Stars Down at the Mint sound check

Stars Down at the Mint sound check, originally uploaded by Elisa ~ www.emswazzu.com.

Foo-kin orgy...

Seriously...I have sweat soaked through my clothes coming out of this show...and I am not sure any of it's mine! ick!!!! lmao...

With time passing, perhaps, I will just remember it as an orgy w/the Foo's...lol, if only! Up front I was...I can only dream the dream...but the Foo Fighters were fabulous.........and...

Dave Grohl was so hot...I don' t know how to describe it..it's not his fashion sense...perhaps it is the plain guy speak...when he says he is going to play some more good shit for us,lol...or perhaps when we , the masses voiced our preference for FIVE encore songs versus his stories...he thusly tell us "Fuck you!" ...with love, of course...

He promised they would play all night if they could, or until they got kicked out...we got almost 3 hours of constant music...both sides of the arena...pulsing all around...everyone got their fix...

I will say, I may be too OLD for the mosh pit! lol...oy!!!! I was almost freaked out when he said they would play for hours....I honestly didn't know if I could handle it....the writhing throbbing mass of 10k(probably a few of which were all crushing the floor) felt like it was pressed up against me with so much force...oft times, more than 10people were crushed on top of me practically...

And so many crowd surfers surfed them selves right out of the show....as they got spit out from the writhing crowd up front, that was their cue to exit...so weird the surfing....I clearly have not gone to enough of these types of shows...I had never seen it so prevalent...oy indeed!

As to photos, I had a camera packed in my purse that I could never get to...so I satisfied the brief urges via my iPhone...mostly though, I was half rapt by Grohl & Co...half holding on for dear life...





Foo-kin Orgy indeed! Thanks Dave! P.S. he wears grey underwear...lmao, yes I was that close! So, yes, thanks for the Orgy, Dave;)

xoxo
~Elisa

P.S. some more...cross posted on RBL with some fresh thoughts there: http://rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=7399

Me and the PNA...

Heya folks...yeah, yeah, I know, where are those damn Europe photos!?

Patience my lovelies!

I did want to stop and mention one of the new things I am up to...

I mentioned before, I need to get more involved, volunteer somehow...

Well, I think I found the perfect opportunity to give back to the community and further my current obsession! I am volunteering as the photographer for the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association - the PNA : http://www.phinneycenter.org

They do cool things for their surrounding community, host neat events, and what they do is full of "life" and that, I think, is what I am about as a photographer...

So keep a lookout...I have just started, so don't have much to show yet, I sent them some of their building exterior shots that they have running on a mini slideshow on their blog: http://phinneycenter.blogspot.com/ ...there will be more, and they have some upcoming things like a beer taste, and a Farmers Market...so I will keep y'alls updated here, to check out new stuff!

Some other stuff image wise too...but we will see how that pans out...

Life otherwise is ok...Foo Fighters this week! squee! might sneak the old p/s into that...we will see...I have general admission tix, so we will see how close I get to that dirty rocker boy David Grohl---yum! ha ha...

Laters my people...

xoxo
~Elisa

Seattle comes Out...

They sure did...it was a bright, shiny and a freaking HOT Seattle Sunday...and it was the big Pride Parade day...the featured parade in the few weeks of gay pride celebrations hereabouts...

I am not gay(not that there is anything wrong with it...tm J. Seinfeld, lol), and have never made any effort to check out the festivities...I mean I am totally ok with whatever folks do, have gay friends, etc etc...I have just never bothered to do more than notice that traffic is bad during these times!

Well, lately I have been a bit of an image whore, and any good opportunity to capture some colorful life out and about, and I am there! So...lol...needless to say, this event qualified! The previous weekend (see preceding blog) I had shot from within the Fremont Solstice parade...and this was a clear followup opportunity...I love shooting people...from an event/editorial viewpoint...capturing their passion and joy in life...

I have to say, this was very different, this Pride parade, than I expected, and from the preceding weekend...

First, one of the big call outs I would say is just how political it was...and I don't mean, gay rights perspective, though there is that...

I mean, ALL the big local, I think mostly democrat, politicians were out, with their supporters...and legions of Obama supporters...

And kids...lots of kids...definitely a family feel to the thing...

Lot's of official and varied church support...god is love was definitely a theme...

The obvious, drag queens, the Sisters, and super stereotypical gay imagery accompanied much of the displays...and was easiest to capture via photograph...the camera loves the flamboyant...and I have to admit, these folks are who I knew would get captured well in frame, and they did not disappoint...

But, the formality and grandiousness of size of the event also surprised me a bit...

I guess, it was so much in contrast to the free and arty Solstice bit, that the big floats and police escort kind of threw me...and of course, I was just a spectator here, so shot from the sidelines...

The other bit that pleasantly surprised me, were all the locals that came out to stand with me on the sidelines...many totally straight, and many families...just coming out to see a fun parade, and share in the love...

To me that was mostly what this thing was about...it really wasn't all that showy to me...not excessively flamboyant, as compared to the exhibitionist displays from the preceding weekend(though I did recognize a handful of the same folks turn out in the parade:)...it really was about love, acceptance, diversity, and excitement---the political supporters were effusive, even...it was catchy....

So, without further adieu, I suppose, here are my favorite images from the 2 hours I spent in the scorching sun...

The preceding are a subselection(though majority) of the full set I have loaded here:
http://flickr.com/photos/emswazzu/sets/72157605917942489/

Peace & Love Seattle...

xoxo
~Elisa