When summer leaves and the rains begin Seattleites shift into the “surviving Seattle” mode. The Seattle Times and the local restaurant community capitalize on this transition by drawing attention to our nationally acclaimed culinary scene and enticing “survivors” to explore the best of it.

Restaurant Week is co-sponsored by the Times and the Seattle Restaurant Association for two weeks each spring and fall. This fall’s event is underway right now; from October 19 – 23 and 26 – 30 (Sunday through Thursday). For the next two weeks 134 of Seattle’s best restaurants will be offering three-course gourmet meals for $30. read more

Rockin’ out … Last night M and I took a couple of friends to hear Tweety and the Tom-Cats at Alexa’s Café in Bothell. George Michael (on the left) teaches guitar as a sideline and has his hands full trying to break me of 50 years worth of bad habits. Good luck with that!

I’ve written before about how astonished I am at the creativity, artistry and talent that never gets much further than its own neighborhood. Every week I go to book readings, art galleries, theater and music venues where the talent is local, the quality exceptional, and the artists virtually unknown – artists whose work is creative and whose execution is polished and professional. The best blues harmonica player I’ve ever heard is a guy named Paul Green. When you hear him blow you ask yourself why he isn’t on the stage with Dave Matthews or the Rolling Stones. He’s that good, but he’s never made the big time. These days you might catch him at a dive bar on Aurora Avenue, but he should be on a big stage with a great band. The world of art and music is fickle and strange. The Brothers Four made a fortune with absolutely no talent and 50 years later the remnant is still milking it. Paul Green and Tweety put them to shame. read more

M and I heard an NPR feature on salmon spawning in the Cedar River on Thursday morning before we had to pick the kids up from school. It’s a long way to the Cedar River but the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard has a fish ladder so we decided to make that our afternoon destination. We thought we might catch a glimpse of salmon passing through on their way to the spawning ground. Win or lose that bet, the Locks are a great place to take kids on a sunny afternoon.

We checked out the Locks: read more

1970: Brela, on the Adriatic coast of what is now Croatia. That’s me on the right, Darryl Hart on the left and Abby Grosvenor in the middle.

There’s a lot of history packed in this picture. Darryl and I met in 1962 at law school in Berkeley. We shared a house with some other law student friends briefly, and often played guitars together though he was much better than I was. His rendition of the Theme from Black Orpheus was famous for bringing the sun up on Scenic Avenue in those days. We graduated together in 1965; worked at Loeb & Loeb together in Los Angeles; and quit L&L at the same time in 1967. He went to Washington DC to work on the staff of California Senator Thomas Kuchel and I went to NY to work for Pan Am. In 1970 I was on medical leave from Pan Am so Abby and I went to Europe. Darryl was between jobs so he joined us there for a couple of months. We drove and camped in our VW bus from Paris to St. Tropez to Brela and on up to Vienna where he left us for awhile. He rejoined us for Christmas/New Year at our rented house in St.Tropez and then he headed home. On the flight home he met Martha, his wife to be, and they have been married 40+ years now. read more