The month of May was
almost a repeat of April. Mostly work
& gardening around the house property, while preparing the RV for a trip to
the “Top of the World Highway” (more on that in future BLOG(s))?
The two “unique”
events of the month were:
1) Sunday, Mother’s
Day, 10MAY, we head into Seattle to see “Jacques Brel is Alive & Well in
Paris” at the ACT Theatre (aka A Contemporary Theatre). Where we last saw “An Evening With Groucho”
(see below BLOG link). As the playbill
says:
“Widely considered
one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived, Jacques Brel was born in
Brussels in 1929. In 1953, he released
his first record, a 78 with two songs backed by an accordion band. The release went largely unnoticed, except by
the director of a famous Parisian nightclub.
Brel went to the “City of Lights” to perform some of his songs in the
cabarets and music halls and the following year settled there permanently. In 1957, with the release of “Quand on a que
L’amour” (“If We Only Have Love”), the songwriter began his legendary
ascent. The song was wildly successful,
and that some year, he released an American debut. The next few years saw Brel’s output increase
exponentially with the release of dozens of albums and singles. Interpretations of Brel’s songs by such
diverse as Frank Sinatra, the Kingston Trio, Ray Charles, Petula Clark, Barry
Manilow and even David Bowie were recorded.
Brel made his final album in 1977, “Les Marquises”, which sold over two
million copies. The following year Brel
died of cancer. He is buried on the
island of Hiva-Oa, in the Marquesas Islands, where in 1973 he had retired to
the simple, tropical life of Gauguin.”
There was no
problems w/traffic so we got there early & had a short walk about. First stop was for a crepe at a street stand
we discovered last year; & then window shopping down to the Westlake food
court. The show consists of three male
& two female singers singing most of Brels “hits” with different staging
and/or costumes for each song. Most
songs are solos, some are duets & some are all five together. Dan thought the show was excellent –
especially the song NEXT; Corrie thought it was “different”.
What was special
about NEXT? Well for those that really
know Dan, know he has different taste in Rock & Roll & a very large LP
& CD collect. One of the artists he
has every album for is Alex Harvey (aka The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, or
SAHB). One of his favorite songs by Alex
is NEXT. Dan always assumed NEXT was by
ALEX; but no, it was by Brel! As soon as
the song started Dan recognized the lyrics & started singing along (much to
Corrie’s surprise). The song deals with
a brothel truck “...supplied by the Army free of charge.” For more details, Dan recommends you check
Alex’s video on You Tube!
2) On the 16th of
May we headed into Seattle to visit a friend of ours that Dan served with in
the Coast Guard, Gary Boyer (see below BLOG about our last visit with
Gary. Gary has a home on Magnolia (one
of the many hills of Seattle) that he purchased over forty years ago, with
fantastic views. Luckily he held onto
the house throughout his Coast Guard career!
Probably the only problem he had during that time, was allowing Dan
& friends to be renters? An
excellent time; once again proving time spent with friends & family are the
best!
Otherwise the month
consisted of:
>exercising at
the Y; & gardening for Corrie
>Dan working on
RV; & volunteering for Habitat for Humanity
>Corrie laying
river rocks in yard
>Dan making a
“stand” for a large, heavy wind chime Corrie’s brother, Ed, made for us out of
a steel diving tank (the sketch is what Corrie wanted, the pic is what Dan
built)
>Dan finally
placing a real street address sign at foot of driveway
>Dan makes six
foot by sixteen foot raised garden bed for Corrie; Corrie uses trailer to get
garden soil to fill it with
>drop RV off at
RV dealer to have TV antenna fixed
>Dan makes four purchases
off internet for electric/remote control gate opener to install on new gate
& fence installed last month; four items needed were – hydraulic actuator
w/control panel, lock to actually lock gate in closed position; intercom system
to call house; & solar power panel; then it was many days & hours,
& part runs, to get working
>washing the RV
for upcoming trip
>making another
run with trailer to pick up more rock (& 2 free rose bushes) at Bob &
Patti’s (see last month's BLOG)
>Dan dealing
w/major computer virus on Memorial Day weekend, when our computer guy was
closed
>changing
oil/filter on Toad for trip
>breaking the corian dining table in RV while loading the RV
>etc, etc, etc, etc, etc!!!
