Griffey May Be Traded To White Sox

ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg And Mike Golick are reporting a possible deal that would send Ken Griffey, Jr from the Cincinnatti Reds to the Chicago White Sox. Griffey is a 5/10 player meaning that he has to approve any trade that the Reds involve him in.

Funny Political Ad

Will Dino Rossi have an open adminstration? Not according to this ad.

Niehaus Inducted

If you recorded the Hall Of Fame induction ceremonies, Dave Niehaus should apear at 107 or one hour and seven minutes past the beginning. Congratulations to Dave Niehaus!

Speaking Of Northwest Broadcast Greats...

I found this several months ago, and promised myself that I would not post it until the Hydros came here. I cheated a little, but with the torchlight parade in Downtown Seattle and the Tri Cities race Sunday, I think it's OK to put it up now.
The KIRO 7 TV crew honors Pat O'Day for his 40th consecutive Seafair broadcast.

Dave Niehaus Will Enter Baseball Hall Of Fame This Weekend

Listening to either of these classic Dave Niehaus calls can give a Mariner fan chills. But Dave Niehaus who called the very first pitch in Mariner history has gone through some bad times too and unlike players who have their slumps, Niehaus is great in every game.
This weekend Niehaus is in Cooperstown, New York where this weekend, he will receive the Ford C. Frick award and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

For My Brother Steve

Steve also has a birthday comming up--Here's Great White and "Once Bitten-Twice Shy"

Mariners Will Be On KIRO Next Season

The Mariners are returning to KIRO 710 next season. Since the team picks the announcers, the only real difference to fans is that you push one button to get baseball,instead of another. To stations, though it can mean millions more in advertising. If you are a Mariner fan, chances are that if you turn on your car radio in the morning after a game, it will be tuned into KOMO. This is a real boost for one of the sought after audiences in the business. KOMO 1000 is in the last year of a six year agreement with the M's. KIRO previously had them from 1985-2002. They were on KVI from 1977 to 1984. Incidentally, Dave Niehous has been with the broadcast team since it's inception.

How To Make A "Viral Video"

From "youtube", tips on how to get the world to see your work.

McCartney Performs In The North

Coincidentally, while Ringo was rockin the Winery, Paul McCartney was performing in Quebec. Quebec City was celebrating it's 400th birthday.

This video off you tube was actually taken at the Chateau Ste Michelle Winery.

Birthday Concert With A Beatle

Last night was my birthday and Deb and I were headed to Sport Restaurant to meet up with family and friends, or so I thought. Deb surprised me with tickets to watch Ringo Starr and the All Star Band. The Concert took place at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. In my opinion, it is one of the best concert venues in the area, the weather was perfect and we had a pic-nic spread. During the concert, hot air balloons flew overhead, and it really added an extra dimension.
Besides Ringo, the All Star Band, which I guess changes every year, except of course for Ringo himself included Edgar Winter, Colin Hay (formerly of Men At Work), Billy Squire, Gary Wright (who sang the monster 1976 hit Dream Weaver), Hamish Stewart(formerly of Average White Band). Each member sang their respective hit. Ringo sang Beatle songs like "Yellow Submarine", "What Goes On", "Boys" (which he had performed also with his original group Rory Storm), "I Wanna Be Your Man" and the very popular "With A Little Help From My Friends". He also did some of his solo hits like "Photograph" and "It Don't Come Easy".
To see Ringo in concert made it a very special birthday. Since the pictures were from a distance, I used footage off You Tube of one of Ringo's previous concerts.

Trip XII: Firesky Resort

Captain's log: stardate July 5th, OK, at least I thought it was funny. We arrived at the Firesky in time for the wine-tasting held every evening. If you remember, the Firesky was where we had first arrived the week before where we spent the night before heading to Sedona. The problem this time was they did had lost our reservation, luckily, the front desk which was outstanding was able to come up with a room for us.
You would think that Scottsdale, Arizona would turn into a virtual ghost town in the summer as the temperature spike into the 110s. Not so! The Firesky was rockin' and rollin' and the pool was alive with "Girls Gone Wild" set. As I had said before, there was a bar at the pool and a good looking bunch of kids were having a wonderful time acting crazy. Also there was a family reunion and a wedding going on at the Hotel.
I wanted to take Deb to Tempe and look at the Arizona State University campus. The front desk told me that Mill Street had some great Restaurants and clubs. We wound up eating a great Italian meal at a new place called La Bocca. We headed back to the Firesky and went for a late night swim. Around 3 in the morning, we were awakened, the kids, who were having a great time in the pool had stayed drinking and a couple were having a serious fight. A girl in the hall was swearing up a blue streak and the situation was turning very ugly. Apparently it caught the attention of the front desk because when I looked out the door, there was hotel security there to help solve the problem.
We got to the airport and ready to board our flight, but there was a problem. We were not allowed to bring some Margarita mix on the plane. We had to have it shipped to us. After that was resolved we were able to board the plane and fly back to Seattle.

Trip XI: The Voyage Home

Thanks to watching the Super Bowl, I can now count in Roman Numbers. As we get further from the trip--I've been home for two weeks now, the tougher it is to write about it. Where as it was the day after we got home that I started this series.

Anyway, it was Saturday July 5th, time to clean up the condo and get on the road. Our plan was to visit some remaining sites in Sedona on our way to Scottsdale again, where we would again stay at the Firesky Resort. We visited the "Chapel Of The Holy Cross", as you can see in the first 3 pictures going up. That is a beautiful temple of worship carved into the rocks. We also found time to stop at Montezuma's Well and Montezuma's Castle. We had lunch at an Indian casino along the way. We arrived at The Firesky (top picture) and the craziness began again.

to be continued....

