LR Tuesday, July 19, 2011 Discovering my 'backyard'

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi gang,

Lunch
The wife and visitors are off to Woodland Park Zoo. I didn't come along so I can run some errands and write this thing. For lunch I'll have a sandwich with salami from a store here in downtown Seattle called 'Salumi'. Which of course is Italian for 'cold cuts'. It is run by the Batali family and they make excellent salame. Currently we have the 'standard' salami and the 'hot soppressata', which has some similarities with the Spanish chorizo in terms of taste and spices. Yummies once more.

The backyard referred to in the title is not the backyard of yesterdays berries. Rather today, I'll take you on a walking trip through downtown Seattle as we did yesterday with our guests.

First, there is always the discussion whether to take the bus or take the car. The 522 Express bus runs nearby and takes you to downtown in about 20 minutes. It would still cost about $12 to bring Jommie and our 2 guests along while I have a bus pass. Parking in downtown is not cheap, but Jommie intuited that it would cost about the same all in all so the car it was. We parked at the 7th and Pike garage near the Washington State Convention Center. Let the tour begin ...

We have been living in this town for 16 years and still there are things we discover. We had heard of Freeway Park but never been there. Nicest piece of early '70's concrete I know. The park in effect is the lid on I-5 running beneath downtown and it has this contraption called the 'Canyon':

a twisty maze of passages all alike with waterfalls left and right. A strange kind of beauty in and by itself not to be confused with the 'canyon' of a modern day US downtown:
.

Next stop, the public library. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, it is an intricate construction of glass and metal with many playful elements. For instance, floors 10 thru 6 are connected by an elongated spiral which allows you to walk the 4 floors without ever taking a staircase or elevator. The picture on the right is the start of said spiral


Next up was lunch and since we were planning to go to Pioneer Square (where we never ended up) I wanted to introduce both my wife and our guests to the heaven that is Tat's. When I worked in a software shop at Occidental Square, Tat's was the lunch stop at least once a week. They make fantastic sandwiches, not all healthy mind you, but worth the sacrifice. There are 2 things I like above all: their Cheesesteak which I always order with the works (onions, mushrooms, bell pepers, and some peperoncini) and Whiz (instead of provolone), and their trademark Tatstrami: a hoagie with the most delicious pastrami adorned with coleslaw. Oh my goodness, my mouth starts to water just thinking about it. I ordered 2 Cheesesteaks and 1 Tatstrami and it provided us with a great lunch and even dinner! Wish I had pictures of it ...

As stated, Tat's is close to Occidental Square which for the 2011 Summer Art project is being dressed in stockings and bibs by local artist Suzanne Tidwell to bring some color and lightness to a proverbially gray Seattle. You can judge for yourself whether she succeeded. The other monument on Occidental is for the fallen firefighters of Seattle. Conceived after 4 men died in the infamous Pang Warehouse fire January 5, 1995 it is a beautiful piece of realistic art close to one of Seattle's oldest fire stations which now houses the headquarters and a museum.


There are 2 other nice spots near Occidental. First, in 1907 it was the founding place of Brown, better known as United Parcel Service. At the original location you will find Waterfall Garden, a beautiful semi-secluded little gem. And few people know that there is a National Park smack dab in the middle of the Pioneer Square area with park rangers and all: the Klondike National Historic Park. Why? Well, Seattle was the starting place for many men (and women) trying their fortune at the confluence of Rabbit Creek (renamed Bonanza Creek) and the Klondike river in the Yukon Territories in the late 1800's. The 'Wheel of Fortune' shown is exactly that; a representation of what your chances were to actually strike it rich: just that yellowish wedge! It was interesting to learn that John Nordstrom, co-founder of the famous chain, earned the capital to start his stores in the Klondike!


