Archive for November, 2008
Vashon’s Cafe Luna: 5:01, Riverbend and Dr. Strangelove
Friday, November 28th, 7:30 PM
5:01
Country Rock at Its Finest!
This vocally driven, rock-flavored music has an original sound that’s easy to tap your toe to. Expect anything from true love to political commentary from this all-Island band that is Jack Barbash on piano, Doug Ringer on bass, Luke McQuillin rocking on electric guitar, Mark Wells and his acoustic guitar, and Geordan Mitchell doing his percussion thing, shades on, laid back, and ready to make it happen.
Saturday, November 29th, 7:30 PM
River Bend
Traditional, Old-Time Country Favorites River Bend
Sunday, November 30th, 6 PM
Peace Film #4
the Incorrigible…..Dr. Strangelove
In the days after it first opened in early 1964, Stanley Kubrick’s ”Dr. Strangelove” took on the enchanted aura of a film that had gotten away with something. Johnson was in the White House, the Republicans were grooming Goldwater, both sides took the Cold War with grim solemnity, and the world was learning to be comfortable with the term “nuclear deterrent,” which meant that if you blow me up, I’m gonna blow you up, and then we’ll all be dead. “Better dead than Red,” some said. Others said the opposite. The choice was not appealing.
The Bomb overshadowed global politics. It was a kind of ultimate hole card in a game where the stakes were life on earth.
Then Kubrick’s film opened with the force of a bucketful of cold water, right in the face. What Kubrick’s Cold War satire showed was not men at the mercy of machines, but machines at the mercy of men – especially the loony Gen. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden).
Commanding a wing of the Strategic Air Command, he orders the B-52 bombers under his command to attack the Soviet Union. When an aghast British military attache (Peter Sellers) tries to stop him, Ripper sucks on a huge phallic cigar while explaining the Commie plot to taint our water supply and deplete our “precious bodily fluids.” He refuses to reveal the code which could recall the nuclear-armed planes, and eventually shoots himself while the world careens toward doom.
Events on Ripper’s army base are intercut with scenes on board one of the B-52s, and with an emergency meeting in the Pentagon’s War Room – still one of the most memorable sets ever constructed for a movie, with its vast global maps looming over a huge round table with an unblinking circle of light above it. Here U.S. President Merkin Muffley (Sellers again) learns with horror from his strategic adviser Dr. Strangelove (Sellers in his third role) that the Russians have a Doomsday Machine, set to launch a counterattack if the Soviet Union is bombed. It appears that neither the Doomsday Machine nor one of the U.S. bombers can be dissuaded from their missions.
The movie’s screenplay, by Terry Southern with help from Kubrick and Peter George, fashions this scenario into a dark comedy of errors, illuminated by flashes of brilliant satire. Some of the dialogue has entered the language – “precious bodily fluids,” of course, and also the way the dim-witted Col. Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) (hints darkly of Commie “preverts.” The scene at the telephone booth between Guano and the British attache, who does not have the correct small change to call the White House and save the world, is one of the movie’s best-constructed gags.
If Sterling Hayden makes a glowering, paranoiac Gen. Ripper, George C. Scott is brilliant as his counterpoint, Gen. Buck Turgidson, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who chews gum, makes faces, and breaks one piece of bad news after another to the President. And Sellers, as president, has a series of painfully labored hotline conversations with the Soviet Premier (“He went and did a funny thing, Dimitri . . .”) that reduce nuclear annihilation to the level of a very serious social gaffe.
At about the same time Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was showing the way language can be tortured into new shapes and meanings, “Dr.
Strangelove” had the same kind of verbal wit: “The auto-destruct mechanism destroyed itself,” we learn, and “You can’t fight in the War Room!” And in contrast to the abstract debates in the Pentagon, there’s the simple patriotism of the B-52 pilot, Maj. “King” Kong (Slim Pickens) who promises his crew there’s going to be promotions and decorations all around. His exit from the movie, riding a bomb like a bronco, remains one of the most famous moments in modern film.
