Holy Ground Blog

Scenes From a Road Trip

2012-01-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

Rain affected our road trip plans as we drove back from SoCal. We bailed on Joshua Tree and headed up the El Cajon pass looking for better weather. What we found was a large billboard advertising a room and breakfast for $25 in Mesquite. A quick call to the Virgin River Casino and we had reservations.

Somewhere near Baker, the drugs kicked in... no, no... the weather broke a bit, so we decided on a pit stop for some other-world refreshments.

Saying goodbye to our new friends, we split for Vegas, and soon after entered more rain driving into Mesquite.

The rain would end by morning, but left a lot of fog in the Virgin River valleys and snow in upper elevations. We decided to take the back way into St. George, leaving the Interstate at Littlefield and proceeding past Beaver Dam and through the Paiute Reservation. This involved climbing up to a major pass where the road was a sheet of ice. Creeping around a curve at the summit, we were greeted by an amazing scene... the mountains behind the St. George area.

Descending into the St. George area, we were buried in the fog, but managed to find the road to Snow Canyon. Unfortunately, the fog was hiding this State Park, but the fog made for some interesting pics.

Finally the fog lifed, and we saw Snow Canyon in all its red rock glory.

Besides red rock, a lot of volcanic action has taken place in this area.

So while the road trip did not work out as planned, it was quite rewarding anyway. Next month, or possibly March, another road trip, hoping to find the place I want to die. Stay tuned...

NAMM Adventures

2012-01-26T11:28:00.000-08:00

With help from my "in", Rod Daynes, we were able to attend the NAMM show in Anaheim again this year. What a zoo! Lots of gear... guitars, amps, recording hardware, audio software... ah, the software!

Wait a minute! Well, maybe next year I will just spend my time with my camera in one place and just take photos of people. Somehow, I guess it's the music industry and in Los Angeles, but the show really does attract the most interesting people.

I did see some fun gear as well.

There's always fun entertainment to be found at NAMM, some on formal stages, some just happens in various booths. First thing in the morning, for folks waiting for the exhibit doors to open, we were treated to Polka Floyd. Yep, just what the name implies. Really a fun start to our day.

Then a little Tex-Mex at the Roland electronic squeeze box booth.

Even Elton John showed up (I guess...)

But the best entertainment was that night, away from NAMM, where we heard Chain Reaction, featuring the work of the world's greatest guitar player... the kid really does have his chops down!

Til next year... (actually, stay tuned for pics from our road trip back to SLC).

One Last Bismarck Adventure

2012-01-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

One of our interviews was with the ND Parks and Recs folks. They were kind enough to arrange a "private" tour of the close by Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. While the park is open in the winter, the weather keeps the tourists at bay (and our tour rather brief!).

The Fort is home to a museum built by the CCC (perhaps a good idea to try again now with our continuing recession).

The park also features a restoration of the On-A-Slant Indian village, the original occupants of this area in the 1600-1800s. The village features several earthen mound homes.

Canadian geese are prolific in this area (next to the Missouri river).

But Fort Abraham Lincoln is most famous as the homebase of General Custer and his army. His house has been restored, along with some of the barracks buildings. From this base, Custer led his men to their fate at Little Big Horn. Some curious facts... Custer graduated totally last in his class at West Point, yet had an exceedingly successful military career... until he didn't.

One way to bathe...

Supposedly, Custer's wife's ghost still haunts the house and grounds. Probably as revenge for having to wear these very narrow shoes.

Apparently, many women of the time chopped off their little toes in order to fit into these fashionable shoes of the day. And we are incredulous about Chinese foot binding.

One barracks and a zillion more geese.

Finally, a shot of the wide Missouri... finally back in its banks after the worst flooding known to North Dakota.

More Bismarck

2012-01-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

Unseasonably warm for 3 days in Bismarck, then the temps dropped 40 degrees! We did cruise around a little, it's a small town in most ways. Lots of bars and many quite decent restaurants. And these sites:

North Dakota has one of the few (maybe only Alaska) undomed state capitol buildings. From 1934, the current building reflects somewhat the art deco/industrial architecture of the period.

The railroads figure prominently in Bismarck commerce. From a little park along the rail lines, we found this steam engine... and a rather interestingly named church.

Downtown, there's this warning light/siren that indicates approaching weather. Storms can be severe, tornadoes are possible, and the Missouri can flood badly in the Spring as the populace learned in 2010. Local school kids learn a poem about the different indicators.

The Peacock Alley was historic but expensive ($10 beers!), but good steaks. Space Aliens had decent BBQ (very tender brisket and a fun family atmosphere... check their web site), and I got Walleye fish and chips at the Toasted Frog. But the best deal around was at the local Elks Club... $8 for a full prime rib dinner!

Bismarck in January

2012-01-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, Bismarck, North Dakota in January. What the hell am I doing here in January? What the hell am I doing here at all? Well, North Dakota has a tendency to flood badly in the Spring (the Missouri River being just one culprit). So I'm up here with FEMA to attend some meetings revolving around disaster planning for the next floods. Thankfully, the weather at the moment is wonderful, sunny and warm (40's). Hope it holds.

Anyway, a neat little airport (new terminal) with quite the welcoming committee.

Here's the crew upon arrival.

I didn't get to see much of Bismarck today, since after checking into the local Radisson, we decided to meet for the football playoffs. The architecture in this part of town is pretty functional, to say the least.

I did find the McKenzie, one of those fine old hotels of the past, but no longer a hotel, unfortunately. Civic pride hasn't gotten around to renovating it yet.

Yeah, I know Jerome is about 50 miles away, but I don't think I'll get a chance to see him this trip. I don't know how meeting him would go anyway, for 10 minutes it might be cool.

But the bars are plentiful and cheap. Here's where we hung out for the game, next to the railroad tracks. More tomorrow...

Best Salt Lake City Jazz, 2011 Edition

2012-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

In a flurry of new year's activity, I've assembled some of the best tunes I've recorded over the past year. While innovative jazz activity in SLC is in a current lull, there were still a few cool gigs that I attended. And I cheated a bit, since I've included some tunes that I recorded in SoCal. But they relate to the SLC jazz scene in a sense. If you want to hear the tunes, or download them, click on over to my web site: Holy Ground

Last Minute Gift Suggestions

2011-12-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted here lately. For someone who doesn't give a damn about the holidays, I sure seem extra busy during this time of year. Parties, dinners, cards, letters, gifts, etc.. Anyway, I was going through some CDs the other day and ran across this jewel, one of my all time favorite recordings.

