Seattle Daily Photo: August 2010

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Coffee + Camera + Chess = 3 of my fave things

My friends, Seattle artists Pam Gray & Anne Baumgartner, turned the chain link fence around the site of the now demolished Sunset Bowl in Ballard into a summer art installation. Incorporating the alphabet and Ballard neighborhood character into their work on recycled or recyclable materials, they gave the community, which misses very much the 24 hour bowling ally that used to fill this lot, something to enjoy and smile about.

See their blog: http://onthefence2010.blogspot.com/2010/06/come-to-fence-event-on-ballard-2nd-sat.html , where there is a great video on an Art Walk night reception. Below are views of both sides of the installation and a shot of what used to occupy this space.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Calling It A Day

These folks were all disembarking at the boat ramp and getting their trailers ready to tow their boats out and head home after a lovely summer afternoon on the waters of Puget Sound.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sunday Bridges # 15: Rainbow Bridge Rainy Day

The Swinomish Channel "Rainbow" Bridge north of Seattle in LaConner, WA, spans the Swinomish Channel (a dredged slough linking Padilla Bay and the delta at the mouth of the Skagit River). The folks in LaConner liked the orange base coat of paint so much they insisted the top coat also be orange, making it the only orange bridge in Washington. To see more bridges from around the world, check out Louis LaVache's Sunday Bridges.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Goodbye Jillian & Jonathan!

See that little smiling face and waving hand, and the smile under the white cap. Well, of course you don't, so I'll put in arrows. These are two small friends of mine waving goodbye as they depart from Seattle Center on the Monorail. I got to visit with them and their fabulous parents Kaye and Paul yesterday afternoon. It had been five years since I'd seen them, and the youngest will be starting first grade. Yikes! They've been visiting Seattle this week and will head home in time for the first day of school. Bye bye to summer, too! Have a good trip home!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

While Nirvana's anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit" played at the International Fountain, water jets danced to the music and created a large rainbow in the mists. Can you see the people on the other side? "Hello, hello, hello, how low."

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Lingering Summer Vistas

It is an absolutely perfect day today, sunny, warm, clear skies with mountain vistas in every direction. I know in many other communities school has already started, but our kids don't head back to classes until after Labor Day (and Bumbershoot!), and our colleges don't begin fall quarter until late September. So we have this gift of time and lingering summer. Many folks head up to one of the islands to enjoy themselves and wring every last moment out of vacation. This is a place I love to go, the picture perfect little town of Coupeville on close-by Whidbey Island. So picture perfect, in fact, that a Sandra Bullock / Nicole Kidman film was made right here, using the fabulously delicious Knead & Feed Bakery Restaurant as a movie set, and repainting most of the vintage shops along the waterfront street. This family was taking in the view of Penn Cove and Camano Island from the deck. Then above their heads in a knot hole of the wall I noticed a family of another sort moving about. This fledgling is milking it for all its worth, still getting parents to bring it some grub. I thought of Brookville Daily Photo's Abe Lincoln (yes, he IS related to THAT Abe Lincoln) and his beautiful bird and backyard wildlife photos when I came in close for this shot. Hope you like this, Abe!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Towers From Three Eras

Rainier Tower (the Modern one that shrieks 70's architecture and seemingly pierces the earth in the foreground) and 1201 Third Avenue Tower (the late 80s Post Modern one aka "The Spark Plug" or the artist. . .er, I mean tower formerly known as WaMu) dominate this view of the skyline. Between them and quite overshadowed by the other two is the much shorter Seattle Tower, a 1920s Art Deco treasure and a national landmark. Pay no attention to the much shorter Cobb Building below on the right (with the roof garden and giant busts of stylized Indian Chiefs). It's just a building, not a tower. :-)

Monday, August 23, 2010

Twilight

The popular Twilight series of books and movies with settings in Forks and Seattle got me thinking of more than a favorite time of day when I saw this wooden boat on Lake Union. My daughter had recently wanted a girls night out with me to see the third movie installment, Eclipse, despite my not having seen any of the others and her not liking them or the books all that much. We found it playing at a small vintage movie theater in the Columbia City neighborhood. So small, in fact, that the box office person also took our tickets, ran the pop corn machine and swept the carpet. So that I wouldn't be lost, my daughter brought me up to speed on the characters, local settings and plot before the film rolled. This shot has no buff werewolves or pasty teen vampires, but I thought some of you might like to see this fun find just the same.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Fast as the Wind