The only part of the film that doesn’t really work is the War Room sequence that comes between Pickens’ wild ride and the closing nuclear montage. Sellers, as Strangelove, battles hilariously with his misbehaving bionic hand, but the dialogue doesn’t seem to lead anywhere, and the sequence seems oddly inconclusive. In an earlier shot in the War Room, we’ve seen a long table covered with cakes and pies, and it’s said Kubrick intended to end the scene with a pie fight. I’m happy that he didn’t, but maybe he could have moved the whole scene earlier; after Pickens rides that bomb to the ground the only possible segue is to all those mushroom clouds.
Seen after 30 years, ”Dr. Strangelove” seems remarkably fresh and undated – a clear-eyed, irreverant, dangerous satire. And its willingness to follow the situation to its logical conclusion – nuclear annihilation – has a purity that today’s lily-livered happy-ending technicians would probably find a way around. Its black and white photography helps, too, putting an unadorned face on its deadly political paradoxes. If movies of this irreverence, intelligence and savagery were still being made, the world would seem a younger place.
Vashon’s Red Bicycle Bistro: Backbone Campaign Rolling Stones Benefit
Join us for another incredible night of music, community, politics, food and drink. Emcee Steffon Moody will shock, delight,and entertain. Bring your checkbooks as we’ll have a great auction with great “stone” themed items and Green Gifts to save you from some holiday shopping.
Pete Welch has organized another amazing line up of musicians, so come and recover from your Turkey Hangover – and help get the Backbone Campaign to Inauguration and off to Campuses with our Procession for the Future.
The festivities start at 7:30 pm at The Red Bicycle on Saturday, November 29. Tickets are $15 and available at Books by the Way and Vashon Bookshop, or by calling 408-8058. All money raised at the event will fund the Backbone Campaign’s Spring Campus Tour. The event is all ages until 9:30 pm and over 21 thereafter.
Join us for another incredible night of music, community, politics, food and drink. Emcee Steffon Moody will shock, delight,and entertain. Bring your checkbooks as we’ll have a great auction with great “stone” themed items and Green Gifts to save you from some holiday shopping.
Pete Welch has organized another amazing line up of musicians, so come and recover from your Turkey Hangover – and help get the Backbone Campaign to Inauguration and off to Campuses with our Procession for the Future.
Vashon’s Red Bicycle Bistro: The Pharmacy Honors Ross Krinsky
The Pharmacy plays an ALL AGES SHOW TO HONOR OUR GOOD FRIEND ROSS KRINSKY!
Saturday November 28 at 9:00 PM.
Scott Yoder and Brendhan Bowers made plenty of noisy racket in the local garages and teen centers growing up on Vashon Island. They moved across the Puget Sound to Seattle and booked their first tour as The Pharmacy (with then-member Joey Seward) in 2003 and have kept the show pretty much on the road ever since. In 2006 Joey left for more metal pursuits and classically trained pianist and fellow Vashon kid Stefan Rubicz joined on keyboards. Since then they’ve transformed from the synth-heavy overdrive of their 2005 debut album B.F.F. through the drizzly sunshine of the Overcast Summer 7″ at last landing on the off-kilter psychedelic pop of Choose Yr Own Adventure. Replete with epic instrumentation – viola, violin, cello, harpsichord and horns all make an appearance- Choose Yr Own Adventure has been years in the making, re-vamped re-recorded and re-written over time.
They have played Bumbershoot, the Capitol Hill Block Party, every club in town and every basement in the country. They have played with the Moldy Peaches and toured with Kimya Dawson (as her opening and backing band), Jeffrey Lewis and Matt & Kim. The 2008 European tour is happening right now. If they could live on tour then they would….. Let’s welcome these guys back to Vashon in a big way, the day after Thanksgiving. ALL AGES SHOW. 9-11pm. We’re making this a really affordable show by ONLY charging $4 cover!!
Vashon’s Church of the Great Rain – Sunday, November 29 at 7:00 pm – All Ages and Free
Vashon’s Church of the Great Rain performs their second public broadcast in the Pacific Northwest’s answer to the Prairie Home Companion. Islanders can come to the show or listen on the Voice of Vashon. The group will perform on the last Sunday of each month. The organizers allow that the show will include a “not-very-well-considered sermon, short stories, rumors, and truth about Islanders and Island living.
