Rainy day in Kansas City
It's a cold, rainy morning here in Kansas City. It doesn't look like a promising day for things outdoors. I wonder what else there is to do today?
There's always the Nelson. The Hallmark Photographic Collection display is there thru April 30th, in Gallery 208. This sounds interesting, especially to a wannabe photographer.
The museum's website says:
"The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has announced its acquisition of the complete Hallmark Photographic Collection, considered the most broad-ranging and important private collection of American photography. Thirty-one pieces are on display. The collection spans the entire history of photography, from 1839 to the present, with works by such renowned pioneers and masters as Southworth & Hawes, Carleton Watkins, Timothy O’Sullivan, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange, Harry Callahan, Lee Friedlander, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman."
Might have to check it out!
Union Station can be fun on a rainy day. According to the station's website, this is the last weekend for:
Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers
:Muhammad Ali. Billie Jean King. Lance Armstrong. The great champions do more than break records. They change the way we think about our world. Smithsonian's Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers exhibit brings sports history together with American history, examining how sports illuminate and transform a society: changing lives, affecting politics, fueling the economy, and shaping the culture.
Portraying athletes from 17 different sports, the exhibit draws from the Smithsonian's extensive sports and leisure collections:
- A handball that belonged to Abraham Lincoln
- Hank Aaron’s baseball uniform
- Mia Hamm’s Olympic soccer jersey
- Bonnie Blair’s speed skating skins
- The goggles Gertrude Ederle wore when she swam the English Channel in 1926
- Michael Jordan’s basketball jersey
Using these and other rare objects, graphics, photographs, and an audio-visual presentation produced by the History Channel, the exhibition shows how individuals of ability, courage and integrity changed their sport, their community and their country.
I've been to oneof the Smithsonian's travelling exhibits before, and it's always amazing and surprising to see the items up close and personal!
There you have it. A couple of things to do on a rainy day in Kansas City!
Brawlroom Blitz - Rollerderby begins Saturday night!
Did you know we had our very own rollerderby team in Kansas City?
"The Kansas City Roller Warriors is KC's premiere all-female roller derby league. We are proud to join the ranks among other newly formed leagues in such fine cities as Austin, Tucson, Seattle, New York, and Madison. A true blend of sport and spectacle, this "Neo-Derby" is something unlike the world of athletics or performance art has ever seen. Comprised of some of KC's speediest, sexiest ladies, The Kansas City Roller Warriors promises to capture your heart and then skate all over it. Until it bleeds." ~ The KC Roller Warriors website
Game starts at 7:30PM at the Winnwood Skate Center.
Tickets are $10 advance/$12 at the door.
There will be 2 bouts:
Knockouts vs Victory Vixens
Dreadnought Dorothy's vs Black-Eye Susans.
This is something you don't see every day!
C'mon out and support the Warriors!
More on walkin' the dog....
A recent article over at
http://blogkc.com states:
The huge success of the dog park at Penn Valley Park is spawning several additional dog parks. The city has funding allocated for an even larger park next to the Animal Control on Raytown Road, near the stadiums. That one should be ready this summer. A Northland park is also in the works, but the city is having trouble finding an appropriate site. Users of the Penn Valley park also have about $300,000 worth of PIAC requests pending for future improvements to this dog park that gets more visitors than of the city’s community centers.
Dog parks are also popping up in the suburbs. One is already in place in Olathe, and several are on the way to the Eastern Jackson County ‘burbs of Independence, Lee’s Summit, and Blue Springs.
Doggin' Kansas City
Doggin' Kansas City: Where To Hike With Your Dog When In The City Of Fountains
By Doug Gelbert
If Loose Park were a dog, it might be a poodle. The centerpiece of the 80-acre park at Wornall Road and 51st Street donated by Ella Loose in 1929 is an elegant rose garden encircled by classical walkways. The manicured grounds are a far cry from October 22, 1864 when the Battle of Westport - “the Gettysburg of the West” - was fought near here. That day the greatest clash of Civil War troops west of the Mississippi River ended the Confederacy hopes in the West. Today, markers describe the battle. You can exercise your dog on a rolling path around Loose Park and in the large, grassy center of the greenspace.
