My Favorite Pop Culture of 2013!

Movies
Of the 32 movies I watched this year, only six were 2013 releases: Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, Don Jon, Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa, This Is the End, Sound City and Star Trek Into Darkness. The Big Star documentary was great; the others ranged from pretty good to meh... I still wanna see Anchorman 2, Frances Ha, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, The Punk Singer and some others... As for older movies, I rediscovered Blade Runner, and watched its myriad versions multiple times.

TV
Bob's Burgers became a new favorite. I plowed through all five seasons of Parks and Recreation in a few weeks, and kept current with the latest seasons of Louie and Mad Men. I watched Breaking Bad all the way up through its finale, and while I saw some of the final-season episodes of Eastbound & Down, I haven't yet caught the end. I still watch Saturday Night Live fairly religiously, as I have for the last 25-odd years, mostly out of habit. It's still topical and unpredictable, if not consistently funny.

Rock 'n' Roll
The only 2013 album I regularly played start to finish was David Bowie's The Next Day (unless you count Best Coast's seven-song EP/mini-album thing Fade Away). This led me to revisit all of Bowie's back catalog, which I listened to pretty extensively for much of the year (I played "Station to Station" dozens of times in the car)... Disappointing were new releases by the Pixies, the Strokes, the Replacements and Iggy & the Stooges... However, the 'Mats and the Stooges kicked ass at the Toronto Riot Fest; the only other show I went to this year was a Mudhoney in-store on April Fool's Day... As for older stuff, I sprang for Bob Dylan's 47-disc Complete Album Collection: Vol. One ($197 on Amazon -- that's $4.19 per disc!)... The one album I listened to far more than any other was 1980's Pleasure by Girls at Our Best!. Since I couldn't find the lyrics anyplace, I took a shot at transcribing them here... Other 2013 albums/songs I like:
Camera Obscura -- "Do It Again"
Neko Case -- "Madonna of the Wasps"
Dead Ghosts -- "B.A.D."
Grant Hart -- "Morningstar"
Melvins -- Everybody Loves Sausages, Tres Cabrones
Mudhoney -- Vanishing Point
Thee Oh Sees -- Floating Coffin
Those Darlins -- "Optimist"
Wooden Shjips -- "Ruins"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Mosquito

Books
Jeez, did I only read two books this year? Yep. Those would be Bebe Day by Day by Pamela Druckerman and Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat. Both are related to parenting, which makes sense -- in January I became a first-time dad to twin girls (which also explains why I've been even further out of the pop-culture loop this year)... The Replacements: Waxed-Up Hair and Painted Shoes: The Photographic History looks terrific, though I haven't actually read the text yet. Same with Fan Interference, which is also gathering dust on my nightstand.

Comics
Didn't read many comics either, other than Peter Bagge's Reset, Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half, and A Matter of Life by Jeffrey Brown. All good.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
***

My Favorite Music, Movies, Video & Books of '12!

Movies
The Dark Knight Rises
I'm Now: The Story of Mudhoney
Searching for Sugar Man
Notes: Of the 19 movies I saw this year, eleven of which were 2012 releases, and just these three of those I deemed list-worthy... I got myself all psyched for The Amazing Spider-Man, but it turned out to be a proverbial turd in the punchbowl... And the less said about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the better.

Video
Breaking Bad: Season 4
Eastbound & Down: Season 3
Get a Life: The Complete Series
Louie: Season 2
Notes: This doesn't include stuff from the "Movies" list above, just TV shows... Still need to see season five of Mad Men, released this year... Can't wait 'til the latest seasons of Breaking Bad and Louie are out on video, hopefully in 2013.


