Your Sunday Squirrel

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016

Your Sunday Squirrel

Although I've been a bit preoccupied lately, I've managed to make a trip or two to Denny Park.  Here are some of the results:

 

I already posted a few of these on Facebook and Instagram, but several are new.  Special thanks to the squirrels of Denny Park.  Enjoy!

SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2016

This Is OK Graffiti

The building across the street is a graffiti magnet.  They painted over a bunch of unsightly tags a week or so ago.  But this has appeared in the last few days.  It's a variant on what's on the back of the building and I don't mind it.  Sure, it's a bit rough, but I see what they're going for.  Tagging is stupid.  It's done by morons.  This is something better.  It's not great, but it's infinitely preferable to tagging.  

Say Goodbye

The Jewish Federation building will soon be no more.  They're tearing it down to build some 38-story thing.  You will remember that around ten years ago, some mentally ill asshole from Eastern Washington decided to shoot the place up and take hostages because he was mad at Israel.  A standoff ensued and at the end of it, one poor volunteer was dead and six were wounded.  After the incident, they really beefed up security and who could blame them?  Oh, it was a pretty unfortunate event.  But soon, the building will be gone along with any indication that anything happened there.

New Place!

OK, so it's been awhile since the last post.  Apologies.  I was finalizing the album and conducting a legitimate job search.  I mean, is there any more of a redundant term than "unemployed musician?"  Well??  Anyhow, there's a new pho spot in Belltown, located at 4th & Vine, where the pasty place used to be.  A shame about that; I was gearing up to go there, but alas, it is no more.  It was just another in a growing number of places in that location that have not succeeded.  I wish these guys luck.  Me, though I really do like Local Pho at 3rd & Bell, I'll give these guys a try.  And yes, I'm aware that they spelled "Mekong" wrong.    

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2016

If You Have One Of My Calendars...

..this is your squirrel for the month.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2016

Your Sunday Squirrel

Well, I've been a terrible blogger.  And it's not because I have a terrible blog.  Pardon my silence.  I've been hammering out the latest album.  The first day of recording is this Friday.  In a bizarre turn of events, I'm going to be playing drums on five of the disc's thirteen tunes.  So there's been that, too.  I have this electro kit that has been wonderful for getting my chops up to muster, but can't actually duplicate the real drum experience.  So I've been renting a practice room in Ballard that contains one functional Tama four-piece set.  It's just the thing I need.  This next week will be more drumming, more singing, printing out parts and getting things generally in order.

It looks like this effort will take about four days to record and as many days to mix.  Last year's album was a monster: seven days to record, eight days to mix and three days to master - three days!  Well, I mean, there were 49 tracks to contend with.  This one has a paltry 13.  And it's got strings.  Since I had some somber tunes ready to go that had strings, I decided to make it a string extravaganza.  So there are 11 tracks with strings.  And it's going to be a fairly dour affair; there will be songs of failure, disastrous arrogance, awkwardness, extinction, creepiness and the perdition of the soul - to name just a few topics.  I hope I'll have a few session photos to post by next week.

For now, enjoy this squirrel from yesterday.  

SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2016

Your Sunday Squirrel

Once again, this was a holiday week, so my visits to Denny Park were limited.  But this was a good shot.  This guy was really trying to climb up my leg.  He really wanted me to be a tree.

RIP Ralph's

Well, after 31 years in business, Ralph's is done.  When I was feeling awash in cash - which was seldom - I shopped there.  They were quite a bit pricier than the other neighborhood stores.  But they had a great deli.  For all these years, they kept the doors open by selling booze to the local hotel crowd.  What I'll probably miss most about them is the Blue Note jazz they played on the outside speakers.  Sometimes I'd go out of my walk just to walk past it.  Rumor has it that it's going to be a chain drugstore.  Downtown is saturated with them, but there's only one here in Belltown.  OK, I guess that means that their potato chips will be cheaper.  Anyhow, goodbye Ralph's, you were a nice alternative to all the other murder marts.

Happy New Year!

Instead of being at the base of the Space Needle as usual, I was at the Centennial on 4th.  This was the view from the 26th floor.  It was a really pleasant evening.  I wore my tuxedo jacket and it actually fit - another reason why 2015 was a success.  OK, so I realize that this is a few days late, but I hope 2016 is a genuine kickass year for everyone.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2015

Your Sunday Squirrel

I didn't make many trips to Denny Park this week.  I was working and there was Christmas and all.  This fellow is from yesterday.  Somebody left something that this guy really liked.  He wasn't inclined to move at all.  I didn't want to bother him.  Squirrels have it tough enough