Bring Down The House

There was a huge amount of people out watching this event as far as the eye can see.

As people gasped after they heard the first blast, then they started cheering.
"Whoa! That was cool," while watching the 10-story Qwest building near Third Street and Earl Road tumble into a pile of rubble Sunday.

Seconds later a plume of dust headed toward the parking structure where I was at.

There were hundreds of people gathered to witness the first explosive demolition in Phoenix in 30 years. They all were carrying video cameras camera’s and tripods, crowds gathered on different floors and on the roof of the Hilton near Third Street and Thomas Road. There were people every where in ever nook and cranny.

Some were saying that they drive by it every day and it's been an eyesore and they are glad to see it go.

They were saying the implosion will be featured in a new television show called "Dynamite Family" that will air in December on TLC.

Video’s
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Till Next Time Darren.
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EXPLOSIVE!!

The first explosive demolition to take place in Phoenix in three decades will be caught on camera for a TV show about a family of demolition experts.

The old Qwest building at Third Street and Earl Drive will be imploded at 10 a.m. Sunday by Coeur d'Alene, Idaho-based Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc. The company's owners are the subject of a new television show called "Dynamite Family" set to air in December on TLC.
The implosion will figure prominently in the first episode of the show that tracks the lives of Lisa Kelly, her husband, Eric, and the rest of their brood.
The family lives, works and travels together. They have more than 27 years' experience safely bringing down multistory buildings, Kelly said.

The last explosive demolition in Phoenix was the Adams Hotel in the 1970s.
"As much as it's an art to build it, it's an art to take down," Kelly said. "It's a cool thing to see."


Cool or not, reactions from neighboring residents and businesses are mixed. All agree that the building is an eyesore. While some celebrate the demolition, others worry about their historic homes.

"Here we have a building being blown up, but we don't get notified until (Thursday) by the bombers," Rogers said Friday. "The city should have been out here two weeks ago to notify us. This is ridiculous. When they have the gay-pride parade on Third Street, they let us know a week in advance."

An implosion, Kelly said, is not the same as an explosion. Neighboring residents should not worry about dust, vibrations, flying debris or noise.

"Movies create a visual in their mind," Kelly said. "The whole idea is to do it the safest, fastest way possible."

Ron LaMee, who works at the Association of Realtors office at 255 E. Osborn Road, a few streets north of the site, said co-workers are going to have a party.

"Some of us geeks who have nothing better to do are going to watch from the roof," LaMee said.
"What the heck, you have to live dangerously."

Kelly said bringing down the 10 stories of steel and concrete involves placing dynamite in holes drilled in the basement, first floor, stairwells and elevator shafts. The controlled implosion will cut the steel beams that support the building, and gravity will do the rest.

In 1972, when the Mountain Bell Plaza building was built, it was one of the first International Style glass-and-steel office high-rises in Phoenix. Designed by popular local architect Al Beadle, the building was a rectangular 10-story block of blackened glass. For 30 years, the building was home to Mountain Bell and Qwest Communications. Qwest moved out in 2003, and San Diego-area developer Joe Pinsonneault bought the building in mid-2004 for $12.5 million.

Since then, the property has racked up multiple civil citations and approximately $6,600 in fines for blight. The most recent violations, according to the city, were in March for trash, debris, broken glass, the structure in general and overgrown vegetation.

City spokesman Michael Hammett said the project came together quickly. AED received city permits Friday.
The city's fire ordinance requires 24-hour notification.

"The city wouldn't issue the permits if all the stipulations of the ordinance were not met," Hammett said. After the implosion, the Kelly’s will head to their next job in Texas or New York. Another contractor will remove the debris.

Pinsonneault, who plans to watch the implosion, said he is still looking for investors to build a 600-unit, high-end, five-star retirement living community on the 9-acre site.
See You At The Demolition!
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Senator McCain Thinks Your Bike Is Just A Toy

According to Senator McCain, Congress has wasted billions of dollars on low-priority projects like bike paths...

Congress is frivolously spending the Highway Trust Fund for pet projects like walkways and bicycle paths, at the expense of our nation’s roads and bridges...


More than $2 billion has been obligated for 5,547 bike paths and pedestrian walkways



Particularly galling to McCain and Coburn is that Chairman of the House Transportation Committee Jim Oberstar (D-tk) is an "avid cyclist" who has a "zest for cycling that is as great as his enthusiasm for funding public infrastructure," the report spitefully reports, noting a news report that said the "passions often merge...