Songs
Best Coast - "Mean Girls"
Dum Dum Girls - "I Got Nothing"
Bob Dylan - "Pay in Blood"
Ben Gibbard - "Ichiro's Theme"
Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built"
King Tuff - "Bad Thing"
Melvins - "Let Me Roll It"
Bob Mould - "The Descent"
Public Image Ltd. - "One Drop"
The Rolling Stones - "Doom and Gloom"
Soundgarden - "Been Away Too Long"
Bruce Springsteen - "We Take Care of Our Own"
TacocaT - "Cat Fancy"
Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus"
Jack White - "I'm Shakin'"
Notes: I just don't get into new albums as much as individual songs anymore, though the exception this year would be Best Coast's The Only Place... A couple older acts I became obsessed with in 2012 are the Beach Boys and Hüsker Dü (the first rock concert I ever saw was the Beach Boys, at the Puyallup Fair in 1981 or '82, and I regret not seeing them on their 50th anniversary tour this year; I saw Bob Mould open for the Pixies in '89 (and thought he sucked)... I'm also bummed that I again missed the original Dinosaur Jr. lineup when they came through town... Otherwise, I saw some classic rock bands for the first time (Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Heart) as well as a couple new favorites (Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls), plus some old standbys (Girl Trouble, Melvins, Young Fresh Fellows).

Books
The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy
Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
The Obamas by Jodi Kantor
Everybody Loves Our Town by Mark Yarm
Notes: I didn't read much this year. The other ten books I did read were either published in previous years (the best of which was Duff McKagan's It's So Easy (And Other Lies)), or comics...

Comics
The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist by Alvin Buenaventura
Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland by Harvey Pekar
New York Drawings by Adrian Tomine
Notes: I still wanna read Chris Ware's Building Stories.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
***

I Read a Book: Rock Seen

Alright, this coffee-table book took maybe ten minutes to actually read, but I could pour over Bob Gruen's classic rock 'n' roll photos for hours. Above, the Clash; below, Kiss...

Johnny Thunders...

Mick...

Patti...

I borrowed a copy from the Seattle Pvblic Library (Colvmbia City branch), but you can buy it here.
***

My Favorite Music, Movies, DVDs & Books of '11!

Movies
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Moneyball
Win Win
Notes: Of the 29 movies I watched this year, 12 of which were 2011 releases, but just these three I deemed list-worthy.

DVDs
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live in Texas '78
Louie: Season 1
Breaking Bad: Season 3
In Treatment: Season 3
The People vs. George Lucas
Eastbound & Down: Season 2
Lemmy
Don Cherry's Rock'em Sock'em Hockey 23
Notes: This doesn't include stuff from the "Movies" list above; it's mostly either TV shows or films from previous years first released on DVD this year.

Songs
Apex Manor - "Teenage Blood"
The Baseball Project - "Ichiro Goes to the Moon"
Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise"
Black Keys - "Lonely Boy"
Black Lips - "Noc-a-Homa"
The Dirtbombs - "Cosmic Cars"
HeadCat - "Let it Rock"
JEFF the Brotherhood - "Ripper"
R.E.M. - "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"
Wild Flag - "Something Came Over Me"
Yuck - "Get Away"
Notes: Like last year, I listed songs instead of albums, since really the only new 2011 album that I've found start-to-finish killer is Only in Dreams by Dum Dum Girls (also good: their He Gets Me High EP). Otherwise, my favorite '11 albums are either new reissues of old faves (Some Girls by the Stones), or sorta new-to-me favorites from years past (Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!), neither of which apply... I became obsessed with Devo this year, and saw them in concert in September. Other bands I saw this year were the Black Lips, the Butthole Surfers, and the Baseball Project, where I shot this video.

Books
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training by Josh Wilker
Evel by Leigh Montville
I Want My MTV by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
Notes: The other 21 books I read this year were either published in previous years, or comics...

Comics
Batman #1
Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case
Huntington, West Virginia “On the Fly” by Harvey Pekar
Old-Timey Hockey Tales by Robert Ullman and Jeffrey Brown
Paying for It by Chester Brown
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago
Notes: None.

For those keeping score, here are my favorites from 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 (movies and music).
***

Merry Xmas to Me

As per my Christmas list, Eliza got me this kickass 1965 edition of Æsop's Fables, selected and adapted by Louis Untermeyer, and wonderfully illustrated by the wife-husband team of Alice and Martin Provensen.

Others have posted images of the cover and inside pages, so I'm just showing a few details here.

