2019.12.31. New Year's Eve at Seattle Center

12/31. Went to Seattle Center around 10pm. Surprised to find that the rain and wind had both stopped. T-mobile was giving out laser tube, scarf, beanie and paper glasses in the sign of 2020. So, everything is pink. A lot of people. Skate ring was open. Inside Center House, a band was playing, a few portrait drawers, and many food vendors. Space Needle had its own affair. Out on the lawn, people spread out blankets and waiting for the new year fireworks. Almost everyone (including dogs), of course, had pink laser loops, some were covered from head to toe with obscene amount of pink loops. At least 5 preachers holding signs of various Jesus sayings.

Got bored waiting. So went back home. Went to the crowded roof just before midnight for the fireworks which never came. I still had a great time.

2019.12.29. Hex Mountain snowshoe

12/29, Sunday. I was picked up by a couple from Shoreline at I-5's Stewart exit (later dropped off at I-5 Madison exit -- so very convenient), and drove to Hex Mountain. Total 9 people. Our host met us at the trailhead. He has newly moved to Ellensburg after being dishearten by how bad Medicare patients are treated. The parking pull-out is south of the bridge over Newport Creek, left of Salmon La Sac Rd.

The winter route is half on a 4x4 road, half on a trail (you'll see this sign in the above photo where the trail starts to your right). The road can be easily walked with just boots, only sinking a little occasionally. I wore snowshoes on the way down, simply because I was too lazy to take them off and carry them. The trail can be walked on in boots too by a light person, except for the last 100' of the summit, which is rather steep. This day, we started under dark clouds, then into the clouds (very mystical, with beautiful frosted leaves). When we finally emerged from the clouds the last few hundred feet, we could see the blue sky. But the view is largely obscured by trees, even though the trail is more of less on a gentle ridge. The summit has great views of Mt Rainier to the south and Mt Stuart to the north, today, a sea of clouds below us. Had lunch here, but didn't linger long, due to the low temperature. Wind was mild, but made it chilly.

Getting down through the clouds again. Could see Cle Elum Lake half way down the trail, dark and gloomy today. I took a wrong route, followed some road down. Didn't take any longer than the trail. Back to the car at 2pm. On the drive home, the clouds dissipated the west we went, all blue sky in Seattle.

About 7 miles RT, 2600' gain.

2019.12.22. GOH's Nutcracker

12/22 Sunday afternoon. First time watching anything by GOH, a local ballet school. Also my first time to Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Quite nice. This is the first performance of the day (many more this and last week). I'm surprised to see how packed house was. Very festival. A lot of characters, glittering costumes, simple and clear stage set. Not difficult technically, certainly not easy dealing with almost 100 kids and actors on stage.

An unusually sunny day. Walked to Vancouver Central Library, which is just a block away, before returning home.

2019.12.17. Mrs Doubtfire at the 5th Ave Theatre

12/17, Tuesday. 7:30pm. This Mrs Doubhtfire is a new musical produced by 5th Ave Theatre. Very funny. Totally updated and trimmed from the original 1993 movie. The Youtube ad insert is hilarious, when Mrs. Doubtfire was following cooking instructions online. Clever rendering. Fast and efficient change stage set. Very energetic, a bit too loud (musical is always amplified too much for my taste). Near full house: long long lines in front of lady's room during intermission. 5th Ave Theatre is an old establishment, not a lot of space to hangout during intermission. The Christmas tree in the lobby is adorned with many Asian fans, very colorful.

2019.12.14. Path of Lights at Green Lake

12/14, Saturday. 4:30-7:30pm. The annual Path of Lights at Green Lake. I've never heard of it until a couple of days ago. I walked along its eastern shore around 6:30pm. Light rain at times, a few tent booths, manned by the park service and various organizations (animal shelter for example). More than one booths were giving away light tubes. No wonder so many kids were wearing them. Quite a turn out. The lights were places on both sides of the walking path, spaced in about 10 meters. Very dim (seems battery powered) and small. Many people wear some holiday light fixtures on their clothes or head. I was most boring, wearing a headlamp (useful, quite muddy at places). A few kayaks decked with lights and cartoon figures (Santa, Snoopy for example), rowed by the shore around the lake. One booth was performing. I stood for two groups. Both were small, but quite fun. I also picked up a chocolate snake from the Kinds booth, which was a nice surprise.

