head of the famous actor in the Ballard neighborhood. I guess they are keeping his throat warm so he can say his lines. :-) When I was a kid you could sail your little Sabot or El Toro centerboard park and recreation sailboat right past Mr. Wayne's living room picture window in Newport Beach and watch him watching television just like anyone's grandfather. :-)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Late Night Post Alley Inspection

Late last Sunday night a couple of guys were carefully checking out the current state of the Market Theater Gum Wall in Post Alley. I had taken a couple of distance photos of them from the top of the alley, and then I slipped in a doorway and attempted to frame them looking across the alley through the arch. Then this other guy walked into the frame and made it all interesting. I got so excited I lost my steady. The other shots I got of just the two guys came out pretty sharply focused for a night time hand held shot, but I liked this one, warts and all. Other shots at More Seattle Stuff. Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Musical Week

I love music and especially live performances. Luckily Seattle is a very welcoming place for touring musicians and has many great venues to enjoy, so musicians whose work I follow often come this way every year or two. I generally try to plan for one concert a month in my budget, but in just this week I took in two shows. On Thursday funk legend and multi instrumentalist Maceo Parker and his amazingly talented and tight band played the first of a four night engagement at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. And, last Sunday at The Triple Door, performing songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire Patty Larkin celebrated the release of 25, an album of new duets with 25 other famous musician friends covering 25 of her love songs over her 25 year recording career. It was my third time hearing her perform and she is just an amazing player and singer. Joining her was the wonderful performing songwriter John Gorka. I think it was the fourth time I've had the pleasure of hearing that beautiful baritone of his live. Great fun! I invite you to get out to your local venues, support your fave musicians, see their concerts, buy their music, enrich your life. :-)

Shake Everything You Got - Mac...

Lately (feat. featuring Martin...

Can’t Get Over It - John Gorka

Friday, March 19, 2010

Versailles in Seattle

Yes, you know these faces if you visit around on City Daily Photo Blogs. Cieldequimper of Versailles Daily Photo was visiting Seattle and stopped in @ the Market for tea with Chuck of One a Day-Mostly Seattle and me. It is so nice to meet blog buddies face to face, especially when they've traveled so far. MB of Small City Scenes of Stanwood was also going to join us but on her way discovered a fence down on her property and some of her ponies had wandered off and had to be gathered in and the fence repaired. The three of us chatted and noshed, talked travel and cameras, took photos (of course!) enjoyed Chuck's colorful photos of Italy exhibit at Local Color Cafe (click their "art gallery link to learn more), wandered through the market and visited Chuck's photography day stall, and ended by meeting up with Ciel's lovely mom who is also visiting from France.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Eastllake @ Twilight

This is a compressed view looking across Lake Union to Eastlake and the north end of Capitol Hill behind it. There are two long docks of houseboats/floating homes on the water, but you can only see the front row. If you look behind the classic liveaboard boat "Owl" on the right you will see the upper deck of a houseboat with a line of colorful chairs--a nice place to watch the sunset, non? Behind the floating home community on the water there are apartments, and beyond those, condos, apartments and houses marching up the slope of the hill, and a school on the upper right. The lighted street heading uphill is Roanoke Street. Wave if one of these sunset windows with the lake view is yours :-).

It might interest you to know that the Roanoke Reef floating homes you see here which usually sell for well over a million and a half dollars each are actually fronting quite an historic piece of Seattle real estate. A controversial proposed block-long 60-foot high over-water condominium complex was blocked from being built here years ago, and these houseboat docks use the pilings originally installed for that. "A court challenge by the Eastlake Community Council and the Floating Homes Association stopped the over-water project, but not before the historic 188-foot long Boeing hangar on the site had been demolished (its footprint is now occupied by the Roanoke Reef houseboats). The first Boeing airplanes were assembled and painted here, and William Boeing himself piloted the company's first test flight in 1916 (his next words: "Gentlemen, we are in the airplane business"). The world's first international mail flight originated here in 1919, as did the birth of United Airlines." (from Eastlake, Seattle)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #35: First Tulip

I walked out this morning to discover the first tulip in bloom in our garden, a bright red one. I thought I'd share this iPhone shot of it with you. I hope if your area in the northern hemisphere is still covered with snow, this shot will give hope that spring is on the way. Happy St. Patrick's Day to those celebrating today.

