The Photo Safari

...was largley anti-climactic and un-fulfilling for a variety of reasons.

Due to the need to run some errands, I got a late start.

It was warmer than I thought it was supposed to be. I get impatient when it's hot.

But mostly, I forgot how much I generally dislike humans. Especially when they are gathered together in large crowds. I've always maintained that this would be a really nice little planet if it weren't for all the humans.

Apparently there was some huge fucking "Rockfest" at Penn Valley Park today. I knew nothing about it and seriously doubt that I would recognize the name of a single band or performer appearing there.


The first indication that something was going on was when I took the Southwest Blvd exit off of 35 and it started looking like a flock of cargo planes had just started shitting cars all over mid-town. TKC has some pictures of it here.

I got to the Dragon Boat races a bit early.


They were supposed to start at 4pm. I was there between 3:30 and 3:45. I was expecting a virtual armada of Viking boats racing down Flush Creek raising rooster tails of raw sewage in their wakes.


But there was just one decidedly un-Viking-like boat languidly rowing ashore and I'm pretty sure I heard the announcer declaring them the winner.

I stuck around for a few minutes longer and along came another cartoonish Chinese/Viking hybrid conversion-canoe whose slave-driving drummer seemed quite amused at her inability to master the complicated, Nordic "boom, boom, boom, boom" cadence.



I saw none of the sense of urgency that is suggested by the use of the word "race". Quite frankly, it didn't seem to be worth the effort that it took to find a parking space, so I got bored and left.

Next stop was the much ballyhooed Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Adkins.


Cliff Notes Review: Translucent.

Lots of light comes in during the day. It glows from within at night. Which, I gather, is pretty cool.

As far as the art displayed inside...

Ya know, I discovered a long time ago that art and poetry just aren't my bag.

If everyone can look at something and see something different and interperet it any way they like, then it doesn't actually exist, does it?


This was one of the pieces on display. In case you can't make it out, it is some neon tubes attached to each other, aligned vertically and switched on.

Another RADICALLY different artist apparently tackled the same subject matter from an incandescant rather than a neon point or view.

Here are a couple of light bulbs strung up on a wall.



It wasn't all that boring and ridiculous. One guy I noticed was just amazed by this "fountain" of perpetually wet rocks set amongst a bed of perpetually dry rocks.


It's AMAZING! It's like MAGIC! Is this a David Blane trick?

There was a Trojan Colt.


Somebody made a rough approximation of a horse out of sticks and mud.

Hmmm. Pretty sure that artistic threshold was crossed a long time ago.

The Borg Collective sent a scale model of one of their early spacecraft, so that was cool.



I don't know. I just don't get this shit.

There was a photography exibit that I'm sure I would have enjoyed, but you had to buy a ticket and I just wasn't in a ticket buying mood today. Maybe some other time.

I was sick of The PLAAAZA and pseudo-artistic tripe so I headed for the sanctuary of The North Land. The Gladstone Bluesfest! This is much more my speed.

KETTLE KORN!!!


ROASTED CINNAMON NUTS! LEMONADE! ICE CREAM WITH CHERRY NIPPLES ON TOP!!!


CHEAP-ASS TRINKETS!!!

MY PEEPS!!!