Everyday Adventures of Little Bird and Angel Fish

One more from St. Lou: part 8 - Kolby!

2010-02-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Just like Tim and Jenny's bunnies, I never was really able to get a good picture of Clayton and Carolyn's cat Kolby. But here are a couple that at least do show his stubby little tail. He lost it in an accident a long time ago before he came to live with C & C.

The little stinker would run off every time I approached him with the camera. "No pictures please." So these two images really don't do his cuteness justice. He's also one of the more "talkative" cats I know. So that's fun.

Lunch in the Crossroads

2010-01-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

Ventured into mid town to have lunch with my pal Phil. Phil's a fellow Bill Nelson nut and talented designer too! We had both been busy over the holidays, so it was nice to finally be able to get together for lunch again. We decided on Grinders in the Crossroads district.

While walking to the restaurant I had to get a few snaps in of one of my favorite KC attractions. The TWA rocket on top of the Barkley building.

Turn the corner and there it is. My destination.

Grinders specializes in pizza and Phillycheese steak. When weather allows they also have outdoor concerts in a back pavilion area. Last summer Blondie played here.

We opted for the Margaretta pizza. When the waitress saw my camera she was very enthusiastic about me taking a picture of our pizza.

It was quite tasty!

Since we were in the historic Crossroads Art District I thought I should get at least one shot of some of the art. This sculpture is on the side of the concert space behind the Grinders building.

My drive home. Thought I 'd take some quick snaps of downtown while paused in traffic.

Not a particularly good view of the KC Star newspaper building. But it was all traffic would allow. The Sprint Center to the right.

Slightly better view of the Sprint Center. Still have not been. Would be fun to see a basketball game here. Was tempted to see Fleetwood Mac when they performed here.

Supporting the nifty vintage Cannon sign is one of my favorite buildings in KC. And it houses one of my favorite shops in KC, Retro Inferno.

Approaching the Bartle Hall pylons, Power and Light District and the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts currently being built.

Closer view of the Kauffman Center's construction.

Closer view of the BH pylons. A KC skyline icon. Most of P & L and downtown are to the right off camera.

St. Louis visit - part 7: Mid-Century shop and Gus's

2010-01-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I had to return home, but before I did we had time to check out a nifty mid-century focused antique shop T.F.A.

If I lived in the St. Louis area I would shop at T.F.A. frequently.

And then stop at another of St. Louis' food destination spots Gus' Pretzels.

I liked the texture of my pretzel stick. It had a slightly crunchy outer shell similar to a standard small pretzel stick. Yet the inside was soft and doughy like a soft pretzel.

Then it was back to Clayton's to pack up and head for home. I was sad to leave, but excited to return home to LB and Lily.

St. Louis visit - part six: Crown Candy!

2010-01-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

After our Busch Stadium tour we went for lunch at a St. Louis classic Crown Candy.
The image below has nothing to do with Crown Candy. It's just a building I admired on the way there.

We've arrived!

I love classic soda fountain/ice cream/candy shops. And Crown Candy has it all.

It's like being transported back in time once inside.

The vast selection of frozen treats.

The Challenge!

Each booth had one of these vintage table top jukeboxes.

The building.

The neighborhood. Seems to be going through a revitalization.

Heading back after a tasty lunch and a tremendous malt!

St. Louis visit - part five: Foggy drive

2010-01-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

It was pretty foggy the day of our stadium tour. So I took some of my quick out the window snaps on the drive downtown. Below are a few unadulterated images of it enveloping the Arch.

Fog rolling in.

Mitts and Cookies

2010-01-29T19:20:00.001-08:00

When Becky was here visiting, we made sugar cookies using AF's Mom's sugar cookie recipe. We had fun making lots of different shaped cookies.

Airplanes, dinosaurs, rockets, cats, fish, birds, sailboats . . . and on and on.

The cookies offered a good opportunity for Becky to model the Mitts I made my Mom for Christmas.

These are made with handspun yarn, which I used to make her a scarf last yer.

St. Louis visit - part 4: Busch Stadium tour

2010-01-29T19:02:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday we took a tour of Busch Stadium home of the St. Louis Cardinals! First I must confess, I am a Kansas City Royals fan and a Chicago Cubs fan. But I'm also a fan of the game at heart and I appreciate a first rate ballpark and respect the historic ballclub and well run organization they have in St. Louis. If only the Royals could recapture some of that luster. Sigh...

Clayton walking to the gate. Note the fog in the distance. More on that soon.

Inside: our first view of the field.

AF in front of the field. Picture by Clayton.

