Sweet Little Buford

Our sweet little Buford (aka Toot Toot) passed away after sudden, severe pancreatitis. He was only about 4 years old. He was really the sweetest little boy ever. He was cuddly, fluffy and soft; a wonderful companion and snuggler. He had the sweetest disposition with humans and fellow kitties. He is missed every day!

Phish at the Gorge

Silvie and I caught Phish at the Gorge on Friday, 8/7. Phish is winding up its reunion tour, and I wasn't planning on catching them. I had spaced on the announcement of the Gorge dates, and tickets sold out (predictably) quickly. A few days before the show, I bought tickets from someone at work, at cost, and we headed off on the 2 1/2 hour trip to George. The weather was perfect and we were both stoked at seeing Phish. We arrived early to check out the parking lot scene, but, as this was a back-to-back situation, the main activity was in the far-off camping area. Still, Sil and I had fun enjoying the limited scene in our lot before heading into the show.

It has been stated many times before, but the Gorge is really an amazing setting for a show. It was my second time at the Gorge, and the weather was much milder than the time we saw Sasquatch (in '04 or '05, I think it was). It was great to be among the Phaithful, and Silvie had a fine time people-watching. Phish played for about 3 hours, and the show definitely rekindled my appreciation for these guys. The setlist was spare as each song was jammed out thoroughly. Standouts included "Possum," "Fluffhead," "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley," and the encore, "Slave to the Traffic Light." This was my 7th time seeing Phish, and Silvie's 1st, and we agreed that if they should come to the Gorge again, we'd definitely do the whole weekend.

Silvie looks ready for the show...

...but Joe needs a few more beers first


View from the lawn

Another view of the stage and gorge beyond

Fine weather and a not-yet-full lawn

Phish took the stage the very instant that the sun disappeared

Phish, opening with "Down With Disease"

Lake Tahoe

Silvie and I were invited by friends Ken and Marie to spend a week with them at their timeshare in south Lake Tahoe. This is a very nice resort located at the Heavenly ski area, at some 7200+ feet above sea level. Ken and Marie have one week in the summer and one in the winter. Silvie and I were excited about the trip, and it turned out to be even better than expected. We drove down and back which meant that two days of the trip were essentially all travel. We drove through Reno on the way down and had to navigate the windy route up the mountain in the dark (with misleading suggestions from the GPS!). Ken and Marie are an easy-going couple, and they know the area quite well, so we spent several days being tour-guided around the beautiful lake. We drove completely around the lake, toured the Pope estate at the Tallac Historic site, visited Squaw Valley, ate at great restaurants, swam in the lake, won some moola at the casinos, walked the doggies, and hung out and enjoyed the pleasant weather and gorgeous surroundings. Ken and I hiked a couple of thousand feet to the top of one of Heavenly's peaks, and Silvie and I went star-gazing at night. We really had a wonderful time and are very grateful to our hosts (we'd gladly accept another invitation to visit!).

View from the resort

The boys - Bambi, T-Cup, Rusty and Piglet

Pope Beach, Lake Tahoe

Ken, Marie and the boys

Desolation Wilderness, above Fallen Leaf Lake

Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Olympics

Dinner at Christy Hill, lakeside

View across Emerald Bay

Lake Tahoe basin, seen from top of Sky Express, Heavenly

Another view from Heavenly (Fallen Leaf Lake seen in middle of photo)

A break before hiking back down

"Marco!" Marie and Joe in Lake Tahoe

Marie, Silvie, Joe and pups

Mt. Shasta, seen from I-5, northern CA

St. Pat's Dash

On Sunday, March 15th I ran in the St. Pat's Dash. It was my third dash, and it was a toughie. The weather was nasty, with a snow/rain mix and cold temp. The course was modified this year, due to construction, taking runners and walkers north on Aurora to Canlis restaurant before looping back to Seattle Center. The route was a tad longer this year at 3.75 miles, or just over 6k. Naturally, my time was my worst, given the length and the fact that I went at what turned out to be a slower-than-necessary pace. Percentage wise it was also my worst, as I finished just over the 4000 mark out of 7900-and-some runners. I won't bore you with the specifics. I always like to have a finishing kick, but on Sunday, I positively sprinted the last 100 yards. this told me that I left way too much in the tank, and I really could have improved my time, if even by just a minute or so. Oh well, that's not really the point. I did have fun and can't wait for next year's run.

