Tree in Kubota Garden

Tree in Kubota Garden
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

I went to the Kubota Gardens down in Tukwila area this weekend. I took a few pictures with the new lens I recently acquired; a 28-135 IS USM Canon lens.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with the results. I still need to purchase a lens filter and perhaps I'll add a lens hood. I've never used one before, but I think it's about time I add one to my collection of camera equipment.

Anyway...enjoy the pictures!

-Cheers

Concerts Galore!

The Black Keys in Seattle
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

I saw The Black Keys this weekend at the Paramount. It was a great experience. Not only am I partially deaf, but I was blinded by all the lights! I love the music and I had a blast. It was also good to catch up with a friend who recently moved to the Boise, ID area. I was sad to see him go when he did, but I think the move has definitely been a good one for him.

On a side note, I have gone to see many a concert this year. I had the chance to see Arcade Fire on Wednesday. I didn't know the music going into the show, so it was a little more challenging for me to get into the same mood as the rest of the crowd. That show, was not just a band. It was an experience! It was artistic and creative and different. I loved that the band members switched instruments during the show. The imagry they used during the concert I probably would've understood better if I knew the songs, but it was still well done. It was all beautiful.

The week before I went to see Vampire Weekend at the Paramount. That band is also a great one to see live. I have to admit, I don't always understand what their songs are about, but I get a kick out of how eccentric the music is. I love all the rhythm changes and Ezra's voice.

What a great experience. I've never been so close to the performers before. I'm glad the person I went with has a penchant for standing extremely close to the front of the stage whenever given the opporunity. It makes for a great time....plus the company wasn't half bad. ;)

I'll hopefully, get some video up on my flickr account soon...till then...

-Cheers!

Safeco Field

Safeco Field Sign
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

First Mariner's Game of the season for me. What a great way to start...beating the Twins!

I love the Twins too...Minnesota is like a second home to me. :)

Anyway, I have pictures up from the game. Enjoy!

Seattle Sounders FC Badge

Seattle Sounders FC Badge
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

I went to my first Seattle Sounders FC game today. It wasn't the greatest of games. A lot of shoving, bad calls, calls that should've been made and desperation at the end. There were some pretty close shots - it's a shame they didn't go in at all. The Sounders definitely are not having the same season that that they had last year. The passing game is a little off and the plays don't look as clean. The shots would be about a ball's width away from the goal.

The crowd was excited and I noticed that the fans who are really into
football are attempting to create the same atmosphere in that of the English Premiere League. Maybe I'm just not loyal enough to all my teams, but it wasn't quite my cup of tea. I did enjoy the game and I will always love soccer more than any other sport. But, I think I'll still prefer my Mariners and a relaxing afternoon at Safeco Field.

I do have yet to hit up my first Mariner's game of the season. I think I'll have a work function outing to one the first week of June. That should be a lot of fun.

Check out my new pics!

-Cheers!

Ultimate

I got it guys!
Originally uploaded by kiki5253

More Ultimate Pictures.

-Cheers!

Oldies but Goodies

Queen Ann Gate
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

I finally got around to posting some of my older B&W pictures. I added 10 new ones that weren't previously on flickr.

-Cheers!

A Trip to the Zoo

Jaguar
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

let sleeping cats lie...I took a trip to the zoo today. :) Had a lot of fun! Feel free to take a gander at a few of the pictures.

Hope your weekend was great!

-Cheers!

Lies Lies Lies

Lies Lies Lies
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

I took some pictures at the SAM. I know I take a lot of pictures there, but I do like the park. Bean was in town too so I wanted to show her more of Seattle. :)

Enjoy!

Heat in Seattle

Sunlight Reflection
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

Boy! It's been incredibly hot over here lately. I can't believe we've had temperatures in the 90's and will continue on this way until Thursday evening.

Seattle has two Severe Weather Warnings in effect right now, one for Stagnant Air and the other for Excessive Heat. Us Seattlelites are not used to this suffering!! Make it stop! It's not even cooling off at night!

Without any central air (AC) the days pass much slower than they should. Even my poor cat has been sleeping on the floor in front of the fan. Poor little furball. With all his fur I'm sure this heat isn't making him happy either. :(

Tomorrow is the CIS BBQ at Golden Gardens. I'm excited to get out to the beach for a little while. I might even wear a swimsuit to go wading. It's hot enough that it might be worth it to stick my toes in the freezing cold water.

Welp, with that in mind, there are a few new pics up today. From my weekend excursion to Kerry Park and Alki. These are pretty common tourista places, but Sarah was/is in town til tomorrow, so I thought it'd be worth it.

Cheers!

EP Release for The Nine Tailors

The Nine Tailors are having an EP Release in Ballard tomorrow! I'm excited to hear them all play. I've seen some of their shows before, but not since they added Seth to the mix. I hear he's a good guitarist. :)

For more information, go to http://www.theninetailors.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/theninetailors

In other news, I also found another good local band this weekend. Hey Marseille is a good local band. I took classes at SPU with one of the members, Patrick. Quite a good band: http://www.heymarseilles.com/ so have a listen! :) You will be pleasently surprised.

New Photos

Seattle Weekly
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

This is one of many pictures taken downtown along the waterfront. I'm excited to have some new pictures up...it's been great to have Sarah in town. I usually take more artistic shots when she's around. Some of the new photos in my Flickr account were taken by her.

