Seattle Daily Photo: October 2009

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Recycle / Reuse / Build a Mondo Faceted Thoughtful Skyscraper Beside It

Joining the nearby skyline from yesterday's shot will be the multi-faceted high rise Fifth & Columbia tower that will be built just on the other side of this lovely preserved downtown church-gone-condos. The innovative glass sheathed building design is featured in a poster on the upper left of the building. I showed you the view of this site from high above last winter here, and the orange colored brick building you see in that shot has been demolished. To see what the new building will look like in its setting and view some scale models of it, click on my More Seattle Stuff page

Friday, October 30, 2009

Skywatch: Can't Get There From Here

Even at 76 stories and a height of 937 feet (285 m), Seattle's tallest building, Columbia Center, cannot manage to reach the blue sky on this cloud covered and blustery day of scattered showers. It is Skywatch Friday, and you can check the skies all over the globe or post your own Skywatch photo here.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Upstairs / Downstairs

A librarian is working away upstairs as a patron proceeds downstairs. Simultaneous views of multiple floors are possible in many places in the incredible layout of Seattle's Central Library, completed in 2004. This is a curving stairway down to the 3rd floor which is known for its red reflective surfaces. You might dream of tomato soup for days after spending time there, or perhaps recall a childhood impression of going into the gullet of the whale with Pinocchio :-).

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

iPhone Wednesday #16: Dick's

Seems like anytime they are open Seattle's five Dick's Drive In locations are doing a brisk business. I stopped for photos only :-), but these other folks went away with burgers, fries, and shakes. Coming in late with my iPhone Wednesday shot for today, as life is full and other deadlines prevailed. Getting night shots with a 2 megapixel iPhone camera is, ah, challenging, shall we say. I had to take 4 or 5 shots before I could manage to keep the highlights from blowing out the words on the signs. Can you read the menu? It's my iPhone Wednesday shot, where I shoot the image and edit it with one or more of the many aps available. Just heard this week that Adobe has a Photo Shop ap for iPhone now, so will be checking that out soon. I was at the Apple store on Monday and played with the 3Gs, which has a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus as well as video. I'm waiting for at least another upgrade or two to come out, since competitor's smart phones already feature 5 mega pixel cameras. If Apple is smart it will drastically improve camera function to stay on top. They just better watch out for the company that already has a deal with Carl Zeiss, the superb lens manufacturer. My only other iPhone wish besides a huge camera upgrade would be an elegant little interfacing folding keyboard like I have for my Palm Pilot. It folded to about the size of an index card, but acted like a full keyboard in how easy it was to type on. Made taking notes in class really easy without the hassle and weight of lugging around a laptop or the expense of a notebook.

Now if you'd like a really fine pulled pork sandwich from Seattle's most unique gourmet meals on wheels, or you are feeling a bit lost and just need some direction, check out Chuck's and Ming the Merciless' iPhone Wednesday shots.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Curved & Linear with Scary Face

So here's something mundane that on closer look can be a little spooky. I came upon a very handsome grouping of potted plants on a terrace outside this downtown high rise. When uploading this shot the reflections on the large pot morphed in my vision to produce a glaring face and a small worried looking skull. Power of suggestion with Halloween nearly here, I'm sure :-) What do you see? It's not just our flower pots that seem haunted this time of year. Did you know Seattle is famous for its ghost tours? There is one in Pike Place Market that highlights the long tradition of sightings of Chief Sealth's daughter Princess Angeline walking about, and I've heard of folks taking the Capitol Hill Ghost Tour to check out reports of Capital Hill's creaking 1920s era women's club building, converted to an art house movie theater in the 1970's called the Harvard Exit (just across Roy St. from Joe Bar, the DAR and Cornish College) being an active haunt.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Cleaning Break

Perhaps needing fresh air because of product fumes or just warm and needing to cool off, someone busy at housekeeping was taking a break at the Pacific Apartments downtown. I've always loved the design of this brick and terra cotta building. For years Monday was always washday at our house. What's your housekeeping routine?

