Work on the Food

A few weeks ago I met some friends for brunch at a new place that had just opened up called Farm and Craft.  The location had been converted from another restaurant that was no longer there and they did a great job of putting their own stamp on the building.

I was disappointed with the menu which was very heavy on so-called "healthy" foods with combinations that just didn't sound appealing to me at all.  I ended up modifying my order so that I avoided combinations that I thought sounded unappetizing.

When friends asked if I wanted to meet them there for dinner last weekend, I thought sure, I'll give them another try.  Well, it's nice to know my first impressions were right.  There were four of us and not one of us enjoyed our food.  I ordered an interesting sounding soup and ended up sending it back.  The look of that soup alone had killed my appetite.

They did a good job on the look of the place.  Clearly, the owners should spend more time working on their menu.

David Bowie...agian

Today I have the remaining four panels of the tribute to David Bowie that I first posted about on July 2nd.  All of the panels were painted by Maggie Keane.  She did a fabulous job, don't you think?

These are all very recognizable poses from characters he has played or persona's he has created.  Such a wonderful talent.

This shot shows the entire wall.  It really is a wonderful tribute.

To see other Monday Murals, click here.

Rushing the Seasons

Doesn't it seem a bit early to be seeing Halloween stuff in the stores?

Just yesterday, I saw a big Halloween candy display in my grocery store.  I don't think it's a good idea to buy candy on July 29th to be given out on October 31st.

It seems like retailers just keep rushing the season earlier and earlier every year.




I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  This one is from my recent trip to California and a wonderful exhibit I saw there.

Returning Home

I returned from ten days in California last Saturday and had a whole row of seats all to myself.  Flying on Saturday does make a difference.  It was one of the very first times the window was clean enough to shoot pictures from so I think I was snapping away the entire hour-long flight.  The one above is as we approached Phoenix.

I snapped this one as we passed over downtown Phoenix.  It's a little fuzzy but I can still make out most of the buildings.  Can you spot the Hyatt hotel with it's revolving restaurant on top?  It's on the center-right and near the middle.

And, here we have just landed and the all too familiar Camelback Mountain is in the background.  I also like that I captured a Southwest flight taking off.

I had a great time in California with two days in L.A. and the rest near the beach on Newport Coast.  It was a wonderful break from this intense heat we've been having.

St. Francis Xavier Church

Yesterday I posted a downtown church, today I'm posting an uptown church.  St. Francis Xavier church was completed in 1959 so it's not as old as yesterday's basilica.  It is a pretty church located on Central Avenue just south of Camelback Road.  I prefer this view through the palm trees and across the park-like area in front of the school that is attached to St. Francis.  Here is my picture from 10 years ago.

This concludes my reminiscing on the first few posts I made to this blog 10 years ago when it first started.  I'm sure there are some other sites I should do an update on and I'll plug them in whenever I find one.  Thanks for coming along with me while reviewed what I was doing a decade ago.

St. Mary's Basilica

St. Mary's Basilica in downtown Phoenix has had a long life serving parishioners over the years.  It was founded in 1881 and in 1985 it was visited by Pope John Paul II who proclaimed it a minor basilica.  It's historical significance was recognized in 1978 when it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is also one of the Phoenix Points of Pride.  My 10 year old post is here.

Downtown Oasis

The little oasis next door to St. Mary's Basilica in downtown Phoenix is still there and still provides some shade from our searing summer sun.  However, it was looking much lusher 10 years ago.  I think that can be attributed to our drought.  It's been terribly dry around here for the past two years.

Lunch Spot

This art deco style lunch spot is wedged between to tall office buildings in downtown Phoenix.  Ten years ago when I photographed it, the name Baja Fresh was above the door.  Baja Fresh was a fast food Mexican place that I thought was very good.  They closed all of their valley locations in 2013.  I tried to find out why but couldn't find anything that shed any light on the closures.  However, I did find out that there is still one open in Prescott Valley Arizona which happens to be where my sister lives.  Today this location is another lunch place called The Counter.

Defeated Once Again

Ten years ago today, I posted that the British grocery company Tesco was opening a series of stores in the United States called Fresh & Easy.  Sadly, Fresh & Easy didn't last very long in the U.S. market.  All of the U.S. stores were closed by 2015.  I drove over to the old neighborhood to snap this photo and found that old store was now occupied by something called Natural Grocers.  I'm not familiar with them.

