It’s July 4th and I spent some time looking for an appropriate poem, song, prayer, quote, blessing and all that expressed how I felt about today. I couldn’t find quite the right thing. I’m just hoping that just for this one day all Americans can come together and celebrate our country.
Happy Birthday America.
We went to see Jersey Boys a few weeks ago. This sign was plastered all over the lobby of the Performing Arts Center.
I’m not ashamed at all to admit that it I took this warning as a sign that the show was going to be great.
Would you have turned around left the theater if you saw this sign?
Running through downtown Jenks, Oklahoma on main street Sunday morning I couldn’t shake the feeling that that somebody was laughing at me.
Have you ever had that feeling that others are laughing at you, not with you?
I’m showing three shadow shots today.
First is late afternoon by my MIL swimming pool. Sitting out by the pool this time of year is lots of fun.
Second is early morning in Payson, Arizona. Arizona doesn’t put up with foolishness like illegal immigration nor daylight savings time so this was like 6 am which is still pretty dark in Oklahoma.
This last is a self portrait from back in February.
Something that has always fascinated me is the big statues, Moai, of Easter Island in the South Pacific. They always seemed so animated to me.
(“Statue, Easter Island, ca. 1930 / photographer Sam Hood courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales on Flickr.com)
(“the heavy boys” by MattJP under limited license on Flickr.com)
I suscribe to National Geographic Magazine and their latest edition had something that amazed me. A new theory that the islanders “walked” the statues into place. That theory just amazed me, and I feel compelled to pass on my amazement via the following video.
It’s not totally conclusive to me. For one the replica is five tons and the Moai range up to 80 tons. But still? The Moai are built in a “D” shape that makes them slightly forward which facilitates the walking. The quarries were up on a volcano and the ancient roads to the site were slightly downhill almost the whole way.
I don’t know if that is how the Moai were moved but I think they idea is very clever.
What have you been amazed by lately?
Its’ been hot here in Tulsa. Especially downtown Tulsa. The main diversion here at lunch used to be dodging the tumbleweeds. Now all sorts of things are happening.
John Sullivan, our local US Representative was strolling the main mall Tuesday with his handlers and body guards and a KRMG radio reporter talking to local voters. He lost the election. So, if he calls you looking for a job, take the call ok? He really is a decent guy, I think voters were wanting change.
There was also a demonstration down by the Federal Courthouse. I walked down and chatted with this lady a while. She is of course is against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that will be built to take tar sands oil from Canada down to refineries on the gulf coast. She has a lot of concerns about the extraction of the tar sands oil and the air and water pollution involved. She is also worried about the integrity of the pipeline and potential leaks and the effect on the environment. I neglected to ask if she was a part of an organization. Check out the Natural Resources Defense Council to see what they have to say. She and I parted friends. I’m just glad that she and her friends were taking advantate of their right of peaceable assembly.
I walked across the street to see these guys. I didn’t talk to them very much. Anyway, these guys and gals above are from LiUNA, the Laborers International Union of North America. They are for the pipeline for the jobs it will create.
I think the Keystone Project is one of the biggest no-brainers I’ve ever seen. I don’t want to dismiss the concerns of the anti partisians but I think they have been addressed. Energy is what makes our economy go. I would rather get our energy from a close friend and partner like Canada instead of the Middle East. Anyway both pro and anti groups were downtown trying to influence the Army Corps of Engineers who are considering a permit for the Oklahoma leg of Keystone XL. I didn’t want to be the big know it all and tell them that Corps hasn’t been downtown for years. They are in east Tulsa, hunkered down with the IRS behind a big iron fence.
I hadn’t had as much fun downtown since the Occupy Tulsa folks last Fall.
Tulsa World article on Tuesday’s protests.
What do you think? Are you for or against Keystone XL?
After a recent run on Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I know, I know, all good skywatchers try and present skies unsullied by anything human but I thought the tower added a little drama to the pic.
I went by Tulsa’s only Graffiti “Permission Zone” at Mad Dog Liquors at 9347 East11th Street and there were already new works from just a few weeks before. My favorites were the “Sunday Demons” above and the scariest doorway I’ve ever seen below.
I really love the bright colors and imagery in both pieces.
Have you seen any good graffiti lately?
You know trying to pick out a book to read from the ocean that is available is tough. I heard about Erskine Childer’s “The Riddle of the Sands” published in 1903 and I had to read it. The thing that piqued my interest is that it has been considered the first English spy novel and was an influence on Ian Fleming, John Le Carre, and Ken Follett. Also the book was very influential on the British public because he described the the vulnerability of Great Britain by an attack from Britain.. The thing that hooked it for me was that the author was executed by an Irish firing squad in 1922 for possession of a firearm in violation of martial law during Irish Civil War. It’s all terribly complex and I refer you to Erskine Childer’s Wikipedia page for reference.
The book itself is marvelous. It is about two young guys in a sailing craft of shallow draft who while sailing along the German North Sea coast get more and more suspicious of what they see. The book is full of sailing references and chart entries, tides, currents, canals and such and it is easy to get lost but hang with it. The atmosphere and tension of the novel gets denser and darker as time goes on. The prose is dense and deep as I find books from the pre-television era are.
I found the book to be the perfect combination of story and back story. I give it four stars out of five.
Boston Avenue Church is one of my favorite subjects and used to be the Yogi family church. It is an art deco design structure completed in 1929. The architects of the church are Bruce Goff and Adah Robinson. The interior is just as beautiful as the interior. If you want to see it the Church offers tours after the 11 AM service on Sundays.
