Just a disclaimer. I didn't take any of these photos :) But probably nobody will mind, since I'm linking everthing to their official site. If you've heard them, you'll probably want to listen again. If you haven't heard them, you're in for a big treat. I was excited today to find a link to super-high-quality videos of End of the Line and Handle With Care. There are more, but these are my two favorites. (There is no arrow, just click on the photo when you get to their site.) If you think you haven't heard of the group, take a look at the faces. It's only a few friends having fun making music: Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison.
I remember the day in the late 1980s when I first encountered them. I had no idea, but I couldn't believe what I'd just heard on the radio, and I couldn't believe there was "some group" out there so remarkably gifted and this was only their first record. I called the radio station and dutifully wrote down "T-r-a-v-e-l-i-n-g-W-i-l-b-u-r-y-s." Then I scraped up a few bucks and went to find their music in the store. I had those two cassette tapes for a long time, and when I began replacing tapes with CDs, I was distressed to learn that the group was not on disc. In fact, they'd been out of print for quite some time. But by that time I was getting the idea that sooner or later everything would be available on CD, it might just be a matter of waiting. (There's actually one obscure tape I'm still waiting for, but it wasn't very popular.)
Well, times have changed. Identities have been revealed. I bought the double CD with the DVD and fell in love with the sound all over again. The video was fantastic. I pulled it off the shelf again the other night after watching a horrible DVD of Cream's farewell concert at Albert Hall. I love Cream, I love their sound, but this DVD had not captured the sound I loved, and the visual was old and almost unwatchable. The thing it seems to have captured best was Jack Bruce's bad complexion, and I could have done without that information. So what that has to do with the Wilburys is basically nothing except that I wanted to end the evening on a better note, and I knew this video would do it for me. I could not stop hitting the replay button. Tonight for laughs I looked them up online and found that the videos have been made available online. With a computer, speakers, and a mouse, you don't even have to pay for it. I love this turn of events, but I'm still trying to figure out how one little room could hold so much genius. And the varied talents blend so perfectly. There's a video included that tells the story, and it's delightful and amazing to watch. And . . . they were having fun, which is so gladdening to feel part of, which is what happens to you. It's 100% infectious. And as Sue said, no egos. I guess I've said all I know how to. Just listen. Enjoy.
Here she sits, looking for all the world like a huge white whale with a pointy beak. I've always intended to get down near one of the cruise ships when they come into port. They are so monumental, it's staggering to look at them. The photos don't do justice to the way it feels when you're near one of these monsters. I wasn't able to get all the way up to the ship to get the angle I wanted, and you'll see why in a minute. For now, I'll do my best to show the size.
This is clearly not even the whole ship, even though I put the camera's setting on wide. The little thing on the right with yellow stripes is a bus, and behind that, a two-storey building.
Here's the other end of her.
I'm shooting this through chain link fence, or I'd have gotten closer. The vendors come out when a ship is in port, and there are greeters. You can sign up to do this, but I never have. Some people say it's fun. What I like about this photo, especially if you click to enlarge it, is the different shades of white on the tent tops, and how they appear to be a painting rather than something real, with the gray lines and the white on white against the light gray sky.
There was live music, too. When I arrived, this man was playing and singing an Eric Clapton song. Nobody was watching, but everyone could hear, as the PA system was quite effective. The tents are off to the left and the ship is to the right.
The weather had gone from drizzle to rain while I was walking around taking pictures. If you enlarge this one you can see the water coming down. The musician was dry under the tent.
Going to town with umbrellas, hoods and hats. Shuttle buses take the passengers into town and have several stops for them. I'm not sure how it all works. There must be various arranged times when they can hop the bus back to the ship. Everything is close enough that some people just walk. I'm not sure if this is one of the six or so ships that had been scheduled for Mexico and had to settle for rainy Astoria because of the swine flu. Passengers fill the streets and make the shop owners' day when a cruise ship is in port. The visitors usually seem in good spirits, too, whether it's raining or nice. We try to give them nice weather when we can, and much of the time we do!
Here's what I mean. They really don't want visitors like myself anywhere near the cruise ship! I believe this is standard procedure, although I don't know when it became so rigid.
Eeek! Did you ever feel like you'd done something wrong before you even got started?
It was raining pretty hard by the time I headed back to my car.
Here's a look at the back of the Red Lion Inn and one of the hills of Astoria at the west end of town. The ship is now behind me.
This is the coolest thing! When I looked up the Sapphire Princess online this afternoon, I found they had a WEB CAM on board! You can see the same bridge in my first photo. In fact, they have two cameras - a bridge cam (bridge = part of the ship, not to be confused with the Astoria-Megler bridge in view!) and a wedding cam. If you look in the upper right of the cam page, there's a drop-down with all of their ships. I don't think they really update after two minutes, but right now I'm waiting see the Tahitian Princess docking in St. Petersburg, Russia. I wonder how it's going to get past that car-filled bridge its heading toward? It doesn't look like a drawbridge from here!
Tonight as I was posting, I looked again at the Sapphire Princess's bridge cam. Here it is in the dark, heading to Seattle with lights on. Pretty darn cool. Yes? I think I'll be taking a virtual sail around the world for the next few days!
It's nice to have such a place to wander around even in gray, dull weather. The high was 63 today. I don't get especially depressed in overcast weather, but sunny days are remarkable here.
I thought these pilings in the river looked like asparagus. The water bubbles around them when it washes in and out, so I guess that would be asparagus in boiling water. The pilings turn mossy green, and they even have grass and other plants sprouting from them. It's quite a novelty for someone from a dry climate.
I took all of these photos from the small pier that's been designated a waterfront park. I wrote about it earlier, and you can find it on the blog by following the "waterfront park" link.
Here are some more picturesque waterfront buildings taken from the pier.
I love the blue rope, but somehow I didn't get the right angle for the picture. Anyway, I think the colors are cool.
Here's a big ship passing, with the pilot boat going out to meet it and another boat racing past.
The building hanging out over the water with the round opening in it is some kind of office. What a great location!
I've devised this calendar in the hallway to pin up events that I'd like to go to. I wonder if I'll get it together to update the calendar each month? This way I can keep all of the information about the event, and I'll see it as I go in and out the front door. It's all done with pins on a felt hanging, so it's very flexible. I'm getting really lonely. I talk to people as much as I can, but I'm just not terribly outgoing. I'm trying to get myself to events, and maybe that will help. My work and e-mail keep me plugged in to people I know online, and I'll be starting an art class at the college in September. Until then, I'm doing what I can, but not feeling very connected with anyone. I keep myself busy with projects, but that's not the problem. I miss having people in real space that I'm close to.
Here's the northern window in the office. Outside, you can see the steps leading to my deck and down to the garden.
Here's the kitchen and my rack of cassette tapes. I culled some when I moved, so most of these are favorites. I recorded many of them myself when I lived in Santa Barbara and had access to a friend's record collection. I also had a good tuner and tape deck at the time (left in Colorado), and I made a lot of tapes from the radio, too. I do love music. The two little objects on the top are tapirs made of pipe cleaners. Bob found them somewhere in the UK. The relatively big kitchen space here is a definite bonus.
