Stop Sign Cozy

Warmth at last for these new cold fall nights. Poor thing, standing out in the elements so long. Certainly a little material comfort is welcome while on duty.

This wonderful Knitta cozy appeared a couple weeks ago at 20th & Jefferson, and it's a swell piece. Tonally appropriate, the green works well with the red/white stripey post and now-classic logo design; not to mention the grass below. Note especially, the piece is held on with little ties (traditionally zip-ties) that are actually knitted in and knotted! Just lovely. Here's hopes that it lasts the entire season.

God of the Jawas

The importance of leaving rusting idols in the Tatooine desert appears threefold: One, to alert other wandering tribes of Jawas that this indeed is a good travel route, as pioneered by a particular tribe (indicated by the style of the idol, and inscriptions); Two, to designate an area of resources; and Three, to indicate a territorial boundary. Boundaries are shared and very flexible by default; a tribe wandering into another tribe's idol-dotted area is under no threat: Jawas always share all resources with their own kind, sometimes to a fault. The 'boundary' is more a designation of the hostmanship is as you travel through this particular land. Further, each "idol station" is a sort of folk worship altar, where each passing Jawa tribe will stop, place offerings, and potentially rest a few days. As has been noted earlier by Brunson (1997), Carpith (2024) and Xenuduin (2319), these idol stations are found in locations with useful desert resources: water, shade, low wind, physical protection, high magnetic potential, and quality food opportunities. These idols eventually do rust and abrade away in the contant winds, often leaving a stain in the ground or wall nearby. Skilled Jawas can interpret theses stains and deterime the tribe which erected the previous idol. If left untended for a long enough period of time, another Jawa tribe may claim the area and assume host responsibilities. Usually this happens after the initial tribe has been contacted to confirm their disinterest in the location, but occasionally the initial tribe cannot be located and does not come back to maintain the spot.

The Head on the (Garage) Door

An excellent use of spraypaint stencil to improve an otherwise boring garage-front on 21st near Union. Small enough to be unobtrusive, yet bright enough catch your eye. Nice color tones too against the garage grey, and well-framed.

Lincoln's Big Head

There's something about being head of state that gets you recognized in crowds. Being head of the household, not so much, but you do get respect. Being just another big head on the street, however, probably causes car accidents. Regardless, this is one of the better bits of yard art around the city. It looks like Abraham Lincoln, although it could be someone's granddad, an early Seattle settler perhaps. He must have been a fellow of some stature to merit such an incarnation.

Alley Monster

Here's a speed trap you really don't want to get caught in. On the south side of the T.T. Minor playfield, you'll get a jolt if this critter jumps on your hood for going too fast.
This red monster is done in a fantastic teddy-bear style... I wish I could tell you who the artist is. It looks commissioned to me. It's in a great location though. Any sort of grey concrete is ideal for art like this, but especially near an elementary school. Encore!

Lawn Rocket

The concrete nosecone of our nuclear ambitions perhaps? Fixed, ready and pointed just above a neighbor's roofline... A weird monument in front of an otherwise normal house, on an otherwise normal street, in a mostly normal neighborhood. It seems out of place, but it's been there a long time. Shortly after I took this photo and wandered away a fellow pulled his truck alongside me and my friend mentioning that he'd seen us taking pictures. "We used to play on that thing back in the early 60's," he said. Back when Boeing was a happy place to work, and our nuclear future looked ever so bright...

Alley Gallery

This alley, just off Union somewhere near 15th, is one my current fave art gallery in the city. A mish-mosh of portraits, still lives, and metal dragons in a variety of styles, it's a cacophony of color, and excellent for it. Out there, in the weather, near the trashcans, brightening your day with ludic zen silliness.














I love the way the trees are a part of the whole collage effect. Blended, integrated. Although you can say that it looks thrown together or "disjointed" or something, but the art at once stands out individually and becomes a whole together. It's bits of art, and it's just wallpaper. Much of it is not very "good" in a "true art" sense, but it remains weirdly inviting, welcoming even, and asks you to look closer.. no, closer... So much to see.


















Even the telephone pole gets a treatment -- chinese angel-dragons ascending to heaven perhaps. The yellow painting of the flower vase remains the visual entry point.. it catches your attention immediately, while it also blends with the fall colors beneath it, and then you see the heart.. From there your gaze moves around to other pieces and shapes, weaving haphazardly. Who needs the Seattle Art Museum when you have alleys like this?! It's fantastic.

Mr. Fireplug

Marching forcefully down 17th and Columbia, this li'l workin' man is happy to do the job. A little too happy, if you ask me. And with intense and creepy eyes too. Eyes that seem to burn into you with malevolent glee. What on earth is he thinking about? Whatever it is, it can't be good. Too many hours on the job, I suspect. Or perhaps the amphetamines are finally making his brain crazy. He's pretty serious about whatever he does, though. Truly a committed man. "Chained to his job", you might say.

Savoy Shuffle

What situation caused these fancy hotel slippers (from the Savoy in London's West End) to end up here? Grubby, worn and in disarray at the bus stop at 19th and Jefferson? They speak of sadness, confusion, pain. The bus lines that pass here, No.'s 3 and 4, go directly to Harborview Hospital, about 12 blocks to the west. Why did this person need to go to the hospital in such a hurry that they couldn't put on shoes? Did they arrive with barefeet, in a nightgown? Why did this person not have at least a concerned friend to give them a lift? Was it a medical emergency? Or a loved one already embedded in the house of the poorly? I weighed the gravity of these possibilities for a minute, then my bus arrived.

Le Chien d'Acier

This cocker was sitting atop the action end of a metal cyclone fence somewhere on 15th Ave in the Central District. Lovingly detailed, yet worn from at least a decade or two of use, he looks back somewhat mournfully at the house he guards. Perhaps wishing he could be inside the warmth, and not out here on the cold, cold sidewalk.

It's small flourishes like this that make places interesting, although why the owners chose to immortalize a cocker spaniel in cyclone steel is unclear. A dear departed most likely. Nothing else about the house was particularly noteworthy, but it needn't have been: this little protector says it all.