No editing of the image for this iPhone Wednesday; this is straight out of the iPhone.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Hop on Pop's Bike

. . .but still pedal for yourself. In view of UW, father and son take a bike ride in the sun. Younger riders who have trouble keeping up on family rides enjoy these third wheel tandem folding attachments. Good helmet and fit are a must, more info here.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Backside

A large neon sign's backside loomed large in pale evening light. The sunset lake view and nice dining makes this a popular Seattle wedding and reception venue, often booked out a year and a half or more in advance according to one mother of a bride I walked past it with.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Dusk Across Lake Washington

Mt. Rainier viewed on a rainy evening. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ramp to Nowhere

There is a park in the Montlake neighborhood that wanders through an abandoned half-finished maze of on- and off ramps to the 520 freeway and floating bridge. You can read here about how the neighborhood fought and voters finally scrapped this project mid-build in the 70s. The area is adjacent to the Arboretum and the park is mainly traversed by runners and walkers of dogs on land, and kayaks and cones on water. If you look on a Google Earth map at these structures from above, you can tell the unused roadways from the used by the huge paintings and graffiti visible on the pavement in sat photos and the abrupt unfinished ends of ramps to nowhere. It was raining when I went for a walk there, and I liked the brooding light, colors, and curving reflections of the structures.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Skywatch Friday: Ship Canal Bridge Silhouette

A freeway runs over it. A very long freeway. Sometimes a very slow freeway. I was standing on the University Bridge when I took this sunset shot of the nearby taller I-5 Ship Canal Bridge with it's streams of north-south traffic. To see this enormous span under construction in 1960, check out these photos from Seattle's Municipal Archives Flickr page. The Interstate 5 Freeway stretches from the Mexican border through California, up through Oregon and Washington to the Canadian Border. See more skies aroung the globe at Skywatch!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Theme Day: 5 Years of the "Tenin Perspective"

Today Seattle Daily Photo lifts a hot cup of it's finest Seattle java in salute to Paris Daily Photo's 5th Anniversary. Eric "Friendly Parisian" Tenin marks 5 years of daily posts today. He's the guy that inspired so many others around the globe to join him in posting one photo a day from their cities. I happen to have one of Eric's most beloved images on a coffee mug, so while I was sitting in the garden this morning, I thought I would try making an image of it using two "Tenin Perspectives" I've noticed often on PDP: point of view from the ground, and image slightly askew. Eric is a wonderful guy, and I hope you will go over to Paris Daily Photo and wish him bon anniversary, too! Many other CDPBloggers are also featuring images inspired by "The Tenin Perspective, Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. Congratulations Eric!!!!! Thanks for all the happiness you have brought these 5 years in keeping us connected to Paris and to each other.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #34: Seattle Treescape

On a walk to the library yesterday we passed under some curbside cherry trees in full bloom. Seattle is awash in pastel blossoms right now, from plumb trees to forsythia. For this iPhone shot I pointed straight up above my head with the sun shining through the clouds above the tree. I then used TiltShift and Camera Bag apps to edit quickly and uploaded the shot to my Flickr photostream with an app called FlickIt. You can see four other treatments using different apps on my Flickr page. Petrea of Pasadena Daily Photo got a different perspective on trees in her iPhone shot for today, and check out Ming the Merciless' iPhone Wednesday offering at Bangor Daily Photo. Maybe you'll be inspired to start using your camera phone for more than snaps :-).

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Open

I have no idea what this pipe I saw in the University district is for (first to figure it out and comment about it has my curiosity's undiying gratude); but, it caught my interest because it features my great grandmother's maiden name, a significant year for me, and says "Open," which gave me a major earworm I'd like to pass on to you. Click Here to Take a listen if button below doesn't work :-)

Open - Bruce Cockburn

Monday, March 08, 2010

This is What Gets Us Through the Gray

. . .that, and going outside no matter what the light and sky. Yesterday lizziviggi commented on the sunny day photo ". . . I really like this photo-- the line of grey bridge, the line of grey kayak, the line of grey sidewalk. But best of all, it's not on a grey day!" We grab it when it happens! But in the gray months we look for color. This colorful flower stand (The Flower Lady) is tucked onto the sidewalk in the Eastlake neighborhood on my normal route from Capitol Hill to points north and west of Lake Union. Every time I pass I take in an eyeful of floral and rainbow umbrella color. Now the daffodils, hyacinths and primroses are blooming in my garden, so I'm getting a little dose of color right at home, too. Rains returned last night after a weekend of pure blue skies.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

I-5 Ship Canal Bridge

Yesterday I took a photowalk with a Flickr photo group I belong to called Alives in the S U P E R U K N O W N (after the Soundgarden album). The group was created by Photo Coyote, an Italian photo enthusiast who is a huge fan of all things Seattle. He and his family spent some time here last year, and he recreated a walk he took at that time and sent the group the route. It led us through the Eastlake neighborhood, across the University Bridge, into the U-District, and west on 45th into Wallingford. With photos of landmarks in hand we explored to our hearts content. It was a perfect sunny day, and very pleasant company. I had fun meeting Flickr contacts in person, and thanks to Photo Coyote for putting it all together from his home in Italy. Having him present is the only thing that could have made the adventure better.