It's another lovely day in Seattle! :)

Cheers!

Now that I'm up, I'll shred your drapes while you sleep

Now that I'm up, I'll shred your drapes while you sleep
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

This is my little terrorizer...Winslow. As you can see he has beautiful green eyes, but they look like they're going to rip me to shreds for "womanhandling" him to take the picture.

It was for a worthy cause...this photo. :)

Steve's Hands

Steve's Hands
Originally uploaded by kharms5253

Went to Discovery Park today. Unfortunately the trip was cut short due to band practice. Oh well. :) I was able to get a few good pictures in such a short amount of time. I'm quite thrilled with how Steve's hands turned out. They're very photogenic, no? ;-)

Seattle has been enjoying quite a bit of good weather recently. I'm thrilled to have all this sun!

Cheers!

Panic Attack!

The crows are having a panic attack on campus today. Swarms of them are flooding the trees in the loop. You can't hear anything other than their chatter. Maybe the gods are angry and the gateway to hell opened above SPU.

On a side note, crows are considered to be luckky in East Asia. Maybe it's a sign that the campus is blessed and we'll have a profitable year.

Crows also show signs of intelligence. They can learn and adapt their behaviors easily. A study about a crow versus a squirrel showed each animal pushing a quarter in to get food. When the quarter was placed elsewhere the crow was able to find the quarter and push it in while the squirrel just gave up because it didn't know what to do. The crow had learned that the quarter was the giver of food.

Either way, it's a nightmare. The crows swoop down on people as they walk through the loop...dive bombing whoever comes close to their trees. The demon crows have returned in full force!

Pictures from the Weekend

The Nine Tailors

I'm going to see The Nine Tailors perform...however, there are only four. The band members:

Kurt Schuler – vocals, guitar, shoes, syntax, bus, ties…
Steven Hardin – drums, vocals, keys, coffee, shower, BBQ…
Zach Cartwright – bass, keys, tuba, couch, WOW…
Seth Moore – guitar, keys, bicycle, inspiration, scotch…

From the website:

Emerging in the summer of 2008, The Nine Tailors draw heavily on the literary influences of Southern Gothic writer Flannery O' Connor and Ernest Hemingway. Named for the traditional tolling of nine low-ringing bells following the death of a man in 18th- century England, long time acquaintances Steven Hardin and Kurt Schuler began forming their tight knit friendship in 2008 while pounding out haunting melodies in a makeshift practice space in a Greenwood garage.
Borrowing from the stark simplicity of cult favorites like David Bazan and Mark Kozelek, as well as the eccentric energy and lyrical phrasing of Modest Mouse, The Nine Tailors craft eerily beautiful songs that take you out towards the rugged coastlines and evergreens of the Northwest, to the desolation of the Pacific.

Band member, Kurt Schuler says, “It’s not about despair, but about breaking through the comfortable to a place where we can confront the inevitability of death and the urgency contained in the struggles of life.” In the process of songwriting, Schuler says he never knows what will happen. “In creating characters, the songs end up shaping themselves. I’m usually surprised at how little control I have in the outcome. What needs to happen, happens.”
Whether journeying through the minds of strange sailors and fishermen, or the trailers of the Midwest where dogs lie chained to broken- down pick up trucks, you can be sure The Nine Tailors are one of Seattle’s up-and-coming indie folk acts worth checking out.

This is my shameless plug for The Nine Tailors. If you read this blog, please head over to http://theninetailors.com for a listen. An EP will be released at the end of the this month...I think there are plans to make it available online. I'll let you know what I find out about that.

Stephen Colbert's Take on Seattle Fireworks

Segway Day!

How far would you go...

To protect the environment...how far would you go? Certainly we need to take care of our resources. Make sure that people are safe and the environment is safe, but how far would you go to make sure everything' okay? Would you sue the city over fireworks?

One man is...he's attempting to stop 4th of July fireworks over Lake Union in Seattle until he state shows that gathering that many people together is safe for viewers, the park and surrounding wildlife. He's claiming that the city failed to conduct a review in accordance to the State Environmental Policy Act befor permitting the annual event.

Seattle city officials maintain that the once-a-year civic event is what the state had in mnd when it exempted certain activities from these revie requirements and there are already conditions on the event' private contractor sonothing happens that might release any contmination this weekend.

The event is an annual event held at Gas Works park on the north end of the lake. It was a toxic clean up site becuse the park was once the site of a coal-to-gas plant.

With the fact that Ivars pulled out of 4th of July celebrations out here earlier this year, the timing for his petition isn't exactly the best. WaMu Family 4th, now Chase Family 4th, is the only fireworks celebration that will take place inside Seattle city limits this year. Many people attend this free event and it certainly would be a shame for this event to not take place.

The Lake City man does have a point though. Because it is built on a former industrial site, the soil and groundwater on the site was contaminated. The 1971 Master Plan called for "cleaning and greening" the site through bio-phyto-remediation. There are no known areas of surface soil contamination remaining on the site today, although tar occasionally still oozes from some locations within the site and is isolated and removed.

Toxic sites are not something to be messed with...boats aren't allowed to launch from the park because the soil has hazerdous substances in it. Nonetheless...it would be a shame to lose this wonderful event. But I would think that the welfware of its viewers should stand higher than the lighting of fireworks once a year.

Pictures