30 April, 2006 (Sunday)

Seattle sites - Underground, EMP, Sci Fi Museum

Seattle Underground
Once upon a time the town of Seattle was built on a foundation of woodchips and dirt. That, combined with building too close to the tidal waters, meant for problematic town development. Following City Hall's decision to raise the footpath a good part of Seattle's early waterfront has a mini-city slowly decomposing underneath it's current storefronts. We were taken through Seattle's early history by our bad-joke splitting tour guide Bruce. Along the way we got to stare through 150 year old sky lights, dusty bank vaults and 4 foot thick walls that were built between the old roadway and footpath, which were then filled with debris. A bargain tour at $12. (Picture: Bruce stands under an original skylight in the Underground)


Experience Music Project (EMP)
Co-located with the Sci-Fi museum near the Space Needle the Experience Music Project (EMP) is something between a contemporary music museum and an introduction to music production. Unfortunately no cameras allowed so no funky pictures, which is pity because it's a pretty good display - everything from the stage costumes of Elton John, Jimmy Hendrix, Sonny & Cher and KISS, to the development of Hip-Hop, to how Seattle became one of the great music meccas of the West Coast. Sean and I got our 5 minutes of fame with a live recording of Wild Thing, complete with flashing lights and automated audience clapping (but unfortunately no mad fans throwing their underwear), as well as time in a mini-studio jamming with keyboard and guitar. Entry $27 including access to the Sci Fi museum. (Picture: Welcome to the halls of the Underground)


Science Fiction Museum
A strange two-story museum featuring everything Sci Fi, starting with a time line, moving through to predictions leading to technological development, major themes and evolution through the years. We browsed the hall of fame, re-lived the Star Wars phenomena and nerded up on famous fictional starships. Science fiction was painted as a major outlet for creative talent as well as a gateway to our future. It was described as a means to take people beyond petty bias and preconceptions, providing strong metaphors to questoin and educate. Is Science Fiction the mythology of the new millenium? How much does it influence our perceptions and popular culture?


Space Needle
Some people say that any cursory exploration of Seattle isn't complete without a visit to the Space Needle, once upon a time the highest building on the Seattle skyline. We demured - $14 for a ride up a tower seems a bit excessive. To add insult to injury the entire bottom level is occupied with a nasty little over-priced gift shop. I like my tourist traps to be a little subtler.


Dorm Mates
We finally met our dorm-mates, a pommy pair by the names of Nick and Sarah (from Manchester). After dinner we headed out to check out the Seattle Nightlife. The Crocodile Cafe is one of the more infamous live music venues on the Seattle scene. It was appreciably alternative, even for a Sunday night, with punk girls with multi-coloured pigtails and black mascara, shaven headed guys in leather, criss-crossed with tattoos. Bands were playing in the main room, but we headed to the back bar to have a brew and soak in the ambiance. (Picture: Seattle Space Needle behind the EMP)

Heading further down the strip we hit the near deserted Lava Bar. It was darkly lit, but belting out some hard metal melodies. The beer was cheap. We pulled up a stool at the bar and ordered