Everett, WA

Everett Wa. 
There are more smoke shops and tattoo parlors than people on the sidewalks who have a full grin of teeth. However, with the new mystique of vapor and e-cigarettes, with all their titanium, rhinestones, and "mount do" flavors, this new pass-time -- with its shops that make you feel like you are buying viles of illegal "pumpkin spice cheesecake", blacked-out windows, oscillating fans in the corner, terrible trance music -- is taking over Everett's real estate. In the midst of this we fell into the "Dijon Cafe" a quaint Grandma soup and sandwich diner. We were the only ones eating our sandwich that came the trio of sliced fruit (one honey dew, one cantaloupe and one pineapple) and piece of brownie, aside from two older ladies from Iowa who knew exactly what they wanted before they read the menu or sat down. Down the street across from a Burger King (whose drive-thru line up was about 8 cars long) was a half-priced record store run by two long white-haired classic rockers who were screaming at each other over Boz Scaggs. These two gentlemen double the value of each record, tape and CD and claim that everything in the store is half-priced, forever. The handmade, colored construction paper "half-price sale on now" sign was fading away in the sun's light, driving out all the color and showing the length of this amazing sale. Spent the next few hours trying to find a central downtown amongst the 6 lane streets, and realized sitting in Everett Bone & Joint wing of the hospital, that one doesn't exist. We headed towards the water and found Laura Palmer's house 708 33rd Street. The neighbor who was sitting with his dog who saw us approach him warned us: "its all up hill from here." A sign from Bob? I bought a Bud Lite Lime Strawwwberrrita and we took it to "Forgotten Creek" a pleasant swamp/ravine behind the convenience store. Took about three gulps, and as the sun was setting we dumped the rest into the gurgling rusty mud that surrounded us. Looking to find a quick drink before we boarded the bus home we stumbled into a bar that doubles as a venue thinking it could be a touch alternative. No soap, no paper towels in the bathroom, two pre-made pink burgers sitting on an empty grill that a the bartender was attempting to light with a handful of matches, we scrammed. A block down was "The Vintage Cafe" full of, well white-haired couples and paintings of cosmopolitan martinis and clowns. It's an old brick building - the oldest in the city- four or so floors with a cat who had a smushed-in face and tongue hanging out sitting on a ledge of the second floor window guarding the entrance like a gnarled gargoyle. We took a seat in the back and saw they offer half-priced bottles of wine every Tuesday (Stacey, our server, informed us that they were trying to get rid of their wine). Needless to say we had a bottle of wine and an order of poutine within thirty minutes because they were closing. During this time, however we learned through eavesdropping, a touch of the server's life and an upcoming vacation to colorado to attend a fellow server's wedding...so on and so forth. Even though neither of us has even been, we remarked that this city feels like what we imagine Dallas Texas to feel like.

I was corrected while ordering cold brew the other day by the barista. I guess black, although its a descriptive colour referring to a shade of coffee when there is nothing added, is not politically correct. Then, I will have a dark cold brew.

A customer ordering a cup of Tranquility Tea (chamomile and mint blend) :

"Well today I lost my Beyonce CD and spent the better half of the morning downloading it to my iphone. I wanted to go  paddle-boarding but thought it was too windy. Anyway I went, but I fell in and ruined my iphone."

The Present, Seattle, 2014

About this time last year, Vancouver, 2013

Coming Attractions

NEW WORK

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"Coming Attractions"

now up

Check it out: HERE

a white fluffy dog on my bus was taught Spanish, the owner informed me.

Let's Not Talk About Me

New work up on my website. Check it out:

HERE

Tomorrowland!

CAUGHT! by the paparazzi! on SET!

Aint - Bad

A little tid-bit of a feature in this weeks Aint - Bad Magazine. Check it!

HERE

Street Light Interference Phenomenon (SLI)

Street light interference, or SLI, is an alleged ananomalous phenomenon where a person seems to turn off (or sometimes on) street lights when passing near them.

Although street lights can turn off by chance, cycling (turning on and off repeatedly) at the end of their life cycle, believers in street light interference tend to claim that is happens to them personally on a regular basis, more frequently than chance would explain. Some propose paranormal explanations for SLI, sometimes on scientific terminology, such as the explanation that electrical impulses in their brain interfere with the workings of electric lights.

Many times they do report, that it occurs with specific lamps and not just randomly shutting off street lights or electrical lamps in general.

Evans, Hilary, The SLI Effect, [Frome] : ASSAP, 1993.


This used to happen to me on Inverness St, where I grew up as a teenager, multiple times while walking home really late at night. The same street lights would go off when I entered their field of light, and I would think to myself that I was going to be "taken" by something uknown. I didn't know others experienced it. I thought it was the product of whatever I was smoking.

Big Eyes

I was recently asked to play the role of a photographer in Tim Burton's new film "Big Eyes." 

It's based on the story of Margaret and Walter Keane, who are infamous for these paintings of children with big eyes. Its a minor role, but hopefully I will get to meet Tim or Amy Adams!

"I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw

Or heard or felt came not but from myself:

And here I found myself more truly and more strange."

-Wallace Stevens

An INTERVIEW with SAD MAG

I have always wondered:

Dairy Queen Brazier

Stores serve a normal fast-food menu featuring burgers, french fries, and processed fried chicken products in addition to frozen treats and hot dogs. Due to the protracted rollout of the Grill & Chill concept, Brazier restaurants have been allowed to sell certain products originally restricted to G&C, including GrillBurgers.

The name "Brazier" originated in 1957, when one of the company's franchisees worked to develop a food system that would work for all Dairy Queen restaurants. A brazier is a cooking device consisting of a charcoal or electric heating source over which food is grilled. The term "Brazier" was the result of a brainstorming session with the franchisee's advertising agency.

The "Brazier" name has been slowly phased out of signage and advertising since 1993, although it has not been removed from all existing signage. Since the early 2000's, new or renovated locations which are similar to Brazier restaurants in terms of size and menu selection, but have been updated with the current DQ logo and/or exterior, usually carry the name "DQ Restaurant", although the DQ website's Store Locator still lists the non-G&C stores as "Dairy Queen Brazier" and the smaller stores "Dairy Queen Ltd Brazier".
However, the DQ website still considers their burger and hot dog lines as "Brazier Foods", according to the History section of the DQ website and some FAQ listed topics in the DQ website.