The most money--45 percent--has gone to off-road trails. Only 13 percent was spent on on-road bicycle infrastructure and only twelve percent on rails to trails projects. [see: http://image3.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID2429/images/Picture_2.png ]


The imbalance reflects a bias against bicycling as a form of transportation as opposed to a form of recreation. Fortunately, "Coburn and McCain's anti-cycling arguments apparently didn't sit well with their colleagues. Their efforts to strip 600 individual spending projects--many of them bicycle related--failed by a vote of 73 to 25, Reuters reports. The Senate will have to reconcile this bill with a similar one passed by the House in July before sending it to the President to sign into law."[see: http://www.examiner.com/x-2429-Bicycle-Transportation-Examiner~y2009m9d18-McCain-and-Coburn-launch-an-unsuccessful-fusillade-against-cyclists ]


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Earthdance

On September 26, 2009, Earthdance comes to Arcosanti

Located in the high Arizona desert, Arcosanti will participate in the largest simultaneous, cross-continental music festival in the world. Synchronized with similar events in Sao Paolo, Vienna, London, Tel Aviv, Houston, and San Diego, Arcosanti will join in Earthdance by bringing together DJs, pyrotechnics, acrobatics, musicians, art installations, and other performances for a daylong festival dedicated to global peace. With its solar-oriented, earthcast structures rising up from the Arizona bluffs, Arcosanti is a community and architectural project dedicated to reducing human impact on the environment while improving quality of life.

Heart of the Earth, Heart of the Sun

While Arcosanti has hosted Earthdance in the past, this year will be the biggest one yet. Notable performers include Flam Chen, a fire-performance and circus collective based out of Tucson, William Eaton, two-time grammy nominee and noted acoustic guitarist, touch screen VJ/DJ Metrognome (a.k.a. Not Breathing), house and electro-tech super group Ploy, and numerous other artists that will play under the Arcosanti Vaults and into the night. Featuring a special art installation titled "Red Lotus: Heart of the Earth, Heart of the Sun," this year's Earthdance focuses on the vital, pulsating core of what makes both humanity and the earth live. With global climate change, the dissolving of personal and cultural identities, and political strife in multiple continents, we must come back to center as a worldwide community and experience, across borders and stereotypes, to what defines humanity's value on earth. What we do in this century may determine the course of our societies for a millenium to come.

Realize that you are at the core of the future—you are at the heart of the earth, at the heart of the sun.
Arcosanti is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to testing and demonstrating arcology, architecture + ecology, as a way to reduce human impact on the environment while improving quality of life. Its educational programs and stunning architecture in a high desert setting attract international students and visitors daily.

Since Italian architect Paolo Soleri launched Arcosanti in 1970, over 6,000 people have participated in the Cosanti Foundation's educational Workshop programs. Workshop participants are of diverse ages and backgrounds and many spend additional time at Arcosanti as short-term or long-term residents who work and live on site.

Arcosanti is a project of the Cosanti Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to education through the construction of Arcosanti as an "urban laboratory." Arcosanti is in central Arizona, about one hour north of Phoenix. Arcosanti is open to visitors daily from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (closed major holidays), offering tours at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m. Meals are offered in the Arcosanti Cafe and overnight accommodations are available by reservation. World famous Soleri ceramic and bronze windbells are produced and sold on site.

Arcosanti is located 65 miles north of Phoenix. Take exit 262 off I-17 and follow the signs for Arcosanti. Maps and other information are available at www.arcosanti.org or by
calling 928-632-7135.

About Arcology

The arcology concept proposes a highly integrated and compact three-dimensional urban form. It is the opposite of urban sprawl and its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy and time, tending to isolate people from each other and community. The complexification and miniaturization of arcology enables radical conservation of land, energy, and resources while also increasing residential access to amenities for residents. Arcology addresses issues like pollution, social isolation, resource scarcity, community, health, housing, education, access to nature, culture, and more, all while privacy is paramount in the design.

An arcology would need about 2% as much land as a typical city of similar population. Today's city devotes more than 60% of its land to roads and automobiles while arcology eliminates the automobile from within the city. The multi-use nature of arcology design would put living, working, and public spaces within easy reach of each other, making walking the main form of transportation within the city.

An arcology's direct proximity to uninhabited wilderness provides the city dweller with constant access to rural space. Agriculture is integrated into the city design, maximizing the logistical efficiency of food distribution systems. Arcology uses passive solar architectural techniques such as the apse effect, greenhouse architecture, and garment architecture to reduce the energy usage of the city, especially in terms of heating, lighting, and cooling. Overall, arcology seeks to embody a "Lean Alternative" to hyper consumption and wastefulness through more frugal, efficient and thoughtful city design.

Arcology theory holds that this leanness is obtainable only via the miniaturization intrinsic to the Urban Effect, the complex interaction between diverse entities and organisms which mark healthy systems both in the natural world and in every successful and culturally significant city in history.
General Admission: $30
Admission is free for children six and under!

Camping Reservations: $15

What is this? I can camp at Arcosanti?

Yes, you can camp overnight at Arcosanti the day of the Earthdance festival. The camp grounds are in Arcosanti's Minds Garden, a beautiful stretch of land on the edge of the mesa surrounded by Italian Cyprus and olive trees. It also houses a sculpture garden with many unique pieces made by Arcosanti residents over the years. Camping reservations are four people per reservation, so with one reservation you can bring up to four people (reservations for children six and under are waived). Campfires and grills are not allowed on the campgrounds due to fire safety regulations.

You can pay for admission either online with Google Checkout (see the form below), by phone, or at the gate the day of the event. However, we strongly encourage festival goers to pay ahead of time, as only cash will be accepted the day of the event at the gate. There is not an ATM at Arcosanti, so you will not be able to enter if you do not have cash and have not paid ahead of time. Please remember this when you plan your day at Earthdance Arcosanti. Again, is preferable to pay online or over the phone before September 26!

