a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
I had time on Sunday to swing by King Street station just south of downtown Seattle. The station was originally constructed in 1906 but recently renovated inside and out. Wikipedia says it has Italianate architecture and Beaux-Arts architecture (OK! so now I know what that looks like as well). The station is a stop on the Amtrak Cascades route that runs along the Cascade Mountains on its east, up from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver in Canada.
Here are two pictures from Friday. I took the bus the the gym and back late afternoon (nice not to deal with the crush of traffic downtown). There was still some sun left after that, and so I walked down to Broadway (the main out-and-about street here in Capital Hill) to see what’s going on there.
Here is one more post for the Bullitt center as a follow-up to the ones I made some six months ago when construction was underway : Seattle’s new ultra-green building and Bite the Bullitt. The sleek and shiny solar-paneled building is now ready for its opening on Monday (Earth Day).
It was a turbulent weather day here in central Puget Sound with thunderstorms and hail. Heavy snow also fell near Snoqualmie Pass (53 miles east of Seattle on I-90). This mountain pass saw two avalanches as a result. In the one, a 12-person snow-shoeing party got hit, but all were accounted for without serious injuries by end of day Saturday. In the other avalanche three experienced hikers were carried more than 1,200 feet. By Saturday night one still had not been found, with hopes now dimming that he is still alive.
My brother and I and friends went out to the Museum of History and Industry in South Lake Union neighborhood (yes, I was there a few weeks ago as well), grabbed a bite to eat nearby, and went on to check out the Ballard Locks (official name : Hiram M. Chittenden Locks). The locks are part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, a large project that was started in 1911 and officially completed only in 1934. The system of locks separate the fresh water body of Lake Union that is on average 20 ft higher than the salt water of Puget Sound (depending on the tides). The locks also have a ‘fish ladder’ .. a set of boxes and weirs that allow salmon to migrate into Lake Union and Lake Washington to spawn. I see fish like salmon that do this salt water-fresh water migration, are called diadromous fish.
My brother from California is visiting just for a day or so, and Friday night we went to the waterfront even though the weather was a little rainy. Why not try out the ‘Great Wheel’? I suggested. The Ferris wheel has enclosed gondolas, 42 of them – exactly because of Seattle’s weather. We got to sit in gondola no 1. It says up to 8 people can fit into a gondola, but that would be a tight fit, was our impression. The ride is not for people with vertigo, or with claustrophobia !
Sunday was another blue sky day here on Easter weekend, and I felt compelled to get out of the house on Sunday afternoon. I walked down to the Japanese Garden and the Arboretum to check out the blossoms on the trees.
Mono no aware is a Japanese phrase associated with cherry blossoms. It literally means ‘the pathos of things’, or could also be translated as ‘an empathy toward things’ or ‘a sensitivity to ephemera’ (source: Wikipedia). So it is a term for the awareness of the impermanance or the transience of things, and a gentle sadness or wistfulness at their passing.
Early on Wednesday morning, a 1000-foot-wide section of the hillside on the west side of central Whidbey Island here in the greater Seattle area fell off into Admiralty Bay. Check out the link below from the Seattle Times for a full report and an amazing split-screen before-and-after picture. Only one house was completely destroyed, with thankfully no injuries or loss of life – but 17 others have been evacuated .. and of course there is concern now about the stability of the whole area immediately around the slide site as well.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020655560_whidbeylandslidexmlxml.html
I made my way to Seattle’s downtown late afternoon to enjoy some of the weekend’s sunny weather in the Pike Place Market area. First Ave not far from there was closed for traffic, and filled with people at the Seattle Art Museum. They were there for the unveiling of ‘The Mirror’, a new kaleidoscopic LED panel for the Seattle Art Museum’s sign. The panel was created by artist Doug Aitken. Mayor McGinn spoke a few words, and then the sign was switched on. There is some fancy electronics behind the display that picks up signals from the traffic and the weather and more, and then the system selects displays from a library of images. Very nice, but I have to note that by today’s standards for outdoor LED panels, and by what I’ve seen in China : that panel is not very large! I suspect the space that was available on the side of the building was limited, that’s all.
