Individual Intrinsically Immoral/Illegal acts
State Sponsored Terrorism (including officially sanctioned mob violence) has a past predating recorded history. It is barbaric, shocking, and arguably counterproductive. How it is that we allow (and even urge) collective behavior/immorality (e.g. Torture) we would never tolerate as an individual act remains unexplained.
State Sponsored Violence/Homicide Encouraged in Law:
Music for Dancing
A free concert on the Olympia Harbor Days Stage was offered to the public in the park adjacent to the city’s Community Center on Columbia St. Local talent and a variety of music was featured…sadly, no dancing on stage this year.
Oly Harbor Days Stage 1/8 – Convergence Zone Bluegrass
Oly Harbor Days Stage 2/8 – Convergence Zone Bluegrass
9-1-12 Oly Harbor Days Stage 3/8 – Freckles Brown Band
9-1-12 Oly Harbor Days Stage 4/8 – Freckles Brown Band
9-1-12 Oly Harbor Days Stage 5/8 – Momenti Rubati
9-1-12 Oly Harbor Days Stage 6/8 – Momenti Rubati
9-1-12 Oly Harbor Days Stage 7/8 – Momenti Rubati
Oly Harbor Days Stage 8/8 – Momenti Rubati
Once In A Blue Moon
Music In The Park (Shelton) – Interfaith Community Choir 1/4
Some corporate scam artists are speciously claiming copyright violation as a vehicle to use non-infringing (such as this one) video/news clips posted on Youtube as a billboard for THEIR ads, which they’re remunerated for. They’ll stoop to anything including claiming a one-legged homeless busker is violating their copyright by singing John Lennon’s IMAGINE. It’s be analogous to a photojournalist catching a police response to a homicide live then having to pull the footage from the air because some car radio driving by in the background is playing Hotel California. It’s, of course, absurd…and an abuse of the laws Congress enacted to protect genuine copyright infringement claims. Fair Use (such as this clip or the example cited) does not violate copyright. Our US Supreme Court has made this much clear.
Music In The Park (Shelton) – Interfaith Community Choir 2/4
As a courtesy to the producer and acknowledgment of the abuse of the digital Millennium Copyright Act’s take-down notice provision, do NOT buy any product advertised superimposed on this clip. Discourage the abuse.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only which includes criticism, comment, news reporting. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
FAIR DEALING EXCEPTION:
This Video is not for profit, It is shared/used for the purpose of research, criticism, review and news reporting under the fair dealing exceptions 29, 29.1 and 29.2 of the Canadian Copyright Act (R.S.1985 c, C-42)
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42….
Music In The Park (Shelton) – Interfaith Community Choir 3/4
Music In The Park (Shelton) – Interfaith Community Choir 4/4
Ward Room columnist Edward McClelland often employs satire to make larger points. This is one of those times. Please read it with satire in mind.
Rich white men have done some great things for this country. Henry Ford, who was of Irish descent, popularized the automobile and provided his workers with a standard of living never before enjoyed by factory workers. John D. Rockefeller, a Franco-American, invented the modern oil industry. Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant, used his steel fortune to build beautiful libraries in small towns all over America.
I would never denigrate the contributions of rich white men to America. And I applaud the Republican Party for nominating one. But I’m not sure that means this country is ready for a rich white man as president. Why? First of all, the rich white male experience is very different from the experience of the average American. It is estimated that rich white men make up only one half of one percent of the U.S. population. Some would even say their lifestyle is alien to mainstream America.
Not only are rich white men far more likely to travel to foreign countries, many of them have homes in foreign countries. Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, who is worth $8.3 billion, owns property in England, China and his native Australia. While only 22 percent of Americans fly on a plane every year, Murdoch owns his own Boeing 737. Murdoch also has six children by three different women, which is not unusual in rich white male culture. Actor/director Clint Eastwood, a rich white man who spoke on behalf of Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention, has seven children by five women. Perhaps it’s a stereotype, but rich white men don’t share the values most of us consider essential to stable families.
