Sound Transit opens 2 Line, connecting Bellevue and Redmond

This is a good thing.  I don't think it will reduce traffic significantly, althought that would be nice, but it will offer a means to go from point A to point B and avoid the traffic.  

More Passover

Thank you to Maple Valley Chabad for the complimentary matzoh. 

Byron Murphy II Selected By Seattle Seahawks Pick #16 In 1st Round Of 20...

Congrats to our new Seahawk, defensive tackle Byron Murphy II from Texas.  

Go Hawks!

Sue Bird Now A Co-Owner Of WNBA Storm

 The Seattle Times reports that Sue Bird, one of Seattle's most popular athletic figures of all time, is joining the Seattle Storm ownership group.  

Bird helped the team win 4 WNBA championships in her 20 years with the franchise. She is the all-time scoring assist leader for the Storm, where she spent her entire career. 

Tulip Season

Deb brought these from the Tulip festival in La Conner, WA

Passover Begins Tonight

 Happy Passover!

Mariners Find Snow On The Road

Football game, yea. But how many times do you see snow at a baseball game?  

This was, of course, Denver and it may be forgotten when the team plays the Texas teams in the middle of the summer.

The Mariners won that game (Saturday, April 20th, 2024) 7-0 over the Colorado Rockies.

RIP Roman Gabriel

 One of my childhood heroes has passed away, Roman Gabriel who quarterbacked the Los Angeles Rams from 1962-1972 passed away this morning (April 20th, 2024), according to son, Roman Gabriel III.  

When I first watched football in 1967, Seattle did not have a team (and wouldn't for another 10 years).  The Rams were on TV practically every week, so I quickly became a Ram fan.  I loved his name (perfect for the LA Colosseum  where the team played its home games.  

It was an era of great quarterbacks as Bart Starr, Johnny Unitas, and Joe Namath also played in that era. 

Gabriel was the NFL's first Filipino American quarterback.  A two time All-American at North Carolina State, he finished his NFL career as a Philadelphia Eagle in 1977.

Neighborhood Gets A Treat

A sign that summer is coming soon.  The ice cream man visited our cul du sac. 

It brought back memories of my childhood.

Noa Tishby Speech | FIDF on Oct 17 in NYC

It's tough to find a more motivated speaker and a more tireless advocate for the State Of Israel than Noa.

How Sweep it is! Mariners Take All Three Games from Reds

After a tough start to this 2024 season, Mariner fans got good news as they swept a three game series with the Cincinatti Reds.  

The team had a well deserved day off yesterday, but get back into action today (April 19th, 2024) against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. 

Weekend Update: Caitlin Clark on the WNBA Draft - SNL

Caitlin Clark, an outstanding college basketball player, maybe the best, shows that she is also media savvy, in this appearance on SNL.  

Ken Holtzman--Pitching Ace

 Former MLB pitcher Ken Holtzman has died.  He was 78. 

Holtzman played from 1965 to 1979. He retired as a Baltimore Oriole.  

Holtzman is a three time world series winner, and pitched 2 no-hitters.  Because of his Jewish faith, became known as "the next Sandy Koufax".  In a rather odd category, he was listed as the winningest Jewish Major League pitcher of all time.   

I had Holtzman's baseball card as a child in the late 1960s and he became a favorite of mine, just as all the Cubs had.  Finding out that he  was left-handed and Jewish became "icing on the cake". 

Holtzman was, in 1971, traded to the Oakland A's who proceeded to win the World Series in three consecutive seasons, from 1972-1974.

Holtzman was a native of St. Louis.

Amazing Race Season 36 - Team Walla Walla Pre-Interview

Hopefully, this can stay up!  Walla Walla (my hometown) people have turned up more often on reality programs, as well as Jeopardy. While a Tri-Cities radio personality was on the Golden Bachelor.  

Spring In Our Yard

This tree in our backyard had bloomed beautifully.

Brakeman Bill--Pacific Northwest TV Icon

 Brakeman Bill McLain, whose children's program on channel 11  in Tacoma was broadcasted across the Pacific Northwest via cable, passed away at 96.