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Three Alarm Fire in Greenwood

A huge fire broke out in the wee hours of Friday morning in the heart of the Greenwood neighborhood on N 85th Street near Greenwood Ave. Four popular businesses were distroyed and Taproot Theater Company suffered heavy smoke and water damage. Around the corner firefighters rescued all the cats in the abutting PAWs pet adoption center and they've been safely transported to PAWS Lynwood facility. Please visit the newsblog "PhinnyWood" for full coverage from flames to cleanup, including video. Three of the four businesses that were gutted were family owned and operated, and the four combined employed about 40 people. More photos at More Seattle Stuff.

I heard about this from a friend who is a patron of Taproot Theater. Yesterday would have been closing night of their current production of "Enchanted April." The neighborhood is in shock, but very grateful for the great work of the fire department and that no one was harmed. I am wishing everyone affected by this well.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Dinner Out

A recent errand took me out Rainier Ave S through the Columbia City Historic District around dinner time. That was fortunate because there are a number of really fun restaurants and cafes, nestled in among the colorful shops, galleries, bars and neighborhood businesses. I was turned down at one place due to lack of a reservation, even though there were eight open tables. So I ended up at a comfortable old favorite and, like our friend Bibi in Belgrade sometimes does, tried a shot from table level to give a sense of being there. Do you have a fave place you like to head out to for Friday night after work or Saturday breakfast?

Friday, October 23, 2009

Ezell's: A Seattle Small Business Success for 25 Years

Seattlites are known for their smarts, innovation, commitment to principles and community, hard work, and love of fresh food. This is one Seattle small business that is "livin' the dream" every entrepreneur imagines for their enterprise. Ezell's Famous Chicken may seem like just another fast food restaurant as you pass by its flagship location on 23rd Avenue, but it has a history of determination and food that pleases. It first captured the palates of its neighbors in the Central District and now, after 25 years, people all around Puget Sound. Ezell's fried chicken isn't called "Famous" for nothing. Word has definitely gotten around about their comfort food menu. They've built on that reputation to go on to open six other locations since they opened this shop in 1984. I've heard that Oprah enjoyed the chicken so much on a visit here that she has had it flown to her. It is one of Seattle's successful home grown businesses that goes by the first name of a founder, like Fran's, Ivar's, or Dick's, and has built a very loyal customer base by doing things in their signature way.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Not All Our Libraries are Sleek and Modern. . .

. . .but they have all been renovated, upgraded, and refreshed, top to bottom, in the past 10 years thanks to the popular Libraries for All $196,000 bond measure passed by Seattlites in 1998. Each branch is a unique, inviting, well designed and well utilized space. The massive project of remodeling or replacing every branch was completed last year. The charming Columbia City branch dates from 1915 and was a Carnegie funded library designed in the Beaux-Arts Georgian Revival style. In 2004 an addition was added to the back of this, the smallest of all Seattle's original Carnegie endowed libraries. It is much loved by its community. For a view of the entire front elevation, please click my More Seattle Stuff page.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

iPhone Wednesday #15: Fall Rain on the Stoop

I had run an errand and was heading back to my car when rain started to fall. I pulled up my hood and walked a bit nearer the buildings to take advantage of their awnings. That's when I noticed this great graphic tiled stoop and the fallen leaf on the sidewalk. I just had to make an image of it. Does it surprise you that one of the effects I used to edit it is called "Paris"? ;^) It's my iPhone Wednesday shot for this week where the photo is taken and edited right in the iPhone with various apps. Lets see what iPhone images Ming the Merciless and Chuck have come up with for us today.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Night Glow

Seattle doesn't look so much like the "emerald city" in this night shot, but it still glows in an amazing way. This is a long exposure looking south across Lake Union. You can see the lights of a fast moving large pleasure boat on the left as it heads west, and there is even a bit of air traffic captured in the sky. The downtown core of high rises sure generates some high wattage light spill.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Garfield High

One by one each of Seattle's nine active public high school campuses have been receiving much needed renovations. Garfield High in the Central district has been in its newly refurbished diggs since last fall after a two year sojourn at the old Lincoln High campus in the Wallingford neighborhood while construction was going on. The exterior of this 1920s brick and terra cotta building remains intact, but the interior is entirely changed and updated to safely and comfortably accommodate its 1600+ students. Garfield's academic, arts, and sports programs are highly regarded, and its outstanding Advancedd Placement course offerings and music programs have attracted students from throughout the city. A few of the many notable people who once walked these hallways as students include composer/arranger/musician/producer Quincy Jones, for whom the new performing arts building is named, as well as guitarist Jimi Hendrix, architect Minoru Yamasaki, chess grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, and 2007 NBA basketball rookie of the year Brandon Roy. As of next fall, Seattle Public Schools' method of student placement will change from city-wide choice of schools to local neighborhood school assignments. Tentative boundaries for neighborhood schools were released for public comment this month and the School Board will finalize neighborhood school boundaries in time for next fall's enrollment which begins in spring

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Closing Time

The terrace at the new Bastille Restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood had just a couple patrons lingering at closing time on a lovely October evening. I loved the glowing candle light from the votives on the tables.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Medger Evers Pool

There's a party going on! The Garfield neighborhood community center in the Central District features a well utilized indoor pool, popular for children's birthday parties and family and fitness swimming. The pool is named for slain civil rights leader Medger Evers who was murdered in front of his home in Mississippi in 1963 for his activism in the struggle for equality under the law for African Americans. It took 30 years before his white supremacist assassin was finally convicted and imprisoned for the crime. Hopefully sites like this that memorialize Evers cause us all to pause and think of the work and sacrifice people have made to make ours a more just society and to keep working hard in that direction.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Blooming in the Bright Alley

This 60 foot mural, Whale vs. Squid, was just completed at the end of August by artists Karl Addison and Pixel.Tron. I don't know if the artists planted the variety of sunflowers in front of it, but all that intense color works together to brighten this alley off Cherry St. between 25th and 26th Ave. That is where you will find the entrance to the Twilight Exit, a very popular dive bar. The Twilight moved from its old location on Madison to its new digs at the beginning of the year. I think they now occupy the space vacated by JoAnna's restaurant and jazz club, but am not sure.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Magnificent Elm

I went exploring in the Central District recently and was rewarded with street after street of fall foliage on a blue sky afternoon. I came upon a towering elm that dominated the corner where it grew and dwarfed this tall section of the Islamic School of Seattle building that stood beside it. The Islamic School of Seattle provides bilingual, Montessori-based education. It is housed in very lovely historic buildings which once served as a Jewish day school.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

iPhone Wednesday #14: Drains To The Bay

Water runoff from Seattle rains flows into a system of drains that often lead right back to the open waters around us. In the dark portion of this shot under the puddle where you can't see it is a spray painted reminder about this to encourage people not to dump anything into the drain, like motor oil or paint or other toxic substances. Some neighborhoods, commercial developments, schools, and homeowners have begun to build "rain gardens" to help filter storm runoff through rock, plants and soil before it eventually makes its way to the ponds, streams, lakes, and the sound in its down hill journey.

It's my iPhone Wednesday shot for you this week, taken and edited with the iPhone. Well, Gourmet magazine may have stopped publishing, but today we can go check out the iPhone shots of what Chuck and Ming the Merciless' snapped from their groaning tables, and there is even a wonderful recipe to try :-). We City Daily Photo Bloggers do what we can to fill the gap!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Pumpkin Tide

The Red Apple Market in the Madison Park neighborhood featured some goliath pumpkins and a variety of smaller sizes. Most of the huge ones had "sold" signs on them and I wondered if people had to borrow someone's truck to haul one home. They weren't something I could imagine lifting in and out of a car trunk. I took this shot just before the cloud cover and cold of our current rain storm descended upon us and thought the bright scene might cheer those on the US west coast which seems to be one very rainy region in the world from SoCal to Canada :-). It's been a dry year, so my spring bulb garden, which I've just spent a bit of time getting in order, is thankful for the rain.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Hing Hay Park

This International District park looks fairly deserted from this angle, yet even at night nearly a dozen folks are sitting or standing around conversing. In this case they are just out of sight to the right of the picture frame. This is one of those urban parks where not a blade of grass is to be found. I think that may reflect not only the setting but the purpose of this 1970s era park as primarily a gathering place and quiet lunch spot. This pavilion, built in Taiwan in 1974, has been very well maintained, and if you look closely, you'll see figures in a painted mural on the multistory building behind. The paintings tell some of the history of Chinese people in the Pacific Northwest. I'm used to walking around urban areas at night that some folks consider kinda sketch, and this is not a place I would recommend most folks to wander around after the restaurants start to close. There are a lot of street people and some will approach you for help, a hussle, or just for conversation. Just a block from here a couple guys 15 feet in front of me made an exchange of drugs for money, and last year a mentally ill guy got kind of aggressive toward me when I was in the area past midnight with my tripod trying to get some shots. During shopping and dining hours there is a bustle on the street and none of that edgy feeling.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Historic Chinatown Gate

This beautiful huge gate spans S King Street near 5th Avenue S and will be two years old in February. It marks the western boundary of old Chinatown in Seattle's International District. More funds are being raised and it is hoped that a matching gate can be constructed at S King Street and 12th Avenue S. You can read more about it here.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Amazon.com la Nuit

Day or night, Amazon.com's world headquarters dominates the scene at the north end of Beacon Hill. I had taken some handheld night shots a couple years ago and revisited last night with my tripod. The setting and distinctive Deco architecture of this former ~~military~~ Marine Hospital building always makes a big impression from almost any vantage point. Close ups in daylight are here.

Friday, October 09, 2009

Skywatch: I See The Moon

". . .and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me." A nursery rhyme our little daughter said nearly every night on seeing the moon. This was Seattle's view of last night's waning gibbous, as seen from our driveway. This is a color shot, and I had to wait several times for wispy clouds to pass. It's Skywatch Friday, and here is the link to enjoy skies around the globe.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

A Window Into So Many Lives

I thought I'd share one more window shot with you this week. I've been thinking a lot about a buddy who loves cycling, did a lot of BMX competitions as a kid, and has admired Lance Armstrong for many years. For the past eight months he's had a whole different reason to appreciate Lance. I am wishing him well today. I spotted this gigantic poster of Lance high up in a downtown Seattle window, and the riders below just taking off after waiting at a light had just passed him. I have no idea if they are Critical Mass or just the Cascade Bicycle Club :-), but they had their clothes on, unlike a bunch of other cyclists seen around Seattle this summer and caught by our own Chuck's lens down by the Market ;^).

I will leave you with this entry from my friend's blog yesterday after he completed round 12 of a particularly brutal regimen of chemotherapy (most with his diagnosis only have the strength to make it through 8): "In the midst of my chemo fog I am rejoicing this morning. I will be disconnected from the last of my chemotherapy at 11:30 today. It's hard to believe that it is coming to an end...it seems surreal. I am imagining myself as a Tour de France rider pedaling his way into Paris onto the cobblestone streets of the Champs-Élysées, taking those final turns and striving for the finish line. I'm looking back on all the mountains and valleys I've come through, the exhilarating downhills and grueling uphills. I'm thankful for all the domestiques, those who have pulled me up the hills and guided me through the treacherous stretches. I'm thankful that my body, though not the one I started with, is intact and will get time to recover. What an amazing journey this has been." . . .Big, huge congrats!!! And my best wishes for healing and safe journey go out to all who are coping with similar health challenges. This hope's for you.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

iPhone Wednesday #13: Happy Window

I'm following up yesterday's shot with another window. The brick arch of this small floor level window caught my eye at Gorditos in Greenwood. Someone had decorated it with colorful art glass shapes and beads. Through the seeded glass the light is framed by a wrought iron cross. This is the 13th in my iPhone Wednesday series where the image is made and edited using the iPhone and apps. Lets see what delicious things Chuck and Ming shot with their iPhones today.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Happy Man