BTW, here was my ipod playlist, which ended just about exactly the time I crossed the finish:

Wasted Years - Iron Maiden

First Tube - Phish

Jenny Ondioline - Stereolab

Blind - Hercules & Love Affair
The Ides of March - Iron Maiden

Whiplash - Metallica

My god, I didn't realize until now that I was listening to Ides on March 15th. Cool.

Antony & The Johnsons in Seattle

Silvie and I caught Antony & the Johnsons at the Moore on Saturday, February 28th. The band is touring in support of its third full-length, The Crying Light. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been so captivated by a performer; Antony really pushes the right buttons with me. He and his combo did not disappoint on Saturday at the Moore, as they treated a rapt audience to a memorable evening. The new record was stressed, with all but two tracks being played. Antony sat at the piano throughout, with the rest of the combo comprising a cellist, two violinists (one who doubled on acoustic guitar), a drummer, an electric bassist, and Doug Wieselman on various horns and electric guitar. Most of the tunes were haunting, soulful ballads. These were punctuated by a few up-tempo rockers. Wieselman shone on two, bringing the house down with his sax playing on “Shake that Devil” and blistering guitar on the fantastic “Fistful of Love.” The group encored with two of their more dramatic pieces, “Cripple and the Starfish” and “Hope There’s Someone.”

Here is the setlist, for those keeping score at home:


where is my power

her eyes are underneath the ground

epilepsy is dancing

one dove

for today i am a boy

kiss my name

everglade

another world

shake the devil

crazy in love

you are my sister

fistful of love

i was young when i left home

twilight

aeon

cripple and the starfish

hope there’s someone

Pumpkin Push 5k

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October 25th was the Pumpkin Push 5k at beautiful Seward Park in Seattle. This is the place where I do my Friday running, so I was looking forward to the event. The park has a level running/walking/biking path that outlines a peninsula on Lake Washington. On Fridays I run one lap of the place, which is under 3 miles. In order to make this a certified 5k, they included a brutal uphill run into the interior of the park. This occurs roughly halfway through the race, and was a killer. Nearly everyone I saw stopped to walk most of the hill, as did I. I finished in the second half of participants, as well as the second half of males and of my age/sex division. I did beat the average time by 5 seconds, which means some folks must have been walking the whole thing. I'm still not on a regular exercise program, so I can't be too displeased at my result. I shall improve!

Antony and the Johnsons in PDX

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Silvie and I drove down to Portland on Friday the 5th to see Antony & the Johnsons in concert with the Oregon Symphony. This is one of a handful of dates with various symphonies (music arranged by composer Nico Muhly) scheduled worldwide, and one of only three in the States. The venue was the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown, with a capacity of 2,800. It was nearly sold out.

I love Antony. His voice is one of a kind: soulful and lilting, absolutely transporting. He writes songs that explore the dark and sorrowful places, searching there for the hidden light of hope and love, and embracing it. His music incorporates strings often, and so the concept of this show was not so strange; yet the combination of a full symphony, the Johnsons scattered among them, with Antony’s captivating and beautiful voice, was just sublime beyond my already high expectations.

That voice was the star of an evening which opened with Antony taking the still-dark stage in front of a closed curtain, to sing a gorgeous version of the Angelo Badalamenti-David Lynch song “Mysteries of Love.” The show unfolded slowly, petal by petal, as the curtain was drawn during the second song to reveal the symphony, though they were still partially obscured by a veil-like screen. This screen was raised during a subsequent number, and the musicians were all visible, as well as conductor Gregory Vajda. Antony spoke not a word to the crowd the entire evening, and little time was spent between songs, which included material from the album “I Am A Bird Now” as well as new songs (and even a heart-felt cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” which drew the most vocal response from the crowd).

Indeed, the audience sat hushed and absorbed through each song, only to erupt in applause after each number. There was a sense in that hall that this music could elevate the soul beyond the everyday into a rarefied air; the strings, the piano, the singer and the rapt audience drawn up together into a wondrous, ethereal space. Antony, wrapped in a gossamer grey cloth like a figure from a renaissance painting, gestured with his arms, at one point pulling his hands to his chest, then flicking his fingers outward in a repeated motion that seemed to illustrate the outpouring of emotion from his heart, through this haunting and achingly beautiful music, to the world.

Here is a link to a Pitchfork article with some pics from the evening.