Silenced Majority Portal

Santarchy/Santicon Hits Seattle! (Drunk Santas Still Marauding in Fremont!)

 
I went to Fremont and saw hundreds of Santas converge beneath the Troll under the Aurora Bridge.  "The Duck" tourist vehicle drove by. 

 Then the Santas headed down the hill to Fremont, where they hung out mostly on the street, at Doc Watsons and at The Dubliner. 

Here they drank and partied and probably still are!

There were plenty of Santas on the street, heading between bars.

brotherly love, sisterly love, elvin antics

upscale Santa, Maggie G Santas

fraulein Santas

Marie Antoinette Santa, Russian Santas

/>
Pope Santa, Easter Bunny Santa

more Fraulein Santas

Santa & Santa helper legs - some are gender bender legs

candy cane stripes or fishnets

 

or Christmas colors

 

Peace from the Republic of Fremont

Rally to Restore Sanity - Seattle version

I'm alternating between uploading photos and reading postings from friends who are at the big mother of a rally in DC.  Went up on Westlake Mall balcony and estimated Seattle crowd count at maybe 10,000?  There were monitors showing Stewart & Colbert & some great signs.  Hope also that people are energized to work on the midterms because they're not over yet!  The rally was 9-12, to synchronize with the big DC one (with support rallies all over the globe.

 Live Video Stream | Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (Thanks, Randy - DC rally)

My "aerial" shots .. from Westlake Center (some new British store is opening near the rally and had security guards everywhere - obviously they don't know polite Scandinavian Seattle or understand the concept of "Sanity" - this is not some big G8 event - Jeez!)

I used the bathroom in a department store and the employees were asking, "What brings you downtown today?" and when I told them, they were sympathetic and hoping to get out on their break.  "I know all about it," one said.  .. (Media starting to pick this up)

Thousands in Seattle rally to restore sanity

Jon Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' energizes expats from Paris to Prague - CSMonitor.com

That is a Fuckload of people at the Sanity/Fear rally. Updated with Pics! - Democratic Underground

Rally To Restore Sanity LIVE: Video, Updates From The Jon Stewart Rally In DC = Huffpo

Daily Kos: Rally to Restore Sanity/and or Fear  Live Thread

Rallying, in the Rain, to Restore Sanity | Slog | The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

Jon Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' draws thousands to Washington - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News


200K turn out to 'Restore Sanity' in Washington | World | News | Toronto Sun

Andy Borowitz: Fox News Estimates Jon Stewart's Crowd at Seven People

Local News | Seattle's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' may be one of nation's largest | Seattle Times Newspaper

In Election's Shadow, Rally Draws Laughs, Activism - Entertainment News Story - KIRO Seattle - (Our local FOX affiliate, they are ignoring the local rally)

Thousands 'Rally to Restore Sanity' in Seattle | KING5.com | Seattle Area Local News

Seattle's Photographer Cat is Releasing a Book

40th Anniversary of the Death of Hendrix - Drake Visits his Grave

Drake Visits Jimi Hendrix's Grave, Pens Note for Guitarist - The Boombox

Drake has been so inspired by the musical talent of the late Jimi Hendrix that he visited his grave and wrote him a letter. The 23-year-old revealed in an interview to Rolling Stone that his adoration for Hendrix, who died from a drug overdose in 1970, drove him to visit his final resting place. 

(this occurred recently, after Drake was here for Bumbershoot - written from Seatac/Seattle)

Courtney Love Turns Christian Rocker (Just Kidding)

Part of Seattle Weekly cover

Seattle's Music History Big Tourist Draw

(These are from the new Hard Rock Cafe and from one of the Pike Market stands, taken today.)

TUBS in the U District: Graffiti Then and Now

City can't clean up notorious graffiti hub

I drove by it and bad artists have covered up the good ones.  The newspaper photo took a bad angle as well, so the building looks more shitty.  Apparently the owner originally allowed really talented muralists to use the space, then lost control for financial reasons and randomness took over.

We had featured the building back in its glory days, when it was really nice.  That's one of the reasons I like to photograph graffiti, street art, cool buildings - so ephemeral!  They can disappear almost overnight.

Silenced Majority Portal: TUBS in the U District - Best Graffiti in Seattle

more beauties

Seattle Tattoo Expo - Enjoy the Slideshow

Seattle Tattoo Expo | Photos from seattlepi.com - 21 photos (2 below)

 

Fremont Solstice Parade 2010

                  
 
   
   
        

I missed the bicyclists, that is to say, most had put trunks or skivvies of some kind over their painted nether-regions, given that it wasn't a sunny day.  That is not to say that there were not plenty of exposed butts, people wearing only small-size shopping bags for trunks or perhaps pasties.  That was possibly just as interesting as variations in body paint (and I have approximately 400 pictures of nude bicyclists from prior years already.)  I think I also favored the slightly "darker" themes today - maybe because of the weather.

There was a strong ecological theme today, with garments made of trash and phone books hanging from trees.  There was also a wonderful Yellow Submarine with all sorts of Blue Meanies and someone did comment that all four Beatles on the musical float looked like Ringo.  Note also the appearance of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (along with pirates.)

The Parade was delightful as always (it's been around for 23 years.)  I read in the newspaper that the Chamber of Commerce of Fremont will take the parade over from the private org that has been running it and may make it more "family friendly." 

The irony is that kids find the bicyclists FUNNY - I've seen them pointing and laughing - and that's about it! If the parade becomes less interesting, another one will spring up somewhere else.  I don't think the Solstice spirit in Fremont, Center of the Universe, can be squelched just because of gentrification and the fact that companies like Amazon have moved into the neighborhood.

A Thread of Continuity Over 40 Years - U District Street Fair

The "Ave" was closed off from 40th to 50th.  Old psychedelically-colored places were up for rent, and new ones had appeared.  I figured that I've been here for 32 of the 40 years.

   

I always head for the ethnic stands near 50th, as things are much cheaper there than anywhere else.  Then there are homemade goods and I did see booths for Costco and Home Depot.

        
   

Food smelled good but the stands were crowded and this year, the restaurants were not selling out of their front windows.  I miss that.  I did see a fairly brazen drug deal go down.  There were alot of good musicians on the street, and other entrepreneurs with services like face painting and massage.  Prices seemed a bit more on the reasonable side, as compared to the last few years.  Boeing Employees Credit Union even brought a portable bank, in a truck.

       
 
All ages and stages were represented, and there were a few revolutionaries.