Tag Archives: Tulsa

NCAA March Madness in Tulsa 2017

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Sunday evening I went downtown and watch the the second round of games of the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness, at the BOK Center. There were lots of people with me. I saw the kind of accessories I saw in that site.

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Lots of people there, most of them wearing the blue of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. I am not sure if there is an actual bird named a jayhawk but it doesn’t matter.

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The Jayhawks of Kansas were playing the Spartans of Michigan State University. Their mascots had a little mock battle that was amusing.

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Sorry for the fuzzy photos. I was sitting in the cheap seats way up high so I was doing the best I could. The game was very competitive for the first 30 minutes or so. Kansas couldn’t quite put Michigan State away until then but then they broke loose and ended up beating the the Spartans 90-70. It was a good game. Both teams were were well coached and played well.

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I like how the college game has evolved from the dreadful boringness of the 70’s with the four corner offense and the excrutiating final minutes of a game where the teams fouled each other. The shot clock and other rule changes have really breathed live into the college game again. Also, I was impressed with how well coached the teams were and the discipline displayed by the players. They seem less upset with questionable fouls now. They just deal with it.

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The second game was another good one between two fine teams. The University of Southern California Trojans and the Baylor Bears of Texas.

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The two teams were evenly matched. I’ve always loved the color scheme of USC. The Bears on the other hand. It looks like they went for road safety yellow for their color scheme. Baylor fans assure me that it is green. Judge for yourself. I say it is yellow. I think they wanted to make sure that nobody would steal the uniforms.  (I am just having fun. I know several Baylor fans and they need to be made fun of, if you know what I mean.)

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The game went down to the wire and Baylor won 82-78.

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USC brought 12 fans to Tulsa to cheer the team on. Go ahead count’em, let me know what you come up with.

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They also brought some cheer leaders. They had the smallest pom-poms I’ve ever seen.

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All the cheerleaders were very nice looking and energetic. I would say the Baylor women were the best dancers, followed by the Michigan State ladies, and the USC cheerleaders.

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The Kansas cheerleaders did a great job but didn’t appear to be into dancing that much. (I know some overbearing Kansas fans also, and I need to give them some grief also.) Actually all the cheerleaders from all the teams did a great job. I had a great time and I’ll be back again when March Madness rolls back into Tulsa.

Jailhouse Sky

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In downtown Tulsa the Jail is about a half mile or so north of the County Courthouse. So the Sheriff operates bus shuttles that seem to go on all day long between the two to transport the inmates to and from each place.  So I was walking around near the courthouse one day when one of the buses came by.

And then I’m thinking about stuff like how is all this coordinated? Do the inmates have to make reservations? Do the jailers have to go hunt these guys down? Does everybody ride together or do they segregate to keep you know the murderers away from the those desperate criminals facing stiff sentences for jaywalking? What happens if a bus breaks down.  Anyway, I can just think on these things for a long while.

Criminals need to be punished and put in jail. But if you are falsely accused and arrested, you can contact our offices in Hartford County, CT and request a bail bond. Our experienced bondsman will pay the complete bail amount, thus making bail more accessible and fast.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Our World Tuesday – The Daffodils and More at the Tulsa Botanic Garden

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I went out to the Tulsa Botanic Garden and checked out their daffodils. I know that I’ve already posted about daffodils but is it okay if I do two this year? There is a slippery slope factor here for sure because what would stop me from posting three times about these flowers? Anway, they have planted 101,475 bulbs of “Brushstrokes” with art-deco inspired styling. (i am not sure what that means.)

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I didn’t count them all but I believe that are telling the truth. The math nerd in me is trying to figure out how long it took to plant these bulbs. There are 86,400 seconds in a day so maybe one guy worked like crazy and got it done a little more than a day. But then, the engineer side of me is wondering who would be bringing the bulbs to him? How many people would that take, and how many bulbs in a truck load. What I come up with was that it took a bunch of people a lot of time to plant all those bulbs. Pretty impressive calculations huh? Told you that I was a math nerd. Check my work if you must. See what you come up with.

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I’m linking with Our World Tuesday

Our World Tuesday – Post Oak Challenge Quarter Marathon

The Post Oak Challenge is a series of races of various lengths over three days. Lots of people “Double” or “Triple” meaning that they run two or three of the races. That is awesome, and I am not at the level of awesomeness. This year I ran the Quarter Marathon on Sunday morning.  The races are held at Post Oak Lodge north of Tulsa. It is a really nice, well run place, and they are great hosts for the race.

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Don’t know why but the first thing I did after getting out my car is to check out the resorts one golf hole.

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And then go over to the pond and take a few pics. The Lodge is located in the Osage Hills and I think the area is beautiful.

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And then I waddled over to the starting line and go to see the Half Marathon start. The thing I like about trail races is its lower stress level. Everybody is pretty relaxed and there is no pushing and shoving at the start.

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And then I walked into the nearby lodge and planted myself in a chair in front of the fireplace. It was cold outside. I wasn’t going to warm up. I figured I will have six and half miles to get warmed up.

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And here we are at the start, and off we went.

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Every year the route is different. There are lots of trails to pick from. This year we looped in close to the lodge for a few miles before heading out.

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My fellow runners come in all shapes, sizes, species.

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The route alternated twisty turny, rocky intervals with long straight stretches.