It’s not Mitt Romney’s fault that he’s a rich white man. He comes from a long line of rich white men. His father, George, was president of the Americans Motors Corporation. His great-grandfather, Miles Romney, was a polygamist who was married to five women at once, an archaic rich white male practice which has been replaced by marrying five women in succession.
It’s possible that Americans will be seen as prejudiced if we don’t elect Romney, especially since he’s running against a half-black man who grew up in an apartment, and never lived in his own house until he was 44 years old. I think the time will come when we’re ready for a rich white man as president. In fact, I hope it happens in my lifetime. Perhaps Romney’s candidacy will pave the way for another member of his people. But I just don’t think he’s the right rich white man for the job.
Frozen Beauty
A celebratory annuity called for a pilgrimage. So it was that Seattle was chosen as the venue. With so many folks in one locale, they’re bound to find something entertaining to do with their time. Locals proved the maxim by making a good show of it.
With maps and schedules in hand, a route to Seattle Center was planned by way of MTA’s (Mason Transit Authority) Rte. 2 @ 6:50am in the nick of time and the stop on Wallace-Kneeland Blvd in front of Walmart. Yes, it can be caught by the Hwy 101 State salmon hatchery, but there’s no return trip as late as the 5:30-6:30pm Seattle-Bremerton ferry run to that more convenient point of embarkation. But MTA Rte. 1 *WILL* get you back to the Wal-Mart location shortly after 8:00pm. It works (except Sundays) as follows:
Rte. 1/Rte. 2 @ 6:50am to Belfair
Transfer to Rte. 3 @ 7:45am to Bremerton
Board 8:30am Bremerton-Seattle ferry
Board 9:45am Metro Rte. 16 @ Alaskan Way (ferry terminal) to Seattle Center (5th & Broad St.) for 7 hours of play time in Seattle.
Catch the 4:45pm Metro Rte. 16 @ 5th & Broad to ferry terminal. This will get you (maybe) to the ferry terminal by 5:05pm since this run keeps 20 minute intervals. The next one claims it would get you to the ferry terminal by 5:25pm, but this is cutting it a bit too close to catch the 5:30pm Seattle-Bremerton ferry since downtown traffic makes keeping the schedule difficult.
Since MTA Rte. 3 synchronizes its schedule with the ferry’s, it will be waiting for you @ 6:30pm when your ferry docks and you scurry to catch it before it leaves while you’re still walking in its direction upon disembarking from the ship that delivered you. TIP: Call a couple of days ahead of time to MTA’s dispatch and insist they list you and your party’s name on a manifest the driver checks before leaving prematurely. The common sense epiphany of checking to see if passengers are BOARDING the newly arrived ferry before driving off seems lost on at least ONE MTA Rte. 3 driver. When she was asked what she would have done if the ferry had arrived 10 minutes late, she averred that had never happened and nobody had ever asked before. Nevertheless, on this date, the ferry indeed arrived 15 MINUTES late. The male driver on this date (exercising common sense) had not simply driven off leaving passengers stranded. This Rte. 3 run is the last of the day and changes its reader board to Rte. 1 on its arrival in Belfair. Staff at the MTA call center argued this would inconvenience passengers who MIGHT have an appointment, but everyone knows buses sometimes arrive a bit late–but that won’t make you nearly as tardy as missing the buss altogether. The male driver’s common sense, in this instance, trumped the call center’s potato head.
Finally, MTA Rte. 1 will deliver you back to the point (Walmart) where you caught Rte 2 earlier that morning. The transportation cost savings are enormous combined with the luxury of being able to sight see instead of gripping the steering wheel–not to mention the communal camaraderie often present on the bus. Besides, you already paid for this service through your county sales taxes. Use it! It’s free (inside Mason County) and only 50 cents for seniors going as far outside the County as Bremerton/Olympia.
