Happy Halloween

This fellow appears to be crawling out of a grave in, you guessed it, that same yard I featured yesterday.
I'm so glad theme day is tomorrow.  I've had enough ghouls, zombies and ghosts.
Have fun everyone and don't eat all that candy you bought for the trick-or-treaters.

The Macabre Wedding Party

In the same yard that I featured in Sunday and Monday's posts also had this rather large and rather strange wedding party going on.  You might remember last year when I posted photos from this same yard.  You can review those photos here & here.

The party also included this musician.  It looks a little like Keith Richards to me.  What do you think?



I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm featuring a Chicago landmark.

The Danse Macabre

I'm interrupting my little series of Halloween decorations around my neighborhood to tell you about and event I attended Sunday night.



A good friend of mine, Thomas Blee-Carlyle belongs to The Movement Source Dance Company and his group presented a show called "The Danse Macabre, Unsettling Music Movement and Illusion".

It was an excellent show and perfect for the season so close to Halloween and the Day of the Dead.  The illusions were fun and the dancing was mesmerizing.  I really enjoyed it.

This is Thomas posing for me after the show.

And, this is the illusionist, Johnny Hotshot attacking my good friend David.  Fortunately, he was able to get away!

This photo is one of the publicity photos I found on the company's website.  I didn't see a name of the photographer but, whoever took it did a superb job.

Relaxing on the patio

At the same house where the unfortunate child in yesterday's post was living, this couple was relaxing on the patio.  I don't think they are getting enough fat or protein in their diet, what do you think?

Ready to scare someone

A little further along on my walk, I found this poor child about the leap from the bushes.  I think she thought she could startle me but, the flash of my camera made her stop in her tracks.

Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  

Ghouls and Goblins

It's that time of year when you might run into some scary things while you are out and about.  I saw this guy hovering around a tree while I was out walking.  I asked if I could take his picture and post on my blog and he didn't seem to object.

Another Halloween Holiday Option

If your pumpkin carving skills are not up to the artistry I posted two days ago, you might want to opt for a ceramic pumpkin complete with smiling faces and beautiful Italian-ceramics designs.

Of course, you will have to store it somewhere the rest of the year.  On second thought, I'll pass on this one too.   My storage capacity has reached its limit.  :-)



Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

Dinner on Halloween

Have you thought about having a dinner party on Halloween?  If so, these dishes might be for you.  Personally, I can't imagine buying a set of dishes just for Halloween and that statement comes from someone who owns and uses Christmas Holiday dishes.  Halloween just doesn't seem like the 'sit-down-to-dinner' kind of a holiday.  It's more of a drinks, games, and costumes kind of holiday and ordinary dishes (even paper or plastic dishes) work just fine for a rowdy group of costumed party-goers.

So, that leaves me to wonder just how many of these specialty dishes they actually sell.


Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns.  This time I look at an artistically crafted bridge.

Scary Pumpkins

Every year at this time, the Desert Botanical Garden has an interactive Pumpkin Patch that is a big hit with kids.  Being a "big kid" at heart, I usually go to take a few pictures.  They start with a "hay ride" that takes you out to the patch and then there is music, games and contests for the kids to enjoy along with a huge selection of pumpkins.  All kids under 12 can take a free pumpkin home with them.  This year they also had a group of expert pumpkin carvers who were at work on these pumpkins.  These guys do a pretty good job of creating some scary faces.

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again!  Time to visit pumpkin patches and pick out a nice pumpkin to carve.  I found quite a few nice ones in this pumpkin patch but, to be honest I didn't buy one.  I was just there to get a picture or two.

Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

Prickly snack

I spent the morning with Kathy of Kathy Goes a Ramblin' at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Kathy is in town visiting her daughter and grandson and we decided to get together for a Sunday morning walk.  While we were there, we spotted this rabbit who was munching on this prickly pear cactus.  I don't think I've ever seen a rabbit eating cactus before.

It was great to see Kathy again before she flies off back to Texas.

Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

Look who's here

When the weather is nice, one of my favorite things to do is to get an iced tea and sit in the garden patio area of the Desert Botanical Garden and watch the birds, rabbits and ground squirrels.  I haven't been able to do that all summer long.  Now that the weather has cooled off, I took the opportunity to sit for a while and watch my feathered and furry friends.  This fellow showed up on the look-out for randomly dropped scraps.  I'm not sure if this is the same one that used to hang out there last winter but, I was happy to see that I can still spot a Roadrunner or two while relaxing there.

Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

Blue and Red

Last night I went to see a play at the Phoenix Theatre and I was impressed by all the changes the theatre has undergone so I snapped a couple of iPhone photos.  One of the new features is this long walkway leading from the parking lot to the theatre highlighted with blue lights and mirrored walls.  It's quite an effect.

The inside has undergone more changes with a whole new lounge that has been added on.  These stairs lead up to the executive offices that are now located in the new addition.

Oh yes, and the play was "The 39 Steps" based on the old Alfred Hitchcock movie.  It's a rather slap-stick version of that old mystery story and it was executed flawlessly by only 4 actors playing over 150 different roles.  The audience is almost out of breath by the end of the play and the actors must be exhausted.  Great fun!

Reminder:  The November 1 theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Heights"!

RUM

I took this photo near downtown a while ago and I've driven by here several times since then trying to figure out what kind of business it is but, so far I haven't caught it open.  I'm just guessing that its a little bar/restaurant.  I wish I could find it open sometime.

Acceptance

Last Tuesday (Oct. 8th) I posted a photo of a sculpture by Retha Walden Gambaro that I saw at the Heard Museum.  Therese of Tournefeuille A to Z commented that she had a favorite from this artist and given her description, I think this might be the one she was referring to.  The artist's information on this statue reads: "Sculpted at age 80, 'Acceptance' is a self-portrait by the artist.  She had picked up a leaf that had fallen from a tree and sat to contemplate the seasons of nature and the seasons of human life.  'As the leaf makes it's way to the ground, soon I will join it - in the bosom of mother earth.'"  A very moving sentiment.

Toothpick Cactus

This toothpick cactus had a lot of blooms on it when I saw it last weekend.  It's a large cactus, probably over 15 feet tall (5m). It's real name is Stetsonia Coryne and it's native to Argentina.  According to Wikipedia, it was named in honor of Frances Lynde Stetson, a New York attorney and plant lover.  I couldn't find any information as to why an Argentinian cactus ended up with the name of a New York lawyer.

Conversation

These two appear to be having a conversation across the gap between the arms of this saguaro cactus.  I wonder if they are talking about me pointing that long lens at them.

Getting a new hair style

This mural is on the side a beauty salon.  I'm guessing it's there to show what a new hair style, a little make up and a fancy dress can do.

I have a new photo on Sharon's Sojourn today.  I visit a grand government building this time.

Greek Orthodox

It was Greek Festival time again this weekend and I went again with my close friend David.  It's held on the grounds of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral and this time the church was open to visitors so I stepped inside to get some photos.

It really is a beautiful church with quite a lot of stained glass windows in every direction.

The festival was lots of fun with an amazing amount of delicious Greek specialties to eat and drink.

I came home feeling like I'd eaten my way through all the Greek Isles.

Cloud Lab

Friday afternoon I was sitting in some heavy traffic when I spotted a blimp in the sky.  I couldn't read what it said on the side but I knew I had to get a shot.  I was way back in long row of cars waiting to turn left so I knew I was going to be sitting there for a while so I whipped out the camera, extended the telephoto and took a few shots out the window.  I had to be quick so I managed to cut the tail fin off in both shots but, at least I got it.

When I got to my house and pulled into the driveway, I heard a motor noise and looked up in time to see it passing over my house so I quickly grabbed the camera and took another shot.

When I downloaded the photos and saw that it said "Cloud Lab" on the side, I did a quick search on the internet and found out that this is a scientific lab on a month-long journey across America gathering information on what lives in the clouds among other things.  It's sponsored by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company).  Click on the link to find out a little more.

One thing is for certain, there weren't any clouds in the sky over Phoenix on Friday.

More of those highway pots

I recently found two more of those "highway pots" that I told you all about years ago.  It was part of a public art project in conjunction with the building of a freeway through the heart of town and it created a lot of controversy and was the constant butt of jokes at the time.  You can read the story in my post of back in September of 2008 and you can see more photos of other pots in a post I made in October of 2008.  I found these two recently.

