Vincent Visits

We had a rare treat in mid-July. My old friend Vincent Everts visited from The Netherlands, along with his wife Katie Lee and their young son Vince.

I've known Vincent since around 1989. He's one of the founders of Cyco Automation, an early AutoCAD third-party developer. I first met Vincent in Vancouver when he visited CADalyst magazine, and we've been friends ever since. We've skiied together at Whistler and my daughter Andrea visited Vincent when she toured Europe several years ago.

This was my first opportunity to return the hospitality, and we had a very nice, very domestic weekend. We walked the Interurban Trail here in Bellingham, taking a brief break on the Fairhaven Village Green.

It's been a while since we've had a toddler in the house.

We even encountered someone walking their pet iguana in Boulevard Park. You never know what you're going to find in Bellingham.

Later in the afternoon, Vincent, Katie Lee, and Vince visited the BSME model railroad club and got a chance to ride the 7.5-inch gauge outdoor railroad.

Fantastic Sunset

How do you equal a great concert by a fantastic jazz musician? Well, in Bellingham you walk outside. Upon leaving the Ferry Terminal after the Greta Matassa concert, we were all treated to Mother Nature's visual concert, in the form of a typically incredible Bellingham sunset.

Even the ducks posed for their cameo.

Personally, I think we've got the best sunsets on earth.

Greta Matassa Performs in Bellingham

You may recall that jazz vocalist Greta Matassa opened for Herbie Hancock on June 20 in Seattle. In chatting with her after that show, I learned that she was going to be performing in Bellingham on July 11.

The concert wasn't well publicized, however. I didn't see anything in the paper about it. Only by stopping at the Ferry Terminal this evening at around 6:30pm did I learn that she was indeed performing with her trio in a free concert at 7:30pm

What a wonderful show. Part of the Blaine Jazz Festival, Greta performed music of Cole Porter, backed up by her incredible trio of Clipper Anderson on bass, Darin Clendenin on piano, and Lou Abbott on drums.

Ms. Matassa was in wonderful form, doing many Cole Porter standards, including "I Love Paris", "Miss Otis Regrets", and a swinging rendition of "Love For Sale."

With Bellingham Harbor as a backdrop, the Greta and her combo did two sets with a brief intermission.

She will perform again at the Blaine Performing Arts Center tomorrow night as part of the main festival. A new CD of Cole Porter music was not ready in time for this show, but will be released sometime next week. If you haven't yet gotten a chance to hear this wonderful performer, check out her website at www.gretamatassa.com.

Sunday Morning Ride

We were in Seattle for the weekend to celebrate my sister Lori's 50th birthday on Saturday night. Then, on Sunday morning, Lori, her two children (Emily and Martin), Bobbi (my other sister), and I rode 18 miles from Lori's house to Redmond Town Center where the rest of our families met us for breakfast.

I haven't done much biking lately, whereas both of my sisters are avid riders. But Lori promised that the trail was virtually level. Lori lives right on the Burke-Gilman Trail. So we rode the trail up through Lake Forest Park and then connected to the Sammamish River Trail in Bothell.

As promised, the trail was virtually flat, and it was an absolutely gorgeous morning. The trail took us right through Blyth Park, the park in Bothell where we had gone to see American Idol finalist Blake Lewis back in April (see "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"). At that point, it becomes the Sammamish River Trail.

The trail then continued through Woodinville, Washington and on into Redmond. We made it to Redmond Town Center at 10am, a very enjoyable and easy 90-minute ride.

4th of July

We spent a quiet Fourth of July in Bellingham this year, really just puttering around the house. Amazingly, the weather was beautiful all day (usually, it rains at least some time during the day, and then summer starts on July 5th). We even went to the pool for a while and then went to an early Bellingham Bells baseball game at Joe Martin Stadium.

But what would the 4th of July be without fireworks. It gets dark quite late in Bellingham, so the fireworks display over Bellingham Bay didn't start until 10:30pm. Around 9:30 we drove over to the harbor. Our favorite place to watch the fireworks is from the lawn in front of the Bellweather Hotel. But we've learned from past years not to park in the lots near the hotel. It has sometimes taken us more than an hour to get out of the parking lot. So this year, we parked out off the main road and walked in. (I won't reveal the secret of exactly where we parked.)

The beautiful weather led to a picture-perfect fireworks display. And this year I did things a bit differently when it came to photograhing the fireworks, and I think the results paid off. I used a 28mm lens on my Canon 10D digital SLR, set the camera into completely manual mode, turned off the auto-focus and instead simply set the lens to infinity, set the equivalent film speed to 100 ISO, and set the shutter to f/11. Then I shot exposures ranging from 2 to 5 seconds. The camera was on a tripod, of course, and I used a cable release.

I think the results speak for themselves. Out of about 100 frames, I got around 30 really good shots. These are two of my favorites.

There are more on my Flickr site.

By the way, the parking worked out perfectly. Rather than sitting in traffic for an hour, we were back at the house (and I was uploading photos) less than 30 minutes after the end of the fireworks display.

A Typical Saturday Night in Bellingham

I can't think of a better place to live than Bellingham. And a beautiful Saturday night is a perfect explanation. Last night was the first Movie on the Green, a summer tradition here in the Fairhaven district. Every Saturday night for 10 weeks, they show family-friendly films on the Village Green behind the Colophon Cafe and Village Books.

The evening started with live entertainment from Bent Nail, a local bluegrass group. There was also a concert going on less than a mile away in Boulevard Park, which is connected to Fairhaven via a pedestrian trail along the bay. So when that concert was over, a lot of people walked back into Fairhaven for the movie. The bluegrass music was followed by the movie, which was "A Mighty Wind." It was fun seeing it again, particularly with a crowd. And it was amazing how many people in the crowd had never seen it before.

Of course, the movie couldn't start until after dark, and this time of year, it doesn't get dark until 10pm. Sunset was officially at 9:16pm and dusk at 9:58pm. And of course, sunset in Bellingham on a beautiful Saturday evening includes a natural show of its own.

Herbie Hancock Rocks the Zoo

I have to travel a lot for my new job, but one of the perks of all of that travel is that sometimes I'm in the right place at the right time. On Wednesday, June 20, that place was Seattle, with the opportunity to see jazz legend Herbie Hancock, who performed at the Woodland Park Zoo.

The "Zoo Tunes" concerts are an annual fixture in Seattle, although I had never been to one before. I sure picked the right one to start with.

Seattle vocalist Greta Matassa opened the show. I have heard Ms. Matassa's music on KPLU before, and so was thrilled that she was the opening act. I purchased one of her CDs (Favorites from a Long Walk) and had a chance to talk with her after the show. She will be performing in Bellingham in July and I intend to take the entire family to see her. If you've never heard her before, you owe it to yourself to check out Greta Matassa.

Herbie Hancock played with a quartet consisting of the amazing Lionel Loueke on guitar, Nathan East on bass, and the incredible Vincent Colaiuta on drums. Hancock alternated between grand piano and a collection of synthesizers, including one that he wore and played like an electric guitar, trading licks with Loueke.

The evening's selections included some new stuff, including "Stitched Up" from his latest album "Possibilities" and "Canteloupe Island". He even performed a portion of "Maiden Voyage" on solo piano. But my favorites of the evening were "Watermelon Man" and "Chameleon", with Hancock getting into a great funky groove.

About the only piece missing from the evening was "Rock It". What an absolutely incredible evening.