AZ Day 6 - Kaleidoscopes, Competitions, and Curvaceous Architecture
Before leaving Flagstaff today, I got my caffeine for the morning from a little drive thru coffee hut called Matador Coffee. I feel like coffee huts have become more of a thing since I started this trip, though I suppose it’s possible that they were always more of a thing further west. It was cute and convenient, and the baristas were very friendly though I’ll admit the coffee was just okay. Perhaps to be expected out of a hut, but it did the job.
After fueling up, I set out for the small mountain town of Jerome. It had come highly recommended as a weird and funky spot by my cousins, as well as the friend’s parents I was staying with, and additionally my friend who’s supplied me with countless recommendations is also named Jerome so I felt like the town was a personal must-see. To get there I drove through the beautiful Sedona Valley, and the views were really something to behold. Jerome is technically at a lower elevation than Flagstaff, but everything’s built on steps and inclines so it has a more mountainous vibe that makes everything a bit more breathtaking.
Jerome reminded me a lot of Eureka Springs in Arkansas, because it had steep hills and was loaded with a wonderfully strange mix of history, local art, and vaguely religious symbolism. It was briefly a hot bed of Wild West Shenanigans earning the designation of Wickedest Town in America. Mining local minerals briefly led to a population surge during the early 20th century through WWI, but between the Great Depression and the mines drying out, the population gradually dwindled to its current number of about 400 dedicated historians, artists, and oddballs.
My first stop was the town’s famous Sliding Jail, the site of possibly the only prison break that was made by the prison itself. Apparently in 1938, a combination of shifting ground from mining blasts and already steep streets led to the town’s jail busting free from its moorings and sliding 200 feet downhill from its original location to where it currently stands as a bizarrely lovable tourist attraction.
My favorite thing to do while I was in Jerome was to just pop into whatever off beat place caught my eye from the side of the road and I was rarely disappointed. The first place I stopped was a self described “Eclectic Mix of Random Objects” called Scooter Trash. It was essentially a gift shop, but only featuring truly bizarre and macabre ornaments and decorations so it made for some excellent browsing. I was most impressed by the little decorative figurine of a naked woman looking into a mirror and seeing a skeleton staring back. It was a neat little optical illusion.
My next stop was a supposedly haunted old movie theater called the Liberty Theater. They had a lot of fun spooky movie props but I didn’t have any cash on me to take the haunted tour so I contented myself with admiring this truly baffling sculpture of a skeleton riding a motorcycle made out of another skeleton. I can’t think of a single movie that might be from but whatever is I need to see it.
The big ticket stop in Jerome that came the most recommended to me was Nellie Bly Kaleidoscopes, the largest brick and mortar kaleidoscope store in the world. This place was incredible, bringing together over 90 artists and artisans from around the world skilled in working with wood, metal, and glass to make the finest and most unique kaleidoscopes possible. I loved how much, even in a world of vastly more technologically advanced forms of entertainment, there’s still such a simple joy of staring into a little tube and seeing shapes and colors spin around. Everyone there had a smile on their face and a look of childlike wonder, and it was utterly charming to see. The variety was astounding ranging from simple wooden ones to more complex pieces featuring intricate stained glass designs and all manners of shapes including birds, fish, flowers, waterfalls, and even the Eiffel Tower all rendered with incredible craftsmanship.
Of course as beautiful of the outsides of these kaleidoscopes were, much like people, it’s what was on the inside that really counted. I figured out from my people watching that I could put my phone camera up to the peephole and capture the dazzling psychedelia within.
My two favorite kaleidoscopes in the place were one that was set up with a clear scope over a live flower bed so that it would refract the natural geometry and colors of the plants, and the most expensive scope in there valued at $22,000! This beautiful monster was not just a kaleidoscope but a steampunk dream contraption with whirring gears and levers, a music box component, and different magnifying lenses over the scope to further augment the variety of views. I don’t know that I’d drop $22 grand on any single non-house-or-car purchase, but it was still an impressive feat of engineering and artistry.
My favorite non-kaleidoscope thing in the store was this little blown glass fish because he just looked positively terrified which was a fascinating creative decision.
