Month: May 2023

Posted on

Wednesday/ a New York city sunset 🌇

From the Washington Post, reported by Ian Livingston:
Streaks of golden light bathed the urban canyons of the Big Apple on Tuesday evening as it was treated to a spectacle dubbed ‘Manhattanhenge’, when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the middle of the western-facing streets.

The warm evening glow of sunlight was made even more intense because of smoke wafting into the region from wildfires in Nova Scotia.

Along certain thoroughfares of New York City — including 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd and 57th streets — unobstructed views toward the horizon made the scenes especially magnificent.

The sun sets in alignment with Manhattan streets running east-west, a phenomenon known as ‘Manhattanhenge’, on Tuesday.
[Photo by Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images]
Posted on

Tuesday/ on the ferry ⛴

Here are a few photos that I took while I was on the 11.05 am Kingston-to-Edmonds ferry today.

Shortly after departure, with the Kingston Ferry Terminal on Kitsap Peninsula in the distance.
Sailboat with dinghy in tow, getting towed. Those are Kitsap Peninsula homes in the background.
Here comes the Commander, a passenger-only Kitsap Fast Ferry from Seattle’s Pier 50.
The Commander was built in 2021, and has a cruising speed of 35 knots (top speed 37 knots).
Marine Vessel Spokane is a Jumbo-class ferry servicing the Edmonds-Kingston route. She was built in 1972.
The tug boat is the Ocean Ranger, built in 1990 and sailing under the flag of the USA.
Look for the spec in the sky— possibly a Kenmore Air seaplane.
I am on the Marine Vessel Puyallup, in service since 1999 and a Jumbo Mark-II-class ferry. This ferry and her two sisters MV Tacoma and MV Wenatchee are the largest in the Washington State fleet of ferries.
Mr. Seagull is not perturbed by the ferry’s arrival at Edmonds terminal.
Posted on

Memorial Day

It’s Memorial Day here in the United States of America— the day for honoring and mourning the soldiers and personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

Red poppies from a Capitol Hill garden here in Seattle.
Posted on

Sunday/ at the Waterfront 🛳

I walked around the Seattle Waterfront this afternoon.
It is still somewhat of a work in progress.
The new Colman Dock ferry terminal is nearing completion, but several walkways and connections to the Waterfront are still under construction.

The passenger building at the new Seattle Ferry Terminal is a vast improvement over the old one: it fully faces the waters of Puget Sound, with large windows looking onto Elliott Bay and also back at the city.
The passenger walkway at Marion Street across Alaskan Way, connecting the downtown surface streets with the Seattle Ferry Terminal.
Looking back (south) towards the Seattle Ferry Terminal.
Miners Landing is still there, as are all the other touristy t-shirt and souvenir shops, restaurants and food joints.
I made it to the Pike Place Market complex, on the Old Stove Brewing patio and looking south. The construction is for the Overlook Walk: an elevated public park and connection between the Waterfront to Seattle’s urban core.
The summer cruise season is in full swing by now.
This is the Norwegian Encore, getting ready for its 5 pm departure to Juneau, Alaska.
Now making my way back to Capitol Hill.
‘Don’t mind me, please, driver’ I thought as I snapped this picture of a forest green Rivian R1T electric truck.
Crossing Third Avenue in downtown. The 1928 Belltown Self Storage building is now closed, and plans are afoot to build a new 8-story combination hotel and apartment structure behind the terracotta facade.
Just a little bit further north on Third Ave is First Light Seattle, a luxury condominium tower that is going up. Construction is by real estate developer Westbank Corp from Vancouver, BC.
Posted on

Saturday/ are we getting there? 🤝

With days to spare until a government default, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Saturday evening announced a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and fund the government for the next two years.
– Jeff Stein reporting for the Washington Post

Excerpts from Jeff Stein’s reporting in the Washington Post:

Raises the debt ceiling beyond the 2024 election
For Biden, one upside of the deal — assuming it passes — is that he will not have to deal with the debt ceiling again until after the next presidential campaign, because the agreement raises the debt ceiling until 2025.