After drinking a Café Mocha at my favorite Seattle coffee shop, Zeitgeist, it was time for 'passegare à la scoliera', or in plain American English, as stroll along the waterfront. Way more people than we had run into the early parts of the day. It was clear we were now engaging in activities that every tourist is apparently involved in. So we got ourselves as fast as possible to what we were looking for: the John T Williams Memorial Totem Pole Project. The story of Mr Williams, a well-known Native American woodcarver, is a sad one indeed, killed by a police officer under circumstances authorities still try to figure out. To commemorate his life, his friends and family are carving 3 totem poles which will be erected in different places in Seattle.


We ended the tour by climbing the stairs to the Pike Place Market and spending a little time at the famous Flying Fish shop after which we escaped the crowd and walked back to the car to spent the evening in that other backyard. I cannot take any credit for the pictures. Jommie is a way better photographer than me. If you want to see bigger version just click on them. BTW, parking was $13 in all. Pretty close!

So after all this, it is finally time for the questions.
Non-G&L related question
Is there any hidden gem in your city/neighborhood? Some places you take your guests to and seems to be overlooked by others?
I have seen some of Brocks videos, so I know some about his 'backyard'. But what about yours?

G&L related question
What G&L are playing right now?
Trick question! I for one am not playing right now. I'm typing up this LR. Just want a tally how many of you are reading the LR while playing OK, relax the rules. I have my Phyllis Model 'Blondie' out to seduce me with her tones and looks.

Great sounding guitar and the push-pull Treble roll-off to combine neck and bridge pups is very effective. Great guitar too to do 'White Room' using the new wah.

Talk to you later guys and gals,

- Jos

Edit: Fix image link after album was lost.

[sirmyghin]

Thanks for the recap of what you have been doing, lots of pics = great for perspective. Don't like the look of the outside of that building, but that is architects for you..

Currently I am not playing, but I do check forums occasionally when I am, White room is a fun tune for improvisation, seeing as the leads are all simple pentatonics you can take it a fair amount of places, especially if you want to complete the scale. I don't usually use a wah though, I do break it out now and then but usually I just plug straight in. I do so much regimented practice cleanly that I only break out the pedal board and wire it up if I plan to do a lot of playing that day. Lately I have been trying to master the fingerboard through triads and their inversions. I want to get a better grasp of chord melody and that involves never losing track of where you are and exactly what notes you are playing. I am pretty good off the cuff, but I do lose sight of what notes I am actually using (although I know they sound good), especially in the upper register.

So you take the 3 inversions of the triad ( R-3-5, 3-5-R,5-R-3) and move them all over the string sets (there will be 4 string sets of 3) until you can tell yourself what every chord is. The key here is the shifting of the root, I wager most of us are pretty solid on the 5th and 6th strings, due to a familiarity with bar chords, but those others can be a bit rocky, especially after you throw in the major 3rd from G to B.

[Kit]

Nice backyard tour.

I live in Portland but I haven't made it up to Seattle in something like 18 years. I do remember Pike Street Market Place and Broadway, specially the dance step footprints at the street corners. Are those still there? It is likely that I will be making a trip up to the area so my daughter can visit University of Washington as that is likely one of the colleges she will apply for.

Portland has its own quirky charm, I bet you have visited before. I don't have any photos to post though.

I am at work so I can't play at the moment. This last Sunday I took my SC-3 to practice and I noticed how nice it sounded even though I was only playing through a mediocre Vox AD30.

Kit

[blargfromouterspace]

Thanks for the tour of Seattle. Those totem poles look fantastic, great colours.

I'm still discovering Melbourne myself and don't yet have a special destination, but I will find one! There are a few little spots I like to go for lunch and coffee, both around where I attend uni, and a great Indian grocery near where I live which makes the best curry in Australia. Also a few places for dinner that are usually quiet but make great food. So I suppose I have a few places, but they're all food related....

My Bluesboy is on its stand watching me type this. I wish I had time to play it today but I have to run

[sickbutnottired]

NIce tour, yo.

I am not playing much G&L right now. I have recently started playing a ton of slide, and I am really having trouble making friends with the 7.5" radius for that. I need a number 3 neck!!!! (Or something 12'' r).

