Pacific Northwest Trip June 2013 Day 11 Wednesday June 26

LAST UPDATED: October 31, 2025

 

This is the 11th of a series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.  What few updates there are indicated by NOW in brackets.

Okay, I checked in with myself after getting more sleep last night than I had been getting and I can handle continuing on at this stage. Having said that, I'll take advantage of the fact that I already covered today's plans on the first Seattle day and keep it a relatively low key day, sticking downtown unless the weather breaks and focusing on stuff that will keep me indoors as much as possible today.

[NOW: The above was written in the morning. The rest I wrote in the evening.]

First off I do feel a lot better than I did last night. I turned in around 8:15. It took a while to get to sleep because one roommate in particular kept making sounds whenever I started to drift off but I did get a decent rest anyway.

Forgot to mention yesterday: en route to Mercer St Books. the former location of Easy Street Records now had the Chase logo on the building, which wasn't the case Sunday. Sad.

 

[NOW; That Chase Bank has also closed). 

This morning I got some DVDs at Dan's Belltown Grocery (I think this is the first time I ever bought DVDs before 7 am), then walked to the Washington State Convention Center.  I had planned to go to Freeway Park from there but got caught up with photographing art pieces there. Just before returning to the hostel I walked across Bell Street Bridge and this time was able to get photos from the observation area on the other side. I ate breakfast at the hostel (Not sure if I've named the hostel in these reports: City Hostel Seattle, located in Belltown).

 

[NOW: The center is now Seattle Convention Center. Google says City Hostel Seattle has temporarily closed, but since it's been closed since 2020 it's likely permanently closed.] 

I walked to Pike Place Market including First and Pike News and Rachel the Pig. I also crossed the Hillclimb, which sounds fancy but is just a small enclosed space, about as anticlimactic as the modern day London Bridge.  I walked to the Bay Pavilion at Miner's Landing. I stopped exploring though when I saw trophies on the wall. I don't like looking at decapitated animal heads.  I then walked to the Seattle Aquarium. I had a coupon but even with it, it was still pricey ($20.85). Still it was a time passer and the resting sea otters in particular were very cute.  I then walked to Columbia Center for the Skyview. The price had almost doubled since my last visit a few years ago ($5-$9) and part of it was blocked off for renovations. Still I did manage to get some incredible 73rd floor photos. I visited the Downtown Transit Tunnel at Westlake Station briefly to see how much money was left on my ORCA card, though I didn't use the bus today.

 

[NOW: First & Pike News has closed.]

I got lunch at Westlake Center's McDonald's.  Then it was pretty sunny and I was feeling better and better due to some giant shiny globe in the sky that seemed vaguely familiar, so I chance a walked to Capitol Hill. I visited Capitol Loans and then Twice Sold Tales, making sure I saw all three cats there.  I walked to the Jimi Hendrix statue, then Elliot Bay Book Company, then Seattle's sole branch of Everyday Music, which you may recall has quite a few Portland area branches. I got some DVDs there, including Smallville season 1, which I already have but someone failed to return the first disc. This set cost me $2.95 so I'll put in the missing disc and give the rest away.

 

[NOW: That McDonald's and that Everyday Music have closed.]

It was raining for a bit after I left there. Still, I decided to visit an area of Capitol Hill I hadn't seen in a while and visit On 15th Video, but that store didn't seem to have any previously viewed videos for sale. I returned to the main area of the Hill (Broadway) and got some DVDs at Broadway Video. They couldn't find one disc but I had a ringer already in mind for their special (4 for $20; got 8).  I walked to the pop machine with the Mystery buttons, hoping I wouldn't get cherry again. I did wind up with cherry Mountain Dew, but luckily the Mountain Dew dominated the cherry.  I walked to Seattle Center, started once again with the International Fountain. I just got my shoes off and it started to rain again.

[NOW: On 15th Video and Broadway Video are closed. That Mystery Soda Machine is missing; according to its Facebook page it was vandalized.]