Largely holds funding flat for domestic programs
The biggest sticking point in negotiations has been funding levels for part of the federal budget — separate from Social Security and Medicare — that funds hundreds of domestic programs, such as scientific research, rental aid and nutritional assistance for mothers.

Claws back some money for the IRS
Despite sparing domestic programs from cuts, the Biden administration agreed to do so in part by paring back some portion of the $80 billion it approved last year for an expansion of the IRS.

Slight funding boosts for the military, veterans affairs
The deal also meets the requests in Biden’s budget to increase spending for the military and veterans affairs in line with inflation.

New work requirements on federal programs
Meeting a GOP priority, the deal increases work requirements on federal food stamps and on family welfare benefits.

Out of the deal: Closing tax loopholes, cutting student debt relief
Negotiators on both sides agreed to drop key demands.

Now it’s over to the House and the Senate to finalize the details and get this over and done with.
Just to reiterate— this is completely upside-down, inside-out, the-horse-has-bolted-from-the-stable insane.
Congress (the Republican Party) failed to agree on the nation’s spending priorities, overspent— and is now holding the world’s financial systems hostage, while haggling over what the money should have been spent on.

And lest you forget, Congress: the 14th amendment in the Constitution of the United States say
‘The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned’.

Posted on

Friday/ have a beer 🍺

Happy Friday.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer here in the US.
It’s also the end of Seattle Beer Week, and The Seattle Times reports that Seattle is a city full of beer snobs.
Cheers!

Some 56% of Seattle beer drinkers do not drink any of the major top ten brands (top ten among Seattle beer drinkers) regularly. So they steer clear of Coors Light, Bud Light, Corona Extra and all that jazz.
Bring on the likes of Georgetown’s Bodhizafa American IPA and Space Dust IPA by Elysian Brewing Company. Life is too short for big-box diluted beer.
Posted on

Thursday/ astronaut white 👨🏻‍🚀

The galaxy gold of 13 months is gone at the top of the Space Needle— the dome now has a new coat of astronaut white.

My telephoto shot at 7 tonight (Canon EOS 7D, 135 mm lens) standing at Harrison St overlooking Interstate 5.
I will go back some time and take a few nicer, close-up pictures.
Posted on

Wednesday/ stamps from Denmark 🇩🇰

My seller in Denmark sends me my stamps in envelopes decked out with beautiful stamps from yesteryear.

The descriptions are from the Scott 2012 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol 2 Countries C-F.

Highway Engineering, Engraved, Perf. 13
Issued 1972, Oct. 19
509 A150 40 Øre, Dark green, Bridge Across Little Belt
510 A150 60 Øre, Dark brown, Hanstholm Harbor
511 A150 70 Øre, Dark red, Lim Fjord Tunnel
512 A150 90 Øre, Dark bluegreen, Kundshoved Harbor
Queen Margrethe, Engraved, Perf. 13
Issued 1977
544 A161 100 Øre, Brown

Small State Seal, Engraved, Perf. 13
Issued 1972-1978
502 A55 4.5 Krone, Olive

Protected Animals, Engraved, Perf. 13
Issued 1975, Oct. 23
583 A174 130 Øre, Avocets

Souvenir Sheet for HAFNIA Intl. Stamp Exhibition in Copenhagen Aug. 20-29, 1976. Perf. 13½ x 13.
Ferslew’s Essays, 1849 and 1852
Issued 1975, Feb. 27
565 A168 Sheet of 4
a. 70 Øre, Gray, Coat of Arms
b. 80 Øre, Gray, King Frederik VII
c. 90 Øre, Brown, King Frederik VII
d. 100 Øre, Brown, Mercury
Booklet pane for Rosenborg Castle, 400th Anniversary
Issued 2006, Mar. 29
1351 A457 4.75 Krone, Multi-color, Rosenborg Castle exterior
1352 A457 5.50, Krone, Multi-color, Silver lion, thrones of king & queen
1353 A457 13 Krone, Multi-color, Royal coat of arms ceiling decoration