This live material was captured on an old reel to reel at the blue collar 23 Club in Brisbane, just south of San Francisco, in the early 60's. Mostly instrumental, it's a combo of jazz, country, western swing and just plain fun ("music starts at nine, the fights start at 10"). The playing is exceptional, Jimmie Rivers an obscure but very competent guitarist. The audio has been cleaned up well, resulting in a very listenable CD. I love this performance, and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys older music instead of the crap foisted upon us by today's music industry (majors and independents). Do a Google search and you'll come up with sites to hear and buy the music.

More Northern California music... Jim Thomas of the Mermen has released an "acoustic" album of his Mermen tunes, with a mellower, ambient intent.

Haven't heard it yet, but I'm confident it will be quite enjoyable instrumental music. I ordered it today.

Finally, for all you Occupy Wall Street supporters out there, a book: Debt: The First 5000 years, an anthropological analysis of debt throughout human history.

It's getting a lot of attention, and is considered somewhat of a bible of the OWS movement. My New Years, Palm Springs read.

Anyway, hopefully everyone will have a wonderful holiday season, and best wishes for the new year.

Last Toast at Junior's

2011-11-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure where those silly "fans" came from, seems like a Harry birthday celebration a few years ago. Anyway, it was Saturday, social time at Junior's, but with an important person missing and unlikely to join us ever again. Lots of friends came down for a last beer toast to Harry. The mood was rather festive (the initial shock had worn off, missing Harry had yet to set in), the way Harry would like it. Some pics:

And the roller derby girls joined us for a beer... yep, Harry was glancing over...

Finally, a dedication... Seems like every Saturday the Junior's reference road atlas was thumbed through by Harry showing some bar on some obscure road that he had visited... or he was always generous with an alternative highway for someone planning a road trip. As a result, the existing atlas was showing a great deal of wear and tear... therefore, time for a new one.

Goodbye, Harry, enjoy that one, last, never ending road trip.

Harry Sellers

2011-11-09T14:40:00.001-08:00

One of the most amazing persons I've ever met died this week. H. Francis Sellers was an accomplished artist, a great storyteller, a bar hopper beyond comprehension, and, during the latter part of his life, he became a dedicated husband and father. Harry was one of the most innovative, resourceful, and creative people to grace this fair land, and extremely funny as well. He will be missed in the Southern Utah desert, down at Junior's on the North End, and in small bars in tiny towns across the West. Thankfully we still have his art, and we all have stories that will continue our memories until we are all long gone. Some pics of Harry, with friends and family.

Leap of Faith

2011-10-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last week an intense drama unfolded in the middle of the San Rafael desert. Would two intrepid hikers manage the 10 mile distance from camp site to Swayze's Leap and back under the hot sun with limited water resources, or would they be rescued by young Swedish girls in a large SUV? Well, neither happened, but more on that later.

We did manage one more trip into the San Rafael before the incredible October weather turned toward winter. Temps were great, even reasonable warm at night, and the skies were perfectly clear. The desert was just waiting for our exploration. We've spent some time in the past checking out the Upper Black Box off the Mexican Mt. road, so we decided to find the Lower Black Box, to the south of Mexican Mt.

But first was the long 4WD road across the Sinkhole Flats and Jackass Benches.

After some rough going, we finally decided enough was enough... and a nice campsite presented itself encouraging the decision. After setting up camp, we decided to explore a bit and, amazingly, soon found ourselves on the south edge of the Upper Black Box. Weird how the rivers and roads flow through that country. Anyway, we got some great pics.

Back at camp, it was Modelo time.

As the sun began it's evening descent, the long shadows fell over the desert.

The next day, after filling up on sleazy huevos rancheros, we began the big hike to Swayze's Leap. Being too chickenshit to drive any further on the road (the truck would have made it, but I didn't have much confidence in the driver), we had about a 3 mile hike to the trailhead, then about 2.5 miles to the Leap. The hike brought us closer to Mexican Mt., and obviously someone had been there before us (how, I don't know).

We finally made it down to the river, where it winds around Mexican Mt. and then begins to cut into the Lower Black Box.

There's a very narrow point where supposedly Swayze jumped his horse across the canyon. Note the trail on the other side.

Regardless of myth, this area was fantastic, and offered great views all around, and great opportunities for pics.

Finally, a shot fully into the Lower Black Box. There are a couple other trails into the Lower Black Box a few miles from here, but they will have to wait until next time.

By now, it was midday and the sun was beating down. Thankfully the temps were moderate, but still, the miles hiking out were going to be tough. I kept thinking if we made it back to the trailhead, and the road, maybe we could get a lift back to camp if anyone was around. Beautiful Swedish girls sounded like a good idea. Well, that didn't happen, but we did run across a group of folks with their expanded ATVs who gave us some extra water, then offered us a ride back to camp. Wonderful! Saved by ATVs! Back to Modelo and Tequila and good food and a farewell look at Mexican Mountain.

Swamp Thing

2011-09-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Trying to walk off the intake of a zillion calories, I decided to visit the Punaho'olapa Marsh. This required another visit into the Turtle Bay jungle.

At one point, I found some very unusual trees poking out of the jungle...

And some cool flowering bushes...

Then into the swamp. The trail I followed was an old Oahu railbed... I didn't see any exotic birds (although I certainly heard them), but I did scare up a few mongoose (they were too quick for my camera). Apparently, mongoose(s) were imported to Oahu to rid the island of a rat problem. However, rats live at night, mongeese live during the day. Now there are still rats and lots of mongeese... Oh, well... now for the marsh...

Leaving the marsh, the trail took me back to the coastline. Here, a couple fishermen were having at it.

I also saw a sea turtle surface, but it dove down before I could fire up my camera.

Then it was back to the resort for the big wedding during another beautiful Hawaiian sunset.

Surf's Up!