Usually, I can get used to anything, but I am really struggling with tight radius for slide. Probably because I am a rookie.

Jos and Kit, I have lived near both Seattle and Portland. Both cool, I think I might take PDX if I had to choose. Maybe just because I was in a better space when I lived in that neck of the woods.

jg

[Boogie Bill]

OH, MAN...yer killin' me with the pics of my hometown! I am so homesick for Seattle, I could cry. I think we're going to make it up from PDX in mid-August, so I may be calling you for more restaurant reviews. Portland is a great town too, but Seattle is home. Need to get those red shoes on and start clickin' my heels, I guess.

One place you might have missed is a VERY tiny hole-in-the-wall place called Paseo, just south of the WP Zoo on Fremont Ave N. It's at about 43rd I think, so you're close enough to make a sidetrip though American Music. Paseo does Caribbean food, and my mouth is watering for some of their scallops or shrimp in red sauce, over rice with the black beans.

And Ivar's fish and chips...

OH, MAN...yer killin' me!!!!

The G&L I've been playing most lately is a older 3-bolt 3CSB Legacy with a maple neck and white guard. I bought this guitar last summer for $400. It was in really good shape, but the set-up was very poor--no wonder the guy sold it. The geometry between the neck angle, vibrato height and the truss rod relief was all messed up. Took a couple of hours, to get it back to normal, but when I did--man, is it a KEEPER! I've even kept this one in my normal rotation for much longer than I usually do. And I'm just giddy about the price--what a steal!

The guitar I will be playing next though is my Taylor 710, and I'm going to be sitting in front of YouTube videos, trying to learn some more '50s hits for a private party we have coming up in August....a local retirement center's "Happy Days" sock hop.

Or what ever they do with support hose....

Bill

[yowhatsshakin]

One place you might have missed is a VERY tiny hole-in-the-wall place called Paseo, just south of the WP Zoo on Fremont Ave N.

Know everything about Paseo: best Cuban sandwiches and their pulled-pork sandwich is to die for. They caramelize their onions just perfectly. But it would be a long ways out of the way compared to where we were yesterday

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

Jos and Kit, I have lived near both Seattle and Portland. Both cool, I think I might take PDX if I had to choose. Maybe just because I was in a better space when I lived in that neck of the woods.

Nothing bad from me on PDX. Love that town too. Just so happened that my desire to become a physics professor dropped me off in this town first. I can tell you this anecdote about what Seattle did to me and Jommie. We arrived here the last day of January in '95. About 3 months later we were taking the bus from the Northgate neighborhood where we lived to downtown on a gorgeous Sunday morning. While crossing the I-5 bridge, with the Cascades and Lake Washington to the left, the Olympics and Lake Union to the right, the Space Needle at the horizon and Mt. Rainier setting behind the hills of Montlake and beyond, Jommie turns to me and says: "We're never gonna leave this, are we?" How could I not agree with her? This place has everything we have always dreamt about. Whenever we drive up on I-5 from the southern part of the state, my heart skips a beat whenever I see the Seattle skyline just past Sea-Tac because it is where home is. But I love the Pacific Northwest as a region: beautiful coastline, spectacular mountains dotted with volcanoes, and friendly people. Great place to live and love!

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

I'm still discovering Melbourne myself and don't yet have a special destination, but I will find one! There are a few little spots I like to go for lunch and coffee, both around where I attend uni, and a great Indian grocery near where I live which makes the best curry in Australia. Also a few places for dinner that are usually quiet but make great food. So I suppose I have a few places, but they're all food related....

Who cares? Food is a large part of living and being human. So knowing where to get great quality food, especially the mom-'n-pop places where you get outrageously good food for little money, is what makes a town a town, or more appropriately your town. You only realize what you had when you move away for a while and have to find all these nuggets in your new place. "Well, they're good but it is not like ..." Yeah, I've been there

- Jos

[yowhatsshakin]

I do remember Pike Street Market Place and Broadway, specially the dance step footprints at the street corners. Are those still there? It is likely that I will be making a trip up to the area so my daughter can visit University of Washington as that is likely one of the colleges she will apply for.

