tuesday on a friday

earlier this week, on tuesday night just before 10, one

of the rubber bladders of tempe's town lake dam

broke; as quickly as a billion gallons of water could flow

through the gap - surprising not long at all - the lake

drained leaving a strange sight that tempe-ans have

not seen in the 10 years since the lake was created and filled.

luckily, no one was boating or recreating at that hour and

there were no injuries.

lots of attention is centered on the future at the lake and

the current situation - smell (which I didn't find to be that bad);

the potential for mosquitoes to breed in the abundant

puddles and pools of standing water; and quite a lot

of dead fish; this morning, tuesday the alligator was

a star attraction, having been brought in to eat of few of

the dead fish, and she seemed happy to oblige.

street talent

dana smith, a regular at the tempe art festival for

many years, performs his own blend of fun: tricks, jokes,

juggles and balancing balls on the street.

kettle corn by the handful

there was plenty to see and plenty to eat

during the tempe art festival last weekend.

dragon boat races

there were all kinds of things going on in Tempe last

weekend, a photographer or outdoor enthusiast's feast;

dragon boat races were underway on the north side of the

lake and I'll show other happenings throughout the week.

music? at the art festival

playing the digeridoo at the tempe art festival

tempe farmers market

a daily indoor farmers market in downtown tempe

featuring fresh, organic and locally grown produce;

arizona specialty foods including bread, dairy, honey,

cheese, hormone-free meats, vegan and vegetarian

foods and more. 805 s. farmer avenue.

colors of summer

red, white and blue reflection

the next big thing

a walk along mill avenue on any given evening or weekend

reveals an emerging culture of street artists - 

guitarists, bongo drummers, and others like these two 

somewhat greasy hipsters. these guys were actually 

harmonizing really well, i stopped to listen and couldn't

help but wonder if they might be the next big thing...

Tempe Gateway

Reflecting nearby A mountain and Hayden Flour Mill, 

the newest building downtown is called 

Tempe Gateway, an eight story development that will 

have mixed use including office space, retail, and a 

Main Light Rail Station. it's scheduled to be complete

in about 2 months. 

Delicious

the food smells were fantastic at the aloha festival; I had 

a hard time containing myself as I looked down at 

this delicious sight.

weekend fun

the aloha festival was in full swing last weekend, as 

thousands of people converged downtown and at 

the beach park to celebrate polynesian culture. this photo

gives a view of the celebration from mill avenue bridge.

Hawaiian Festival

downtown tempe was absolutely alive today for the 

hawaiian festival. there was food, entertainment, lots of

sunshine, and people wearing bright flowery shirts.

spring has sprung

lots of trees and flowers are beginning to bloom,

it looks like our nice winter weather has begun the transition 

to extraordinary spring weather

red bull convoy

saturday afternoon, downtown mill avenue. a convoy 

of red bull mini coopers gave away energy drinks;

meanwhile, monster energy drink reps were giving 

away cans of energy as well. 

Parts for a Unicycle

what happens to these?

Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium

Gammage Auditorium, located on ASU's 

main campus near Mill and Apache, is 

considered to be the last public commission of 

architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It opened in 1964

with the Philadelphia Orchestra and currently is 

host to the Broadway musical, The Lion King, which

I saw tonight. Wow. Fantastic. 

big turnout

today was the official launch of light rail. judging by the

turnout at the 2 tempe stations 

i visited, our new transportation is going to be very 

popular. there were so many people waiting to board

i decided to wait until tomorrow or monday to take

my first ride. each train can hold 575 people and each 

train was completely full of riders all day. i'm 

not sure how many trains are in the fleet, but they come

by every 10 minutes (20 during off peak hours). it was

quite a festival-like feeling in downtown tempe where

music played and crowds of people walked down mill 

avenue and along the side streets. 

tall man

this metal sculpture stands tall (30

ft?) near city hall.

upside down

Tempe's city hall building, built in 1970, is award-winning 

and unusual. its unique architecture - an upside down

pyramid - was designed by Michael and Kemper Goodwin

to conserve energy by allowing less light into the building.

the Tempe architects received an award of 

excellence from the American Institute of Steel 

Construction and an award of merit from the 

Western Mountain Region of American Institute

of Architects. 

holiday displays

on tempe butte ("A" mountain), wise men

make their way east by camel.