Trip to Orcas Island & the Outlook Inn in Eastsound, WA - Feb. 21st to Feb. 24th, 2014

(from the All Snowed In department)

Hi everyone,

We took a family trip to the San Juans last weekend.  Dana got a great deal at a place called the Outlook Inn in Eastsound, WA located on Orcas Island.  I have been to San Juan Island (and the city of Friday Harbor) many times, but I've never been to Orcas Island. 

Orcas Island is interesting.  It's the largest of the San Juans, but it has no cities.  There are towns, but they're "unincorporated communities", if you will.  Eastsound is relatively large for a town - there are grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, gift shops, etc. - but there are no streetlights.  When the sun goes down - it gets DARK! 

We arrived in Eastsound on a Friday afternoon, and were rewarded by the scenery:

(Note:  The island you see just offshore is apparently called Indian Island)

Very nice indeed.  We checked into our hotel:

and got this view from the balcony:

(This was taken Saturday morning - too dark on Friday.  No streetlights, remember?)

The next morning - Saturday - we set off on an Orcas Island adventure.  Orcas Island is basically shaped like a lowercase "n".  Eastsound is at the apex, so we traveled down the right leg towards Rosario resort, Moran State Park, Mt. Constitution and Doe Bay.  We had lunch at Doe Bay - it was wonderful.  Here's a few photos of the cafe and Rose enjoying "The Best Hot Chocolate Ever!!!":

(Hot chocolate - locally sourced!)

Outside, there was a cool statue overlooking the fog enshrouded water:

As we headed back to Eastsound, we took a detour to the town of Olga.  This is it:

 There was a third building, but it burned down:

Coming back through Moran State Park, it started to snow:

Sadly - the road to Mt. Constitution was closed.  Probably a good thing too, with all the snowfall.  But it was clear by the time we reached Rosario Resort:

We had a great tour inside Rosario Resort and Spa - we got to see the museum, and hear the pipe organ.  Then we headed back to our hotel in Eastsound, dodging a snow flurry or two, unware of the surpise awiting us tomorrow morning:

Yes - that's right.  Snow on Sunday.  It totally transformed the landscape.  We were planning on heading back, but based on the cars we saw slipping around, we decided to stay another night and head back on Monday.  So - we ventured out into the snow to explore Eastsound:

(Get ready for snowballs.  Rose threw them at us non-stop)

It was pretty miserable out there:

But - luckily - Darvill's bookstore was open and they had hot chocolate!  We warmed ourselves up at the bookstore, then headed back to our hotel room to watch movies, do puzzles and enjoy the fireplace, while the snow fell silently outside.

Still - it was a lot of fun having a "snow day".  The weather reports were saying that the snow would start melting around 4:00 AM, so we figured that tomorrow morning there wouldn't be much snow left.  Instead:

Yeah - there was more snow.  The weather service updated the alert to 4:00 PM and mentioned more snow was expected.  Dana & I figured that we better try to catch the noon ferry.  The roads had been freshly plowed, the air wasn't nearly as foggy and there was better traction with the fresh snow. 

It was kinda white knuckle driving - Dana is an awesome driver - but we made it to the ferry terminal in Orcas Village.  And - yup - no snow:

All in all, a great family adventure!  Here are some parting thoughts:

Cheers,

Paul







Flashback Friday: Laughing Stock by Talk Talk

Hi everyone,

Remember Talk Talk? They were an 80's synth-pop band, initially posed as an "angst-y" version of Duran Duran by EMI records. They had a string of popular albums in the 80's, with hits like "Talk Talk", "It's A Shame", "Life's What You Make It", and "It's My Life". Because of their early successes, they were increasingly allowed to chart their own course - which they did in a way that nobody expected. Eventually, they would ditch the synth-pop trappings, and explore the world of orchestral ambient jazz. This experimentation culminated in 1988's Spirit Of Eden - after which, they parted ways with an increasingly frustrated EMI.

This is where Laughing Stock comes in. This is their final album as a band, recorded for Polydor in 1991. It continues the radical rethink introduced on Spirit Of Eden and, to some critics, represents the pinnacle of their work. Technically, it's a rock album, but it also sits at the intersection of ambient music and jazz.

You can listen to it here:
Laughing Stock by Talk Talk (Xbox Music)

This is not an "immediate" record. I know it's a lot to ask, but you may need to set a aside a little time to listen to it, before making a final judgment. I found that headphones can help a lot during the initial listens. Also - you may want to concentrate on the 2nd and 3rd tracks - Ascension Day & After The Flood - as a starting point. They're sequenced to fit together, and they're how I'd introduce the album to someone.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

P.S. In case you don't know, you don't need a subscription to listen to Xbox Music - just a Microsoft LiveID. I think you get 10 free hours of music a month.

Flashback Friday: Aerial Ballet by Nilsson

For this edition of Flashback Friday, I'd like to showcase the album "Aerial Ballet" by Nilsson.

You can listen to it on Xbox Live here:
Aerial Ballet by Nilsson (Xbox Music)

Harry Nilsson - who usually went by his last name on his albums - was born in poverty in NYC. He escaped to California and by the late 60's was working in the computer department of a bank. During this time, he was also writing songs for hire, and was discovered by the Monkees. At this point, his performance skills and his near three octave vocal range led to a recording contract with RCA and close friendships with most of rock royalty, including the Beatles.