Having covered the spectacular free (& huge: 27 stages, hundred of performances, 4 days of festivities) PNW Folkife Festival @ Seattle Center over the Memorial Day weekend, admittedly Seattle Center was a disappointment this day and seemed somewhat pedestrian. There was (for a king’s ransom) the King Tut exhibit at the Seattle Science Center, but even the glass art house display wanted plenty of do, re, mi. (Chihuly is nothing if not keenly aware of the commercial value of art.) Declining on the cost of membership/admission, a longer look at the various sculpture displays was in order. As it turned out, there were a number of buskers who proved as interesting, if not more so in the immediate sense, than King Tut.
In the process of arriving via Rte. 16, a rather comical incident between the driver and a young male passenger ensued. Apparently the driver had given the young man some instructions on how to get where he wanted to go. But he remained somewhat confused, asking for some clarification. “Did you listen to anything I said?” yelled the driver. The young man’s mouth gaped. A few moments later, a woman asked how to get to the Pike Street Market. “I told you, they ALL stop by the Pike Street Market,” the Japanese looking driver fumed. The driver sounded very much like he might have been ‘over qualified’ for his job.
Robert, president of the Seattle Street Performer’s Guild
Busking for 35 years, likes his work, and names influential artists. He also speaks of the philosophy of his organization. (Street Arts & Buskers Advocates)
Ecuador’s Quichua Mashis play pan pipes, traditional Peruvian instruments. (1/3)
Ecuador’s Quichua Mashis play pan pipes, traditional Peruvian instruments. (2/3)
Ecuador’s Quichua Mashis play pan pipes, traditional Peruvian instruments. (3/3)
Amputee busker plays guitar, sings FLY AWAY
Amputee busker plays guitar, sings IMAGINE
(EMI Music Publishing claims videographer/he is violating their ‘copyright’)
Busker, Rick Fogel, plays Sculley’s Reel on the dulcimer (whamdiddle.com)
Busker, Rick Fogel, plays a blind Irish harper’s last tune written on his deathbed (whamdiddle.com)
Buskers Gregory Paul & his washboard sidekick play old time banjo tunes 1/3
Buskers Gregory Paul & his washboard sidekick play old time banjo tunes 2/3
Buskers Gregory Paul & his washboard sidekick play old time banjo tunes 3/3
Beautiful Statuesque Busking Mime wows the waterfront
My kind of gal and Ivers feeding the gulls
It was a great day to be alive. In the end, it wasn’t about the pay per view venues, it was about the people and the story each had to tell. The Emerald City had sprinkled fairy dust upon its children.
Friday, 27 July 2012 09:53By Rania Khalek
A police officer keeps watch over fellow officers trying to disperse a group of people gathered in a parking lot where rioting had taken place the night before, in Anaheim, Wednesday, July 25, 2012. (Photo: Monica Almeida / The New York Times)On Saturday, July 21, 24-year-old Manuel Diaz laid face down in a pool of blood, shot dead by Anaheim police just ten minutes away from “the happiest place on earth.” Anaheim, long known as home to Disneyland, has in the last week come to be defined by police violence and civil unrest.
It all started Saturday afternoon, when Diaz and two others were approached by three Anaheim police officers. Diaz ran and one of the officers chased after him. According to a witness, Diaz was shot from behind, first in the buttocks, then the head. She also told reporters that police proceeded to handcuff Diaz before searching him, despite his body lying bloody and motionless on the ground. Several witnesses also accused police of trying to buy cell phone recordings of the incident.
Days later, the OC Weekly obtained a cell phone video that showed police standing over Diaz’s bloodied body, which appears to be twitching as if still alive, for over three minutes and doing nothing. One man can be heard pleading, “He’s still alive man!”
Diaz is just the latest in a long line of police shootings of unarmed people of color. His name has come to symbolize the ongoing struggle against police violence in poor black and brown communities, for which authorities are almost never held to account. In Anaheim, where tension between police and the Latino community has been building for years, Diaz is the match that lit the fire which has spread throughout the city.
His shooting sparked an immediate protest by area residents who demanded answers from police. When some in the crowd allegedly hurled bottles and rocks at officers, police responded by shooting rubber bullets and pepper spray and releasing (apparently by accident) a K-9 attack dog into the crowd of mostly parents and small children. The chaos was captured on video by a KCAL news crew showing screaming mothers and fathers shielding their children in horror.
