I missed a few cool pix from the weekend trip. Click the small images seen here to load larger versions of the shots. Notable among them is this lovely specimen of Bigfoot (left), on display in a downtown Anacortes shop window.

I’d be remiss if I did not share this issue of the celebrated, yet completely unknown comic book, “Strange Sports Stories” (left), which features a miscegenated combination of “Weird Tales” and sports-oriented comics:

“HOW did a dinosaur get to run in a modern-day horse-race?”

“WHY did a karate match start on Earth — and end on the Moon?”

“WHO had to play a tennis game with a live grenade?”

In conclusion, I have reason to suspect that friends of the author will derive amusement from and make merry over this image of the author expressing his sensitive side, while remaining sufficiently in touch with his inner geek to lodge his umbrella down the collar of his coat, freeing his hands.

As I noted on Saturday, Viv and I went to Anacortes and La Conner for part of the weekend, on the first day of the annual Tulip Festival. I’ve just finished processing the photos, and wanted to point out some choice treats.

As we often do in small towns we visit, we dropped by the local Historical Museum (almost never busy at all, often crammed with cool stuff, and frequently featuring genuine old people who have direct personal experience of the events the interesting object are so artfully arranged to illuminate). In La Conner, it’s been built, curiously, at the top of the highest hill in town, overlooking the historical district.

There’s a large parking lot, in which all-day parking is free with the four dollar admission. This beats the two-dollar lots in the lower section of town; I don’t think they have the cool stuff this museum has on display.

I’d suggest enjoying some very scary dolls and old toys including this clown and this excellent rolling lion.

Peruse a copy of a military paper with coverage of the Liberator bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building, with coverage that sounded very, very familiar (read it for yourself in the closeup I made; next image after the paper in the gallery). Marvel at the Eureka Self-locking Tubular Potato Planter, made by Potato Implement Company and featuring the Acme registered trademark. Countless wonders await the whole family, especially if the whole family has managed to avoid having their attention span eroded by the tube.

In town, there’s countless shops playing new-age tootle, peeper and blatt which feature amazing gewgaws that drip or run with water in some sort of homage to our fantastic pallor-enhancing weather. Naturally, such shops draw antique dealers like flies, and the two merchant schools cluster thickly along the banks of the winding oxbows of the river that runs through town. There’s also the excellent La Conner Brewing Co, where we ate a tasty lunch.

Once you’re out on the open plat, (all the country roads run straight and at right angles to one another), there are many, many flat fields. Most are green. A few featured flowers that were actually in bloom, but we were kinda early.

We did find an Art Show, entitled, in the creatively-fulfilling manner of art committees everywhere, “Art In A Pickle Barn“, which pretty well sums it up. I didn’t see anything that got me all worked up except for the very interesting rusted and dusty machine sitting in a back corner of the room. It looked to me like a corn-processing machine, but what the hell do I know about farming? I wanted to take pictures of it, but defeated myself due to the “No cameras” sign posted at the entrance to the Art Show.

Finally, we got a hot tip that there was color out at “Tulip Town”, which is where the experience I recounted in Saturday’s entry occurred, and indeed, where we finally got some money shots. All in all a pleasant spring outing.

http://www.tulipfestival.org/

http://www.skagitart.org/

http://www.skagitcounty.net/offices/historical_society/index.htm

http://www.brewpubexplorer.com/laconner2.html

Vivian and I went to Anacortes and La Conner this weekend, to attend a friend’s somewhat-spur-of-the-moment wedding reception. This weekend also happened to be the opening salvo in the annual “Tulip festival” in that area of the state.

It’s where all of New England’s fall colors come back to us every year, after the end of winter. I can’t imagine the shipping arrengements; it must be horrendous.

On my left, as I took the lovely postcard view above, was a not-yet-in-bloom planting of tulips which will provide a lovely american flag, probably before the end of the week. Standing guard over this patrotic flowerbed? Naturally, Lady Liberty.

All around me?

• A five person family of subcontinental Indian cultural and physical features, speaking a language I didn’t understand and driving a giant BMW SUV.
• Three persons of East African appearance and language posing for a picture with the statue and the flowers.
• The two Middle-Eastern gentlemen who run the espresso hut conversing quietly in Arabic, while their be-chadored wives did the same.
• No other persons of clearly northern european descent or obviously native english speakers anywhere within one hundred feet (or more – I didn’t get out a tape measure)

It made me feel patriotic, in my own fashion, and happy to notice it.