Vashon Annual Art Tour 2008: 32 Studios Open
Vashon Island painters, potters, sculptors, candle makers, photographers, tile makers, woodworkers, weavers, bell makers, jewelers soap makers, lavender artists and even musicians will open their studios and sell their works during the weekends of December 5 and 12 2008. The Vashon Island Holiday Art Studio Tour will be held from 10 am until 4 pm Saturday and Sunday of both weekends. Thirty-two art studios will participate. Island musicians will play both weekends at local clubs. More than 60 artists are participating. Color maps of the tour can be found at vashonislandartstudiotour.com as well as at many island businesses.
Think Green: Thanksgiving on Vashon
Do you know the force of gratitude? How every day can be Thanksgiving?
There’s no doubt you’ve heard the expression “Gratitude is an attitude” and so it is. At the same time, gratitude is a wonderful topic to consider for the potential and instantaneous impact it can have on your life. An attitude is an expression of free will and an integral part of leading a fully autonomous life. It means choosing to honor what IS by simply acknowledging what’s presently taking place. Think for a moment about the lasting impact of an acknowledgement from someone significant in your life. And so, being grateful is a way of being; an experience you cultivate by choice. If there ever was a magic pill, gratitude is it!
To be in gratitude is to hold and admire the gifts of life no matter their size or origin. I discovered that the word gratitude is connected to the word grace. What a wonderful notion that whenever you adopt an attitude of gratitude, you invite grace into your experience. If you’re not the religious type, you certainly don’t have to think of this as God’s grace. In fact, words often have many definitions for you to choose from. You might prefer another meaning of grace such as: “pleasing quality or beauty of form and movement “. Imagine your life flowing with elegance in such a way that it’s a thing of beauty to notice yourself and to have others notice you living so gracefully. Yes, gratitude can do that.
And still there are more ways to describe gratitude and grace including “to praise or welcome”. How lovely to realize that speaking of the goodness of your life then serves to invite and embrace even greater blessings. Think of it as the flow of energy. Gratitude begins a cycle that fuels the forward expansion of life. Without you as the instrument of that flow, the process would fail. Everything within your circle of influence is energized by sweet thankfulness whenever you open the gifts of the present. Yes, gratitude can do that too.
And it is just that, an opening. Being grateful, and thereby graceful, is about accessing the jewels once concealed by your heart. It’s a veritable treasure chest, open to shine its contents upon all onlookers. From that place, there is trust and confidence. From that place there is connection to the infinite within you and the endless rewards made available through appreciation. The door to your heart need not be closed for fear of theft. Closing the door through an unnecessary desire for security only serves to end that benevolent flow. It’s ONLY by choosing the experience of gratefulness in the HERE and NOW that you make yourself available to the living riches that exist for you in the days and years ahead.
It is that energy flow which begins to address the underlying force of gratitude. To be sincerely grateful for all that you have been blessed with, both tangible and intangible, means that you’re actively and intentionally creating a relationship with the best life has to offer. But how can you be thankful for the events of life that are painful? That is a matter of perspective. It’s a matter of honoring your pain, not as instrument of suffering, but as a profoundly wise teacher.
That was so of my marriage which ended after eight difficult years. Throughout the relationship I had been angry, sad, depressed and considered myself to be the victim. Had I been treated unfairly? Yes. Had I been shown on-going hostility? For sure. But my former husband was the single most powerful teacher I’ve ever had. He taught me how truly capable I am; that I can make good choices and safeguard my boundaries. Most importantly, his unwillingness to really show up in our marriage mirrored my own unwillingness to show up for me. Had he abandoned his spoken vows to me or had I unwittingly abandoned myself by never taking my own vow in the first place? How could I honor myself when I’d never acknowledged myself? Fortunately in the end, I never lost the true me, I only misplaced her temporarily. And when she returned, she came back more powerful, more resolute, and more committed to living with compassion and purpose than ever before. For these lessons, I thanked my ex-husband. I expressed my deepest gratitude to him for loving me enough to set me free. There is an expression which says “Before the bird can fly, the shell must break” which illustrates how painful fractures in your emotional body are in fact necessary openings to the blessings in store for you.
And you know, I believe my shift in perspective about my marriage fostered the friendship that he and I now have. It’s the relationship we never had when we were married and it’s the cornerstone of our raising a healthy, happy child together.
