Our New Home in Ballard!

We moved into our new home on 5/26. Our unit is on the top floor, just a bit to the right off center in the photo above. Thanks so much to Jacob, Eric and C.D. for helping us move items. The move went very smoothly -- well, almost...
I did end up buying a $100 U-Haul tire after trying to drive through some narrow lanes on 45th street!

Several people have asked us if we can see The Olympics... the answer is yes! Here are some views from our balcony:



I'll post more photos later once we're all settled!

Sasquatch 2008

We went out to the Gorge on Saturday for Day 1 of the Sasquatch Music Festival. Molly and I were joined by C.D., Catherine, Jason, & Heather.


We saw some great bands: The National, Modest Mouse, R.E.M., M.I.A., Beirut, The New Pornographers, and Destroyer.

Rainn Wilson (aka "Dwight" from The Office) was the MC, because, as he put it, nothing says rock 'n roll like an aging TV sitcom actor!

We huried home late in the evening for the big move on Sunday/Monday.
Check out press photos @ Pitchfork

MTV Comes to Whirlyball

My two seemingly disparate worlds of bumper car mania and indie rock fandom came to a surreal collision on 5/21 when Death Cab For Cutie (a band that I have loved for almost 10 years) came to Whirlyball to shoot footage for an upcoming MTV Artist of the Week program. It turns out that the band is a big fan of the sport after first playing while on tour in Atlanta two years ago.
I was supposed to appear in the video, but my scenes were cut before I even got a chance to sit in one of the makeup chairs. I spent the entire day at Whirlyball, watching the shoot and trying my best to hang with the band. The concept for the video was a mockumentary of the band playing in a Whirlyball Tournament against a bunch of kids. My cousin Morgan appears as one of the kids. I can't wait to see the final product, which is supposed to begin airing on MTV in mid-June. I'll post links to the footage as soon as it is released.

The best part of the day was when the band played a 4-song live set: Grapevine Fires, Soul Meets Body, I Will Possess Your Heart, and Cath... (acoustic). Molly came in after work, and we sat right beside the camera for a very intimate concert.



Here is Molly with Ben Gibbard:
Ben, Nick, Chris, and Jason are all super nice guys and it was a sheer pleasure to spend the day with them. I just hope they come back sometime after their latest tour so we can play some actual games without the cameras rolling. I expect that Whirlyball will soon see a tremendous rise in popularity!