"Riding on the City of Seattle"

Like a "ma & pa" store, this 3-mile train line with one 1940 red engine is owned by just one guy. I guess that would make it more like a "pa" store.

"Sarah Palin, where are you?"

Menacing mammal hitches a ride.

"Underwater Seattle"

My new $99 underwater digital camera. I think I can get a clearer photo than this one, but I am not holding my breath.

"He Never Believed In Banks"

This 96 year-old Seattle resident had the crazy notion that putting has cash in a bank was risky, so instead he stashed it under his mattress. Looks like he got the last laugh now.

"Liberal Seattle...Not One Pro-Lifer In The Crowd"

Gore is running again? 

"Seattle, Green And Healthy"

When it comes to living greener, this Seattle citizen doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. 

"Krishna Kandy"

Krishna candy at outdoor festival. In a former life these sweets were Hostess Twinkies.

"Look Into My Eyes"

Emerald Downs offering.

"Convertible Retrofitted For Seattle Rain"

The same year the stork brought me home, some lucky driver brought this 1959 Nash Metropolitan home. The Nash, however, still looks like a small child.

"In Seattle, Secular Humans Put Faith In Hamsters"

Seattle prides itself on being ranked number one as the most secular American city. But when it comes to their pets, they frantically line up in front of the man of cloth as if the sky is falling. 

"West Coast Hair Style"

Legalize it.

"Seattle's Liberty Hangs in the Balance"

And you'll find Ellis Island down the street and to the right.

"Save Energy by Eliminating One Wheel"

Seattle is among the greenest cities, environmentally, in America. We went from Hummers to Hybrids to bicycles, and now to unicycles. If only the Chinese would do the same, eh?

"Seattle Sports Teams"

Seattle has no NBA basketball team, no NHL hockey team, the football team is not offensive, and the baseball team finished last. Luckily, professional wrestling has filled our sports vacuum, as seen here in Seattle's Key Arena, which is slated for demolition. 

"The Perfect Day in Seattle"

Seattle celebrates diversity on Alki Beach.

"A Wide Range of Art"

                                   This graffiti is real old.

"Happy Graduation"

Time to take on the world.

"Diverse Seattle"

We all bleed red.

"South Park Bridge, Built 1929"

Bridge over troubled Duwamish River.

"Footsteps in the Sound"

Low tide on the sound.

"Orange You Glad For Viagra"

                                                               All work is honorable.

"Downtown Menagerie"

                                   "Pork" Place Market

"Seattle Rain Gear"

It's one way to keep the rain off you. Arriba!

"Take a Note"

A lot has been said on this post but there seems to be nothing left to say.

"Mixed Message"

And Seattle motorists still park here.

"Seattle Statement"

"Tire Attire"

"Sustainable Hat"

The mind of this Seattle resident is  wind-powered.

"Hats Off"

Crew attend cruise ship  christening. 

"Ship Shapes"

"Flag Day"

"Boardwalk, West Seattle"

All work is honorable.

"Save the Seattle Polar Bear!"

It was 65 degrees today when I met up with "Snowflake" the polar bear. Luckily,  there was no ice in sight to fall through.

"Seattle's South Lake Union Trolley"

Seattle prides itself on immodesty. Here the alternative lifestyle is embraced and considered mainstream. But when our South Lake Union Trolley's slogan was unveiled, "Ride the S.L.U.T." the natives squirmed. The line has been changed to the South Lake Union Streetcar...a named desired.

My friend of 45 years, John Fulper, models a popular Seattle souvenir that harkens back to Seattle's sleazier days.

LATER ADDED: A heads-up reader comments here that the "S.L.U.T." was never the official name, but started as a gag and is now urban legend. It is officially the South Lake Union Streetcar. I stand corrected. Tomorrow I visit the new "Seattle Health Institute Tower."

More on that later.-Steve

"Settling Setting North of Unsettling Seattle"

Happy Birthday Laura! (April 21)

Love, Steve

LaConner, WA

"In Chicago, Art Imitates Dogs"

Just my opinion.