Our guide pointing out a section.

Plaques featuring the evolution of the Cardinal logos that have graced the uniforms through the decades.

The one on the right above is one of my favorite "Fredbirds". Our guide said it wasn't well received at the time and was soon changed. Now garments featuring this throwback bird are quite popular.

I'm also pretty fond of the one with the cap.

Below are a series of program illustrations that adorned the walls throughout the various rooms inside the stadium. Being an illustrator myself and an enthusiast of vintage illustration, this was perhaps my favorite aspect of the tour.

Love the sense of whimsy in this one.

Terrific graphic quality and vibrancy in this one.

Wouldn't mind some of those in my collection.

Hey look who's featured on the scoreboard! It's the reigning AL Cy Young award winner, Kansas City's own Zack Greinke!

Below are some views from inside the home team's radio broadcast booth.

View from where the broadcasters sit. I'm sure they have monitors and other assists, but it gives me even more appreciation for how accurately they call a game. I often prefer listening to games on the radio. Of course it helps to have your games broadcast by a Hall of Famer like KC's Denny Mathews. And the Cardinals have certainly had their share of broadcast legends like Caray, Buck and Shannon.

On the field.

View looking up into the stands from the warning track.

The mound looked REALLY close standing right behind home plate. How intimidating it must feel to be up there against say Halladay or Greinke. Unless you're Pujols that is.

And me standing behind home. Thanks again to Clayton for taking the photo.

Our guide pointing out another section of the stands.

The dugout.

Two pals in the dugout! Definitely a highlight. Thanks to our guide for suggesting and taking this shot.

Way to the clubhouse. The clubhouse was the only area we weren't allowed to access.

Memorabilia once owned by super Cardinal fan Marty Hendin and donated to the team after his passing.

Mascot Fredbird's "office"!

The ushers' cafeteria.

Great statue outside honoring the great Stan "The Man" Musial.

Ozzy "Mr. Cardinal" in my eyes.

Clayton posing with his favorite player's statue, Lou Brock.

Leaving the stadium after a fun insightful tour on a cold misty winter day. But it was a slice of summer inside. Ah not too long until Spring Training.

Mitts for Sis

2010-01-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Mittens I made for my sister Becky for Christmas. Made from Alpaca yarn, I love the buttons.

St. Louis visit - part three: Long time no see and goodies

2010-01-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning we headed out to Festus, just south of St. Louis, to visit an old friend of mine at his bookstore. John and I met in the late 80s when we both lived in Springfield, Missouri. We had lost touch for many years due to multiple moves, but reconnected recently via Facebook. It was great seeing John again! We originally bonded over music and still have many of the same interests. Couldn't chat for too long though, as his shop was really busy. Which was great to see! If you're ever in Festus or the St. Louis metro in general check out Books Galore.

A nifty kids book that I aquirred at while at Books Galore. Thanks John!

Some spreads.

Nice graphic forms.

After leaving John's we headed for Euclid Records, my favorite music shop in the St. Louis area. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't find any CDs this time. But I did leave with some vintage vinyl.

Was very excited to find this LP. A pal in Dreamsville (the Bill Nelson website) turned me onto it a while back. But it isn't currently available on CD. Not sure if it ever was. This album's got it all. Legendary guitar playing and a fabulous cover. Love the "Living Stereo" banner that RCA used. Check out Chet's mad scientist workshop back there. And what a nice Gretsch he's playing. Spiffy sweater too.

This album was a really fun surprise! I had no idea it existed. And don't have any idea what it sounds like. But I don't care! I bought it for the artwork. Great illustrations! And a singing grasshopper trio! How cool is that! And I am curious to hear their rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame".

Close-up of the insect crooners. How funny that they sing the "Chipmunk Song". I'd like to think there was some major Grasshopper/Chipmunk rivalry back in the day. Alas Alvin and his brothers won out. Do chipmunks eat grasshoppers?! Actually I suppose it was a quicky attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Chipmunks.

"Wonderland" 45 single version of one of my favorite tracks from XTC's Mummer album. Again attractive illustrations adorn the sleeve.

And Euclid's business card. Nice design and a little bird!

St. Louis visit - part two: Friends meet up on Blueberry Hill

2010-01-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we met up with my friends Tim and Jenny. We were meeting them in "The Loop" for lunch. It's one of my favorite parts of St. Louis and Tim and Jenny live nearby. These first images are of stars we passed while walking the St. Louis Walk of Fame on our way to Blueberry Hill.

I really enjoy Virginia Mayo's performances in many Danny Kaye films. Particularly "A Song Is Born". I had no idea she was from St. Louis.