 

Posted on

Tuesday/ the long arm of the law👮

More than two years out, convictions and sentences are still getting handed out for the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Eduardo Medina writes for the New York Times:
Mr. Grider, who operates a vineyard in Central Texas, pleaded guilty last year to entering a restricted area and unlawfully parading at the Capitol, his lawyer said. He went to trial on seven other charges, including civil disorder and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., convicted him on all counts.
On Tuesday, Judge Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Mr. Grider to six years and 11 months in prison and ordered him to pay $5,055 in restitution and an $812 fine.
In March, Judge Kollar-Kotelly said in court that videos of the episode had clearly demonstrated “how Mr. Grider put himself at the center of this conflict, steps away from some of the most violent, lawless and reprehensible acts that occurred in the Capitol on that day.”
She then asked: “How close can a person be to unquestionably violent and completely unacceptable lynch-mob-like acts of others, and still claim to be a nondangerous, truly innocent bystander?”
Mr. Grider’s lawyer, Brent Mayr, said in an interview on Tuesday that his client “truly regrets his actions on Jan. 6 and apologizes to his family, his community and, most importantly, his country.”
But he added that they were “deeply disappointed that his sentence is significantly longer than others who did so much worse than him.”
“He did not assault any officers, much less threaten anyone with any violence before, during or after that day,” Mr. Mayr said. “The disparity in this sentence is very, very disappointing to us.”

Posted on

Another Monday/ tick tock ⏰

I’m just going to play Wordle and Scrabble and Duolingo and ignore the news until the debt-ceiling hostage situation at the Capitol is resolved.
(The Republicans with their fake outrage over spending seem determined to crash the world economy).

Here’s my Wordle attempt for today. I lucked out by guessing MIAOU for the second word (to try all the vowels after finding out there is no E). It took me a long time to guess IGLOO, though: I thought of IDIOT IDIOM INBOX INGOT, all of which have letters already known not to be in the solution, and then had to take a break and come back.
As for IGLOO, here’s Wikipedia—
An igloo (Inuit languages: iglu) is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. Although igloos are often associated with all Inuit, they were traditionally used only by the people of Canada’s Central Arctic and the Qaanaaq area of Greenland. Other Inuit tended to use snow to insulate their houses, which were constructed from whalebone and hides. Snow is used because the air pockets trapped in it make it an insulator. On the outside, temperatures may be as low as −45 °C (−49 °F), but on the inside, the temperature may range from −7 to 16 °C (19 to 61 °F) when warmed by body heat alone.
Posted on

Sunday/ gray skies ☁️

It was cool here in Seattle today, with gray skies (high 63°F / 17 °C).
In the late afternoon, I walked down to the REI outdoor store, and on the way back, there was a little bit of drizzle.

There is not a lot of color in this picture! The top of the Space Needle’s ‘Galaxy Gold’ is a bright spot. Those two towers obscuring the Needle are the new Onni South Lake Union apartments. On the left of the picture is a 45-story tower of the 1200 Stewart Street apartments, still a work in progress— construction seems to have paused or stalled, actually.
Here’s color: camping mattresses on sale at the REI store.
REI stands for Recreational Equipment, Inc. The company was founded in Seattle in 1938 by Lloyd and Mary Anderson.
Checking out the giant see-through floor compass on the first floor.
Suunto is a Finnish company that manufactures and markets sports watches, dive computers, compasses and precision instruments.
Posted on

Friday/ a Rivian truck⚡️

I spotted this Rivian R1T in the Amazon Fresh parking garage in Central District.
Only about 21,000 of these electric trucks have been delivered, so it’s still very rare to see one out and about. Rivian’s sole production factory is in Normal, Illinois.
Starting price: US$74,800.
Car and Driver’s verdict: ‘The R1T is the electric pickup truck of the moment, and its engineering is as impressive as its performance’.

