Williams Towers I and II are my favorite reflective buildings in Tulsa.
They combine a smooth black reflective surface and odd shapes.
To create all sorts of interesting sights that vary by the hour.
Category Archives: Tulsa
Christmas, Firemen, Exotic Dancers, and Fun in Downtown Tulsa
It’s been a while since I’ve shared what is going on in downtown Tulsa. So grab your coat and put on your hat and lets go.
First, Winterfest, not much going on at noon but in the evening they have ice skating and hot chocolate.
The ice rink is problematical. Sometimes they have trouble with keeping the ice frozen especially when it is windy. The operators of the rink say that the wind is a problem because the air friction with the ice creates heat that melts the ice. HAH!! Wrong. As a licensed professional chemical engineer I’d tell them that the air temperature is higher than the ice temperature so the air cools and the ice warms. The wind accelerates this. We call this convective heat transfer. If the sun is shining and warming the ice. That is called radiative heat transfer.
Lots of construction going on these days. One of my customers is building their own building. SHUDDER, I hope they make it. Building our own building in the energy business is risky. They are a conservative well managed company
The old and the new. The Midcontinent Building is in the distance. Built back in the 20’s when Tulsa’s energy industry was wheeling and dealing. Of course the black buildings in the foreground are modern. They are also the headquarters for Samson. A family owned oil company that recently sold itself to Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (“KKR”) for $7.2 Billion. Reportedly the second biggest buyout in the USA this year. Wheeling and dealing is still going on in Tulsa. Just think shale oil and gas.
Next, a monument to Tulsa Firemen. I had to kind of study this a little bit. The guy in front is from the early 20th century the guy in back in contemporary. Tulsa firemen (and firemen the world over are awesome.)
Right around the corner is Tulsa’s monument to exotic dancers. Yeah, that what it looks like to me anyway. I don’t know why they are so close to the firemen.
Salvation Army bell ringers. Haven’t seen them in years downtown.
In what I think is the outstanding idea of the year is popup shops. Several local merchants have set up temporary stores in a couple of the old art deco buildings. They sell lots of cool stuff much of it handmade locally. I love it, love it, love it. They are going to be open until December 30.
If nothing else check out the the lobby of the Philcade building. Host to many of the popups. The downtown deco building owners are very proud of their properties. They encourage photography and some of them have fact sheets the guards will give you. I love that generosity of spirit.
Know something else. My favorite Christmas decorations are wreaths. There, you guys now everything about me.
Hey look it’s Occupy Tulsa. Occupying looks like boring stuff to me. I don’t know how they are doing overhauling our financial system but they stay busy with general assemblies, working groups, and facebook updates. I have never seen them use the weird hand signals they use to facilitate consensus during their meetings. I guess they don’t need them when the five of them get together.
Last stop the cake shop across the street from the office. I love what people are doing with cake design these days.
The Church
Leon Russell owned the recording studio in Tulsa known as the “The Church“ in the 1960’s and 1970’s and according to Wikipedia he still records there on occasion. Interior Shots. It is an icon of Tulsa musical history.
No Fare at the Tulsa State Fair
Last Friday was my day off. As we do every other Friday, we took SuperPizzaBoy to school, slowed down a bit and rolled him out. See Ya Son!! I really need to show a video of his tuck and roll, that boy learns quick. Sweetie and I went to breakfast and then it was off to the Tulsa State Fair.
We rolled first into the arts and crafts building. Lots of good stuff there including lots of Legos, and screaming kids.
How about some duct tape roses? So romantic, and practical!
And some amazing pumpkins. I loved this strawberry pumpkin.
And the world’s ugliest pumpkin. Really people.
And a pheasant pumpkin.
And a Pistol Pete Pumpkin. For you non-Okies Pistol Pete is the mascot for Okahoma State University. That’s where all the Ag Majors and Engineers in Oklahoma go. ( I went to the University of New Mexico, aka Harvard on the Rio Grande or MIT on the Mesa) Unfortunately, the football players in Oklahoma go to the University of Oklahoma . They don’t make pumpkins at OU, they make national championships. That’s why Pistol Pete is frowning. He knows a lost cause when he sees it. Sorry, I usually gig OU pretty hard so I’m giving OSU some Yogi love.
And, look geocaches on display at the State Fair. Wow, we now have the same status as pumpkins, wow?
I love the livestock barns, Sweetie not so much. So I only got a few pics. These young people spend a lot of time working with their animals. I think it’s very cool. The only thing is…… well, don’t spend too much time worrying about the future of this animal. Especially while enjoying a steak.
I like the old farm machinery. They got those old machines all polished up.
