Day two in Seattle. The most beautiful sun and clouds yesterday and today in, perhaps, my favorite city in America. Among the reasons: KEXP, the market, the Sound, the Ace, the Stranger (and their blog), the Warren Report, Red Mill Burgers, the Seattle Film Fest, Bumbershoot, etc, etc.
Today I drove from Seattle to Aberdeen, where I began work on my new project, a documentary about Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, based on the audio interviews conducted by Michael Azerrad for his book, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. This is a project that I have been working on for almost two years, and it was an amazing experience to finally be in Aberdeen today shooting test footage for the film.
Aberdeen is an interesting place, a mix of beauty and hardness, depression and rebuilding. Like many towns its size, it has a struggling downtown core, with buildings that are abandoned or dilapidated, but with the occasional bright spot of a new restaurant or piece of public art. Its timber mills seem to be in a constant state of flux, with some going bankrupt and others bought by huge corporations. And no one is quite sure what to do about Cobain, most famous son, who shined a light on the town that was both bright and occasionally unpleasant. The town has placed a sign at the city limits that says "Welcome to Aberdeen, Come As You Are". There has been talk of a statue or some other way to recognize him but no consensus yet. And the tourists keep on coming, asking for something - a tour, a trail - something that they can do to feel his presence.
I did a little of that myself today, but with the help of two very kind folks from the county, who seem pleased that we will be shooting a portion of the film in their area. And there were moments of real joy for me, moments best left unsaid for the time being, where the smile on my face was brighter than the brilliant sunshine that cascaded over us for the day.
Coming back to Seattle on the Bremerton ferry, I stood in the bracingly cold wind and watched as the lights of the city grew larger. The sky was the most midnight shade of blue. An older couple stood across from me, arms around each other, their forms in black silhouette against the illuminations of the skyscrapers. And I leaned against the ferry wall and took it all in. The day I had, the night just beginning, the adventure that lies before me.
And then I took the stairs down to my rental car and turned on KEXP and drove away.
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