I didn't know much of the history of the Blue Moon. I do know that the Blue Moon was my favorite tavern in the 70s and 80s. I remember one night, when the three of us were there, and maybe two of my brothers? Daniel Walsh, the one with the white sailor cap in this photo, pulled a claw hammer out of his pocket and pounded in a nail that was protruding from our wooden table. Everything stopped for maybe two seconds, and people looked over to see what the noise was, and then they went back to their drinking and visiting. I miss the Blue Moon... From Wikipedia Blue Moon Tavern The Blue Moon is a tavern located on the west edge of the University District, Seattle, Washington, that has been visited by many counterculture icons over the years. It opened in April 1934, soon after the repeal of Prohibition in December 1933. It is the first and oldest tavern in the U-District. It was an instant hit with students (together with the still-thriving Duchess Tavern in Ravenna); under state law, students had to trek one mile from the campus to purchase drinks.[citation needed] The Blue Moon was one of the rare bars outside of the Central District to serve African American servicemen during World War II. The tavern also provided a haven for UW professors such as Joe Butterworth who were caught up in the McCarthyist purge (Butterworth used the bar as his writing desk).[1] It had further heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Regulars included authors Tom Robbins and Darrell Bob Houston,[2] poets Theodore Roethke, Richard Hugo, Carolyn Kizer, Stanley Kunitz, and David Wagoner, and painters Richard Gilkey and Leo Kenney. Visitors included Dylan Thomas, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg and Mik Moore. A popular story states that sometime in the late 1960s, Tom Robbins tried to call the artist Pablo Picasso in Barcelona from a pay phone at the Blue Moon Tavern. Supposedly, Robbins got through to Picasso, but the artist refused to accept the overseas collect calling charges. The Blue Moon declined in the 1970s. Efforts to "redevelop" the property in 1989 were derailed by community activists led by Walt Crowley; however, an attempt in 1990 to gain landmark status failed. Developers spared the tavern after landmark status was denied. The Blue Moon remains one of the few surviving blue-collar landmarks in Seattle. The Blue Moon (1934) and the Duchess (1934) are the oldest taverns in the University of Washington area. In 1995, the alley to the west of the Blue Moon was named Roethke Mews in honor of Theodore Roethke, a famous poet. ------------------ From Wikipedia Blue Moon Tavern The Blue Moon is a tavern located on the west edge of the University District, Seattle, Washington, that has been visited by many counterculture icons over the years. It opened in April 1934, soon after the repeal of Prohibition in December 1933. It is the first and oldest tavern in the U-District. It was an instant hit with students (together with the still-thriving Duchess Tavern in Ravenna); under state law, students had to trek one mile from the campus to purchase drinks.[citation needed] The Blue Moon was one of the rare bars outside of the Central District to serve African American servicemen during World War II. The tavern also provided a haven for UW professors such as Joe Butterworth who were caught up in the McCarthyist purge (Butterworth used the bar as his writing desk).[1] It had further heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. Regulars included authors Tom Robbins and Darrell Bob Houston,[2] poets Theodore Roethke, Richard Hugo, Carolyn Kizer, Stanley Kunitz, and David Wagoner, and painters Richard Gilkey and Leo Kenney. Visitors included Dylan Thomas, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg and Mik Moore. A popular story states that sometime in the late 1960s, Tom Robbins tried to call the artist Pablo Picasso in Barcelona from a pay phone at the Blue Moon Tavern. Supposedly, Robbins got through to Picasso, but the artist refused to accept the overseas collect calling charges. The Blue Moon declined in the 1970s. Efforts to "redevelop" the property in 1989 were derailed by community activists led by Walt Crowley; however, an attempt in 1990 to gain landmark status failed. Developers spared the tavern after landmark status was denied. The Blue Moon remains one of the few surviving blue-collar landmarks in Seattle. The Blue Moon (1934) and the Duchess (1934) are the oldest taverns in the University of Washington area. In 1995, the alley to the west of the Blue Moon was named Roethke Mews in honor of Theodore Roethke, a famous poet.

Road trip Photos #2

My walking plan yesterday morning was to walk to the Casa Gorordo Museum located in the old Parian district. That "district was created by Spanish authorities in 1614 for immigrants from the Fujian province of China". I got sidetracked when I was passing by the Heritage of Cebu Monument. I got out my camera. I've done many a photo shoot there, but the time was 10 am, and with the blue skies and bright sun, the dark shadows and contrasts made it more interesting. The Gorordo Museum was closed anyway.

