My New (Original) Track

...and the world was always ending, but really, now...

Moon and Jupiter from My Deck, February 26, 2012

It's cold

Mt. Baker

Chair 9

Baker

Oregon

It rains all the way through Washington, but dries up just as we reach Portland. We arrive at the Westin, get settled a bit and then walk around and look at shops. We get drinks at Ringler's Annex, where I have a good Vieux Carre, strong on the bitters. Then we get ready and have dinner at the Davis Street Tavern. DST is good, but we both get beef dishes and the meat quality isn't as high as it could be. Then we walk across downtown to the Central, which is a speakeasy/cocktail culture type of place. The Central is in what must be the college/post-college part of Portland, because the kids are out and rambunctious in that part of town, but it is the kind of place that doesn't let people in until they have a table for them, so we are insulated from the mess outside. We get lucky and it doesn't rain at all. I sleep deeply.

In the morning we have a very good brunch at a deli (Kenny & Zuke's) on the edge of the Pearl District. I have cholla French toast and Jaime has an omelet with big thick bits of pastrami in it. Then we drive out to the Willamette Valley under partly-sunny skies and taste wines at three different wineries. It is a great day, if a little cold.

We have dinner at Clyde Commons, where we have eaten before. It is very good. I have game hen with spatzle in a dijon sauce. Jaime has a whole roasted trout. We go to a classic-arcade-game bar in Old Town/China Town. It just begins to rain as we are walking home.

Galaga

Davis Street Tavern, PDX

Vieux Carre. Giant ice cube. Portland.

What I've been searching

Thursday we go to 35th Avenue North (name of shop, not a location) for Joe Nix's latest art opening. We talk to Joe and look at the new work. I like his new series of Seattle landmarks (in particular, the Space Needle being built and the four-panel of the King Dome being imploded). Afterward, we have dinner at the Brave Horse Tavern, Tom Douglas' latest effort.  It is everything we've come to expect from a TD food trap, translated into a tavern; that is, a workmanlike impression of something actually cool, but not the real thing.  It speaks the language, but its accent is no good.  The burger is good, though.  

Friday we are supposed to go to a birthday party at the Woods on Capitol Hill, so we go to Quinn's for dinner first, where I discover that Quinn's is currently mixing the best drink in Seattle: Le Pistole Fumante.  It is an uber-manly mix of rye, amaro and Islay scotch, with a float of coffee beans. 

Saturday we have lunch at Tat's Deli in Pioneer Square, where we discover a pastrami cheesesteak sandwich that makes other cheesesteaks look common - which they are - so, well, it's an extraordinary sandwich.

Saturday night we go to a party for one of Jaime's crossfit friends.  We have drinks at Tango, which is a grossly inappropriate venue for a large group to have birthday drinks.  It feels too crowded and we stay far too long at that place.  We end the night at Linda's, up the hill.  

Today, we look at condos and I make steak frites for dinner.

FYM

The Yacht show got covered by the ForYoungModerns arts/music/culture blog and Jaime and Sarah got a picture in the article, which picture might lead people to believe that all Seattle girls have roughly the same skin, hair and eye color, which might be true, now that I am thinking about it.

Yacht

Thank sweet baby Jesus I have a low-pressure day at work today, because Yacht started late and went hard.  They sailed the seven seas of dance rhythms (hooray for apt metaphors!) and demonstrated why it is so worthwhile to find and enjoy obscure bands; the immediacy, spontaneity and personal nature of the experience cannot be matched.  The band ventured into the crowd and the crowd ventured up onto the stage (including Jaime and Sarah, as you can see if you look closely at the back of the first video below).  It was not a point-someone-out-in-the-crowd-to-dance sort of thing; just an open invitation to get up on stage, if you felt like it.

Part concert, part dance party, all that fans have come to expect from a DFA records act.  And, of course, Jaime got me a setlist.

YACHT!

YACHT! at the Crocodile Tomorrow

55 degrees

Super Bowl Sunday

Wake up at 6:06, fairly well rested, having gone to bed early for a Saturday night. I've worked on music for an hour before the sun is up. Last night I convinced myself I was ready to quit my job and default on my condo and move to New York. This morning I'm only 25% resolved.

At the store, before noon, Jaime and I make a bet on the Super Bowl; if the Giants beat the spread she wins. At stake: loser has to eat at IHOP and the winner picks the meal, which means eating the nastiest most saccharine item on the menu.

We go to look at an open house, but the building is so terrible from the outside we skip it and go back home. Super Bowl party at the Holbrooks.  The Giants win. Jaime decides I'll be eating the "Cinna-Stack."