Bumbershoot 2003
End of Summer Walk
about--
What was it they were talking about on the Today Show on
Sept 1? That we should close out the Summer with something special?
I'm ok with that. This year it was the Bumbershoot with
Donovan....... Donovan. Wow who's he???
We're about to find out!
Actually any adventure begins the moment you step out the door,
and doesn't end until you step back IN, so for those just interested
in Donovan, I'll put that in the second part. Ready? Here we go!
Aug 31: first stop: Blackberry Festival, Bremerton WA. This
was simply an excuse for the local street vendors to hawk their wares
(some from China and the Phillipeans) on the streets, and for the
ubiquitous hot dog stands (etc) to pop up (objective: to take money
away from the unsuspecting tourist!). What a wonderful blue windy
seashore day! It was on the ferry dock, and as I had an hour to kill
before I sailed for Seattle, it was just right. Happenings:
- Met a man with a German Shepard that was as big as my dogs!
His name was Baron, and the guy walking him didn't offer his name.
Baron was too interested in the happenings to do more than give my
knee a quick sniff to make sure I was not a threat.
- Found a wonderful tie for Stephan (his 20th birthday is in 3
weeks). It has tiger stripes on it, and I'm trying to encourge him
to get a job that needs ties, rather than coveralls!
- There was a great rock and roll band doing popular covers. I
sat down and counted my cash, waiting for the ferry to arrive, and
enjoyed the wonderful clean clear air coming off Rich Passage.
The Ferry: We walk on for free in Bremerton, and then they
get us for money on the way back. This was a new ship I've never been
on (they shuffle them around, depending on state of repair, there are
about 15 routes in the Sound area altogether). Coming back at night
is always a lot of fun, especially on the weekends. The young people
infest the ferry, most of the high and goofy, hopping and jumping
around, some playing cards, most sleeping. We approached the dock and
they yell over the loudspeakers "Wake up, wake up your friends,
we're here!" Kids are so cute.
There seemed to be a lot of people who thought the ride was the
adventure (we get used to them up here, it was pretty mundane to me).
Met some nice folks from Salt Lake City who wanted to see the
Aquarium, and were driving, poor souls. Seattle is a nightmare for
drivers.... I always walk over. Found a new coffee mug to my liking,
which had orcas on it, and bought it (standard ferry mug, you refill
them for a buck).
Seattle: It's a lovely cloudless dry day, the last time I
took this walk it was raining pitchforks! Across the Skyway up to
First Ave. then over past the Hammering Man. Dove into a bookstore I
passed, Arundel Books. Very nice people. I was looking for Philip
Jose Farmer, who apparently is TOTALLY out of print, he was not even
on the shelves in Barnes and Nobel! Stephan is wanting the Riverworld
Series, it was a mini-series on the Sci Fi channel recently, and he
really liked it. Apparently everyone else did too, as this store was
cleaned out except for one out of five of the series, The Fabulous
Riverboat. And I picked up two of the Tier World series too. Sigh
I am going to have to go to Amazon I guess. Or Ebay. You can email
these guys for searches in Los Angeles at LA@arundelbooks.com
or orders@arundelbooks.com in Seattle. Very nice people.
Then I found a quilt store I've been in before, and bought some
card fabric. This is hard stuff to find actually, I always buy
certain themes in prints when I see them,
www.undercoverquilts.com.
Pike's Place. Tends to be touristy, but it always warrents
a quick look. Usually you come up from the dockside *through* this
structure, but I came a different way this time and approached it
from the outside. There was quite a crowd and cheering about the fish
stand when I got there, so I guess they were tossing fish. I've
always missed this, though it's world famous. Anyway in the gutter,
was my first encounter with a street musician for the day, and he was
a doozie. He was some scruffy old dude, two of them actually, and had
what I thought at first was a ferret on his shoulder. I laughed...
and mentioned it to a lady next to me. "No it's a POSSUM!!!!!!!!!!!"
