Being July 4th, I thought it would be appropriate to post a photo of fireworks. This was taken in 2003 at Gas Works Park in Seattle. You can just make out some of the original gas works machinery at the lower left, and just some of the tens of thousands of people in the park on at the lower right.
Read MoreMany people asked "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?" when the holder of the most impressive sports record (56 game hitting streak) died in 1999. Many will be citing Paul Simon this week about how Eastman Kodak will "take my Kodachrome away" after the company announced that it will retire the venerable slide film of my youth.
Read MoreMariners fans are used to Ichiro Suzuki getting hits, and it seems he does so every game. Of course he doesn't, but one doesn't get 200 hits every season without putting together some impressive streaks. Ichiro just ended a 27 game hitting streak last night, the second-longest streak in the Major leagues this season.
Read MoreSam Maloof passed away last week, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. To those who appreciated his furniture, he was best known for his rocking chairs. To those who were further interested in his methods for building furniture, he was famous for his freehand technique on the bandsaw, sculpting with the tool. Fine Woodworking also set up a tribute page.
Read MoreYet another article appeared in last Saturday's Seattle Times about the Japanese American internment during WWII. This time, Kimiko Nagaoka Mukai received her degree from Seattle Pacific University, over 65 years after she was forced to leave the west coast. She was awarded the degree during her 90th birthday party. SPU has identified seven other Japanese American students who were also forced to leave and has been reaching out to their families.
Read MoreThis past weekend the Seattle Times had an article about how the Iraqi-bound 34th Division honored Japanese-American members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd was a Japanese-American unit of the US Army during WWII which highly decorated, while many of the soldiers had families in internment camps at the time.
Read MoreThe greater Seattle area will be getting light rail service starting later this year going between downtown and SeaTac airport. An extension was approved to extend service north to UW, and that project starts this year with completion targeted for 2016. Sound Transit held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony yesterday near Husky Stadium where the UW station will be. Of course, they didn't really dig into the ground...
Read MoreThere have been articles in the Seattle Times the past couple days about how the tall ship Wawona is being moved to dry dock to be dismantled. We were fortunate enough to have been able to tour the Wawona during the 2002 Seattle Tall Ships Challenge; I've added a Tall Ships page which includes pictures from that day.
Read MoreThe last person named Steinway to run the Steinway & Sons piano company died last Thursday. Henry Z. Steinway was the great-grandson of Heinrich Steinweg (later Steinway). Coincidentally enough, I happen to be reading the part of the book A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano (by Katie Hafner) which describes how Steinway & Sons came to be. More on the book after I've finished reading it.
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