So not that long after I decided to go to the EMP which now allows photos, just not flash photos (previously it was no photos); another case of still pricey but coupon helped; $17 with coupon. The EMP has two large sections: music and sci-fi/horror/fantasy. I'm more into the latter so I got the former out of the way first. They had sections devoted to Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and women, plus recording studios. They also have a giant cone of guitars hanging from the ceiling. One main quibble, admittedly as a bit of an outsider to music is that beyond the guitar cone, the only historical musical instruments were ones that had actually belonged to notable musicians. Which was impressive in its own right but it might have been nice to see some older instruments not connected to any one person.  In the sci-fi et all part I was disappointed that my favourite item from last visit was gone (the Captain Marvel costume from the 1940s serial). Still there was an impressive range of movie (and some TV - Buffy's Book of Ascension for instance) memorabilia covering a wide range of eras, be it the Cowardly Lion suit from the Wizard of Oz, the Superman suit from Superman: The Quest for Peace, or for people who like their gore cerebral, the hacksaw from Saw. 

[NOW: The EMP Museum is now the Museum of Pop Culture/MoPop.]

I returned to the International Fountain.  A guy tried to chat me up but I acted uninterested. A good move: from elsewhere I saw him chatting someone else up for around half an hour. Then he tried it on someone else near the first guy when he and his family finally left, and the second guy and his family left almost immediately. I ate dinner once again at Mod Pizza at the Seattle Center Armory (later I really had to go to the bathroom again so I might skip it tomorrow).  I returned to the fountain once more but it was cooling off and I finally left for the hostel.

While I was typing the earlier part of this report I heard a woman arguing with staff and then her leaving after they threatened to call the police.

Tomorrow is the penultimate day of the trip and thus the final full day in Seattle. A few things are definite for the last day, like Freeway Park and Waterfall Garden Park. And if the weather cooperates (it was noticeably a lot better today, which probably contributed to my improved health and ability at points to even walk normally), I absolutely still want to do Alki Beach.  No promises but if I can fit in my favourite Seattle beach, I will!

[NOW: Unfortunately the weather failed to cooperate so I never made it to Alki Beach.]

Pacific Northwest Trip June 2013 Day 10 Tuesday June 25

LAST UPDATED: October 31, 2025

 

This is the tenth of a series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.  What few updates there are indicated by NOW in brackets.

Some potential bad news. Seven out of day days of touring in rain has noticeably affected my health. I'll see how I'm doing tomorrow morning and if I don't think I can safely continue I'll check out early and eat the cost of a $88 one way ticket on the Clipper home. I can handle the trip on an emotional level still; it's the physical decline that worries me.

[NOW: By next morning I had recovered well enough to complete the trip.]

A couple things I overlooked before: the previous two days some people (usually kids) wandering into the International Fountain carried umbrellas with them.  Also the nearest crossing area near my hostel (heading south has been blocked; last night they moved the barricades slightly so people could at least cross the street on the sidewalk.

[NOW: The hostel was City Hostel Seattle. Google says it's temporarily closed, but since it's been closed since 2020 it's likely permanently closed.]

Noticed a slight ulcer last night. Not too bad.  Had trouble sleeping due to someone coughing and my toe still being in pain from the new shoes. Got a bandaid before heading out this morning. It was pouring rain as I walked to Target (passing the giant red popsicle statue; I think I did so a few times today), then Pike Place Market/Rachel the Pig, then back to the hostel for breakfast. I then returned downtown and caught a 510 but (Sound Transit) to Everett Station, then a 201 bus (Community Transit) to Marysville;  As usual I found some DVD sets there. I then took another 201 bus back to Everett and after a chase caught a 7 bus (Everett Transit) to the first stop at Everett Mall.

 

[NOW: The Marysville stop was a now closed Kmart.]

As I limped across the parking lot I felt someone cool on the back of my right thigh; probably blood or puss   I visited Half Price Books before taking another 7 bus to Evergreen Way.  I think I got off too soon and thus missed a connection that had a domino effect on missing buses by a bit. I took a Swift bus (Community Transit) to another Half Price Books in Lynnwood.  While waiting for my next bus I got a $3 DVD at Big Lots, wandered around a little at Strider Lake Park, and then took a 196 bus (Community Transit) to Alderwood Mall.

 

[NOW: That Swift route is the Blue Line. That Big Lots has closed.]

