Tuesday morning we headed to the Heard Museum in Phoenix – “The Heard is nationally and internationally recognized for the quality of its exhibits, which provide insight into the cultures and histories of Native people, and for the sensitivity of its presentation and interpretation of American Indian art.” Once again it was a museum visit where we couldn’t take it in all in one day! In addition to one docent let tour, we took-in the “Chocolate, Chili & Cochineal: Changing Taste Around the World”, “Native Words, Native Warriors & Navajo Code Talkers”, “Home: Native People in the Southwest”, “Barry Goldwater Katsinas Collection”, “We Are! Arizona’s First People”, & “Remembering Our Indian School Days: The Boarding School Experience”.
Along with ancient artifacts & modern Native art, the museum also presents Native historical information, such as:
>Native Americans are three times as likely to serve during military conflicts as the rest of the population.
>The first Native “code talkers” were Choctaws during WWI.
>Sadly the Indian schools mission was to “assimilate, acculturate, & Americanize” the students by shaving their hair, burning their cloths, only allowing English to be spoken, & keeping the children from their families up to nine years!
>There are four principal crops in the world – wheat from the Middle East, rice from China, & potatoes & corn from Native Americas.
>Tomatoes were not used in Italian cooking until 1693, a hundred years after they were imported from the Americas.
>The Navajos during WWII spoke in a code they developed in the Pacific campaign. Many other Native Americans were used to speak in their tribal language but uuencoded in many theaters of war, because the enemy often still could not decipher the radio transmission.
Lunch was in the museum’s Courtyard Café where we shared bison meatloaf & hummus made with tepary beans; note - you can enjoy the café without paying to enter the museum. While touring the museum we even ran into a Miss Indian Princess who represented all the Native tribes in the USA & Canada. Another museum we highly recommend checking-out if you are in the Phoenix area!
http://heard.org/
Wednesday evening it was back to MIM for another concert; but first dinner at Aunt Chiladas (aka enchiladas). They claim they are oldest restaurant in Phoenix. But there have been many different restaurants and/or owners at this location, that it hasn’t been the “same” over its history. Probably more correct to say its Phoenix’s oldest building that has continually had a restaurant in it? Its most infamous incarnation was as The Peek (note spelling) Steak House. The Mexican food at Chiladas was very good, including the Tres Leches Cake we had for dessert.
http://www.auntchiladas.com/
The concert was “Uncommon Time - Taiko, Tabla, Timbal”:
“The drum takes center stage in this commingling of three rhythmically complex musical traditions. Each musician is a master of own his genre: Kenny Endo in taiko drumming, Abhijit Banerjee in tabla drumming, and John Santos in Latin percussion. Each one is an experienced composer. What they share is a passion for exploring musical collaborations across genres and cultural backgrounds.”
“With Uncommon Time, the improvised drum exchange has evolved into a witty and heartfelt musical dialogue in which the three artists create new compositions using the rich palette of percussion forms, rhythmic interchanges, and instrumentations of diverse global cultures.”
“One of the leading American exponents of contemporary percussion and rhythm, Kenny Endo is at the vanguard of the Japanese taiko genre. As a performer, composer, and teacher, he has received numerous awards and accolades. He was the first non-Japanese to be honored with a natori (stage name) in Japanese classical drumming. Endo is a consummate artist, blending Japanese taiko with rhythms influenced by his jazz background and global collaborations to create original melodies and improvisations.”
“Abhijit Banerjee is considered among the top-ranking Indian tabla players. He is one of the most sought-after artists in Indian classical music, renowned for his unique style and creative approach as well as for his sensitivity, skill, and deep sense of musicality. In addition to his contributions to Indian music, Banerjee has left his mark in a diverse field of crossover music both as a performer and composer.”
“Five-time GRAMMY-nominee and a US Artists Fellow, John Santos is one of the foremost interpreters of Afro-Latin music in the world today. He is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music, as well as for his groundbreaking work in bringing together styles, rhythms, concepts, and artists from different generations. With over thirty-five years of performing and teaching, he has earned much respect and recognition as an educator, composer, and record and event producer.”
We weren’t sure what to expect from three percussionists sharing the stage, but it was an outstanding concert & highly recommended!!!
Thursday morning, 28MAR, it was time to shift from Good Life RV in Mesa (on the east of Phoenix), to the Freightliner facility in Tolleson, AZ (on the west of Phoenix). As we have discussed several times in this BLOG getting maintenance & service done on an RV engine & chassis is often somewhat difficult because this often requires taking your RV to a truck facility. Back in April of 2010 we “discovered” the Freightliner facility in Tolleson, AZ, that has dedicated staff & facilities dedicated to RV’ers. Now their facility is even better because they have built dedicated RV parking spots with 50 Amp electric, city water, & sewage dump hook-ups at every spot!
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2010/04/10-13apr10-willcox-phoenix-az.html
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2010/11/06-16nov10-phoenix-az-red-stick-la.html
Dinner that evening was at La Piazza al Forno in Glendale, where we ate back in April 2010. As we said back then - they make their pizzas in wood fired, brick oven, from Italy; & the food is still outstanding!
http://lapiazzaalforno.com/
Friday morning at 0700 our RV was pulled into the service bay, leaving us (including Gumbo) to sit in the RV Owner’s Lounge for the day. Our RV was due for a major scheduled maintenance called “M3”; every other Freightliner service center we have had this done at, has needed two days to accomplish it. This facility not only finished everything in one day, but also completed all the required maintenance on our generator! End result we paid less here than at other Freightliner service centers because the number of labor hours was far less than elsewhere.
Tomorrow we hope to be back on the RV road to the Pacific NW!
http://www.fswaz.com/Tolleson.aspx
We started the month of March with a family crawfish boil at our son Joe’s on Friday, 01MAR. It was the first time Joe had tried to boil crawfish & there was a definite “learning curve” for Joe. Joe had bought so many pounds, that he had to boil three separate batches. Each batch was delicious, but Joe definitely nailed the seasoning by the third batch!
