Yes! Here I am on Beale Street, exhausted after two evenings of attending quarter-final performances of the 2012 International Blues Challenge — documented with my new iPad.

Also documented was our local band Wired! who went on to win! First Place! Among over 100 bands. Here’s a montage of their performance at the Historic Daisy Theater on Beale.

LOUD and Boisterous Bravos to Kevin, Rick and Keith!

Wait there is more: I travelled by train from Everett, nearly 50 hours to Memphis! But I was in a sleeper car. Then on to New Orleans for a Mardis Gras parade on February 4th, so I missed Wired’s final performance at the Orpheum Theater.

From New Orleans I caught the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles, with an intended stop in Alpine, Texas, to visit Marfa, but that plan was “derailed,” I may say.

To learn why you are invited to check out the blog I kept along the way titled, “Training Time” — an Amtrak adventure story with a musical interlude, I suppose.

The summer of 2010 marked the tenth anniversary of the Subdued Stringband Jamboree, first held in September then moved to August, at the Deming Logging Show grounds near Bellingham.

Robert Sarazin Blake, my nephew, is the surviving co-founder of the two day music festival and it’s producer. I did a short documentary of the jamboree in 2004 that became the jumping off point for this documentary celebrating 10 years.

A 45 minute version screened at the Boundary Bay pub in Bellingham on July 1st, then edited down to 30 minutes and copies made for sale at the 2011 Jamboree.

Surprise! It’s available on this website at the special two-for-one price of only $15. A secret deal only for readers of this post — make the purchase of one copy for $15 and I will included a second one, no questions asked. (And it includes taxes and shipping!)

Click the image to watch a trailer and to purchase online.

Hope to see you at this year’s Jamboree, August 10 and 11, 2012!

A google search deep into a third page offers up no hint as to the origin of the old adage, you only get one chance to make a first impression — but I assume it was around long before we began designing websites.

Galen Jefferson, owner of the women’s apparel company, Two Dog Island, was my first client way back when designing an artful front page was standard web 1.0 practice — one that required a clever Enter the site button. Fortunately, Galen is a practical business woman who taught me that the home or front page must be about the product and not about the unbaked tricks of this new medium.

For the past several years now, we have been changing the home page art when the new product line is available for ordering, in the spring and fall. This past year we began using a dress form that Galen was using at trade shows. We named her Trudie.

This month, announcing the Fall 2011 product line, we decided to create a gathering of Trudie’s showing the new garments; and, much to my surprise, Galen agreed to join the party.

And follow this link to visit Galen’s website.

The idea for lamp post banners began with the proposal pictured on the left. (Please click to enlarge it.) As a Snohomish history buff, I felt it was important to mark the 150th Anniversary of the county’s founding, especially since Snohomish won the election in July 1861 to host the county seat. E. C. Ferguson returned to Snohomish that July with the county records in his vest pocket. His home overlooking the river, and still standing, was de facto the first Snohomish County courthouse.

Proposed Banner Designs

Pictured above, beginning on the left is Pilchuck Julia, our famous native resident; E. C. Ferguson, the city’s founder; John Harvey farmed the claim across the river; Mary Low Sinclair the first white woman to make the early settlement her home; Isaac Cathcart, an influential business man; and Euncie Blackman is the daughter of Elhanan pictured in the final banner with his brothers from Maine.

Selected Banner Designs

The selected banners included the design for a simpler graphic banner, “since not everyone likes history,” I remember someone saying, and the clockface banner was approved.

This was a volunteer project for the Historic Downtown Snohomish organization.
Your comments and questions are welcomed.