I hadn't seen these before. I bet newcomers to Phoenix stumble on these every now and then and wonder why they are there.

G'Day Mate

I came up behind this car in traffic and immediately thought of all the Australian bloggers!  The owner of this car must be Australian too or maybe they just have a special love for all things Australian.  Here's hoping all my blogging mates are having a good day no matter where they live.

Shoes

On Saturday I posted a photo of some chili ristras that I found hanging from a tree at a local nursery.  On Saturday afternoon I visited the Heard Museum and found these "chili" shoes on display in an exhibit about Chilis and Chocolate.  I wouldn't be able to wear these, but aren't they clever and cute?  Yeah, I agree, best left on display and not worn.

Gratitude

Here is another sculpture from the sculpture garden at the Heard Museum.  This one is called "Gratitude".  The artist, Retha Walden Gambaro said "Every day, we have a reason, or many reasons, to feel and express our gratitude".  This garden would be such a great place to sit for a while and soak up the peace and quiet.

Sculpture Garden

I went to the Heard Museum on Saturday to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit and found a new sculpture garden that wasn't there before.  It was a beautiful, meditative place with sculptures by Creek artist Retha Walden Gambaro.  This is thought to be the first exhibit of her work this side of the Mississippi.  She didn't start her sculpting career until age 52 and has become an award winning artist with many exhibits and commissions under her belt.  You can read more about her here if you like. The garden was extremely attractive with this fabulous red wall on one side.  I couldn't resist framing this photo of a sculpture titled "Preparing the Pipe" with that tiny bit of green and the white flower off to one side.  I quite like it.

The Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit was equally inspiring although no photos were allowed there so I can't show off the wonderful works I saw during the hour or so I spent there.

Homestead

On the property of the nursery that I mentioned yesterday in a wonderful old adobe house that was built by the parents of the owners of the nursery.  No one lives there any longer so they have turned the home into a shop for all kinds of antiques and home decor items.  I've been to this nursery a few times before but, never knew about his fabulous place.  I spoke to the owner while I was wandering around and she told me that her father had a passion for recessed lighting and so every room has hidden lighting like you see in the above photo.  The lighting was beautiful but that fireplace is what struck me the most.  It is gorgeous.

The photo to the left shows another room with lots of pretty things to look at.  It was a great place to browse and get ideas.

There is a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  This time I visit an Arizona mining town.

Chilis

I visited a local nursery Friday afternoon and discovered a lot more than just plants.  They had antiques and ceramics and these chili ristras hanging from a tree.  I'll share a few more photos from there over he next few days.

The Monarchs are back!

I stopped by the Desert Botanical garden late Thursday afternoon and got to see the Monarch Butterflies without the crowds.  They are joy to watch!

Whirlwind

This sculpture sits outside the Glendale Public Library and it's called "Whirlwind" created by Gary Slater.  It was purchased by the Glendale Arts Commission as part of it's public arts program.  It really shines when the sun hits it just right.

Thunderbirds

The above photo shows the entrance to the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a top ranked international business school who's MBA graduates work in positions all over the world.  It's located in Glendale Arizona and was founded in 1946 by U.S. Army Air Force Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount.

The property on which the school is located has an interesting history before the school began.  In 1941 and executive order sought construction of 50,000 PT-17 airplanes and to train 100,000 pilots for war duty.  The civil aviation community answered the call to train the pilots and this one square mile of desert became know as Thunderbird Field.  Operations began that year and ended in 1945 at the end of the war.  The civilian pilots trained 16,000 cadets from the U.S., Britain and China.

The PT-17 was a bi-plane like the one on this memorial to the pilots.  You can see a picture of one here.



I have a new photo on Sharon's Sojourns.  This time I visit a city in Italy that has few tourists.

Theme Day: Details

For the October theme, I chose some of the architectural details of our State Capitol building starting with the wind vane on top of the building.  It is an actual wind vane that turns on its pedestal with the changing winds.  It was fashioned after Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory.  In the wild west days, cowboys would shoot at her winds just to see it turn.

Above the entrance to the building there is some very fancy scroll work that is quite attractive.  It's just about the only thing attractive about our rather plain capitol building.  You can see a photo of the whole building here.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have depicted the theme of "details", click here.