14th Annual Twin Cities Jazz Festival-Cuban Safari

Last night DH and I went to Mears Park in St. Paul to attend the 3-day hot Jazz Fest which began 14 years ago, and which is getting bigger and bigger every year.  One of the groups we heard on the Main Stage was the Cuban Safari.  Cuban-born drummer Francisco Mela is a favorite among jazz's elite instrumentalist.  He proved to be a crowd favorite here, too.

This group is just a small portion of the people attending the event who moved from stage to stage at scheduled times to hear a variety of jazz bands.  The crowd increased in numbers as the day wore on.
Check the link above to get a good idea of the entertainment and program sponsored by the city fathers (gotta love those politicians!)

Southwest Skies

Lately we have been having skies in St. Paul that I label Southwest skies, heavenly blue with white puffy clouds.  I couldn't be happier since they remind me of New Mexico, which I miss.

Pretty Kegger!

This neighbor has made very good use of a barrel.  A very pretty Kegger!

X-cellent Crepes!-ABC WEDNESDAY:"X"

Molly is the proud owner of a Crepe Food Truck which is called "Let Them Eat Crepes!" She sells a variety of fillings at a convenient location at a neighborhood Farmers Market on Fridays, and I patronize her in order to buy my favorite, a large crepe generously filled with fig preserves and goat cheese. Growing up in Shoreville, she ate lots of crepes created by her Dutch grandmother, who "made them all the time." Before she opened up her summer business, Molly visited Paris and observed the street vendors there, picking up ideas. She's a quick learner because her crepes are delicious! If you come to St. Paul, I'll treat you to one of Molly's generously-sized crepes. Your choice!


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If you live in the cities and want to find where she is parked, selling her crepes, you can find her on Facebook at Marie Antoinette Crepes.

X-Rated? ABC WEDNESDAY-"X"

X-RATED? Hardly, but are young adults totally oblivious on how they appear in public?

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Vroom! Vroom!

       

Meet Stephanie, a retired speech pathologist with the St. Paul school district.  I saw her leaving the Friday satellite Farmer's Market and decided to track her down.  Besides, who could resist a woman wearing a St. Kate's t-shirt riding a scooter with a tomato plant in her backpack?!

Irvine Park Fountain

The fountain in Irvine Park close to downtown St. Paul enhances the area with the soft sound of the water.

In 1978 the Robinson Iron Company of Alexander City, Alabama, cast a new fountain. The fountain is not an exact replica of the original but resembles it in height and general design. The most obvious difference is that the new fountain spouts water from gargoyles instead of dogs’ heads. The cost of the replacement fountain roughly 100 years after the original was approximately $40,000. The bronze leaves near the top of the fountain were a gift from the Historic Irvine Park Association.

To learn about the history of the park, click here.

Hare Today-Camera Critters

Hare today, gone tomorrow!

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A Grocery Safari

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you?  If so, do you shop there?

View at Como Park Pavilion

This photo was taken from the rear of Como Park Pavilion, which overlooks the lake. It's a terrific spot for walking, reflecting, visiting with friends and just relaxing.

ABC WEDNESDAY-Weisman Art Museum #3

  

Supervised by architect Frank Gehry, the great man himself, the Weisman Museum recently completed the renovation of five galleries, one of which is the ceramics room.  


The Weisman's five new galleries allow the museum to share more than three times as many objects from its permanent collection at any given time. One new gallery is filled with highlights from the noted ceramics collection (master potter Warren MacKenzie helped select the work); two house master works of American modernism; and another showcases the Weisman's considerable collection of photography, prints, and drawings.


The ceramic shown on this page are those of Warren Mackenzie and are glazed stoneware.  The large plate is entitled "Let the pots speak." MacKenzie has described his goal as the making of "everyday" pots. Accordingly, although his pots are found in major museums and command high prices among collectors, MacKenzie has always kept his prices low and for various time periods did not sign his work (1970s, most of the 2000s) until recently resuming the use of his chop at the end of 2009. Most of his output is produced in stoneware, although he has worked in porcelain at times during his career.

MacKenzie is well known as a teacher. Since 1952 he taught at the University of Minnesota, where he is a Regents' professor emeritus.

He lives outside Stillwater, Minnesota, with his wife Nancy, a fiber artist, where he continues to maintain his studio, despite ailing from silicosis. Until December 2006, MacKenzie also housed a showroom on his property. The showroom operated strictly on the "honor system" whereby pots were marked with price stickers and visitors would pay for pots by placing their money in a wicker basket, making change for themselves as appropriate. Unfortunately, due to theft and customers selling his work for an outrageous profit online, MacKenzie closed his showroom, opting instead to sell his pots through the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Trax Gallery in California, Lacoste Gallery in Massachusetts and the Schaller Gallery in Michigan, as well as exhibitions around the country.


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ABC WEDNESDAY "W" WATERFALL

Como Park is one of St. Paul's treasures and across from the Pavilion is the Hamm Memorial Waterfall.

