Son and I planted a geocache near downtown Tulsa a few weeks ago. Everything was cool until I got an email from a couple of intrepid explorers who said that they couldn’t find the cache because of the impenetrable grass.
The big festival every year in downtown Tulsa is Mayfest held every year in May.
Like a lot of other festivals this one has lots of crafts and pieces of art for sale.
and food, gotta have food at a deal like this.
For some reason it would never occur to me to buy food at something like this:
I picked this place
and got this,
Don’t lecture me, I’m doubling up on my Zocor a few days and I’ll be fine.
Ya gotta have music,
Hey, don’t laugh. We used to watch Hanson on the same stage at Mayfest back in the 90’s. They were the Hanson brothers then. Now, they are all growns up and famous and everything.
Hey about a wall of clocks?
The have some good clocks
And some great clocks
Well, time to go back to work.
I run after work on Wednesdays a few weeks ago I took my camera with me.
Boston Avenue Methodist Church near downtown Tulsa. (Sorry for the splotch on the right.)
Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza on Route 66. You can tell there was a stiff breeze that day.
In case you are wondering why Tulsa is the Oil Capital of the World (or at least used to be.)
For other views of the sky from all over the world check out Skywatch Friday.
Do you like to Run? Do you like to Walk? Do you like to help a good cause? The Autism Center of Tulsa is having their fourth annual Ready…Set…Run! 5K and Fun Run on May 8 at Hunter Park in Tulsa. The race is both a fund raiser for the Autism Center and a time for the Autism Community to get together.
You can enter the 5K or the fun run by clicking on the banner on the sidebar. If you can’t make it out that day and would like to donate as little as a dollar you can also do it by clicking on the banner. Or if you don’t feel like donating any money but want to leave a comment that is very much appreciated also. Or if you want to help volunteer on race day that would be great, we need lots of help that day and we can find you a job to do just let us know here. Either way, please join SuperPizzaBoy’s team. This year it is “Logan’s Lightning Thieves.”
If you know anybody in the northeast Oklahoma area who has a child with autism especially those who are newly diagnosed and are looking for information please refer them to the Autism Center of Tulsa. The Autism Center doesn’t provide treatment instead they are a clearinghouse of information for parents, doctors, and other health providers. They also have parent support groups, sponsor family fun nights and other events that are either free or low cost to the families. They have also done things like provide training to the Tulsa Police Department on how to deal with people with autism.
Here is some scenes from last year’s race.
The lineup for the Fun Run
SuperPizzaBoy and Sweetie. His team last year was named “Logan’s SuperPizzaPeople.” In addition to being a potential broadway star and video game champion SPB has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome.
Come on out and have some fun with us this year.
My wife and I attended a Norah Jones concert recently at the Brady Theater just north of downtown Tulsa. It was built in 1913 and was “the” theater in Tulsa until the 1970’s when the Performing Arts Center was built. Since then it has been in private hands and has a good reputation as a good place to watch performers like Norah Jones.
It has quite a history. Supposedly it was the site of Enrico Caruso’s last ever performance in 1920. The story goes that he got sick while in Tulsa and died in Italy in 1921. I couldn’t find any reputable source to corroborate that but hey it makes a good story. Here is one version.
Many performers have appeared at the Brady. According to Wikipedia they include Al Jolson, Isadora Duncan, Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Benny Goodman, The Marx Brothers, Katharine Hepburn, Peter Frampton, Buddy Holly, Debbie Reynolds, Dave Brubeck, Van Cliburn, Stevie Ray Vaughan, U2, The Pretenders, Frank Zappa, Genesis, The Kinks, Mötley Crüe, and Robin Williams. My wife and I have seen Kenny G and Gordon Lightfoot.
It also played a part in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot which is supposedly one of the deadliest in our nation’s history with about 300 killed (some estimates go as high as 3000). Check out the Wikipedia entry. The Brady was used as a detention center. It seats about 2800 for a concert but supposedly 6000 people were herded in temporarily and then moved to the State Fairgrounds.
Some say that the Brady was actually used as a haven from the violence.Others say people were detained there. I don’t know much about it the photo doesn’t look like people are being led to a haven.
Supposedly the ghosts of Caruso and many of those who died during the riot inhabit the building. I don’t really believe in ghosts but I can feel the history of the place when I attend a concert there.
It has an active schedule. Check out their web site here. Jeff Beck and the Barenaked Ladies are coming in March. Jackson Browne in August.
Check out That’s My World for other images from around the world.
Note on Photos. The top photo is mine. The others are courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society.
A couple weeks ago SuperPizzaBoy and I went to the Tulsa History Museum operated by the Tulsa Historical Society at the Travis Mansion at Woodward Park.
Know something, it was free. SPB and I are all over free.
It’s not a real big museum but it is packed with stuff.
We loved this old truck polished to a high gloss.
They had relics from some of the grand old movie theaters downtown. Some cities have preserved some of these spaces and repurposed them for concerts and such. Not Tulsa, we’re progressive. We tore’em down. Can’t ever have too many parking lots!
I’ve previously posted this picture. It’s SPB discovering a juke box. His first selection was Frank Sinatra, which was fine. His second was the Partridge Family (or something similar). So no more juke boxes for SPB.
Pardon the reflection. (If my photographer knew he was doing this blog would be a lot better.) They had an exhibit on old department stores and including some of the fashions. I love that yellow dress. Do you think they have my size?
