President Gerald Ford's memorial service is today, we thought we'd present these remarks Ford (shown here with George Harrison) made about Seattle upon his visit here as president on September 4th, 1975. Not the most interesting reading, but they seem extemporaneous and are perhaps a good snapshot of what one president thought when he thought of Seattle in the 70s: fish, Boeing, and international trade:

It is really wonderful to be in Seattle, and I do thank you for the beautiful salmon. We are now the beneficiaries in my State of Michigan, not of salmon quite as large as that, but salmon. We started developing a few years ago by transplanting some salmon from this area of the world, and we now have tremendous supplies in Lake Michigan of Coho salmon. And we are proud of it. They don't match that salmon in size, but they do remind us of the west coast and the wonderful opportunities that all of you have who live here. more ›

MUSIC: Did you know that Frank Sinatra called George Harrison's Something "the most beautiful love song ever written"? Well he did. A bunch of local musicians [myspace] are getting together to play Harrison's songs, and if they don't have a stuffed elk head for "I've Got My Mind Set On You," they do have Alan White, who played drums on Harrison's most successful album, All Things Must Pass. The show was meant to take place on the 5-year anniversary of Harrison's death last month, but we had all that snow, so it's happening now. The whole thing is a benefit for Northwest Harvest. more ›