2011-09-23T14:20:00.001-07:00

The last few days, a Pacific swell has stimulated the waves hitting the North Shore. The decent sized waves have made the surfing more exciting. Since the North Shore is one of the most famous surfing spots in the world, I decided to drive down to the areas with the most notorious surfing conditions, including the very dangerous Banzai Pipeline. Surfers discriminate very narrowly the various breaks, often differentiating every 100 yards or so. To my untrained eye, it all looked the same. Anyway, from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay, the breaks are infamous. However, it's not December... that's when the surf in the following pictures doubles, even triples in size. These are from the Banzai Pipeline shoreline (Ehukai Beach).

After a hard day surfing... or at least picture taking, I retired to the pool bar. The green flags were out announcing the sunset drink special, The Green Flash (tequila with the ever present pineapple juice). The only flash I noticed was behind my eyes...

It's a Jungle Out There

2011-09-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

This Turtle Bay Resort is actually quite amazing. Besides all the beach and coastline, there are two major golf courses carved out of the pristine jungle. Maybe not so cool, but at least the resort left huge areas of the jungle for trails and exploration. I took off on one of those trails yesterday and had a great time.

I started out fighting the sand along the shoreline until I had a great view back to the main resort. Also found another sleeping seal. Oh, and some amazing tree roots exposed by the pounding surf.

As I got around to Protection Point, I found this old WWII bunker... somehow I don't think this bunker, as our first line of defense, was going to keep the mongol hordes out of Hawaii.

From here, I plunged into the "jungle"... I didn't get attacked by boa constrictors or wild hogs, but it was cool.

Side trails brought me back to the shoreline... I surprised a trio of bikinied babes who thought they had found a secluded beach.

At another side trail I got a good perspective of Kawela Bay.

Back in the jungle, I found some amazing trees... First, an ancient Banyon, then a lonely palm in the midst of all the other foliage, and some other interesting but unidentified trees.

Returning to the resort, I also noticed these curious conifers... and some beautiful flowering bushes.

And after a long hike, nothing like a beer...

North Shore, Oahu

2011-09-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

What started out as a drive to SoCal for the football game turned into a longer stay for a Steely Dan clone band gig (Willis on guitar). Then Lacey says she's going to Hawaii to work on a book (!)... and do I want to come along on a $99 companion fare first class ticket! Well...

And here we are on the North Shore at the Turtle Bay Resort with the surf pounding the shore outside our window. We woke up in the morning to this...

The resort is protected from environmentalists by a fierce warrior...

While Lacey worked, I started a series of hikes. First up was a beach walk to Kahuku Point. Walking in sand is a drag, I brought back most of the beach in my shoes... But it was rewarding. First I found the pervasive presence of graffiti... actually the design on the left was pretty cool.

Then I found this sign along the beach...

And, sure enough, I found this monk seal taking a nap. Of course I went up and kicked it awake...

No, I didn't... but I was jealous of its napping ability. Anyway, I finally got around to the Point... here's a shot looking back to the resort, and another of the cove formed by the Point.

On the way back, I chose one of the "jungle" trails wandering throughout the extensive resort property. There's a golf course in here somewhere.

Really... some of the trails follow the golf courses, but the forest effectively hides the trail from the murderous golfers. I did find some little kids entering the trail and warned them of impeding monsters in the deep, dark forest (actually true, some archeologists were using a noisy front loader to clear the foliage and to excavate possible ancient burial grounds).

Hawaii is, of course, quite lush... Here's a few of the flowering and fruiting trees I found.

On the resort property is a WWII historical marker for one of the first radar sites in the US. Now the Opana Mountain site is a very modern installation. Back in 1942 it was just an experimental radar site which actually detected the Japanese planes as they flew towards Pearl Harbor. The detection was duly reported; however, it was assumed the planes were actually American B-17s due to arrive from the mainland at about that time. Unfortunately the quality of radar at that time could not distinguish quantities or sizes of planes.

After a hard day of hiking and book reviewing, I decided we needed a drink. The pool bar had a Mai Tai special for happy (half) hour. They were good... very good...

Semi shit faced at sunset, we walked over to the shoreline for a typical, fabulous, Hawaiian close to the day...

The end...

Potts and His Poetry Return to Utah

2011-09-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

The poet Charles Potts returned to Utah earlier this month to dedicate the transfer of his voluminous writings to USU. Besides workshops and readings at USU, he also gave a public reading arranged by the Helicon West group at the Free Aggie Cafe in Logan.

Personally, I think Potts is the most important American poet of his generation. Hopefully, now that his archives are at USU, more people will become aware of his work. I recorded the Free Aggie reading... here are a couple of the poems from this reading.

Lina Wertmuller... from his time in SLC.
Sunburnt Romantic

Thanks to Star Coulbrooke and Brad Cole, amongst others, for making this event possible.

12 PAC... First Game

2011-09-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

The University of Utah recently joined the old PAC 10, along with Colorado, to form the 12 PAC (as they call it in California). The Utes traveled to LA to play USC at the Colliseum for the first 12 PAC game, a rather historical event, especially if the Utes could win! My son, the world's greatest USC fan, got me tickets to the game for my birthday. So, with a couple friends of his, off we went to the big game.

First we wondered across the USC campus, where the world's largest tailgate party was happening... since the stadium is dry, the campus became the bar... tons of booze... very cool!
And the USC marching band entertained the fans.

Well primed, we headed into the stadium... quite impressive.

The Trojan Marching Band once again entertained...

The Trojan horse galloped around the field...

Then the Trojans took the field to a chorus of cheers...

And the Utes took the field to a chorus of boos... and some cheers (actually quite a few Ute fans in attendance)...

A popular button on USC fans stated simply... "What is a Ute?". Well, they were about to find out as the battle began...

As day turned to night, the Colliseum flame was ignited...

I feared a 72-3 USC victory; however, the Utes gave 'em quite a battle... down to the last 20 seconds, tons of drama, and only a blocked field goal prevented a tie game in regulation. USC emerged victorious, but the Trojan players were soon running across the field and welcoming a worthy opponent to the new league.

A great game, a great time, and we went out for Asian food afterwards.