I could go on and on about both Eames, Charles and Ray. The husband and wife design duo are two of my favorites. And both hugely influential to myself and so many others.

Ah Endora! Agnes' performances as Samantha's meddling mom on Bewitched have entertained me since I was a little kid. It wasn't until later that I saw some of her fine acting in film. Oh and I can't forget her tour de force in the classic Twilight Zone episode "The Invaders". That episode certainly left a major impression on me as a youngster.

We've arrived at our lunch destination. Clayton outside Blueberry Hill. Blueberry Hill is where Chuck Berry gives regular performances. It's a great venue to see an intimate show. I saw Robert Fripp there a couple of years ago. But this was the first time I'd ever been for lunch.

Closer shot of the marquee.

Jenny in front of an old jukebox while waiting for our table. Sorry for the harsh flash.

Would love to have this vintage Roy Rogers bobble head in my collection. It's part of the variety of pop culture collectibles on display throughout BH.

More collectibles.

I took this one for my brother. He had a bunch of these vinyl wrestler figures as a little kid.

Tim playing hockey (I'm his opponent) in the game room at BH. I had a smaller table-top version of this as a kid. Lots of fun! This game had a glitch though. You had to tilt the whole machine up to make the puck return mechanism work after scoring. Photo courtesy of Jenny.

Leaving Blueberry Hill. Then a stop in the record store. Now on our way to see Tim and Jenny's abode.

Another view heading out of "The Loop". I like taking these quick snap shots while riding. You never know how they'll turn out. This one isn't particularly interesting. Though I do like the "Tivoli" sign.

A poor driving picture of a nifty sign. It's for the Moonrise Hotel. I'd stay there based on the name alone.

Entering T and J's.

Tim and Jenny's neighborhood.

T, J and AF pose. Clayton's the photographer. Unfortunately I never did get a quality photo of the bunnies.

A very fun afternoon spent talking with three great friends!

Silk Hat

2010-01-29T17:55:00.001-08:00

A few years ago I dyed some silk roving with brazilwood, which resulted in a dusty rose pink color. I spun it into this strange weight of yarn, between sport weight and worsted weight. It was unevenly spun and quite frankly, I did not like the color or the yarn.

I had about 100 yards of it, but could never figure out what to knit with it. Until I ran across a pattern for a kids hat in the November/December 2009 issue of Piecework Magazine called "Three Rib Beret". Turns out to be the perfect project for this yarn.

Here is the work in progress.

And the finished project. I added the two buttons instead of having pom-poms as in the original pattern. I love the finished project. It turned out to be a sweet little child's hat, which I gave to my little friend Lia. From what I hear, she loves it. I am pretty very happy with the finished product.

St. Louis visit - part one: Arrival

2010-01-29T17:54:00.001-08:00

AF here. I went to St. Louis in mid January to spend nearly a week visiting my best friend Clayton. It had been a long time since we were able to just pall around together. Plus I had the opportunity to catch up with other friends who live in the St. Louis area. A great time was had! So I'll relive it a bit in the next few posts.

Below are a few quick shots I took after arriving at Clayton and Carolyn's beautifully designed home. It's always fun first entering the house, because each time I visit the rooms are pretty radically different. As much a statement on the length of time between my visits as to the fluidity of their decorating.

My initial view upon arrival. Notice the Fornasetti artwork on display.

Clayton and Carolyn are Jonathan Adler enthusiasts and have furnished their home with many of his designs. In fact, their home recently won Adler's Happy Chic Home contest and was also featured in St. Louis At Home magazine.

I really like this Adler credenza.

Below some images of my lodgings for the week. I love the color scheme in this room.

A couple of my favorite pieces in their home. These Adler plaques rest on the wall in the master bedroom one on each side of the headboard.

And the Adler dining table arrangement.

So certainly a comfortable abode to relax in. Which we did that evening. And the next morning we went shopping. I picked up an Adler squirrel ornament for LB and I . 75% off!

Baked goodies

2010-01-29T17:50:00.001-08:00

Just a couple of tasty items we made recently.

AF's pizza creation.

And the cake we made for a friend. decoration by LB.

Knit in Progress

2010-01-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

A baby sweater made from sock yarn, sitting in the snow. I have more of it done now, but it is still not finished. I am liking how the colors are turning out - this is Trekking Sock Yarn. Hope to have a finished project posted soon!