McLain, whose show did the usual kid's program thing, cartoons and birthday shout-outs, would dress as a railroad brakeman while playing straight man to a wise cracking sock puppet known as Crazy Donkey.  Brakeman Bill had a very friendly demeanor, while seemingly exasperated by Crazy's antics.  

Although the Brakeman Show had been off the air for decades, he still has a Facebook fan club with well over 2 thousand members.  Quite a testimony to the power of his personality. 

Breakfast At Black Diamond Bakery

The Black Diamond Bakery is one of the most iconic establishments in the area.  

It's a bakery, coffee shop, and restaurant.

It features a picture window with a spectacular vista of Mount Rainier.

It's about a 15-20 minute drive from Maple Valley.

OJ Simpson Dead At 76

 OJ Simpson, at onetime a national hero for his accomplishments as a running back for USC and Buffalo Bills, but whose legacy was changed by murder charges, has died at 76.

Simpson later went into acting and was a favorite in the comedic series Naked Gun series where he played bumbling cop Nordberg.  He was also a pitchman for Hertz.

Almost 30 years ago, he was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown, as well as, her companion, Ron Goldman.  It became a polarizing moment in our history as Simpson's race became an issue.  

Simpson was acquitted , which brought up two issues, a separate justice system for the wealthy and famous and racial injustices for African-Americans. 

Plane Buzzes Our Yard

I didn't take this picture, but a huge military flew past our backyard yesterday at an amazingly low altitude.  Probably a C-17 cargo plane.

I had gardening gloves on and it disappeared before I could get a good shot 

This had happened before.  Last July,  I was at work when Deb told me about a huge plane flying low and shaking up the house.

Dasher Remembered

One my favorite tricks that I taught Dasher, as we remember him fondly, actually, my favorite trick, was to retrieve the newspaper in the morning.  

I would teach Oliver, except that I only get the Sunday paper now.  

Dasher left us in 2023. 

 

See the initial moment of eclipse totality in North America

Here in the Seattle area, we did not see any sign of the eclipse.  The skies were too cloudy.  

It was visible in other places and it made big news.

I remember the one from 2017.

National Championship Tonight

 UConn takes on Purdue for the Championship of NCAA Men's Basketball tonight (April 8th, 2024).  Tip-off is at 6:20pm pacific daylight time.

Did the Lost Tribe of Menashe End Up in India? | Unpacked

I had no idea of Judaism in India.  This video covers that and is very informative.

Oakland A's To Play In Sacramento For A Few Seasons

 It has been announced that the soon to be former Oakland A's will temporarily relocate to Sacramento while a planned new stadium is being built in Las Vegas.  The A's will have something in common with Sacramento's only major league sports team, the NBA's Kings in that they both spent time as a Kansas City team.  

The team will play in Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for three seasons with an option for a 4th. 

The park is currently home of the Triple A Sacramento River Cats. 

I wonder if the Players Association may protest this.  When the Mariners had tiles fall in the Kingdome in 1994, as memory serves, the American League would not let the team play in Cheney Stadium in Tacoma because it is a minor league field. 

City Buzzing Over Radio Stations Turning Country

 Some loved it, some hated it, and others thought it was an April Fool's joke.  Long time rock station 101.5 is now Hank 101.5, formerly Star 101.5, although I remember listening to it before I moved to Seattle and it was "The New KVI-FM" .

Fans weighed in their opinions on Facebook.

At the same time, KPNW, which had been playing adult album alternative (although I wasn't aware of it), has switched back to Country, now known as the Bull.  

Sadly, the switch also meant loss at both stations, including to two familiar Seattle radio names, Marco Collins and Marty Reimer. 

Maple Valley Workers Repair Sidewalks

Cheers to Maple Valley for repairing uneven points of the sidewalks in our neighborhood.  

A great thing for dog walkers like us.

Quality Time With Our Dog

Oliver and me.

The Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream (1967) 4K

Here is a memorable song, that you may have forgotten.  1967, psychedelic music came on the scene.  Here are the Electric Prunes.  This song gets little to no airplay, but out of the blue, I thought about it. 

It's April Fool's Day

 Don't get tricked!