As usual I got some photos of the nice horse statue outside the mall. Inside the mall I visited f.y.e. where I learned that James Gandolfini (Sopranos) had just passed away; I also got a couple of Godzilla DVDs. I grabbed lunch at Sbarro; at this point the weather was okay so ate the lunch in the outside area of the food court. I went to the bus stop and pretended to be dense about one guys' hint for money.

 

[NOW: That Sbarro is closed.]

I took a 535 bus (Sound Transit) to Bellevue Transit Center and then a B Rapidride bus (Metro Transit) to Crossroads Shopping Center (still Bellevue). In my fatigue I decided to skip Barnes & Noble there and just went to Half Price Books and Silver Platters; I got DVDs at the latter. I would have liked to have taken a B bus to Redmond but in my current state decided to just take a B bus the other way back to Bellevue Transit Center. I took a 550 bus to Westlake Center. Not first the first time this trip (though oddly not on the day after I had no sleep at all) I found myself fighting sleep riding the bus. I walked north to the 7-11 across from Seattle Center. I rested with my shoes off at the International Fountain. It started to rain so I went to Mod Pizza for dinner. It was really pouring then. I returned to the fountain a little bit, with the rain more subsided. I walked to Mercer Street Books and saw a graphic novel that I MAY pick up if I continue with the trip.

 

[NOW: That Barnes & Noble has closed, though the downtown Bellevue one later moved to the same mall. That Silver Platters has moved. The 550 bus is Westlake Center.]

The day ended with an embarrassing note. [I’ve decided not to share this particular story with the world.]

Pacific Northwest Trip June 2013 Day 9 Monday June 24

LAST UPDATED: October 31, 2025

 

This is the ninth of a series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.  What few updates there are indicated by NOW in brackets.

First off a few oversights/other additions from before: In Ballard with my feet sore I decided to skip Arcane Comics, In West Seattle I skipped Alki Beach due to weather though if weather improves I'll put it back on the trip Wed or Thurs. At McDonald's yesterday they apparently misunderstood an order and gave a customer a chicken burger with no chicken.  Jeans are the heaviest thing in my backpack. I'm still carrying them with me in case of extreme weather but since they've either caused or aggravated the rash haven't put them on the last few days.  I probably look a bit silly in coat and short sleeved pants but my health is more important than my looks. At Easy Street I finally found a Troma movie I didn't have; Silver Platters had another one, a version of Toxic Avenger for the Japan market, but it was $19.99 so I passed.

[NOW: I never got to Alki beach that trip. I later found a cheaper copy of that Toxic Avenger DVD at a Sunrise Records in Toronto. Arcane Comics has moved to Shoreline]

Was still waking to the air conditioning though slept a bit better than yesterday.  My feet felt a bit better this morning but my rash was bothering me again. Despite this I dashed all the way across downtown to catch the Sounder (light rail/Sound Transit) at King Street Station. I rode it to Tacoma; it was the first time I'd ridden it this direction; always the other way before. Costs a bit more and is longer than a bus but far more comfortable. At Tacoma Dome Station I switched to the 603 bus (Intercity Transit) and took it to the Capitol in Olympia. There was a KING 5 van there. I took some photos of the fountain there before getting breakfast at the nearby Subway. Walking through the downtown core I decided to ride a bus I hadn't been on and got on the 44 bus (Intercity Transit; as a non-express bus I was now able to get a daypass). Before the bus left Olympia Transit Center a guy (who'd already been ranting) low on morals/intelligence but high in guts tried to steal a bike from the bus' bike rack.  Hopefully he'll enjoy his new free accommodations.

 

[NOW: The hostel was City Hostel Seattle. Google says it's temporarily closed, but since it's been closed since 2020 it's likely permanently closed. That subway is closed.]

I rode the bus to Barnes & Noble and then started towards the Blockbuster. It was still a little early so before heading there I stopped at the nearby Safeway and got a couple of DVDs. I crossed the lot to Blockbuster, getting there just before they opened.  I got more DVDs there, which I'm glad because my suspicion is this will prove to be my last visit ever to a Blockbuster; I hope to be proven wrong on this but the writing's definitely on the wall for Blockbuster.

[NOW: That was my last visit to that Blockbuster before it closed, but I made it to the Sandy Oregon Blockbuster a couple more times before they closed.]