The Big Cruise--Newport, RI

2011-08-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

The last stop on our cruise was Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is another big East Coast vacation spot, and summer home of the rich and famous, current and past. Think F. Scott Fizgerald, the Gilded Age, the Great Gatsby, Vanderbilts, etc. The distinguishing features of Newport are boats and mansions.

Entering the Newport harbor, there were zillions of boats, little and especially big.

This was my favorite, right in the center of the harbor...

After getting ashore, we'd arranged a bus tour of the famous mansions lining the coastline of Newport. I noticed right away that from the street, most mansions were hidden by foliage. The tour then stopped for a 1.5 hour tour of a single mansion (boring!)... so, consulting my local map, I took off for the 3.5 mile cliff walk along the coast. What I found was... mansions! Of course, the mansions were built with unobstructed ocean views, so hiking along the coast trail exposed them to my camera. So here are a zillion mansions, with a few coastal views to break things up.

One mansion had its own oriental tea house... now serving tourists expensive sandwiches...

Here's and info sign concerning some of the more distinguished mansions.

Along the cliff walk, I did find a path back to the main street where the tour bus was parked. Damn if I wasn't a great hiker... I was soon back on the bus headed for the famous Breakers mansion, summer home of the Vanderbilts. What an example of conspicuous consumption! These people were mad with their wealth. I could have lived in just one of the spacious rooms.

The tour bus took us back to the docks via the funky and preserved downtown of Newport, then it was back on the BFB and off to NYC and a plane from JFK to SLC.

The Big Cruise--Boston

2011-08-23T16:30:00.001-07:00

The big fucking boat cruised into Boston. Suddenly we had a zillion possible things to do, and we didn't know what to do! Finally, Miriam decided on the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, which was a beautiful if curious place... but didn't have any art after about 1400... We didn't know at the time that this museum was involved in the biggest art heist in history (do a web search... a zillion entries). But we didn't stay long, and, after passing Fenway Park...

...it was off to the Quincy Market downtown for lunch and cheap thrills (see punk Houdini below).

We had to be back on the BFB kinda early, but as we left the dock, we passed some cool stuff. First, Logan International Airport (and a scary tourist boat).

The Boston docks area fascinated me (as usual... cranes and boats and storage (check the symmetry of the grain elevators)... commerce on a crazed level).

Then there was this fort protecting the entrance to the harbor.

Then goodbye to Boston.

A couple lighthouses, and out to sea.

The Big Cruise--Bar Harbor

2011-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Bar Harbor, Maine... a kinda upscale vacation spot, still somewhat quaint within its heavily forested environs. I enjoyed the village, however, but it was kinda maddening... a small town overrun with 3000 cruise ship tourists. Still, a beautiful bay with lots of sailing and other boats, and a nice walk along the beach.

There are a million inns, lodges, and B&Bs serving the summer vacationers. Here's one of the most classic and most beautiful.

Along the beach, we ran across a summer pre-school program with these cute, color coordinated, kids...

As a farewell to Bar Harbor, another lighthouse pic...

The Big Cruise--Saint John

2011-08-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have to admit... Saint John did not impress me much. Maybe it was the drizzly weather, but the town seemed dingy, and hurting... a fishing village without fish. The historic area of Victorian houses had some nice examples, but wasn't that great... Lunch wasn't very good and the local beer was disappointing as well. Or maybe I had a bad day... Anyway, I do have pics, and maybe in retrospect Saint John will improve in my mind.

First, a few old churches, one of which was up for sale...

Now for some of the better Victorian homes I found.

There was a good effort going on to update the downtown area with a couple nicely done, interconnected, indoor malls and an extensive indoor farmer's market. However, this left a couple classic buildings partially empty.

So I wasn't sad to leave this place. I'm sure it is more interesting than I've indicated in this post. And the Bay of Fundy is certainly beautiful. Someday, given the chance, I'll try Saint John again.

The Big Cruise--Halifax

2011-08-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

Our first cruise stop was Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax is a really neat little city. Like most cities, it is now spread out far and wide, but the central downtown combines the best of old and new. The dock area is renovated into a very nice walking tour, with just enough, but not too much, touristy shit. (well, this tug was kinda over the top)...

The Canadian Coast Guard was on duty...

And the dockside entertainment was great... this saxman had his act down and got my money...

Not spending too much time at the docks, I immediately took off up the hill, into downtown, finding many cool shops and pubs, including a curious looking place and eventually a great indy music store (lots of vinyl!).

Old churches often define an old city, and Halifax is old...

Like most of Eastern Canada, Halifax expresses a strong Brit influence. I continued up the hill to the Citadel National Historic Site, and old Brit fort that has a commanding view of Halifax (see pics above) and protected the city from invasion way back when. I got there in time for the noontime cannon firing and a performance of the bagpipe band.

Then it was back downtown, past this clock tower, for a wonderful lunch at the Five Fishermen, including a local brewski (Alexander Keith's Red).

After lunch, some more walking led me past this cool new office building with a very interesting weather vane, signifying the Halifax ties to shipping and sailing... a tie furthered by a rather large mural.

Then it was back on the Big Fucking Boat to continue the cruise. The pilot boat eased us out...

But the dock area still held new charms for me... a set of flatbed rail cars with new diesel engines and, of course, lots of cranes.

Finally, goodbye to Halifax...

As a final entry to this post, the first of a series of lighthouse pics... There were three of them we passed on the way into and out of the Halifax harbor.

On to St. John... or is it Saint John... hell, I don't know which... there's so much booze on this boat, I'm barely afloat.

The Big Cruise--Leaving NYC

2011-08-21T11:05:00.001-07:00

After a few nights in NYC, we were off on the big cruise. But first, above are a couple shots of the spectacular Manhattan skyline from the freeway (catch the knock on the Mets in the first pic). Just as we started across the Brooklyn Bridge, we got a good view of the new Frank Gehry apartment building... amazing... I'm not sure you can tell from the pic the twisting effect that occurs in this building. Supposedly it didn't cost any more to construct the effect...

Then it was down to the Brooklyn docks, and at the cruise terminal, we found this big fucking boat! Yep, it was our cruise line! 3700 passengers, 1100 crew!

After settling in, it was up on deck for the NYC farewell. Drinks in hand, we waved farewell to the Big Apple.