The butterfly exhibit is a big hit. You pay a little extra to get in but it is very cool. Just don’t…. yeah just don’t start wondering what happens to the butterflies after the exhibit. And if you do wonder, don’t ask the people who work there what is going to happen to them. Lets just say, I applaud them for telling the truth. I’ll also say that if they have the money to go to Asia and Central America to get these critters then they got enough money to take the little dudes home. Last year the Tulsa Zoo came out and got them. They don’t do that every year.
What about the Fair Food!!! Well what about it, anybody who knows me knows that I love to eat and that I’ve missed very few meals. Fair food though? Yuck. Does the booth below look like it has anything appetizing?
Not for us, we went to a place Sweetie has kept hidden from me. The Ripe Tomato inside The Market in south Tulsa.
Oh yeah, put this up against your corn dogs, turkey legs, deep fried snicker bars and other such stuff.
It was darn good is what I have to say. And I didn’t share, willingly.
New Steeple
A couple weeks ago a blog friend here in Oklahoma emailed me with a heads up that the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa was putting up their new steeple in downtown Tulsa.
I had to go check it out. For an economic downturn going on Tulsa sure has lots of projects going on. I try and sidewalk supervise all of them but there is only so much that one guy can do. So I need all the help I can get.
My friend told me that her husband would most likely be the guy at the top bolting the steeple onto its base. I think this may be him. I hope that he was appreciating the daytime moon while he was working. Actually I bet that he pretty much concentrates on his job and lets us desk jockeys worry about composing the shot.
This is from the church’s web site showing what it is going to look like when they are done.
The Tulsa Paranormal Investigation Team checks out the Ghost of Thomas Gilcrease
The Tulsa Paranormal Investigation Team (“TPIT”) has been reading “Tulsa’s Haunted Memories” by Teri French about the various ghosties and such that are haunting areas in the Tulsa area and we have decided to start checking things out. Our first assignment was to check out the Thomas Gilcrease Mansion on the grounds of Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum.
Here is TPIT’s chief investigator, SuperPizzaBoy. You can tell by his folded arms that he doesn’t believe in ghosts.
Supposedly Mr. Gilcrease floats, so to speak, between the Museum, his old house, and the gardens. Ms. French reports a high turnover among the guards. I can understand the house is old and looks haunted.
We couldn’t get inside the house but we checked the gardens pretty well. We didn’t meet him or any other ghost. Lots of windows, we felt we were being watched by somebody.
We had a little excitement when I saw something in the window looking back at me. Turned out, it was me. How do you like the hip hop style pants? At least I got them pulled up around my waist, unlike most people who wear them.
We had another brief excitement, but it was just SPB teasing his dad.
TPIT’s official conclusion is that Mr. Gilcrease’s ghost had taken Sunday off.
Do you believe in ghosts?
I’m hooking up with the Real Housewives of Oklahoma Into Your Neck of the Woods this week.
Early Morning Arkansas River Run
Tuesday morning I ran four miles early in the morning along the Arkansas River trail here in Tulsa.
The trail is on both sides of the river is extremely photogenic.
Who’d of thought that Tulsa makes a great River City. I had it all to myself that morning.
Well, except for one guy that is. We didn’t bother each other at all.
Where were you Tuesday morning?
Pedestrian Bridge
(Looking west from the east bank)
The Pedestrian Bridge is a converted railroad bridge across the Arkansas River in Tulsa. It connects an extensive trail network on both sides of the bridge administered by the River Parks Authority.
(Looking east from west bank. The bicyclist is my wife.)
The bridge is popular with walkers, runners, bicyclist, fishermen, photographers, geocachers, and bloggers. It makes for wonderful people watching.
I used a recyclable film camera for the photos. I like to take pics while riding my bike and not have to worry about dropping the camera.
CityPlex Tower
Dawn view of the CityPlex Tower in Tulsa. The tallest of three interconnected towers designed by Frank Wallace. who designed many of the buildings at the nearby Oral Roberts University. At 648 feet tall CityPlex Tower is the second highest building in Oklahoma. It was formerly the City of Faith Medical Center built by Evangelist Oral Roberts. The hospital opened in 1981 and closed in 1989. It is now an office building.
“O” is for Ollies Station Restaurant
Last weekend, SuperPizzaBoy and I ate at Ollies Station Restaurant in west Tulsa.
It is on Route 66 in west Tulsa, on the wrong side of the Arkansas River. The east side of Tulsa is museums, concert halls, and big old huge houses from the roaring 20’s. The west side is refineries, railroad yards, oilfield fabrication shops. That is where the money was made to build the nice stuff on the other side of the river.
Ollies has decent food, it has model trains to go with the food.
Check out ABC Wednesday for my “O”s from all over.