The Magical Fruit

I'm a sucker for old-west typography and I like beans a real lot, so this can is doing it for me.

New Acquisitions, part 4: Bismarck

There's a chance we just missed the cool part of Bismarck, North Dakota, since we just cruised through it real quick-like, but I gotta say it seemed pretty lame at first glance. They do have Taco del Mar though and there was a great thrift store downtown:

Tough record but somehow it makes sense to find it in North Dakota. It's for trade if anyone needs it. Here's a sample:
Don Randi The Fox mp3 (produced by David Axelrod)

I predict that upon seeing this, Chad will say "that will either be the best record you own, or the worst record you own," and I agree. (I still haven't listened to most of my finds because everything's in boxes, including turntables.)

Weird and freaky, had to get it. I think it's a polka record but the dude was clearly a perv.

I calculated a small chance that the elderly woman at the counter might refuse to sell this to me.

This has the theme from Downhill Racer, which is not an easy soundtrack to find. It's weird how much Downhill Racer has come up on this blog, it's not even that great a movie. Aesthetically cool though.

This guy looks like Robin Williams but he has made some good records and this one might be good too, we'll see.

Never heard of it but I'm a sucker for soundtracks of any kind.

One cool thing about this record is that the basketball has the texture of a real basketball…it's pretty exciting.
David Shire Books & Basketball mp3

This is a CD actually. Still catching up from the entire decade I didn't really listen to any new rock music. This is kind of a mellow one for Mudhoney.
Mudhoney In My Finest Suit mp3

And finally:

First Rays

One of the first things we did when we got to Seattle was head for Ray's Boathouse.

The clams are right and the view is amazing.

When it's cold out, you can still sit on the deck, because they provide blankets.

This is Ray and his wife.
It's weird as heck to be back in Seattle and it's going to take awhile to get settled. We've been in limbo for a really long time, and that is going to continue for a bit – we're living with my mom until mid-January when our tenants are out and we can move into our own place. But man, the natural beauty here is undeniable, and I'm psyched to get to know the city again.

New Acquisitions, part 3: Fargo

Couldn't pass this up for $2.82.

The drummer's name is Marty McFunky and there are some cover tunes with possibility.

Wow. I had to have this.

Dope style, and I'm a fan of Kristofferson productions.

Produced by Danny Kortchmar. We'll see.

Some really good early Pink Floyd, when they were "The Pink Floyd." This is for trade if anyone needs it.

Not sure but the price was right. Could be good.

Ditto this. It's always worth picking up the local stuff when there are cover songs that might be good, and your net loss if not is forty-seven cents.

So yeah, a weird little haul in Fargo, North Dakota. I've got a bunch more to post from Bismarck, Bozeman, Missoula, Moscow and Palouse, and not just records…but I'm going to space it out a little (and hopefully be able to add audio where it's worthwhile).

Sorry for the erratic and lurching posting schedule of late – we've had much less web access than expected, so I'm going to be catching up on all the end-of-road posts and then hopefully get back on schedge.

Always liked to hear about the old timers.

I didn't take many pictures in or around Moscow, because I know I'll be back there a lot and I figure I might as well spread it out. Moscow is across the Idaho-Washington border from Pullman, and the general region in which they sit is called the Palouse – it's often called the most fertile farmland in the entire country. When we headed out for Seattle, Emily and I drove through a bunch of small towns around there.

My great-great-grandpa homesteaded near the actual town of Palouse, just across the Washington border, in the early 1870s. Their homestead is not far from Emily's parents' farm – something neither of us realized for quite awhile after we met.

National Geographic did a story on the Palouse in the early '80s. This is an aerial photo of Frieze church and cemetery, where some of my relatives are. It's way out on a dirt road. I always forget how to find it.

My grandpa's mom died when he was 8, and his dad died four years later. He and his brother John ended up raising themselves, living in a little cabin down the road from the church. It's still there – it's the little building you see on the right in the photo above.

The whole region is really cool – there's a big mix of old and new.

One of the major reasons I'm excited to be back in the Northwest is to be closer to my family and history, and I'm excited to go back to the Palouse and explore. I was glad to get that little review/preview before heading West into the sunset on the last day of our trip.