Of course, we cruised by the Statue of Liberty...

We had to do life boat drill... here's the stylin' cruisin' couple with Manhattan in the background..

Then under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and into open water.

And... The End... at the end...

The Big Apple

2011-08-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

After 40 years, I've made it back to New York City. Amazing place, filled with tourists, and crazy crowded as hell... but somehow fun beyond belief. And I could walk the streets for weeks just staring at tall buildings... and what is so great, such a mix of modern and classical stylings (particularly lots of art deco touches)... so a bunch of tall buildings!: (click for larger images)

Sacks on 5th Avenue:

The entrance to Bergoff-Goodman:

A great on the 5th Ave. sidewalk:

Rockefeller Plaza:

Trump tower:

Of course, in the Big Apple, the big Apple store, unfortunately undergoing renovation at this time:

Some sort of macabre museum:

Times Square:

And, not tall, but classic... and my favorite, the New York City Library...

Inside, very beautiful, and more tourists than patrons. Outside, a hot babe... too bad the SLC library doesn't have a few similar statues outside its main entrance.

Just a very small sampling... now off on a cruise up the East Coast.

Troll Hunter

2011-08-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Another sleeper of a movie, really good, well done, definitely worth seeing... and, actually, quite scary! Like Rare Export, Troll Hunter is based on mythology... this time Norwegian trolls (Rare Export brought back the ancient Finnish Santa myth). The movie is done similar to the old Blair Witch Project, with a film crew trying to document bear hunters, but coming across a rather strange and secretive hunter who is after something much bigger than bears. But I think Troll Hunter beats Blair Witch at its own game... the trolls are real, obvious, scary, and after the Christians! (there are many understated jokes in Troll Hunter, which add to the fun... are Muslims safe?).

Unlike all the vampire crap that's come out in the past few years, where the vampire myth is reduced to teenage romanticism, Troll Hunter keeps the connections to the past, with only minor updating of troll myths for modern times (baiting trolls with old car tires is interesting... I wonder if there is something about odd about tires in current Norwegian culture... trolls as recycling agents?).

So the second Scandinavian movie of the year that has surprised and pleased me... both working with myth, both creating a modern times movie that maintain and entertain with cultural myths. Next, the devil claus meets the mountain troll!

Hell Bent for Wells

2011-08-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

So my buddy Mark comes up from Flagstaff and mentions he might like to visit Smokey in Wells, NV. I say I could join him on Saturday, then think... nope, I don't have to wait for Saturday, we can go now! (still haven't got the full-on retirement mentality, yet). So off we go, 3 hours to Wells.

Meeting Smokey, we request a tour of the earthquake damage from a couple years ago... The old hotel:

Worst hit, and still recovering, is old Main Street, along the railroad tracks. But since the train doesn't stop here anymore, the buildings were largely abandoned, awaiting historical renovation, while the commercial aspect of Wells moved toward the freeway. Wish the old bars were still open.

While the trains don't stop, they do run through town. And just on cue... the Sante Fe... and a couple hobos looking for an open box car...

No visit to Wells would be complete without an interlude with the ladies...

Wells gets its name from springs, actually, created by the runoff from the Humboldt Mts, and forming the headend of the Humboldt River that flows West to Elko and on to Reno.

While driving around town (doesn't take long!), we saw a sign for Angel Lake... it was hot and the mountains looked cool, so off we went. Angel Lake, and Angel Creek, form a major source of water for the Wells area. And, it is a beautiful area.

We hiked around the lake to explore the waterfall. Lots of wildflowers blooming madly...

Lots of snow left in these mountains, a record year for snowfall in these parts. This pic shows the snow runoff over the falls and into Angel Lake... from there, the lake drains via Angel Creek down to the valley below.

Our intrepid hikers take a break before the final trek to the falls.

We made our way back to the truck and then back to Wells. A final shot of the Humboldt Range.

Wells is easily bypassed when zipping along the freeway. But there are some cool events happening there... a car show which attracts entrants from around Nevada, Idaho, and Utah as well as a fiddler's contest, fishing contest, and many other weekend events that make the place more interesting. Worth a stop on your next road trip.

Pioneer Day Escape

2011-07-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

If you live in the city, the Pioneer Day holiday can create some chaos. Best to escape to the mountains. I did so, and found great friends, lots of tequila, and rugby gospel songs (what???). Yep, the music was great, as George the Hack and his very able companion Rosemarie introduced us to some obscure gospel tunes and other rugby favorites. The beers went down easy, the shooters bolstered the beers, a good time was had by all...

Thanks to Bill and Julie (Happy Birthday!) for the opportunity to escape the city, and to the road crew who repaired all the flood damage.

A Night Out in Denver

2011-07-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's good to know a successful lawyer... at least socially! ...especially when his firm has box seat tickets to Rockies games.

Scott was kind enough, and extremely generous, to host myself and two of his motorcycle buddies to dinner and a game while I was in Denver.

We started out with a delicious Pinot (and cigars) in the Churchill Room of the Brown Palace hotel (above). The Brown Palace is one of those classic, beautiful old hotels that anchor the historic past of a city. A couple shots from the inside:

Here's the guys after a cigar... a motorcycle gang in the exclusive Churchill Room! Lawyers these days...

and the mural found in the Churchill Room which fascinated me...

Then it was over to the Ship Tavern (in the hotel) for a wonderful dinner... the best prime rib and the best trout in Denver. Finishing dinner coincided with a dwindling thunderstorm (boy, was Denver clobbered by lightning and rain while I was there), so it was off to the ball game.

Entrance into a MLB ballpark is a spiritual moment for me... and Coors Field is beautiful park.

Great seats! Right closeup... and a shot of Prince Fielder of the Brewers.

Then there was the sunset from the ballpark... yep, Denver and the west are the best.

A great night... the Rockies won and I got my home run (although by the Brewers). Thanks again to Scott for his generosity.

I'm from FEMA...

2011-07-14T06:33:00.001-07:00

... and I'm here to save your ass.

Yep, I'm in Denver at the Federal Center out on West 6th Ave., and now an employee of FEMA. My position is "occasional" as a Disaster Assistance Employee, responsible for emergency communications systems. Be afraid, be very afraid!

