Care to visit one of Tucson’s hippest streets with hundreds of thousands of your best friends? Well, have I got a street fair for you! The 4th Avenue Street Fair has been going on since the early 1970s, and it features artists and artisans from all over the U.S. In addition to admiring the artwork,…
Every Sunday morning, the St. Philip’s Plaza becomes an open-air market. You name the edible item, you can probably find it here. You can also find what you need to help prepare your food. How about some wooden utensils? Or would your taste run more toward some pie?
This past Saturday, thousands of bicyclists converged on Fourth Avenue near Downtown Tucson. While many of the two-wheeled legions rode to the semi-annual Bicycle Swap Meet, there was more looking than riding. With so many people gathered in one place, it was hard to get more than a couple of pedal strokes in. Besides, there…
Tucson’s dearly departed got a unique tribute during the 19th Annual All Souls Procession. This one-of-a-kind parade started shortly after sunset this past Sunday. Marchers gathered at 4th Avenue and University Boulevard, then wended their way Downtown for a grand finale at the Franklin Street Docks. I divided my time between being an observer/photographer and…
If you have a mesquite tree in your yard, you know that they’re just full of beans. And, every summer, those beans come a-tumbling down to the ground. You’ve probably wondered if there’s something better to do with them than raking them up and throwing them away. The good news is that there is. You…
Today is Election Day, and today’s bicycle ride took me through much of central Tucson. I took advantage of the opportunity to seek out long lines at polling places. And I couldn’t find any. I was also looking for those clusters of campaign signs that spring up at just about every major intersection. Wouldn’t ya…
This past Saturday, Tucsonans held a huge party for the earth. Thousands came to Downtown to celebrate La Vida Verde. The festivities included tasty solar-cooked meals like this stew… Our furred and feathered friends also got into the act. Meet Hopi, the career-changing Harris Hawk… Hopi is a two-year-old male that came into the Forever…
This past weekend, I went to Homecoming at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. A mandatory part of this experience is football Saturday. Game day preparations start many hours before kickoff. Tailgate partiers arrrive in fully equiped RVs and set up camp near Michigan Stadium. And did I mention that flying the Block M…
You might think that, since this is a design and photography blog, I was an art major in college. And you would be wrong. My college major was economics. (Bachelor of Arts, University of Michigan, 1979.) It was one of those "on a whim" things. I had an good professor for an intro economics course…
Today is National Park(ing) Day in Tucson and other cities. It’s an an opportunity to celebrate parks in cities and promote the need for more parks by creating temporary public parks in public parking spaces. Tucson’s insta-parks were created by a wide variety of public and private entities. City High School set up an outdoor…
Here in Tucson, we have an ample supply of sunshine. Which means that we can harness that natural energy and put it to good use. I’m part of a small group called The Solar Society. It’s made up of people who want to develop and build devices that use solar power for home use. Examples…
This past Saturday, the Phoenix Mars Mission’s Science Operations Center had an open house. Being a space geek of many years standing, I couldn’t stay away from that one. As of Saturday, the Phoenix Mars Mission was up to Sol 88 — that’s mission-speak for the 88th day on the Martian surface. The plucky little…
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Tucson Lobos have basketball practice at the Northwest Center. The Tucson Lobos are Tucson’s only community-based wheelchair basketball program. They strongly believe that if you use a wheelchair, or if you’re missing a limb, you can still play sports. The Lobos play against teams in the western U.S. and northern…
This past Tuesday, communities all over the United States gathered for National Night Out Against Crime and Drugs. Tucson’s festivities included a get-together at the Northwest Center in Mansfield Park. Severe thunderstorms kept attendance below the usual triple digits. They also forced the cancellation of several other NNO events. Weather notwithstanding, we enjoyed some high-quality…
A few days after I moved to Tucson, I heard that my neighborhood was having a July 4th parade. Being the new kid in town, I was curious to see what a parade in 100-degree heat would be like. So, I ventured over to the corner of Camden Street and Palo Verde Boulevard to see…
March 2019 update: The photos associated with this post are now part of my Tucson Event Photography website. They are linked in the text. Saturday was the longest day of the year. So, how did we Tucsonans celebrate the Summer Solstice? With an outdoor festival, of course! The triple-digit temperatures didn’t stop thousands of people…
Last week, a neighbor came over to alert me that she and her roommates were having a Saturday night house party. With live bands. "What kind of music?" I asked. "Punk rock," she replied. Now, that brought back some memories of house parties back in my early twenties. Back when this punk thing was just…
Yesterday afternoon was a tense time on the University of Arizona campus. The UA-led Phoenix Mars mission was nearing a significant milestone: The end of its 10-month journey to the Red Planet. I was among the hundreds of people who converged on the UA Mall to watch NASA TV coverage of the landing on the…
This past Sunday, I stopped by the Main Library in Downtown Tucson. Just a week ago, the library plaza had been filled with artists and their admirers. The occasion was the 3rd Annual Tucson Madonnari Chalk Art Festival. Even though the crowds have departed, the chalk art remains…
"Diamond" Jim Hewitt is a musician, music producer, and web applications developer from Oracle, Arizona. He periodically sends e-mails announcing upcoming gigs. The last one included a promo of his Tucson Folk Festival appearance, and it ended with admonition, "Be there or be trapezoidal!" How could I refuse an invitation like that? Jim was playing…
This past Saturday, chalk artists and onlookers turned the Main Library’s Jacome Plaza into an open air gallery. The occasion was the 3rd Annual Tucson Madonnari Chalk Art Festival. Skilled artists and their apprentices painted large, contemporary and traditional style murals in chalk… While the artists painted, Orquestra la Unica played salsa… and the University…