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Como Park Pavilion

Como Park in St. Paul has a zoo, conservatory, Japanese garden, and Carousel plus rides for children.  If you get hungry or thirsty while there, you can visit the Black Bear cafe in the pavilion.  The pavilion also hosts frequent musical events at the rear of the building which overlooks Como Lake.  It is a real treasure for the city.

Jim's Father's Day Gift

When I was in Santa Fe last winter I met Jack McCarthy, a wonderful print artist, and fell in love with several of his prints.  Since we are animal lovers and once owned a Norweigan Elkhound named Pavlov, Jim found this print to be quite amusing.  Jack kindly mailed it to me, and I had it framed in time for Father's Day.

Wayne, the owner of Ideal Picture Frame Shop in St. Paul, did a splendid job on it. We now own three of Jack's artwork, beautifully framed by Wayne. When he was a kid, Wayne's father,  an amateur photographer, took many photos of various kinds of shows and dances.  Wayne would take the pictures to a local frame shop and then got interested in learning how to frame paintings and prints. Eventually he was hired by the small frame shop and the rest is history. I really like the way Wayne framed the print for Jim's gift and accommodated me by doing a rush job in order for me to give it to Jim on Father's Day.

Juno-Camera Critters

Juno is probably the sweetest and friendliest dog we've met on our walks with our own dog, Maggi.

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Windows and Flower Boxes

A little reflection thrown in for interest!

Flag Day

 The flag adorns The Homemade Cafe in Pepin, Wisconsin where I had the BEST omelet that I have ever tasted in my entire life!  The light fluffy eggs were wrapped around pieces of bacon and guacamole with salsa on top.  The week-end we were at a lovely home in Maiden Rock, Wisconsin we visited and ate at some higher scale restaurants in the area, but this was my hands-down favorite for service and quality.  Nice job, Homemade!!

Vino in the Valley-ABC WEDNESDAY "V"

Some of the rural neighbors, but not all, are not happy with Vino in the Valley,  the winery and restaurant in their neighborhood. It appears that they object to the traffic and the noise on week-ends.  It is a tranquil and lovely area so I suppose some residents want to keep it in its original state. The bottom photo is the area that surrounds the winery and restaurant.

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Old Maple

Strong wind and rain visited us Sunday night.  The old, large maple next door (which I consider very dangerous because it is not trimmed on a regular basis) always loses branches and falls on power lines that run across all the backyards in our neighborhood.  Whenever there is a power shortage, you can bet that "old maple" felled some lines along our corridor. Yup, sparks flew and the fire department was called.  Power was out for 14 hours. Our yard was filled with scattered leaves and varied size branches, but the neighbor on the other side found this scene in their backyard. The photos show only one branch of the HUGE OLD MAPLE. The estimate for removing the tree was estimated to be between 3 and 4 thousand dollars.  Glad it's not in my yard, but it's too close for comfort!!

A favorite cafe

The Harbor View Cafe is located across from the marina in Pepin, Wisconsin.   During the summer season, it closes for a few hours between lunch and dinner, but hungry people start lining up on the sidewalk and sitting in the colorful chairs about 30 minutes before it opens for dinner.   It's a favorite among both boat people and landlubbers alike.

The Lake Street bridge over the Mississippi River connects St. Paul and Minneapolis

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Maggi-Camera Critters

DH and our sweet Maggi!

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Bradbury and Dandelion Wine

Many of you know that Ray Bradbury recently died.  He is better known for the publications of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and Something Wicked This Way Comes than for Dandelion Wine, which is a semi-autobiographical novel.  I used to have my middle school students read DW, which they all loved. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Do you know why teachers use me? Because I speak in tongues. I write metaphors. Every one of my stories is a metaphor you can remember."

Cheese, Anyone?!

I met Dick outside a restaurant and winery called Vino in the Valley about 11 miles from Maiden Rock, Wisconsin. He was distributing samples of his cheese while extolling their virtues.  He has a shop in The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  Originally from Stevens Points, Wi he's still a Packer Backer!

Unfortunate!! ABC WEDNESDAY "U"

While driving down one of our city streets without a camera I saw an aftermath of a recent accident. I hurried home and then drove back just in time to see the damaged automobile being loaded to be carted away.  The driver who had skidded on wet pavement and hit a tree was gone; don't know whether or not he was injured. Wonder how much the repair bill will be on this one?

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Undecided-ABC WEDNESDAY "U"

Undecided!  Who will prevail in Wisconsin...Barrett or Walker?

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Hidden Falls

The current is swift and the water is high on the Mississippi River.

What an Evening!

My friend Judy is one of the stars in the 2-hour musical performance of Alive and Kicking at the Old Arizona Theatre in Minneapolis. "An inspirational group of 23 high spirited charismatic seniors spread their musical message of love as they explored contemporary genres of music ranging from rock and roll to pop to gospel and Motown." Since love is the language of the heart,  the wide-ranging program included songs like "Love Me Tender," "Love Theme from 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg'," "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine," and "I Will Always Love You."  94-year-old Cal brought the house down with his strong rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love with You!" It was inspirational to be in the company of these professional and talented group of men and women ranging in age from 62-94. What a terrific evening!!

ADDED LATER:  Because several bloggers asked about the name of the theatre, I direct anyone interested to this site to find the answers.