Went to see a show...

[mnaz]

I came back to Seattle and it didn't take long.... caught a show last night with my cousin Alice, the artist. The bass player was smokin' hot and the front man wore girl's pants, a pearl necklace, and a handlebar moustache-- "the gay man's dream", as Alice put it (he is her boyfriend).

We bring Jay along-- we all worked at Pizza Hut twenty years ago. Both Jay and Alice are stellar artists. Alice still paints-- realism, with surreal backdrops. But Jay demanded genius from his work-- nothing less than to spur the next great art movement, since anything less is a waste of time-- so he packed it away years ago...

We meet the band's entourage. I fetch a couple rounds of hallucinogenic Northwest microbrew and before long, Jay and Alice are sketching caricatures of each other on bar napkins and adding long-winded captions to each one-- "dueling napkins", we dub it-- until one caption challenges the other to a debate on 15th-Century art history...

It turns out that Leonardo's John-the-Baptist piece, which hangs down the hall from the perpetual crowd around the Mona Lisa, is the world's most mind-blowing work of art. Rembrandt's stuff was great, but it just isn't the same....

Several Jaegermeisters later, Jay wanders up on stage and attempts some weird-angle photos with Alice's digital camera, as the band churns out its set-- new waves of rockabilly saxophone, all mixed up with the Kinks and Foghat. Alice's jaw drops in disbelief, while the Gay Man's Dream with a microphone does a punk rock weave and dodge, unfazed. I sip my beer. Jay wanders back and unexpectedly tries to suck my face.

It's great to be back (for now)....

[mtmynd]

Sounds like a great place to return to... May your words flourish under the gentle rains and produce even more for all to savor.

Nice little piece!

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear mnaz:

Are they still converting some of those old high-rise towers in downtown Seattle to artists' lofts and galleries? About eight years ago I did their "artwalk" tour. Lots of faux Philip Guston on show.

But really neat studios and exhibition spaces.

--Z

[mnaz]

Thnx, Cec.

I'm not sure that I've "landed" yet.... (I may still have a touch of that 'motion-sickness')...

But I'm enjoying the extended stop!


Z..... I haven't kept up on downtown goings-on in recent years. I imagine that loft conversions aren't as common as they were. Belltown has been largely rebuilt into high-rise condos. Actually, Georgetown, which sits squarely in the middle of South Seattle's industrial area, has turned into the latest "artist's hangout".... trendy clubs and stores, built into decaying brick buildings, set in a concrete jungle worthy of the Rust Belt..... (I never thought I'd see the day).

[rhino]

cool tale

reminds me of the big easy

[Arcadia]

oh yeah, cousins are a great invention!
buy an umbrella and have a good time!
saludos,

Arcadia