Once again, I was a day ahead if myself in expectations.  I thought it was already Sunday, but it’s only Saturday, as I lose track again in my little world of retirement.  I’ll really be confused by next weekend, after I spend two days in a van getting in three days of running and very little sleep in the process.  Today was supposed to be a day of rest, but walking the hilly streets of Seattle is hard on your feet.  It’s six-blocks straight downhill from our hotel to the waterfront and a steep uphill to climb back up.  We’ve been to the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, monorail, the butterfly house at the Pacific Science Center, IMAX Theater, Pike Street Fish market, and on a short harbor cruise around Elliott Bay.  Tonight it’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at Safeco Field.  It’s been another full day, and in my mind I’ve somehow stretched into two.

Yesterday, we did some seafood shopping, took the monorail to the EMP – Experience Music Project Museum, enjoyed cocktails and the rooftop views from the Thompson Hotel, and ate dinner at the Capital Grill.  The EMP was established by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen back in 2000.  It’s also known as the MoPOP, Museum of Pop Culture, and the Jimi Hendrix Museum, depending on who you ask.  A Jim Henson Muppets display currently fills one of the exhibit halls, while fantasy, horror cinema, video games, science fiction, and music are permanent attractions.  My focus was on Seattle-born Hendrix and, of course, Cookie Monster.

There were three legendary musical artists of my generation that mysteriously died at the age of 27 – Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison.  You could also add Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (Grateful Dead), Dave Alexander (The Stooges), and Kristen Plaff (Hole) to the “27 Club,” but let’s mainly focus on the “First Three.”  I do have to mention that Kurt Cobain was also a Seattle-born artist, so he is also prominently featured at the EMP.  His mother is credited by some for coming up with the Club name.  It was Hendrix who went first in 1970, followed a month later by Janis Joplin, then Jim Morrison in 1971, Pigpen in 1973,  Alexander in 1975, Plaff and Cobain in 1994, and Winehouse in 2011.  There are eight “27 Club Members” in total, with three born here in Seattle:  Hendrix, Cobaine, and Plaff,   When you include the fact that these last two deaths were only 2 months apart, this adds to the Seattle oddity.  By the way, I must have missed the Hole and Kristen Plaff references at the EMP.  She’s, in my opinion, the least recognizable figure in this group, but still a Seattle native.

Seattle Seahawks football is best known for the number “12,” in honor of the 12th man – the fan.  However, the number “27” has an eerie connotation in the Emerald City.  Native son, Jimi Hendrix was the first to die at the young age of 27.  His death, was ruled a drug overdose, and occurred in London.  To honor Hendrix, who spent very little of his adult life in Seattle, the city has erected monuments and the museum display.  Unfortunately, his childhood home could not be saved from demolition.  Jimi’s  mainstream musical career spans only about 4 short years.  He allegedly once carried a broom around with him in elementary school while living in Seattle that he played like a guitar, but it wasn’t until he found a one-string ukulele in the garbage at age 14 that he taught himself to play.   A year later, he bought an acoustic guitar for $5 and formed a band called the Velvetones.  He soon upgraded, with his father’s help, to a white Supro Ozark electric model and played his first gig at Seattle’s Temple De Hirsh.  The band fired him between sets for too much showing off.  By 1961, he left Seattle for the Army, given a choice between prison for car theft or military service.  From what I could determine there were only four occasions that he performed in Seattle.  The first was on February 12, 1968 at Mercer Arena.  He then returned for shows on Sept. 6, 1968 at the Seattle Center Coliseum, May 23 1969 at the Seattle Center Coliseum, and September 26, 1970 at Sick’s Stadium.  His last concert was two days before his death in London, sharing the stage with Eric Burden and War.  He is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in history, and Seattle is proud to claim his success.