So I invite you to experience the force of gratitude in your own path to prosperity. In the words of Melodie Beattie:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
My challenge to you is to express gratitude once each day for a week. Go beyond a simple thank you and let someone know how they made your life better. Make your Thanksgiving specific and personal. And know that your spoken gifts may be treasured for a lifetime.
Until next time, I leave you with abundant peace.
Joyanne
Ask Kyle: Jumbo Loan Limits for 2009
Kyle B. Bailey
Mortgage Planner
What are the new Jumbo loan limits for 2009?
Direct: 425.673.8227
Cell: 425.293.5371
Fax: 480.287.8704
kbailey@golfsavingsbank.com
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has recently announced the 2009 conforming and jumbo conforming loan limits for 2009. The conforming loan limit will remain at $417,000. The jumbo conforming limit was reduced to 115% of median home values from 125% for 2008. The new conforming jumbo limits for King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties will be $506,000 for a single family residence. Jumbo FHA loan limits will also be set at $506,000 for 2009.
These new loan limits are for saleable loans; meaning loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have agreed to buy. Golf Savings Bank is one of the few financial institutions that have the ability to fund loans at higher loan amounts without the traditionally higher “Jumbo” interest rates. These are often portfolio loans that won’t be sold on the secondary market.
Give me a call to discuss your individual situation to see what interest rates and loan programs are currently available.
Vashon Real Estate: Sales Prices Should be Reconsidered
An emerging truth about the state of the current housing market is also an old bit of wisdom. In its most familiar guise, “a house is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it.” In today’s Buyers’ Market, serious home sellers must take a bite of reality sandwich in setting their sales pricing strategy.
By “serious home sellers” I am excluding those home owners who float their homes on the market at an unreasonable price in hopes that P.T. Barnum’s proverbial sucker will come out of the woodwork in a minute.
A realistic home seller, today, must reassess his or her expectations in view of the many factors at play in today’s economy. A recent report from Coldwell Banker showed that more than three-quarters of its real estate agents surveyed said “most sellers have unreasonable initial listing prices for their homes.” In the context of traditional house marketing wisdom, an unreasonable initial sales price will deny a seller an opportunity to take advantage of the one month honeymoon that a new listing experiences on the market. During that first month of listing, a new listing will attract significantly more buyer interest than at any other time in its on-market history, and a serious seller simply cannot afford to squandor that opportunity.
As the Seattle Times reported on November 23, 2008, “the housing market may have gone bust, but many homeowners are still living in a bubble.” A study released by Zillow.com (which GoVashon does not recommend for accurate valuation services) found that half of homeowners polled think their home’s value has increased or stayed the same in the past year.
An owner’s attachment to a home for sentimental reasons only intensifies the trauma of setting a realistic selling price. This places real estate listing agents in a precarious position in their effort to help a seller set a reasonable price in the context of the seller’s inflated expectations.
In fact, setting an unrealistic price tends to sustain the unstable market, with seller’s keeping the inventory artificially high by over pricing their homes or, in frustration, pulling their listing off the market with the intention of adding it to the glut of homes that will re-enter the market when the economy stabilizes.
The bottom line is that a seller should pay close attention to a real estate professional’s custom Comparative Market Analysis before deciding whether to list their home for sale. The consequence of inflated expectations is that a home may sit unsold for months, wasting the seller’s and the agent’s resources, and unintentionally sustaining the meandering of the market.