Trip X: Fourth Of July In Cottonwood

Our co-worker, Bill said the best 4th Of July fireworks display around Sedona was in Cottonwood.

Trip IX: More Of Jerome

Here are some more good shots that are too good in my opinion not to post. Next up is the 4th Of July and the trip home. Above is the ghost town and also the Connor Hotel.

Trip VIII Jerome Arizona

To enjoy Jerome, Arizona, you need a good sense of history and a vivid imagination. The town is a half hour drive from Sedona. It was once a booming copper mining town, but now is a popular tourist destination. The old mine has a "must stop" with many of the old buildings and trappings of a bygone era. The Haunted Hamburger, (pictured top) where we stopped for lunch, was once featured on Food Network's $40 Dollars A Day, with Rachael Ray.

Trip VII: Sunset Tour Grand Canyon

Our tour on Wednesday July 2nd was by far the best. We took the Grand Canyon Sunset Tour. Our guide Ed, who you can see in the 6th picture up (climbing out of the Grand Canyon) was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We started the trip at 11 am and got back at about 11 pm.

On the way--we stopped at the Cameron Trading Post which is on the Navajo Reservation.

More fun to come, so hang on!

Trip VI: We Do Sedona

We were up bright and early Tuesday, Thank you to our maintenance crew alarm clock. The Sedona Village concierge had set us up with a couple tours on Monday on this day we would do the Pink Jeep Tour which was a chance to really see the desert.

In the Afternoon, we went to Sliderock State Park, where I got to attempt the Natural Waterslide.

In the evening, we went to a lookout near the airport, where 100s gathered to watch the Sunset.

Darcy Burner's Son Was Hero

I'm taking a break from recounting our wonderful trip, Darcy Burner's is continuing her campaign for Congress. I was able to find this video where she talks about her son saving there lives after the housefire on the 1st of July.

The Trip V

The incredible thing about these last 5 posts is that we are only in a span of 2 days, and we are only beginning. Our first full day in Sedona--Monday was a "chill" day. We went to Tlaquepaque, a beautiful shopping center on the outskirts of Sedona. It is nearly impossible to spell and even harder to say. The pronounciation is "tel-lok-a-pocky". It is laid out like a Mexican village. Deb and I had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant there where we each enjoyed a Margarita. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the pool.

Trip IV

There I go, using the word "normalcy". We proceeded the drive to Sedona, noticing that some guy was hanging out of his truck filming some girls in a sports car. Whether this was for a commercial or something or else he just liked the girls or the car. They ran parallel to each other down I-10. We were still in the "Greater Phoenix" area.

After a 2 hour drive we reach beautiful Sedona, and yes, it was a peaceful rather uneventful stay. That is except for the fact that a paving crew was working on the road in front of our unit. They would begin their work with jackhammers, dump trucks and steamrollers for the first 3 mornings at 7 am sharp.

The Trip III

We spent Saturday night at the Firesky. It was a warm peaceful night once we arrived--the next day we would head to Sedona. The next morning, the temperature was well in the 110s as we got right to the pool. The pool had a service bar, which will have significance later.
Since Deb had not been to Phoenix before, and I had not been there since 1982, we braved the heat to snoop around Scottsdale, a beautiful western themed town. We had lunch at the
Cafe Carumba which was very good. Afterward we checked out a couple of stores. There was a free trolley that chugged around town and we decided to board. That was a big mistake. We got off the trolley after it made it's run around town and realized that we were lost again. Everything in Scottsdale looks alike. After walking the town on the verge in hundred plus heat with no water, we finally asked where the restaurant was. In the nick of time we found the Cafe and began our drive to Sedona and normalcy.

to be continued...

Arrival In Phoenix

The saving grace to arriving in Phoenix late at night, was that temperatures would be cooler, boy we were wrong. The minute we stepped outside, it was like walking into an oven, and this was around midnight. The plan was to rent a car, spend the night at the beautiful Firesky Resort in Scottsdale and drive to Sedona in the morning.
After checking out our rental car, we were giving instructions on were to find the vehicle, we could not find the car that we to drive until we realize that we had read them wrong. This was after walking all over the garage. At the end of our rope we were glad that googled the directions to the Firesky. This should come in handy, while traveling in what I believe one of the 10 largest cities in the nation. We left the airport with Google directions in hand, we just had one problem, a sea of flashing lights. We had run right into a police dragnet, there were helicopters above and television news cars all around. We asked at a gas station how to get to the resort and no one could tell us. We did find out that someone had shot a police officer. We finally where able to call the Firesky and get directions. More to follow....

The Trip Begins:

Our trip to Sedona (above) began Saturday, June 28th. We were very early for our flight, we just did not realize how early we were. Our flight from Sea-Tac airport to Phoenix was delayed for two hours for mechanical problems.

to be continued...

We flew home today from the Phoenix Airport, the Barry Goldwater Terminal, reminds me of Senator Goldwater's candidacy and this ad. It is ironic that we have the Senator that took Goldwater's place upon retirement, John McCain seeking the presidency this year.

Barers Return To Maple Valley

We just returned home from a great trip to Scottsdale and Sedona. Although I snagged this picture from Google Images, we took plenty of shots at some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. There also was enough incidents and pratfalls to where I can chronicle the trip over the next few days. If that sounds good to you, we will see you here.

Darcy Burner And Family OK

Darcy Burner, her husband Mike and son Henry were able to escape a fire at their home in the early morning hours of July 1st. Their Dog, Bruce Wayne was also rescued, but they were unable to save their cat. I know that the community sends their love and prayers to the Darcy Burner family.