After the Nellie Bly shop, I continued my art crawl passing through the Raku gallery (no photography allowed unfortunately) which featured lots of local paintings, crafts, and jewelry of impressive quality. My favorite pieces here included metal art and sculptures made out of local sandstone by Bob Ricard and Michael Casey respectively.
Next up came the New State Motor Company Building, a former historic Chrysler dealership that' was restored by the Jerome Historical Society and turned into a shopping mall with several stores and galleries, and most importantly a free public restroom. I really loved this place and after using their most valuable resource, I checked out the different storefronts. Perhaps the strangest yet most impressive place was the Jerome Bible Art Museum which featured the incredibly expressive clay sculptures of Janie Lyers of different scenes from the bible. The thing I liked is that she did not shy away from some of the stranger Biblical imagery that’s more my jam such as the four horsemen of the apocalypse and Jonah being swallowed by the whale. Other highlights of the New State Motor Co. building, included delicate local blown glass, a record shop, and some excellent pottery.
The most impressive thing about the building though, both currently and historically, was just how precariously perched it was overlooking the Sedona Valley with a refreshing deck. I can’t imagine that they used to be able get antique cars in and out of there.
After working up an appetite from all that art, I decided to get some lunch at a place called The Haunted Hamburger, partly because it had great reviews, but mostly because they had skeletons hanging from the porch and drain pipes and that made incredibly happy.
Beyond the spooky decor, the food was also ghoulishly good. Naturally I ordered the haunted burger which came fully loaded with bacon, mushrooms, onions, cheese, and guacamole all on their perfectly baked house buns. It was a lot, but it was all so good. The best part for me though was that their side options included one of my all time favorite (and far too rarely seen) dishes: twice baked potatoes, the perfect intermediary between baked and mashed potatoes. Even better, they added a little melted cheese on the second baking and it really put the whole meal over the top. To wash it all down, I had some local Sedona brown ale from Oak Creek Brewery, and it took everything in my power to not get a boozy milkshake as well. I’m very strong and brave, I know.
After lunch, I had a little wine tasting at Caduceus Cellars, a winery founded by Maynard James Keenan the lead singer of alt/prog bands Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle. Personally, I don’t really know anything about his music, but much like Jeremiah the Bullfrog even if I never really understood a single word he said I’d help him drink his wine. I also learned that he’s descended from a long line of Italian winemakers, so his winery is less of a hobby and more a continuation of proud family tradition and know-how leading him to always have some mighty fine wine. The bartender also happened to be a New England transplant, so we got to chat during my tasting and it made everything just that much more fun and pleasant. I had four tastes: A dry Arizona white, a rosé, a cabernet sauvignon, and a sweet syrah. Everything was mighty tasty, and I had a slight preference for the drier wines, but as far as sweet wines go these were some of the best ones I’d had in a long while.
After the wine tasting, I went to get some coffee at a place called Flatiron Coffee, a tiny little espresso bar with great drinks, what looked like really solid sandwiches and pastries, and friendly people. It got the job done in fueling me up for the next leg of my day’s trip.
While walking back to my car, I noticed a run down old historic building that someone had filled with various vintage toilets for passersby to see if they could throw coins. If you got the coin in the toilet, it was supposed to be good luck. What a whimsical place.
After Jerome, my next stop was Arcosanti, an experimental micro-city developed by Paolo Soleri (whose workshop I visited back near Phoenix) based on his architectural principles of arcology (a blend of architecture and ecology). My friend’s parents were incredibly kind and bought me a tour of the 25 acre compound. It was built entirely from the ground-up by Soleri and his students, and it’s still a work in progress, housing on average 50-150 residents, workers, and students. It was very intentionally designed in a way that accentuates, while blending into the natural beauty of this northern Arizonan high desert, and it really doesn’t look like anywhere else in the world.
I was just in time to make it on the last tour of the day, and while I was walking up to the gift shop to meet the group, I was very happy to see one Soleri’s famous bronze bells majestically hanging in the window. It made me excited for everything to come.