So it was. I about gagged....... these are nothing but overgrown
rats, and the few I've encountered in my yards have scared me good,
they are so ugly. North American opossum, our only marsupial. Well, I
used to have pet rats, so I tossed the guy some change for 'possum
food. He was singing "Desparado" by the Eagles, and frankly I can
play that particular song better myself.
The Bumbershoot:
This is a nickname for "umbrella" up here, rather like the "Bucky
Walter" is a telephone in Booneville, CA. It's a free form art
festival, again like the Blackberry festival, but with more variety
of music, and more people. Gobs of people, everywhere. A lot of young
people were there to see some bands I had never heard of. I poked my
head between a couple of the wicked little things who were huddled
around a hash pipe, lighting it up, and said "Naughty smoking like
that!" and kept walking. It was pretty funny. Everyone was turned out
in hippy clothes, if not weirder. People of ALL ages danced partially
clothed in the International Fountain (very pretty, shaped a bit like
a UFO). In another hidden spot, I found a mermaid pool full of little
tiny kids, watched carefully by their parents.
I made a quick (free) tour of the Children's Museum which was
pretty cheezy, but good for kindergarteners..... they had a cute
theatre with functional stage lights and drapes, and one studio with
hanging ribbons of blue satin and glittery fabric (I must steal this
idea!).
Passed my first drummers. I once dated a Deadhead who was into
this, and I'm getting a little tired of it by now. I like good
drumming, but most people are just banging..... in the case of one
Bumbershoot group, it took on the aura of War Drums. People who drum
that long, loud and furious are very angry about something (probably
about the price of marijuana). Unfortunately it was right outside
McCaw Hall where we lined up to see Donovan, and it gave me a
headache until I could get inside. I was not alone, some young
college students next to me didn't like it either.
- However, the first drummers I passed were real artists, and
were getting some wonderful rhythms going...... and a young lady
wrapped in batik bedspreads was doing one helluva primative dance
to go with it. I really enjoyed it.
- Saw some GOOD country singers too, Pickle Joe (?) one
bandmember was a gal plucking a home-made washtub bass! They had
an excellent Bluegrass rhythm, and actually (upon request) slowed
to another rhythm, and did a Bob Marley piece! Very impressive.
- AND in a favored spot next to the monorail, were some Andean
musicians, they had a mandolin, guitar, flute and Pipes-of-Pan
going (think "El Condor Pasa") they were a cool looking group of
Indians, and I really enjoyed that performance too.
I'm not overly fond of huge crowds though, and would not have come
if it wasn't for Donovan at 8 pm. Once I found a quiet cornor in a
garden spot, and enjoyed my sack lunch. (I also thanked God somewhere
that I still have a fit body, and can sit cross legged on a curb when
there are no seats). And later I found the "Elephant Ear" vendor.
This is called a Funnel Cake in Southern California, but basically
it's a big greasy pancake and fried in deep fat. You slap cinnamon
sugar, and jam on it, and eat with fingers. I gotta say, having tried
both, the Funnel Cakes are better.
There was art on every cornor. I got to be in the parade once! The
drums were thrumping, and through the crowd came a pretty girl in a
harlequin suit, on stilts, and waving a ribbon flag back and forth!
Following her were Mardi Gras puppets, butterflies, people in
cow suits... dragons... the idea was any bystander could be in the
parade and "man the puppets" which they did. The problem was getting
through the crowd! I found it all delightful, and joined the rhythm
dancing and clapping. It was rather sad so many people just stood and
watched, not participating. I don't know how they could help it, the
boundaries between observer and performer were very very loose.
Excellent street theater it was. Jugglers, clowns you name it.
Carnival midways.
The crowds got unbearable at some point, so I dodged out of the
festival grounds, outside on the street and made my way to the EMP,
hoping to snag a beer in the Liquid Lounge. It was cool in the lobby,
but the Lounge was just as full as the Bumbershoot! So I diverted
through the Gift Shop, and finally found a Hendrix tee shirt I really
liked....... all purple tie die, and brown-blue. And a Doors sticker
for my car. They threw in a free psychdelic poster so I made out
there quite well.
Ok......... the time has come for the
Donovan report.