Seattle Duck Tour

Sunday was to be our last full day in Seattle, Mike and I both were flying out on Monday. He back to his job in New York and me... well back to California to sleep in and watch re-runs on TV (Spin City = excellent).

We decided that we were going to go on the Duck Tour that we had seen out and about in the heart of Seattle. Quick Note: The Duck Tour is not a tour to chase down ducks (that's what Shoreline Lake is for). Instead it is a tour of Seattle by land and sea using amphibious vehicles from the World War II collection to transport tourists around the city's streets and through Lake Union.

From Matt's apartment we walked to the city center building and took Seattle's monorail to the Space Needle/EMP area (the monorail only has those 2 stops) and walked the 400 feet or so to get our Duck Tour tickets. After a short wait we were ready to board our vessel, Duck B. Before climbing in we had to stop and get our picture taken for the token overpriced, seriously does anyone ever actually buy these, photo. They gave us a life preserver as a prop, which I instinctively stuck my head through (like Gilligan), the camera snapped the photo and we got in our Duck.

Our captain was a nice guy, Captain Barney Cole. It's just about a week later and I still remember his name for no good reason. Anyway, it quickly became clear from his abundance of hats and the pre-selected driving music that this was one of those gimmicky, sing a-long type tours. It's sad because thinking about my personality I should love these things and be screaming at the top of my lungs all the time. But sadly, for whatever reason, I go hot and cold with them. During this one I was cold - no participation.

One thing I will say, as cliche, gimmicky, dorky or whatever you want to call it, the people of Seattle go ape shit for these things. Every intersection we got to, in the heart of Seattle, in the historic district, on the outskirts - cars were honking, people were waving and everyone was smiling. It's like we were the ice cream man. I thought that was really cool.

So the tour, we started out driving around seeing downtown Seattle. Then we headed to the waterfront where we saw the hotel that the Beatles stayed at while in town. Wish I could remember the name, but anyway Barney told us all of the extra security and preparations that the city had to do for the Fab 4s arrival. I'm not gonna lie to you, those guys may have been bigger than Jesus. Think about it, he only had 12 guys following him around wherever he went, I think even Ringo on his own had more than that.

While in the historic district, Pioneer Square (which is shaped like a triangle), we learned about the "big" fire that whipped out Seattle and the subsequent re-building which lead to the creation of an entire underground city (separate tour). I loved how they called it a big fire though. Sure, it took out Seattle but at the time Seattle wasn't all that big. The fire in Chicago, now that was a big f'in fire. The one in Seattle may not have been bigger than the one that burned down my house. Who knows though, maybe that's just more east coast bias.

After ducking around the city we headed out to Lake Union, named because it was created to connect two other bodies of water... body of water A and body of water B (sorry I wasn't paying attention at that point). As we were on the water we got to see seaplanes land, kayakers, sunbathers, leisure sailors and guys just out there playing with their dingy (Tommy Boy). But all of these people too, kept waving and smiling as the duck passed - the just love those things in Seattle. Anyway, we saw the floating home that was used (exterior only) in Sleepless in Seattle and learned that because of the drastic economic situation we are in, it had to be taken off the market after no one was willing to purchase it for $2.5 million. Rough life.

We learned more fun facts, like that the city has a cap on the number of floating homes that can be in the lake. That limit was reached before the something something club (again not paying full attention to the tour - in my defense I was probably checking out girls on a boat somewhere) could build theirs so they came up with an ingenious plan. They built their club house as they intended, but instead of putting it right up on land they put it out a few feet and attached a crapload of motors to the back to get it classified as a boat (which there are no limits on). Every year they need to take it around the lake once to prove to the Coast Guard that it's a boat, not a physical structure and according to Barney it takes about 12 hours to motor that thing around the lake. This lead to 2 thoughts of mine: 1) I bet the Coast Guard hates that day having to sit around and watch it, while on the other hand I'm sure tons of people line the shores or get on their own boats and turn the event into an all day drinking celebration. and 2) the club probably only fits in the same area that it occupied, so when they take it out, why not just park your something there and then sell them back the space? Maybe that's just too much of a dick move but hey, it'd get you paid.

Anyway after that we headed back to our starting point, got stuck in traffic with YMCA blaring, and I actually thought people were going to get out of their cars and dance along with us. They didn't but it would have been classic. That was supposed to be our final song but thanks the traffic we were still someways from our final destination. Fortunately, Captain Barney had 1 last trick up his sleeve - the Time Warp. Now there wasn't any room in the Duck but I'd like to think that if there was a good number of us (myself included) would have jumped to the left.