Posted on

Thursday/ photos and art 🤹

WASHINGTON— A celebrity photographer won a copyright case over Andy Warhol’s use of a picture she shot of Prince for a magazine, in a Thursday Supreme Court decision narrowing the “fair use” rights of artists and writers to build upon existing works to create something new.
– Jess Bravin reporting for the Wall Street Journal

The US Supreme Court ruled today by 7-2 that Andy Warhol’s 1981 artwork of Prince (using a photo) infringed on the photographer’s copyright.  The majority argued that Warhol’s print was merely a derivative of the photo and not transformative. Oh.

Pictures from today’s Wall Street Journal, with an excerpt of Jess Bravin’s reporting.
Posted on

Wednesday/ wildfire smoke, already 😕

We’re coming out of a few warm days— the warmest 89 °F (32 °C), on Monday.
Today the sunlight was a little more brown/orange than usual.
The reason: wildfire smoke from Alberta, Canada, has been drifting down into the skies over Washington State.

Downtown Calgary from Crescent Rd and 5 St. NW, obscured by wildfire smoke, on Tuesday morning.
[Text & picture posted by Andrew McIntyre @andrewmcintyre on Twitter]
Wildfire smoke from Canada moved over the Puget Sound region early this morning. It’s still well above the ground, so air quality has not been impacted. We do not expect much reach the surface. The winds should shift by Thurs and push the smoke out.
[Text & picture posted by PS Clean Air Agency @pscleanair on Twitter]

Posted on

Tuesday/ flying artwork ✈️

‘This might have been the white and blue Alaska Air plane that I saw overhead in the sky today’, I thought as I saw this picture in the Seattle Times.

This Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 is named Xáat Kwáani— an Alaska Native language that calls out the ancestral importance of salmon.
The artwork style is a Northwest Coast formline art that dates back thousands of years.
The artist is Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl from Juneau, Alaska.
[Photo by Ingrid Barrentine / Alaska Airlines, published in the Seattle Times]
Posted on

Monday/ scenes from Hood Canal 🦅

Here are scenes from my visit to Hood Canal on Kitsap Peninsula with friends. We drove out there on Sunday via Gig Harbor and the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge, and took the Kingston-Edmonds ferry back on Monday morning.

Photos: Tacoma-Narrows Bridge; Hood Canal kayakers; meadow buttercups; Sunday’s sunset over the very north-end of Hood Canal; the Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula, seen across a low tide level in Hood Canal; brown squirrel; bald eagle taking flight; on the Marine Vessel (ferry) Puyallup after leaving the Kingston ferry terminal; spotting the Kitsap Fast Ferry— with downtown Seattle towers and antennas in the distance, and against the backdrop of Mount Rainier capped with a lenticular cloud.

Posted on

Saturday/ tennis, in Rome 🎾

The ATP* tour action is in Rome this week and next, at the ATP Masters 1000 called the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, on the red clay courts of the Foro Italico grounds.

As the players walk onto the court, the speakers play rousing music from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The stadium around center court reminds one a little of the Colosseum. (The Colosseum was built in the years between CE 70 and 72 at the height of the Roman Empire).

*Association of Tennis Professionals

Superstar Carlos ‘Carlitos’ Alcaraz (Spain, 20) on the far side, won his second-round match against countryman Albert Ramos Viñolas (35) in two straight sets. As of today, Alcaraz is back at the top of the ATP world rankings, in the No 1 position.
These weeks are the final run-up to the climax of the clay court season: the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. The Really Big Question on every tennis fan’s mind: Will Rafa (Nadal, 36, 14-time French Open champion) play in Paris? He was to play in Rome but announced beforehand that he decided to withdraw, still hampered by a nagging hip injury.
Posted on

Friday 🐦

Happy Friday.
I had my big camera with me on my walk tonight, and got these pictures of a pine siskin (Spinus pinus).
The little bird started singing just as I was snapping it (a rapid che-che-che chew zzzhreeee to ta chew).
These are North American birds, belonging to the finch family.