Prior to last May I might not have seen pedicab drivers like this guy wearing a helmet. . .nor the majority of bike messengers I've photographed as they hustle around town, either. King County issued new helmet regulations in May. A lot of cities have apparently been caught off guard by how rapidly pedicab services are growing nation-wide. In the past two years, accidents involving pedicabs and cars in Seattle, New York, San Diego and elsewhere have resulted in fatalities or severe injury to passengers and pedicab drivers, so cities and counties have been trying to determine what appropriate business regulations for public safety might be needed. With our hills, rain, narrow streets and downtown traffic, it seems very wise for all cyclists to don helmets, but I get it that some pros have looked at it differently and that regulations have a big impact on small service businesses. It's just that so many of my cycling friends and even my bike commuter husband have been hit or, for whatever unexpected reason. . .a car door opened, a car driver turned into or in front of them, road debris. . ., found themselves flying through the air ass over teakettle and landed on their head--thankfully with their helmets lessening their head trauma and sparing their lives. When it's your job to ride like the wind all day like this guy, it's something to take seriously.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Weekend Sense of Fun

Sometimes these things will happen. I have no idea who these people are. They walked into the frame when they emerged from Post Alley across the street and just kept coming toward me as they crossed the street, smiling all the way. I loved it. Two on the town having some fun. Summer does that to folks, although in my experience most Seattlites are a bit more reserved in their attire, except during the Pride and Solstice parades and at sporting events. Perhaps these two had been to a game at the nearby stadium. Maybe we won? :-) Oh, don't ask!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Bringing Down the Jib

Summer evenings on the Sound are gorgeous. These boats were among many returning to Shilshole Bay Marina at sunset and crews were readying to take down the sails. The yellow evening light made shadow puppets of a couple people on the far boat, while the yellow and red jib cast its reflection like a lantern upon the water.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Tempering Chocolate

I had no idea the work and expertise involved in hand dipping confections in chocolate. It is a skill that takes time and much practice to develop. Here we are at Oh! Chocolate in the Madison Park neighborhood learning how to hand temper chocolate. We worked with very high quality warmed chocolate on cool stone, massaging it with our fingers. If one gets it to just the right temperature and consistency before coating the confection, the final product will have that nice little snap when it meets your tooth and retains that dark and dreamy deep chocolaty appearance (as opposed to the chalky cocoa mottled look your old chocolate bunny had when you finally remembered it a few weeks past its prime :-) ). None of our efforts could have made it into the store's lovely packaged offerings. Let's face it, we felt more than a bit like preschoolers finger painting with chocolate, and that's just about what our creations looked like. Tempering chocolate is not so easy as our host's skill made it seem. When we thought we had it just right, we tried dipping this easy fare of Oreos, graham crackers, and strawberry cream wafers. It would have taken us weeks of constant practice to work up to liquor based creams and the like. Though few of us met with much success this first try, we all came away with an appreciation of the nuances of this skill. And yes, we got to bag our homely creations and fold up those parchments with the left over chocolate to enjoy another day. Tomorrow, on to the next stop in the tour.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Guilt-Free Pleasures

I'm going to take you along on our chocolate tour of Seattle we took during our staycation. It is something you can feel good about because you'll just be feasting your eyes. Your hips are safe :-). This was a participatory tour, and we actually hand tempered high quality chocolate and dipped cookies in it. The right chocolate can make even a humble Oreo Cookie feel as special as a French macaron. Here you see some that were professionally dipped and packaged for sale by Oh Chocolate! Tomorrow I'll show you the hands-on fun we had.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

iPhone Wednesday #54: J'suis. . .