Nilsson then proceeded to chart one of the most idiosyncratic careers in rock history - from writing children's movies to being thrown out of bars with John Lennon - without ever performing a live concert. I'll leave the rest of his biography to the excellent DVD "Who is Harry Nilsson?" and concentrate on this album, which was his second for RCA.

His first album, Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967) was quite the product of its time - slightly psychedelic, slightly vaudevillian - think Sgt. Pepper's, but orchestral and all by one person. By Aerial Ballet (1968), Nilsson had sharpened his songwriting, ditched the odd cover songs, and delivered his first really amazing song "One" - which was a hit for Three Dog Night, not him. His hit song on this album was "Everybody's Talkin'" - which was, of course the one song he didn't write.

This is a strange album, to be sure. You might find it almost "too pop". That's not because it was recorded in 1968 - even then, it felt out of time compared to contemporary albums like the White Album. Nilsson belonged to an earlier "tin-pan-alley" style of songwriting that fell into favor about then. Concentrate on his elaborate multi-tracked harmony vocals - all done by him - and his use of melody and song arranging. Also - notice how biting the lyrics are from time to time and the odd sense of humor that goes with it.

This bitterness and odd humor would eventually dominate his songwriting thru the rest of the 70's - especially after his breakthrough album Nilsson Schmilsson, which is the last of his "normal" records. In addition, Nilsson tried to out scream John Lennon on their joint album and permanently destroyed his vocal range - his final albums are almost unrecognizable as the work of the artist who cut this record.

But - ignore all that for now. Instead, give a listen to this relic from a simpler time, and imagine where "Rock Music" would have gone had more people been able to follow his lead.

And, of course, feel free to post comments below.

(Side note: The last three songs on the Xbox Live version are not from this album - they're bonus tracks Nilsson recorded about the same time. You may recognize one of them from TV...)

Flashback Friday: Numb by Hammerbox

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd try something. Every Friday, give or take a few, I'll do a quick write-up on an album from a band that was overlooked and is worthy of reinvestigation. Also - I'll try to pick albums that are available for free streaming over Xbox Music.

For my inaugural piece, I thought I'd discuss the album Numb by the band Hammerbox.

You can listen to it here:
Numb by Hammerbox (Xbox Music)

Hammerbox were part of the Seattle grunge revolution of the 90's, but - unlike Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam - they had more to do with the punk rock crowd that included The Gits, Nirvana and Mudhoney.

Their first album - the self-titled Hammerbox - came out on C/Z records and established their lead singer, Carrie Akre, as a force to be reckoned with. This album attracted the attention of A&M records who teamed them with Soundgarden producer Michael Beinhorn for their sophomore album Numb (1992). The pairing didn't quite work as well as it should have, but it's still a strong album, and worthy of a revisit.

Sadly - even with A&M's increased market presence - the album only sold to the Seattle faithful, and the band disbanded shortly thereafter.

The album leans more towards the metallic side of punk, but it's not metal. Call it fast moving rock, tightly played, with a melodic edge. Couple that with Carrie's expressive vocals (to borrow a phrase from AllMusic's review), and that'll give you a sense of what you're in for.

Give it a spin, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 7)

(from the Seems like there's more than just Rose and Santa in this picture department)

Hi everyone,

Yes - it's that time of year again.  Here's our family Santa photo:

Once again - Rose was a little shy at first, so Santa volunteered his chair for us.  But - Rose warmed up to Santa pretty quickly - even though she really wasn't sure what to ask him for!  He suggested that she send her wish to him in a letter, and that seemed to be okay with her.

Afterwards, we stopped by Fran's Chocolates for some high-class hot chocolate (yum!) and finished off the evening with a nice dinner at Piatti's.  A good time was had by all!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Pietromonaco family!

Cheers,
Paul

Rose @ Pacific Northwest Ballet's The Nutcracker - Sunday, December 8th, 2013

(from the Endless Twirl department)

Hi everyone,

We attended a performance of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker at McCaw Hall on Sunday, December 8th, 2013.  Rose was pretty as a ballerina.  She insisted on getting a flower headpiece, so I insisted on a photo:

 

Generally, I don't like photos in portait-orientation, but this does capture her full outfit:

 

Then, she twirled away:

A good time was had at the ballet by all!

Cheers,
Paul

P.S.  I recently found this pic of all of us, courtesy of Radio Disney:

We look great!!!

Rose turns 6 and has a birthday sundae - Red Robin, November 13th, 2013

(from the It's better with sprinkles department)

Hi everyone,

Rose turned six years old on November 13, 2013.  When we asked her where she wanted to go for dinner to celebrate, she answered - without hesitation - "RED ROBIN!!".

So - to the Northgate Red Robin, we went.  We all got burgers and ate fries - very yummy!

After dinner, she got the Red Robin birthday song from the wait staff, and a free sundae:

She was eating the sundae so fast, I had to turn on the flash to capture it:

And - yes - she finished the whole thing.  Happy birthday, Rose!

Cheers,
Paul