Twenty minutes to the northwest you can hike with your dog for hours at Weston Bend State Park. When Lewis and Clark reached the Weston area on July 2, 1804, the rich soils on the banks of the Missouri River had already been under cultivation by Indian tribes for hundreds of years.
The piers in the Missouri River were so busy shipping hemp that by 1858 Weston was considered the largest hemp port in the world. It has been tobacco, however, that has driven the area economy from then to now. The park contains five tobacco barns and an interpretive display on the history of tobacco production in the community.
Fires and floods retarded the development of Weston following the Civil War and Lewis and Clark might recognize the same scenic views from park bluffs today as the same ones they saw 200 years ago.
The sporty canine hikes in the 1,133-acre park run up and down hills that formed on the edges of retreating glaciers. There is a cornucopia of interesting trails to choose from.
The dog-friendly park’s multi-purpose trail is a 3-mile asphalt loop through wooded corridors. Energetic hikers will want to jump onto the dirt paths of the Harpst Trail when it intersects the paved trail. This one-mile loop traipses along the Missouri River bluffs until reaching the remains of the famous Harpst Orchards that once produced peaches for English royalty.
The Missouri River Trail takes your dog directly to the edge of the Missouri River and the Bear Creek Trail explores the former channel of the Missouri before a major shift in the river in 1858. Both trails are less than one mile.
Two more short trails worth checking out are the Barn Trail and McCormick Trail, both mown areas near the park office. The McCormick Trail leads to a warehouse of a distillery in continuous operation since 1858.
Weston Bend State Park is on the west side of Highway 45 heading out of Kansas City.
copyright 2006
Doug Gelbert is the author of over 20 books, including The Canine Hiker’s Bible. To subscribe to his FREE Newsletter on hiking with your dog and receive a copy of Rules for Dogs in 100 of the Most Popular National Park Service Lands, visit
http://www.hikewithyourdog.com In the warmer months he leads canine hikes for hikewithyourdog.com tours, guiding packs of dogs and humans on hiking adventures. Tours, ranging from one-day trips to multi-day explorations, visit parks, historical sites and beaches.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Doug_Gelbert
Birthstone Origins: Stranger than Fiction
By Sam Serio
In the Old Testament, the book of Exodus tells the story of the Breastplate of Aaron, used in religious ceremonies. (Aaron…just in case you were absent from Sunday school that day…was the Biblical figure who performed, at Moses' direction, the miracles that confounded Pharaoh and his magicians.)
Aaron's breastplate was adorned with four rows of gemstones, three gemstones in each row, in the following pattern: Sardius, topaz, carbuncle; emerald, sapphire, diamond; ligure, agate, amethyst; beryl, onyx, jasper. These twelve gemstones represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve positions were later co-opted by astologers who linked them to the twelve months of the calendar year and the twelve signs of the zodiac.
The Traditional Birthstone List contains these older birthstones and represents birthstone traditions heralding back to the 15th century.
The Modern Birthstone List was created by the National Association of Jewelers in 1912 in Kansas City, Missouri. Gemstone purists complained that the NAJ list was devised solely for commercial purposes (they probably didn't believe in Santa Claus either!). As a result, astrologers who prescribed gems often substituted alternate or secondary stones. The Mystical Birthstone list below originated in from Tibet over a thousand years ago. The Ayurvedic Birthstone list is derived from age-old Ayurvedic Indian Medicine, a practice of native people for more than a century.