LB

Lilycat

2010-01-29T17:44:00.003-08:00

Says "Hello and Come in from out of the cold"

Knits in the Snow

2010-01-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

During the last snowfall, we took the opportunity to take some photos of some recent finished projects. Here is AF modeling a hat and mitts I made for him all hand spun yarn.

Channeling Hong Kong Phooey?

Trying to catch the snow.

You can almost see the beautiful big classic snowflakes here.

Below some mits LB made for AF's dad in Mizzou colors.

Here's a flower lapel pin LB made at our friend's Keen Bee Creative class.

Becky's Visit

2010-01-29T15:08:00.001-08:00

LB's sister Becky came to visit us last weekend. She braved the blustery winter weather to do so. Here she's safe and sound in out of the cold enjoying some hot tea or chocolate, I don't remember which, while watching MST3K's episode The Wild Rebels. "It's the kicks man." "But Kix are for Kids."

Snuggling with Lily cat.

It was very cold and snowy out so most of the weekend we just stayed in doors and did homey things like bake sugar cookies. We did go down to Crown Center one day. We ate at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. Which we all enjoyed. Becky got a kick out of the meal delivery system. We all wore the conductors hats too. But I neglected to get a photo.

Becky's Visit part 2 - Snow Walk

2010-01-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Those boots are made for walkin' IN THE SNOW!

They started their walk in the backyard.

Some sort of creature tussle occurred in our backyard.

Another view of the melee.

Trails leading from the tussle
.

LB and Becky then went walking on the nature trail nearby.

Close-up of the frozen creek.

There's a creek down there somewhere.

Another view of the frozen snow covered creek. Some critter had been walking on it.

I like the shadows in these shots.

Even more snow

2010-01-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

The third significant snow of the season. It snowed really hard at night and AF got up and took these pictures of the snowfall. I think they are interesting impressions of snowfall at night.

AF here. This was the "blizzard" snow. The local meteorologists were leading up to this snowfall all week. Thankfully it wasn't as long or widespread as predicted. But, for at least an hour that night, it did come down in blizzard quantities with the wind to match. So these shots were my attempts to capture it.

Brrrrrrr

2010-01-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

LB here.

Brrrrrr it's been cold. It's cold now. It going to be colder. I am tired of snow. I am tired of cold. I am so ready for spring.

However, it warms my heart that AF is making us dinner and we will be warm and snug at home tonight and tomorrow during the most recent snowstorm.

And there is the knowledge that warmer days are ahead. This photo is from an nice day trip to Friendly Prairie AF and I took last summer. Stay warm.

Avatar

2010-01-03T20:02:00.000-08:00

We saw Avatar yesterday afternoon. Braved the single digit temps to do so. Actually we needed to get out anyway to pick up LB's new eyeglasses. And since we were out that way, we thought we'd see the flick on the nice digital screen in 3D. I'm glad we did. The 3D was very impressive! There were times objects seemed to be in my peripheral vision. And TWICE I was tempted to reach out to touch floating objects.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie was predictable, way too long and had cliched, near terrible dialog. Plus except for the planet's flora and fauna, which were very vivid, I found the designs pedestrian too. The military objects look lifted straight from his (Cameron) Aliens. Though I did like how their drabness contrasted with the bright colors of the planet's lifeforms. And while somewhat cool to watch in flight the "horses" reminded me too much of Lord of the Rings dragons. And speaking of Lord of the Rings, I really didn't think the effects in Avatar were any better and perhaps not as convincing overall as in the LOTR trilogy. I only mention this because most reviewers seem to be falling all over themselves to compliment the visuals. Now don't get me wrong. There are some very nice visuals in Avatar. But it doesn't feel revolutionary to me. Perhaps I'm just cynical and jaded when it comes to big budget CGI flicks. If you're gonna spend a gajillion dollars on a film, it's effects sure better look first rate. But take away the 3D (which I must stress again was really impressive and non obtrusive) and it didn't excite or show me any more than LOTR or even the Star Wars prequels. In fact Avatar feels very much like the SW prequels to me. Lots of eye candy while sacrificing storytelling and compelling characters. Not sure why Cameron gets praised for it and Lucas slammed for it but...

All of that said I do recommend seeing it in 3D. But not before you've seen The Fantastic Mr. Fox! Now that's a fun visual treat with strong creative storytelling and direction.

Early morning snow walk

2010-01-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

LB here. Those of you who know me know I do not like winter. The cold, the dark, the extra layers of clothes; it all makes me a little depressed and low energy. One thing I have found to combat this is getting outside. To metaphorically say: "Hey old Man Winter, you don't scare me!". So when the other morning it was snowing and relatively warm (20-25 degrees F), I told AF we should go for a walk. I am so glad that we did. The snowflakes were perfectly shaped, and difficult to photograph. It was such a peaceful quiet morning.

