Speaking of Balls of Fire

It seems fire has been a theme at events this last week.  Monday it was the Canal Convergence event in Scottsdale and Thursday night it was at the Phoenix Suns Game I attended.  You might remember that I have a good friend who has been a season ticket holder for (gasp) 50 years and occasionally she invites me to go to a game with her.  And, given her longevity, she has fabulous seats.  For the past several years they've been starting each game with this spectacular fire display as the team is introduced to the crowd.  I suppose with a name like "the Suns", it's appropriate.

Great Balls of Fire

Last Monday night I went to Scottsdale to see the exhibits for this year's annual Canal Convergence celebration.  It's a week long celebration along the Scottsdale waterfront full of art and music and fun exhibits.  (In case you don't remember, the Scottsdale "waterfront" is an area along the a canal.)  My favorite thing is the fire, water and music event called water serpent.

The streams of fire are choreographed to the music played and yes, they did play Great Balls of Fire for one of the songs.

My other favorite thing was this laser light show projected on to the giant pylons on the Paolo Soleri bridge.

If you are curious about the bridge, I posted another photo of it several years ago.

Christmas Shopping in the Museum Store

As you might guess with the Legends of Speed exhibit on at the Phoenix Art Museum, the museum store was decked out in all things race related.

They had all kinds of things to buy from posters to books to shirts and a big selection of toys.  This cute little car would be perfect for some young ones.

I have to admit, even I was tempted by these cute little toy cars.  How many of these do you suppose will end up under Christmas trees this year?

Legends of Speed

The new exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum is called "Legends of Speed".  They have assembled 22 race cars many of which have won some of the world's most iconic races.

This Bugatti was driven by a woman, Mariette Helene Delangle who came to be known as Helle Nice.  She was a model and actress living in Paris.  She developed a love a speed and entered her first race, an all-female race which she won.  She set a new record in a Bugatti Type 35C and in 1930 she purchased the Bugatti 35B which she drove 24 hours in the Le Mans race.

This car was stationed at the entrance to the exhibit.  It is a Lotus 79 from 1978.  It was driven by Mario Andretti.

This one is the oldest one I saw.  It was located in the museum lobby.  It's a 1911 Franklin and it was driven in a grueling race between Los Angeles and Phoenix.  That race was organized to promote the reliability of new automobiles and to advocate for better roads.  Ralph Hamlin won the race in 1912.  This car is the only one in the show displayed in its original condition.

Racy Posters

Two vintage posters featuring some old style race cars.  I found these posters at the Phoenix Art Museum.  Tomorrow I'll show you why they are there.

Phoenix

This is another mural in the area of town known as the barrio.  This one is a collaboration between many of the cities muralists.  Credit is given to Colton Brock, Lalo Cato, Angel Diaz, Pablo Luna and J B Snyder.  It's a little abstract slice of Phoenix.

Linked to Monday Murals. 

Almost Perfect

Near downtown Scottsdale, I saw this home turned into an office and I admired the look of the front of the place.  However, I did have the urge to move that green planter on the right just a bit further to the right to even it up with the other one.  I like the front of this place in spite of the slight symmetrical flaw.

I have a new post on Sharon Sojourn's today.  I'm driving through Salt River Canyon.

Late Night Observation

Last Sunday evening I went to see the Broadway musical "Anastacia" and I loved it.  It was beautifully staged and the music was wonderful.  After the play, my friend and I were starving so we stopped in at AZ88 to get something to eat.  AZ88 is that artsy Scottsdale restaurant/bar that I love going to.

Sunday nights are kind of slow at most restaurants so the place was pretty quiet.  I noticed the reflection of all those bottles on the bar in the glass-top table and I wondered if I could catch that scene with my cell phone.  So I tried it and got it on the first try.  Cell phone cameras just keep getting better and better.

The Replacements

Yesterday I mentioned how many of the homes in the Biltmore Estates have been torn down and replaced by new and very large mansions.  This is an example of what I meant.

This one I like because at least it looks old.  Of course I also like almost anything in a Tudor style.

This one is extra large but it's too stark looking for my taste.  I feel like it looks more like an office building than a home.

Still Going Strong

When I first moved to Arizona, I used to drive around the Biltmore Estates to look at all the big houses there.  They were mostly all what you would call ranch style homes that tended to be sort of low slung in their shape.  Today, I live right next door to the Biltmore Estates and I take walks through there quite often.  I would say the the vast majority of those older homes dating back to the 50's, 60's and 70's have all been torn down and rebuilt into huge mansions.  However, there are a few that remain and I'm always pleased to see them.  The one above is an example.

