2010.9.26. Yellow Aster Butte

Yellow Aster Butte. Finally good weather for a change. Extremely rewarding for such a small effort, but such a long drive (3 hrs from Seattle). No wonder the crowd. 7 miles RT, 2000 ft gain. 3 hrs is probably enough for the hike, but allow a couple of hours to explore: take photos, and yes, pick huckleberries. Below the butte (which grants a 360° view of more fine peaks) is the Yellow Aster meadow: a patchwork of small glistening ponds and huckleberry meadow, the only camping area. What a fine site, stunning views of both Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan, perfect to explorer many surrounding small peaks, and maybe to retrace back for 2 miles and hike to Tomyhoi Lake (looks pretty big on the map). Another trail 2 miles farther drive (on worse gravel) leads to Twin Lakes. Extremely window all the way from the meadow up to the top. No yellow aster at this time. The huckleberry leaves are shining brilliantly under the sun.

Direction: From Glacier Public Service Center, follow Hwy 542 ~12 miles. Turn left on FS#3065 (Twin Lakes Road, just beyond the Department of Transportation's Shuksan maintenance facility). ~4.5 miles gravel road to the Tomyhoi Lake/Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead. Watch for mining trucks!

2010.9.24. Seattle Symphony and PNB

12pm Seattle Symphony.

Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Joseph Schwantner: The Poet’s Hour…a soliloquy for violin and strings "reflections on Thoreau"
Foote: Francesca da Rimini 
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Yefim Bronfman, piano

The beginning and end (repeat of the beginning) are quite lovely. Foote's is very nice. Brahms' 3rd movement is popular, no wonder, but the other movements are unimpressive. Bronfman's performing is powerful, albeit his stubby hands. No encore :(

7:30pm Pacific Northwest Ballet's season premier: Director's Choice.

Petite Mort (Mozart/Jiri Kylian)
Sechs Tänze (Six Dances) (Mozart/Jiri Kylian)
Jardí Tancat (Closed Garden) (Maria del Mar Bonet/Nacho Duato)
Glass Pieces (Philip Glass/Jerome Robbins)

Two Kylian's pieces are interesting, cleverly using slightly back lit lighting and group composition. The Six Dances is extremely funny, playing with powdered wig and marionette at times. Closed Garden's song is more powerful than the dance. Robbins' piece is a bit short of my expectation. Overall, a good start of a new season. Auditorium was reasonably full. 2 intermissions, which is utterly unnecessary.

2010.9.23. Don Bowie at REI

Westcomb athlete Don Bowie spoke at REI of his past expeditions. Quite down to earth. Good photos, and vivid accounts. Something interesting would be ice down sleeping bag, terrible wind speed, unreliable existing ropes, compassion, training in anaerobic fashion, weight loss, high altitude food: shot of olive oil...

2010.9.18. Sausage Festival at Redhook

Redhook Brewery's Sausage Festival (noon - 7pm). Disappointing (long wait, expensive, noisy, lousy music, muddy ground, almost no place to sit). $5 entrance fee (a long to check if you carry any liquid). Then you line up to buy tokens, then you line up in front of each booth to buy what you want to eat / drink. Only one booth sells beer ($4 a plastic cup, 6 choices, one ran out), and only one booth sells sausage (from Uli's, $2 half a sausage). Other food stands are: one hot dog (from Dantes, $4 each, a 2 hr line, because only one guy was serving), one sells Salumi's cold cut with a piece of baguette ($4 a small selection), one for crepe ($3, from Anita), one for ice cream ($3), one for sandwich ($2 a tiny wedge), one for popcorn ($1 a bag from J&D), one sells Oberto's jerky. A couple of stands ran out of food at 3pm. At least food is decent, but not enough.

2010.9.16. Spotlight at the 5th Ave Theatre

First Spotlight of the season. Surprising many people. Producer Kevin McCollum (Rent, Avenu Q, In the Heights) chatted with David Armstrong, or rather he preached creating community centric art form, and advocated 9th graders putting up a musical. Quite funny. This took half an hour. Then as usual, a selection of songs from upcoming shows were performed. Worth noting,the last number was just written 20 minutes ago by 2 very young composers.