The following day a second Latino man, 21-year-old Joel Acevedo, was shot and killed by Anaheim police, who said Acevedo was shot after firing at police during a foot chase.
These latest deaths bring the total number of Anaheim officer-involved shootings in 2012 to six. Families of the victims have been holding weekly Sunday protests directed at the Anaheim Police Department (APD), who in a court filing, they likened to “a death squad” that indiscriminately targets anyone they believe is a gang member.
They’re All “Gang Members”
Police violence is overwhelmingly limited to two groups of people: political demonstrators (i.e. Occupy Wall Street, Chicago #NoNATO protests etc); and poor communities of color.
Of the six victims of Anaheim police-involved shootings this year, five were Latino. In fact, the Anaheim neighborhood where Diaz was shot is almost 90 percent Latino.
At news conferences and in statements to the press, Anaheim police have repeatedly used the term “gang member” in justifications for the recent shootings and subsequent treatment of protesting residents.
Anaheim Police Chief John Welter has said that the firing of bean bags and pepper spray at residents protesting the killing of Diaz was in response to “some known gang members” throwing bottles and rocks at officers.
In a detailed statement released by the Anaheim Police Association on July 24, Kerry Condon, president of the police union, said the following:
“… we live in a dangerous world where there are too many violent gang members like Manuel ‘Stomper’ Diaz and Joel ‘Yogi’ Acevedo who spent their young lives wreaking havoc on their neighborhoods and the law-abiding citizens who live there. It was the actions of these gang members, not the police officers, who set these unfortunate events in motion.
“Even though there have been several death threats to Anaheim police officers in gang neighborhoods throughout the city of Anaheim in the last year, our officers continue to go into these areas to fight gang crime and protect the residents who continue to live in fear of these domestic terrorists.”
Gustavo Arellano, editor of Orange County’s alternative newspaper the OC Weekly, which has been closely reporting on APD brutality for years, told Truthout that identifying the victims as “gang members” is nothing new. “Police departments are notorious for never voluntarily offering information to reporters, but they’re quick to tell the media that ‘this is no angel, it’s a documented gang member.'”
The problem, he said, is, “The media only pays attention to what the police department has to say, as though that justifies the shooting deaths of these people.”
The reality is that “gang” is a racialized word that triggers images of violent black and brown criminal stereotypes in the minds of the public. When the words “gang” or “drugs” are thrown around in connection to victims of color, sympathy for the injured and/or dead comes to a sudden halt. By repeatedly using “gang member” to describe the people at the other end of police violence, the APD is soliciting racialized indifference toward the victims.
For confirmation of the success of the ploy, one may look to the lack of concern for Chicago’s latest scourge of gun violence. The more than 250 homicides in 2012 alone – up 40 percent from this time last year – have been blamed on guns, gangs and drugs, while the systemic problems created by the War on Drugs and police tactics have been largely ignored along with the victims.
Contrast the apathy at Chicago’s rising body count with the horrified reaction to the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado. As politicians competed over who could pray harder for the victims and their families, the media saturated the airwaves with detailed stories about the lives of those who were killed. President Obama even traveled to Aurora to meet with survivors. Meanwhile, Chicago’s victims and their grieving families have yet to receive any public level of sympathy and concern.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, an Anaheim attorney, James Segall-Gutierrez, told the council members, “The dehumanization of a man by calling him a gang-banger is wrong. He is a human being.” He went on to argue that the deaths of Diaz and Acevedo were the “end result” of this dehumanization, adding, “it will continue until you change it.”
Economic Apartheid
While Arellano recognizes race as a component of police harassment, he believes economic inequality is at the heart of police violence. “The Latino community is being most affected by police harassment because they live in the more working class communities, which naturally have more crime. Police are more likely to look for people to arrest in those communities. It’s a class issue that goes beyond the Latino community.”
Atef A., an Anaheim student at Chapman University, told Truthout that the latest police violence in Anaheim has exposed the true face of Orange County. He said that television shows like “Laguna Beach” and “The OC,” which portray Orange County as “leafy, upper middle class” are an “illusion.” “We have economic apartheid in Orange County,” he said.
