Travel is Good

lethal voltage

Ah, something you don't see on a regular basis. I was under the landing gear of a fighter jet parked beside the entrance of the Boeing Museum in Tacoma and this sticker was a good 6 feet over my head. It's refreshing to see nuanced english and proper capitialization used in a meaningful context. There's so much bad writing floating around on the internet, especially the penchant FOR PPL 2 USE CAPS ALL THE TIME.

Boeing Museum

The main objective of this trip was to go here. This photo speaks for itself. WOW.

Randy's

Before and after the visit to the Boeing Museum, we ate here at Randy's Restaurant. It appears to be a Denny's once at least 30 years ago. It's in the heart of Boeing country and very much a staple of West Coast aeronautical culture.

Whale Skeleton

I didn't expect this to be here upon our arrival to Seaview WA, an impressive whale skeleton.

Long Beach WA

A nice ending to a short, hot road trip. This sunset was much more pink than the photo.

Happy to get away...

Bermuda

I'm off on vacation till Friday, so in the meantime I'll leave you with a pic from my trip to Bermuda last year. Yeah, the ocean is really that turquoise. I thought magazine directors deliberately punched up the contrast or photoshopped the sea to look like that in travel brochures. Silly, retarded me.

I've got a tip for those of you planning to go, and I wish someone told me sooner... take a suitcase full of US currency with you because it's f%@*^ing expensive to do anything there.

Whistler Bear of Yore

R.I.P. SLIM

It's been 2 or so years since SLIM the black bear met his unfortunate fate on Highway 99 near Green Lake, a couple of miles south from my house. My memory of him makes me slow down to 50km/h every time I drive that certain bit of road between Alpine Meadows and Emerald Estates. I won't go into details about it except to say his spirit lives on as research and education material for Michael Allen, our local bear researcher emertius.

SLIM was a bad ass 400+lb alpha male, protector of a vast territory, shiek to a harem of sow bears and likely father to most of the cubs born here in recent years. I think a good comparison of him, if he were a human, would be Ghengis Khan.

Back to my Garage...

Bo

To carve more bears of course... In that leaking shambles of a former open car port turned into a quasi-garage by a previous owner ten years ago, I think. I'll post a pic of it some day. Anyway, this guy is named after my Dad who had a gap-toothy grin just like that. I miss him making jam and baloney sandwiches for himself. After Dad quit smoking in 1980, his taste in food combinations took a slight spin for the strange.

Walk with a Bear

Bear Walking Stick

This guy was fashioned from a 4' branch I found while clearing brush in the back yard one long day ago. I stripped the foliage and left it to dry behind the house for two years. It cracked and warped in time, which is the charm of using unmilled wood, and wood filler was rubbed in the crevices before sanding. The head is fashioned from a scrap bit of yellow pine, glued and clamped, then painted in a pseudo-Haida style. Visit civilization.ca for more to do with Haida arts and lore.

Vintage Fabric Group at Flickr

Sports Car Hankerchief

I don't often participate in textile crafts these days just because I did so much of it as a teen and college student. In high school, I took so many sewing, Home Ec and craft courses that I was told to cool it for a year so other students could get a chance to enroll. There's more to my post by clicking this image.

Check it Out!

Month Of Softies for July

Sock Bear Pair

Meet Rightfoot and Leftfoot, bear twins made from levi's ragwool socks. Dave, who donated the socks, realised one foot fit slightly smaller than the other one long after he bought them and they've been languishing in his sock drawer for 3 years. I was hesitant to sew again after the sheer amount of fabric I went through three weeks ago with some wedding decoration gigs, so I limited this little project to hand sewing only. It's been more than 20 years since I've made a doll and I did find it bit refreshing to sew something that didn't have to be absolutely perfect. And I love bears too.

Check it Out!

Sock Mingle

Here they are mingling around Dave's head. I think he digs the company.

Dave's Feet

These subtly mismatched socks once lived on Dave's size 14 feet. Maybe I should hit him up for another pair of unwanted socks. I didn't plan on making more than one bear but those socks were huge!

Dignity at Any Age

ringbearers' coat deconstructed

Last weekend I was called away to a fitting emergency (On the record I don't do this sort of thing but for my most important clients... eh what the heck, sure!). A little boy was swimming in his newly made custom suit and my eyes bugged out at the gross size of the whole thing. It was way, way too big all around and leads me to suspect the original tailor switched measurements with another client by mistake. Somewhere out there is a kid wondering if he had a giant growth spurt prior to his final fitting... anyway, six hours and many inches removed later it was pared down to a resonable fit and I can imagine what a lady killer this boy looked like at the wedding. Best of luck to you kiddo, wherever you are.

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Nanuk

Nanuk is probally a name you already know, bandied about by Hollywood screenwriters in the 20's to 50's like 'Nanuk of the North'. It is the Inuktitut word for bear. I like to think it's Inuktitut for 'cutie-patootie'.

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Oontz

Oontz sounds like a dance beat like, oontz oontz oont-oontz oontz... anyway, she looks like a fun loving spirit.

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WaaPaaw

His name means 'white' in Nakusp, an aboriginal language and a town of the same name in Northern BC. There are no polar bears here, save for a natural anomoly on Northern Vancouver Island called the Kermode Bear. It is an albino bear two-thirds the size of a black bear, and the last name in cuteness.

More Furry Cuteness from Banff

squirrel 2

I just love this little guy/girl. This pic is a 3/4 view of the previous one posted last June. Note the long claws and thick fur s/he needs to live in the harsh Banff, Alberta winter conditions. Dave says the squirrel was a mere 5 inches high and a good 25-30 feet away from him at the time. For you camera geeks, Dave used a Nikon D1X and 80-200 zoom lens and a setting most likely simulating 160 NPC Fujifilm, I guess.

Michael Allen's Bear Talk, June 9, 2005

Michael & Me

Herb the wooden bear gets a new home with Michael Allen, local bear researcher and a bear of a guy. His talk was well attended and I got a chance to see SLIM's pelt and handle his paws. SLIM was a beloved alpha male, weighing more that 400 lbs and the father of many, many cubs. If you are curious about Mike, his bear studies and/or reasearch activities, check out his Ecology tours or this Georgia Strait story from last year.

Bear talk

Intermission at Michael Allen's Bear talk at Millenium Place in Whistler. A bit of Mike's research video is playing in the background. I happened to take this pic as this bear moved on screen. A cute butt shot.

Anyway you spell it...

Otto

Another bear from the tribe. Geez louise, my carving style has changed.

bear painting

Did I mention that I also make the odd painting? Yeah, very rarely... this one was a 2004 christmas gift for Dave. I froze my ass off in the garage painting this thing two days before the 25th. I love Dave but obviously not enough to spend money on him at the last moment (just joking).