Today is a glorious bright spring day; not a cloud in the sky, the sun is shining brightly, and the air smells like flowers. I actually LEFT THE HOUSE this morning. I went to Seattle Central to withdraw from my pre-calculus class, which is being taught by someone who should have been a mean football coach and certainly will not be MY instructor (I wanted to go up to him after class and shout “YOU’RE FIRED!”).

Here are some of the things I learned.

I cannot get a cash or check refund, only a credit back to my credit card for about 75% of the amount paid, even though I’ve already paid off my credit card. What say you they charge me about 25% of the remainder for me to get my hands on the stinkin’ dough?

There are many, many, many vacant businesses up and down Broadway, the main shopping drag in my nabe.

People will chip in with up to eight cents when in a cash register line to complete a purchase.

Capitol Jewelry and Loan has no strap buttons handy, but does have a 1-channel hard disk recording interface available for $149, which until a couple weeks ago might have sounded like a good deal. now it does not. Especially when I saw a Mackie 16-channel powered board right next to it for about $600.

There are “FOR RENT” signs EVERYWHERE.

The Henry Branch of the Seattle Public Library is currently a big hole in the ground.

Both Rolling Stone and Maxim feature a cover of [insert one-word female popstar name here] over a similar tagline: how [insert one-word female popstar name here] “Seduced America”, which makes me think they must be running out of trained chimps in the headline writers’ guild again. Additionally, apparently the grey in my hair provides some sort of memory impairment field since I can’t recall ever hearing of any of the acts that grace the covers of the music mags I glimpsed.

I saw a nice article in a mag called ‘baseline’ about razor-blade package art from 1900 to about 1950 by Steven Heller, whom I vaguely know online from the graphics list. The art was lovely.

Finally I concluded that I must communicate with Mr. Goldstein about concatenating our drivel and compounding the offense by actually comitting it to paper in the “Zine” form, as it is popularly called among the fashion-forward youth of today. Zounds! I must propose it forthwith.

We could include popular novelty items, such as trading cards, as well as the much-beloved subscription-assurance device known in the trade as “comics”.

Had a busy, busy day yesterday. Greg and I recorded four songs for a demo. Then it was off to the Comet to wish the Karel a happy big 3-0. After that, we went to Spencer’s new digs where he’s moved in with Sarah and her son Izzy.

At the housewarming, it was great to see two sets of friends meeting and mingling – it was kind of freaky to walk into a party and know and recognize almost everyone there. Almost like being home. Hm.

AND!!!

Sarah had a copy of this killer new york downtown noise rock record my sister and I had as kids on the stereo at one point: NO NEW YORK. Shreiking caterwauls, squaking saxophones, ominous thumping: ah, sweet youth. I found it hilarious to be able to sing along to such anti-music.

Even better, hearing this jagged, pointy, mean music gave me a warm fuzzy of happy nostalgia. HAW!!!

Uh, the stuff Greg and I did is pretty much not like the music of Lydia Lunch, I’d like to take the chance to say right here.
—
NEW YORK NO WAVE ARCHIVE <- great googley moogely!!!

No New York review from Creem, April 1979, about Lydia Lunch: “Listening to her is about as pleasant as being kicked in the stomach”, but, um, I think he likes the record.

… and for a mere $37.49, you to can enjoy the soothing sounds of “Woke Up Screaming”.

I had a phone interview this morning with a very professional recruiter for Classmates.com. I fear I started things off badly by asserting that they were IIS-based and located in Kirkland, which is incorrect in both cases.

I can’t say it was the most successful phone interview I’ve ever had. Still, I certainly hope to hear from them again. I think the Classmates.com idea – a site that permits and encourages people to locate others that they had contact with at specific times in their lives, such as high school – is one of the most natural uses of the internet, and has the potential to be as successful and central to internet users’ lives as eBay has become.

In fact, Classmates >could< become the central clearinghouse for internet contact information, if done right. Boy it'd be tough; but that would be a damn fun job. I have a bazillion great ideas how to get there; let's hope I hear back from them so I can share.