Dvorak & Vivaldi

On Saturday evening, I went to the Musical Instrument Museum's concert hall to see the Chamber group of the Phoenix Symphony perform.  It was my first time to see a performance in this space and I was impressed.  It is a small theater with an excellent line of vision down to the stage.

The chamber group performed Dvorak's Serenade in E Major for the first half and a favorite of mine, Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the second half.  The soloist is Steven Moeckel who is the concert master for the Phoenix Symphony and who has performed as a soloist around the world.  I met Steven several weeks ago after a symphony performance through my good friend David and Saturday evening I got to meet his parents who were visiting Phoenix to see him perform.  Steven is a superb performer and an all-around nice guy.  I feel privileged to know him.  Oh, and the performance of The Four Seasons was nothing short of spectacular.

Mural with a Story to Tell

There is a huge mural in downtown Phoenix that I've wanted to feature on my blog for a long time.  I finally got all the facts together along with some photos.  It's located on the side of the headquarters for Valley Youth Theater and it's part of a much bigger project called "Water Writes" which is a part of the Estria Foundation.  The mural depicts how water is central to the success and prosperity of Arizona.  Phoenix was chosen for one of these "Water Writes" murals because of our critical water issues.  Other places where a "Water Writes" mural has been located are California, Honolulu, British Columbia, Colombia, El Salvador, Gaza Strip, Philippines and South Africa.

The central figure of the mural is a pregnant woman representing Mother Earth.  She is pregnant with twins who represent good and evil which describes the choices we make with our environment and impact those choices will have on future generations.

The mural depicts how we use water in Arizona.  Sometimes for farming

And other times for mining.  The mural was painted by a team of 15 local artists.  It's pretty spectacular.

Butterflies and Birds

I took a long walk at the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday and found quite a few butterflies out gathering the sweets from the flowers.  The Baja Fairy Duster plant had at least a dozen of them fluttering around it.

This one was kind enough to pose with his wings spread for a while.  He was probably soaking up the warm sunshine.

And this little verdin was calling to me from the tree.  He was flitting from branch to branch and chirping at the top of his lungs.  I think he was trying to get me to take a photo, so I did.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Any Dr. Who fans out there?

Whacky Sports Fans

You've all seen Mr. Orange before, the "super-fan" of the Phoenix Suns Basketball team.  I've featured him a few times on this site.  That spotted shirt is a first, though.

I spotted another one of those whacky fans at the last game I attended.

This time it's a lady with purple hair and an orange tutu.

You really have to be a devoted fan to dress up like this, don't you think?

Through the Portal

Located at the Scottsdale Civic Center park is a sculpture that I've passed hundreds of times and never stopped to take a closer look.  I finally caught sight of this view point last weekend and I thought to myself 'why haven't you noticed that before'.  We are looking through a portal in sculpture toward the colorful Saguaro Hotel.

The sculpture itself is a large stainless steel three sided peak.  In fact, it's called Mountains and Rainbows by an artist named Jose Y. Bermudez.  It was commissioned by the city of Scottsdale back in 1975.

Sculptures at Home

When my friends and I were driving around last weekend looking at houses, we found a little hidden street in Scottsdale where we saw this house.  I almost missed those sculpted palm trees.  My friend pointed them out.  They are not the real kind but they do look real from a distance.

Nearby the palm tree sculpture, we saw this rather abstract buffalo hidden among the desert plants.  It was a very short street with only four houses on it but they certainly had a lot of things to admire.

Theme Day: Loving Life

On the first day of every month, City Daily Photo Bloggers post a photo based on defined theme.  The theme for February is "Loving Life".  I chose this photo of my friend Glenda and her dog Stella on one of the "Dog Days" at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Stella and Glenda are the best of friends as you can easily see from this photo.  They were certainly loving life on this fun outing at the garden.

If you would like see other City Daily Photo Bloggers posts about Loving Life, click here.

The Replacement

Back in 2013, I told you about a shopping center in Scottsdale that was built to look like a Tuscan village.  You can see that post here.  I mentioned that the center had been sold to a developer who had plans to tear it down and build a residential community.  Well, it's done and this is the replacement for that lovely Tuscan village.  It's called The Enclave.

One of my friends is actually looking for a new place in this area so we decided to stop in and take a look at one of the models.

However, the lobby is as far as we got.  It seems the models are only shown by appointment.  My friend hasn't decided if she will pursue that arrangement or not.  So, off we went to look at some other places.

Laser Eyes

I found this mural on the side of a building in midtown Phoenix a few days ago.  I didn't see a signature so the artist is unknown.  It looks like this super hero guy has met with a bit of a problem.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

There is a new resort in the Scottsdale area called Andaz and I've been hearing some pretty great things about it so yesterday, two friends and I decided to go there for lunch and see what all the buzz was about.

I'm giving it a thumbs up for the design and decor.  The grounds are beautifully landscaped and the public spaces like the pool (above) and the main building were artfully designed.