“There is gang violence,” admitted Atef, “but it has to do with the social system not providing for impoverished neighborhoods.”
In one of the only articles to address Anaheim’s economic inequality, The Los Angeles Times reported:
“Of the city’s estimated 340,000 residents, 53% are Latino and the protests have occurred in the city’s flatlands, where many of those residents live. Most City Council members hail from the more affluent Anaheim Hills neighborhood to the east. The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed suit claiming the current at-large system of electing the council leaves Latinos poorly represented. The suit said that Anaheim has had only three Latino council members in its history.”
Arellano believes the City Council is to blame even more than the police department for the violence afflicting Anaheim. “They’ve been giving billions in subsidies to developers, the 1%. When the city council pays attention only to developers the rest of city crumbles.” He said that the City Council has diverted resources to hotels, resorts and sports convention centers to the detriment of the city’s working poor, who are already suffering from unemployment and a spike in crime.
Anaheim resident Steve Sevada echoed Arellano’s sentiment at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “Maybe if you didn’t give all the money to developers, you wouldn’t have kids involved in gangs,” Sevada said. Another Anaheim resident suggested that the City council “Invest in Anna Drive and Ponderosa Park as if they were resort districts,” referring to the neighborhoods where Manuel and, in March, Martin Angel Hernandez, were killed by police.
A War Zone
On Tuesday, July 24, Anaheim residents converged in front of City Hall to demand accountability for the police violence plaguing their community. After seven hours of protest, the night ended with 24 arrests, several injuries, and streets littered with used beanbag rounds and pepper-ball casings.
The tension between police and demonstrators grew with each passing hour. Swarms of riot police immediately lined up along the front of the Civic Center building to block protesters from entering. After attempting to break through, only to be pushed back by heavily armed officers, protesters took their march down the streets of Anaheim, chanting, “Fuck the Police” and, “No justice. No Peace. No racist police.”
Meanwhile, inside City Hall, one Anaheim resident after another addressed the council members about the latest round of police-involved shootings. “I’m a mother with small children. This city used to be calm. Now we have to be afraid of people that are supposed to protect us,” a local woman told the council. “We would like to have greater access and transparency to what police do in our community,” added a local man who identified himself as Arturo Ferrerez.
Throughout the evening, the APD was joined by five surrounding police agencies for the dispersal of protesters. and it was observed that the police more closely resembled a military special operations unit on a mission in Iraq than American law enforcement containing a demonstration. The Associated Press reports there were as many as 250 police officers in total throughout the night.
As the evening progressed, protesters hurled rocks and bottles at police while police shot at protesters indiscriminately with beanbags and pepper balls. It’s not clear which side initiated the exchange, however, nearly every media report has pinned the blame on violent and unruly protesters.
Several people were seen with large bloody welts on their bodies, one man hit in the back of the head as he tried to run for cover. Journalists were shot at as well, including well-known live-streamer Tim Pool, investigative journalist Amber Lyonand members of southern California’s KFI News staff.
“Do We Need to Start a Riot?
The history of police violence toward Latinos is not isolated to Anaheim. Similar stories of police violence can be found all across the country in areas populated by poor people of color.
During Tuesday night’s protest, an unarmed black man in Dallas, Texas, was shot and killed while running away from Dallas police. Riot police from seven Dallas substations were called in to subdue the crowd of 300 residents that gathered to vent their anger at police.
The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) recently published an investigation, which found that 120 black men, women and children have been killed by police, security guards or self-appointed law enforcers in the first half of 2012, the majority of whom were unarmed. That’s one black person killed every 36 hours. Given the string of Latinos killed by police in Anaheim alone, the number would possibly have risen dramatically had the MXGM report counted all people of color.
One of the report’s most damning findings is the sheer lack of accountability for these killings. Thus far, less than 9 percent of those responsible for the deaths have faced charges (four police officers and six security guards and self-appointed law enforcers).