We walked down our street.

Saw some wild horses frolicking in the snow.

Then headed down to the park and the Greenways trails in our neighborhood. This would be a good hill to sled down.

The Gazebo covered in snow.

A snow-covered trail.

Really, it is there, somewhere under the snow.

The playground.

AF standing on the first bridge over the creek.

The creek looked really cool, partially frozen over and snow covered.

I found this thorny twig with what looks to be some kind of scale insect or insect eggs attached.

Snow-covered boulders in the creek.

I even decided to make a snow-angel. Here AF is helping me up.

My Snow Angel

The third bridge.

LB watching car on snowy road.

The road home.

Snow upon our return

2010-01-03T10:40:00.001-08:00

We came back from our holiday travels to find we had missed the biggest KC snowfall in like 7 years. 10+ inches of snow graced our lawn and driveway. It was beautiful. We had a brilliant, sunny day not long after that and recorded these images.

Squirrel Tracks

Squirrel Tracks - another view

LB loves AF

Cork People

2010-01-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Last year I (LB) found a pattern on Ravelry to make Korknisse or cork people. It is a great project because AF and I can collaborate on it. He draws the faces - and they are cool!

And I knit the clothes. We also collaborate on drinking the wine for the corks.

Christmas Tree Decorated

2010-01-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

Our Red Cedar Christmas Tree in her full glory. We really enjoyed this tree and will definitely get another wild cut tree next year, maybe even two. One for upstairs and one for the basement.

Lights On

Lights Off

And a series of close-up pictures showcasing some of our ornaments.

LB and Lilycat resting after the tree decorating was complete.

O Christmas Tree

2010-01-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

This year instead of buying a Christmas tree, we decided to get a 'wild' tree. Each year KCWildlands sponsors a Christmas Tree cut. They chose a spot which has been invaded by red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), which though native to the KC area, has a nasty habit of taking over grasslands, especially in the absence of fire. People can then come out and cut down a tree for free or a donation. It is a nice system - people in need can get a tree for free and KCWildlands gets help clearing out an area that needs attention.

It was fun trying to pick out the perfect tree, or well, if not perfect, then one that was good enough. We finally decided on one and then we just had to saw it down.

We loved our cedar tree. Though the needles were not soft, the branches held ornaments well. Plus, we knew we had done the environmentally right thing by getting a tree locally instead of one that had been shipped across the country.

Halloween

2010-01-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

We had a visit from Curious George and her friends. She was a shy monkey at first, but warmed up. We didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we thought we would, but it was a fun evening. LB was dressed up as a sunflower.

We had three pumpkins to carve. This is the one LB did.

Lizard Pumpkin - you can't tell here, but the pumpkin is green. AF carved this one.

This is not a pumpkin we carved, but a light-up bobble head pumpkin our niece gave to AF a couple of years ago.

Here is the third pumpkin, which AF also carved. LB likes the eyebrows on this one.

A top down view.

Several years ago, LB went to a Halloween party as Boo Berry - the mascot from the cereal. It wasn't a great costume. AF and LB cobbled it together very quickly. Plus it was too hard to see out of, but it does make a cool decoration. We hung it from our tree in the front yard

Boo!

Housewarming Party with Bert and Tom

2010-01-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

This summer we bought a house. We moved in at the end of June. The next week AF got an e-mail from Bert Lams of the California Guitar Trio. Turned out he and Tom Griesgraber were touring the country and they preferred doing small house concerts over larger venues. Bert wanted to know if we were willing and able to host a concert at our house.

AF had gotten to know Bert via CGT concerts and in the past had put posters around town for their concerts. We thought, well we just moved into this new house and we have a huge finished basement, so why not, it will be a great house-warming party.

In the end, we had just over 30 friends and family members join us for an evening of great music and to help us celebrate our new house. The music was WONDERFUL, and many of our friends who had not heard of Tom, Bert, or CGT bought cd's at the end of the performance. It was a thrilling experience to have these world-class musicians and all around great guys visit and play in our home.

Bert giving our Lily cat her own private performance! Earlier in the day we had been telling Bert about how Lily enjoys listening to music. So later in the day I walk back to the guest room to find this. It was one of the major thrills of the day. Thanks Bert!

Tom and Steve dueling photographers.

Bert and Tom photographing the beers brewed in their honor for the performance.

The Home Brew Series: An East Harbor original. Thanks Bob!

Close up of the bottle label designed by yours truly (AF).