2019.12.14. Franklin Falls

12/14, Saturday. Rained most of the day. Went to Franklin Falls, hoping to see icicles. Too warm this winter. No icicles, nor black ice. The trail (mostly road) was covered with slushy snow. On the way back, more black surface (better traction). The waterfall looked cleaner. Less dramatic, and less people. A nice walk for a rainy day.

The road is closed, so added 6 miles to the 2 mile hike. Still fairly easy.

2019.12.13. Christmas Boat Parade on Lake Union

12/13, Friday evening. Annual Christmas boat parade. I don't know when it started. The night falls around 4:30pm nowadays. I walked by Lake Union's southern shore around 7:30pm. Saw a string of boats going by, brightly illuminated under semi cloudy sky. Not a lot of people here. The near full moon was visible at times. I took a bus going along Dexter. When it crossed the bridge over the canal in Fremont, the traffic ground to stop and go, maybe due to the spectators coming and going. Was very lively. Also a better view of the lit lake from the bridge.

2019.12.12. (R)EVOLUTION at Cornish Theater

12/12, Thursday, 8pm. 2nd of the 3 performances by Senior Musical Theater Ensemble of Cornish College of Arts at Raisbeck Performance Hall. Stage Direction by Timothy McCuen Piggee, Music Direction by Clair Marx. This musical is an annual production by the senior students in theater major. Many of the numbers were staged by the students themselves. Attendance was largely of the students and their families. There isn't a plot. A string of sounds and dances about contemporary life. Quite energetic. The kids did a good job. Some of them are more timid than others. All body shapes: some are skeleton, some are plump. They wear whatever clothes they chose to. Over all, not bad.

2019.12.8. Tis the Season with SMC

12/8 Sunday, 7:30pm. One of my favorite musical groups is Seattle Men's Chorus (not their Women's Chorus). It's been awhile since I last heard them. Went to their annual holiday concert at Benaroya Hall, almost full house. I was mildly disappointed. Sure, a lot of fanfare. But not as funny as before. Dynamics is uniformly loud, no tender moments. Maybe this is the style of the new artistic director (not that new, 4th year in his reign). Another thing, begging for money is blunt and ostentatious. The concert itself is less than 2 hours, including a long intermission. 5 minutes were devoted to thanking financial sponsors. Total only about 10 songs.

I have a problem of service fees. Their ticket includes a $3 service fee, $4 facility fee (charged by Benaroya Hall), and if you buy it from Benaroya Hall's website, you'll be charged another $11 fee. This is outrageous. Online ticketing saves handling and shipping, also saves hiring a person at box office. Other than the facility rental, why all the other fees? To offset the credit card fee? So the income is not reported to IRS?

2019.12.6. Caroling in downtown

12/6, Friday. 6-8:30pm. The 33rd annual Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition. A great turn out. A lot of people. It stayed dry until after the closure. The winning team amassed more than $7000 donation. However, asking for money has never been so blunt and intrusive before. Not only they sell buttons and song printouts, donation box in front of every team, but also folks carrying boxes around to collect money. Oh, yes, you can use a variety of online and credit card payment methods. I just stuffed some cash in the box in front of a jazzy youth group, which I liked. Didn't had time to listen to all the groups. If you are not in the inner circle, it's hard to hear the lyrics, with street noise and people talking. Some troupes are better in their costume than their voice. One elderly group tap dances (not singing) in ugly Christmas sweaters. Very festival.

Around 7:30pm, all the groups collected their costumes and donation boxes. The judges (I have no idea who they are), and curators on stage, dolling out prizes in different categories. The winning team performed one song after claiming its trophy. This lasted one hour, ending with Beaconettes singing Twelve Days Before Christmas completely revised for 2019 Seattle (running bunnies, Viaduct torn down, Macy's closing, soccer championship, ...).

I met with two sets of friends. A fun time to meet, however, a difficult time to find anyone in the crowd.