I loved the crown shaped perfume bottle. I bet it has the butterfly and taffy scent. It has to.
We enjoyed ourselves. We went next door to the Tulsa Garden Center. They had something going on also. I’ve always loved this little room off the end.
Hey, look who we found, Sweetie, working a booth and helping kids, hey that’s SPB!, plant something.
Yep, Sweetie, who is here there and everywhere is working with the LiL Green Thumbs with their children’s programs. I’ll brag on her a little. In addition to all her other talents, she is a Oklahoma State University certifed Master Gardener.
Know something else. She made the display board and decorated the table.
She’s awesome.
For other views of our world check out That’s My World.
You know what Tulsa’s most outstanding contribution to the world may be? Oral Roberts? No,The Praying Hands, NO! Being the Oilfield Capital of the World? No. Leon Russell? No. Invention of the Shopping Cart? No, that was Oklahoma City? Invention of the Parking Meter? No, that was also Oklahoma City. But we are getting close.
Give up?
I’ll tell you.
This
Tulsa is where the Yield Sign was invented. This one is the very first one ever.
It is on display at the Tulsa History Museum. Under heavy guard. Don’t even try and touch it.
For other yellows from all over check out Mellow Yellow Monday.
Saturday night Sweetie and I along with our friends Jim and Leanna headed downtown to legendary Cain’s Ballroom to see the western swing trio “Hot Club of Cowtown” play some music.
I have to admit that in 18 years of living in Tulsa I have never stepped inside Cain’s despite blogging about it twice, here and here.
We didn’t know what to expect. I think something like Cain’s I think about people getting drunk and passing out, crowded, expensive. But we went anyway.
Was I surprised. The place is nice, parking is plentiful, the admission at $20 seemed a bargain. The drinks were cheap ($2.50 for a beer), the management very nice and accommodating, and the crowd was very laid back. There were a few children in attendance and everybody seemed pretty chilled and sober. And of course there is no smoking!!!! I was totally relaxed.
The opening act was a charming little outfit with a strange name “Three Penny Upright.” They are two female singers (who have really strong clear voices) a guitar player, drummer, and a bass player. One of the singers had a washboard. I have never seen a washboard actually used as a musical instrument before, I mean if you don’t count “Hee Haw.” They played for a while and were very good. I could hear them again.
Then a pause and Hot Club of Cowtown came on. They were great. They are just three, a guitar player, bass, and a violinist and how they made such a big sound I will never know. I bet Bob Will’s ghost traveled up from Memorial Cemetery at 61st and Memorial (I can get you the GPS coordinates if you are interested in paying your respects) just to hear it. The music is large, and happy, and played and sang very very well.
I give them four stars out of four.
I give Cain’s four stars out of four. A double header folks!
Here is Hot Club’s performance of Ida Red from YouTube
A performance of the same song by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the movie “Blazing the Western Trails”
Smiles all around in our party Saturday night.
Sweetie and I will be heading back to Cain’s soon. We are definitely seeing Hot Club in Cowtown next time they are in the city.
Have you gone out to hear some good music lately?
(“Sacred Rain Arrow”) by Allan Houser
Saturday my Father and I visited Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum. A museum owned by the city of Tulsa and operated jointly with the University of Tulsa. The core of the art collection it houses was acquired by Oklahoma Oilman Thomas Gilcrease who was a fan of American art, especially that of the American west. It is loaded with paintings and sculptures by Frederic Remingon, Charles Russell, Thomas Moran, John Singer Sargent, and others. The museum has a no photography policy that I of course honored but their web site has a link to a sizeable sample of their collection. Below is one of my favorites.
An unexpected bonus was a special exhibit of the art of Allan Houser. Houser was a member Chiricahua Apache tribe and was born in Apache, Oklahoma. He was a prolific artist and art teacher who painted and sculpted. It turns out that he was a very famous artist, and I have just totally overlooked him my whole life. Below is a sculpture of Houser, done by one of his sons, on display at the museum.
If you live in Oklahoma you see this something like this every day.
If you find yourself with a few extra hours in Tulsa I recommend the Gilcrease Museum.
For other views of the world we share check out “That’s My World.”
Tulsa, Okahoma, like most cities, has many different sections. You got downtown where commerce and culture is concentrated, mid-Town where the yuppies, rich people, and cranks live and play, north Tulsa which faces many challenges and is the home of many hard working people. East Tulsa where most of the interesting asian and latin restaurants are, and the sprawling suburbs of south Tulsa, where I live. The most interesting part of Tulsa is west Tulsa. That is where the refineries, tank farms, and factories are and where the oilfields, moonshiners, and gangsters used to be.
It is also the home of the Tulsa Cave House. It was built in the 1920’s as a chicken restaurant. But the legend is that there was a speakeasy in the hill behind the house, accessible by a tunnel. Supposedly it was the hangout of the local gangstgers, including Tulsa’s own Pretty Boy Floyd. I just love stories like that. I do not care if they are true or not? Of course, the tunnels are now sealed and nobody can figure out just where the secret door to the tunnel used to be. Oh, there are ghosts also, you knew that right?
Check the link above. It leads to some links including photographs of the inside and information on the owner. You can get a tour for $5 each, by appointment. I have not toured it yet. Maybe son and I will do that one of these days.
The grounds of the house host a geocache named Yaba Daba Doo. Go check it out.
For other views of the world check out That’s My World.