Month Modern Traditional Mystical Ayurverdic
January Garnet Garnet Emerald Garnet
February Amethyst Amethyst Amethyst Bloodstone
March Aquamarine Bloodstone Jade Bloodstone
April Diamond Diamond Opal Quartz
May Emerald Emerald Sapphire Agate
June Pearl Alexandrite Moonstone Pearl
July Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby
August Peridot Sardonyx Diamond Sapphire
Sept. Sapphire Sapphire Agate Lapis Lazuli
October Opal Tourmaline Tourmaline Jasper
November Yellow Topaz Citrine Citrine Pearl
December Turquoise Lapis Lazuli Onyx Ruby
Astrologically speaking, your place on the Zodiac is more meaningful than your birth month for tapping into your "power," which has led to the creation of the following list of "Star Stones" related to the star under which you were born, rather than the day.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Ruby, Agate, Garnet
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) - Garnet, Moss Agate, Opal, Amethyst,
Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) - Rock Crystal, Sapphire, Amethyst, Bloodstone
Aries (Mar. 21-Apr. 19) - Bloodstone, Diamond
Taurus (Apr. 20-May 20) - Sapphire, Turquoise, Amber, Blood Coral, Emerald
Gemini (May 21-Jun. 20) - Agate, Chrysoprase, Pearl
Cancer (Jun. 21-Jul. 22) - Emerald, Moonstone, Pearl, Ruby
Leo (Jul. 23-Aug. 22) - Tourmaline, Sardonyx, Onyx
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) - Jasper, Carnelian, Jade, Sapphire
Libra (Sep. 23-Oct. 22) - Opal, Lapis Lazuli, Peridot
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) - Aquamarine, Topaz
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) - Sapphire, Amethyst, Turquoise, Topaz
So whether you choose an emerald from the Breastplate of Aaron, a moonstone from Tibet's mystical birthstone list, an opal for its ayurvedic birthstone properties, or your very own "star sign" representative…may the force (of the birthstone) be with you!
Learn How To Buy Jewelry And Gemstones Without Being Ripped Off. This informative Special Report reveals little-known facts and insider trade secrets that many jewelers would prefer you didn’t know. To get your FREE copy please go to http://www.morninglightjewelry.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sam_Serio
Fritz's Crown Center - You'll Hear the train.....
You'll hear the train a comin'
A comin' down the track
Burgers and fries all tasty
And smiles you will not lack..............
OK, a bad rip off of Johnny Cash's "Folsome Prison Blues".
But you don't want to let that stop you from visiting Fritz's in Crown Center!
Why? Because it's just plain FUN!
The kids will have a ball, watching the electric trains come out and deliver the burgers and fries, or whatever else you've ordered. I'm particularly partial to the chili, but you do want to know it has a LITTLE grease in it.
I took my grandsons, Jordan and Nick, to Fritz's last Saturday, and they had a ball. This was Nick's first time, and I'd have to say it was perfect for an 8 year old. While he thought his chicken fried steak sandwich was good, it was the trains, the trucks on tracks in the wall, just the whole FUN atmosphere that kept him thrilled for the hour or so we were there. For something to quiet the "Papa, what can I have NOW?" questions from him, it MUST be pretty special!
I think you'll find it a lot of fun, too!
Fritz's Railroad Restaurant
2450 Grand
(Crown Center)
Kansas City
816-474-4004
Random Thoughts While Driving In
The Kansas City skyline is once again backed by portents of rain while at the same time basking in the morning sun. How many times have we had these good opportunities for rain, but it just doesn't happen? Funny thing about rain….. no one ever seems happy about it's current status. There's either too much or too little. I don't remember a time when I heard folks saying "Ahhhh, just enough rain!".
I pause and enjoy the morning sunlight's bathing of the architectural embellishments on the downtown buildings. The low angle of the light picks out details in a soft, subtle way that seems to reach in and touch my heart. These old buildings were the pinnacle of technological achievement in their day. It was an era that valued craftsmanship and beauty. I know we sometimes think we've lost those traditions today, but I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's just that our conception of them have changed.
I am trying to truly treasure moments like this. Life goes by so fast, and when the day is done, I often don't know exactly where it went. I'm trying to develop the habit of stopping, taking a deep breath, and soaking in the moment. I don't know how much it's going to help, but it feels good to me.
I do love this town. The history, the beauty, the BBQ. These are some of the things that I hope to share as this blog progresses and grows. I hope they touch something in you, and that you'll share your own thoughts and ideas here as well.
Welcome to Things KC!
There's a lot of stuff out there in Kansas City!
One of my favorite hobbies is to go see and learn about the sites, sounds, and just all the STUFF there is in our great town! I'll be sharing the things I find here.
I hope you'll find them almost as interesting as I do!