Vashon Housing Statistics: Year-to-Date October 2008
Year-to-date October 2008
New single family homes units sold in October 2008 up 3% from September 2008
New Single Family Homes (vs. Year- to date 2007)
Average sale price: $652,714, off 2%
Median sale price: $530,303, off 4%
New homes represent 18% of volume and 15% of units recorded
2,035 sold vs. 3,177 last year, off 36% volume: off 37% to $1.3 billion
Average $/SF: $247.18, off 5% (49% of sales with data)
Best range: $500,001 – $600,000 with 31.1 per month
Next best range: $750,000 – $1,000,000, with absorption of 30.5 monthly
Best lot range: $200,001 – $300,000, with absorption of 8.6 per month, off 47%
Subdivisions (vs. 2007)
The average lot sold for $222,905, off 17%
Half the lots sold for more than $198,333 (median), unchanged
29.4 sold per month vs. 84 last year , off 65%
Average lot represents 34.2% of the average priced new home
The median is 37.4% of the median priced new home
Attached unit sales off 13% in October 2008 from September 2008
Attached (vs. Year- to date 2007) includes condos, commons and town/row homes
Average sale price: $362,267, up 2%
Median sale price: $315,000, unchanged
33% (2,000 units) of sales are new
6,135 sold vs. 11,429 last year, off 46%; volume: off 45% to $2.2 billion
Average existing $/SF: up 2% to $320.42 new: $321.21, off 3%, (61% w/data)
Range with best sales, existing: $300,001 – $350,000, with 55.1 per month
Range with best sales, new: $300,001 – $350,000, with 32.1 monthly
Projection
Relative inventory increased to 9.3 months, a buyers’ market. Prices will remain soft.
With unemployment rising, potential home buyers have become more cautious as
have lenders. Foreclosures will rise with short sales lowering prices.
Customer Service:
Year-to-date October 2008
Residential sales volume for October 2008 decreased 9% from September 2008
All Sales (vs. Year- to date 2007)
Residential sales volume: off 42% to $9.7 billion
Residential transactions: off 41% to 19,726
Mobile home sales on land: off 48% to $33 million
Plexes (2-5 units) sales: off 57% to $165 million
Land sales: off 74% to $236 million
Commercial volume: off 66% to $2.5 billion
Average residence: $489,591, off 2%
Existing home transactions sold decreased 12% in October 2008 from September 2008
Existing Home Sales (vs. Year- to date 2007)
Units sold: off 38%; volume: off 41% to $5.9 billion
11,133 units sold this year vs. 17,908
Average price off 5% to $532,699
Half homes (median) sold for less than $429,500, off 4%
Average $/SF for homes sold at $278.04 (all sales), off 7%
Best range: $300,001 – $350,000, with 137.3 monthly
Second best absorption rate: $500,001 – $600,000, with 127.9 per month
11.7 acreage parcels sold monthly, off 66%; average price: $231,367 off 28% from last year
Acreage Sales (vs. 2007)
55.8 per month existing homes sold, off 44%, average price: $734,800, off 11%
Median price for existing homes: $581,000, off 8%
5.3 new homes sold monthly, off 45%, average price: $997,782, up 2%
Median price for new homes: $807,000, up 27%
The $/SF for existing homes: $295.92, off 16%; new: $250.22, off 18% (57% w/data)
Average lot sizes, for existing homes: 3.7 acres, up 13%; new: 3.2 acres, off 47%
The average price per acre for acreage lot sales: $88,058, off 21%
September residential recorded transactions were 23% fewer than last September.
Source: Commonwealth Land Title Company of Puget Sound, LLC
Vashon Island Music Festival: 2008 Video Premier
Rez 1 Productions will present the premier of the documentary video 2008 Vashon Island Music Festival at the Ober Park Building on Saturday, November 22, from 6:00 until 9:30 pm. The film, shot by “G” Mitchell, captures all the spirit and artistry of this wonderful community event, including music by Resonance, John Browne, “501″, Subconscious Population, Trolls Cottage, and more. The DVD was created from more than 15 hours of footage in high definition, wide-screen format. DVDs will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $7 or $5 with a donation to the Vashon Food Bank.
Vashon’s Red Bicycle Bistro: Publish the Quest and Watermark Perform
Saturday, November 22
Returning to Vashon Island for their CD RELEASE PARTY is Publish The Quest. Be one of the first to take home this incredible CD, after dancing the night away at the show. This band is comprised of some of the best Seattle musicians around, Jacob Bain & Earl Clay (Trolls Cottage), Jeff Demelle & Izaak Mills (Clinton Fearon), Samantha Boshnick & Chris Poage (Panda Conspiracy). Be a part of this special night, it’s gonna be even better than the show in September!
