Barers Of Maple Valley Sets Post Record

This is the 339th post of the year on this blog.  This breaks the record set last year of 325 set last year.

burl at the PASTTIME CAFE

Burl visits another childhood memory in Walla Walla

Popular Mariner Dave Henderson Dead At 57

Dave Henderson, a slugging Mariner Outfielder and later broadcaster has died of cardiac arrest at 57.
He also played for Boston, hitting a home run in 1986 to send the Red Sox to the World Series.  His career would later take him to the Oakland A's, the San Francisco Giants, and the Kansas City Royals.  He was known to later Mariner fans as color man working along side the legendary Dave Niehaus.  He was often referred to by his nickname "Hendu"

Highlights Of 2015

I decided to keep my year wrap up short.  From Bottom to top:
Our trip to Cabo San Lucas celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (bottom)
Dedicating a bench to my wife's Grandmother Lillian Eldridge on the Prom in Seaside Oregon (middle)
Labor Day at Cabin in Packwood, WA (top)

Sun Bowl?

Snow is falling, but not sticking at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.  Not exactly what I expected.  At the time that I'm posting, WSU is leading Miami 10-7.

White Christmas In Maple Valley

Dreams can come true! Merry Christmas!

Barers Of Maple Valley Wishes You A Merry Christmas!

Shep's Pool Hall

Joe Drazan's Bygone Walla Walla blog continually posts memories of my hometown.  Shep's Pool Hall was long gone by the time I was 21. But lives on in people's memory.  The rare "Bubble Up" sign is what caught my eye in this picture.

Republican Debate SNL Style

Watched this morning and found this hilarious. May not be so funny in November.

White Stuff On Ground In Maple Valley

We returned from work last night to find a dusting of snow on the ground at our Maple Valley home.  It was the first snow we had seen in a long time. Most of it had melted by the morning.  If your dreaming of a white Christmas, the weatherman say no.

Turtle Autograph

Turtles lead singer Howard Kaylan, whose classic 1960s hit "Happy Together" became a pop classic, is a Seattle resident and a customer at our Bellevue UPS Store.  He was kind enough to autograph a copy of his 2013 book, Shell Shocked.  Kaylan also played in Frank Zappa's band, "The Mothers". He was on stage in Switzerland when the venue caught fire.  That was the inspiration for the band Deep Purple to write the rock classic "Smoke On The Water".

Wilson Leads Seahawks Back To Playoffs

The Seahawks will be back in the Playoffs as they beat the Cleveland Browns 30-13 victory.  Russell Wilson threw for 3 touchdowns to lead the 'Hawks to their 5th straight victory.   Russell Wilson became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 3 touchdowns with no interceptions for 5 consecutive games. 
Quite a turnaround for the Seahawks, who had a less than spectacular start to this NFL season.

Wilbur Leaving Democratic National Committee

Lona Wilbur has announced that she will not run for a third term as one of Washington's representatives to the DNC.  Wilbur, known for her warm smile and heartfelt speeches, was one of 4 members of the Washington delegation.  The representatives are chosen by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, of which I am a member.  Wilbur is a member of the Swinomish Tribe and is completing her 8th year on the committee.  Among the duties of the DNC is picking the DNC chair, who is pretty much the face of the Democratic Party.

Adele at the BBC: When Adele wasn't Adele... but was Jenny!

This was posted on Ken Levine's blog.  Who better to win an Adele look a like contest? 

Carpenters Merry Christmas Darling

The Carpenters sang this beautiful Christmas song.

The Beatles - It's Only Love

In honor of the 50 anniversary of the release of Rubber Soul, the Beatles singing "It's Only Love"

Twelve Days of Christmas performed by Bob and Doug McKenzie

A more recent send up of 12 Days Of Christmas with Bob And Doug McKenzies.

Allan Sherman - 12 Days of Christmas

In the 1960s and 1970s, the late Allan Sherman would do parodies on songs, much like Weird Al would in later times.  This song, somewhat dated, would get play on KTEL, the rock station when I was a kid around the holiday season.

Beatle Album Rubber Soul Turns 50

It's the second Beatle album that I've owned. Rubber Soul was a gift from my baby sitter, who knew my love of the group. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the album.
 What the album marks in music history, though, is indeed significant.  It really was the first Beatles album with a seemingly cohesive theme.  However, in this article in the Wall Street Journal, Marc Myers writes that the theme of the US version of the album was "engineered" by Dave Dexter.  The irony is that Dexter has been vilified by both the Beatles and rock music fans for editing the groups musical efforts, mostly favoring commerce over art.
The album marked a turn by the group from a teen age dance style music to a more adult acoustical sound and is credited to influencing artists such as Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder.

Back In The Neighborhood

The Belmont Woods Storm Water Storage Pond was at the highest level that I had seen yesterday.  The ditch was empty most of this year.  It fills during rain storms to prevent flooding.

Issaquah Flood

Commutes were delayed this morning by overflowing rivers and creeks after two daysof  steady rain and a nasty windstorm. This picture was taken at Newport Way and Front Street in Issaquah.  Also, stretch of Highway 169 from Cedar Grove to Jones Rd was closed due to flooding.

Cougs Headed To Sun Bowl

The WSU Cougars will face the Miami Hurricanes in The Sun Bowl in El Peso, Texas on December 26th.  The Cougs are coming off a 7-4 season, which concluded with a disappointing loss to the Huskies.

Creed--The Rocky Saga Continues

I went into Creed with the lowest of expectations.  The Rocky Balboa character, once a hallmark in film achievement, had become totally cartoonish.  You just couldn't take  it seriously after watching the many sequels.
 This movie features the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky's arch rival and later friend who died fighting a robot like Russian in Rocky IV.  Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan was conceived in Apollo's extra marital affair.  Apollo's widow, looks up the angry boy, who seemingly can't help getting into fights, She wishes to raise the boy, who had lost his mother to an undisclosed death.
Adonis quits his job as a financier to attempt to become a professional boxer.
I think the reason this works is the movie deserts comedy which is where Rocky sequels turned and gotten back to drama.  Rocky is back in Philadelphia, seemingly near broke, his wife and best friends are gone.  In other words, the show goes back to it's roots.  As a result, you get that feel good feeling that the first Rocky, almost 40 years ago, was able to deliver and that sequels were not.

Have A Happy Hanukkah!

Chanukah Song Part 4

It's that time of the year,  Adam has released his 4th version of the Chanukah song in a 20 year span, so at that rate, he should have a song for each night by the time I'm 80.  Happy Chanukah and Seasons Greetings!

More Gun Violence

14 die and many others wounded in San Bernardino shooting.

Burl Barer KJR 1980's Reunion clips

Remember when radio sounded like this..?

"1974" "Boogie Bands and One Night Stands", Kathy Dalton

A rarely played but memorable song from the 1970s.