Finally the duck landed and we unloaded. Our next stop, one of the casinos just outside of Seattle. I wont write anything about that other than rather than being a lady, she was a
young chick, she so immature
She like, "Why you don't buy me Reeboks no more?"
Like to show out in public, throw tantrums on the floor
Gotta toss a couple dollars, just to shut up her holla

I suppose it's all well and good, just means that lady luck will meet me in Vegas in July.

Safeco Field

One thing I forgot to mention about how Friday started off was that I went online and found a ticket for Saturday's Giants vs. Mariners game so that I could go to the game with Mike and Matt. There, now that that potential plot hole has been filled we can move on.

The three of us spent most of Saturday afternoon at a cookout at one of Matt's friends, drinking beer, eating delicious ribs and mingling. It was a really relaxing afternoon, and fortunately I was able to bum some sunscreen, off of our gracious hosts, so that my burning was kept to a minimum. After a quick stop back at Matt's apartment to change (I've learned my lesson from night games at AT&T Park) we set out on foot to Safeco Field.

The walk wasn't too long and was really interesting to see the local area. As we came up on the stadium Matt mentioned that there were plenty of vendors outside of the stadium selling discount snacks (sort of like the $1 Hot Dog guy who used to be outside of the old Yankee stadium). After we got inside the stadium we started walking towards our seats but stopped above the the bullpens to watch the starters warm up.

We wound up staying in that spot for the first couple of innings and I made friends with the guy next to me, who came down from Tacoma (I think) with a large group to celebrate someone's sister's birthday. Okay, so I don't remember the guy's life story - sue me. He was an okay guy. Obviously a "west coast fan" like my roommate because he had a new question just about every two seconds, but he was cordial about it so it didn't take up all of my patience. He was on my right. To the left of our group was a group of Giants fans who made the trip from SF, one guy in particular it seemed for the sole purpose of heckling the Giants left fielder, Fred Lewis. This guy was riding Lewis the whole time, calling him "Fresno Fred" (a referrence to the Giants Triple-A team) and even yelling to the bullpen coach who would throw with Fred in between innings that he should be playing left instead of Lewis. Here's former Met great Endy Chavez. Around the fifth inning or so we headed to our seats in the centerfield bleachers. The game had been action anemic to that point, with the Mariners holding a 1-0 lead, despite Giants pitcher Matt Cain pitching well and being in command. Mike and I went to get burgers that Matt recommended and the Giants loaded the bases. However, with some great defensive plays by third baseman Adrian Beltre (if only the guy could hit consistantly), the M's got out if it. Mike and returned with our burgers and the three of us lamented the sports interest of the Seattle faithful as demonstrated by their over exuberance at doing the wave during key moments of the 7th inning. By the way, according to legend or what-not, the wave was actually created in Seattle on the University of Washington campus during a football game against Princeton in the early 1900s. And West Coast "fans" have been more interested in it than actual sports ever since.

In the 8th the Giants started a rallying and putting runs on the board. As soon as the Mariners gave up the lead you could hear the "Let's Go Giants!" chant throughout the stadium. Totally embarassing considering that Giants fans aren't exactly the most supportive. Case in point - a week prior I almost single handedly drowned them out with my rally towel as the Mets rallied to beat them in San Francisco. Yet, here were road Giants fans drowning out Mariner fans in their home. Just pathetic. That sort of shit doesn't happen on the East Coast. The Giants broke it open with a 3 RBI double by Emmanuel Burris (I think) to take a 5-1 lead. Then, just to put the icing on the cake - you guessed it, a 2 run Home Run by (Fresno) Fred Lewis. In our ironic excitement we jumped up and down celebrating and looked over towards our friends in left field. It looked like they had forgiven Fred.

The Giants won the game and we headed back to Matt's apartment to take it easy for the night, since most of the day had been spent drinking. One interesting note though - on the way back we did get to see a guy arrested by Seattle's finest. He was obviously drunk off his rocker and swore that he wasn't armed, that it was only the officer who had a weapon on him, but seemed relatively harmless. Not to start trouble or anything, but let's just say that he wasn't of the complexion you'd see at the Yacht Club or on many private golf courses. I mention this, one because it's still a bit sad to see and two because it's really funny when you look at it in non-pc terms and are amazed when 2 different squad cars and 1 un-marked come out of nowhere within 2 minutes to take down someone who isn't a big deal.

Oh well, it was a good day.