The tour was fun and fascinating, explaining the history and principles behind Arcosanti. The tour guide was a current student and resident living there as a part of a working internship which helped put everything he told us in a context that made still feel vibrant and relevant. The main tenants of Soleri’s arcological vision was to create an alternative to ugly sprawling cities that could provide the same wealth of activities and human interactions, in a space that was beautiful, ecologically sustainable, and relatively condensed. I don’t know that he totally met all these goals, but the amount to which he did succeed was astonishing. Two factors that were important for meeting these goals was that buildings were structured in more of a vertical, interlocking way designed to appeal to pedestrians as opposed to outwardly expanding car-friendly cities, and just about every space served multiple purposes either practical, social, utilitarian, aesthetic, or usually some combination of the three. Bedrooms also had greenhouses; trees provided shade, windshields, wood, and a good view; arced foundries helped make building blocks and also funneled heat to the rest of the compound in the cold winter while also doubling as perfect acoustic concert venues. The level of forethought and planning that went into all these moving pieces was out of this world. In terms of environmental sustainability, most of the buildings were made out of a unique homemade concrete derived from the local silt and sand all around the community, and all those arced forms in the architecture helped to maximize natural heating and lighting to reduce the dependence on outside utilities. Add to the on-site farming and water collection and filtration, and you’ve got a pretty minimal carbon footprint. It’s definitely got a bit of a commune vibe, with every resident also chipping in to help cook and clean, but even that goes toward Soleri’s idea of increasing potential interactions with constantly shifting people to maintain the feel of a bustling city in a fraction of the space. Plus, because Soleri and the rest of the architects were all accomplished artists as well, everything really does look beautiful too adding a nice layer of style to all the substance.
Some highlights for me included: this massive cloth windsock that hangs from the gift shop five stories down to the kitchen, capturing and filtering the sunlight in playful colors while also providing a streamlined direction for hot air to travel out of the kitchen maintaining a nice constant temperature;
A music room featuring a homemade wooden amplifier for impromptu jam sessions;
And a model of a proposed arcological development that was never realized for a solar powered community in the Siberia featuring hundreds of terraced greenhouses. I have no idea if it could ever be realized in the real world, but it does make for a gorgeous sculpture. Lastly, my favorite bit of information from the tour was that when Soleri’s most famous teacher, Frank Lloyd Wright, was given a tour of Arcosanti, he was much less impressed than I was. It appears there was quite an ego-clash between the two architects, and Wright just loudly pointed out to anyone who would listen how half of Soleri’s designs were based on things that he actually came up with.
After Arcosaniti, I made my way back to Phoenix to meet my friend, who was just arriving back from South America, and her parents for a reunion dinner. I got back a little earlier than expected so I got some more coffee to help get me through dinner and comedy later in the night. I went to a hip little spot called Jobot Coffee and Bar, because it made me think of myself as a robot which was fun. I decided to break from my normal iced coffee and go for something warmer and more caffeine efficient with a very tasty macchiato. It was also small enough that I would be ready to go whenever my friend got in from the airport.
We ended up meeting at a place called Pita Jungle because they had good veggie options for my friend Kathryn. It was so great to see her again after several months since graduation, and it was great to see her parents so happy to have their daughter around. Her most recent adventure (at that point in time) had been working in a South American butterfly conservatory, and she had lots of funny stories about butterflies having sex. Apparently they attach to each at the butt and just sort of fly around like that because nature is truly bizarre. While it couldn’t compete with the excellent company, the food was also beyond reproach. I had a delicious mediterranean roast chicken schwarma pita wrap. It was delicious with an incredible garlic and tahini sauce that just added so much flavor to everything.
After dinner, Kathryn’s jet lag kicked in something fierce so she went home, while I went to perform in a really fun comedy show. While I was in Tucson and Flagstaff, a three day comedy festival run by Bird City Comedy began in Phoenix bringing together national headliners and local joke slingers for a few dozen different shows all around the city. Today was the last day of the festival and it was ending with a big 64 person round robin elimination one-liner competition. I got a spot in the contest thanks to a heads up from Dustin Hadlock, one of the comics I really enjoyed seeing perform this week. I was a bit nervous, because I don’t usually do one liners on stage too much, and I’d never really done any kind of competition like this before. Plus it didn’t start until 11 pm so I was worried that my brain would be more mushy than sharp. All my nerves amounted to very little though, as the competition ended up being one of the most fun nights of comedy of the trip so far.
