Ultimate artmobile

Surely everyone in Prescott has seen this artmobile at sometime during recent years. Likely during the Tsunami on the Square, for example. I first viewed an earlier incarnation of the same vehicle over at the Cosmic Steel works on Granite Street.

Pink flamingos highlight the hood of the car. Below, the right hand side. Be sure to note the supersized tail fins, a reminder of an earlier era in automotive design.

The orb sits atop the machine.

At the rear, a staircase that leads up to the comfy his-n-hers chairs topside. A great way to see the countryside when cruising to Burning Man. There's a neat video of this car plus a lot more of Cosmic Steel sculpture at their web site.

A world in flames

There, now. Thirteen pictures of a world in flames. Vehicles, yes. Vehicles, of course. That's what those flames are all about -- hot cars. A celebration of speed. Of studliness.

Of course, the flames could enhance one's poker tournament.

Or a mini-bike. Or an over-developed hog (below).

A flame or two might help sell red hots (or poor boys -- this lovely outfit was in a collection I saw in Memphis).

But in the past year, I've seen a lot of fire on clothing. F'rinstance, this Coors Tshirt or the fine sports shirt I recently spotted at Snap Snap (below).

People wear the stuff, too. Though I bet any boy child would choose the Batman sox over the hot sox at WalMart (below).

However, of all the flaming cars and sleeves and beer commercials I've seen, here's a sentimental reminder of the Detroit that was -- a thoroughtly patriotic Mustang. I do hope that the chilly economy doesn't douse the fire & spirit of the country; we need those flames even more today and tomorrow.

Cruising South Prescott

The idea hadn't been to explore neighborhoods -- it was simply to locate the blue Victorian with a fine tower for my collection for a future post. However, friend Patty had time after our Thursday breakfast group to travel a bit. Thus, we took a hint from the RV mural above, on a very small (and local) scale. A few of our findings follow.

First, another muralesque sight, this on the north wall of the florist at Montezuma and Leroux. A real northern AZ subject, too: a mountain man up near Bill Williams Mountain (left) and the Peaks (right), even a bear in the lower right hand corner.

The old Adult Center has been thoroughly face lifted for its new role as the Boys & Girls Club. Looking at those stairs makes one wonder how our senior citizens managed all those years, though the location is certainly superior to the new center which is far from downtown or the little bus route (and an expensive taxi ride away).

This "boat" is a hard one to figure out (or to picture). We couldn't decide whether it is a trailer to be pulled in a parade of art cars or if the "bridge" actually holds a driver's compartment. In any event, it sits in a front yard, awaiting the right event.

On the other hand, the idea of a VW bug serving as a wrecker is certainly an idea whose time is ahead of us, what with soaring gasoline prices & automotive down-sizing. Another potential use is very, very Prescott: attach the hoist to a stout tree at the edge of a small canyon to lower your ride to a lower level. One way to explore the upper Verde, for example.

A surprise, really ready for gentrification, that we found at the south end of town. Somehow this property got overlooked in the midst of our recent housing boom.

This cute little playhouse matched the accompanying home in color scheme, if not in architectural style.

Quite different from most local houses was this house, shingled all over. Comfortable looking, in any event.

Perhaps the greatest experience from the hilly south end of town was the wonderful view! The Pioneers' Home above left, with Little Granite and Two Rock Mountains in the background to the right, and Granite Mountain looming over town below.

We finished our adventure near the Sal, where this willow caught the wind that presumably is bringing a storm and our snow level down to 6000 ft. tonight. In Prescott, we will always accept any moisture, with many thanks.

Linkages, Etc: Speaking of that storm, it chased the Artful RV folks out of the Nevada mountains over in the Basin & Range country. I've often wondered about what those hills were about and now I have an idea; they've got some wonderful pix, including small wildlife. If you've ever wondered about life in the G.O.D. (Good Old Days), take a look at Prescott Style's list of headlines about accidents from old Arizona newspapers. World Pictures & More captured a neat batch of bee photos the other day, while Warren down in Tucson features a picture of el hombre, a gent you wouldn't like to meet up with on any dark and stormy night.

Burning Man -- The Amphibious Prescott Connection

So a dissident set the Burning Man ablaze several days before the official Sept. 3 date. All of which reminds me of my very tenuous connections with the big annual Black Rock, Nevada, event. First was my buddy, the aged-in-grade Bad Boy, who yearned to visit the festival and finally made it, only to be completely shunned by the counter-culture folk. He forgot that, as a loner with his Jeep-kinda vehicle, cropped hairdo & clean-shaven look plus gear stashed in ammo cases, he came on as a stereotypical narc. Lesson learned and his 2nd visit went well.

Then last month, during the Memphis niece's visit, we got an invitation, third-hand, for a party celebrating something called Amphibia.

Turned out that this was, in part, a celebration for the completion of a pavilion, Amphibia, produced by the local/Arizona delegation to Burning Man, 40-50 strong. Plus a fund-raiser. Model above and on Tshirt below.


A goodly supply of amphibia were present on hangings at the outdoor affair. Above, salamanders; frogs below.

Niece and her dotter do the salsa amongst the amphibia. After all, this was a party, as the salsa contest below suggests. The food was plenty and tasty.

Decor for the party also included the Temple of Virtual Wisdom and, of course, an Art Car, made by Cosmic Steel.

The hostess of the evening, sculptor Juanita Hull-Carlson, holds up a second T, this one with a green pledge of allegiance to the earth. She has recently completed a children's book, Amphibia, and talked of plans to create a travelling educational caravan of the same name.

Just one more facet of the Prescott experience. For more about Burning Man, go here.

Local Links of the Day: The Alternative Culture Is Alive and Well...

...and occasionally posts something new at a handful of local websites. Let's start with the most interesting: Zenzibar, Internet home of (among many other things) Cosmic Steel. The site includes pages on several years worth of Burning Man adventures, a design for a spiral house in the chaparral, a fire dance group, as well as a collection of radical news links. I knew nothing about Zenzibar when I first came across the Cosmic Steel yard (above) over on Granite Street last summer -- but who with a camera could resist an art car that featured flamingoes? If activisim or progressive causes interest you, go to the web sites of the Catalyst Infoshop or Arizona Indymedia. Neither have been especially active of late, but things can always change!