Belltown Bent

Up in smoke

Last weekend's Hempfest boasted 150,000 attendees, dozens of politcal and educational speakers, and thousands of glass pipes created for collectors and smokers of "organic combustibles."

But the most interesting smoking device on the grounds was Timm Dowden's 20-year-old red Ford Ranger. After coming out of his post-presidential election funk, Timm decided to "do something."

With determination, metal-working skills, and $300 he converted his Ranger to run on combustible gases routed to the engine from a wood-pellet burning gas generator welded to the truck's bed. The truck gets 40 miles from a $3.00, 40lb. bag, and can still run on gas.

You can see a news report video here. (requires free registration) You can reach him at timmdowden at aol dot com

Less than two hours from Belltown, at the tip of a spit, is the Semiahmoo Resort. The resort is surrounded by tidal saltwater, with the Puget Sound on one side and Drayton Harbor on the other, and is within the last 10 of Washington's 3,026 miles of shoreline.

The beautiful location and facilities more than made up for the less than sterling service. And if watching countless herons stalking the tidal flats, spotting groups of harbor seals, loosing track of the boats coming and going, or hanging out at the pool isn't enough, the resort offers the #1 public golf course in Washington.

Seafair has come and gone, the visiting ships have departed, but a few navy gunboats are still hanging around. They have rigid hulls and gun mounts forward and aft, but don't appear to be the S.A.F.E. boats reported to be in Elliott Bay by Northwest Navigator.

They are quite visibile, though, chasing each other around in circles and figure-8's. But, they aren't escorting ferries, they aren't inspecting the countless cargo freighters coming into the bay, they're just buzzing around, presumably in what is referred to as a "visual deterrent."

Reflection of the future

The construction crane, reflected in the window of the building at 2911 2nd Ave, may soon be replaced by the real deal.

If proposed land use project #2502474 goes through, the big green & glass box at 2nd Ave and Broad, which currently houses Washington State Ferries (no, the offices, not the boats), will be torn down and replaced with a 125' tall, 200 unit mixed-use residential building with 7,300 sq. ft. of retail space on the street level.

A place to land...

"Living with cancer can feel like falling. My inspiration was found in the Gilda’s Club commitment to provide a place to land for communities dealing with cancer."  Christopher Gay - Artist - Breaking the Fall

The Red Door Campaign was launched to raise funds for, and awareness of Gilda's Club Seattle and what it offers women, men and children living with cancer, and their families - support, networking, education, and social activities - free.

This is one of several doors currently on display on the Fisher Pavilion rooftop in Belltown's backyard, the Seattle Center, including one painted by elephants.

Remembering James Carter

Jazz critics often seem to find fault with James Carter. The problems, apparently, include the following:

• he plays too many instruments too well
• he demonstrates command of too many sub-genres of jazz
• he records concept albums that reveal his deep understanding and appreciation of jazz history
• and, he is prodigiously talented and doesn't hesitate to showcase his chops to the delight of his audience.

Go figure. From this fan's perspective, it all works. From this photographer's perspective, he looks good doing it.

Controversial contrails

We see them almost every day, these streams of ice crystals formed from superheated steam in the exhaust of jets. While most of us don't give contrails a second thought, some people spend their days thinking about them.

Purist nature photographers wait for them to dissipate. Climatologists suspect they play a role in global dimming. Conspiracy theorists suspect some are chem-trails - covert, high-altitude dumping of chemicals. In any case, as these Danish satellite pictures show, they are globally pervasive. Watch for one in the sky near you.

Aaron Parks comes home

Last night's late set (pictures here) at Jazz Alley capped Aaron Parks' visit home. He's off to Yoshi's in CA with Terence Blanchard's current sextet before they head over for a 3 city swing through Japan.

This remarkable young pianist/composer entered UW at 14. He was a National Merit Scholar at 15, and was studying under Kenny Barron at the Manhattan School of Music at 16. Then came a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, and much more.

Thanks Terence, for bringing Aaron and the rest of your exciting young band through town.

No Smoke on the Water...

... make that No Smoking in Watertown. Congratulations to owner Keith Robbins for stepping up and stomping out the smoking light. Seems like a no brainer, right? Dancing and breathing - deep, heavy breathing.

If and when he extends the ban to his next door establishment, Tini Bigs, I'll be heading over for my first TB martini. I could have to wait for Initiative 901, though. The scotch and cigar crowd may be harder to tamper with.

And the smoke isn't clearing over the pro-con 901 debate, especially since The Mirabeua Room's influential pro-no-smoke owner, Dave Meinert, read the small print. Turns out his patrons won't be able to smoke outside his door, either. In fact, they probably won't be able to smoke anywhere on the whole block.

 

Flight of a lifetime

Once each year, one seagull is chosen to make one glorious pass with the Blue Angels over the rooftops of Belltown.

This little known annual rite of Seafair is highly anticipated by the gulls of the north-west end of downtown.

This year's lucky gull, seen here slightly out of focus because he's flapping his wings so darned fast, showed off his soaring prowess in a tight formation for five.