The book was treasured by my sisters and me when we were kids. My oldest sister still has that copy, so I'm happy to finally have one of my own... The Provensens also illustrated some other books that I haven't seen before, but I have now reserved at the library... Incidentally, their Æsop's illustrations remind me of Ed Fotheringham -- he's the former lead singer of Seattle's infamous Thrown-Ups, who recorded such tunes as "Smiling Panties," "Felch," and "Eat My Dump."
***

I Read a Book: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia

The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without

By Robert Schnakenberg
282 pages
Triumph Books, 2010


Baseball constantly rewards us with historic, unforgettable moments -- new milestones, no-hitters, World Series victories and so forth. But for every Lou Gehrig farewell speech, there's a Disco Demolition Night, as baseball also delivers an ever-increasing amount of arcane, oddball lore. There are enough drunken antics, wild '70s hair hairstyles, and George Brett hemorrhoids to fill an encyclopedia. Now, thanks to Brooklyn-based author Robert Schnakenberg, it finally does.

The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia is a tidy, cross-referenced compendium of the game's underbelly: the sordid and the silly, the scandalous and the stupid. Other than tasteful coverage of a few truly ugly episodes (i.e., Lyman Bostock’s murder), Schnakenberg usually goes for the laffs. And why not?

Here’s an A-to-Z sampler: Astroturf, The Bad News Bears, Cocaine Seven, Double Knit Uniforms, Eephus Pitch, Fuck Face Card, Greenies, House of David, The Isotopes, Juiced, Harry Kalas, Lake Erie Midge, Morganna, "No Pepper," Saduharu Oh, Joe Pepitone, Dan Quisenberry, Road Beef, Schottzie, Tomahawk Chop, Bob Uecker, Bill Veeck, Winfield Seagull Incident, Xenophobia ("See Rocker, John"), Youppi, and Don Zimmer.

Baseball is a game full of eccentrics, and the UBE has loads of ‘em -- players (Dock Ellis), fans (Steve Bartman), broadcasters (Harry Caray), and various other characters (wacky ballpark vendors, secret mistresses, "disgraceful" National Anthem singers). There’s Chief Wahoo and Chief Noc-a-Homa, Billy Bean and Billy Beane, The Baseball Bunch and The Brady Bunch (specifically, the episode guest-starring Don Drysdale). And, of course, mascots. Nearly 60 are listed, and while most of the book’s entries are limited to a few sentences, the Phillie Phanatic has by far the longest UBE write-up, spread across four pages.

Schnakenberg admits up front that his survey is "far from comprehensive," but a few oversights remain: the (Mario) Mendoza Line, 1975 bubblegum-blowing champ Kurt Bevacqua, Kenny Powers... Granted, defining what constitutes "underground" is pretty much impossible, yet some inconsistencies are apparent: Dodger Dogs are included, Fenway Franks are not; Johnny Bench Batter Up is in, the Rod Carew Batting Trainer is out; there’s Larry Doby’s Cock, but no Merkle’s Boner.

Still, with over 400 solidly researched entries, the UBE is a fun read for both casual and hardcore fans, at least those of us whose appreciation of the game isn’t limited to the Ken Burns-y, Field of Dreams-type stuff, but who dig the offbeat sidelights just as much. Maybe even more.

Originally appeared in a shorter version in Zisk #20.
***

I Read a Book: Evel

After my Evel Knievel biography was published in 2000, the next Evel bio appeared in 2004, written by a Brit named Stuart Barker and titled Life of Evel. Though I was eager to read it, I was disappointed to find it largely a rewrite of my book, often bordering on plagiarism...

Mandich, p. 146: “Following Snake River, Warner had signed Evel to a three-picture deal, beginning with Viva Knievel!. Unlike the 1971 biography in which George Hamilton played Evel, Viva was a fictional action picture starring Evel as himself.”

Barker, p. 176: “Following Snake River, Warner Bros. had signed Evel to a three-picture deal, and the first was to be Viva. It was not to be an updated biography following on from George Hamilton’s 1971 Evel Knievel movie, but rather a fictional action-adventure with Evel starring as himself.”