The pic above is the FEMA bunker in Denver, it's part of an old bomb shelter from the post war days (WWII for you young'ins out there). There's a long tunnel to the more modern building with additional office space.

And it's even historical!

Here's a shot of some of the MERS (mobile emergency radio systems, or something like that) vehicles (carrying communications and support materials), along with one of the HF antennas, and a little Denver.

I'm here for a week of training and an introduction to the whole disaster response system. Getting paid, too!

Finally, a closer shot of downtown Denver through another HF antenna.

Kilby Court Battle of the Big Bands

2011-07-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

What a night! Plenty of (musical) fireworks leftover from the 4th as SLAJO and JPO battled it out... (Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra and Joshua Payne Orchestra). How they managed to set up two big bands in the limited (large garage) space of Kilby Court still amazes me... and I was there! At least the audience didn't mind hanging around outside in the courtyard since it was quite warm inside. So there we were, photographers, recorders, videographers, stumbling over each other in the small space between the blasting bands. Each took a turn, and then combined...

First up was the visiting team, JPO,

followed in the bottom of the inning by the home team, SLAJO.

Best of all was the bottom of the ninth, with both groups participating in a beautiful version of Herschel Bullen's "Wreckrium". Tie game... Absolutely great jazz, and a very fun musical configuration. Tunes from the show can be heard or downloaded from the SLAJO web site.

Curious, this weekend is the Salt Lake International Jazz Festival... and neither of these great bands is involved. What's going on??? How can such jazz excellence, innovation, and overall excitement be ignored by a local jazz festival?

Vacation Jazz

2011-07-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

So during my time in France, I didn't get much chance to see any jazz. Usually I was wiped out on the Rose' and a full dinner by 10:00pm and just fell into bed.

But I stopped over in Orange County on the way back and was able to catch Willis playing with Buck's Vibe at Steamer's in Fullerton (looks like they have a regular monthly gig for the forseeable future). This is a hot quartet! A new CD is coming soon, and I hope to get a DVD of the Steamer's performance in the near future.

I Need a Dump Truck Mama...

2011-06-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

...to unload my head. Aand make it a Mercedes dump truck.

Last Tango in... And Cars

2011-06-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm home now. Great trip, but exhausting. Also, so much butter and bacon, my arteries may never recover. Anyway, some last pics from the trip highlighting more odd stuff and also some thoughts and pics on cars in Europe.

Speaking of bacon, Lyon is the sausage capital of France. So the pig is revered. Nice looking guys, they don't know they will soon be cooked in a red wine sauce and served to me sliced in delicate rounds.

I love French bathrooms. As with most modern Europe, design is important in even the most common elements. Check the chrome dual flush mechanism on the toilette and this cool showerhead.

But if you get the urge while walking along the rivers of Lyon, and you are a guy, you get to use this classic pissoirs...

If you are into fast food, I found this little shop in the big Lyon mall. I don't know if the franchise would work in this country.

Now on to cars... the small car is a necessity in Europe, for many reasons. So you see models you'd call death traps in this country (SUV bait!). But they are quite cute.

Our last night in Lyon was the Fete du Musique, which had a zillion music groups playing all over the city. A very fun idea, but unfortunately a huge rainstorm kinda washed things out, unless you were 25 and didn't mind getting soaked. Mostly Electro, and rap and reggae stuff anyway, so I wasn't too disappointed to shorten my music wanderings that night. We did catch this wonderful traditional group... 11 "accordians" with accompanying instruments. The Woody Allen character in the middle was perfect for this group preserving a bit of France's musical past. They weren't really that great, but the opportunity to hear the traditional music was very fun.

We don't see many Alfas in this country, some of the sports models are now imported in limited numbers, but how about an Alfa station wagon, and a mini Alfa?

Here's the Euro version of the new, revived, Fiat 500.

Then there's the mini Mercedes! Curious... this model, called the Avant Garde, is slightly larger than the infamous Smartcar (also a Mercedes product, I believe).

Of course the rich don't worry about car size. So squeezing down the narrow cobblestone streets of Vieux Lyon was this Mercedes SLS AMG...

The retro movement is alive and well in France. So I found these examples of the classic small cars of the past.

An old Mini...

A Renault 4 GTL...

And, of course, the classic Citroen CV... check out the striped shirt on the young babe driving... Let's go watch "Breathless"!

And, finally, to the very modern... along the Champs des Elysee is a major Toyota showroom, and displayed was this concept car. Looks like a future F1 entry, but I suspect it is battery powered.

That's it from the great European adventure. Now on to the VISA bill. I wonder if my old job is still available...

Silk and Lyon

2011-06-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

We were offered a guided tour of the Croix-Rousse area of Lyon ("the hill that works"). This is an area famous in the past for its silk workers (canuts), and their famous workers revolts in past centuries (the silk workers were one of the first "unions"). Above is a view of Lyon from the hill. The tour took us through many passageways and open areas (traboules) surrounded by the apartments formerly used by the silk workers. Here's a historical description (click on the pick and expand if necessary to read).

Here's on of the stairwells, hard to get it all in. Also a pic of the "outdoor" toilets for the apartments, one for each floor, and, finally, a street view.

This area was also popular with the French Resistance during WWII, since it was easy to escape through the myriad passageways.

We also found another of the famous Lyon murals. Here's the building, and some detail shots.

Finally, a romantic couple... the sap does rise in the spring...

Lunch in Lyon

2011-06-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

Our hosts in Lyon, Stephane and Patrick, were kind enough to invite us to Sunday lunch at their apartment. This was a very special treat, especially since Patrick is an incredible chef. We had a wonderful time, with courses extended over 3 hours. Nice stereo, too... Many thanks to them for the occasion (and the pics... the one of us is from a window in the 6 floor winding staircase to their apartment).

Another Lyon River Walk

2011-06-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Miriam had meetings all day, so I decided to walk the Saone in another direction. I had to work off lots of calories garnered from all the butter and bacon in French cooking. No wonder the food in Lyon is so good... lots of fat! The croissants are incredible, and so light... almost like eating liquid butter. So after a typical breakfast, it was off on the walk.

