Bumbershoot 2009: And on Monday, Even More Rain

Here's how yesterday went:

1. Weather cloudy, but not raining, so Frieda and I leave for Bumbershoot
2. Halfway to Seattle, it starts pouring
3. Then it stops pouring
4. Then it starts again
5. Then it lightens up & we head inside
   
6. Frieda is fired up--popcorn is everywhere!
7. Arrive at the Starbucks stage just in time to see the Minus 5
8. Rain starts again
9. Frieda is most popular dog around
   
10. Show starts a few minutes late
11. Frieda is drenched, but wrapped in towel and fine
12. 10 minutes later, she's more wet, and shivering
13. We bail 1/2 way through the Minus 5's set (which was really good, by the way)
    
14. We leave Seattle Center less than an hour after arriving
15. Parking still costs $15
16. We stop at Macrina Bakery
17. I hear someone say "smells like wet dog in here". I suspect she's talking about me.
18. I drop my iPhone. It seems to be working still.
19. Except for the screen, which now shows only a few lines
20. Which means I can't turn it off, access data, or read the two text messages that arrived after I got home.

Bumbershoot 2009: Before it Started Raining

clockwise from top left: Message pulled by an old timey plane, Mayer Hawthorne & the County, Space Needle, Old 97's

It's been a wet weekend here in the Seattle area, and I mean torrential rain & thunder & lightening--fall is officially here. I made it to Bumbershoot on Saturday, when it was relatively dry, but it was much too wet yesterday and it's not clear yet today whether I'll get out of the house--I've got to get some work done and get psyched up for the crowds before I make a final decision.

So the photo pool from Saturday is a little light. I got to the Center around 3, saw three or four bands before meeting up with friends for a beer & then the Old 97s (in the top left photo). The Old '97s were the highlight of the day, as they were last year. Possibly because Rhett Miller wore the same shirt? I'm not going to say it wasn't a factor.

Bumbershoot 2008, Day 3: How to Come Home Exhausted

Did I say a full day at Bumbershoot? I meant a full day (though not also a full night), spent the way I usually spend my first day at Bumbershoot--checking out the vendor booths, wandering through the art exhibits, and seeing a little bit of a lot of different music shows. My favorites today were Langhorne Slim & the War Eagles and the Old 97s, but I enjoyed everything pictured above.

The Summer Sky Socks are a bit of a decoy, I probably knit less than a single row in the last three days. Too much moving around--and today, I stood in zero lines so no line-knitting, either. It's been a long weekend, and it's time to get to sleep--here's hoping that my feet & legs aren't (still) sore tomorrow!

Bumbershoot 2008, Day 2: How to Avoid All Lines

After a rainy morning and a day playing catchup, I only made it to Bumbershoot to see Jakob Dylan this evening. Totally worth the trip, and I managed to squeeze in a quick look at Flatstock. I found a poster (center row, far right) that I really liked, but by the time I went to the ATM and came back it wasn't on the wall and things were being packed up. I'll check again for it tomorrow, and I see that I can order it online. Other than Jakob Dylan's set, the highlight was meat on a stick (delicious BBQ pork), and not standing in any lines. Tomorrow I'm hoping to be there the whole day, so there probably will be some lines, and I'll try not to complain as much as I did yesterday.

Bumbershoot 2008, Day 1: How to Wait In Line for Everything

Clockwise from upper left: Band of Horses, Space Needle, Tim Finn, Beck

Best things I saw today: Tim Finn, and Beck. I'm not sure if I've ever seen Tim Finn solo before, but his set was great and at a small-ish stage so it was easy to get pretty close. I really prefer this type of immediate experience to the really large crowd type shows, although they both have advantages at times. I haven't seen Beck in more than 10 years (wow, that's alarming)--he played at South by Southwest after Mellow Gold came out, and I saw him in a tiny room there, but haven't seen him since. The crowd at the mainstage was huge, festive and not too pushy, and the sound was great. I was about one long line away from calling it a day before his set started, and I'm glad that I didn't.

Speaking of lines, there has got to be a better way to handle the crowds at Bumbershoot--it was totally ridiculous. Here are the things I waited in very long lines for yesterday:
1. Getting in the doors - 45 minutes
2. Getting in the beer garden - 20 minutes
3. Getting a beer - 15 minutes
4. Getting into the Mainstage - 15 minutes
5. Getting back into the Mainstage later - 10 minutes

I was only inside the gates for about five hours total, so that's a lot of waiting in line. I arrived early so that I could get in the gates, pick up a mainstage pass, and then leave to do other things, but by the time I made it through the gates, the mainstage pass line was at least an hour long. Today, I'm not planning to get there early, and it's rainy, so I hope to face fewer lines. Maybe next year I should save up for one of those fancy passes that would let me skip the line--I might be reaching that age where it's more than worth it!

Bumbershoot!

It's Monday afternoon, and I'm glad that I'm not still at Bumbershoot. It was pretty hot, and very, very, very crowded both on Saturday and Sunday. I expected both of these things, but for some reason it bothered me more than usual. The shoes I wore on Saturday weren't quite up to the hours of walking, which didn't improve things for me. Also, there are only two entrances this year (I think that in past years there were at least three, maybe four). It was ridiculous, especially around dinner time--one of the entrances was just beyond a path lined with food booths. This same entrance forced people into the street while waiting for the gates to open in the morning, that can't be safe.

I did hear & see some great music: Crowded House (above), the Shins, and my weekend favorite, The Holmes Brothers. There was more that I planned to see but didn't get to, either due to the timing (I had to be home early to feed the dogs), or the crowds. There was a great Nick Drake inspired art exhibit that included documentary footage, although I couldn't get into the round-table discussion about him that I really wanted to see. Again: too crowded. Flatstock was, as usual, very cool--I bought a couple of Moleskine journals with screened images on them, and came close to buying a print for my office.

Because it took so long to get from place to place (and some of my time was spent relaxing in one of the beer gardens), there wasn't much of a chance to knit. I did work a little bit on the Brother socks:

Last night, I started the short row heels. I'll try to get some hilarious photos of these giant socks on my average-sized feet one I'm into the legs.

Today, I'm working on the socks, the Bee Fields, and on a sewing project or two, and I'm revelling in the lack of crowds (save dachshunds) and direct sunlight. Two TV marathons to flip between--Murder, She Wrote or No Reservations. Ahhhhhhhh . . . now that's a holiday!

This show's fixed to run and run

After some tense ripping back last Sunday, the Bee Fields shawl is back on track. I'm about 15 rows into the first repeat of the Swarm section, and you can see the bees pretty clearly at the top edge of the shawl. I think they sometimes look like butterflies as much as bees, but I'm willing to beleive that they are really bees. I'm just happy that there are no mysterious, ssk detours that veer off the intended path. However, I haven't put in a lifeline, which is stupid. I spaced out when I ripped back to the border between the sections (which seems impossible). Now there are yarn overs and decreases on both right side and wrong side rows, and I strongly prefer putting a lifeline in a plain row.

I love the way the first section looks unblocked. Totally scrunched up, but with a very interesting texture. Seeing this texture is what first drew me to this pattern, I just love it.

Here's a close up of the bees, although I think they may be easier to see above from a little distance:

In a few minutes, I'm leaving for Bumbershoot, my favorite Seattle festival. This year, as with last year, I've got a three-day pass burning a hole in my pocket. All week, I planned to map out my music watching schedule, and to preview it here, but it didn't happen. If anyone has suggestions for don't-miss acts, please post them in the comments! I'm not a mobile blogger, but I am a mobile e-mail checker.