I have to give the restaurant a definite thumbs down!  In spite of it being very quiet with only three tables occupied, the service was incredibly slow.  The waiter, although pleasant never asked if we wanted anything to drink and after waiting for him to return to the table I asked if there was a drinks list.  Some fifteen minutes later, he returned to the table (our food still hadn't arrived) and started to remove the drinks list when I stopped him and asked if we might order a drink.  "Oh yes" he said as though he never would have thought of that.  When our food finally arrived it was cold.  It took a very long time to arrive and all I can think is that it sat somewhere waiting to be picked up because it should not have been that cold.  I complained that mine was cold and to his credit, he did take that off the bill.  So I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about.  It certainly didn't live up to the hype for the three of us.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  If you like a bit of James Bond, take a look.

Vendor Action

As with most major events, there is more to the action than just the main event.  The Barrett Jackson Collectors Car Auction was no exception.  There was every kind of vendor present that you could imagine.

This gentleman was selling some pretty nice looking cowboy hats.  He's steaming one here so he can shape the brim.

There were several leather vendors on hand.  This jacket was an eye catcher.  If I was 20 years younger, I might have been tempted.

One vendor had every type of model car you could imagine for sale.  Remember my post from last Sunday about the Shasta Travel Trailer my parents owned?  I could have picked up this model of one if I wanted.

If you were in the market for some unique furnishings for that "den", there were suppliers ready to sell you just the thing.  Fortunately, I don't have a den.  😃

This young lady was on the job at the McLaren auto show space.  I have no idea how much she knows about the cars but, she's and expert at attracting attention.

These motorized bicycles were attracting a crowd.  They sure would make going up hill a lot easier, wouldn't they?

This young lady looked like she was having a great time selling all kinds of treats at one booth.  She was wearing a fabulous 1950's look and a big smile.

  You could purchase every kind of vintage gas pump you might want.  This one appealed to me because when I was a little kid, my dad used be a regular customer of a Skelly Gas Station and I loved to go with him to get the car filled up.

That wraps up my Barrett Jackson photos for this year.  I hope it's not another four years before I go again.

Real Horsepower

What's all this talk about horsepower??  Here's the real thing!

The Barrett Jackson Collectors Car Auction wasn't just about cars.  They had some pretty special horses to show us too!  They had a small show in the afternoon of a few champion horses.

I wish I could have gotten photos of all of them.  They were all beautiful.  

It's a Doozy!

Here are some more shots form the Barrett Jackson Auto Auction from last week.  The gentleman standing next me asked if I'd seen this 1930 Duesenberg J Dual-Cowl Phaeton.  He added "it's a doozy".  And So it is, especially after it sold for a mere $880,000.00.  Yikes!

I love it's rather delicate looking hood ornament!

Another doozy in my book was this Austin Princess A 135 Hearse from 1956.  It was owned by John Lennon.  He drove it and modified it and used it in his 1971 movie "Imagine".  

They had a display of the original ownership papers with John Lennon's signature on it.  The new owner who paid $159,500.00 for the car will get those papers along with the car.

Another rare beauty was this 1933 Auburn 12 161A Salon Phaeton Convertible.  The description said it was one of the rarest produced and set many speed records in it's day.  This one sold for $165,000.00.

I think my favorite part of the Auburn was this gorgeous hood ornament!  

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

It's been four years since I attended the Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction but, I got the opportunity to attend last week courtesy of my friends Julie and Dave.  I'm obviously not a bidder but, I have to admit that it's fun to tour the hall where all the cars are stored and see some rare beauties.  The above car is a 2011 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport.

I had never seen anything quite like it.  The paint job was not shiny like most cars, it had a sort of matte finish.  This car, belonging to Floyd Mayweather Jr. did not meet the reserve.  I don't know what the reserve was but rumor has it that it was over 1 million.

I think my favorite cars to see are the ones in the 1930 range.  This is a 1938 Rolls Royce Boattail Sporster.  This one sold for $126,500.00.  If you are a fan of Hercule Poirot, can't you picture Colonel Hastings in this one?

I think this was one of the most unusual cars I saw there.  It's a 1955 Chrysler Ghia Streamline X "Gilda".  Whew...that's a mouthful.

This is a one of a kind, aerodynamic exhibition car introduced at the Turin Auto Show.  It's spent a lot of it's life in museums, the Ford Museum until 1969, Harrah's until 1985, and the Blackhawk Museum until 2005.  It's been in private ownership since then.  This one would look pretty futuristic sailing down the road.  Unfortunately, this one didn't meet the reserve either so it did not sell this time around.

I have some more to show you tomorrow.

Urban vs. Rural

The area where I found yesterday's witch, is a patch of homes with huge lots and very narrow streets giving it a very rural look.  In reality is just feet away from busy Camelback Road and right in the heart of Phoenix.  I like to drive around in here every now and then and it seems I always discover something new or interesting to photograph.  Last year I found this shot that looks like it was taken on a country road somewhere.  I was looking for something similar when I found this patch of gnarled trees.  They were looking very picturesque with their winter bareness.

I also spotted a few homes that I've seen before but, I like the way they looked on this damp and grey morning.  It's funny how a little rain and wet weather changes the look of things.

I noticed I was being watched while I was doing my photographic explorations!