our friend eddie

As promised – a VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF WEEKEND RECAP FANTASTICNESS (I dare you to say that three times fast). My lovely husband works. A lot. And also, often. So we don’t get a lot of weekends ‘round here. The last Saturday afternoon he spent home was with Fred, the behemoth spider. Having him home all weekend long was sheer and utter bliss. We tried our best to take advantage of it by having some fun.

Saturday we spent a good majority of the day at Bumbershoot, the annual Seattle music festival. If you’re a modern music fan (or heck, just a music fan), it’s a thing not to miss, though I have been woefully underrepresented the past few years. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown even more wary of large crowds of scantily clad strangers – making fairs and fests and gatherings of any kind pretty low on my priority list. This was a special occasion, however, what with Chip being HOME and all. Plus – both Crowded House (reunited for a new album this year) and The Shins were playing.

Bumbershoot is held on the grounds of Seattle Center – that’s where the Space Needle lives, y’all out-of-towners – which has a nice collection of various venues and stages to host the ‘fest. I guess the best way to describe it is this:

MANY, MANY PEOPLE, OF ALL AGES AND TAX BRACKETS, WEARING A LOT OF SKIN (AND ACCORDING TO CHIP, NOT A LOT OF DEORDORANT)
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MANY DIFFERENT BANDS, MUSICIANS, COMEDIANS, AUTHORS, AND POETS, ALSO OF ALL AGES AND TAX BRACKETS AND VARYING DEGREES OF FAME
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LABOR DAY WEEKEND
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A TON OF FAIR-TYPE FOOD
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SEATTLE CENTER
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BUMBERSHOOT

The best part for us, of course, was Crowded House and The Shins playing in the same venue (Memorial Stadium – the largest space), back to back. We got there in plenty of time, and found a nice shady spot to sit and people-watch. The music was fan-flipping-tastic. The company (lovely husband) was also of the good. We ate some fair-food (Kettle corn! Gyros!). We enjoyed the weather. Perhaps the strangest part of the day was when, toward the end of their set, Neil Finn of Crowded House introduced their friend Eddie, from nearby Portland, who was going to sit in with them for a couple of songs. And no lie: out walks Eddie Vedder. I’m not all star-struck by the guy himself – he’s a regular guy, doing his thing. But with Crowded House? To sing World Where You Live? Okay – odd. But weirdly cool. Like one of those moments when I look around at the sky, bluer than cerulean ever ought to be – and then the strange amalgam of people that make up this wonderfully kooky city and I feel so gosh-darn fortunate to live here, like, man, only in Seattle. We left the stadium later that afternoon, awed and inspired by some terrific music (if you haven’t yet listened to James Mercer cover Pink Floyd’s Breathe – duuuuuude), and feeling all floaty and happy. A great afternoon, only marred by the HORRENDOUSLY TEEMING MASS OF HUMANITY ATTEMPTING TO EXIT THROUGH WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS THE WORST BOTTLE NECK OF FOLKS I’VE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE TO WALK THROUGH. So glad Chip is a nice, solid, tall thing – because otherwise I would have been trampled.

Saturday concluded with some DVD-watching, and extremely early turning in (we are OLD OLD OLD – we are not ashamed that we went to bed at 9pm).

Sunday was church and yet more resting. The night was capped off with a surprise visit by Chip’s folks, who were in the neighborhood, returning from a recent trip out of town. It’s been AGES since we’ve seen them – so it was awesome to catch up and chat.

Monday was more of the same, with some errands thrown in for good measure – and the previously mentioned book store visit. It was such a nice time, I hated to see Tuesday arrive.