Opening for PTQ will be Island band BOB SCOTT ‘N THE POCKETS Bob Scott was the son of a famous lion tamer, and beer brewer Richard Howard Scott. His mother was a sword swallower and juggler Marie Luis Rutherford, his parents met at the circus. Most of his life was spent on the road. As a child Bob befriended a Chimp called Max, the two were inseparable. Max was a performer in the circus band (drummer) and it is believed that this was Bob’s introduction to music. Max and Bob’s friendship was cut short with the tragic accidental death of Max and the big train crash of ’57. Bob never fully recovered from the loss of Max’s friendship, and for several years afterward made it his personal mission to change the safety practices of trains and the transportation industry. As a young adult Bob became consumed with music, eventually becoming the bandleader for the circus. Bob always felt trapped in the limitations that were placed on him within the confines of circus music, eventually leaving his family and the circus to pursue bigger dreams.
While on the road Bob made his way up to Seattle WA. It is there that he became friends with James Marshall Hendrix who was playing drums for a burlesque troop, The Flaming Tassels. Bob had become versatile with every musical instrument he picked up. It was Bob in fact that gave James his first guitar….
$8 cover. 21+
Sunday, November 23
Watermark is all about acoustic folk rock, amazing harmonies, and more than a little of the unexpected (maybe blues, maybe jazz, maybe reggae?). Roger Taylor and Charles Reed play guitars, Kevin Almeida is the bass man, and all three sing; and then there’s Larry Lawson making magic on his flutes.
What can you expect? Obscure covers by bands that you’ve always known and loved, original arrangements of familiar tunes, songs you’ll be so glad to hear again, plus that promise of what’s unexpected. WATERMARK is: Roger Taylor – guitar and vocals, Kevin Almeida – bass and vocals, Larry Lawson – flutes, Charles Reed – guitar and vocals. More info to follow. All ages. FREE COVER!
Vashon’s Cafe Luna: Ben Ekstedt and Green is Go
Vashon’s Cafe Luna features two free evenings of music this weekend.
On Friday, November 21 at 7:30 pm, Seattle singer/songwriter Ben Ekstedt will take the stage with a set of acoustic soul and pop music. Ekstedt fronted the Christian contemporary band Threefold and has now focused his career on breaking into the secular market.
His soulful music is inspired by John Mayer, Marc Broussard, and Justin Nozuka. His passionate stage presence establishes him as a formidable force in the music industry. Ben has been involved in various projects prior to seeking a solo career. Through the years Ben has had the opportunity to capture the Contemporary Christian Music market by fronting the band Threefold. It was during this venture that Ben had the distinct pleasure of working with Grammy winning producer Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay). With the release of four albums in a three year span Ben and Threefold toured over 30 states in North America.
To sample his music, visit his website!
On Saturday, November 22, Green is Go, a two-man rock/bluegrass/comedy team will appear at the Luna Cafe at 7:30 pm. The duo, Marc Barnhart and Jeff Masterson, plays guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin, ukulele, washboard and foot drums.
”We’re a two man band from Eugene Oregon, which essentially just takes everything good in the world (rock, bluegrass, folk, comedy, and a bit of latin flavor), and by channeling from some higher power, turns it into music through sheer hotness. We refuse to believe that we cant rock people’s socks off with nothing but acoustic instruments, and it shows. “
Vashon’s Blue Heron: Hells Bellows!
The Seattle-based accordion quartet, Hells Bellow’s!, will take the Blue Heron stage on Saturday, November 22, at 8 pm. Hell’s Bellows formed in 2006 to “bring the gospel of accordion chaos from Seattle to the world.” The group performs mostly original music in a repertoire that spans from contemporary classical to gypsy/Eastern European. Four-part harmony vocals add texture and color to their live performances.
Tickets are $10 for VAA members, students and seniors and $12 for general admission. To reserve tickets call 463-5131.
Vashon’s Music Life: Hans York in Concert
Seattle singer-songwriter Hans York will perform at the Havurat Building on Westside Highway on Saturday, November 22 at 7:30 pm. York is an award-winning musician recognized at Texas’ renown Kerrville Music Festival. He is an excellent performer, ranging from folk to jazz to pop, with an extraordinary singing voice and an engaging style. Advance tickets are available at the Vashon Bookshop for $12, at the door for $15.