The report’s authors go on to describe the common pattern of events that take place in the aftermath of a police shooting:
“The standard procedure in most jurisdictions is for police involved in fatal shootings to be given paid ‘desk-duty’ while the department conducts an investigation of itself. The press applauds their fine records while it screams about the criminal records of the deceased. Almost all killer cops are routinely exonerated and quickly return to the street. Grieving families who invariably ask the modest question, ‘why did he have to die?’ are ignored. If there is some demonstrated community outrage the case may be further investigated. The legal system almost never charges these executioners and even if they do, the killing continues.”
Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait has promised a transparent investigation into the death of Diaz. He’s also requested that the state attorney general and FBI assist in the investigation. However, to date, not a single Anaheim police officer has been prosecuted for the rising number of fatal shootings.
In response to the MXGM report, rapper Jasiri X took to the microphone to ask, “Do We Need to Start a Riot?,” the title of his recently released song and video, which address the lack of justice for the deceased.
If city officials continue to excuse and ignore the persistence of deadly police violence, the streets of Anaheim, desperate for justice, may soon be asking the same question: “Do we need to start a riot?”
This next to the last free concert in the season’s series was composed of Paul Barber on the electronic keyboard and guitar, Ron Grinnell on drums and trumpet. Both, as it so happens, are teachers at the Choice High School in Shelton. Their music is eclectic–rooted in many of the popular songs from the mid-20th century, the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. All were familiar to the seniors and residents of Alpine Way in their audience.
Paul & Ron sometimes play at the nearby Hoodsport Winery. Their music is relaxing and fundamentally melodious with an occasional jazz number thrown in the mix. Paul served as lead and provided his own mixing from the stage. Some of Paul’s vocals were almost a dead ringer for the original, others…not so much. His performance on the keyboard was masterful. His side man (Ron) would shine if given the lead for a few trumpet solos where he clearly excels. Paul teaches the required curricula at Choice but occasionally has the opportunity to teach music to its students.
8-23-12 Music In The Park (Shelton) – ‘The Teachers’ 1/4
8-23-12 Music In The Park (Shelton) – ‘The Teachers’ 2/4
8-23-12 Music In The Park (Shelton) – ‘The Teachers’ 3/4
8-23-12 Music In The Park (Shelton) – ‘The Teachers’ 4/4
Bangles & Baubles
Our annual journey to a photographer’s/videographer’s paradise begins in the Olympic Mountains of Mason County via Rte. 2 (or Rte. 1 if you’re in Shelton) of the MTA connecting to Rte. 3 in Belfair which is synchronized with the Bremerton-Seattle ferry run.
Dancing: Good for the Soul
You’ll need to catch the 6:50am bus, though, if you want to get about 7 hours of play time with the 8:30 ferry to Seattle before catching the 5:30pm return ferry and the last MTA bus to get you back where you started.
CAVEAT: The MTA Rte. 3 bus driver didn’t think it was important enough to check to make certain all passengers had disembarked from the 6:30pm ferry (even though many were still walking off the boat when she put her coach in gear AND LEFT at least one stranded!) before leaving the Bremerton ferry terminal. This necessitated an emergency Taxi cab (an additional $22 fare) to catch the errant driver halfway to Belfair. SO—be extra critical and remind the bus driver to alert dispatch you WILL be returning the same evening on the 5:30pm-6:30pm Seattle-Bremerton ferry run or you risk being left in the lurch at dockside. Also, if you had the foresight to include the MTA’s tel. # on your cell phone, call dispatch IMMEDIATELY to alert them the driver has abandoned you. The MTA office is closed, of course, @ 6:30pm, but word has it that if you wait and dial ZERO (like the bus service you’re getting), it will roll over to dispatch, which actually stays behind the scenes available to drivers until the last one returns ~8:00pm (except on Sunday when no bus service can be had in Mason County, unlike King County).
Riders should urge the MTA to require the Bremerton run bus driver actually walk the few feet to the terminal and LOOK to see if the ferry is allowing new passengers to board. If not, the MTA bus should wait at dockside until it DOES! It’s not like, being the last run, it’s going to miss ANY connections!!
