Gingerbread Architecture

I've MIA for the last few weeks, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of things.  Last weekend I attended Architecture Center Houston's annual Gingerbread Build-off. 

I love this event. It's sweet, it's silly, it's an excuse to play with sugar and have some fun.  There weren't as many entries this year as in previous years, but everybody's imagination came out to play.

If you want to see the winners, click here https://aiahouston.org/v/site-page/Gingerbread-Build-Off/2016-Winners/6o/

 a re-creation of the famous graffiti on I-10, but with better traffic. Love the broccoli trees.

Is it Bob? or Kevin?

The farm was already great, but the fondant animals put this one over the top. I can't believe they didn't win.

This team did The "Wizard of Oz meets Sharknado" I don't know who the guy on the left is, but I respect a man who commits to the theme.

Chalk it up to experience

Saturday, I had tickets to Via Colori, which is a fundraiser for The Center for Hearing and Speech.  It's a two-day street painting festival, where various organizations (and a few invited artists) get together and do chalk murals on the streets around Hermann Square.

Doing this takes a lot of coffee

I'd heard about this festival a few years ago, but this was the first year I was able to go. The weather was absoloutely perfect and there was something to take a picture of around every corner. Heaven.  There was even an alley full of food trucks where I got to try kimchi fries, which I highly recommend. (However, it gives you the worst breath imaginable. Bring mints.)

There were a lot of Dia de las Muertos themes

It's a two day festival, and I only went on the first day, so the pictures I have are of largely unfinished works. For better pictures, click on the link above, and check out the photo gallery.

 

Sunset in Houston

 

 

 

This one was going to be 3-D when finished

 

A Weekend in the Country

Last weekend, I went to my friend's farm. I was officially there to help build a fence. But my total lack of fence building ability was blatantly obvious, and I can't drive a tractor, so instead I made coleslaw, helped watch children and dogs, and dug sweet potatoes.

The completed fence

 Sometimes, it's nice to have physical labor to do. It takes your mind off other things.

late-season blackberries

It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, and the fall colors, (what colors we get) were starting to show. And there was the added bonus of seeing Michelle's fall garden, which is doing quite well.  She sent me home with a head of lettuce and some radishes. I love having friends who garden.

mushrooms on the lawn - they formed hemi-spherical pods

broccoli



eggplant blossom

romaine

Our sweet potato haul - unfortunately, I hate sweet potatoes

tomatillos - not ripe yet

late bloomers



Happy Wednesday.

Taking the high road

I usually let political posts on Facebook go. Facebook is not a good forum for reasoned discussion. But after the election last week, someone posted a collage of former first ladies and our prospective new one titled from “class to trash”. All of the women were wearing the basic, political wife, twin set and pearls drag; except Melania, who was nude.  I couldn’t help myself. I said in the comments that it was uncalled for. She had been a model before marrying the Donald, and most models have done nudes at some point, including the former First Lady of France, Carla Bruni.

And I took heat for it, and all along the same theme: If Michelle Obama had nude pics floating around, the right would have given her holy hell and nobody would have defended her. Look at the fuss they raised over her wearing a sleeveless dress to the State of the Union.

• This is not the point, but: There was some defense of Michelle Obama. Many people pointed out that Jackie Kennedy had worn a sleeveless dress to the State of the Union.
• This is the point: Just because some yahoos treated Michelle badly (and they did) that does not give you the right to treat Melania badly.  As the lady herself said “When they go low, we go high.”

Let me clarify that I am no fan of Mr. Trump.  I am seriously troubled by the election results.  I know very little about Melania,  but I feel anger is better directed at Donald Trump and his advisors, not his wife.

And I’m not saying that we should give her (plagiarized) convention speech a free pass.  But calling her a skank and posting old photos doesn’t address that.  It’s just being crude.

I know being the bigger person is not fun.  Taking the high road is a thankless task.  You get no laughs, no-one 'likes' your Facebook posts for not insulting people. There are few memorable one liners; it's both frustrating and boring.

“A soft answer turneth away wrath . . . but a smart aleck one is more personally satisfying.”  - Bloom County

But if we truly want to mend our nation’s social fabric and raise the level of discourse, perhaps we should stop trying to score points off of one another and actually discuss the problems facing us.  If we remain civil, the other side might talk to us.  If we listen to them, they might listen to us.  We might even be able to get something done.

Light the Night

In my never-ending quest to find cool things to take pictures of, last weekend I went to The Lights Festival (Light the fire within!). I signed up for it sometime in July, put it on my calendar and forgot about it for several months.

Fortunately, my calendar and The Lights people sent me reminder emails, plus a note saying to please show up by 4:30 pm and bring a chair.  


This is what you get, a mini-marker, a mini-flashlight, a sticker and a lantern, in a cute little burlap bag.