Kevan Breitinger (Indie-music.com) October 2005, writes:
“… elegant, intuitive, and delightful.”
Hans York’s first English release is elegant, intuitive, and delightful. His many years of global musicianship pay off richly in these engaging and diverse songs. He has assembled a band of players equally sensitive, and together they offer up the distinctive, brilliant music that is the perfectly produced Inside Out.
One of the most compelling traits of this music is its intimacy. York’s vocals are smooth, clear and seductive, reminiscent of Michael Franks. He easily captures your attention alone or in his perfect pairing with the similarly wonderful Elke Diepenbeck. Together they are unstoppable, a sweet force of nature.
There’s a great mix of genres and influences sprinkled throughout the CD. Some flawless waltzes (the definitive “California Waltz”), jazzy pop songs with Brazilian influence, and several eclectic ballads make for a potpourri of perfection. Guest artists are well placed throughout; check out Orville Johnson’s slide guitar work on “Miss You,” and the amazing harp solo on the haunting standout track “Listen to the Moon.” Pardon my rave, but Hans York’s lovely first English album is simply stunning, that’s all there is to it.
Vashon Real Estate: Going Green with Paperwork
Twenty years ago a house sales transaction required three sheets of paper. Today a sale takes 25 sheets of paper (at a minimum). Changes in state and local laws, the increased sophistication of the parties to a transaction, and the need to spell out in detail all of the items that might end up in a lawsuit are driving the blizzard of documents that surrounds a home sale, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. This ream of paperwork also involves a significant increase in the amount of energy consumes by the parties to a transaction, their agents and brokers.
In a recent transaction handled by Keller WIlliams, the complexity of the transaction multiplied the paperwork exponentially, as the buyers wrestled with financing issues, multiple offers, sought extensions for deadlines, made an offer on a bank-owned house which was declined by the bank, and mismanaged exchanges of faxes.
Is this waste of resources and energy really necessary? Many parties do not even read the fine print presented to them by their agents, instead relying on the expertise of their agents to steer them through the boilerplate.
What do the forms accomplish? A Purchase and Sale Agreement, along with customized addendums, is the instrument defining the offer that a potential buyer makes on a home and the the terms of sale are negotiated. This document is subject to back and forth negotiations by the parties. Eventually, in a successful negotiation, one P&S Agreement emerges with the agreed terms to the deal.
The Purchase and Sale Agreement is accompanied by a Financing Addendum, Identification of Utilities, an Optional Clauses Addendum, Inspection Addendum, Inspection Notice, Title Contingency Addendum, Addendum/Amendment to Purchase and Sale, Seller Disclosure Statement, Disclosure of Information on Lead-based Paint and Lead-based Paint Hazards, Agency Disclosure, Commission Disbursement Form, and a Northwest Multiple Listing Service Status Change.
Go! Real Estate has recognized the need to reduce paperwork in housing transactions and has implemented policies to promote the electronic exchange of documents. These documents are legally valid and can be exchanged via the internet rather through an exchange of paper and the delay of mail delivery. This is just one way that Go! has embraced the internet to create a greener real estate practice.
Vashon Real Estate: Market Trends
RealtyTrac’s foreclosure numbers for Octobergrew dramatically, more that tripling in King County from September and the previous October. Specifically, 935 homes in King County were issued Notices of Trustee Sale. Compare the numbers to September 2008 (260) and October 2007 (282). The good news, however, is that the rate of increase is below the national rate. RealtyTrac suggests that Seattle may be seeing larger increases recently because the foreclosure surge in the region started later than the majority of the country.
October Home Sales
Seattle Region Vashon
Closed Sales 10/2007 1659 6
Closed Sales 10/2008 1319 4
Per cent change -20.5% -33.3%
Median Price 10/2007 $443,950 $547,500
Median price 10/2008 $392,000 $476,250
Per cent change -11.7% -13.0%
Vashon Real Estate: Help for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
On November 7, Federal officials announced a plan to rework threatened home loans owned or guaranteed by mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The move was intended to stop the downward spiral in the housing market. The program is scheduled to start December 15, and is open to borrowers who have missed at least three payments, have loans for at least 90 % of the home’s value, live in the home as a primary residence, and have not filed for bankruptcy. The plan will reduce payments to no more than 38% of a household’s gross income by reducingthe interest rate, extending the life of the loan, deferring payment on part of the principal, and customized steps, if needed.