Wanker.

Anyway, upon hearing last year that Sports Illustrated's Leigh Montville had his own Evel bio in the works, I was eager to read it as well, but also wary of another knockoff. At long last, Montville's 400-page Evel arrived on Tuesday, and I've spent the past couple days plowing through it. So...

I liked it! Instead of a rehash of all the stuff in my book, I was pleased to find that Montville had explored the various eras of Evel's life in much more depth than I did, turning up lots of good information and anecdotes that I hadn't known about before. While my book was steeped in dates and places and facts and figures, and relied heavily on previously published sources (I made a point of including as many of Evel's most obnoxious quotes as I could find), Montville interviewed many of the big names Evel crossed paths with, such as Frank Gifford, Brent Musburger, Linda Evans and George Hamilton. He also talked to many less-flashy supporting characters -- a childhood friend, a cellmate, an old hockey teammate. My book spent large chunks exploring son Robbie's daredevil career, as well as the careers of many of Evel's other imitators; I also wrote lots about Evel's ongoing impact on pop culture, much of which involving the loads of Knievel-related media and merchandise released in the '70s. In contrast, Montville mostly stuck to the many wild stories that were a constant in Evel's life, relating them with the flourish of a seasoned biographer. Still, he glossed over the 30-odd years between Evel's retirement and his 2007 death in the final chapter, while I spent maybe a third of my book covering Evel's post-daredevil career... Overall, Montville's book is a solid complement to mine, and vice-versa.

However, though I didn't think it possible, Montville far surpassed my book in demonstrating that Evel was a colossal asshole -- a violent, abusive, drunken, mean-spirited, philandering, egomaniacal bully, whose m.o. was to lie, cheat and steal his way through life. Among Montville's juicier bits: Evel's FBI file (released in 2008) suggested he hired goons to beat up his daredevil rivals; a couple interviewees said that Evel himself beat his wife Linda (not surprising, though nothing I've actually read in print before); not only did Evel regularly dine-and-dash, but he also pulled a midnight heal-and-dash from a hospital; he once rudely referred to George Foreman and Muhammad Ali as, as Bob Arum politely put it, "another word for 'African Americans'" (also not surprising). Evel had an anti-Semitic streak too (currently listed on eBay by Evel's son Kelly: EVEL KNIEVEL ORIG 1977 ANTI SEMITIC LAWSUIT PAPERWORK -- bidding is now at $51!).

But hey, Evel's jumps were still cool.

Almost as entertaining as Montville's book is its reception by the knuckleheads on the Ultimate Evel Knievel Fan Board...

Posted by Jeff on April 27, 2011, 1:56 am
Did this really say that Evel beat up Linda and the kids? Wow. Has anyone here ever met Linda? That would be like beating up Mother Theresa. If all this is true, its no wonder that Robbie left home at 16. Bob, surely you aren't liking this book, right?

Posted by Bob on April 27, 2011, 3:18 am
Im not even reading the book after what you told me before. Not buying it or giving the guy that wrote it one dime of my money. But thats just me. I have no interest in the book what so ever. To me it was never even written...I removed all info on ordering or promoting the book on my site and canceled my order sometime ago..

Posted by Dave Whiting on April 27, 2011, 11:29 am
I looked forward to this new EK book for months. I haven’t even made it half way through and I’m already ticked that this guy got a red cent of my money. As far as I’m concerned, I doubt this guy ever even met Evel or knew anything about him and had absolutely no business writing a book about Evel Knievel other than to just cash in on the name. I hope the royalties to the Knievel estate are stinkin HIGH ! If anyone out there who hasn’t already paid for this, Don’t waste your money!!! It's a real rip off !!!

Posted by Jeff on April 27, 2011, 12:46 pm
We should all just pass around one copy and not put any more money into this guys hands.