I took a 48 bus (Intercity Transit) to Olympia Transit Center where I switched to a 66 bus (Intercity Transit) to Lacey.  There I visited Olympic Cards & Comics and Boomerang. I wasn't that hungry but I knew it might be a while before I could eat somewhere I wanted to, so I had an early lunch at Arby's.  Then, in part to get out of the rain, I got on another bus I hadn't been on before (62B/Intercity Transit) which I rode to Lacey Transit Center then Olympia Transit Center.

 

[Boomerang has closed.]

In downtown Olympia I visited Browser's Books (didn't see the dog), Danger Room Comics, Heritage Fountain (though as I'd noticed earlier it was out of service), Rainy Day Records (got more DVDs), the Star Wars Mural (only glanced at from across the street as someone was doing something there and didn't want to disturb him), Orca Books (a cat with an apparently rough life was passed out on a couch; also found more DVDs), Last Word Books, Phantom City Records (they sell LPs and clothes), then back to Olympia Transit Center.

 

[NOW: Orca Books and Last Word Books have moved. Phantom City Records has closed.]

This time the 603 bus was half price because I had a daypass and even got a Pierce Transit transfer. I took the bus to SR512 Park & Ride (in Lakewood I believe) where I took a 300 bus (Pierce Transit) to Tacoma Mall Transit Center). In f.y.e. in the mall I got a couple more DVDs including a fancy One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest set. Heading east from the mall I would have liked to visit Atomic City Comics but had a bit of a time crunch.  I bought more DVDs at Half Price Books before dashing back to Tacoma Mall Transit Center. A 3 bus (Pierce Transit) had no identifiers that I could see but it was at the 3 stop and people were getting on so it was a pretty safe deduction.

I got off downtown Tacoma and walked to King's Books. A cat with a serious look on its face was at the till with a paw on the keyboard. So unlike the earlier cat this one actually seemed to want to help ring through purchases. I walked to the University Bookstore and the crossed to the Bridge of Glass by Union Station.  I'm not sure how much detail I'm given in past years: there's a covered section with glass displays on the ceiling, then two poles that look like blue glass squares mashed together, then another covered section with glass jugs and the like (on the right if you're going to the Museum of Glass (I don't go in due to the no photos rule) and on the right if heading back towards Union.  I was going to take the free Tacoma Link (Sound Transit) to Tacoma Dome Station and a Sounder train from there, but I saw a 590 bus arriving (Sound Transit just like last year; déjà vu) so I took that instead and got the front seat.

 

[NOW: TacomaLink, a light rail is now Line T.]

There may have been a prankster on the bus ringing every stop in Seattle including those with no one exiting. I got off just before Seattle Center.  Since I knew I had time left on my ORCA transfer, I rode South Lake Union's trolley (King County Metro Transit; the trolley is affectionately called the [read the initials and you'll figure it out] by locals) a couple stops and then walked the rest of the way to Seattle Center; it's not that much faster to get to Seattle Center that way, but how can I not ride the, well, you know?

At Seattle Center I ate at Mod Pizza (any number of toppings among the choices given; this time I checked and soda drinks are unlimited), then relaxed at the International Fountain until it started to rain too much. Before the rain I noticed that my new shoes were causing one toe to bleed; too bad they wouldn't let me have the other pair at the sale price; still better than the wrecked shoes though; maybe I'll break these in. Then, back to the hostel.

Pacific Northwest Trip June 2013 Day 8 Sunday June 23

LAST UPDATED: October 31, 2025

This is the eighth of a series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.  What few updates there are indicated by NOW in brackets.

Minor editing to fix typos/incorrect names.

I woke up a bit before 5 due to the loud air conditioning unit and couldn't get back to sleep. I got up some time after 6 and walked to Olympic Sculpture Park with the oddball art pieces. I still think the titular Father & Son (nude man and boy facing each other in a fountain) have an other than parental relationship. The rotating ampersand on the Love & Loss art piece wasn't rotating.  I dipped briefly into Myrtle Edwards Park then back to Olympic Sculpture Park. A new exhibit shaped like a small house opens Thurs I think and you'll be allowed in.  I wandered to the main Seattle Ferry Terminal then passed Pike Place Market/Rachel the Pig en route back to the hostel.

