I'm writing this blog
sitting in the Twedes diner in North Bend perhaps better known as the
RR diner in Twin Peaks. I guess this is as close to a pilgrimage as
it comes for an atheist like me? While Twedes interior may not be
quite as enchanting as it was on the show nor the waitress quite as
sexy as Shelly Johnson I'm definitely feeling a little tingly. I
travelled here by bus from Seattle this morning and my plan is to
walk around and see the a few of the sites and sounds that are so
familiar to a Twin Peaks fan like me.
Since my last post I've
left Eugene behind and arrived in Seattle on route to Vancouver
before I finally kiss the Pacific coast goodbye and start my journey
across the continent to the bright lights of New York city. I spent
my last couple of days in Eugene being a little more social than the
earlier part of my stay and sampled a few of the local wares, not
least of all the beer. Eugene and more generally the northwest
(Oregon and Washington states) enjoy the perfect conditions to grow
hops and there are more breweries operating in these parts than
anywhere else in the world. Eugene a relatively small city has more
than three breweries all offering a vast range of beers. Last
Thursday I visited the Ninkasi brewery (apparently she was the
Sumerian goddess of beer) where there is a shiny new tasting room
attached to the brewery and its full range of regular and one off
beers are available.
Eugene not only provided
me with delicious beer it also perhaps more surprisingly served up
some of the best pizza I've ever eaten in a restaurant called Sizzle
Pie. Its located in the heart of downtown just opposite Ken Kessey of
The Merry Pranksters fame (see Tom Wolfe's – Electric Kool Aid Acid
Test if you're not sure who he or the Pranksters were). They offer
slices, salads or entire pizzas who's proportions are on a par with
the restaurant's tables. As well as pizza I enjoyed a visit to a
Japanese cocktail bar and restaurant who served up great octopus and
Japanese mules (not sure what goes into this cocktail but it was
spicy, sharp and delicious).
I arrived in Seattle late
Sunday night under cover of darkness which appears to be my default
mode of entry into nearly every city I visit. Monday revealed a clean
and spacious town with far fewer homeless than I'd grown accustomed
to in San Francisco and Eugene. My hostel is close to the waterfront
in the Belltown district (not saying much in such a watery city where
the Puget sound and associated waterways weave between the city
street). It feels like an industrious sort of place and is home to
some of the biggest names in business, Boeing, Microsoft and
Starbucks to name but a few. It also marks the base of operations for
the USA's northern Pacific fishing fleet who can be assured of
shelter from the stormy winters in the sound. This in turn explain
the number of seafood restaurants I've spotted around here and the
burly looking guys wearing flannel shirts who an American guy I was
speaking with in a nearby dive bar explained were fisherman.
Yesterday I visited the
EMP (Experience Music Project) – a huge museum for contemporary
music that was paid for by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame (or is that
infamy?) designed by Frank Geary (he of the Guggenheim in Bilbao).
Its located just beneath the space needle so finding it wasn't a
problem. I believe the exhibitions change around a little but happily
the four on offer yesterday were all phenomenal. The first order of
business was the Jimi Hendrix exhibit. I'd heard thorough the
grapevine Allen had originally commissioned the museum to serve as a
Hendrix museum but his family who control his estate refused. I'm not
sure if this is myth or reality – either way I was happy they had
an exhibit official or not. The exhibition basically told the story
of Jimi's time in London where he first became a star. It succeeded
in transporting me to the Swinging London with its mixture of
artefacts (can I call a guitar form 1967 an artefact?) and
interactive audio-visual pieces. There were of course the obligatory
smashed guitars as well as a few in better repair and standing next
to them you do feel a sense of being closer to Jimi. The same goes
for Kurt Cobain who's biography was detailed in an even more
comprehensive manner in the exhibition on grunge and the Seattle
music scene that was in part curated by Chris Novacek formerly of
Nirvana. I know both Kurt and Jimi are members of the 27 club but
there was something much more somber about Cobain's history. Perhaps
its just that stark reality of blowing your brains out with a shotgun
as opposed to choking inadvertently on your own vomit? Or maybe its
the music each made? I'm really not sure. The two remaining
exhibitions – The Hall of Guitars and an area upstairs where you
can play guitar, bass, drums and keyboards – scratch DJ or produce
a Eurythmics track provided some lighter entertainment. All tolled I
spent around four hours in there, a time I think bettered only by the
Met in NYC in my history of museum going. And if you ever get to
Seattle you have to check it out.
I'm going to have slice
of cherry pie now before heading over to the Great Northern hotel and
the location of the Twin Peaks title credits vista. Tomorrow its
Vancouver where once again I'll arrive in the dark of night, unless
of course Bob gets me (TP fans only)...
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