If you are unfamiliar with The Lights, this is what their website says:

The Lights Festival™ is a evening like no other. Imagine entering a place of peace, tranquility, and acceptance while enjoying laughs, smiles, and a little bit of dancing with the ones you love most. Never has there been an experience that allows you to throw your inhibitions to the side, and let your dreams fly. Join us for this one night experience of music, food and memories. The time is now to light the fire within.

Who wouldn't want a bit of that? So I packed my folding chair and a selection of reading material and off I went to the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. I arrived a little after 3pm.



I looked at my packet. I read my book. I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Around 6 (7?) they had a very nice singer attempt to entertain the crowd. She sang a few Dolly Parton and Kacey Musgrove songs, plus a few of her own. A nice change of pace, but she was up against a crowd of several thousand extremely bored people, who mostly ignored her. 

It became too dark too read.


This guy came prepared.

Finally, finally, they light the tiki torches. The crowd awakes from its stupor. Something is happening. But it's not dark yet. More light pop music from the sound system. It's getting genuinely dark, and the organizers, who seem like pleasant, earnest people, attempt to fire up the crowd. Cranky people who've been sitting in a parking lot for over 4 hours don't fire up easily.

It would be better if we could do something, but we are told DON'T LIGHT YOUR LANTERNS YET!!!! many times. The fire marshal has concerns. It's windy. If I have spent my entire day in a parking lot to not set my lantern on fire, I will be really upset. So will the rest of the crowd, which numbers approximately 10,000 by this point. 


They lit the torches! Maybe we'll get to do something!


After another 30-40 minutes, some very bad jokes and an onstage proposal, (Too late, at this point, nothing short of Prince reincarnating on stage is going to get my full attention) the fire marshal gives the go ahead and they tell us how to light the lanterns. Sort of. The sound system isn't as good as it should be, and the guy telling us what to do is speaking too softly. But we get to light our lanterns!

Chaos ensues. People set fire to the lanterns instead of the fuel cell, people send them off sideways instead of straight up, so they fall to the ground and crash into people. There are small children in the crowd, always a plus when dealing with fire. Eventually, I get my lantern lit and after three tries figure out how to get it airborne.

And for one brief instant, it looks like the scene in Tangled. It is truly a magical moment.

Which lasts all of 5 minutes, and then I come crashing back to reality because I realize I've lost my chair, which has my bag sitting on it, which contains my wallet. I spend 20 minutes looking for my chair in a shifting crowd, devoid of landmarks, any and all soul-improving, mystic benefit gone.

Eventually, I find my chair and wallet, and then spend an hour trying to get out of the parking lot. 


My attempt at a panoramic shot.

Conclusion: Go online and buy your own lanterns and do it with friends at home. It won't be as impressive, but it won't be as stressful either. And no-one will be trying to sell you corn dogs, lite beer, or souvenirs "of such a special night."

Two exhibits, Two worlds

Admission stickers

There are two vastly different exhibits at the Museum of Fine Arts right now. I would recommend going now, before the holidays when everyone has out of town relatives they need to entertain.

The first exhibit is Degas: A New Vision

This is the only American stop on the tour of this exhibit, so see it if you can. It is a true survey of his career, starting with student sketches and ending with photographs he took towards the end of his life.  You can see how his work changed over time, from when he was a student of Ingres, to when he started experimenting with the looser brushwork of the impressionists. There are paintings, sketches, prints, and bronzes (including the famed "Little Dancer").  There are even some works from his time in New Orleans. I had no idea he'd ever left Europe, let alone spent time in a cotton office in Louisiana.  Limited photography is allowed.

The second exhibit is Emperor's Treasures: Works from the National Palace Museum, Taipei

This exhibit covers works from the early 12th century to the early 20th century. There are porcelains, cloisonné, ink wash paintings and scrolls, Buddhist Sutras done with exquisite penmanship in gold ink on indigo-dyed paper, carved jade and one monstrously ugly, solid gold ewer. (It's in the last room, if you must see it.) My favorite item is a porcelain teacup decorated with chickens.

I've actually been to the museum in Taipei, but I was 12 years old and severely jet-lagged. I remember bejeweled fingernail protectors and some carved jade, but my main memory of the stopover was dropping the hotel keychain on my foot. (It was about 8 inches long and solid brass. It hurt.)

Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed of this exhibit. But if you are thinking ahead to Christmas,  they have a nice gift shop, with the cutest salt and pepper shakers.  I, myself, opted for a keychain with a glow-in-the-dark bok choy (A reproduction of one of the museum's most famous exhibits; sadly, not part of the Houston show.). What is life without a touch of whimsy?



The monkeys are salt and pepper, the bird is for soy sauce

Happy Halloween!

Spooky Socks!