. . .American. This little redhead was waiting to be seated at The 5 Spot, a popular restaurant featuring American regional cuisine. Currently the specialty area featured on the menu is Seattle, a first in the restaurant's 20 year history and a way to celebrate the significant anniversary. Thus you see the fishing net and crab. The interior features original artwork relating to all things Seattle.
It's my iPhone Wednesday shot for this week, where the image is taken and edited with an iPhone and available apps.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Turning Westward

These distinctive peaks in the Olympic range known as The Brothers rise above the vista of Elliott Bay, Bainbridge Island, and a cityscape that includes the glow of the bright red E of the famous 60s era Edgewater Hotel (much exaggerated here from the double pane I was shooting through). This is one of those shots that has the city's catchphrase "Metronatural" written all over it.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Sparkle & Shine

We recently took a little "staycation" and played tourist in our own town. This was one of the views from our hotel at twilight. You are looking south along the angled corridor of 6th Avenue. The vista is certainly crowded with tall office buildings (Columbia Center the tallest and the Municipal Building to the left) and hotels (the Crown Plaza all shimmery reflections and the Hilton with its blue logo). If all these buildings weren't in the way you would be looking directly at Mt. Rainier (Little Tahoma peak is just visible to the left). I think what appears to be stars in this southern sky is actually a bit of air traffic out near the airport. There is sure a lot of sparkle and shine to be seen in the downtown skyline on a summer night. Where do you like to stay when you visit Seattle?

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Western Titan

The seagoing tug boat Western Titan is making its way home under the open railroad bridge along the ship canal. Contemporary tugs like this regularly tow cargo between Seattle and Alaska. The Western Towboat Company has 19 different tugs and several barges in its fleet and has been family owned and operated here since 1948.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Deliniated Border

Something makes me think just one sign hasn't worked in the past :-). Next door to the private property is this obscure and very quiet little public access beach with a secluded bench near the mouth of Salmon Bay where I like to hang out and watch the boats go by. It is the polar opposite of the atmosphere you will find at Lake Washington's Seafair events today and tomorrow with the exciting demonstrations of speed and skill thousands will witness at the Seafair Hydroplane races and the roaring precision airshows featuring the Blue Angles. Tranquility or excitement, it's all good :-). Hope your summer (winter) Saturday is great wherever you spend it.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Skywatch: Summer Night View

The view @ twilight on a summer evening filtered through the neon signs of Pike Place Market. This postcard view is my Skywatch Friday offering. To see more skies around the globe (and perhaps a shot or two of the Northern Lights), checkout Skywatch Fridays here.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Happy Birthday Chuck!

If you wander through Pike Place Market you may come across the wonderful work of professional photographer Chuck Pefley, and if you're lucky, Chuck himself. We came upon him just after he'd finished a conversation with a customer and was starting to take a reading break in his Market day stall. I've met Chuck a number of times since he joined the City Daily Photo Blog family with One a Day, Mostly Seattle. The longtime Seattle resident is not only a skilled photographer, but also a Vespa scooter enthusiast active in the Westenders Scooter Club, and a very fun and nice guy who loves the beautiful scenes, friendships and adventures his travels near and far bring him (often illustrated in his beautiful prints). Today is Chuck's birthday and I'm sending best wishes for a wonderful day!

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Freeway Park

Seattle's "freeway with a lid on it" created a Convention Center and an urban park able to span the I-5 cut between First Hill / downtown and Capitol Hill to the east. Freeway Park and the Washington State Trade and Convention Center (green windowed buildings to left) sit over the freeway and display brutalist architecture's ability to merge with natural forms like the hanging garden greenery that descends to the freeway below. In view to the left in the park is the George Washington profile sculpture on posts that also seem to serve as an arbor for climbing greenery.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

The "Fit" Does

Drive by dining? Well, this is life in Post Alley :-). The Fit car lives up to its name as it inches past diners at the Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Theme Day: Bright Colors

We went walking and for dinner on a clear and warm summer evening and ended up at Cafe Campagne. Along the way I noticed the colorful umbrellas of the balcony of Copacabana Cafe and the summer flowers that line the upper story all along Pike Place Market seemed a perfect way to share in today's "Bright Colors" theme. Cities all over the globe are showing off their colorful side. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

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