Some [fairly] new Seattle bands I like - The Moondoggies, Throw Me The Statue, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes

Here are some new (to me) bands from Seattle I have been listening to in the new year (along with My Morning Jacket and Jamey Johnson).

The Moondoggies. A new Seattle band, who are playing at Neumo's next week. I can only find clips of them playing nearly a capella on the ferry. Here is a link to their myspace page, which has a few songs. The clip below gives a little taste. They are a serious roots band, with a touch of what a lot of people describe a mix of Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Byrds. Not a bad lineage!

[Ed's note: A late update by Jack Brummet:] I am updating this article the next night, and wanted to note that the more listen to this band, the more I love them. I am absolutely attending (Dave Hokit just offered me a ticket). If anyone wants to do a meet-up at or during a Pre-Func, let me know! With all due respect to Fleet Foxes/Throw Me The Statue/Band of Horses, all of whom I like very much, The Moondoggies just seem to transcend a lot of the ca-ca and you get the feeing listening to their songs that the band is much less trying to make a cohesive album than putting their feet down on the first leg of something that like it might just be An Incredible Journey.




Throw Me The Statue - a video of their tune Lolita:




The Fleet Foxes - A recent video on YouTube:




Band of Horses - We saw them in Memorial Stadium last summer, where they had no trouble managing a stadium, and what had to be their biggest crowd ever. This is a video of their tune The Great Salt Lake:



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Seattle postcard: The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge

Click to enlarge the floating bridge, ship canal, and Lake Washington.

I have driven from my home in Seattle over this pontoon bridge every day for nearly 20 years. At the top of the card, just off to the right, is where Bill Gates would build his mansion on the water years after this photo was taken.

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People Who Deserve It - a blog dedicated to "socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face."

People Who Deserve It is a website devoted to documenting "socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face." Some gems:

#2 - Woman Who Talks on Cellphone at Holocaust Museum
#73 Inaccurate Wikipedia Contributor
#59 Passive Aggressive Emoticon User
#65 Cheapskate Landlord
# 9 Sexual Innuendo T-Shirt Guy
#6 Loser Who Laments About Turning 25
#29 Douche Who Wear Sunglasses Inside (aka Corey Hart)
#27 Incessant Facebook Status Updater
#72 - No Clean Up Nail Clipper
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Poem: The Curtain

1
There are pockets of sanity
Scattered among us

And light years between those
Shimmering Seas of Tranquility.

2
The puzzle we face every day
Is keeping our tiller

Aimed away from
The Sea of Madness.

3
The silver rain

Is drawn like a curtain

Between us

And God.

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Painting (analog, even!): Karl Marx

click to enlarge

This is an acrylic and ink on silk. . .the foundation is an old banner from Communist China that I found at a surplus store. I painted this a few years ago...

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Old Seattle postcard - Battleships in Elliott Bay

Click to enlarge
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This postcard must be from the '40s. The only skyscraper appears to be The Smith Tower. . .

We know from rain. . .and this is rain: 22 rivers flooding in Western Washington

click to enlarge this brain surgeon's pickup

On top of the still melting snow, we've been hit with massive--even for here--rainfall and by 22 rivers flooding in Western Washington. In our immediate vicinity, the Tolt, Cowlitz, Nooksack, Skagit, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Cedar, Nisqually, Puyallup, Carbon, and Skookumchuck rivers, as well as dozens of creeks are flooding. They've closed Interstate 5 to the south and north, as well as the Stevens, Snoqualmie (I-90), Bluett, and White Passes over the Cascade Mountains. Western Washington is an island at the moment, cut off from the rest of the west coast, anything east of the mountains, and Canada.

It could be worse of course; those 22 flooding rivers are only a fraction of the waterways in the Puget Sound/Western Washington Region (and we do have some cool river and creek names..I don't even think Jumpoff Joe Creek is listed!):


