John Wise – Page 391 – Dreams, Moments, Travels

Waterdog Willy’s

January 28, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

Waterdog Willy's bait shop nearby where we live in Phoenix, Arizona

Waterdog Willy’s across the street from us is the nicest shop around, well, at least the one with the most character. This bait and fishing supply shack sits lonely on a near-empty lot, waiting for the day a developer finally takes over the plot to assemble clone homes. Today though, it sits proudly next to the strip club next door called the Candy Store, where no less than twice a week, we get to listen to the police helicopter hovering overhead as some sex-crazed moron does something stupid so another customer steps in to start a brawl.

Tea

January 27, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

Samples of 9 different teas from www.adagio.com

Samples of nine different teas we ordered online from Adagio. The Moonlight Gyokuro and Choral Pi Lo Chun are green teas, the Wuyi Ensemble and Jasmine Suite 12 are Oolong, the Darjeeling Rhapsody 2 and Golden Monkey are black teas, Organic Rooibos (pronounced Roy-boss), the White a Cappella is a white tea and of course, Chamomile is Chamomile.

Eating Alone

January 26, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

Eating alone looking at the seat across from me which is empty

Caroline started Advanced Java tonight at Paradise Community College, which left me alone for dinner. The empty place setting is my only company while I have a pizza at Spinato’s.

No Water for Phoenix

January 25, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

No water available in Phoenix, Arizona due to distribution problems - no Starbucks either!

Four out of five water treatment plants were offline, and the remaining one distributing turbid water left Phoenix without water for a day and a half. Starbucks, Burger King, and various restaurants were without water or drinks other than bottled drinks. Most stores sold out of bottled water before noon. What if this had been during the middle of July on a 118-degree day?

Shelf

January 24, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

Knick Knack shelf in our place taken late in the afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona

Late in the afternoon, the sun glares through a western window towards our dusty, overcrowded knick-knack shelf.

Aunt Eleanor

January 23, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

My Great Aunt Eleanor Burke nee Kurchoff at 92 years old

Great Aunt Eleanor is 92 years old and just the sweetest old lady ever. Her mind is sharp and as politically and socially aware as it was many a year ago. Auntie’s days are spent eating bird-sized portions of meals while reading newspapers or listening to news radio. One of her favorite programs is listening to Matt Drudge on Sunday evenings. Auntie is my grandfather’s older sister and was happily married to Secret Service Agent Ken Burke, who passed away not too many years ago.

From Bollywood – Kisna

January 22, 2005 JWise Photo of the Day

Capture of movie screen during the showing of the Bollywood film Kisna

Another slow Saturday, relaxing, taking it easy. Made batata poha for breakfast, Caroline talked with her mom, and later, we had pizza with Sonal, Khushboo, and Hemu before going to see the Bollywood film Kisna.

Kisna starred Vivek Oberoi with a special appearance by Sushmita Sen and support by Isha Sharvani, Om Puri, and Amrish Puri. A nice love story taken from Hindu religious history about Krishna and Radha set during the great division of 1947. A man’s honor and commitment to his mother to protect an innocent girl whose father is murdered during the uprising is pushed to the limit on their journey to reach safety in Delhi. However, love blooms between the British girl and the young Hindu man, while conflict rages around him from a prince who wants to marry the girl and the man’s brother and uncle who want the girl dead. Tragedy encroaches with harrowing escapes until love and honor bring the story to a romantic end. A.R. Rahman did another great job on the soundtrack, as he usually has. Again, we were out at the Tempe Discount Theater, which occasionally shows Hindi (Bollywood) films, of which we’ve been to at least a dozen. Like most Indian movies, there were no less than five musical numbers, and the movie was about three hours long.