Posted by Bob on April 27, 2011, 3:40 pm
All i can say is thanks to Jeff for the heads up on the book. Which not only saved me money but didn't give this guy any of my money. I think everyone who truly loves and cares about Evel, If you read the book or not. Should go to amazon.com and rag on this guy for your book review..I am...by the way i like Jeff's idea,let everyone that cares pass the book around and then we will burn it.

Posted by Scott on April 28, 2011, 8:21 pm
Mine came in today. I missed the thread about how negative the book is. Not even going to open it. Sending it back on Monday.

Posted by Bob on April 29, 2011, 12:02 am
Thats the way you do it Scott..good man..

Man, I can't wait to see their Amazon reviews ...
***

Cool Hockey Shit #7

Above, the NHL's best mascot, Carlton; below, a funny collision...

Slap shots...

Slap Shot...

Croatian-Canadians Frank Mahovlich, Pete Mahovlich, Joe Sakic...

...and Dan Mandich...



Fred Sasakamoose...

Larry Kwong...

Women...

The Game...

The Hockey Book...

The Hockey Theme...



The Richard Riot...

And -- you guessed it -- fights...

***

My Favorite Music, Movies, DVDs & Books of '10!

For that matter, here's my favorite music, movies, DVDs and books of the decade (so far)...

Songs
The Baseball Project – The Panda and the Freak
Best Coast - Boyfriend
Black Keys – Tighten Up
The Corin Tucker Band – Riley
Dum Dum Girls – It Only Takes One Night
Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring
M.I.A. – Born Free
Vampire Weekend – Holiday

The Walkmen – Angela Surf City
Notes: I listed songs instead of albums, since really the only new 2010 album that I've found thoroughly enjoyable is Best Coast's Crazy for You. Otherwise, my favorite '10 albums are either new reissues of old faves (Springsteen, Stones, Stooges), or new-to-me favorites from years past (Nikki & the Corvettes, Wire), neither of which apply.

Movies
Exit Through the Gift Shop

The Fighter

Greenberg

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

The Kids Are All Right
Let Me In
The Social Network

The Tillman Story

True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Notes: I watched 45 movies this year, 13 of which were 2010 releases. I have yet to see these promising titles: Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Inception, Life During Wartime, 127 Hours...

DVDs

30 for 30
Baseball: The Tenth Inning

Big Love: Season 3

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7

In Treatment: Season 2

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Rolling Stones
Let’s Spend the Night Together

The T.A.M.I. Show
This Emotional Life

Notes: I couldn't come up with a tenth item.

Books
Big Hair and Plastic Grass by Daniel Epstein
Blockade Billy by Stephen King
Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (the first 277 pages, anyhow)
Life by Keith Richards
Mint Condition by Dave Jamieson
Other Lives by Peter Bagge
Stitches by David Small
Undeleted Scenes by Jeffrey Brown
Wilson by Daniel Clowes
Notes: I finished 30 books this year. The best non-2010 books I read were H.G. Bissinger's Friday Night Lights, Franklin Foer's How Soccer Explains the World, Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, Larry Tye's Satchel, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and The Tipping Point, and George F. Will's Men at Work (even though he's a douche).

***

My Favorite Music, Movies & Books of '09!

Albums
1. Nirvana, Live at Reading
2. Black Lips, 200 Million Thousand
3. Kiss, Sonic Boom
4. Sonic Youth, The Eternal
5. Reigning Sound, Love and Curses
6. Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It's Blitz!
8. Dead Weather, Horehound
9. The King Khan & BBQ Show, Invisible Girl
10. New York Dolls, 'Cause I Sez So
Notes: A live recording of a 17-year-old concert by a long-defunct band shouldn't even qualify for such a list, but I listened to Live at Reading far more than any other CD this year... The reissue of '09 is easily The Beatles Stereo Box Set.
***


Movies
1. The Hurt Locker
2. A Serious Man
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. Star Trek
5. Watchmen
6. Anvil: The Story of Anvil
7. Food, Inc.
8. I Love You, Man
9. It Might Get Loud
10. Up in the Air
Notes: Still haven't seen Big Fan, In the Loop, Sherlock Holmes, and bunches of others. I need to watch more movies...