Queen Anne Architecture

This home was built in 1893 for physician John M Evans and his wife.  It has a rather unusual onion-dome over the front porch.  It was probably a very distinctive house on this street back when it was built but, today it is dwarfed by the State of Arizona office buildings that surround it.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 1976.

I love all those lacy details on that dome over the porch.  When I posted about this house ten years ago, it was being used by the Arizona State Library.  Today it houses an office of Historic Preservation.  How appropriate.  

Code Talker

This very large sculpture sits on the corner of Thomas Road and Central Avenue in front of the Phoenix Plaza Office complex.  It was created by Doug Hyde, a renowned Native American artist.

It is a tribute to the Navajo code talkers who created a communications code during WWII based on the Navajo language.  That code was never broken by the enemy.

Fountain Centerpiece

When I set out to take another photo of this fountain, I was beginning to think I'd have to show it to you dried up.  I stopped there three different times to take a photo and it was dry each time.  Finally, one day two weeks ago I happened to be driving past and I noticed it was on.  I made a quick turn into the parking area to get my photo.  This fountain is the centerpiece of the Phoenix Plaza Office complex.  It must be a refreshing view to walk past on your way to work every day.

Phoenix Public Market

The Phoenix Public Market is in exactly the same place it was 10 years ago and it's every bit as busy if not busier.  I used to live closer to the market so I went often.  Now I only make it over there once in a while usually in our cooler months.

It's a great place to pick up vegetables that are fresh from the farm. There are a lot of arts and crafts available too.  These baskets are perfect for vegetable and flower shopping.  I've found several holiday and birthday gifts here too.

An Artistic Tribute

My next post from 10 years ago was a look at the Cancer Survivors Memorial near downtown Phoenix.  It was created by artist Victor Salmones and installed here in this tiny pocket park in 1999.  It symbolizes the the cancer patients in the back entering the maze of treatment and coming out the front as survivors.  There are several of these memorials in cities around the country sponsored by Richard and Annette Bloch.

A Luxury Hotel

The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is part of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel group which puts it on the list of luxury hotels. Historically, it has hosted celebrities from all over the world.

My last post about this hotel from 10 years ago featured the patio and I talked about what a great place it was to relax.  I took these new photos just last week when the temperature was hovering around 110 degrees (43C).  I didn't expect to see anyone sitting on the patio but I was wrong.  Although they can't be seen in the photo, there were several groups seated in the shade.  In fact, the hotel was surprisingly busy.  I mentioned that fact to the valet when I picked up my car and he said it's busy all the time no matter the time of year.

Sprites

Another Frank Lloyd Wright feature that is found around the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore are the Sprites.  They were originally created by Wright for a project in Chicago and when that project was demolished around 1930, they were lost with it.  However, several of the sprites were found years later on a farm in Wisconsin. They were restored and passed through several hands until they finally made their way to Taliesin West, one of FLW's architectural schools.  Replicas were made of them and Taliesin donated several of the replicas to the Arizona Biltmore.

My original post is here.

Adding to the Confusion

Adding to the confusion of who really designed the Arizona Biltmore hotel is this Frank Lloyd Wright designed stained glass window that was installed in the lobby of the hotel in 1973.  The original FLW design was created for a magazine cover but students of Taliesin fabricated it and made it into this gorgeous stained glass window. The name of this piece is "Saguaro forms and Cactus Flowers"  It's probably my favorite thing in the hotel.  It looks much better this size instead of the small version from 10 years ago.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm looking at the new addition to the Tate Modern.

It's Not All Blue Skies

When I started this post ten years ago in the month of July, it was only natural to post about our summer monsoon storms.  The monsoon season starts in June and runs and runs through September and is marked sometimes by a nightly gathering of clouds and wind.  We are lucky when there is a little rain mixed in but many times the rain seems to stay in the outlying areas leaving the city with just the dust.

We've only had a couple of monsoon storms so far this season and one brought a record rainfall which was very nice.  I hope we get some more.

Credit Where Credit is Due

The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is one of those Points of Pride in Phoenix that I mentioned yesterday.  It has long been associated with the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright but, in fact it was designed by Albert Chase McArthur.  How it got associated with Wright is a complicated story.  You see, McArthur requested permission from Wright to use a type of "textile block slab construction" technique that Wright had invented so Wright joined the project. McArthur was under the impression that Wright owned the patent to the technique and found out that there was no patent inspite of the fact that Wright was paid $10,000.00 for the rights to it.  As you can imagine, the relationship between the two men soured and Wright left the project after being there for only five months.