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Residetial Charm

Many of Seattle's residential blocks have service alleys that run through their center. Walking past this one I noticed the garage on a stepped foundation to accommodate the incline of the hill, and that the garage had been modified on the other side, probably to create studio space. The lovely blooming tree also caught my eye, and the charming home and its red/teal/white paint color scheme. It wasn't until I uploaded the photo that I noticed the unusual (to me) little grouping of three young birch tree trunks and the apparent wild sprouting of growth at the top of them. Any of you gardening enthusiasts or arborists want to tell us about that? Hope everyone can enjoy a bit of time in the garden this weekend. We have lovely sunshine here in Seattle today for that!

Friday, March 05, 2010

Skywatch Friday: 50 Crows

I heard an amazing racket while walking in the Montlake neighborhood near the Arboretum, and looked up to see 50 crows (I counted) perched in the tree tops on a rainy afternoon this week. As I approached, some took flight. Crows are among the most numerous and commonly seen and heard birds in Seattle. So much so, that studies of their living patterns are being conducted. You might remember previous posts of crows with various colored bands on their legs, like this shot.
Visit Skywatch Friday to see skies around the world.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Retro Spring Cruise #2

This cool vintage Doge Lancer was such a beaut I just had to get a curbside shot as I walked by. The owner was present and let me take an interior shot of the dashboard push-button transmission that I remembered my friend Roma's car had when we were in college. . .I think hers was a Valiant, though. It was vintage back when we were riding around in it, and I always thought those buttons were pretty novel. Nice to see a classic still being used for transportation. Long may you run.

If you're a long time visitor to SDP, you may remember this similar serendipitous find from March 2007.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #33: Informative Corner

This iPhone shot looking south near Salmon Bay has enough to say for itself, so I'll just shut up :-).

It's my iPhone Wednesday shot for this week, where the image is taken and edited in the iPhone using one or more fun apps. Easy peasy lo-fi fun. My photo buddies Chuck at One A Day Mostly Seattle and Ming the Merciless at Bangor Daily Photo are featuring iPhone shots today as well, so hope you'll check them out and maybe create an on-the-go image of your own to share with us.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Straight Shot

Perhaps it isn't easy to tell from the angle of my shot, but these stones form a straight line. Not just any straight line. I learned from the nearby plaque on the ground that they are perfectly aligned in calibrated intervals. They are an art installation erected by Perri Lynch in 2007. "In land surveying, as in art, spatial relationships may be expressed through classic algebraic terms. Between each pair of stones, the distance doubles over the course of a measured kilometer. Field adjustments have been made in tune with natural forms and features. One may sight through [holes in] the stones, taking up the stance of a surveyor. In this particular case it's a straight shot."

Do you see the two holes that are bored into each stone? They are perfectly aligned so that you can look through them from beginning to end. The stones are in an orderly progression from south to north and mark the Sandpoint Calibration Baseline in Magnuson Park. Seattle Public Utilities uses the baseline to calibrate its equipment, and it is also used by surveying, engineering, public safety, law enforcement, transportation and scientific entities to verify accuracy and calibrate their electronic distance measurement equipment. So, in this piece of art's case, form truly does follow function. It's not quite Stonehenge, but at least if you come upon it you'll have an inkling what it's about. Don't you wish the Druids or whomever had left an explanatory plaque near the stone circles they erected in Britain? Those also seem to blend scientific and artistic purposes. The hole we are peering through below does not seem quite perfectly round because a spider had built a nest sac in there :-).

Monday, March 01, 2010

Theme Day: Passages

This shot spoke to me of two different types of passages. When our little daughter had conquered learning to walk and run, she turned her sights on mastering stairs. We had steps up to our front porch, and so did most of our neighbors. Every evening while I was preparing dinner my husband would take her for a walk around the block. Many a neighbor would hear "tramp, tramp, tramp" on their stairs and come to the front door wondering what the racket was. My red-faced husband would explain his toddler was practicing stairs while holding his hand. Some evenings she would insist they go up and down every set of porch stairs around the entire block. Then I would end up re-heating dinner when they finally got back. Well, she's still a very determined person who loves to master skills and I love to see her conquer one challenge after another as she makes her way. This physical passage is a curved corridor and staircase in the very, very red zone on the 3rd floor of Seattle's Central Library. That's my daughter and her boyfriend ascending the stairs. :-)

You can see all the creative ways the theme of Passageways has been interpreted by City Daily Photo Bloggers from around the globe for our first of the month theme day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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