Bookends
Medfest (for Mediterranean Festival) has been an ongoing popular free (to you, anyway) event for more than 25 years featuring ‘belly dancing’, music, beautiful women of all ages, stripesj & sizes (and the rare male belly dancers too) along with so much color in the plethora of costumes as to make your retinas burn.
Some of the younger women have figures to kill for while others are simply beautiful with their belly dancing hearts on display. While the still shots capture details and the splendor of their costumes, the video clips bring a kind of magic the still camera cannot: When the ladies begin to dance, THEY ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL!–I kid you not. It’s like the belly dancing godmother sprinkled fairy dust on them. A magical transformation takes place the viewer can’t help but notice.
This extravaganza goes on for the full weekend (Saturday & Sunday) beginning at 11:00 (So there’s time to make your buss connections from the downtown ferry terminal and get to the festival in time to grab a chair else you’d better be bringing your own because the venue is absolutely packed.) Every other member of the audience (or more) will have a camera in hand. The front row has the best camera angles, but you’ll need to arrive early for that.
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 1/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 2/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 3/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 4/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 5/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 6/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 7/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 8/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 9/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 10/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 11/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 12/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 13/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 14/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 15/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 16/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 17/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 18/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 19/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 20/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 21/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 22/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 23/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 24/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 25/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 26/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 27/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 28/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 29/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 30/31
7-21-12 Belly Dancing (Medfest) @Hiawatha Pk (W Seattle) 31/31
The event comes complete with a thicket of vendor booths selling every imaginable custom designed costume, jewelry, and otherwise impossible to find artisan creations that would win the fancy of just about any woman who has wanted to dance. There are TWO (2) stages, an outdoor one and an indoor (gymnasium) one going full tilt simultaneously. It’s a family venue with many teens and children present. This kind of celebration is easily worth $50/ticket, but it has always been free to the public. It is held in a public (Hiawatha Community Center) park located at California Ave. SW, and SW Lander St. in West Seattle. There are showers and locker rooms for the performers. The organizer’s name is ‘Babs’ and you should contact her to make arrangements for when you or your groups will perform. Bab’s receives no compensation for her commitment, but she does arrange to pay the Center a sum (from vendor’s fees) for the weekend use of it. There’s no fee for performers–all are welcome. But the competition is uniformly impressive.
The Skokomish Tribe holds an annual Elders Picnic where they honor the senior members of their community, bless the Elk and other sacred foods which have been part of their tradition/heritage for thousands of years. They graciously welcome visitors and distribute Potlatch gifts to the seniors present. This yearly event begins with a ‘chum run’ to honor the salmon which has so long served as a mainstay to their culture and livelihood.
This video clip and photos are offered by way of thanks to the gracious hospitable people of the Skokomish Nation. We, in Mason County, are fortunate to be their neighbors.
2012 Skokomish Tribe’s Elders Picnic
Singing Doctor
Singing guitar playing doctor and orthopedic surgeon Fred Davis is a congenial addition of 1.5 years to Shelton’s family of artists, musicians, as well as accomplished professionals. He sings the old folk songs by groups such as The Kingston Trio remembered by locals in their youth.
In this set (his 1st) Fred’s beautiful daughter, visiting from New York, joins her father for a couple of songs where her lovely voice and demeanor take center stage. On this softly warm Shelton summer evening, her rendition of ‘Summertime’ from Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess reveals life imitating art.
Dr. Davis completes his concert with an old but sterling favorite known for its demanding sharps & flats: the Trio’s ‘Scotch & Soda’. He confesses to his audience Shelton has become his home and he intends to stay given the warm reception he’s received since his arrival after years of living on a sailboat with his family. His affability is welcome in this small rural community nestled in the Olympic mountains.
8-16-12 Music in the Park (Shelton) – singing Dr. Fred Davis 1/3
8-16-12 Music in the Park (Shelton) – singing Dr. Fred Davis 2/3
8-16-12 Music in the Park (Shelton) – singing Dr. Fred Davis 3/3
