Belltown Bent

Where's Earth?

People from all over the world are looking for Earth. Seattle-based composer and guitar player, Dylan Carlson, is at Earth's core. He, along with drummer Adrienne Davies and guests, have just completed a new album which should be released this summer, coinciding with rare live appearances, starting on the west coast.

Learn more at Thrones and Dominions.

Bent Bengal

Oban, the resident spotted Bengal, made sure all the tall ships entering Elliott Bay, left Elliott Bay.

He takes this overlook responsibility very seriously, although he seems quite tolerant of any exceptions.

I admire his ability to be so serious, so observant, and so damned relaxed.

The Tall Ship Lynx

A few tall ships paid a brief visit to the Seattle waterfront this afternoon, looping through on their way to TALL SHIPS ® Tacoma 2005 for the 4th of July weekend. The Lynx, seen here from The Bent, is a 122' square topsail schooner. She has 4,669 square feet of sail and a draft of 8'6", no problem for the deep waters of Elliott Bay.

She was designed by Melbourne Smith to interpret a privateer or naval schooner from the War of 1812, and was launched July 28, 2001 in Rockport, ME, by Rockport Marine.

The original Lynx was built by Thomas Kemp in 1812 in Fell's Point, MD. She was among the fleet of privateers, empowered by President James Madison as legal pirates, and permitted to prey upon ships flying the belligerent flag of Great Britain. American privateers captured or sank some 1,700 British merchant vessels during the war.

Andy Bey - timeless treasure

Andy Bey stops time. And he starts it again. He opens up songs and breathes new life into them. He offers up standards so intimately it seems as if you've never really heard them before.

Seen here last night at Seattle's Jazz Alley, the Andy Bey Duo, featuring guitarist Paul Meyers, cast a spell on the crowd, making us believe we were deep into the night, even though it was light outside.

Their subtle, minimalist arrangements, full of space and silence, made room for every phrase, every word carried by Bey's deep, dramatic baritone voice. An evening of songs as full of emotion, intimacy, and beauty as you could hope to find in a jazz club. Seek out Andy Bey.

Revisiting the Glacier Bear

Traveling with photographer Art Wolfe, in Glacier Bay National Park, we went by boat, to a meadow where we hoped to find a seldom seen silver blue Glacier Bear - the rarest phase of the American Black Bear.

After landing in our launch we spent about 1/2 hour slowly approaching the area where Art had spotted a few black bears. As we got within about 25 yards of them, this guy came out of the woods to dine on grass. He watched us as intently as we focused on him, but I'm sure my heart was beating faster.

More pictures from SE Alaska - here.

Sunbreaks

Just another rainy day in Seattle. It must have rained, right? Anyone notice? It's the sunbreaks that are really worth noticing. All of a sudden, everything is lit up, crystal clear, fresh and shiny. The sky offers up incredible depth and drama. Gorgeous bands of blue, and countless shades of gray. More folks carry sunglasses than umbrellas.

This sunbreak, from a few days ago, was shot from our front window. The camera is pointed west and the sun, about 30 degrees further north, is actually reflected back through the double-paned glass. Love lucky angles.

If you check NOAA's Climate Diagnostics Center map, it's pretty easy to find cities with mean annual rainfall greater than Seattle's 37" - Miami: 55.9"; Raliegh-Durham: 41.4"; NYC: 47.2". Of course, there are cities like Traverse City, MI, with less than 30" - but let's not forget about the 90.1" of snow.

And where's Karsh?

Karsh Kale is another artist who brings many searchers to my site (see Where's Kaki). What they find are pictures taken at his performance with Realize Live at Bumbershoot, held in the Seattle Center which sits off Belltown's NE corner, another wonderful walking destination.

Karsh is classically educated in tabla, schooled in drums, and steeped in electronics. Combining elements of classical south Asian music, western rock, and electronica, Karsh's music has global reach. This day it reached all the way to my backyard.

See more images of Karsh Kale and remarkable singer/harmonium player Vishal Vaid.

A window on Olympic National Park

As seen from The Bent, a recent storm breaks over the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic mountains, which dominate the horizon to the northwest of Belltown.

With almost 95% of the park designated as wilderness, the Olympic National Park offers intertidal life zones, rugged coast line, glacier-capped peaks, old-growth temperate rain forest, hundreds of miles of rivers, five species of salmon and steelhead, more than 5,000 elk, more than 900,000 acres of wilderness, and eight kinds of plants and 15 kinds of animals found no where else on earth.

Just one of three National Parks just hours away from 98121.

Where's Kaki?

"Kaki King" is the most frequent search phrase to bring visitors to my photography site. Of the hundreds of images of the 70+ musicians in performance in my gallery, Kaki's are also the most often lifted by blogs.

Legendary string player David Lindley said of Kaki, "The first time I saw her play she scared the audience to death. Jaws dropped."

The first, second, and third time (three different venues, all walking distance from Belltown) I saw the finger-style guitarist, she captivated and charmed the audiences with her powerful, flowing, inventive playing.

Both her CD's are great, but her live performances are worth seeking out.

Ebbing and flowing

On average, about every 12 hours and 24 minutes Belltown experiences a high. High tide, that is. Twelve hours due to the earth's rotation, and 24 minutes due to the moon's orbit.

Bordered to the west by Elliott Bay, Belltown experiences moderate tidal swings between about 12' and -3', sometimes higher sometimes lower. The Bay of Fundy experiences extreme tidal swings of over 53 feet. In that regard, we're not so radical.