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Home 2721
- Downtown Container Park
The Praying Mantis sculpture (2010), created for Burning Man by Kirk Jellum, was installed at Fremont Street at N 7th Street in 2013, sponsored by Zappos. Flames shot out of the artwork a few times per hour, which we could see from the other side of the park while having dinner at The Perch on the second floor. (Downtown Container Park, E. Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada) 20160225 - Marjorie Barrick Museum
Well-curated gallery of contemporary art at U. Nevada Las Vegas. Temporary show of Ellsworth Kelly paintings displayed more than the monochromatic bars. Other walls hung "Unseen selections from the Las Vegas At Museum". Focus on quality over quantity in a well lit and quiet venue. (Marjorie Barrick Museum, University of Nevada Las Vegas) 20160224 - S. Las Vegas Blvd.
View north of the Strip from W. Tropicana Ave., with New York New York towers. Rode tram to Excalibur casino, past Luxor casino, from Mandalay Bay resort. Transportation is a freebie since these south end properties are all owned by MGM. (Excalibur casino, S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada) 20160223 - Spring Valley Library
Using free wifi in public library for tasks too slow on mobile device. Just 2 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, Spring Valley is an unincorporated town, with lots of subdivisions and 17% of population Asian. The Chinese strip malls run up S. Jones Blvd. past W. Spring Mountain Road. (Spring Valley Library, Clark County, Nevada) 20160222 - Lake Mead
AC1851 on approach east of Las Vegas, with scenic view of the Mojave Desert, fresh water fed by Colorado River. Lake Mead National Recreation Area is in Red Rock Country, a high sierra, at the Nevada-Arizona border. Flew over Bonelli Landing, view north to Echo Bay. (Air Canada flight 1851, over Lake Mead National Recreation Area) 20160221 - Pearson Terminal 1
Passenger volume to U.S. flights heavy on Sunday morning 7 a.m., but lines are moving. Full staff on at Air Canada check-in, lots of automated passport reading machines, backlog mostly at x-ray scanners. Warm weather in Toronto, so travellers expecting to escape chilly temperatures booked a while ago. (Toronto Pearson Airport, Terminal 1) 20160221 - Frankfurt Airport
Cool welcome to Germany with stairs to bus to Terminal A. Long immigration lines to B gates. (Frankfurt Airport, Germany) 20160220 - Helsinki Airport T1
Train from city centre arrived at 12:49pm downstairs for 2:00pm departure. Star Alliance Gold check-in counter moved to far side of economy line, so slight stress to find right place. Worth maintaining frequent flyer status to speed through airport. Built up sweat dragging 2 checked bags plus carry-on through Helsinki snow. (Helsinki Airport, Vantaa, Finland) 20160220 - Why join the navy when you can be a pirate
Enthusiastic students, after Friday course completion, picked a bar with name quoted from Steve Jobs. Actually, it's a cafe that serves alcoholic drinks, mixed juices and smoothies. At 5 p.m., some of the clientele still had laptop computers open, and were tapping away as the sound levels rose. (Why join the navy when you can be a pirate, Annankatu, Helsinki, Finland) 20160219 - Sanomatalo
Happened into Kaiti Kink band performance in Close Encounters Jazz Festival live broadcast. Paused for a few tunes. Had wanted to see music on another evening, but my schedule has been too busy. I was trying out a new short cut in bad weather through a glass tower on the way to the tax office. Serendipity wins. (Helsinki Pop and Jazz Conservatory, Sanomatalo, Helsinki, Finland) 20160218 - Helsinki Music Centre
Kirsi Kaulanen (2011) "Gaia" sculpture in main lobby used as public thoroughfare by pedestrians from Eduskuntapuisto eastbound towards Central Railway Station. I followed others from the traffic lights into an aesthetically better route, since Kansalaistori Square is a construction zone for new Central Library. (Helsinki Music Centre, Finland) 20160218 - Gongfu tea ceremony
Chinese New Year celebration at Tongji Lounge at Aalto U. included welcomes from the Chinese consulate, Tongji U. in Shanghai and local student organizations. Snacks for casual time in the Moose Lounge of Aalto Ventures Program, dancing in contemporary (not traditional styles), then jigsaw and chopsticks games. Formal tea tasting by Xinyuan Sui from Teemaa Tea House in Helsinki. (Tongji Lounge, TUAS building, Otaniemi, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland) 20160217 - Ravintola Mezopotamya
Knitting together parallel histories on systems thinking and university research projects. Careers and social ties had intersected many times, but the women had never met. Bonding proved strong when comparing photos on mobile phones of cats. Language switched to Finnish when I left the table, and back to English when I rejoined. Casual Kurdish buffet cafe was a quiet place for 3 hour conversation on a weekday evening. (Cafe Caisa / Ravintola Mezopotamya, Kaisaniemi, Helsinki) 20160216 - Hesperia Park
Steps up to viewpoint just north of Finlandia Hall not cleared of snow, yet still a better pedestrian option than sliding on the granite face. Natural promontory overlooking Töölönlahti bay, and new developments in Finlandia Park. A film crew lighting the front entrance of Finlandia Hall suggests movie production, not news. (Hesperian Puisto, Helsinki, Finland) 20150215 - S Market
Displays of Karelian pies prepared commercially in large quantities are indicative of Finnish palates. Wheat pastry with topping of rice and egg butter is a light savoury snack, tasty, wholesome and inexpensive. Many times, I have eaten these directly after checkout, to tide over the appetite before getting back to the apartment to prepare dinner. Homemade would likely be better, but economically uncompetitive. (S Market, Mannerheimentie, Helsinki, Finland) 20160214