After breakfast there I walked to Target for shoes but they only had sandals.  I got on the new northbound D Rapidride bus (all buses this day King County Metro Transit). It passed the former location of Easy Street Records in Queen Anne; pretty depressing looking building now. My ORCA card emptied out so I paid the difference and got a transfer.  In Ballard I saw my connecting bus go by so I walked  to my destination, the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and more specifically the fish ladder therein. There were way more salmon there than I'd seen before. Others noticed this as well.  I got some incredible fish shots in the viewing window.

[NOW: This location of Easy Street Records is now closed.]

I started walk back east. I caught a 61 part of the way but got confused and got off too soon, thus missing a southbound D bus and having to wait for another. I finally got on; it became the new C bus midway and took me to Alaska Junction in West Seattle. I bought some DVDs at the last remaining Easy Street Records and also visited Pegasus Book Exchange and Merryweather Books (formerly Leisure Books).  I had read online that Rubato Records still exited in an Antique Mall but there were gone from that as well; probably defunct now.

 

[NOW: Merryweather Books is now closed.]

I took a C bus downtown. I walked to the new location of the formerly Queen Anne branch of Silver Platters, passing Century Link and Safeco Fields, but there were only bus stops near the end so my feel were burning by then.  I bought a bunch of DVDS there and got on a 21 bus.  At a switchover point for drivers the second driver was late. Later a group just missed getting on but since they had a golden retriever likely wouldn't have made it on anyway.  I looked for shoes at Columbia Sportswear and finally found a pair at Foot locker. I found a pair on sale for $20 according to the box but they insisted the $25 tag on the shoes was correct so I found a pair that really was $20 and got the difference paid back. Outside I switched shoes and tossed the bad pair.

 

[NOW: That Columbia Sportswear and that Foot Locker are now closed. Century Link Field is now Lumen Field and Safeco Field is now T-Mobile Park]

I ate lunch at McDonald's on 3rd and then headed to Pacific Place, passing a man holding a sign reading "I want a fat b---h" (the sign lacked the censoring). At Pacific, I took photos of the penguin made of scrap metal and visited Barnes & Noble.  I went back to Pike Place Market and visited First & Pike News, Rachel the Pig, BLMF Books, and Holy Cow Records. Mesker Maps advertises maps of all kinds but didn't have a map book of Ottawa. I visited Zanadu Comics and then went to Westlake Station. After three tries I managed to use my credit card to load my ORCA card with more money.  I dropped off my purchases at the hostel.

 

[NOW: The penguin is now in University Village. That Barnes & Noble, First & Pike News, and Zanadu Comics are closed.]

I got a Slurpee at the 7-11 across from Seattle Center.  At the center, I visited the International Fountain for a couple hours; it's about the only out of town spot I can really "switch off" at. I ate dinner at Mod Pizza in Seattle Center Armory (you can pick as many toppings as you like from a list of toppings and only pay the one price).  I returned to the fountain for a bit and then walked uphill to Kerry Park Viewpoint.  I returned to the fountain very briefly, passing a car with the Transformers logo on the front hood. I then returned to the hostel for laundry.

12 Ways of Improving the Razzies

Over time the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies have gotten a bit stale, which is a shame because I honestly feel that if televised in the right way, the Razzies could make for a fun night's entertainment.

Here are twelve ways of improving the Razzies without breaking the budget of them. In terms of adding awards categories from the Academy Awards I'm taking it on a case by case basis. The general public probably doesn't care about fashion or set design but they do grumble about some of the other categories after a movie.

