good dog

good dog agility club's annual february show

in tempe at benedict park. here is one of the 

hundreds of good dogs who showed up to 

run, jump, and scramble their way 

to ribbons and a good time. 

the sort of weekend I'm aiming for...

it's a wrap

the NBA All Star games are in Phoenix this weekend. 

at least a couple of our light rail trains are wrapped in 

advertising, an exception that was made to a previous 

decision that the train would not take on these sort 

of promotions and advertising. it doesn't bother me, I'd

rather see a few ads on one or two trains than pay more

to ride as is also being proposed. At any rate, this marks

the half way point for the professional basketball 

season. I am a huge basketball fan, but with all the 

turmoil surrounding our Phoenix Suns team, I'm just

not that into it right now. Not long ago, our team was 

a cohesive, incredibly fun to watch team that many other

teams attempted to emulate. Several upper management knee

 jerk reactions and decisions later, the team is unrecognizable 

and talking about trading one of the best players for 

a bunch of nothing, essentially throwing in the towel. 

I'm as disappointed as the rest of the fans, and our 

GM, Steve Kerr has proven he had no business 

getting his feet wet with an elite team. In their 

peak a couple years back, the Suns were the best show

on sneakers; unfortunately now it looks like those

days are a wrap. 

 

not for picking

Arizona is a great place to grow citrus, 

our hot summers and cool winters produce

a fuller flavor fruit than those produced

in consistently warm or mild climates.

in fact, our oranges can be so 

sweet, some folks have to go to lengths 

like these to keep people from

taking their pick. 

new deal

the Work Projects Administration (wpa) was the 

largest new deal agency. created by a presidential 

order by fdr, funded by congress, and bogged down in the 

senate (starting to sound familiar), the program was 

responsible for a lot of projects and employment (roads,

public buildings, media and literacy, redistributing 

food, clothing, housing). almost every community in 

america has a park, bridge or school constructed by

the agency. a sidewalk in the willo district of phoenix 

has the wpa stamp.

opportunity

when borders bookstore opened on mill 

avenue back in 2001, there was a fair amount of grumbling

 that it wasn't the right fit for the eclectic downtown area. 

it was too corporate, as were several of the other big name stores 

that opened around that time - the gap, bath and body works,

abercrombie & fitch. the corporatization of mill experiment

hasn't worked - none of these stores have survived the 

economic slump. left behind are empty stores and big 

signs. at first glance this looks like one more 

indication that things are going south, but a closer look 

reveals an opportunity: to fill the empty stores on mill

with the same eclectic mix of stores that made mill such 

an interesting destination, rather than an aspiring mall. 

in case of rain

a rainy day in the phoenix area, but that didn't stop 

folks from getting out and enjoying the second half of the

day which was crisp and beautiful. this little guy

looking stylish in a bright yellow rain coat, was prepared 

for sprinkles. captured at the willo street fair in phoenix 

(an annual event where neighbors of the historic downtown 

phoenix area open their beautiful remodeled 1920s & 30s 

homes to the public).

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. 

theme day - this way to a beautiful spot

when i lived in the midwest, an afternoon excursion 

included country roads, rolling hills, lots of trees. in

arizona, the desert road winds down into a vast, rocky

landscape and big skies. big cottonwood trees 

are at the end of this path, near the river.  

western arizona, on the way to the bill williams river.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

happy new year!

"the sun"

my favorite photo from 2008,  

taken at the desert botanical garden. 

hope your 2009 is as festive and bright as this 

chihuly glass sculpture!

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look out below!

today i took my first ride on the light rail.

it was great, i look forward to being a frequent 

rider. while waiting at the tempe transportation

station, several paragliders sailed high overhead. 

i believe they launched from nearby "A" mountain. 

they are no doubt practicing

landing in sun devil stadium (directly below

this glider), where the minnesota golden

gophers will go against the kansas jayhawks for

tomorrow afternoon's insight bowl.

little boys and trains

tempe's light rail celebration included a farmer's market 

(planned to be a permanent tempe fixture beginning in 

April), displays of hohokam pottery found along the

 rail site, chronology of light 

rail planning and construction, and miniature trains 

like this one, chugging around a fanciful carnival. 

light rail celebrations

the cover band known as "the chris parker project"

played in the parking lot across from the new 

tempe transportation center yesterday while 

people drank hot chocolate, ate brats, and walked

to the light rail station at veterans way/college avenue.

they sounded great!

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. 

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. 

snow on a 70 degree day...

it snows in some areas of arizona - it's 2 hours to the

ski slopes of flagstaff - but it's a certainty that there 

will not be snow in tempe, except on special occasions

when the someone gets the snow machine out. 

this afternoon, amidst sunny

skies and short sleeves, there was a big pile of the 

cold stuff for the kids to play in. it was part of the

festivities at tempe lake leading up to the 

fantasy of lights boat parade.

easy rider

*mill avenue*

some days i think it would be so nice to be pulled 

around in a small suitcase. 

Carlyn's Barber Shop

tucked away in a quiet courtyard on mill avenue,

Caryn's Barber Shop has just enough room for 

customer waiting and one in the barber seat. 

So - oh!

so-oh contemporary boutique,

a mill avenue store

beauty in the details

*mill avenue*

i love artistic details. why have plain tile when 

a few tiles like these can add such flair?

that's what i enjoy about photography - finding details

through a lens.