The PNW in a few or less

Covering all things PNW that matter....to me

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When one computer terminal took up an entire air conditioned room. Bank of California computer center. Late 60′s. 

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The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California. Less than 100 were made. And this one is not one of them.  Still very pretty though.

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26th and Hennepin. Minneapolis. His Royal Purple Badness. 

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A Truck Stop sunrise. 

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Baby Harbor Seal relaxing on the beach @ Mukilteo, Wa. 2016. 

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The Green Mountains

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The Painted Hills.

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Winter in New Hampshire.

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It’s not the water....it’s the people. 

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Playing with light on a fully manual old Nikon SLR. 

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This is what gravity looks like. 

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Ruminations from the Road

Ruminations on day one of road trip: Peaking Snoqualmie Pass, it dawned on me that I've been on 5 road trips with my Dad. When you spend that much time in a car with someone....you really get to know them. We stood together and silently took in the sheer magnificence of Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Little Big Horn, Zion, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, sunrise on the Rockies and celebrated in New Orleans, Memphis, Deadwood, Tombstone and many more places. I've got at least another six days to New Hampshire and am loving the peace of being on the road with just me and my dog. It's hot as hell but the road is friendly. More to come later!!!

Rumination from the road continued.

Finally made it off the road for the day. Driving the big sky country at night is a little dangerous. Especially when you can't see for shit at night and large animals may jump onto the road. Secondly...thinking back to the road trips with Dad, the rule were simple: whoever is behind the wheel has control of the radio. Anyone who knew my Dad knows he lived and breathed politics. SO...when he was driving (pre-MP3 days), I had to endure HOURS of am talk radio. It didn't occur to me then that, while I was annoyed by hundreds of miles of political banter on the radio, he was probably equally annoyed by hours of classic rock when I was driving. There were also deep conversations of course but, also hours of just staring out the window as the countryside rolled by at 80 mph. Now..speaking of deep conversations, the other rule was to pull of shortly after sunset and find a Motel. BUT, the Motel must have a bar so as to facilitate longer and more importantly engaging hours of deep philosophical discussions over drinks. Good times.

Ruminations from the road #3.

Weather. Let me rephrase that....WEATHER!!!!

Western Washington folks know this as the oppressive cloud of wet that covers everything and pierces your soul for 6 months every year. For folks in the midwest, it means driving through the Apocalyptic, nightmarish lightning storm I just came out of. As soon as I crept into Minnesota, the sky was black in front of me...at 5:00pm. The next three hours was driving through pounding rain to the point of staring over the steering wheel. Massive lightning bolts coming down from every direction and sometimes, right above me. Don't get me wrong...I loved every second of it because we don't see this kind of weather in Western Washington....EVER! The whole time I'm getting this amazing light show on all fronts, road dog is in a curl on a pile of pillows in the back of the Jeep. Finally pulled off the highway and by the time I got to my Motel door...I was drenched. WOOHOO!

 Ruminations from the road #4:

pt.1 Humidity. HUMIDITY!!!!!

pt. 2 White Castles. That's it....just White Castles.

pt. 3 Wisconsin is a very pretty distraction before getting sucked into the urban hell that is Chicago. Lush green rolling hills and puffy little clouds to lull you into a false sense of Ahhhhh....right before the nightmare that is traffic on the I-90 through the city. When the Sears Tower is in your rearview window, you can rest easy...Indiana is right around the corner. 
pt. 4 Say what you will about the government...please do....it's your right. But, this truly is a beautiful country. Full of amazing, beautiful people. I've already met some real characters on this trip. Mostly because every person I come across wants to know the story behind my awesome co-pilot. But those people make up the backbone of what holds this great place together. Even the strange guy with the syrupy thick Missouri accent at the local grocery store in Deer Park, Washington. Especially the night clerk at the Comfort Inn just a few minutes ago. I had checked in and went out to grab Crikey. She says "oh, you have a dog with you? Is he gonna make a mess in the room?" I tell her he's already had his potty break. He makes a weird little squeal and she kind of backs away. I tell her he's really a very nice dog...no, trust me...he's VERY nice. She steps back in and of course, Crikey jumps on her and they're best friends. She asks if she can give him a snack....pfttt...no, that never happens. He was ready to get out of the car after suffering 90 degree temps and 88% humidity going through Chicago. Relaxing in the AC wonderland now. Breakfast and back on the road in the morning. Shooting to make New Hampshire tomorrow!!!!!

 Rumination from the road #5.

Things we don't really see in the NW: triple trailer semi-trucks. Rarely do these behemoths enter the I-5 corridor. More often than not seen on vast stretches of open road where they can wander freely and change lanes without fear of veering into a wolf pack of tail gaiting Washington drivers. Also, the travel plaza. That wonderfully air conditioned oasis that can be seen dotting the Expressway/Turnpike every 20 miles or so. Pull in to gas up but, enter the travel plaza to escape the heat and humidity for even a few minutes. There's ample bathrooms and a trucker lounge in addition to a nice variety of 'dining' options in the food court and, a gift shop of course. At a stop at a travel plaza in Ohio somewhere, I spotted three guys getting out of an Econoliner Van with a trailer. All three of them wearing skin tight black jeans. I asked them the name of their band. "How do you know we're in a band?". Please. But, if you see some guys/girls exiting a rented van with a trailer...ask them about their band and if they have any merch to sell. They're on tour...they probably financed it themselves and could use the money. I had to do a double take at the sign on the highway when I was able to fill up the Jeep for just above $30. Regular gas at this particular fillup was just $1.98 a gallon. Can't argue with that! 
After an hour stuck in basically completely stopped traffic outside Portage, Indiana...I was off on the I-90 again. When we were afforded two lanes, traffic breezed along at 80+ mph. However, this was blotted every 15 miles or so with the bright orange "Road Work Ahead" sign. This continues all day long in 91 degree weather. So...after only 8 hours of driving, I pulled off the I-79N and into Erie, PA. Up bright and early tomorrow to make the final leap to Orford, NH! It's been an epic 5 days but, I'm ready for the quiet of the countryside and a good bon fire, good friends and dogs.

