Cowboys vs. Packers, Round 1

The Cowboys outlasted the Packers last night and continue on their history-making season with a 11-1 record. What a great game. Unfortunately, the game was not available for 70% of the viewing audience and commited fans had to find a sports bar offering the game via the NFL Network.

I watched the game at the Touchdown Sports Bar on Broadway Blvd. on the east side of Tucson near the Parks Place Mall. Touchdowns is a typical sports bar-slash-restaurant with big screen TVs and pool tables.

I arrived two minutes before kick-off and the place was already standing room only. Every seat, stool, and bench was taken. Some fans were even sitting on the floor. I found the edge of a cushioned bench and watched the game "sitting" on my knees, turned backward on the bench, viewing the TV screen on the opposite side of the room. A ledge above the bench served as my table.

I met two men working for Raytheon in Dallas who were in town for a meeting (Raytheon is the largest employer in Tucson). We were not the only Cowboy fans. The place was split almost evenly between Cowboys and Packers fans. The atmosphere was much like a Super Bowl game's, each play bringing boos and cheers. It was no doubt one of the most entertaining games so far this year.

I'm beginning to settle in for the Winter. I can't think of a better place than Tucson. Now that I've been here for a couple of weeks, it's starting to feel like home. Unless something changes, I'll be here until Spring.

I've taken a job at another UPS store. I applied at seven different stores before one hired me on the spot. Most of the stores have managers who are taking a lot of applications, wanting to take a week or two before hiring someone. The store that eventually hired me has a manager who acts quickly, decisively, and doesn't look back.

"Hi. I'm Mitch. I worked at a UPS store in Albuquerque and was wondering if you needed some help," I said.

"So you've worked at a UPS store?" she asked. "When can you start?" She glanced at the application for maybe five seconds before offering me a job. The whole meeting took less than ten minutes. At the end of our brief conversation I said, "Well, I'm glad to finally find a manager at a UPS store that can make a quick decision."

What's the difference between this manager and the other six? Business sense and a willingness to frame a decision by the circumstances. I can't think of one legitimate reason that it should take the manager of a retail store to take two weeks to make a decision on hiring someone. After all, they aren't hiring brain surgeons. Managing a retail store isn't that complicated, unless you make it that way.

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I've been playing cards at the Casino del Sol, run by the Pascua Yaqui Indians. Their reservation is located southwest of downtown Tucson. One night I went to the other card room in town at the Desert Diamond Casino, but was turned off by the lack of adequate parking and the construction taking place. The Desert Diamond is building a hotel next to the casino, and until it's finished, it's just not worth the trouble to go there.
I was leaving the Casino del Sol one day last week and saw this beautiful moon rising above the horizon. I tried to quickly take a photo. Of course, this photo doesn't do any justice to the view I had.

The last time I was at the card room the "Bad Beat" jackpot was over $52,000. At that amount, the jackpot will be shared by all the players in the room at the time it hits. The split is 50/30/20, meaning the winner of the jackpot gets 50% of the prize money, 30% is shared by the other players at the winning table, and the remaining 20% is shared by all the other players in the room. My poker blog is at http://www.7seat.com/.

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I met an interesting guy today at work. He was returning a box of CD's to Canada, so I asked him if he was a musician. "Well, I'm actually what you might call a performing artist."

It turns out his name is Vincent Redhouse, and he's a grammy nominated Navajo recording artist who plays a flute. Check his out his web site. A very cool guy. He told me he played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. last week. According to his web site, he was there to perform in the "Native Classics Recital on Traditional Native flute with Classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala."

Ted DeGrazia's Gallery in the Sun

I've been wanting to visit Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia's "Gallery in the Sun" ever since I first read about him when coming to Tucson. The internationally known artist of Southwestern culture, especially Indian children and family life, chose a 10-acre site to build his home, studio, and gallery in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains.

An American impressionist painter, sculptor, and lithographer. Self-described as "the world's most reproduced artist", DeGrazia is known for his pastel images of Native American children of the American Southwest and other Western scenes. In 1951, with the help of local Indian friends, he built the Mission in the Sun using water and construction materials he hauled to the site with his old car. Other buildings which came later included his home, a studio, and gallery to showcase his artwork. The gallery was built in 1965.

In 2006, the ten-acre property, now a museum of DeGrazia's work, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He died in 1982, and is buried by the Mission.

DeGrazia's work first appeared in "Arizona Highways" magazine in 1941. In 1960, DeGrazia received a commission to produce cover art for UNICEF greeting cards. His designs have appeared on lithographs, collector plates, greeting cards, and in a series of Hummel figurines.

Photos from my visit to the Gallery in the Sun

The ten-acre site has walking trails and a wonderful collection of local plant life. The property is open each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Local artists can usually be found sitting on benches along the trail, as well as locals and tourists just wanting a peaceful moment in the beautiful setting.

The Gallery contains many photographs of DeGrazia at work on the Mission and construction of the other buildings. I took a couple of snapshots showing the artist at work (below).

In the picture above, he is working on the murals which he painted throughout the complex, especially on the interior walls of the Mission in the Sun

This picture is of DeGrazia and his wife Marion at their original studio location on Campbell Road in 1946. The Gallery in the Sun was begun in 1951 on a different site, on Swan Drive just north its intersection with Skyline Drive.

The following photos were taken inside the Gallery. Describing the inspiration for building the structure, DeGrazia says:

"The gallery was designed by me and I wanted to get the feeling of the Southwest. I wanted to build it so that my paintings would feel good inside of it. As you come to it, the Entrance, there's the Yuma Prison gate. And it's built like a tunnel. I like tunnels. Then I tried to have the feeling around the gallery, no windows, because my business is pictures, and if you have windows you can't have pictures, so all the lighting in the Gallery's from the roof. And then I try to control that by achieving, through color, different effects."

The photos below were taken from a display of DeGrazia's personal belongings, representing his work as an artist. You'll notice his boots, a cigar, his easel, paint and brushes, a bottle of whiskey, and Redman tobacco.

Inside the Gallery, one room has seating for groups where they can watch a video documentary of DeGrazia's life and work. The walls of the room are covered with huge photographs of the artist (see below).

A couple of scenic shots from my walk along the trails winding their way throughout the property:

Photographs of the "Mission in the Sun" (Below)

The Mission or "Chapel" was the first structure DeGrazia built on the ten-acre site in 1951. The interior walls have murals painted by the artist. The Mission was built to honor Father Kino and dedicated to our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico.