Lucy from Ethiopia at The Pacific Science Center

Today I went down to The Pacific Science Center located on the south side of The Seattle Center. The line was long (and, no offense to the staff, it is the slowest queue in Seattle) and everyone was hoping to get in before it sold out. I went down yesterday but the exhibit was sold out for 2 hour in advance so today was try two. I managed to get in without any problem (after solving the usual dilemna of finding a safe place to lock up my bike).
The exhibit was packed. Literally shoulder to shoulder. The first thing they hand you is an audio wand. Many of the displays and wall hangings are numbered and when you enter the number in your audio wand it gives you details about the display you are looking at.
The first full half of the exhibit was dedicated to the history of Ethiopia. I found that section every bit as interesting as the actual fossils. I had no idea Ethiopia had such a diverse history. They covered everything from the religious tribes of Jews, Christians and Muslims who variously settled or conquered Ethiopia to the genocide by gas committed by Bento Mussolini.
There was a section dedicated to methods used to date fossils using radioactive decay rates. I hope a lot of Flat Earthers go to see the exhibit. They will be blinded by science. Further on there was information about bipedalism, skull capacity, and skeletal structure as well as a good collection of skulls...all tied together by an evolutionary family tree. Finally you enter the room where Lucy sleeps. Ok, I admit it was, to me, somewhat anticlimactic. There is not much left of poor Lucy I'm afraid. But there was enough so they could construct an accurate replica of our great, great²ºººº grandmother. I was glad to see so many kids there. They might have been a little bored, but I think the information there, much of it kid friendly, will make an impression on them.
The cost was, to my mind, a little steep. $21.00. (It was supposed to be $20.75 but the ticket booth lady pocketed my two bits...oh well.)

Here is a brief slide show. Pictures were strictly forbidden, so my slides are limited...

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show

The glassed in atrium at The Convention Center

I headed down to The Convention Center to check out the Garden Show. It was packed to the rafters. I was most interested in the booth of miniture gardens put together by Janit Calvo of Two Green Thumbs. She is local so these plants are easily available.





I went to the Bike Swap first, so riding to The Convention Center meant taking Eastlake. I don't know what was going on today but Eastlake was backed up all day, both going to and coming back from the show. Here is a small clip of what it was like to cycle that mess...

Olympia, Washington's Capital

The Capital Building in Olympia. Early February on a foggy night around 9 pm.

Update: In September, 2009 I moved from Seattle to Olympia and started attending classes at tHe Evergreen State College.

The Evergreen State College!

In the dead of winter, standing in Red Square and turning counter clockwise this is the campus.
The first thing you notice when you step on campus is the air. It is forest fresh. Every breath is like a meal.

Snowmageddon, 2008!!!!

December 21, 2008. Third day of snow. This is the most snow I have seen in Seattle in 20 years. Sometimes it snows more but it is always immediately followed by rain so it washes away. So far, no rain. Seattle was at a near standstill...except for us walkers and the cross country skiers.

New Bike

August 28, 2008

Progressive Forum at Seattle Center

On Saturday, August 16th 2008, 1500 or so Seattlites, myself included, turned out to attend the progressive talk radio KPTK am1090's speakers forum featuring many of the show hosts from around the country. Seattle's own Ron Reagan acted as moderator for Stephanie Miller from California, Thom Hartman from Portland Oregon, Rachel Maddow from New York, Sam Sedar also from New York, Randi Rhodes who broadcasts from Florida and Mike Malloy out of Georgia.
It was a very hot day so I was initially glad they had moved from the previous years' location at Seattle Town Hall to the air conditioned Exhibition Center at Seattle Center. I have mixed reviews for the new venue however. It was hard to see or hear anything. Still, it was fun to see many of my favorite radio hosts in person. Here are a couple of pictures from the event...

(still pictures available at 1090 Photo Album )

New Statue in Fremont. Are you a Patches Pal?

Late For The Interurban

Last week a statue was unveiled in Fremont to commemorate one of the longest-running shows in television history starring Chris Wedes aka "Julius Pierpont Patches".

A few more pictures of the J.P. Patches Statue...

A few other statues in the Fremont area...

Puget Sound Guitar Workshop

I just got back from Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. This is a three session, one week per session workshop which takes place in mid-summer. Teachers come in from all over the United States. There is not one among them who is not a professional level player. Students choose which classes they want to take and for a week we all learn new, cool stuff on the guitar, from Blues to Swing, Bluegrass and Flaminco it is all music, all the time. And all acoustic.
There are several cabins where the teachers and students sleep. Also many campers pitch tents in one of the meadows. "Tent City" it's called. That is where I stayed. There were at least 20 tents in Tent City, along with two or three jamming "Gazebos" and Scott "Tanqueray" Katz's "Happy Hour" Hut.
This is my third time at this camp, although not consecutively, and as always I met many great people and had hours of interesting conversation and music. My classes were amazing. I took Flip Breskins Guitar Bedrock class and Steve Baughman's right hand class. I have several months of new material to work on. Additionally, I have been recruited by the banjo players and the first thing I did after arriving home was to go to Stu's music store, The Folkstore over on Roosevelt and buy a banjo.
After spending most of the past three years in voluntary seclusion, for me this marked the official end of my reclusive period and the begining of my re-entry into society. It was a great week, it could not have been a better beginning to my re-entry into the world.

Below is a slideshow of the student concert. I was in the darkened audience, near the back trying to adjust for stage lighting, so the picture quality is not super, but it does the job.

Also pictured (above) is the sunset from the ferry back to Seattle.

NOTE: If you click on the screen below as it's playing it will take you to the YouTube page and you can click on "WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY" which improves the resolution.