I received an email today from steb, an actual regular reader (see, I told you there was such a thing) who also attended the 50 Foot Wave show Friday night. He was kind enough to send a picture he’d taken of Ms. Hersh at work; you can see a gallery of his shots from that night here; click on “pictures”, then on “27 February 2004”. Here's the one he sent me:
Directly behind Kristin , you can see a blue and white “tsunami evacuation route” sign. If you’ve ever driven along the Oregon or Northern California coast, that sign will be a familiar one. SG and I saw quite a few of them while on vacation this summer. They’ve always struck me as being essentially futile in nature, since tsunamis are known for moving at a pretty good clip until they hit shallow water – at which point you’re screwed if you’re standing there looking at the evacuation route sign. I know that technology has gotten to the point where most potential tsunamis can be tracked well in advance of when they might come ashore, but it still seems like a “feel good” warning to me. It’s not unlike the Civil Defense community fallout shelters they had back when I was a kid. People find it reassuring to know that there’s a plan in place, even if it’s unlikely to be of any use in an actual emergency.
On another note entirely, steb reminded me of something I meant to mention yesterday: the odd sound mix that night. The vocals were, for all intents and purposes, buried under all the guitar. Not sure if that was an artistic choice, a side effect of the way the room is configured (there’s a large, open bar area just off the stage room), or the sound guy falling down on the job. Deaf as I am I noticed it, as did Science Girl and steb. Not a huge point, but there it is.
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