Deano Around The World Aces Flying High (My Aviation Blog)
I first visited Seattle in the summer of 2009. It is a city that is dominated by the world leading aircraft manufacturer Boeing and one thing that highly amused me during my first visit there was walking past a “gentleman’s” club “The Lusty Lady“. The sign made me laugh then and still does today!
The Lusty Lady in 2009
”The Lusty Lady” is long gone now but the humour remains……..
Wandering around the streets of Pioneer Square in Seattle in the Winter of 2012 I spotted something from a galaxy far, far away…….possibly the greatest van I have ever seen….the “Force Van“!
The Force Van
A true Star Wars van
Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2
One persons love of Star Wars knows no bounds!
Darth Vader
Cantina Band, Hand Solo, Chewbacca
George Lucas approved? I don’t think so!
Searching for a hot dog before the big game or after a big night out? Seattle has just what you need, yep a “Seattle Dog“. What makes it so Seattley good? Cream cheese!
The sausage is grilled and served on a toasted bun with cream cheese and your choice of condiments. Standard fare is always at least grilled onions. I had one on Monday before the Mariners vs Red Sox baseball game…delicious! Buy, consume, enjoy!
The Seattle Dog
Seattle is a city with plenty of water surrounding it and one popular place is Lake Union. The following are some snapshots from an afternoon I spent wandering around there a little while ago. They give you an idea on how busy the lake gets on a sunny weekend!
From boats and kayaks; to floatplanes and a US Army Blackhawk helicopter overhead….despite the congestion on the water the action doesn’t stop!
De Havilland Canada Otter
US Army Blackhawk
An Otter takes to the air (wonder what the person in the rowboat was thinking?)
Even a little steamboat was out there!
De Havilland Canada Beaver
De Havilland Canada Beaver prepares to land
Sailboats, floatplanes and much more share the lake
The view from a different location as a Beaver comes in for landing
And bizarrely a very cool 1960′s era Amphicar an amphibious car! They were designed in Germany and built between 1961 and 1968.
The Amphicar
The Amphicar in action
The Amphicar is away!
A little piece of Japan that is a beautiful oasis within Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum. The garden was completed in 1960 following the design of Juki Lida a famous Japanese designer of more than 1,000 Japanese gardens across the world. The colours of the trees and plants, along with the garden design, ceremonial tea house, tortoises and colourful koi fish in the small lake make for a very peaceful place to relax.
Shonen Knife (Naoko - lead vocals and guitar, Ritsuko - bass & Emi on the drums) hail from Osaka, Japan (Rock City Number One!) and as always are a busy band. Since their last visit to Seattle 9 months ago they have released a Christmas Album plus their latest “Pop Tune” album and are touring again (during their show on August 8th, 2012 they joked it has been a long time)!
L-R: Emi, Naoko & Ritsuko
They perform an incredibly happy form of punk pop and you just can’t help but smile along with them as they play. They are also really funny with stories of their tour etc. Naoko flew to Seattle from Fargo, North Dakota and had kept busy on a day off playing arcade games down on the Seattle Waterfront and with much pride stated she had traded the tokens she won for a bottle of water! Better than the usual plastic comb you can win I guess? The others took a tiring 30 hour drive!
Too true!
Shonen Knife
The show was great with a mix of old tunes, some Ramones covers and a couple of new tracks of “Pop Tune“. The songs are always happy and include topics such as food (BBQ Party), toys and just fun stuff. Banana Chips is the first song I ever heard from Shonen Knife and it highlights the fun approach they have to music and of course they played it!
Heavy \m/
The girls always wear matching outfits (designed by Atsuko, Naoko’s sister who used to be the drummer in the band - she was there selling merch) and when they do the duelling heavy guitars with long hair flailing its brilliant. They are smiling all the time! When they show the devil horns the crowd follows and cheers aloud! Great fun!
Show the horns!
After the show the girls are always happy to say hi, sign some merch and be in a photo. Too adorable for punk!
Thankyou Shonen Knife!
L-R: Naoko, Emi, Ritsuko & Me!
Too cute!
I have loved the music of Iron Maiden since I was a teenager – soaring lyrics, powerful guitar riffs and beating drums are a call to arms for all Maiden fans. They led the charge of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) in the 1980′s and Iron Maiden are still going as strong as ever!
I have seen them perform a couple of times in Australia and got to see them again recently on their Maiden England North American Tour 2012 at the Whiteriver Amphitheatre on July 30th, 2012 (near Seattle). Every show I have seen has been brilliant and their stage presence along with the sets that represent past albums and songs are always impressive.
