Seattle Gum Wall

I'm by no means a germaphobe, in fact I'm firm believer that a little bit of grime is good for you. That being said, during a recent conversation with a political campaign worker my first thought upon hearing that he would routinely hand his cell phone to strangers to call officials were, "Ew, just think of the germs."

That segue brings me to the Gum Wall in Post Alley, Seattle. Somehow we managed to end up here three times during a seven day trip and every single time I wanted to douse myself, and everyone in my immediate vicinity, with disinfectant.

A little bit of gum on the way in. 

It started off innocuously enough, a little bit of gum adding a decorative touch to the paper street art... 

Shudder.

... but quickly devolved into a seemingly seething mass of masticated polymers and DNA. 

NO. 

There is not enough Lysol in the world, my friends. Nuh uh, nowhere near enough.

No no no no. No. 

The Darlings of the Sea

My junior year of undergrad (2001-2002) was spent abroad at Reed College in Portland, OR. Even though I'm nearing my ten year anniversary as a New Yorker, my first taste of the US left an indelible mark on me and I will forever love the Pacific Northwest. After classes ended I took a two month trip essentially skirting the edges of the USA, about half the time traveling alone, taking one way tickets and staying at youth hostels. I visited the Grand Canyon, Chicago, Miami, New York, DC, Toronto, and Seattle before heading back to Portland for my flight home. Consequently Seattle got pretty short shrift, after two months of traveling mostly all I wanted to do was sleep. I took five photographs (on film) in the three days I was there, two from the top of the Space Needle. I remember very little about what I did except my loves - the sea otters.

Skip forward a good many years and a few tens of thousands of air miles, and I decided to head back to Seattle to visit some friends. Naturally the aquarium was high up on my list of things to do this time around. I mean, who can resist these faces?

Shooting through glass on a sunny day meant for some wicked reflections and distortions, but I'm still happy I got to see these incredible creatures up close. 

Derp. 

All images on this site are ©Christina Marney. Please do not copy, re-post or reproduce these images without my prior permission. 

Communication Corporation

Last Friday I headed out tothe backyard at  The City Reliquary in Williamsburg to see a friend's band perform. Communication Corporation have both an amazing sound and pretty stunning stage presence. Think the love child of Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem playing amidst the smoke and mirror ball lights in a tiki themed backyard. Good times.

Emerging Artists, Zombies...

Back in May the House of Yes hosted an Emerging Artists Variety show, ostensibly fr rookie performers but packed full of talent and professionalism.

The Circle of Unlife - A successful zombie slaying is celebrated on the lyra. 

The Circle of Unlife - Always follow the double tap rule with zombies or you'll end up one of them. 

The Circle of Unlife - And it goes on and on and on... 

A video of this performance is available for you viewing pleasure here

All pictures ©CBMarney, please contact me before re-posting any of the pictures posted here.