Library Sculpture

I have one last photo to show you from the Phoenix Public Library.  I actually posted a photo of this sculpture before but it was way back in 2008.  I really do like this sculpture and it's by a world renowned artist Amaldo Pomodoro.  Pomodoro's sculptures are influenced by emerging technology.

When I went to Italy a few years ago, I got to see another of his sculptures that is located on the grounds of the Vatican.  It's also a very interesting piece.  You can see it here.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Appropriately, I'm visiting another place located at the Vatican.

More Inside the Library

There is a special room inside the Phoenix Main Library that can be scheduled for meetings or for educational purposes.  I'm not sure what books are in there but I do recognize that old printing press through the glass wall that surrounds the room.

Another area that is sectioned off is The Arizona Room with books all about Arizona and the state's history.  Notice that collection of Soleri bells hanging outside the room.  Those are big ones.

I took this shot of the stairs standing just outside that room in the top photo.  In addition to these stairs, there are also three elevators with glass walls that go to all four floors of the library.  It is an interesting place.

Library Views

As promised, here is the view from the top floor of the library looking north over the parking lot.  We are looking toward the mid-town business district with it's high-rise buildings.  Now you can see those solar panels over the parking structures.

Walking toward the south of the building I pass one of the reading rooms with the stacks off to the side.

Looking toward the south, we see right into downtown Phoenix with all of it's tall buildings.  On this side of the building are the louvres I mentioned yesterday so I had to shoot between them to get the shot.  That's what you see sort of framing this shot.

Theme Day: Library

It's the first of September, where has this year gone?  As most of you know, the first of the month is always "Theme Day" for City Daily Photo bloggers and the September theme is Library.  I took a drive downtown to catch a photo of our main public library.  The sign above points toward the library parking lot.

The building itself is a modern structure with glass walls on both ends.  On the north (in this photo) there are sail-like extensions to shade the windows.  On the south side are louvers that open and close.  And, you might be able to tell that the parking lot is covered and the shade structures have solar panels on top.  Tomorrow I'll show the views from inside.

If you would like to see libraries in other cities around the globe, click here.

I'm Out in the Desert....or Am I?

There is a home in Paradise Valley that has the biggest cactus garden in front of it that I've ever seen. If it weren't for those light fixtures out front, you'd think I took this shot out at one of our state parks.

But, there really is a home back there behind that wall of cactus!

A Little Weekend R & R

I returned Sunday evening from another fabulous weekend in California with my good friends Julie and Dave.  It was so nice to get away from the Arizona heat for a while and enjoy the beautiful, blue Pacific Ocean out there in front of me.  I had a great time just relaxing, walking, doing a tiny bit of shopping and doing plenty of great eating.

I always enjoy seeing the exotic plants that seem to grow like weeds in the California climate.

And watching the interesting sea birds as they hang out in their private resting spot.

It was a great weekend full of laughter, food and some very good wine!

The Best Burger in Arizona

AZ88 is a very popular and very eclectic restaurant located at the Civic Center in Scottsdale, just across from the Performing Arts Center.  And, it happens to served my all-time favorite burger.  Yes, I've posted about some tasty burgers on this site lately but, this one is still my favorite.  It's called the Burger Au Poivre and it is made with peppercorns, minced onion and a burgundy sauce.  Also on the plate is my favorite accompaniment, Hell's Fire Chips.  Those are house made potato chips covered with hot sauce and blue cheese.  Yum!

They have been serving up this delicious burger since the place opened and it's always sheer perfection.  

I Feel Like I'm Being Watched

Last weekend, I headed over to AZ88 in Scottsdale with a friend for lunch.  I've posted about AZ88 before.  It's my my all-time favorite place for a burger but, more about that tomorrow.  I think in one of my previous posts, I might have mentioned that the restaurant is constantly changing it's artistic decor with something new and very inventive.  This time it was a row of eyeballs above the bar.  They are a little hard to see in this photo because it was very bright in the restaurant but, each one of those round dots has a blinking eyeball projected on to it and the one giant eyeball in the middle.

I cropped the photo down to give you a better look.  The eyes kept moving back and forth and blinking and they all moved and blinked individually.  It was quite an interesting achievement as is fitting for this very eclectic restaurant.  I hoped to catch them at night sometime when they would photograph better but, the waiter said they would be coming down soon and a new exhibit going up.  They tend to change the decor with the season.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Did you know there were pyramids in Canada?

Just for Fun

I spotted these wicked looking shoes at a local shop and couldn't help taking a photo of them.  I can't imagine who would wear them but, they were gone the next time I went in.  Maybe someone was putting together a little something for a costume party.

Contemporary Art

The last time I was at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the docents asked me if I had ever seen the sculpture on the patio of the museum.  He said it is an interesting piece, so I followed the path outside and around a corner and came to a round room with a huge opening in the center of the ceiling.  It turns out, this was the sculpture.

Looking down, there is a ridge around the walls that forms a sort of bench and of course, the sun shining through that opening created a huge sun spot in the room.

The sculptor is James Turrell and the piece is called Knight Rise.  Its made of Venetian plaster, concrete, steel and neon.  At night, the neon lights upward from that ridge just above the sun spot in the photo above. If you would like to see what it looks like at different times of day, click this link.  You will see a short slide show of photos taken and different times.  I love it!  I'll be checking it out every time I go to the museum to see how it looks at different times.

Another Heard Museum Sculpture

I found another sculpture in the Heard Museum gardens that I haven't featured before.  This one is by Doug Hyde and it's called "Navajo Water Girl".

In the late 60's, Doug Hyde went to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe New Mexico where he became friends with Allan Houser.  He still lives and works in Santa Fe today.

Beautiful Door

I love the stained glass door and windows on the entrance to this Paradise Valley home. It makes a very welcoming way to enter this nice home.

Rusty Chair

I found this rusty old folding chair inside the dressing room of a shop at Scottsdale Fashion Square.  It's a kind of unusual thing to find in a dressing room but, I liked it.  I think it would look great out in a meadow somewhere.  Now that would really make a great photo.  Just a lone rusty chair in the middle of green meadow with a scattering of wildflowers around it.

Aligning the Planets

It looks like Louis Vuitton is trying to align the planets around two of it's very expensive handbags.  This window display caught my eye with all those colorful planets floating around behind the glass.  No, I didn't go in the store.  I'd have to win the lottery to shop in there.  I just admired the colorfully painted planets instead.

Hatch Chili Season

I got my first taste of the Hatch chili season on Friday when I had lunch at Z Tejas restaurant.  Around the first part of September, restaurants start offering Hatch chili specials so this was the first one I"ve seen.  I ordered the Hatch chili relleno stuffed with shrimp and crab and coated in cornmeal. The dish was delicious.  I'll be looking forward to more features in the next few weeks.

Hatch chilies are grown in New Mexico and they are so popular at harvest time, that many people drive all the way to New Mexico to get some and bring them back.  I'll keep my eyes open for places that are roasting chilies as the season approaches so I can get a photo of those big roasters.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  It's a quick stop in a pretty little city in Maryland.

Undulating Tunnel

Next to the wall with all the birds that I featured yesterday, is this strange structure that forms a sort of tunnel.

It kind of gives the impression of being in a cave but with the sun shining in.

I couldn't find any signs indicating what it represents but since it's pretty much covered in graffiti, maybe the sign is long gone.

The Birds

I parked my car in a small downtown parking lot near an art gallery I was going to visit and I saw all these birds flying off in one direction.

I walked closer to get another look but because of another wall abutting this wall, I couldn't see any significance to the mural.

When I walked around the wall to toward the front of the gallery, I saw this little red-headed fellow with his watering can that seemed to turn into a large quantity of birds.  The quote inside the box under the little boy doesn't give me any clues either.  It's a quote by Mother Teresa that says:  "At the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was naked, and you clothed me.  I was homeless and you took me in."

Tomorrow I'll show you what that funny looking thing to the left of the above photo is.

Contrast

These two buildings couldn't be more different. On the left is the Orpheum Theatre which opened it's doors in 1929.  On the right is the huge AT&T/Century Link facility with the tall microwave towers on top.  The two buildings sit across the street from each other in downtown Phoenix.

The Grid rental bikes blend right in with that Century Link logo!

Barry Goldwater Memorial

I stopped at the Barry Goldwater Memorial a week or so ago to update my photos.  I did a post about this statue before but it was way back in 2008.  I think it's due for an update.

The statue was sculpted by Joe Beeler who happened to be a friend of Goldwater's when he was living in the town of Paradise Valley.

Goldwater served five terms as a US Senator and ran for President in 1964.

The statue sits in a small park in the town of Paradise Valley.  Not many people stop here so when I was there taking photos I had it all to myself.

More Mountainside Homes

On the same day I made my way up the mountain to see the Lykes house that I featured yesterday, I saw a few other homes that attracted my attention.  The one above seems to have sort a mimicked the FLW style in a more modern way.  I do love that huge cactus growing out from the lower balcony.

This home sits right below the Lykes house and also has some pretty spectacular views over the city.  It also has a fabulous patio that would be perfect for parties.

This home was also below the Lykes house and on the other side of the road.  It is built on several layers that tend to follow the hillside downward.  It is a huge home that looks more like a resort than a house.

Lykes House Revisited

Way back in 2009, I had a post about this house, the last home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  I recently took another drive up the mountain and found myself right next to this beautiful home.  It was built for Norman and Aime Lykes in 1967 but, it was the last home Wright designed before he passed away in 1959.  The home was built by an apprentice of Wright's, John Rattenbury.

Apparently, this house was put on the market early this year.  I found a listing for it at $3.6 million dollars.  I didn't see any record that it actually sold but, I'm assuming it did.  If you click the "listing" link above, that site has some pictures from inside the house.  You can tell from the second shot that the home has some fabulous views over the city of Phoenix.  I bet it's spectacular at night.

The house reminds me very much of the David and Gladys Wright house that I featured on January 28th, 29th, and the 30th of this year.  It has that same rounded, almost snake-like design.   The similarities make sense since both homes were designed late in the architect's life.

Big Clouds on the Horizon

I took a long drive out to far North Scottsdale late Friday afternoon to meet some friends and on the way I noticed a huge buildup of big, puffy clouds headed this way.

I drove a little way past my destination in order to capture some of those spectacular clouds.  They were such a brilliant white.

Later when I was driving back toward home I could see an interesting sunset building up.

So I found another place to pull over and get a shot before it faded away.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting one of my favorite gardens located 60 miles east of Phoenix.

Artwork in Bright Colors

When I'm driving toward Scottsdale, I pass the Shemer Art Center and recently I've seen the top of a very colorful sculpture peeking over the wall.  I finally stopped by to take a look at this bright piece.

It's a piece called "Radial Joy" by artist Shelby Larson.

It does make me smile so I think it lives up to it's name.

My Matchbook Project

After yesterday's post, I thought I'd offer a few matchbooks from my own collection.  I've been collecting them for.....well....let's just say many, many years.

I keep them in a large glass vase that I tipped over just to grab a few to photograph.  There are quite few in here from places that don't even exist any longer.  Collecting matchbooks is one of those lost arts because no one really has matches any longer since smoking is no longer acceptable inside any building.  I don't think I've thrown a new matchbook into this jar for a very long time.