This current tour is predominately based around their concept album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son from 1988. The majority of the songs from that album are performed during their set along with other classics and a few rarities. They changed the set list slightly for this show too which was a surprise.
L-R: Adrian Smith (guitars), Dave Murray (guitars), Bruce Dickinson (lead vocals), Steve Harris (bass), Janick Gers (guitars) and Nicko McBrain (drums)
The intro music was Doctor Doctor a UFO song, then the boys let fly with:
Moonchild - great way to kick off the show from SSOFASS!
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
The Clairvoyant
Evil “General Custer” Eddie
Encore:
Churchill’s Speech:
“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight over the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,we shall fight on the hills; we shall never surrender!” – Winston Churchill June 4th, 1940
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python) is the musical interlude played to finish the show.
Aces High
Oh and happy birthday to lead singer Bruce Dickinson who just turned 54 (born August 7th, 1958).
Bruce Dickinson
MAIDEN RULES!!!!! \m/(>.<)\m/
Each summer Seattle holds the Seafair festival that culminates in a big air show and hyperboat races. Leading up to that final weekend they always hold Fleet Week and the Parade of Ships (starts August 1st). This year ships from the US Navy, US Coast Guard and Canadian Navy participated in Fleet Week (many of which you could also tour aboard).
US Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52)
USS Bunker Hill
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97)
USS Halsey
US Navy amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18)
USS New Orleans
Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752)
USCGC Stratton
Canadian Navy coastal patrol boats HMCS Nanaimo (MM 702) and Edmonton (MM 703)
HMCS Nanaimo
HMCS Edmonton
HMCS Edmonton & Nanaimo
Canadian Navy sailing training yacht HMCS Oriole
HMCS Nanaimo
Also along with other ships a fire fighting tug boat too!
Fire fighting tug boat
Ship Tours
USS Bunker Hill
Aft deck
Helo Deck
Those hatches hold cruise missiles
Close In Weapon System (CIWS)”Sea-whiz”
View from the bridge
Bridge Deck
Aft Deck Gun
Seattle Waterfront from the USS Bunker Hill
USS New Orleans
Welcome aboard!
Storage Hold – there is room on board to land 700 Marines and all their equipment and necessary vehicles
Landing Craft & Hovercraft launching bay (doors open and ramp lowers at sea to launch them)
Storage Hold Deck Ramps
US Marines on the helo deck
US Marine Grenade Launcher
A fully equipped Operating Theatre and Emergency Room is onboard
Intensive Care Unit
Boats used by the US Navy Seals
Way to the Officers Mess
Officers Mess
Enlisted Crew Mess
Foredeck
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher for air defense & missile defense (the ship is equipped with 2 of these along with 2 x 30mm guns for surface threats)
The Stealth Bomber: just one of the The “Big 3″ bombers of the USAF that flew displays at the Joint Base Lewis McChord Air Expo 2012.
It has been a while since I last saw AC/DC tribute band Problem Child (click the link for some of their live video), so I was really looking forward to getting my “Acca Dacca” fix at the Tractor Tavern on saturday night. Problem Child pay tribute to both the Bon Scott and Brian Johnson eras of AC/DC. Once again the boys put on a high voltage show for the capacity crowd that did not disappoint!
Problem Child – Bon Scott Era
Problem Child – Brian Johnson Era
For this gig they had a guest “Brian”, David Jaynes who normally performs with Back N Black in Atlanta, Georgia (which is one of the biggest tribute bands going around). His performance as Brian with that famous gravelly voice was fantastic, and accompanied with Spencer singing so much like Bon Scott and Ryan shredding the guitar as Angus Young (school boy antics included!) all backed brilliantly by the rest of the band: Malcolm – Malcolm Young, Chris – Cliff Williams and Phil – Phil Rudd you had an awesome night of Rock N’ Roll AC/DC style!
David Jaynes – “Brian Johnson”
Problem Child played plenty of big tracks like “T.N.T.” (video from this July 28th show – thanks Don E!), ”Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap“, ”High Voltage“, “Highway To Hell“, “Back In Black“, ”Hells Bells“, “You Shook Me All Night Long“, “Shoot to Thrill“ (video from this July 28th show), ”Thunderstruck” and the finale of “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” which had the crowd well and truly rocking along. They also performed some tracks that are rare to hear live – “Girls Got Rhythm“, “Givin The Dog A Bone“, “Have A Drink On Me” and ”What Do You Do For Money Honey?“. Classic songs and a great night out with friends, what more could you ask for? Check Problem Child out if you get a chance!
High Voltage Rock N’ Roll!