Yup, they are still there on Capitol Hill. Pike Place Market has pig feet shaped copper inlays in their floor tiles with the names of donors of the renovation. And the man hole covers on the sidewalks actually have small maps on them. For those that pay attention, there are tons of small little things just around the corner.

And as an honorary Husky (I worked and taught there longer than it takes most to graduate), I can only say 'Go Dawgs!'

- Jos

[KenC]

Jos,

That's an intersting question about hidden gems. I work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at a facility just outside of Washington DC. Today I had a couple of meetings at our headquarters building in downtown DC, which is less than a five minute walk from most of the Smithsonian museums. I took my laptop so I could work in the cafeteria between meetings, and was amazed by the crowds that were flowing in and out throughout the day. Then I realized that visitors were allowed to come in off the street to the cafeteria (anywhere deeper into the building would require the normal security checks, x-ray screenings, etc). It's a haven of air conditioning, cleanliness and comfortable seating in the middle of DC. Families were coming in to take breaks from sightseeing or plan the next stop on their itineraries. Not to mention the food - to me it was just another lunch in the cafeteria, but for the visitors it was restaurant-quality food at snackbar prices (a hotdog and can of soda from a sidewalk vendor in this area would probably top ten dollars). I will definitely recommend it when friends visit DC.

About 90% of my nightly living room playing has been on an ASAT I picked up from Guitar Center in May. I don't intend to remove the neck to check the dates, but judging by the location of the string tree she has to be from the beginning of 1988. I'm a bit perplexed by the finish. It's candy apple red and appears to be original, but where the finish is dinged around the edges it looks like there's a thick clearcoat underneath (that seems to have a bit of a gold tone). There's also very professionally inlayed cursive "L" in the upper bout, which was definitely installed before the topcoat was applied. I've heard of G&L respraying bodies on rare occasions, so I have to wonder if this was custom order and the buyer changed his mind about the color before it was shipped. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Ken C

[darwinohm]

Yow, great tour of Seattle. I have never been there. Looks like you have some great landmarks and sites. I admire the fact that the weather allows you to get out. We have an all-time, most miserable, heat wave. Between the heat and rain/hail, Minnesota is borderline uninhabital. Everything is ready to melt and the humidity is off the scale. No fret sprout in this weather.

I always have a guitar handy. today I played my Parker, the Blonde Legacy, the Taylor and the Asat Special to test an amp that I repaired. the repair was successful and I now have time to post, enjoy a couple off cool ones, in this weather they don't feel cold. All I can say is the Asat Special cooks. Besides my ribs are getting better and life is good so now I can focus on more important things such as guitar research.

Your Blondie is outstanding. It is very similar to my Blondie other than the pickguard ( mine is mint green and not signed by Phyllis). Cool guitar.

I am hanging in there with two more days of this heat.--:shocked028: Darwin.

[zapcosongs]

Yo Ken.

If I'm not mistaken, the Candy Apple Red finish is accomplished by applying red on top of gold. So what you see would be normal.

Also, I'm in the DC area as well. Montgomery County. Where the hell are you? - ed

[gitman001]

Hey Jos,

I absolutely love the west coast, never been to Seattle, but it looks fantastic.

I am really lucky to live near the St. Lawrence River, in an area know as the thousand islands.... it is a little bit of paradise in the great white north. Here is a shot from the weekend to give y'all an idea of what i'm talking about



It is probably no surprise that the new sc-2 is glued to my hands lately. I am just home from the first rehearsal with it and it certainly rocks. The MDF's are considerably hotter and certainly drove the amp even harder than the other G&L's

Scott

[KenC]

Ed,

I'm in Crownsville, which is a couple of miles north of Annapolis. I was living in Montgomery County (Silver Spring, to be exact) last winter while I worked on getting my family moved out here.

