MetaFilter posts tagged with Arizona

Please Prepare For Landing

msalt — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:33:36 -0800

1,512 high-resolution images of Mars from the viewpoint of an airplane passenger. Previous photos: 1 2 3

It's Commencement Season; Controversy Ensues

etaoin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 09:55:52 -0800

To Degree or Not to Degree? President Obama will get an honorary degree from Notre Dame but not Arizona State University during commencement ceremonies this year. ASU finds the first black American president's "body of work" insufficient. The East Valley Tribune disagrees. And some enterprising ASU students have found a way to profit from Obama's appearance at their commencement. Of course, lots of celebrities have been given honorary degrees over the years, some more worthy than others.

The Wickedest Town in the West

Bageena — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:37:19 -0800

The town of Jerome was incorporated on March 8, 1889 when Arizona was still a territory. A mining town of the real 'wild west' variety, Jerome was incorporated after three devastating fires within an eighteen month period that nearly destroyed the town. Jerome was a wild town with little law enforcement, building codes, or real government. It earned the title "The Wickedest Town in America" by the New York Sun in 1903 for being a hotbed of gambling, prostitution, and vice. Jerome is the town of stories. The same fires that plagued the town plagued the mine. Strikes at the United Verde Mine lead to forced deportation of the miners at gunpoint. Capitalizing women opened bordellos. The population grew to a then-staggering 15,000 residents before the price of copper dropped and the mines went bust. In 1953 they closed, and the population dropped. Jerome is now known as an art destination, with more than 30 galleries and working studios. The Old Jerome High School is home to many artists and their open studios. The few hotels there are rumored to be haunted. The town currently boasts a population of 343, including Maynard James Kennan of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer fame. He resides in the small town full time... making wine.

Vector Portraits (1989-1997)

dhammond — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:22:13 -0800

Los Angeles-based photographer Andrew Bush mounts a camera on the side of his car to capture freeway drivers in the southwestern United States. [via]

How to land at the Martian north pole.

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:22:55 -0800

Seven minutes of terror. A short video on describing how the Phoenix probe will land at the North Pole of Mars on May 25th. Follow updates to the mission via Twitter and the blog. Previously

What Gets Left Behind

netbros — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:17:43 -0800

Federal and state government officials and border activists say the garbage dumped in the Sonoran Desert by illegal immigrants and their smugglers is staggering. The cleanup is costing taxpayers millions. The Southern Arizona Project(pdf) is a multi-year program setup by the Bureau of Land Management to mitigate the impacts to the ecology by illegal immigration and smuggling. In 2006 alone, more than 1.18 million pounds of trash was collected along the southern Arizona border.

Arizona Then and Now

netbros — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:12:41 -0800

Arizona Then and Now -- When paired with vintage images of the 19th and 20th centuries, Arizona photographers Allen Dutton and Paul Scharbach's modern-day images reveal the changes that have shaped the state's landscape during the past 100-plus years. They searched the state to locate the precise spots from which to rephotograph the scenes captured by their predecessors, endeavoring to achieve the same angles, perspectives, and lighting as in the early photographs.

Melrose Place, Gov. Napolitano, and Chocolate Chips

yellowcandy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:11:37 -0800

Melrose Place, Governor Napolitano, and Freshly Baked Chocolate Chips: social entrepreneurship to combat meth and sell art. Is Belleza Gallery, wholly owned nonprofit gallery of Renaissance House, the coolest little pocket of altrusim-meets-art that almost no one has ever heard of? Popping through Bisbee, (a funky former copper mining town near the US-Mexico border in AZ), you’re sure to find former miners sipping coffee with artists and great spots to stop for a bite, but for those looking for self-sufficiency models to replicate– or to buy some killer art – do not miss Lou Anne. A goddess with a shock of silver hair and a plate of warm cookies, she talked to me about Rose Johnson and Will Spencer III in the same breath as recidivism rates and women building and selling technicolor Adirondack furniture and working away in a newly dedicated computer facility funded in part by the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona. Perhaps some people have heard of Renaissance House after all, as they were finalists in the Yale School of Management – Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures business plan competition. With art online and in the gallery, they’re supporting women and children breaking cycles of abuse – substance abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence – and empowering them to help them reclaim their independent lives in a transitional facility. Together they do yoga, work in the house’s garden, work toward GEDs. One graduate, a physics and astronomy double major, is even a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar at Northern Arizona University, en route to the stars, it seems. Plus there are the occasional celeb visitors: The Governor’s stopped in, and they have pictures of her in one of the teak chairs made by the women, and Courtney Thorne Smith from Melrose and According to Jim have been in. Apparently one of her friends is an artist selling there. Personally, I love the Tad Cheyenne Miller pieces best of all. Totally old-school Americana!

