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.

Oregon Coast

Silvie and I took off for the Oregon Coast, driving down Highway 101 to Lincoln City. We camped for two nights at Devil's Lake, and then spent a night at the Lake House B & B in Otis, OR. Devil's Lake is located just a stone's throw inland, so we could enjoy both quite conveniently. I kept driving us back to the beach, because I loved it!

Scenic o'erlook, Hwy 101

Devil's Lake

Geez, camping was cold - good thing we brought extra firewood!


Outside of our cottage

Sil on the cottage porch

View down to Devil's Lake from cottage porch.

The cottage was luxury after camping.

We had a kitchen, full bath, queen-sized bed, fireplace and cable tee vee.

The beach!

Damn, where's my boogie board?

Sil had fun with her kite...

...while I had fun running from the waves! The water was actually NUMBingly cold, so that after being soaked to the knees I would hobble back to the warming sand. I did this over and over, a game for a dummy - what can I say? It was fun!

We had a great time!!!

Millersylvania State Park

Silvie and I did a night of car camping just ahead of our trip to Oregon, a sort of dry run to see if we had all our stuff together, as far as camping goes (gear, food, etc.). Millersylvania is 10 miles south of Olympia. The campin' was fun and hiking trail loops were quite nice. A few pics:

What? A new post? Get outta here...

Call it a lame excuse, but really I've been too busy for the past, um, few months to post anything. So, here's a recap of that time.... Silvie has been working long hours, as have I. Between our jobs and my ever-ongoing skoolwork, we seem to have only one day a week (Saturday) to do anything even remotely fun. That usually involves thrifting and eating out. We found (as if it were missing or hiding) a new vegan restaurant a short drive from our 'hood. It's called Squid & Ink (no, I'm not sure why) and it's located at the north end of Boeing Field, about a 10 minute drive from our house. It's an offshoot, of sorts, of Wayward Cafe, a place on the other end of the city from us, which we haven't visited lately and has some of the best grub in town. Squid & Ink hasn't quite lived up to it's big sister, but it's pretty darned good, and we'll keep going back, at least until we've tried everything on the menu. Here's their logo:

Besides finding a new eatery, the other big news is that I got a new job within my company. I'm now pushing papers around in Accounts Payable, which represents not only an entry into the world 'o finance, but also an escape, hopefully forever, from jobs that require repetitive heavy lifting. Hurrah! (No pictures here, but I may post a shot of my cubicle, once I've decked it out.


My mom and brother were out here this summer for a few days this summer. We were glad that they could make it out again for the second summer in a row, and we may take a trip to PA in 2008, to return the favor. Here are some pics from when they were here:

Me 'n' Ma on the observation deck of the Needle

Sil lookin' good at Seattle Center





Sil and I had tons of fun tryin' on wacky glasses in the gift shop




Sexy!




We took a yummy tour of the Columbia Winery

Brian chillaxin' at Kubota Gardens




A real boss Japanese Maple at Kubota Gardens




Brian and me in a spirited game of Citrusball!




Mom really liked all the arty pigs around town.

And, that's a pretty darn good segue to the annual Walk for the Animals at lovely Greenlake in August, benefitting the Pigs Peace Sanctuary, a wonderful animal refuge in nearby Stanwood Washington. Here is a pic from that event of one of the piggies who was on hand for the day:

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A little more recently, Sil and I went to the Vegan Holiday Festival in Portland. Lots of yummy free samples and a perfect day for the long drive. We again went to Pirate's Tavern restaurant following the festival. This place is a pirate-themed vegan restaurant. I kid you not. Just about the strangest thing I've seen. But the food is pretty yummers.