Hit my music

So I got this idea earlier this morning, somewhat inspired by the format I came up with a few months ago of writing things solely in song lyrics. My idea was to construct my own theme/entrance music using the same approach - mash ups of parts of other songs. What makes this slightly more complicated however, is that when writing I only have to pay attention to the order and progression of words, here I would also need to take into account musical attributes such as tempo, pitch etc.
While I may never actually physically put my motivational theme music together I did spend some time thinking about what songs I would use. Here's what I have so far, in no particular order:

• the intro beat and first spoken part of Taz's ECW entrance music "Survive if I let you"
• the beginning of "Voodoo Child (slight return)" by Jimi Hendrix
• either the opening of "Highway to Hell" or "Thunderstruck" by Ac/Dc, I don't want to use more than 1 song per band
• some portion of a Rage Against the Machine song, honestly there are so many to choose from this one would probably be based on the music
• I would rather use a different Metallica song but for whatever reason I can't think beyond "Enter Sandman" for one that has a really kick ass part. Maybe "One" the part that I always fail on in Guitar Hero
• the scream at the beginning of Disturbed's "Get down with the sickness"
• Robert Plant's opening scream from the "Immigrant Song"
• the beginning of "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses
• the chorus of Pantera's "Walk"
  

and then here's where it gets a little weird. I realized that I didn't have any rap included at this point, despite the fact that there are quite a few songs that jack me up and should be part of this. I think adding them from a musical standpoint makes this even more complicated. Anyway, also to be (theoretically) included:

• DMX's "Ruff Rider's Anthem" - just the main baseline
• one of Eminem's tracks, maybe either " 'Til I collapse" or "the way I am"
• and of course I want some Jay-Z, maybe "99 problems" or my favorite lines from the "Numb/Encore" mash with Linkin Park

Who knows if I'll ever actually produce this, I'm sure every time I think about this again I'll change everything in my head anyway. But it was at least fun to think about for a day.

Seattle, Day 2

So Friday morning Mike and I woke up and needed to entertain ourselves while Matt was at work. After getting dressed we headed out to explore Seattle without a clue. I had packed my G1 holiday gift from Google last year, and figured this would be a perfect time to try out those find local things apps I had downloaded.

Before actively looking for breakfast we headed over to the famous Pike Place Market to watch some guys throw fish and just generally check it out. It was really cool and seeing all that fish made me really hungry, even at 10:30-11am. After seeing what we thought was all there was (in actuality we saw maybe 1/7th of the market) we started wandering around looking for a place interesting enough to eat. It was at this point that I decided to try out the G1 and not only get us an idea of where to eat, but also directions on how to get there. However, what I failed to take into account is that in order for it to work I needed to be connected via wi-fi, which, while not typically a problem in the silicon valley is an issue in basically every other city. So it was a two-fer: technology and holiday gift fail.

Eventually we settled on a place called Dome Burger in Seattle's Pioneer Square (the historic district). We grab a quick meal and decided to head over and check out the Space Needle, another of Seattle's famous attractions. The walk wasn't bad, especially for two kids who are fairly used to trekking around Manhattan. We walked and talked, caught up since the time difference typically prevents me from staying in constant communicado with my friends back East. At some point we must have gotten on the topic of food and I lamented, as you would expect, about the lack of pizza on the west coast. We discussed what these places meant when they referred to themselves as "New York style" and I commented that the concept was lost on me because not only do they not taste like actual New York pizza but they charge ludicrious prices per slice, sometimes upwards of $3. This caught the attention of a kid in a bowler hat close by who mentioned that he was originally from New York and shared my view. He introduced himself as "The Tramp" and pointed out his friends Blood-something or other and by that point I had completely tuned out when he named his third compadre. I was too busy wondering why his name would be "The Tramp". Your name can't start with "The". Why not be Tramp or Tommy The Tramp. That would have been more respectable. Anyway, he mentioned that he and his friends were also headed towards the Space Needle for what he described as a massive hippie fest. Oh good. Fortunately a few blocks later they split off in an off direction towards one side of the needle and Mike and I headed towards the needle proper.

After waiting in line Mike and I bought our tickets and went up to the top. Here's a few pictures I took of Seattle from the top of the Space Needle.
After taking our share of photos and learning a bit of history thanks to the interactive maps on the inside we headed down to the gift shop where I did a mitzvah. I stopped Mike from buying an over priced mug in the gift shop, not because he's getting married and shouldn't buy an over priced gift shop novelty, but because it was perhaps the uggliest mug in the history of the universe. Let me see if I can describe it. Sort of an oblong shape, and the color scheme was a bit of black but mostly over powered by a grayish green color that should give anyone a knee jerk reaction nearing projectile vomit.
Anyway the gift shop wasn't all bad. I was really excited when I saw this because a friend had recently posted a blog entry about Lego releasing sets based on famous architectural pieces and I thought that was really interesting and long overdue.
Shortly after exiting the Space Needle's gift shop we got a call from Matt that they had a keg in their office and we should swing by for a few drinks. Never one to turn down a free beer, not to mention getting a chance to check out an actual ad agency from the inside beyond what you get to see when you interview, we started making our way over.
When we got there we were created by Matt and some of his co-workers. They showed us up to the Publicis offices and pointed us towards the keg. Walking down the halls was exciting as some of the agencies was hanging on display. Additionally, they had some of the familiar perks I had at Google, namely ping pong and a pool table. Unfortunately I'm as good as I used to be at ping pong and lost two straight games to Mike. However, I did manage to make some difficult shots in pool which made me feel slightly better about my chances for one day learning how to actually play the game. After filling our cups Matt showed us his office before we adjourned to the deck to enjoy our drinks in the sun and take in their great view (seen below). Anyway that's about it for the story, the rest of the night just involved prolonged drinking at various bars throughout Seattle, which was fun, but nothing much to talk about.