Fraser River (BC)
Chilliwack River
Nooksack River
Samish River
Skagit River
Baker River
Sauk River
Suiattle River
White Chuck River
Cascade River
Stillaguamish River
Boulder River
Snohomish River
Pilchuck River
Skykomish River
Sultan River
Wallace River
Beckler River
Rapid River
Snoqualmie River
Tolt River
Raging River
Pratt River
Taylor River
Pipers Creek (within walking distance of Jack's House)
Lake Washington Ship Canal/Lake Washington (within walking distance of Jack's House)
Taylor Creek
Thornton Creek
Sammamish River
Kelsey Creek
Coal Creek
Cedar River
Rex River
Juanita Creek
Duwamish River
Black River
Cedar River
Green River (which runs a block from where I grew up)
White River (feeds into the Green River)
Fauntleroy Creek
Puyallup River
Stuck River
Clearwater River
Greenwater River (childhood fishing spot)
Carbon River
Mowich River
Chambers Creek
Clover Creek
Nisqually River
Mashel River
Deschutes River
Skokomish River
Hamma Hamma River
Duckabush River
Dosewallips River
Big Quilcene River
Strait of Juan de Fuca
Dungeness River
Gray Wolf River
Elwha River
Lillian River
Lost River
Haynes River
Pysht River
Hoko River
Sekiu River
Lyre River
Sooes River
Ozette River
Big River
Quillayute River
Dickey River
Bogachiel River
Calawah River
Sitkum River
Sol Duc River
Hoh River
Queets River
Clearwater River
Solleks River
Salmon River
Sams River
Raft River
Quinault River
Moclips River
Copalis River
Humptulips River
Hoquiam River
Chehalis River
Wishkah River
Wynoochee River
Satsop River (scene of a great rock festival I attended)
Canyon River
Black River (now subsumed into the Whote and Green rivers)
Skookumchuck River
Newaukum River
Johns River
Willapa River
North River
Fall River
Palix River
Canon River
North Nemah River
Middle Nemah River
South Nemah River
Naselle River
Columbia River
Grays River
Elochoman River
Cowlitz River (the river where my Uncle Guy of the fabled wooden leg ran a one-car ferry)
Coweeman River
Toutle River
North Fork Toutle River
Tilton River
Cispus River
Ohanapecosh River
Kalama River
Lewis River
Muddy River
Lake River
Washougal River
Lacamas Creek
Wind River
Little White Salmon River
White Salmon River
Klickitat River
Little Klickitat River
Walla Walla River
Touchet River
Snake River
Palouse River
Cow Creek
Union Flat Creek
Rock Creek
Tucannon River
Asotin Creek
Grande Ronde River
Yakima River
Toppenish Creek
Naches River
Tieton River
Bumping River
American River
Little Naches River
Teanaway River
Cle Elum River
Cooper River
Waptus River
Kachess River
Crab Creek
Wenatchee River
Chiwawa River
Napeequa River
Little Wenatchee River
Entiat River
Mad River
Chelan River
Stehekin River
Methow River
Twisp River
Chewuch River
Lost River
Okanogan River
Similkameen River
Nespelem River
Little Nespelem River
Sanpoil River
Spokane River
Little Spokane River
Hangman Creek
Colville River
Little Pend Oreille River
Kettle River
Pend Oreille River
American River
Baker River
Big Quilcene River
Bogachiel River
Bumping River (childhood fishing spot)
Calawah River
Carbon River (childhood fishing spot)
Cedar River (childhood fishing spot)
Chehalis River
Chelan River
Chewuch River
Chiwawa River
Cispus River
Cle Elum River
Clearwater River (Queets River)
Clearwater River (White River)
Clover Creek
Coal Creek
Columbia River
Colville River
Cowlitz River
Crab Creek
Deschutes River
Dosewallips River
Duckabush River
Dungeness River
Duwamish River
Elwha River
Entiat River
Fauntleroy Creek
Gray Wolf River
Grays River
Hamma Hamma River
Hoh River
Hoko River
Humptulips River
Indian Creek (Elwha River)
Juanita Creek
Kachess River
Kelsey Creek
Kettle River
Klickitat River
Lacamas Creek
Lewis River
Little Pend Oreille River
Little Spokane River
Little White Salmon
Mad River
Mashel River
Methow River
Muddy River
Naches River (childhood fishing spot)
Naselle River
Newaukum River
Nisqually River
Nooksack River
North River
Okanogan River
Palouse River
Pend Oreille River
Pilchuck River
Puyallup River
Queets River
Quillayute River
Quinault River
Raging River
Rex River
Samish River
Sammamish River
Sauk River
Sol Duc River
Skagit River
Skokomish River
Skookumchuck River
Skykomish River
Snake River
Snohomish River
Snoqualmie River
Spokane River
Stehekin River
Stillaguamish River
Stuck River
Sultan River
Taylor Creek
Teanaway River
Thornton Creek
Tieton River
Tilton River
Tolt River
Touchet River
Toutle River
Tucannon River
Twisp River
Walla Walla River
Washougal River
Wenatchee River
White River
White Salmon River
Willapa River
Wishkah River
Wynoochee River
Yakima River
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In defense of ignorance/Barack Obama once again embroiled in a no-op "controversy"