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We went up “Holmes Peak” the highest point in Tulsa County. My friends in Colorado and other mountainous areas are probably much amused by our “peak.” They can laugh all they want. That peak kicked my butt.

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After my butt kicking, I got a pretty good view. That is downtown Tulsa way over yonder, home of high rises that don’t look so high from here.

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I get passed a lot in races. Men, women, children,  they all blaze right past me.

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I always enjoy running by the zip line towers.

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I like “tree tunnels” like this.

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There were lots of rocks on this course. I am wary of rocks cuz I don’t like falling. I stumbled a few times on this race but didn’t fall.

My camera’s battery gave out so that is it.

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After the race I made it back to the lodge. Got my two designated beers all at once along with some fritos and a brat. I chatted a little with my friend Rick who was Logan’s Cub Scout Den Leader way back when and is still one of the nicest guys you would ever care to meet.

And then home.

Our World Tuesday

And here is my run, complete with all sorts of metrics.

Daffodil Mania at Philbrook

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I dropped the kid off at his Improv workshot Saturday morning and headed out to the Philbrook Museum of Art to see if they had any flowers up. And yes they do. I don’t think it is peak yet but there were lots of daffodils up and it was cold and windy so there were hardly anybody out there looking at them.

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I’ve come to love these early spring flowers. They are so beautiful and so fragile. They are the spring color I need after the long grey colors of winter.

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Hey I found some daffodils with a garden cat. Groan, I know, couldn’t help myself. Philbrook does have two or three garden cats. Last time I was there I was inside the museum and one of the cats was outside wanting in because it was so cold. I didn’t let him in. Do you think I did the right thing or am I heartless and cruel?

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And how about a daffodil reflection shot. Strange how they pop out in the reflection against the blue sky but are lost in the lighter colors on the bank.

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And another, subtler daffodil reflection photo.

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That’s all I got for today folks is several shots of one kind of flower.

Scenic Weekends – Balanced Rock Art

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Wednesday evening was springlike. In the 70’s and a very light feel on the skin. I headed to the Arkansas River for my weekly evening run and it was crowded so I had to park in the satellite lot. Walking south I noticed a lot of people hanging out on the trail and I heard music and a rather good natured, nice party vibe going on. I got closer and I noticed some rocks in the water which were new. I’ve been running this stretch of river for 25 years so I know when I see something new. You can just barely see them in the photo above to the right. So I went to check them out.

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Somebody had put in some balanced rock art in the river and the shore. I had never seen anything like this and I was enthralled.They were both in the river and the shore.

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I thought it was cool. There were also people nearby sitting around campfires and just having a good time. I had never seen that either. I’ve seen homeless people with campfires but never just regular people. I’m sure they were violating some rule or another but they were not bothering anybody.

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So reading up on balanced rocks, I guess they are kind of controversial because some places they do way too many of them.  Plus they are not welcome in National Parks where you are not supposed to gather anything natural like rocks, sticks, wood or anything else.

But on the banks of the Arkansas River last week they were a welcome addition to the scene.

I’m linking (for the first time I think) with Scenic Weekends.

2017 Tulsa Boat Show

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Saturday morning after my haircut I drove to the Tulsa State Fairgrounds to see the Tulsa Boat Show. Lots and lots of boats.

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I stepped up to MarineMax’s area to look around and a real nice salesman, Wes asked me about my camera and what I do with the photos. I showed him my blog on my cell phone and he seemed very interested and told me to take as many photos as I wanted to. So I did. They have some very nice upper end boats.

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Deluxe accomodations and fixtures.

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And even a separate space below for the kids, or the crew, or for guests.

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The bathroom was kind of small so I couldn’t get everything but I liked the sink. Anywho, if I ever get a gazillion dollars and a hankering for a nice boat I am going to see Wes at MarineMax. A really nice guy.

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There were all kinds of boats there.

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Huge outboard motors. These are taller than I am.

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I love the bass fishing boats. I used to have a lot smaller version when I lived near Lake Conroe in Texas. They feature platform seating like above and an electric trolling motor so you can work your way along whatever feature you are fishing. Lots and lots of fun.

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Pontoon boats are popular. They can be great for puttering around on the lake.

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There were some gigantic RV’s. Tulsa doesn’t have an RV show any longer so they horn in on the boat show This unit is beautiful. I have no idea how one would drive that down the road, or really how you park this thing.

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it does have an out door television.

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Inside is nice with nice furnishings and a fireplace.

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Big kitchens,

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Nice bedrooms

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Large bathrooms. Yes, this one had two.

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This is more my speed.

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I love the little ATVs.

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This is my favorite. A retro look trailer. This is like what our family of five camped in when I was a kid. Kind of cramped but you know having a dry place is nice when it is raining when you are camping. I’ve seen some miserable people trying to cook on a Coleman stove when it is raining.

Our World – New Route 66 Monument in Tulsa

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a bonus shadow selfie

Tulsa’s Howard Park right on Route 66 in the city’s gritty industrial west side has a brand spanking new monument consisting of three big sculpted pillars of Indiana Limestone by Utah artist Patrick Sullivan.

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The pillars depict Tulsa sights like Cain’s Ballroom, art deco architecture, the energy, aviation, and railroad industries and Native American heritage.

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I love stuff like this. This monument is here to stay. An F5 tornado may topple them but they are not going anywhere.

An article from Route 66 News with video and a lot of the backstory on the monument and the artist who created it.

Howard Park’s Facebook site

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday