Standing Stones

South East of town at about 40 30 57 N 105 03 37 W

there are these stones on a hill (looking North).

View from the East

These stones were obviously placed here on a hilltop by man more than fifteen years ago. Their purpose is not clear, but many scholars believe the monument was used as a ceremonial or religious center.
Compare with:

Pentre Ifan
Slightly older standing stones in Wales.

On the other side of the world archive

I have a feeling we're not in Colorado anymore.

A sign in Chongqing says it all!

Whoa! It's way too windy to go biking today, so while I clean out some of my old picture folders, here's something from a trip to China in 2004.

and on a boat in Suzhou.

Suzhou is known as the Venice of China. Our gondolier was very kind, but I think he would have liked the rest of the tourists on board to please shut up during his song.

Art, Outside

No, it's not outsider art, but it IS outside!

The Grandmother Tree

Just go a little north of the East Drake Water Treatment Facility in Fort Collins. Of course, Roadside Mysteries will go to the ends of the earth (if not Larimer County) to find this stuff for you!

The Kingfisher Tor

It's an experimental sculpture for kingfishers to nest in.

Bird Island

This sculpture should be surrounded by water, but it's kind of dry in No. Colorado, you know.

Batbeast

Here, copper plumbing pipes make up this roost for bats!

The Blind!

When I first rode up to this structure, I thought it was a hobo camp! But no, it' actually a blind; People can lurk inside this structure and peer at wildlife! This is all part of a scheme of trans-species art and sculpture for wildlife created by environmental artist Lynne Hull. In September last year we met Ms. Hull at the Green Art and Climate Change seminar. Hmmm, Trans-Species Art; Lynne Hull invented it, maybe we will try to look for other examples in the future.

Too Many Notes

In Denver, at the 2009 Mid-Winter Bluegrass Festival:

Bluegrass Compilation w/ music by Sons and Brothers

Lots of music this weekend! There were great shows all day long; jams and workshops all over the place!

JAZZ night!

Hey, free jazz at Avo's tonight!

Here's Ron Holleman alternating between flugelhorn & trumpet

A sample of Matthew Arau on saxophone

Entropy Project Part One

When we moved all our stuff to Fort Collins last Summer, among all the boxes that I packed were two very heavy boxes of colored glass.
These boxes of glass were packed very carefully, and after a journey of 1000 miles, I thought that it would be time to unpack them and see how well they adjusted to the move. I carefully checked each piece; everything seemed to be in order. Nothing was broken, there was no disorder to the system!

"This simply cannot be!", I thought; "Why don't you make a stained glass window for the front door?", Jeanne asked.
"O.K.", I said.
It's not really for the door; there is a half-foot by five foot clear glass window to the left of the front door that needs to be unclear somehow. I had six clear beveled window pieces and enough (I hope!) stained glass to make the design shown to the left of this text.

So, like my other projects, if I post it on the blog, it will remind me to 'Git r done' (Larry the cable guy ain't a bit o' help!)



Here's what we have so far:

30 pieces of rough-cut glass

Breaking glass is fun! It's been done before, and I will finally recycle all that glass that has been collecting dust in the basement!

More Outsider Art

We like outsider art. Of course the prime example is the Swetsville Zoo. Here's another find:

This acid trip can be found on a wall inside a store in Fort Collins.

There is a theme to the art here.

With a parody of Da Vinci

or Grant Wood

They are all part of a collection that adorns the walls of Walrus Ice Cream in Fort Collins. There's a store in Greely too, but I don't know if there is any art on the walls.

Remember the snow sculptures in Breckenridge ? I found some pictures of the snow event in Chicago last weekend:

The one in the upper left is called 'Obaminable Snowman'. It was made by a group of high school students from Arlington Heights, Il.

Happy Birthday Dear Galileo !

Dude's 445 Years old today!

Galileo Galilei

In recognition of Galileo's achievements some 400 years ago, we went to a lecture given by Dr. Andrea Schweitzer, project manager for the US - IYA, or the United States International Year of Astronomy!

Dr. Andrea Schweitzer

The IYA 2009 team has chosen various projects for us low-life amateur spacemen and spacewomen to perform. 

With this in mind, we do hereby solemnly state:

WHEREAS the year 2009 is the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observations through a telescope; and

This year has been chosen as the worldwide International Year of Astronomy (IYA); and

The IYA is encouraging people to experience the excitement of personal discovery much like when Galileo did when he looked though his telescope for the first time; and

 

The Roadside Mysteries blog has from time to time reported on astronomical mysteries from the roadside.

NOW THEREFORE, the blog entitled Roadside Mysteries, and all of its acting agents and contributers to wit, as a result of the above-noted situation and the fact that the authors are generally of a geek based nature, does hereby proclaim that the blog will continue reporting events of other-worldly nature and help support the IYA by contributing in various ways and reporting on this blog at least once per month. We believe Galileo would have wanted it this way.

Weird Costume Archive Volume 1

While attempting to convert some old 35mm slides to digital, I came across this:

It's an AWACS costume!

You know; it's the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft!

I took this picture on Halloween eve 1981 of Jeanne trying her best to look flighty. She's got a foam pillow on her head and the coat is one of those shiny fire protective suits that one might wear in a foundry. Compare the foam pillow to the radar dome in the picture below:

An AWACS in the air.

It was a big deal back in October of '81 when the Reagan Administration announced its plans to sell five of the U.S.-made AWACS to Saudi Arabia. Most people never heard of the AWACS before then, but I remember seeing these strange planes near Seattle years before.

Atomic Cake and Candy!

Happy Anniversary
May every hour
of every day be blessed with a
shining gift of Joy; A dream
to share together. A memory
that's forever. A promise that
the best is yet to come.

This blog is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY !!!

Yet, going South on College Avenue:

The old Cake and Candy Supply Company (slightly modified)

Learn to decorate an Atomic Cake!

Wilton Enterprises, based in Woodridge, Illinois, and founded in 1929, is the leading food crafting company in the industry, with the number one position in cake decorating and bakeware.

Back of Atomic Cake

Half-Assed Ranch!

Today we visit Meredith Hodges and her magnificent mules!

Here is Meredith coming down to greet us !

Here she is sweet-talking a donkey!
This ain't no ordinary ass. This is Little Jack Horner, the famous jumping donkey!

Here's a bronze statue of Meredith; attempting to jump over Jeanne?

...and Meredith standing next to a statue of Meredith on a jumping mule.

Here is the castle-like grooming barn. It was a quonset hut for sheep until the mid-1980's when Meredith moved to Colorado.

Meredith's house.

Meredith has published five children's books about Jasper the mule.

The eldest daughter of Peanut's creator Charles Schultz, Meredith is probably the number one person to see if you need to train your donkey or mule! Check out her website today! Your ass with thank you for it!

I never knew there was such a place.

Not our favorite Bug

There are so many in the order Coleoptera, some better than others...

on the Frontrange, the Mountain Pine Beetle we could do without!

Here is Kevin Cook again to tell us the good news and the bad news...
The bad news: Pretty soon there will not be any mature lodge-pole pine trees alive !

The good news: They will grow back!

There was an overflow crowd at today's lecture. Many are concerned at the conditions seen in RMNP especially west of the divide where millions of trees are dead or dying. It's only a matter of time when the little buggers come over to the east side!

Pyronia tithonus

Hidden in an alley in Fort Collins:

It's like this big bronze sculpture!

Hey, wait! It IS a Bronze sculpture!

And / or a real fancy lightning rod!

...with size EEEEEEEEEEEEE Feet!

In the back of this house?

You can't see it from the street! I was just biking in town and I took a shortcut through this alley and there it was! I'm sure this big guy could come down from his pedestal from time to time and water the plants in his back yard. That's what the garden hose is for. What about the other pedestal?

We on the road to Shambhala

Today we are drawn to The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya

... and we are truly enlightened.

The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya has been built to last for over 1,000 years. The shape of the Stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and seated in the meditation posture on a throne.

The Standing Buddha on the outside

During the Mahayana period of Buddhist development, stupas began to be embellished with various themes of enrichment: the cosmic embrace, opulence, generosity, super-rich, gold, big gates, ornamentation.

A golden statue of the Buddha sculpted in the Gandaran style sits in the first level of the Stupa.

The first floor of the Stupa is open to the public. The second level, reached by interior stairs, contains a small chamber, 32 feet square and 14 feet high. Here there is a three-dimensional Chakrasamvara mandala, as well as statues, paintings and frescoes throughout. You must seek special permission from the Shambhala Mountain Center to gain access to the other floors.

The marble floors were magnificent!

The insect motifs caught my eye.

Not all bugs!

Among many of the treasures inside is this signed illustration of Babar visiting the stupa by Laurent de Brunhoff.

Outside, one might find a collection of other treasures!

The Shambhala Mountain Center is located about an hour north-west of Fort Collins! It's a little bit of Nepal right here in the frontrange of Northern Colorado! Who woulda thunk!

Jack Benny's Bank Vault

In front of the Columbia Savings and Loan building:

there are hand prints in cement and some sort of memorial plaque.

WTF? It's Jack Benny! !?

I still remember when Mr. Benny returned to Chicago to dedicate the Jack Benny Middle School in Waukegan, IL (I've met at least 3 people who claim to have graduated from 'Benny School'). The town of Waukegan (not as funny sounding as Cucamonga) rolled out their best red carpet for the event. To this day I don't think anything more exciting ever happened in Waukegan since!
I was astonished to learn recently that Jack Benny visited Fort Collins three years after the school dedication and there is actually some sort of proof that he was indeed here in town.

As you can see from the picture, the plaque clearly says 'Jack Benny' and there is something that looks like a hand print. The hand print is somewhat of a mystery according to Lost Fort Collins. Maybe the cement got screwed up and it's really some truck driver's hand immortalized in the sidewalk in FoCo. I don't know. To me the mystery is:

WHY IN FRONT OF A BANK?

Jack Benny, the entertainer, could have made his mark in old town center or in front of the Arts building or even any civic building, but no! He chose a bank. Is it possible that that miserly Benny had a secret vault in the basement of the bank building? Could there be stacks of silver certificates and gold bullion stored right in the middle of town?

It may be that one of Joseph (Ed) Kearns' relatives worked at the bank and made arrangements to have a section of the abandoned Fort Collins subway tunnel that was built in 1904 to be sealed off and fortified to Benny's personal specifications! This makes perfect sense because:

1) There is no known record of any of Joseph Kearns' relatives ever living in the Fort Collins area.
2) The idea of a 1904 subway in Fort Collins has been exposed as a hoax by 9 out of 10 FoCo historians.
3) If you ask anyone in the building, they will deny any notion of a vault in the basement.

…of course this is exactly what Jack Benny would want you to think!

Geraldo Rivera: Are you listening?

High Spring Creek

Look at the top of this signpost!

The water level was 14 feet at that point in 1997!

There was one hell of a storm in 1997. To the left of the DQ was a trailer park that was totally washed away. It does not seem to rain much around here, but when it does, WATCH OUT!

3-Deep! Super Bowl!

Watchin' the game in three Dee!

Look at us looking at you in 3D (If you still have those silly glasses)

... with Marylin and Herb from Arizona (sorry the Cardinals lost!)