This is another one that has been there a very long time.  Both of these have been well maintained and they still have that mid-century charm.

Interesting Clouds

I snapped this scene from the top of a parking garage when I spotted those clouds hanging over the mountains.  I thought it looked like the clouds were trying to mimic the mountains.  I love a good cloud formation.  Maybe that's because it's so rare to see clouds here.

Owl Encounter

I almost forgot about these two lovely creatures.  They were guests at the "Strange Garden" event last week at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Up top is a great horned owl and to the left is a barn owl.  Such totally different facial features between these to handsome birds.

Offrendas

I always look forward to the annual display of "offrendas" at the Desert Botanical Garden's Day of the Dead Celebration.  (An offrenda is a collection of objects placed on a ritual display during the Dia de Muertos celebrations.)  The one above is paying homage to the loss caused by fires in the Amazon as well as other fires around the world.

This one was paying tribute to the artist's rich cultural heritage and honoring her family for keeping old traditions alive.

I always enjoy seeing Zarco Guerreo's offering for this event.  Zarco is a master mask maker and he has certainly created an outstanding mask for this display.

The garden always has an offrenda that is called "the community offrenda".  It's always surrounded by lots of pretty marigolds, the traditional "flower of the dead".  It is said that these flowers use their color and scent to guide the spirits to their respective offrendas during the annual celebrations.

Day of the Dead

Yesterday I went to the Desert Botanical Garden to see what was happening at the Day of the Dead celebration there.  I think my favorite thing was this guy who was dancing along with his two "friends" to the music that was being played.  I thought the walking and dancing skeletons were pretty original.

That trio above was dancing to the music of this lively group.  I sat and listed for a while and enjoyed their music very much.  I particularly enjoyed their version of El Condor Pasa.

This young girl was also enjoying the music.  She must have visited the face painting booth and got a traditional Day of the Dead mask painted on her face before she sat down to listen to the music.

This group was performing traditional Aztec dances.  I've seen them at the garden at past Day of the Dead celebrations.  I love their colorful costumes, especially the beautiful, feathered head pieces.  Tomorrow I'll show you some of the traditional offrenda tables that various artists created for the day.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm looking at some of the historic buildings in Globe Arizona.

Unicorns Do Exist

When I was at the Desert Botanical Garden last week to see the crazy pumpkins, I discovered real-live unicorns and fairies.  There were  lots of actives for the younger crowd at the garden that night and those activities included the chance to pet or pose with a unicorn and a fairy.

I snapped a couple of photos between the posing and petting.

Theme Day: Brown

Here it is, November 1st and we are nearing the end of 2019.  The City Daily Photo Bloggers have come up with colorful themes all this year and for November the chosen color is brown.  While I was out driving around and looking for Halloween decorations, I found this wonderful old fence around a home in one of our historic neighborhoods.  It is painted dark brown and it goes nicely with the brown trim on the house.  The little fall scarecrow is just an added bonus.

Happy Halloween!

Once again, I drove over to my old neighborhood to see if my former neighbor had rounded up his pals for another Halloween reunion.  And sure enough, the whole family was there once again.

Even the family pets have joined the celebration.  That one fellow on the right has developed a sort of big head!

It was good to see that they still have the energy to come out every year for this ghoulish family reunion.

Happy Halloween!  Enjoy some treats!

Silly Pumpkins

Those silly pumpkins at the Desert Botanical Garden were up to all kinds of hijinks.  Here's a couple with fairy wings flying among the tree branches.

There was a chase going on here and this one poor fellow has tangled with a thorny cactus.

These two were doing some tree climbing.

And, this sweet lass has stopped to smell the roses!

It was just another fun garden experience.

Pumpkin Mayhem

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden over the weekend to see this year's "Strange Garden" exhibition.  That's the one where the pumpkins get to play instead of being carved up.

On top we have one pumpkin painting a 'day-of-the-dead' face on another pumpkin.  To the left is the host for this strange garden adventure.

I'll show you a couple more of the creative pumpkins tomorrow.

Whooping Witches

These two colorful witches appear to be having a very hardy laugh at their directionally-challenged friend who hit the tree in yesterday's photo.

The fellow to the left looks as though he's been waiting for the oranges to ripen for a very, very long time.

More Seasonal Sightings

Jack-o-lanterns are making an appearance at this time of year.  Many of them are made of ceramics so the owners don't have to do any of that messy carving.

However occasionally I'll see one of the real kind.  This one was lovingly carved to give it a huge Halloween grin.

I also spotted this rather unfortunate witch who appears to have misjudged her landing abilities.


I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I have photos from my recent visit to the Very Large Array.