In spite of that history, Wright still gets associated with the hotel's design and many FLW designed accessories can be found all over the hotel.

You might notice in my original post that those topiary, letter-shaped plants along the front of the hotel were much more clearly defined ten years ago.

Phoenix Points of Pride

The Phoenix Pride Commission was created in 1991 to foster a sense of community pride.  At that time, 25 places around the city were chosen as places that residents would be proud to tell visitors to see when visiting the city.  Right now there are 31 such places and they are designated by this sign somewhere on the property of each.  This sign sits in front of the Heard Museum right on Central Avenue.  I looked at that list of 31 and found several I haven't featured before.  I had better get busy.

My ten year old post is here.

Phoenix Daily Photo Turns 10

Phoenix Daily Photo is ten years old today!  Imagine that!  I have enjoyed posting about my city and other incidental things so much that I think I'll continue doing it for another ten years!
I decided that for this momentous event, I should go back and see what I posted in those very first days.  After taking a look, I decided it was time to revisit some of those places and repeat the posts.  So, for the next two weeks, I'm going to try to reproduce those posts with brand new photos.

My very first post was a photo of the Arizona State Capitol building.  So, I recently took a Sunday drive over to the capitol complex to take some new photos.  This building hasn't change at all in the last 10 years.  In fact, it probably hasn't changed much in the last 50 years.

Those original photos I posted look so tiny compared to my larger photos today.  

Talented Employees

When I was at the Phoenix Art Museum last week, I saw a new exhibit of art works done by employees of the museum.  I was so impressed by all of the works in this exhibit.  The painting above was especially impressive.  It was painted by Henry Bellavia who is a Preparator at the museum.  It's called "Dragon Blood Tree".  (I had to look up what a 'Preparator' was.  It's a art handler or one who prepares art for exhibits.)

This oil painting is by Brandon Edelson who is a Gallery Attendant.  It's called "Cassowary".  An abundance of talent can be found in an art museum and some of that talent belongs to the people who work there.

From Pain to Love

This mural was created by children who are part of the Free Arts for Abused Children organization in Phoenix.  It looks like it tells the story of turning the pain of the past into love and happiness in the future.  Free Arts is an organization that helps abused children heal through artistic expression.  They take part in a number of artistic activities.  This mural was sponsored by the Parsons Foundation.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

I'm No Quitter

Grace of Perth Daily Photo reminded us that Saturday was World Chocolate Day.  I'm a day late but I just had to post my own tribute to the food of the gods.  You won't find me giving up chocolate.  It's a necessity!

I'll have one of each please!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  What comes to mind when you think of the city of Seattle?

The Spice of Life

There is a saying that variety is the spice of life so today I'm offering a variety of photos.  That's just a fancy way of saying I have another "odd shots" post for you.  Starting. with this display of perfume bottles that drew my attention at a department store.

Speaking of a department store.  I stopped in to Saks to buy a bottle of Molton Brown bath wash (it's the closest place that carries it) and look how they packaged it up for me.  I felt like I had a present to open when I got it home.

I saw this bumper sticker and wondered what it meant so I snapped a photo so I could look it up.  If you're a Harry Potter fan, you probably already know what a "whomping willow" is.  I had to figure that out.

This photo looks a lot like I took a walk in the woods but, actually it's just up the street from me on the edge of the Biltmore Golf Course.  Looking at this photo, it's hard to believe that behind me is a very busy street and beyond the trees to the right are the rolling hills of the golf course.

Cell phone relay transmitters are becoming such a ubiquitous site that we really don't notice them any longer.  I saw these on the building next door to where I work.  When I was a kid, rooftops were full of smoke stacks.  Now they are full of cell phone transmitters.

One More Moment

I went to the Phoenix Art Museum last weekend to revisit the "Any Moment Now" exhibit because it will be closing soon.  This was the big array of collections by artist Valeska Soares.  I posted about it back in April.  I took this photo of that table full of pretty glass pieces only this time I took the photo through the beaded curtain that is created by the pull chains from the panel of lights on the ceiling. (If you click the link to my old post you will see those lights.)

I think those glass pieces were my favorite part of this exhibit.  I love the variety and how they make me remember the glass collection that used to sit on my grandmother's fireplace mantel and in her collection cabinet.  When I was a kid, the red ones and blue ones were my favorite.