Chinook Winds Concert @ Good Shepherd Center, Seattle

Excellent recent concert by the double wind quintet ([flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn] x 2) Chinook Winds in the historic Good Shepherd Center's (former) chapel.

• Pictures (only a few): <https://goo.gl/photos/R8BycMKZPJwqyPzW9>

• Good Shepherd Center: 

 - <https://historicseattle.org/project/good-shepherd/>

 - <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_of_the_Good_Shepherd>

This was a very nice evening of pleasantly interesting music in a fine old Seattle landmark building.

Mark_ 

17 February 2017

Daughters of Norway Christmas Festival

C. & I were invited to attend with other friends the Daughters of Norway Christmas Festival at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Burien.  It was a fine afternoon of foods, friends, music, and fun.

Also, _dancing_!  In a church!  (Rather a shock for a pair of Southern Baptists.)

Here are some celephone pictures (not all of which are very good, alas).  You can, of course, download any image(s) you wish to have for your own.

We very much enjoyed the celebration and its fellowship.  God jul!

The pictures: <https://goo.gl/photos/NbgKt3fLxNUoUEff6>
UPDATED 11 December: 3 videos added.


Mark_
10 December 2016

161126 Day's Outing with Friends

Recent outing to nearby Hylebos Creek park, Federal Way, with Linda & Brad:
<https://goo.gl/photos/dyAGJNTKogPpdTqj6>
A bit overcast & gray, but we saw beauty anyway.

Mark_
161126

Cindy has left her job.

Briefly, Cindy has retired a year earlier than she had anticipated being able to.  It was pretty sudden, and we are still processing it, but it is an accomplished fact.

Also, we are headed for Yellowstone in caravan with Phil & Ann R. (_Andy_), Dick & Dorothy S. (Bigfoot), Dick & Evalyn L. (Forest River), and Henry & Miriam S. (rented 27' something MH).  We hope to see Charless & Marjorie F., who live near part of our itinerary, and Larry & Cheri C. (Lance), who will be passing by on their way home from the Canadian Maritimes.  We will be in our very new-ish hard-side travel trailer, the Casita Liberty _Arcadia_, for our second big trip since acquiring it only seven months ago.

Our original plan was to do the trip (roughly three weeks), then head home so she could resume her duties as principal.  Now she doesn't have to consider that when considering when to end the trip.

We expect to post pictures to our two Picasa albums.

In other news, reliable cellular coverage has finally filled in at our house; we have abandoned our household LL telephone in favor of our two cellphones.  Those and our four wi-fi-based comms systems should permit us to remain in contact with the outside world during Retirement.

All excellent!

Mark_
06 July 2013

Another E-Mail Scam

A friend just received an e-mail message from Comcast saying that his credit card had been declined on attempting the automatic payment that keeps him connected. It included a convenient link to where he could provide the information needed to guarantee uninterrupted service.

This friend was smart enough to call the telephone number in his personal address book--instead of using that very convenient Web link--so that Comcast could assure him that there was no such trouble.

What makes this one even more scary is that one of the data being requested was his social security number. Linking the two might have permanently unlocked his identity to some terrible person.

Interesting that that same friend had recently lost control of his credit card number--without having actually lost control of the card itself. He had done nothing wrong--nothing out of the ordinary--but had he not noticed the trouble soon after its occurrence, he might have been out quite a sum of money.  (The malefactors had already charged hundreds to it.)

At present, there seems to be no reason for concluding that the two incidents are related. There is so much criminal activity of this sort that it is inevitable that we might encounter more than one attack over short periods of time.

(And now I must go double-lock my doors and close my drapes. Not sure what I'll do when night falls....)

Mark_

13:31 06 November 2012

Ranger Bypass Surgery

Our friend Dick R. (_Gladness_) is recovering at home in Pahrump, after a fairly serious case of _heart bypass surgery_.

Apparently this _is_ the kind where they crack open the ribcage.

He says that he doesn't recall much about the procedure--if anything--but that the aftermath is unpleasant in the extreme. Coughing hurts, and jokes are no fun at all. He says that there is no way he could have managed without Cricket's help; he isn't permitted to lift anything heavier than a fork, and he would even be unable to rise from a chair without assistance. Even so, aside from those painful inconveniences, he feels okay.

The upside is that he has been told to expect to feel better than he has in years, and he is looking forward to riding his newly acquired BMW motorcycle.

Go, Dick!

Mark_
26 April 2012

Tom Collier's _Malletheads_ Concert

18 November 2011, Meany Hall, University of Washington

• Event description: <http://www.music.washington.edu/upcoming/detail/41367> 

• Guest artist Alex Acuña @ Wikipedia: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Acuña>

• Tickets: <http://www.meany.org/tickets/?prod=4934> 

Acuña is well known (especially as a Latin drummer) and well regarded, and he has played with such a large subset of "everybody" that you are sure to have heard his playing before; obtaining tickets early is advised.

Mark_

12:17 28 October 2011

Grove of the Patriarchs

We enjoyed a wonderful Saturday in Silver Springs campground with Phil & Ann, during which among other things we four walked through a big-tree forest near Mt. Rainier to a stand of really large (and presumably ancient) trees called "The Grove of the Patriarchs".

I took pictures.

After our little hike, dinner around Phil's excellent campfire consisted of chili-dogs and tree needles; a bit of a breeze was blowing. All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

Thanks, Phil & Ann!

Mark_
13:42 25 September 2011

_Lark_ has returned to Opua.

I just received a message from Linda: Somewhat over half-way to Tonga, their boom broke; they have returned to Opua for repairs. This is a pretty dangerous event, but apparently neither was hurt.

I'm sure Opua is a nice place, but returning there under these circumstances must be pretty bitter.

They will fly to the U.S. "in a few weeks".

Mark_
15:20 26 July 2011

Dick's Pix

Dick S. (Maggie Rose) has had some of his regatta pictures published in The Anacortes American.

Mark_
16:34 15 June 2011