Sometimes you glimpse someone from a distance and feel glad for having seen them in a candid moment. I used to see common scenes like this a lot when I lived in San Francisco, except the apartment buildings were usually turn of the last century wood frame Italianate three stories or, if newer, were more often stucco rather than brick exteriors. Here in Seattle the older apartment buildings do usually tend to have brick facades. There is something happy about a lighted window on a fall night.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Previously Owned. . .

. . .by the Smurfs or Cookie Monster? I've had my eye out for unusual bar stools for some friends whose breakfast counter in their new house turns out to be above standard height for most seating out there on the market. These custom stools I saw in a consignment shop window may not fill the bill for height, but if it were just the coolness factor they were looking for, this foursome might do nicely. I'm thinking these come from someone who subscribes to the Archie McPhee school of design :-).

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Betty Bowen Viewpoint Newly Restored

This is a setting I enjoy often and from which I've made several photos to show you in past years here and here. It is a viewpoint within small Marshall Park at the west end of West Highland Drive. In 1977 Seattle's famed architect Victor Steinbrueck headed up the effort to create an art installation as an homage to deceased writer and arts patron Betty Bowen, a life long Queen Anne resident. She had long been involved as an advocate to develop little Marshall Park into an attractive gathering area where residents and visitors alike could enjoy the beauty of the Sound and enjoy the open green space where sunset over the Olympics is the highlight of the day. Steinbrueck organized the creation of a seating area surrounded by a curved cement path in which are embedded mosaics created by himself, Guy Anderson, Harold Balazs, Kenneth Callahan, Richard Gilkey, Morris Graves, Charles Stokes, and Margaret Tompkins. None of the mosaics were signed, and after 30 years, the installation was in need of some cleaning and restoration. That volunteer effort has just been completed and celebrated with a gathering and installation of a plaque that finally tells visitors which artist created which mosaic and credits the many friends who helped in the viewpoint's completion.

This iPhone shot features the view rather than the art work (underfoot of a woman and her dog out for a sunny afternoon walk). You can see a huge cruise ship in the new Smith Cove cruise ship terminal in Magnolia, the Magnolia bridge, Bainbridge Island across the Sound, and beyond that the rare view of a snowless Olympic range.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

In Fall our Fancy Turns to Yarns

With the distinct chill to the October air and a mission to find a special birthday gift for my sister-in-law, I was inspired to pop into Hilltop Yarn, now located across the street from its old huge location in the tiny diggs vacated by a fave creative boutique, Bouncing Wall, which recently closed after two years on Queen Anne Ave N. My friend Chris had made several pair of wonderful colorful socks last fall and winter, so that influenced my choice of some self-striping sock yarn, needles, and a sock pattern. Which skeins among these colorful soft beauties might you gravitate toward?

Friday, October 02, 2009

West Through the Trees

A view of the marina and cruise ship docks looking west from Queen Anne Hill to the Magnolia neighborhood and across Puget Sound at sunset.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Theme Day: Contrast

That "International Yellow" work rig against that blue sky caught my eye when I came to a hault at this intersection in the Interbay area. Those crossed wires looked interesting and dangerous, too :-). I loved the contrast of the blue and yellow. Like yesterday's shot, this was taken with my iPhone and edited with an iPhone app called Best Camera (see yesterday's post for more info).

City Daily Photo Bloggers around the globe today are interpreting the theme "Contrast." Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. This was a challenging theme for me and not my most creative response. I thought of contrasts on the color wheel and this was the result I came up with. Yesterday's shot was also a contender and featured basic contrast of dark and light values. I'm sure you'll find shots to amaze and astound, and perhaps some humor, too, when you take a peek at this theme through other lenses. Enjoy your world tour, and be sure to leave us a comment when you drop by.

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