1. Upload the entire ceremony to YouTube. Once that would have be cost prohibitive but nowadays a standard camera can shoot perfectly decent video. This could entice a network to air the awards.
2. Stop nominating/awarding Razzies for men in drag in the Actress categories. That joke wasn't tht funny the first time around and the gag has been beaten to death. Besides, do you want women to feel safe from doing a bad performance because they know a man will take the award instead?
3. Be more deadpan, less wacky in Razzies videos. Act completely seriousness while discussing the amount of skill and talent needed to win a Razzie.
4. New Category: Worst Performance in an Otherwise Good Movie. Unearth the hidden gems of bad performances
5. New Category: Most Overrated Movie. Limit the choices to movies not nominated in other categories and which level out at 60% or greater in Rotten Tomatoes' Tomato-meter. Puncture the pretentions of some of the loftier movies
6. New Oscars-Inspired Category: Worst Special Effects. Sometimes movies with bad special effects are more entertaining than good ones.
7. New Oscars-Inspired Category: Worst Song: Salute those songs in movies that are so obnoxious they can't get dislodged afterwards
8. New Oscars-Inspired Category: Worst Documentary: Salute documentaries are too heavy handed or too boring or both
9. Once per ceremony when no one shows up to accept an award, pause for a few moments and then play the kind of music that gets played when Oscar acceptance speech goes on too long.
10. Break for mock commercials
11. Do an In-Memoriam for performers who are still alive but whose acting careers have supposedly died
12. Do the opposite of the Oscars and announce a much longer running time than the Awards actually need at the start and then at the end announce that remainder of the time will be filled by a previous Razzie winning movie.

What was Comics' First Intercompany Crossover?

In the 1970s DC and Marvel published Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man. While it wasn't the first time that Marvel and DC had had their names on the same comic - the honour goes to a Wizard of Oz adaptation, it was the first time that the modern era Big Two had their heroes meet. However, it wasn't the first intercompany crossover. In fact what I believe to be the first intercompany crossover, while frequently discussed in comic book histories for other reasons is rarely described as an intercompany crossover.

Note: I did use Wikipedia to flesh out a few details but had already made my conclusions prior to starting on this article.

To realize what was the first intercompany crossover, you have to look back to the earliest days of the American Comic as we know it. In the earliest days of the tabloid comics, the stories were all reprints. But it didn't take long before Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson created National Allied Publications to produce new material. New Fun Comics (later More Fun Comics) became the first ongoing series to be devoted to new material (after first testing the waters with the one-shot New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1). It was followed soon after by New Comics (later New Adventure Comics, later Adventure Comics). In order to publish a third title, Nicholson, now in debt to accountant Harry Donenfeld, actually created a second comic company, Detective Comics, Inc. with Jack S. Liebowitz as his partner. This company, in 1936 published Detective Comics, then Action Comics in 1938. Action Comics #1, which had the debut of Superman is generally credited with the creation of the comic book superhero, though an argument could be made for Dr. Occult in New Fun Comics #6. National Allied Publications and Detective Comics inc. later merged as National Comics.

Prior to this merger, however, another company with close ties to National was formed. In 1938 Max Gaines (later founder of EC Comics and father to William Gaines, who co-created Mad) created All-American Publications, which Donenfeld also provided funding to with the condition that Liebowitz be taken on as his partner. Unlike Detective, All-American had a different physical location. There were close ties to the companies (both had DC on their cover at one point) but despite their close relationship were separate companies (in fact there was a point where things cooled between the two enough that All-American had its own separate logo on the covers). All-American's best known titles were probably All-American Comics (which had the debuts of Green Lantern and the Atom) and Flash Comics (which in its first issue debuted The Flash and Hawkman).

Both National and All-American continued to create new heroes. All-American published All-Star Comics #1 in 1940. All-Star Comics #1 had all-new strips of superheroes from both National and All-American, though like most comics from that era, characters from the different strips never interacted.  That all changed with #3. In #3 characters from different strips (a somewhat different line-up from #1) were depicted as socializing together as the Justice Society of America. The original roster of the Justice Society included National characters Hour-Man, Spectre, Sandman, and Doctor Fate; and All-American characters Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern, and Atom. In this story they never actually teamed up, just talked about their exploits. However, in #4 the team learned about a crisis and each character worked on a different part of the case before teaming up in the final chapter.

All-American was absorbed by National in 1944 and soon became National Periodical Publications, a name which was used until 1977 when it become DC Comics. However, at the time that All-Star Comics #3-4 came out, National and All-American were separate companies. So All-Star Comics #3, aside from being the first superhero team comic, was also the first intercompany crossover in terms of superheroes hanging out together, with #4 being the first time characters from two different comic book companies actually worked on the same case together.