Books
1. Under Their Thumb by Bill German
2. Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend by Joshua Blu Buhs
3. We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives by Paul Shaffer
4. The Art of Tony Millionaire by Tony Millionaire
5. Inventory by the Writers of the A.V. Club
6. Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition by Alan J. Stein, Paula Becker & the Historylink Staff
Notes: I need to read more books.


***

My 25 Favorite Books of the '00s!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)
Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon by Will Brooker (2000)
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware (2000)
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand (2001)
Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azzerad (2002)
Word Freak by Stefan Fastis (2002)
Blankets by Craig Thompson (2003)
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (2003)
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (2003)
The Meaning of Ichiro by Robert Whiting (2004)
Neither Here Nor There by the Melvins (2004)
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (2005)
Transit Maps of the World by Mark Ovenden (2005)
TV A-Go-Go by Jake Austen (2005)
Blackstock's Collections by Gregory L. Blackstock (2006)
Vanishing Seattle by Clark Humphrey (2006)
The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting by Jim Walsh (2007)
Spider-Man: The Icon by Steve Saffel (2007)
Watching Baseball Smarter by Zach Hample (2007)
Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth (2008)
Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine (2008)
The Art of Tony Millionaire by Tony Millionaire (2009)
Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend by Joshua Blu Buhs (2009)
Under Their Thumb by Bill German (2009)
***

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!
***

Book of the Year! Book of the Year!

Fans of Seattle's history -- especially its pop-culture past -- will dig Clark Humphrey's fantastic new photo book, Vanishing Seattle. Humphrey's an expert on such stuff, as he's previously demonstrated in the definitive Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story, and currently in his long-running blog, MISCmedia.com.

For me, Vanishing Seattle fondly brings to mind my dad and I eating at Dag's (not the one on the cover, but the one on Fourth Avenue South) following Mariner games at the Kingdome (p. 96). I've also eaten at Pizza Haven (p. 46), Herfy's and Sea Galley (both p. 42), and the Admiral Benbow (p. 58). I've worn Britannia jeans purchased at the Squire Shop (p. 19), gone through many pairs of Converse All-Stars purchased at Chubby & Tubby (p. 28), and had my picture taken with Santa at Frederick & Nelson (p. 10-12). In 1959 or so, my parents had their first official date at the Coliseum Theater (p. 105); in 1977 they took me to see Star Wars at the UA 150 (p. 106). I also rode the Bubbleator (p. 110), shopped with my family at both Jafco (p. 33) and Pay 'n' Save (p. 21), watched J.P. Patches on TV (p. 116-117), and bought records at Fallout (p. 26).

Here are a few other such places I've visited (and photographed) on my own...

Though Humprhey's book includes a '60s photo of the Seattle Center's Flight to Mars (p. 113), animatronic monster gargoyles were added to the ride's facade sometime in the '70s. They used to scare the crap out of me.

Humprhey's book also includes a daytime photo of Food Giant (p. 31); here's how its awesome neon sign looked at night.

This place was on Aurora near 50th (just south of Woodland Park) before it was demolished to make way for condos. It had already closed when I took this picture around 1992 or '93, though it still had menus and speakerboxes positioned at each parking spot.

Unfortunately, I never ate at Chuckwagon Bar-B-Q; I also regret the places Humphrey mentions that I could've visited but sadly didn't: the Dog House (p. 34-35), the Copper Kitchen (p. 37), Trader Vic's (p. 54), and Longacres (p. 97). Though my family did shop at the Kent Wigwam (p. 22), I'm especially bummed that I never ate at the Twin Teepees (p. 36).

Vanishing Seattle was released last week by Arcadia, the publisher responsible for those cool books lovingly filled with historic photos of specific regions around the country. (Two other local favorites are Jeff Obermeyer's Hockey in Seattle and David D. Williams's Hydroplane Racing in Seattle.) I bought mine at the Walgreen's on 15th Avenue East; it's also available at a couple other not-yet-vanished Seattle institutions, Ye Olde Curiousity Shop and Amazon.com.

Only eight more shopping days...
***