Now arriving: Emerald City

A few months ago I got a call from one of my best friends back in New York, Mike, inviting me to join him up in Seattle for Memorial Day weekend. I double checked with Matt, his cousin, if he could put another body up at his apartment and after he gave the okay I booked my trip.

So this past weekend I packed up and headed to the Northwest. As part of my new "fiscally conservative" lifestyle I took a new route to the airport - walked the estimated mile (estimated by my friend Jonas, I think it's somewhat less) to the train station, took the free shuttle from the train station to the airport and checked in. One thing I will mention because it annoyed me, was that I paid the $4.50 fare for the train, which I was only riding two stops, and no one ever came around to check.

That pisses the hell out of me because you can't buy tickets on the train (like you can in NY) so it's a crap shoot. Either pay the fare and you may not have had to, or skip it and risk getting some sort of massive fine. Stupid ass California mass transit. At least in NY, even if I was only going 2 stops on Metro-North they'd have checked my ticket. Transit fail on you Cali.

Anyway, the flight wasn't much in terms of adventure, save for the guy next to me, which I already covered in a previous post (" 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy"). I did complete 3 or 4 levels in Elite Beat Agents including the "YMCA" level and one of my new favorite songs, Earth, Wind and Fire's "September". But I consider that to be a successful fight.

When I touched down I headed towards the baggage claim and ran into Mike and Matt waiting for me. Mike's flight had landed about 25-30 minutes ahead of me and he already had a Starbucks in his hand. In his defense it was his first trip to the west coast and by his internal clock it was already quarter to 1 in the morning and he had been up "teaching" (he's a phys. ed instructor that's why teaching is in quotes - I give him a hard time about that all the time) since 7 or 8 in the morning. We headed down to the baggage claim carousel and after about 5 minutes after the first bags came up, I had mine and we were on our way.

After loading up Matts car we departed. We conferred that it would be a good idea to get some food before we got to Matt's apartment. However, Seattle, like other west coast cities doesn't have the "city that never sleeps" mentality that the three of us are used to. This caused us to head to a Jack In the Box on the outskirts of the city, the only place Matt knew of that was still open. Thanks to more lovely west coast street signage that doesn't exactly tell you what road you're on or where you're going, our trip was a little bit longer than we expected. However, we finally made it and ordered up some late night grub.

Upon arriving at Matt's apartment we promptly dropped off our belongings, inflated some air mattresses and headed back out to one of the local watering holes. The Blarney Stone Pub - sounds Irish enough for my taste. Plus they had Harp on tap. Check, it's a winner. After a few rounds, some catch up conversation and checking the day's sports happenings courtesy of Sports Center we retired to Matt's apartment for sleep. It being about 4am (internally) to Mike, Matt having to work in the morning and me with no real reason to stay awake.

So we didn't see or do much in terms of Seattle, but it was a nice ease into the trip.

Best airport in America!?

On my way back to San Jose yesterday I had a layover in Portland, Oregon. While walking around the airport I saw a sign which read that Portland Airport (PDX) was rated the #1 airport in the U.S. by Conde Nast Traveler three seperate times, the most recent being in 2008.

In a related story, Conde Nast Traveler has lost all credibility.

'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy

I flew to Seattle tonight (writing this as if it isn't 2am Friday morning) and was seated next to, possibly, the worst passenger I've ever been seated next to. Midway through the flight, as we're flying over nothing spectacular this guy leans almost completely over me to take a picture of said nothing spectacularness. His elbow was literally more than midway across my tray table as I was trying to play Elite Beat Agents on my Nintendo DS.

Of course it got more frustrating when we actually got near Seattle. He then had to lean across to look out the window. This forced me into an uncomfortable position of having to turn my neck as far to the left as possible and hold it there during our decent because even looking straight in front of me would have resulted in my first man kiss - he wasn't my type. After enduring both a painful and awkward 20 minutes or so (because at no point did the thought, "hey, maybe I'm invading this guys personal space like" seem to cross his mind) we finally landed and I was free.

Going off exploring tomorrow and with any luck will remain man kiss free.