Goodness … Seattle is cold today!

Not sure what has happened to the weather but it is cold today! Only 18 degrees C.

Yesterday we went to the MoPOP Museum which is this amazing building with the Monorail running through it. It is about popular culture … the current special exhibit is ‘Marvel’ [think Spider-Man, Captain American …] but it had long queues so we just visited the main museum.

The ‘scared to death’ exhibition explored the world of horror movies and was really terrifying / interesting. We had seen a lot of them through the 80’s [I know … so last century!]. We watched all the videos of interviews with the directors and producers, saw a whole lot of displays of memorabilia from film and TV [think Chainsaw massacre, Friday 13th, Walking Dead, Buffy the Vampire Slayer]. Just the dim light and the music playing gave you a sense of anxiety!

The next exhibit was science fiction [ think Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Terminator, Blade Runner ….] Again, some great props on display from a range of movies.

From there it was into fantasy [think Harry Potter, Wizard of OZ, Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings] and then to Jimmi Hendrix / Nirvana (we are actually staying just a few blocks up from Jimmi Hendrix park), followed by the sound lab (as it is the school holidays here, it was really busy). Such a cool idea to have all these ‘labs’ with drums, guitars, keyboards etc, etc and you can go in and play to your hearts content.

So Jimmi Hendrix is a bit famous in our neighbourhood . He had such an impact on music and was probably before his time … it took 22 years to induct him into the ‘Hall of Music’. A whole park is dedicated to him, and we walk our wee dog through it everyday. It is also the home of the Northwest African American Museum. It is only a small display, but thought provoking! I have to be honest, my knowledge of the African American history is a bit limited, although what I do know isn’t very good.

Their (‘blacks’) pilgrimage to the North-west to escape slavery, together with the ‘Black Panther’ movement for equal rights seems to have come a long way since the 1960’s … then you hear / see just how far we have to go, with young people today experiencing similar exclusion and racial tensions in their communities (although not slavery where they are chained and persecuted !). America (actually not just America!!) has a long way to go to bridge this divide!

Modern slavery is having ‘black people or immigrants’ – as the ones who are employed as cleaners, garbage men, street cleaners or any of the jobs that ‘we’ [who’s we?] don’t like to do! I am a bit at odds that young people, younger than our boys, saying they want more than this for themselves … we haven’t come far as a ‘modern, enlightened human race’. We have quite a few houses around where we are staying that have posters in the windows – ‘Black lives matter’ or ‘you are welcome here – black or white’. And those that we have talked to are gorgeous. ❤️

In the paper here today at here is a letter to the editor saying ‘we are not quite there yet’ … ‘when a person of colour can drive through a wealthy neighbourhood and not be pulled over for suspicion of having stolen that car, or a college degree is valid for its worth, not because of preferential admissions … then ‘we will be free’.

I read a Jodi Picoult book while staying in Las Vegas (thanks Katie for leaving such a great read) – ‘Small Great Things’. It is actually going to be made into a movie – not sure if it is for the big screen or a Netflix thing, but I often find myself thinking about this book [perhaps because I am here?!?]. If you get a chance to read it DO … it has changed my understanding of ‘being white’ or ‘being black’. “Small Great Things” centers on a labor/delivery nurse who takes care of newborns at a Connecticut hospital who’s ordered not touch the baby of a white supremacist couple. When the baby dies in her care, she’s then taken to court by the couple. I cried in this book … I don’t understand ‘us’ sometimes! All we can do is embrace life as it is and LOVE each other.

So we have been exploring our neighbourhood and it is an older suburb. It is an eclectic mix of people and houses. The house prices are going crazy here like they have been in Auckland. A lot of the older houses are being removed and making way for apartments.

It is at odds with itself … gorgeous villas and bungalows [some needing renovation] with awful / lovely new buildings amongst them. It is a bit scruffy in areas – the Council doesn’t seem to keep the streets tidy [and neither do the residents] for the most part. The developers do have to tidy up street etc, but then it is losing it’s charm. There are a lot of vege / flower gardens in the berm, and a lot of them are just a mess, or so overgrown. One house = three apartments….sound familiar?!

This weekend is the Boeing Sea Fair Air Show is on Fri / Sat / Sun and today they have been in ‘practise’ mode. The US Navy Blue Angels fighter jets have been flying above us all day.