Kenny Fucking Powers!

Instant classic: Eastbound & Down. I watched the first season last night and laughed my ass off.

Kenny's baseball career ended after pitching for the generic "Seattle" team, presumably because the Mariners wouldn't authorize their brand to be associated with a foul-mouthed, steroid-shooting, coke-addled, dog-fighting, alcoholic, racist, homophobic, misogynistic egomaniac. At least not a fictional one.

Of local interest: In one scene, Kenny reminisces, "You should see my fuckin' cookouts, man. When I was back in Seattle, I had the goddamn Spoonman from the Soundgarden videos comin' to my shit. Oh yeah, I’m talkin' six grills burnin' at all times, tiki torches, three whole pigs, fuckin' shitloads of macaroni and cheeses, baked potatoes, collard greens, a horse, fuckin' Puerto Rican chicks showin' their pussies and tits off everywhere. They were amazing!"

In real life, another guy named Kenny Powers attempted a mile-long jump across the St. Lawrence Seaway, from Canada into the United States, in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental. I wrote about his doomed 1979 jump in my review of the documentary The Devil at Your Heels, here. Also, you can watch the jump in this video, starting at the 1:15 mark.

Kenny fucking Powers!

We Hardly Knew Ye: M/V Klickitat

My favorite ferry boat has been sold for scrap.

My dad took this picture at the Anacortes ferry dock in the early '70s.

Bigfoot Birthday Cake II!

I turned 40 yesterday so Eliza made me this incredibly cool Quatchi birthday cake -- it tastes as good as it looks!

Here's the one she made me last year.

Thanks Eliza!

Metal Baseball Quilt

I've walked past Ross Palmer Beecher's art at Safeco Field a million times but never really stopped to check it out 'til today. It's super cool.

She made a giant quilt, with each piece representing one of baseball's 30 major league teams with their circa '99 logos, by stitching together aluminum cans and license plates from the teams' respective states.

Also, there's another dozen or so pieces based on various Washington state team logos from over the years, including the Seattle Pilots, Seattle Rainiers, Tacoma Rainiers, Everett AquaSox, and the Spokane Chiefs. Each mini-quilt has a square wooden frame with a unique baseball-themed painting, bordered by a bunch of bottlecaps.

My favorite is the Mariner Moose, rendered in A&W root beer cans.

On display since the park's 1999 opening, you can find 'em in main concourse along the right-field line.

Happy 25th, Tim!

The former Washington Husky and current San Francisco Giant Tim Lincecum hits the big two-five today.

He's my favorite pitcher.

Happy 40th, Ice!

Mr. Cube hits the big four-oh today.

When he's in your neighborhood, you better duck,'cause Ice Cube is crazy as fuck.

I Read a Book: Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend

Joshua Blu Buhs's near-definitive Bigfoot tracks the elusive beast from his primordial genesis as the mythological "wildman" of disparate cultures throughout history to the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, to the Sasquatch of British Columbia, to the critter captured in the indelible Patterson film, to the commercial pitchmonster of today.

Like me, Buhs is a skeptic who still asserts that Bigfoot is real, if only in the forests of the collective mind. He covers the faithful, the naysayers, the cryptozoologists, the hoaxers, the scientists, the pseudoscientists, and particularly the "white, working-class men" who've given life to Bigfoot over the decades, making him a postwar media sensation. While it's a tad too academic for my tastes (and not pop-culture-y enough -- where's Quatchi?), it's still the best Bigfoot book I've read. It also made me slightly jealous.

Two snaps up!
***

On Deck: Me

Hot Stuff

We've been getting our first look at our wedding photos, thanks to our fantastic photographer, Sean Flanigan. These are two of my favorites.

See more here.

Happy 30th, NBA Champion Seattle SuperSonics!

It was 30 years ago today that the late Sonics won the NBA Finals, becoming the only professional Seattle team to win any major sports championship (unless you count the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans).

The 1978-'79 Supes had a 52-30 regular-season record and drew a whopping 747,000 fans to their home games, many of which were held at the Kingdome. After knocking off the Lakers and Suns in the playoffs, they avenged their '78 finals loss to Washington, beating the Bullets in five games. I vividly remember watching that final game on TV, with Brent Musberger counting down the final seconds as Gus Williams launched a celebratory granny shot into the Capital Centre rafters.

Good times (sigh).
***

Happy 100th, Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition!

It was 100 years ago today that Seattle's A-Y-P officially opened.

I hope to write more about it later (particularly about its souvenir Billiken). In the meantime, here are some nice photos, a recent Seattle Times article, and more.

The Honeymoon's Over...

...And it was great!

Some highlights from the final five days: Stockholm's mind-blowing Vasa Museum, housing a warship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1638, and then in 1961 was raised from the bottom of Stockholm's harbor (tho' it was too dark for decent photos)... We stayed at the cool Hotel Hellsten, and took a trip up the tower atop Stockholm City Hall.

Then the good ship Gabriella brought us to Helsinki. The Viking Line cruise was plenty scenic, otherwise, we opted for a solid night's sleep over the duty-free shopping, casino gambling, and entertainment in the lounge by the Let’s Sing! Dancers the Let’s Dance! Singers.

Arriving in Finland brought my countries-I've-been-to total to 25, and Helsinki marked the northern- and easternmost points from the US that either of us had ever been. We dug the train station (above), went to some outdoor market, ate at Hesburger, and stayed at Hotel Helka (right across the street from Heavy Corner). Eliza toured the Alvar Aalto House while I hung out at the next-door library, reading up on Lordi.

We visited the Finnish Design Museum, though our favorite bit of Finnish design was the cool Lasipalatsi building. Either that, or the adorable penguin logo on Valio Jäätelö ice cream products. I also liked this Space Needle sticker, randomly spotted on some street...

The actual Space Needle was a sight for sore eyes when we got home last night, following a brief London layover (we took the Tube to Piccadilly Circus and had dinner at Inn the Park). Good times, but we're glad to finally be back in town...

Skål!