This is really Pablo Fanque's Turf, but anyone who doubts Leon Pinetta seriously underestimates both Leon and B.H.O. Yeah, Obama's handlers/operatives may have tried to slipstream this CIA nomination by the two ranking Democrats, but after an initially cranky outburst, even Di-Fi appears to be on board. And they're not wrong. Pinetta is also one of the good guys, and let's face it, the only reason Obama did an end run around Feinestein was that she had been playing footsy with the Bush Administration on the torture issue. There have been a few enablers among the Democrats, and the time is coming when they may need to account for that. Kind of like when Carlo had to account to Michael Corelone on his son's baptism day. /jack

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Video; The Beach Boys' Darling

CLICK THE BEARDED ONES TO ENLARGE

This is a nice uptempo performance of an uptempo song by the Beach Boys. This YouTube video is from the Knebworth Festival, and had to happen sometime prior to 1983, since Dennis Wilson appears in the video, still alive and well. The great vocalist Carl Wilson gives a true blue-eyed soul performance here. The lyrics are weak, but they are well-propelled by the tune.

Darlin'
(Brian Wilson/Mike Love)

Ohh darlin'
My darlin' you're so fine
Ohhhh-hhh-hhh

Don't know if words can say
But darlin' I'll find a way
To let you know what you meant to me
Guess it was meant to be
I hold you in my heart
As life's most precious part

Oh darlin'
I dream about you often my pretty darlin'
(Darlin' you're so fine)
I love the way you soften my life with your love
Your precious love uh huh oh

I was living like half a man
Then I couldn't love but now I can
You pick me up when I'm feeling sad
More soul than I ever had
Gonna love you every single night
Cause I think you're too outta sight

Oh darlin'
I dream you often my pretty darlin'
(Darlin' you're so fine)
I love the way soften my life with your love
Your precious love uh huh huh

Woah oh oh oh

Every night darlin'
Gonna love you every single night, yes I will
Cause I think you're too doggone outta sight

Oh darlin'
I dream you often my pretty darlin'
(Darlin' you're so fine)
I love the way soften my life with your love
Your precious love uh huh huh
Oh

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Video: Bob Dylans Love Minus Zero/No Limits, performed with a few pals - Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr

Love Minus Zero/No Limits one of Bob's great love songs, is performed at the excellent Concert for Bangladesh (and film)...not a bad backup band: George Harrison, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, and Ringo on drums.



Love Minus Zero/No Limit
by Bob Dylan

My love she speaks like silence,
Without ideals or violence,
She doesn't have to say she's faithful,
Yet she's true, like ice, like fire.
People carry roses,
Make promises by the hours,
My love she laughs like the flowers,
Valentines can't buy her.

In the dime stores and bus stations,
People talk of situations,
Read books, repeat quotations,
Draw conclusions on the wall.
Some speak of the future,
My love she speaks softly,
She knows there's no success like failure
And that failure's no success at all.

The cloak and dagger dangles,
Madams light the candles.
In ceremonies of the horsemen,
Even the pawn must hold a grudge.
Statues made of match sticks,
Crumble into one another,
My love winks, she does not bother,
She knows too much to argue or to judge.

The bridge at midnight trembles,
The country doctor rambles,
Bankers' nieces seek perfection,
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring.
The wind howls like a hammer,
The night blows cold and rainy,
My love she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing.

Copyright ©1965; renewed 1993 Special Rider Music
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Northern Explosure? A chairlift mishap in Vail.

click to enlarge

A half naked skier was left dangling upside down last week, after a bizarre chairlift accident Friday morning at Vail's Blue Sky Basin. The man partially fell through a gap in the chair's seat, his right ski got jammed in the chairlift, and he was upended. This photo was snapped by a fellow skier. They got him down 15 minutes later, safe and sound, except for his dignity.

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Photos: The Raccoon In The Sycamore Tree

A raccoon ambled through our yard this weekend. You don't often see raccoons in the daylight; This may have even been a first. I see them most nights, lumbering in and out of the shadows as they mosey around the neighborhood.

My wife said, "He's probably sick. Or hurt."

"I don't know," I said to Keelin, "Maybe he's just thinking outside the box."

When Del went outside to investigate closer, the raccoon scrambled over to, and climbed up, an Aspen tree in our backyard. There was a time in my ancestor's pasts, when a treed raccoon would have meant one thing: dinner.

Photography by Del Brummet. Click all photos to enlarge.








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