I decided to climb through a sewer... an ancient pathway up through the apartment buildings to a road above Vieux Lyon. As I made my way through, I heard some great jazz coming from an open window... so I knew I was on the right path.

At the top, I found this modern house mixed in with the traditional. There are a few examples of this. The modern structures are reasonably well done and almost fit in with the older buildings.

And down the street I found lunch... Mexican food!

Finally I made the river. Much of Lyon is made up of the old, and then the older. Across the river, I found these historic battlements.

My walk took me to an area of Lyon I'd never seen before. Similar old world architecture, not quite as nice as the main part of Lyon, but just as lively. A couple building examples (I think Bukowski must have stayed in this hotel).

I found these happy sheep grazing in the middle of a major intersection.

I crossed the river at this ancient bridge.

My return gave me great views of the grand architecture of Lyon. What wonderful buildings! I want to live in each and every one of them.

After the walk, I decided I deserved a beer. While hanging out in the cafe, Les Africaines walked by. I wonder where they shop for clothes...

Tomorrow we do a walking tour of the silk district.

Vieux Lyon

2011-06-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Once again, we stayed at La Tour in Vieux Lyon, the same place we stayed on my last trip here. Here are some new shots of some unique areas we found on this trip. The first few are from the top of a stairwell down into Vieux Lyon.

And a stairway and wall section from this historical area...

I also took Miriam to my favorite museum in the world, the Gallo-Roman museum. While the exhibits are really neat (especially the presentation of the tiled mural of Baccus on the black panther), it's the design of the museum, external and internal, that fascinates me.

Leaving the museum, I took a shot of another communications tower, the main broadcast point overlooking Lyon.

Then we wandered through the gardens of Fouviere.

Getting back into Vieux Lyon, we took a well deserved rest near this street guitarist, who played very good classical music on his instrument. The nearby restaurant staff would bring him an occasional beer, and we chipped in a Euro or two... we got our money's worth.

Street Art in Lyon

2011-06-20T01:50:00.000-07:00

Lyon is famous for its building sized murals scattered across the city. These murals are so realistic, one does a double take before realizing the scene is paint, not real. It's such fun to run into one of these. Here's a couple I found this trip.

Here's some closeups from the large scene, including the guy who painted it.

Then's there is the other form of street art... graffiti. Like any large city, Lyon is not immune to this crap, which unfortunately scars some of the classic architecture of the city. Sometimes I wish I could catch one of these taggers and jam his can of spray paint up his ass and explode it. On the other hand, once in awhile, found in somewhat more appropriate locations, are examples of graffiti that do approach art.

Maybe these guys should go into designing bedrooms.

Finally, for the kids and the kid in all of us, the classic carousel found in a central square in dowtown Lyon. Another form of street art.

What I Saw on My European Vacation

2011-06-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

OK, now some off the wall stuff. First, plumbing...

A downspout from IJessenstein... making the ordinary into something visually appealing.

A comparison of street pissoirs from Amsterdam and Paris...

There are similar ones in Lyon... with English instructions, something about auto-cleansing every 20 minutes or something. I may have to check this out.

More plumbing... most toilets in France seem to have a dual action flush, depending on peeing or pooping, so to speak. The controls for such dual action are often nicely designed as part of the whole fixture. Here's one from our Paris hotel. I admit, I played around with these quite a bit... I'm so easily amused...

OK, onward and upward... for all you Hip Hoppers out there, here's your bedroom (from a storefront in Paris).

And here's me... one of the great trick photos of all time (tongue firmly in cheek).

An interesting URL for a company in Holland... weird, check out their website... the nav buttons are in English, but the general text is in Dutch.

Our hotel in Paris had a rather nice lounge area. Displayed was this old telephone (as a former telecom god, I was of course interested), and playing in the lounge was this classic jazz combo.

In Lyon, we went into Monoprix, a major department store and supermarket. We needed a few things, and I had to have this cereal... any box with a naked woman and the word "noir" gets my eye.

Of course I finally realized that noir in this context meant only dark chocolate, not some back alley mystery. But check the little digital readout at the bottom... all items in the Monoprix supermarket had these digital price markers... way cool! they can change prices immediately on any or all items from a central computer. Probably saw me fascinated with "noir" and quickly jacked the price 1E.

Concert posters get thrown up everywhere, and in multiples to attract the eye. Here's a couple I liked... nice to see ZZ Top still at it. Don't know what to say about the other one.

OK, now back to more social redeeming value tourism. Off to the museums today.

A Meeting at the Rivers

2011-06-17T08:45:00.001-07:00

While Miriam was at her conference, I decided to explore the current status of the Lyon Confluence. The central part of Lyon, the Presquille, is an area between the Saone and Rhone rivers, which meet at a point called, of course, the Confluence. In the past, this area was quite industrial, with docks, rail yards, warehouses, and even prisons. There's been a huge effort to completely renovate this area, with parks, condos, business buildings, and museums. Much has been done, but the project won't be finished until 2020.

The walk along the Saone was quite interesting in the sense that one one side, rising on a bluff following the river, are many old instances of the original Roman occupation of the area, and more recent historical structures. Check these out.

And on the other side of the river, approaching the Confluence, one finds very modern structures, as Phase 1 of the area's reconstruction nears completion. Below are way too many photos of condos, but I love the design of these housing units. I want to live in each of them. Architects gone mad!

There's also the Place de Nautique... I'm not sure what purpose this structure will have, perhaps multipurpose. Here's a couple pics, plus one of a cool looking, nearby, office building.

I didn't quite make it to the actual point of confluence, too much construction and the rail yards kept me at a distance. This area is the next stage of renovation... here are some of the old warehouses.

And one more... at least I thought this was an old, abandoned warehouse since it was adjacent to the others, but on closer look, I think this is a very new building... wild!

On the map of the area is the Musee des Confluences, the most amazing building of them all... it's only a concept at this point, I understand cost issues and construction problems have delayed the creation... I think I understand why...

Walking back, I found this cool "house" boat on the river (more of a house barge, very common on the rivers of Europe).

Also on the way back, I had to pass under a major freeway section near the train station, a more downtrodden area, slightly seedy. I found this bar and immediately thought "Harry Sellers"!

Kind of a cool pic... Blonde Tornado, indeed...

