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Archive for August, 2009

Pit Stop – August 31, 2009



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Krystal Square Off – Coming Soon – Part 2



I feel as if I’ve been slacking on the updates lately…but I promise you it is for a very good reason that will reveal itself in due time…and hopefully by that I mean in time for the Krystal Square Off happening at the end of September!

For today, here’s some more news from the circuit: Last week Pat Bertoletti became the first person to qualify for the event! I wish I could have been there! Krystal posted a few videos so we can all see what happened!

First, the kick off and running of the grill!

The Krystal Square Off qualifier:

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The Arctic Building



I’m sure you’ve all seen buildings dressed with gargoyle accouterments…but how about walruses? The exterior of the Arctic Building in Seattle, Washington is dotted with twenty-five walrus heads!

Walruses on the Arctic Building in Seattle, Washington.

The building was built to excess for people who had excess: those that returned to Seattle after striking it rich in the Klondike Gold Rush!

arctic-building-walrus-seattle-2.jpg

According to the Lonely Planet guidebook to Seattle that pointed me in the building’s direction, the tusks of the walruses are said to have originally been authentic ivory. However, when an earthquake hit in the 1940s a few of them were shaken loose. Because of the hazard this caused to pedestrians they were then replaces with epoxy substitutes.

Walruses on the Arctic Building in Seattle, Washington.

Site: Walruses on The Arctic Building
Location: 700 3rd Avenue at Cherry, Seattle, WA 98104
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible
Date: June 24, 2009

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Angie’s Umbrella



Aside from grunge and the Space Needle and coffee there’s another thing Seattle is famous for: rain. The city gets about 37 inches of waterfall a year and some 200 cloudy days. While some might shy away from a dreary day, others, like myself, relish in it. To me, there is nothing like a day where you can sip a mocha and wrap yourself in a sweatshirt and watch the raindrops fall.

Angie's Umbrella, a sculpture of an upturned umbrella, in Seattle, Washington.

One of the things I found most fascinating about Seattle is that when it started to drizzle no one would put up an umbrella. It was a far cry from my home in Chicago where the slightest hint of a mist means umbrellas wide open above everyone’s head. I’m the oddball of the city who doesn’t even own an umbrella, let alone carry one in case of emergency. So, if for nothing else, I loved the way Seattle-ites embraced their weather and continued to go on with their lives despite a little water.

With all the rainy days the city has it seemed only appropriate that, while walking between the waterfront and the Olympic Sculpture Park, I stumbled onto this outdoor sculpture: Angie’s Umbrella.

Angie's Umbrella, a sculpture of an upturned umbrella, in Seattle, Washington.

Created by Jim Pridgeon and Benson Shaw, the sculpture is a large 30-foot high inside-out red metal umbrella. The windswept umbrella statue rotates a full 360 degrees on a traffic Island between the Market and Belltown. According to Seattle Pi it marks the exact location of the divide: “it’s where Western Avenue and Elliott Avenue meet at Lenora Street.”

Angie's Umbrella, a sculpture of an upturned umbrella, in Seattle, Washington.

Site: Angie’s Umbrella
Location: Western Ave. & Elliott Ave. at Lenora St., Seattle, WA
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible
Date: June 24, 2009

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Akio Takamori’s Young Woman, Girl, Mother and Child



I stumbled upon these statues on my first day vacationing in Seattle. While meticulously following my map from my hotel room in Seattle Center to Capitol Hill and passed these on my way and couldn’t help but stop for a moment to check them out.

Standing outside of a Whole Foods store there were three seven-foot statues depicting a rosy-cheeked Asian family standing in a circle.

Young Woman, Girl, Mother and Child - a statue by Akio Takamori outside of a Whole Foods in Seattle, Washington.

The sculptures, titled “Young Woman, Girl, Mother and Child,” are by Seattle-based artist Akio Takamori.

Young Woman, Girl, Mother and Child - a statue by Akio Takamori outside of a Whole Foods in Seattle, Washington.

Site: Akio Takamori’s Young Woman, Girl, Mother and Child
Location: Whole Foods Market, 2210 Westlake Ave., Seattle, WA
Cost: Free to see.
Hours: Always visible
Date: June 24, 2009

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