(Even though we do not have a whole lot of dust in Seattle and secondly, I do not mean to say I am unsympathetic to the cute B&O Espresso building’s demise). The B&O Espresso building is making place for a new 6-story mixed-use building after a 37-year run at the corner of Belmont and Olive here in Capitol Hill. The dessert cafe’s owners Majed and Jane Lukatah has relocated to Ballard for now, but intends to open up shop again at this same place in 2014. Was the building historic, and should it have been preserved? I am not sure. I just trust the new building that will take its place will fit in with its surroundings – and will have some architectural character to show, even if it is brand new.
Tuesday was the last day of winter -but there’s more snow out east in the Unites States and a rain storm for us here in the Pacific Northwest. Good Morning America’s dramatic weather map makes it look a lot worse than it actually is here in the city of Seattle (this is Wednesday as I write this). The Olympic Peninsula with its mountain makes somewhat of a rain shadow for us here in the city.
I really, really need to replace my circa 2008 desktop computer from Dell and ran out to Fry’s electronic store on Saturday just to check out the merchandise, and see if there are any boxes on display I should also consider. And then all the other options, like go with Apple or Microsoft? (Microsoft. I think I have enough Apple devices with my iPad and iPhone and besides, I want to check out Windows 8). Replace the 21″ flat panel screen with a touch screen? I’m not sure about that for a desktop. Will I really reach out and touch the screen in between typing and using the mouse? I think I will replace the box first, and hang with my dumb screen for a while longer.
[Correction made to original post .. the husky mascot is from the University of Washington of course – not from Seattle University! thanks Dale!]
The husky dog mascot is from the University Bookstore on University Way in Seattle’s University District (of course). (The University of Washington is one of the top public universities in he country, with a student population of 35,000). The university’s new football stadium is still under construction, its opening some 6 months away. The bookstore is probably mundane for students coming here for textbooks, but for the occasional visitor (me), it is quite a treat to look at the large and varied selection of books (it has much, much more on display than just textbooks).
This street art cow is new (I think). I found it by the corner of Madison and 18th Ave here on Capitol Hill when I took a walk just before sunset on Thursday. The rain we had on and off all week had stopped, but it was still a brisk 45 °F (8°C) outside.
Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry is not new, but it has recently moved to a new location : from its University of Washington location to South Lake Union, occupying the historic Naval Reserve Armory constructed in 1941-1942. I never did visit the museum at its old location, so the exhibits were all new to me. I also learned that there was a Great Seattle Fire in June 1889 that destroyed 29 city blocks (the story is told in the museum’s exhibit for it by a very cute short film, set to music and animated old pictures).
The most recent exhibit or museum that has been added to Seattle Center at the Space Needle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass house. Here is the website http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/. Dale Chihuly (71) is a native of Tacoma and has made a career and business out of glass art. I went to check out the exhibit with my friend Tony from Portland on Friday.
It was nice enough today at 46 °F (8 °C) to go for a walk just before the sun set at 5.37 pm, and that’s what I did. My Capitol Hill neighborhood has a lot of apartments due to extensive construction early in the 1900s through the 1950s – and right now several new ones are under construction as well. Average studio apartments here now goes for $1,200 per month,
one-bedrooms for $1,500 p.m. and two-bedrooms for $1,950. Not cheap, but hey – we’re not San Francisco or New York City. Check out the New York City apartment map from below from http://www.nakedapartments.com.
I often walk by the old Fire Station No 7, on 15th Ave in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. It now houses a video rental store. It is usually cloudy and rainy (especially this time of year). So on Friday afternoon when I looked at the doors, I thought ‘Man! Did I know the doors are that violet (and violent!) blue color? I guess I know now!’.
Sunday was a beautiful blue-sky day. I went with my friends Bryan and Paul to the 50th Seattle RV* show in CenturyLink Field stadium (home of the Seattle Seahawks football team, and also the Seattle Sounders soccer team). Nearby is Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team. These two stadiums are in SoDo (South of Downtown) and maybe there will be a third one in a few years. The Seattle Sonics basket ball team may come back to the city, and may get a new $490 million stadium even though there is the KeyArena stadium in downtown that they could use. (Pictures of the proposed new basketball stadium here http://bizj.us/dfu85/i/6).
*Recreational Vehicle, also called motor homes sometimes
My friends Bill and Dave and I drove out to the town of Snohomish today to get some lunch and to go check out the antique stores in the historical downtown.
Some of the antique stores are very large, with several floors of spaces for dozens of sellers displaying their wares. Everything from porcelain, crystal, books, art, advertising signs, clocks, collectible cards, figurines, toys and even clothes such as mink coats, is on display.
