Sasquatch Posters, 2002, 2005-2010

Once again, the big annual Sasquatch! Festival is going down this weekend, just a couple hours east of here. It's been held at the fabled Gorge Amphitheater every Memorial Day weekend since 2002, though I've never attended. If I were 20 I'd probably be all over it, but now it just seems like it'd be a giant hassle.

Anyway, the posters are pretty cool, particularly how the Sasquatch(!) himself has been depicted over the years. He seems to improve with age. Going back in time, here's the poster from 2009...

2008...
2007...
2006...
and 2005...
I can't find images from 2004 or '03, but here's one from the first festival, in 2002...
Read more about Sasquatch! on Wikipedia.
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From Tonight's Ballgame...

The subject of this awesome illustration went oh-for-four, but I got to witness a rare Mariner win. Bonus photo: Ivar Dog.


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Happy 30th, Pac-Man!

Pac-Man hits the big three-oh today.

It was thirty years ago that Pac-Man was first released in Japan, four days after Mount St. Helens 'sploded. To celebrate, the Google homepage has a playable Pac-Man game this weekend.

Insert coin.
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Sign o' the Times: Born to Ride the Ducks!

Good grief. Spotted Monday at Fifth and Broad.
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Happy 30th, Mount St. Helens!

It was 30 years ago today that Mount St. Helens 'sploded.

I was ten years old. As best as I recall, my mom was giving me a haircut while I was watching the Mariners-White Sox game from Comiskey Park on channel 11. The game was suddenly interrupted by breaking news of the eruption, with footage of ash-darkened skies and flooding rivers and thousands of fallen trees. It wasn't scary so much as freaky -- the kind of event where you just can't pull away from the nonstop TV coverage.

At home in Kent, we were about 100 miles upwind from the carnage, though in the following days there did seem to be a faint dusting of ash on our rhododendrons. I devoured the ensuing cover stories in Time and National Geographic, though I managed to resist St. Helens, the quickie exploitation disaster flick starring Art Carney.
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For more on Mount St. Helens, I'll throw it over to Wikipedia.
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Cool Connections #3: Iggy and Evel

In Robert Matheu's new book, The Stooges: The Authorized and Illustrated Story, Iggy Pop describes the above image, taken from a 1969 photo shoot for the band's first album cover...

I didn't want to just be posed there, because we were a band that moved. So I got the other guys on the floor all huddled together, and I decided that I'd jump up over them like Evel Knievel going over the fountain at Caesars -- and just like Evel, I crashed down on Scottie [drummer Scott Asheton, the guy in the middle] and went face first into the cement floor. Scottie was always cool about those things, 'cause I crashed into him a lot over the years. So I went to the hospital to get stitched up and came back the next day.

On a similar Evel/Iggy note, I wrote in Evel Incarnate...

In the 1993 book, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, Michael Azerrad wrote that Evel was Kurt Cobain’s “childhood hero,” and that “two of Kurt’s favorite stuntmen” were Evel and Iggy Pop... The Stooges may not have had any direct connection to Evel, yet Cobain’s admiration of both Evel and Iggy Pop was rather astute. In the early 1970s, Iggy was rock 'n' roll's closest equivalent to Evel, as their respective pioneering acts and reckless, search-and-destroy nihilism curiously paralleled one another.

Also from the Stooges book is this cool mini- connection: guitarist Ron Asheton vandalized Bob Newhart's face on the cover of a 1983 TV Guide.















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Now I've Seen Everything #11: Seattle Seahawks Forest Face

Worried that you're not showing enough team spirit?

Worried that your tree isn't showing enough team spirit?

Well, your worries are over, thanks to the creepy/stupid line of Forest Face, uh, tree accessories...

"Decorate your favorite tree with team spirit by showcasing this officially licensed team forest face. The weather resistant resin face features a cap that is adorned with the official team logo."

No wonder the the terrorists hate us.
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Rojo Johnson!

Meet Rojo Johnson, the most bitchin' ballplayer since Kenny Powers, who took the mound Thursday night for AAA Round Rock...


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Ichiro de Mayo!

Yes, I'm aware that today is Cinco de Mayo, though Ichiro de Mayo was last Saturday, at our pals Ken and Chinatu's house. Along with our friends Will and Joy, we ate Mexican food and dipped fruit in a chocolate waterfall. Above is a killer sign that greeted us in their entryway; below is their kitty Midnight, quite possibly my favorite cat on earth.

Thanks, Ken and Chinatsu!
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Flickr Update '10

I've updated three of my flickr sets for 2010: Mariners Scorecards, Mariners Schedules, and All-Star Game Ballots. I've also added a couple of newer sets: Seattle Curling 2010 and the modest beginnings of Rail Transit Passes.

Bon appetit!
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