Critics say that the program does not go far enough. Evidently Wall Street agrees, with the market on a roller coaster demonstrating that the news does not have a stabilizing effect on the economy.
One wonders whether the Fed actually has a handle on the crisis, or will continue to throw good money after bad as the economy spirals. Forecasts for the retail economy during the critically important holiday season are dismal, with fear of further downturns, particularly in the employment sector, causing many consumers to cut back on purchases. The news out of Detroit, as automakers plead to have their own bailout program after years of mismanagement, intensifies the impression that stability is a long way away. President-elect Obama is said to be sympathetic to the automakers’ pleas, which may mean that the next Administration may continue to throw money (to be paid for by our children’s children’s taxes) at the problem.
To make matters worse, the Bush Administration has urgently shifted course in its initial bailout proposal after only a few weeks of testing the plan. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the program would not, as originally announced, fund the purchase of distressed mortgage-backed securities and other troubled assets on the books of banks,ensruing that the housing market would continue to dangle iun the wind. The Administration is casting about to find new ways to shore up banks, credit cards, auto loans, and other huge NON-BANK businesses. Wall Street, predictably, tanked upon hearing the news. Projecting an image of no-confidence in its own hastily conceived plan, the Administration is making matters grave.
This writer urges the Congress and the Administration to abandon its high spending un-regulated aid to a few monolithic institutions and to channel funds to local banks to enable local lending at a grass-roots level. The notion that trickle-down economics will work to aid Main Street Americans has been disproved and renounced by Alan Greenspan. The centralization of economic power at the expense of the vast majority of the country is an indirect method to aid the people of this country.
This writer can only hope that President-elect Obama proves to have the integrity to see through the status quo in Washington, D.C., and Wall Street, and turn the power of government toward the welfare of the people.
Vashon Island Chorale Sings: A Celebration of Carols
Vashon Island Chorale’s annual holiday concert, ” A Celebration of Carols.” will be presented at 7:30 pm on Saturday, December 7, at Bethel Evangelical Church. The 85-voice choir , joined by a 15-piece chamber orchestra, will perform works including “Fantasia on Christmas Carols” by British composer Ralph Vaughn Williams. Gary Cannon will conduct. Tickets are $12.50 or $10 for students and seniors and can be purchased in advance at Island bookstores.
Vashon Island Flu Shots
Granny’s Attic will host a free flu shot clinic from 11 am to 3 pm on Wednesday, November 26.
Vashon Movies: “For My Wife”
The Vashon Theater will present “For My Wife” at 2 pm Sunday, November 23. The film tells the story of one woman’s fight for marriage equality and how she became an activist. The film received three awards at the Vashon Lesbian and Gay Fil Festival and has been accepted into the Palm Springs International Film Festival. A Q&A period with Charlene Strong, who is featured in the film, and film makers David Rothmiller and LD Thompson will follow.
Tickets are $6.
Ask Kyle: Vashon Home Finance – All About Loan Modifications
Kyle B. Bailey
Mortgage Planner
There is a lot of talk in the market about loan modification. Part of the Government’s mortgage bailout plan is aimed at helping homeowners who are struggling to make their current mortgage payment. There has been a lot of confusion on who exactly is eligible and how to go about getting help.
Eligibility is determined by several factors: Homeowners must be 90 days or more behind on their mortgage payments, be able to prove a hardship, owe 90% or more of their home’s current value and the home must be their primary residence. Mortgage payments would be adjusted by temporarily lowering interest rates (typically fixed for 5 years) or re-amortizing loans over a longer period such as a 40 year term.
Who do you turn to for help? There are several different options available to homeowners looking for help with a loan modification. They can contact their loan officer for a referral to a real estate attorney. Another option is to contact your local HUD office to work with a HUD approved counselor. Many homeowners are choosing to do it themselves by contacting their loan servicing department. If you find yourself in the above situation and need some guidance give me a call for more information.
Direct: 425.673.8227
Cell: 425.293.5371
Fax: 480.287.8704
kbailey@golfsavingsbank.com