I'm working in Beltsville, about three blocks away from Atomic Music (hence my renewed love of G&Ls!).

Ken

[blargfromouterspace]

Here is a shot from the weekend to give y'all an idea of what i'm talking about

You went to Heaven on the weekend? Seriously Scott, that place looks like my idea of paradise.

[Philby]

Hi Jos,

Thanks for the photos of Seattle. It's cool sitting here on the other side of the world being a virtual tourist. I envy your sense of place and feeling of 'home' (and your guitar collection too ).

I've been in Melbourne 10 long years and I'm framing an escape plan. Many, many of my countrymen and visitors to this part of the world regard it as the best place in Australia but I have struggled to bond with the stuffy old tart. As it has grown more 'international' and acquired more status, so it has also become more generic (i.e. bland hi-rise) and congested. In fact I saw some photos of Chicago recently and from many angles Melbourne looks just like it. So does Singapore. It is an excellent place to visit though, with many great restaurants, plenty of sporting events and heaps of clubs/nightlife/bands.

My favourite Melbourne places tend to be in the cool alleyways that criss-cross the city, the elegant inner suburbs that retain some original Victorian charm, and the green spaces around the perimeter of the city.

Degraves St.


Brunswick St., Fitzroy


Dandenong Ranges


Royal Botanical Gardens


Exhibition Gardens


My current 'squeeze' at home is not a G&L, but a Cole Clark Offender. I've just put a new set of strings on it and tweaked the neck and it almost plays itself now. I'd love to have a blondie to fall back on though! Here's an old photo of the Offender.



P.S. I wanna be where Gitman is too.

[yowhatsshakin]

Thanks for all the replies and participation again.

Ken: Great example! And I'll keep that in mind when I visit DC. Note to self: use cafeteria of governmental agencies to take a breather. And we both learned something about how you get CAR. Thanks Ed!

Darwin: Read about the heatwave that seems to engulf all of the US except my neck of the woods. Stay hydrated my friend! Here it was rainy and gray today. Attended an open air concert this evening, about which more tomorrow, and fortunately it stayed dry. That's what we call victory here.

Scott: OK dude, I thought I had it great over here I'm with Jamie on that one. NOT FAIR!!

And Philby: thanks for providing some pics of your stomping grounds. Looks very European. But then you throw in the Dandenong Ranges and you are surely somewhere else. That kind of nature is hard to find in old 'Urp' (as Donald Rumsfeld would pronounce it). Maybe up north in the scandinavian countries ... I can relate to the 'congested' part. Definitely true for Amsterdam too where I lived 8 years. And one of the reasons to leave NL.

- Jos

[darwinohm]

Phi;by, great photos but the best is that awesome Cole Clark. It is outstanding. It would look great hanging next to my Crimson Tele.-- Darwin

[zapcosongs]

I'm with Darwin here. That Vox would look good anywhere as well! - ed

[Brock]

We have been living in this town for 16 years and still there are things we discover. We had heard of Freeway Park but never been there. Nicest piece of early '70's concrete I know. The park in effect is the lid on I-5 running beneath downtown and it has this contraption called the 'Canyon':

If I make it to Seattle this year, I'll have to check that out.

Is there any hidden gem in your city/neighborhood? Some places you take your guests to and seems to be overlooked by others?
I have seen some of Brocks videos, so I know some about his 'backyard'. But what about yours?

This video is a bit of a drive to get to. It's Lake Walcott in Central Idaho. Not in my backyard, but certainly accessible from here:

[youtube]n3Ad9YBXQjY[/youtube]

G&L related question
What G&L are playing right now?

1984 (first style) SB-2. It's awesome. I've owned it for about a decade now. Here's Greg's page about it:
http://www.ggjaguar.com/sb-2-84.htm

-Brock

[darwinohm]

Brock, that looks just like many of the beautiful lakes in Minnesota. The only thing missing in Idaho is the heat!!!-- Darwin