 Rumination from the road, final chapter.

Finally made it to Orford. On the way up N25E, I passed through very old settlements and quite a few log homes and shake houses that look to have been here since the 1800's. This is a pretty historical part of the country. Trapping country. I was told there are black bear in the area. And moose. Saw some wild Turkey's crossing the dirt road on the way up to the house. The nearest services are probably 25 miles down the hill and through the mountains and trees as far as the eye can see. There is a lake not far from here. Also a river cutting through the property. The barn sits to the far corner of the property. I have to say, even though I knew there were mountains on either side of where I'm at, I was surprised at the elevation gain driving here. Nothing like driving into the Cascades but still pretty steep climbing. It's taken me a little longer than I had planned on getting here but, it usually does and the trip was worth the extra time it took to finally get here. More pics to come later. Off to take Road Dog for a MUCH NEEDED long walk in the woods.

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Two Steel Elephants at a 2015 Everett, Wa. sunset. 

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This is a serious quandary with me as an Audio Grad and a lifelong musician: is the scene in the PNW dying or better than ever? There is certainly no lack of extremely talented artists out there stretching from Ashland to Bellingham and all points in between but is there an over inundation? Is that even possible? Do you want a return to the vomit and blackout days of the Seattle of the late 80’s and early 90’s? Pre-Kurdt putting a barrel in his mouth? Currently, there are more venues in Washington alone offering nightly live music at a couple bucks at the door or just walk in and place a buck or two in the tip jar for the folks on stage. And the quality of the venue has certainly improved since the days of the Offramp. BUT, the energy is completely different. I personally miss the vomit sticky floor and 100+ dB of the Offramp but hey, that’s just me. I can also appreciate a quiet night at the Blue Moon or the Sunset with a guitar and singer entertaining me for a few hours. There’s no shortage of music…that’s for sure. And the opportunities for enriching your local music library are farther reaching and more easily accessible than every thanks to online downloads but the root of my question is the wide area distribution machine called radio. In most of the United States, if you still actually listen to that little box in your car and tune into anything on the FM dial, you’re listening to either Entercom or Clear Channel. Stations that pre-program every single setlist and of which the same setlists are played by the same syndicated DJ’s all over the country. They use a cute little program called ‘Audiovault’. It’s a drag and drop system that allows station programmers to come in and drag a 20 minute set list into a particular time slot to reach a particular demographic. Ads/Underwriting and PSA’s are dragged into the empty spots and for the most part, the DJ dialog is also pre-recorded. In Washington….independent radio is disappearing. KEXP leads the way because they get the most money and are at the leading edge of technology when it comes to independent radio broadcasting. You’re left with KPLU, which has consistently churned out the best jazz and news for decades. Then there’s KING for classical music. KUOW, KAOS and other college stations. They are few and far in between and the only real source for REAL independent and live and local music. Otherwise….radio has become FOX News. So, the question remains: is the PNW music scene dying or better than ever? 

[analogaudiogeek-blog]

This is a serious quandary with me as an Audio Grad and a lifelong musician: is the scene in the PNW dying or better than ever? There is certainly no lack of extremely talented artists out there stretching from Ashland to Bellingham and all points in between but is there an over inundation? Is that even possible? Do you want a return to the vomit and blackout days of the Seattle of the late 80's and early 90's? Pre-Kurdt putting a barrel in his mouth? Currently, there are more venues in Washington alone offering nightly live music at a couple bucks at the door or just walk in and place a buck or two in the tip jar for the folks on stage. And the quality of the venue has certainly improved since the days of the Offramp. BUT, the energy is completely different. I personally miss the vomit sticky floor and 100+ dB of the Offramp but hey, that's just me. I can also appreciate a quiet night at the Blue Moon or the Sunset with a guitar and singer entertaining me for a few hours. There's no shortage of music...that's for sure. And the opportunities for enriching your local music library are farther reaching and more easily accessible than every thanks to online downloads but the root of my question is the wide area distribution machine called radio. In most of the United States, if you still actually listen to that little box in your car and tune into anything on the FM dial, you're listening to either Entercom or Clear Channel. Stations that pre-program every single setlist and of which the same setlists are played by the same syndicated DJ's all over the country. They use a cute little program called 'Audiovault'. It's a drag and drop system that allows station programmers to come in and drag a 20 minute set list into a particular time slot to reach a particular demographic. Ads/Underwriting and PSA's are dragged into the empty spots and for the most part, the DJ dialog is also pre-recorded. In Washington....independent radio is disappearing. KEXP leads the way because they get the most money and are at the leading edge of technology when it comes to independent radio broadcasting. You're left with KPLU, which has consistently churned out the best jazz and news for decades. Then there's KING for classical music. KUOW, KAOS and other college stations. They are few and far in between and the only real source for REAL independent and live and local music. Otherwise....radio has become FOX News. So, the question remains: is the PNW music scene dying or better than ever?