Taoist Temple #1: I'm going to be 80 in October, and I'm thinking that my walking is going to help me stay in shape, as long as I don't fall down again. Dad passed away just after his 80th BD, and Mom made to 95? If I split the difference, I'm looking at 87/88? I walked up to the Taoist Temple above Cebu this morning. 3.08 miles in 1 hr and 7 minutes, one way. That includes going down 16 flights of stairs before I stareted my walk because the electricity was acting up. There were lots of Dragons, and a few chickens (see last photo, at the top). Lots of selfie picture takers too! I have to admit - unless the selfie-takers were blocking a path completely, I would pretend to not notice and just walk on through. smiling inside. ps - I thought the couple in the 3rd photo was cute. We three were in an area without other people, and I didn't notice that I had them in my shot until I was editing the photos.

Many of the paths in Lakeview's gardens don't have the mosaic accents. I took photos of them as well, but the crafts-person in me loved how they blended there work into the fabric of the plants and flowers theme. Be it filling in a weathered crack in the concrete, or making a bench to sit down and rest beautiful to look at, it was all done with skill and an artistic eye...

I haven't posted any sunset photos lately. These were from sometime in March. The upside down L shape pole is on top of the bank building next door. Typhoon Odette bent it over like that in Dec 2021. Around an hour into Odette's fury, I was downstairs in the dark when something smashed into one of our windows and showered me with these little cube shaped pieces of glass. That was interesting.

79% of Filipinos are Catholic. The Spaniards, with a bunch of priests in tow I guess, came back 40-50 years after the village chieftain Lapu Lapu killed Magellan. I was looking at the number of Buddhist temples on a Cebu city map just now, and there are 5 temples. The "Cebu Taoist Temple" is the most popular one. Lots of tourists go there. Note the small tiles by one of thge "Fo Guang..." gates. These tiles, mostly blue ink images of Jesus and Mary on white tiles, adorn entry ways of many homes here, and some Buddhist temples.

I visit the Fo Guang Shan Chu Un Temple here in Cebu at least once a year. It's only a 20-25 minute walk from our place, it's very relaxing, and you can see downtown Cebu from there. Our building is behind the pointy tall Crown Regency Hotel center-left. There are over a dozen of these knee high concrete-like sculptures spread around the grounds, sculptures of baby or child-like buddhas. They always make me smile.

I took this reflection self-portrait when we were at the Nustar resort. I aimed the camera down a hallway where the elevators were located. Everything at the Nustar has a gold coloring, maybe a nod to their centerpiece, a huge Casino. The Axis nightclub we went to with Andrea and her cousins is there. Anyway, with the "0" setting we chose at the barbershop, my head sort of shines now.

Road trip Photos #2 - photos taken while in a vehicle, or not. Sometimes they are while Stopped in a vehicle, or I just got out and started walking... :) I feel more comfortable taking "people" shots this way. 50% of the time, I'm not sure what I captured until I look at them on my computer. There are a lot of blurry throw-aways, but I get enough "keepers" to share. If you look closely at the first photo, there's a little person with a red cap in the middle, and another young person with a white shirt in front of the driver. This was out in the countryside, not in the city.

I've decided to approach this blog like it's a Journal kind of thing. Getting the nice feedback to my photos on FB was nice, but the negatives outweigh the positives in FB, and similar platforms. Again, thank you to those of you who are checking in periodically. You are appreciated.

We had a movie date for the first time in years yesterday, Tom Cruise's latest "Mission Impossible" in IMAX! The last time we went to a movie theater was over 6 years ago. It was in Tukwila's Southcenter Mall, not long before we moved north to Bothell WA. These photos are actually from our Nustar excursion the day before. I wanted to highlight how they're using those colored neon ropes of light here - LED neon strip lights. When we walked out of SM City's cinema, we walked by the bowling alley and a long entertainment and games area where these colors and sounds were pouring out. At Nustar, their gaming area is on the top floor along with their Food Court. You can see the Chinese influence here. But the heritage of the family who owns Nustar goes back hundred(s)? of years, just like just the family with Spanish roots who owns the Ayala Malls. A little history to go with the not-neon lights...

We had a fun, impromptu excursion yesterday. The electricity was acting up, so we decided to try Nustar Resort's free shuttle. Nustar is out near the water between SM Seaside and il Corso. We did our 5 minute walk over to Robinsons Fuente and their van showed up 10 minutes later. Nice van with AC, and only two stops - Robinsons and the Galleria Mall. We explored Nustar for a few hours, and then had lunch in their Food Court. We then went out to the walkway along the main road and walked to il Corso. It was very pleasant walking along the waterfront pedestrian and bicycle path at il Corso. No people! We then walked back out to the roadway and hailed a bus to the SM Seaside Mall. It was 2:30/3pm by then, and that's where all the people were! Lots of them! AI tells me that "SM Seaside in Cebu, Philippines, has a gross floor area of approximately 470,486 square meters. It is the third largest shopping mall in the country. " Btw, I'm sticking my toes into AI, that phenomenon that's going to take over the world? The last photo was from the upstairs deck at Seaside, looking back over to Cebu City proper. Our place is behind the taller pointy building center right.