Sunday was Father's Day, and this dad couldn't have asked for a better couple of days. I went to a record store on Friday and headed to the ocean for the weekend. Heat. Finally. The mercury neared 90 degrees. Just the way I like it. On Saturday, the family took the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula for a hike along the Dungeness Spit. If you have never seen its majesty, here's an aerial view:
It may not look like it, but that's a 5.5-mile hike out to the lighthouse. That little white spec is the lighthouse, and it's funny to see the spit go quite far beyond the structure. The spit continues to grow 13 feet a year. It's the longest natural sand spit in the United States. Better check the tide tables, or the water just might swallow you up. On Sunday, we had a rare day when my boys were literally standing in snow at Hurricane Ridge in the morning and swimming in the Pacific by afternoon. It's quite a little hike down to Second Beach near LaPush, and you have to climb through an enormous pile of driftwood to get to the sand, but it's well worth the work. As you can see, seems most people are scared off by the terrain. The beach was nearly all ours.
Enough about my adventures. That's not why your're here. As I mentioned, I got the gift of time for Father's Day, and there is no better present, really. I stopped by a Seattle shop I hadn't been to in ages, and I hit the jackpot in the singles section. These days, I have a serious space problem in the music room, and I find myself looking at singles more and more because it's the one format where I still haven't quite exceeded capacity on the shelf. I'll get to the entire bounty in future posts, but here's one I picked up that can't wait.
For those of you who have The Jam's "Live! EP", particularly in the UK, this won't seem like such a big deal, but the American version of the 1983 double-album compilation 'Snap!' didn't come with this bonus 7", not even the first pressing, making it a rare find in this area of the world. The best part is I paid the price of a typical single in 2018 when, frankly, I would have forked out more. If you aren't familiar with the four songs, they were recorded in December 1982 at Wembley Arena. This is an era many fans from the early days don't particularly revere, but I don't apologize for digging the horns, backing vocals and organ. That might be because I discovered Paul Weller during the early days of the Style Council and worked backwards through his discography. Here are the two covers from side A. Hope you enjoy it.
Move on Up (Live)
Get Yourself Together (Live)
7 comments:
It's almost a year since I was in Sequim on the Peninsula visiting my Aunt along with my niece. Every day of that trip was beautiful - wheather on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics or picking Lavender and fresh berries back in Sequim. I think one of the most magnificent views in all the United States is looking out from the ridge at the vastness of the Olympic Mountain Range.
As for The Jam Live EP, it was almost 10 years before I found that, it fantastic condition in a London record store. It's something I treasure.
Echorich, I can't believe you know Sequim! That's where we usually stay when we head over there. I have been there many times in the 8 years we have lived here, but I never get over how many unspoiled square miles there are on the Peninsula.
Gotta tell you, I was pretty excited to find that Jam EP. I knew of it, of course, but this was the first time I had ever even seen it. I heard myself gasp, and it took some doing not to jump up and down. The very next single I turned to was All Tomorrow'a Parties from Japan... which is another one only you might appreciate in these parts. You just don't get many back-to-back finds like that these days.
Wow Brian. That part of the world is utterly beautiful. I can quite see why you return again and again. Plus there's a record shop nearby? All it needs is a good independent coffee shop and it'd just about be a dream location for me. I just Googled Sequim and there are a whole bunch of great looking small coffee shops in the area.
Mrs S, grab my wallet - I'm off to book a holiday!
Now, that sounds fun for a father's day, Brian! All I do is getting drunk all the time on father's day, tells you what a poor loser I must be! But next year, you wait and see ... !
You certainly had a better Father's Day weekend than I did, food shopping, hoovering and cleaning up the house. Swede is right, it looks incredibly beautiful. If I ever get on that plane
Great pics Brian.
Glorious photos. Sounds like a great day. Glad you got a rarity too.
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