The way it worked was two comics would go onstage, each one would do a joke that was no more than 3 lines (up to two for set up and one for punchline, because a pure one-line joke is really hard to write), and then the audience would vote by applause to determine who made it to the next round, with two really funny local comics (Mo Urban and Genevieve Rice) serving as arbiters in the event of tie breaker. Even though it was late, there were so many comics there that audience was always really solid and the energy stayed up through the whole competition. Everyone brought their A-games as well and I think the competitive element added a bit of forward momentum to the show, without ever being quite so high stakes as to make things feel overly stressful, and it was all had a very fun air of camaraderie. Plus, it was all in a real performing arts theater, Phoenix’s Playhouse on Park, so that gave everything some heightened class.
On the comic’s side of things, the elimination process made you have to be strategic with your jokes, because you had to use a new one-liner in every face-off so if you used your absolute best joke right off the bat you might run out of steam for the later rounds. The winner would need to have the funniest joke in at least 6 match ups (I say at least because they decided as it was going that tiebreakers would also require new one-liners), which was no easy feat, especially since I would say that very few comedian nowadays focus mainly on writing one-liners because in a traditional stand up set as it can grow tiresome no matter how good you are, so everyone was working a little out of their comfort zone (which probably did help add to the sense of solidarity)
There were too many good ones for me to write down, but here were a handful of ones I enjoyed:
Leslie: I used a bidet for the first time, and now I understand why The Shape of Water won so many awards
Gabe Bravo: When I say I have a gold penis, I’m not bragging. My uncle Midas was a very bad man.
Reena May: Anyone who had a problem with the female Ghostbusters movie, clearly never saw Ghost Dad.
My Personal Favorite single joke- Jimmy Calloway: I went on a date with a girl who insisted on bringing Socialist Memorabilia with her. It was a big red flag.
My jokes went over much better than I expected and I ended up coming in second place. Of the jokes I did, I think the one that went over the best was “I’m gonna write a movie about a skateboarding dog. It’s called Gnarly and Me.”
The comic who won was named Anthony Desamito, and I think he really did deserve it, because he had consistently tightly written jokes but he also had great stage presence and was able to let a lot of personality shine through even in such short performances which was truly impressive. The joke he won with was “My underwear is like a police body camera. It just falls off when I see a black guy”, though my own personal favorite of his was “I wanted to come out to my mom with a bang. So I wrote “I’m gay” on her airbag and crashed into her car”.
After the competition, almost all the comics all went out for drinks together at a lovably divey bar nearby called Gracie’s Tax Bar. Located in a former 1970s tax service building, Gracie’s was filled with cheap booze and good vibes, what more could you want on a Saturday night. I had such a great time chatting, drinking, and joking around with different Phoenix comics I met that night and earlier in the week, and it felt like a good send off to the scene even though I didn’t stay out too late.
Favorite Random Sightings: Hard Eggs (I feel like they meant hard boiled, but it doesn’t sound right); The Magnificent Day Drinkers!; Bun Huggers Hamburgers; “Jerome: The Friendly Town”; A t-shirt that honest to God said “I’m not antisocial, I’d just rather play my marimba than talk to idiots” (who made that shirt?!?); Husband’s Alley; A billboard that said “Arrested?” (how could the person that applies to see a billboard); Dad Food Store
Regional Observations: I somehow only just realized this late in the week, but Arizona doesn’t do daylight savings so it’s technically in a slightly different time zone (Mountain Standard Time as opposed to Mountain Daylight Time) which is wild and confusing
Albums Listened To: Seekers and Finders by Gogol Bordello (so much lovable global energy); Self Medication by the Slackers (a darker than usual album, but with some of the best written lyrics of their career); Self-Titled by Mephiskapheles (ska and metal in unholy union); Semblance by Casey Tepp (a shockingly great album by one of sister’s college roommate); Senor and the Queen EP by the Gaslight Anthem; Senor Smoke by Electric Six (just Jimmy Carter)
People’s Favorite Jokes:
A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” The horse says, “I was born with it. (a classic)
Songs of the Day:
An unexpected Eastern European team-up
stripped down and intimate
So wildly over the top, I saw them play this live before the album dropped and I couldn’t stop laughing at their total commitment to the bit
Who would have guessed the band that put out Danger High Voltage had this in them?
the band get Bruce-y