Boozing with the Academics in Lyon

2011-06-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Miriam had another conference in Lyon, with academics from many countries. Featured was a big gala which cost me 60E to join in, and I was determined to get my Euro's worth... Lots of very good white and red wine, so I went for it.

The gala was held in an old, classically styled, church now converted to a reception hall. Pretty fabulous.

And a decent jazz duo provided the music (although the hall swallowed the sound pretty much).

At our table was a young Cuban woman, pretty sharp, but limited English, so I couldn't get into politics. Interesting... she was wearing a Rolex, a very nice dress, jewelry, and perfect nails. Not my image of a modern day Cuban... perhaps it was her Brazilian boyfriend and the fact they were living in Spain. Money gets around... even in the Revolution.

And here's the happy couple... damn fine wine...

Also at our table was a trio of Brazilian women. The one holding the wine bottle was very fun, she made the evening. I hope she does send me the original novel for Donna Flor and Her Two Husbands.

We made it back to our apartment just in time for the last of the lunar eclipse.

But there's always Fouvier above us... providing a romantic blessing.

Trains and Babes in Paris

2011-06-16T00:44:00.000-07:00

I've blogged about how impressed I am with the bullet trains in Europe. God, they rock and roll through the countryside! Here's our exit in Paris.

We left Paris from the Gare de Lyon. This old station, now getting rennovated, features perhaps the most amazing restaurant I've ever seen, Le Train Bleu. Check out their web site for pics of the classic, old world decor. Fabulous! Of course, ever the perve, I was most interested in the mermaids decorating the ceiling. Best set of breasts I've ever seen on classic sculpture.

Anyway, train stations in these great cities of Europe are often beautiful to behold, and the modern trains that connect them simply take your breath away.

Sports in Paris

2011-06-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Walking through the grounds of the Invalides, we found a few cool "sporting" events going on. First was rollerblade dancing. Not that big of a deal, except when you consider they did their moves along a straight line of 20+ tiny cones. I filmed a little Quicktime movie of this, available here... (I don't do YouTube...).

Further along, we found old guys playing with their metal balls. Not sure what they call this, a French variation on bocce ball, but there were several groups of older men playing this... and they were very good. I especially liked the little chains with magnets that picked up the balls so the old guys didn't have to bend over.

First Time in Paris

2011-06-15T04:01:00.000-07:00

I've finally found Paris... France, yes (Lyon), but my first time in Paris. We are staying at a fine little hotel (La Bourdeonnais), just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. So, of course, that's the first place we toured.

Of course the crowds were a mile long, so we didn't get to go up. Also, the stairs climbing crowds were nearly as long, so my big personal challenge will have to wait.

That night we had a meal at a hotel recommended restaurant, Pasco, which was unbelievably good... everything you've ever heard about French cuisine came true this night. And not that expensive, less than 30 Euro's for 3 courses including wine. The Profiterole "Pasco" was to die for, filled with hazelnut ice cream and served with warm chocolate syrup. Yummy!

We walked around for a bit, lots of classic architecture, of course, but I also found these cool modern buildings.

This second building is a conservatory dedicated to Eric Satie. We ended up in the American Church where a nice little organ and violin concert was offered for free (we dropped 5E in the collection plate, then played money changers in the temple as we swapped small bills for a 100E note).

Next day, up to the Champs de Elysee and the Arc de Triomphe.

Picture taking gets insane at this point, so here are some random shots of interesting statues and buildings including de Gaulle, the Louvre, the Apple Store at the Louvre, a de Kooning sculpture, us...

On the way back, I was accosted by Brigitte Bardot, one of my long time favorite movie sex symbols (and a long time since she looked so young!). And god created women, indeed!

Walking along the Seine, we found perhaps my favorite bridge, the Pont de Alexandre, built as an entrance to the Grand Palace, both for the World's Fair of 1900 (I believe). I just liked all the gold statuary highlighting the bridge, plus the French Tricolor flapping in the breeze over the palace.

Some people think I'm a horse's ass... but at least I'm a golden horse's ass...

Finally, the Hotel Des Invalides... actually built as a hospital, but looking more like (and better than most), US State capitol.

There were some fabulous open spaces around this (now) museum, where we found some interesting sporting activities going on... but that's for the next post.

Last View from the Amsterdam Visit

2011-06-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

Recovering from bullet train (jet) lag, I though I'd upload our last pics from Holland. Not really Amsterdam, but IJssenstein... a small city about 30 km outside Amsterdam, a bedroom community of Utrecht. Anyway, Miriam's friends live here and invited us out for a tour and dinner. The old part of town is quite historical, receiving its "rights" in the 1300's, and is surrounded by a moat formed from the IJssen River.

So, some pics. First thing you notice is quite modern. One of the tallest communications towers anywhere (over 300 meters). Nice contrast with a church spire. More on the comm tower later.

Here's a shot of the old village, the old city hall, an old church, an old dude, the old jailhouse, the current river, and yet another windmill (working... build in 1732 and restored in 1987), the old protective wall, an old street musician, and some familiar characters.

I may be retired, but I'm still fascinated by communications technologies. Here's a local cell phone store, I love the name...

Nico was kind enough to drive me out to the base of the amazing comm tower. Those of us living in mountainous areas do not need such structures, but for flatlanders, they are necessary for coverage. No one pic can do it justice, so I've done this in sections.

Thanks to Nico and Agnes and their kids for the wonderful hospitality and the opportunity to visit an example of historic Netherlands.

Amsterdam Cruise

2011-06-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I've broken the sound barrier on a bullet train and am now in Paris, but there's more about Amsterdam to post. Miriam's conference arranged a harbor cruise for us on the Prins Van Oranje, complete with dinner and lots of wine.

Here's some cool buildings we cruised by...

Found one of the Greenpeace boats...

I've always been fascinated by the commerce that takes place in harbors. That includes loading and unloading, so here are some cool cranes (?...!)

Finally, yet another windmill...

Haven't seen any real wind farms in Holland, the wind generators seem to come in singles or widely spaced small groups of 4-6. But each one is huge!

One more post from the Amsterdam area coming up. Then some pics from Paris. I'm falling behind. I think the bullet train zipped through some time warp, and I've lost track of the days.