"Rain or Shine, be Prepared"

In Seattle the umbrella is always useful and plays a dual role as rain and sun alternate. Well I guess if it was dark out and not raining you wouldn't need an umbrella, except maybe to whack the bad guys over the head with your firm pink weapon. 

And if the bad guys also had an umbrella, the item would play a "duel" role, too.

"Does He Turn Away Broken 'Dirt Devil' Vacuums, or Does He Save Them?"

Hey, I worship my Hoover!

"Waterproofed for Seattle's Rain"

Every Seattle vehicle should be draped in plastic. 

Just think. Each time he fills his truck with gas, he spends more than what his truck is worth.

"High Bridge Ahead...Duck!"

Once upon a time Seattle built a low bridge over its industrial Duwamish River. Lots of traffic passed over the bridge, and lots of tall container ships to and from the Orient passed under. 

So the bridge would raise, which held up traffic.

In response, Seattle built a high bridge for giant ships to pass underneath without holding up traffic. However, the city also kept the low bridge for cars and trucks.  It is a Seattle-style political compromise. Make sense?

"Seattle is Less Secular Than They Say"

Seattle prides itself with its reputation of having the anti-organized religion mindset. Its population, for the most part, worships software development, living in the right neighborhood, organic produce, and hybrid cars. 

But every now and then one happens upon a traditional church service here much like those found between West Coast cities and the Atlantic Ocean. 

"Phone Book Phollow-up"

I was walking past the dumpster to my car yesterday and saw this.

"Lipstick and Catholicism...Discuss."

The crucial Seattle-based business Archie McPhee ships locally designed novelty items nationwide like the "Boxing Nun," the "Sky Diving Sigmund Freud," the "Frogmen vs. Radioactive Octopus," the "Jane Austin Action Figure," the "Bacon-flavored Toothpicks," and their best seller, the "Rubber Chicken." The Seattle mind-set is being out-sourced to Chicago and other cities far afield.  And yes, this is a green industry-if you consider the popular "Yodelling Pickle."

"Passive Aggressive Seattle"

Chicago is known worldwide for its Capone, Dillinger, and, more recently,  the El Rukns.

But when Seattleites go Medieval on each other, it sometimes takes the form of a bicycle pie joust, as pictured. Less lethal, but more fattening.

"A Wise Seattle Investor"

While Chicagoans are big talkers when it comes to managing their portfolios, here in Seattle those with the real dough put their money where their mouth is.

"Like Pay Phones, Who Uses These Anymore?"

This lonely stack of phone books has been sitting at my building's entrance for a week, untouched. With free 411 service on our cell phones, and our computers armed with www.switchboard and Google to find a name or business in any city, who fusses with these anymore?

"I Was Bored During a Meeting, So I Photographed the Kayakers"

As a neighborhood newspaper reporter/photographer I must cover meetings where the speakers convey plans of a new development or road or bridge repair to the public, "the audience."

They are all similar. The speakers slickly present what the city has decided, and ask for questions from the audience. The audience asks, "Will you be taking our input here into account?"

The former environmentalist hired by the city because the pay was better says, "We are always interested in the concerns of the public, however these are the final plans."

Then the audience asks, "Then why were we asked to this meeting? Couldn't you have sent us a flier instead?"

Then the another presenter, usually a tall man in a tie with silver hair steps up to the mike to the rescue, "Our engineers have studied this blah blah blah and feel that the best way to blah blah blah is to..."

Then the audience snickers to one another as if to say, "The wrong damn people are in charge of this city."

 

"Unsettling Beauty"

Mount Rainier is Washington's highest point. This 14,411 foot volcano is considered active, and looms over Seattle just 55 miles away, the same distance between Chicago and the Zion Nuclear Plant.

The locals here are not too concerned. Geologists say the volcano erupts just once every 1000 years, and it has not had a major eruption since, well, about 1000 years ago.

"Seattle Stage"