See You At The Show
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Sedona Night Ride

Did a night ride in Sedona Az on 09/19/09 started out at 9:45pm.


Parked at the Absolute Bike shop & Blue Moon Cafe rode out with Mike, Rod, & Heidi headed out on Bell Rock Pathway to Templeton to HT to Little Horse. To chicken Point. Took a short break on top of Chicken Point then headed back down on Little Horse to Llama trail then back to Bell Rock and to the our trucks.


What a great ride it was in the 60’s out there was a bit of rain earlier in the day but we had clear sky‘s and no muddy trails. Mike seen a skunk and that was the only wildlife we seen. Rod’s light gave out on him when we hit Llama trail and then mine gave out. The back up light I brought was a peace of crap Heidi let me use her hiking head lamp.


That worked but was hard to judge the trails the light was like riding in a daze or in a fog. We got lost a few times on Llama just because my light sucked and that I was tired of riding after I crashed in some sandy area of the trail.


It just sucks riding when you can’t see where you are going. Heidi’s light gave out when she got back to Bell Rock and on the way back to the trucks made it back at 2:30am.


So next time we’ll have to bring out better back up lights or may be a back up batteries. Also next time we‘ll have to stay over at the Red Agave Resort the best place to stay in Sedona instead of driving home. I was surprised that we didn’t see any locals out on the trails don’t people do night rides in Sedona.

Heidi getting ready to ride

Rod shirtless

Absolute Bike shop
Blue Moon Cafe

Rod and Heidi


Mike

Bell Rock Pathway

Templeton Trail

A downed tree on the Templeton Trail

Rod and Mike making their way around the tree. It's hard to see at first your coming down a hill and then around a bush and there it is.

Spooky Hollow riding through some trees

A cool spooky tree at night

HT Trail # 197

Little Horse Trail # 61

Mike

Heidi and her dad Rod

That's me

Darren's Rides on top of the Chicken Point over look

Mike , Heidi and Rod on top of the Chicken Point


Mike heading off Chicken Point


Llama Trail

Well back at the trucks loaded and ready to head home

Rod and Mike enjoying a beer or two after the ride.


Well we all hade a great time and till next weekend remember get out and ride and make it a safe one Darren….
1 comment:

Cactus Rod The Toughest Mountain Bike Rider I Know

Out riding one summer day a few years ago with Rod John and Charlie on trail 33. Trail 33 is in the southern boundary of the Tonto Natural Forest or known as Pima & Dynamite.


We were all riding on trail 33 right before it ends into trail 28 about six miles into the ride. Rod was riding in the rear of the pack when we heard Rod call out. When we returned we found Rod on the ground all coved in Cholla Cactus Balls.


Rod was riding down this incline when his tire became lodged in a rut. As Rod came down he couldn’t stop and ran into this four foot Cholla Cactus. Rod was coved from head to toe man they were every where. It took John and Charlie nearly an hour to pull the Cholla Balls and most of the pickers off Rod. They also had to cut Rod’s jersey and outer shorts off. But the worst part of the hole thing was Rod had to ride the six miles back out.


Well Rod is doing much better now a days and doesn’t do many rides near Cholla Cactus. We now call him Cactus Rod and to this day you can find his photo some where on the web and one time I seen it at Interbike.

I Asked Rod one time about the photos he didn’t seem to be mad. But thanks to me Rod is sort of famous these days & Rod is the only rider I know that ever collided with a Cholla Cactus that bad and to live and talk about it.


Rod is the toughest mountain bike ride that I know.

Cactus Rod his bike and the Cholla Cactus
That’s it Rod the Cholla is still living to this day don’t know if any one else ever hit it like Rod.
Rod after he is all better and doing well these days
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K Bars

k-bars, a whole new world of great taste and great fuel—in one bar.
No compromises, no excuses, no fooling around. These bars aren’t designed to sit on a shelf at room temperature for two years; they’re made to please your mouth, nourish your body and fuel your muscles.
Why isn’t everybody using these techniques to create a great tasting health bar. k-bars have no compromises, no tricks, no cheats. Just great fuel, great taste, in one bar.
Ingredients: organic dates, organic peanut butter (peanuts, salt), organic oats, water, cocoa powder, whey, organic peanuts, chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin vanilla), dried coconut, walnuts, organic pumpkin seeds, almonds, organic raisins, vanilla extract, sunflower seeds, organic flax seeds.Allergens: contains milk, peanut, soy, coconut, walnuts, almonds.
k-bars are gluten-free.Storage:
k-bars can be kept at room temperature for up to a month, but are best kept refrigerated. If you stick them in the freezer, they’ll keep indefinitely (and they taste really good frozen, too).
Usage: Eat your k-bars an hour before your workout, or after for a recovery meal. Also makes an excellent breakfast or afternoon snack.
Box of twelve k-bars: $33 (order online)
Twenty-four k-bars: $66 (order online)
Forty-eight k-bars: $120 (order online)
k-bars have no compromises, no tricks, no cheats. Just great fuel, great taste, in one bar.
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