Tonight was The Police concert in Seattle’s Key Arena! I can’t tell you how much fun it was… what a great evening to fulfill a desire from my high school days that has been impossible since the mid-80’s. I’ve always wanted to see them play live, they were my favorite band during key years of my life and I still enjoy them to this day. And now, I’ve seen them in concert!

I met John and his lovely wife, and Deb and my friend Terry before the show and we grabbed a bite to eat at Ozzie’s just a few blocks from Key Arena. I’d met John before but it was a pleasure meeting his wife and Deb. We chatted for a good while… there was some kind of conversation about cheese, I think I dozed off during that part. Then we talked about LOTR Online, so I perked back up.

About that time we figured we should probably mosey over to the arena for the show. Our timing was just about perfect, we got there just as the opening act, Fiction Plane, was finishing up. They might be a decent band, but personally, I was there to hear The Police!

The concert was everything I hoped for. They played all of the hits that fans know and love. Most of them have been tweaked with new arrangements, so while they were familiar they were also new in a sense. There was a little bit of banter between numbers, but for the most part the night was about the music. Counting the two encores, they played a total of 22 songs I think, the same play list as they played in Vancouver.

I did snap a few photos with my phone cam. The tickets were marked “No photography or video” so I didn’t want to chance trying to take a decent camera in. The photos are blurry and the exposure is awful but they do still capture the sense of what it looked like. The stage and especially the lighting was simple but excellent. There are a few more photos on Flickr.

And now, I’m exhausted… good night!

Update: Seattlest asked for permission to use one of my photos to accompany their review of the concert… I was happy to oblige.

Flickr members mark your calendar, May 5, 2007 is the day for “24 Hours of Flickr.”  Get the details and join the official pool here.

Ok, this whole sunset photo quest is turning into an obsession.  Lately, every time I’ve tried to spend an evening take sunset photos something has come up. This last attempt was plagued by a revisit from the low-beam headlight gremlin that is living in my car. I think I might have a relay going bad.

I did manage to stop in at the Renton Municipal Airport late last week and snap a few photos. This one was probably my favorite. And I was able to get Matt to cut my grass this weekend.  Those were really my only accomplishments recently. Sad isn’t it?

I did have a nice dinner with a friend tonight at my favorite Chinese restaurant, King Wha in Burien, WA. I am now pleasantly stuffed and about to veg on the couch and watch the new episode of “Heroes.” And that is all I have to report…

Updated: “Heroes” is so good… this show just keeps getting better!

Shephard recently offered to interview any fellow blogger who was interested. His own interview by Bob-Kat is a hilarious read. I fear my own answers will be somewhat less witty!

After you’ve read this interview, if you want to play along just leave a comment indicating so and I’ll happily provide you with five questions of my own for you to answer on your blog!

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Because I know you’re all fascinated with what I’m having for dinner… a little Jambalaya, starting with Zatarain’s Mix based on Al’s recommendation. Added some smoked sausage, fresh grilled chicken and a little of this and that. Super easy and tastes great! My kind of dinner…

Last Tuesday I did a solo ride up to Deception Pass. Coming back I took the ferry from Clinton, WA over to Mukilteo, WA to get back to the mainland. I spent the entire ferry ride, fairly short mind you, out on the forward deck with camera in hand. A young boy had gotten a piece or two of bread and was feeding the seagulls. The gulls were right over our heads and I was able to capture several nice photos with the beautiful blue sky in the background.

Later, as I was processing the photos to upload to Flickr, this photo in particular brought back such vivid memories of my mother. It reminded me that in my youth, she had once given me a copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. I think this event served to awaken in me a love of aviation.

It was during a time after she and my father had divorced.  She was dating a pilot and working at the FBO at the airport in Fayetteville, NC. She eventually took flying lessons and married an instructor pilot. For several years we lived on and operated the airport in Brunswick County, NC. At that time it was a small grass strip used mostly by pilots that had weekend homes on Oakland Island and fish spotters that flew in support of the fishing fleets operating in the area. My first real job was here, keeping the grass cut using a big commercial turf tractor, pumping fuel and occasionally washing an airplane.

All of that reminiscing caused me to want to read the book again.  Through the wonders of the Internet I found the complete text online. It’s a fairly quick read. I’m going to have to pick up a real copy to pass on to my kids. Might as well keep the tradition alive…

Boy, the kids are growing up so fast.  Lindsey is now officially 11 years old.  Where has the time gone?! Tonight was her family birthday dinner, complete with cake! This was a two-layer ice cream cake.  Chocolate cake on the bottom, cookie dough ice cream on top. Very tasty!

I’ll be scarce tomorrow… the forecast is for warm, sunny weather so I’m hooking up with my riding partner Jim to go explore a few roads new to us. As a consequence, my Friday Feet are up early and appropriately themed!

I had a free evening again, so I elected to go scout Lincoln Park in Seattle. I’ve been wanting to experiment with sunset photos but it hasn’t worked out so far. I didn’t figure tonight would work out either because of the overcast all day but I wanted to see if this park was as promising as it looked.

My technique for finding parks has basically been to pull up Google Maps and find likely candidates based on their location and what scenic vistas are near. So far so good! This one is a great spot for photography and I’ll definitely be back when better weather is on hand. Besides views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound, it’s right beside the Fauntleroy Dock so you’ve got ferries and other vessels to work with.

A few more photos can be found in my Flickr photo stream.

Well, maybe not *your* birthday but it is Lindsey’s on Thursday.  She’ll be eleven this year. We hosted a gaggle of girls (and two boys) to a Build-A-Bear party this past Sunday. It’s become a tradition the last few years, though I think it may be coming to an end soon.  Guess we’ll see.  The kids had a blast picking out which animal they wanted to stuff and decorate with bows and ribbons.  They sell clothes too, though we don’t cover the cost for that thankfully! Thursday we’ll have a smaller, family dinner with cake and candles and that sort of thing and then Lindsey is coming over this weekend so we can go do something together for her birthday.  It’s nice having a weeklong celebration isn’t it! I may have to start something similar for my birthday this year.

If you’re bored, you’ll find a few more photos at Flick!

Mmmm… stir fry!