I have always known that at last I would take this road...

dersins — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:57:41 -0800

Any fool can hire an architect to draw up a plan for a house, but it takes a truly inspired fool — which is to say, an artist — to start building and see where the earth and driftwood and shards of broken pottery take him. [Slideshow.] In 1979 Michael [Kahn] & Leda [Livant] moved themselves and their paintings from Provincetown MA to rural land in Cornville Arizona. There they began the first mixed media structure which they later called Eliphante. They continued building and sculpting on the 3 acre environment. Another tour. A flickr photo set.

Windmill output of up to one MegaTrumpton

Artw — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:04:54 -0800

Could giant magnetically levitated windmills be the solution to the worlds energy problems? Chinese scientist have reported 20 percent increase in capacity over traditional wind turbines using maglev turbines, and now Arizona-based based Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies claims their turbines will have 1000 times the capacity of a traditional turbine. Not everybody is convinced.

"Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution"

ericb — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:12:48 -0800

Two executives of the alternative newspaper chain Village Voice Media were arrested last night after running a story about grand jury subpoenas [PDF] they received seeking reporters' notes and information on who visits their Phoenix New Times Web site. The article, titled "Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution," claims that the grand jury investigation stems from a long-running feud with controversial county sheriff Joe Arpaio (who calls himself "America's toughest sheriff"). The subpoenas demand New Times turn over all notes, tapes and records of the reporters who have ever written about Arpaio. The subpoenas also seek online profiles of anyone who read four specific articles about Arpaio and profiles of anyone who visited the paper's Web site since Jan. 1, 2004. Also sought is information on what Web users did while on the site.

“Reports in the New-Times over more than a decade have detailed Arpaio's backroom dealings, his mistreatment of prisoners under his watch and his general scuminess. Prisoners at his county jail get only two meals a day, must wear pink underwear, and live in tents outside the jail where they work seven days a week in chain gangs, digging graves for the indigent. An investigation by county prosecutors into the paper's reporting began when New-Times published Arpaio's home address on its website in 2004. A little-known Arizona statute dictates that it's legal to publish the home address of a law enforcement agent in print, or on the radio or television, just not on the Internet; when the print article was uploaded to the New-Times website, prosecutors pounced.”^*

George Lassos The Moon

OmieWise — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:54:41 -0800

Mare Tranquillitatis outside Flagstaff. "With high explosives, they terraformed a lunar surrogate right here on the surface of the earth." The excellent Pruned reports on the earth-bound moon model. USGS report.

Walpi Village, Hopi Lands, Northern Arizona

BrodieShadeTree — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:37:31 -0800

Visiting Northern Arizona? Well, of course you should see the canyon. However, you might want to skip that sky walk nonsense. Instead you might want to visit Walpi village on the Hopi Lands. The Hopi have lived out there on three mesas (an island inside another reservation) since the first century A.D. They were never moved to other areas or reservations, and spent a lot of time defending their land in many important ways over the ages. These days you can have a very intimate visit to the oldest, most continually occupied place in North America, if you don't mind a little drive. Don't bring your camera.

Caffiene with a conscience

carsonb — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 17:37:45 -0800

Just Coffee is a vertically-integrated coffee cooperative with a mission to provide the training and resources to create a sustainable small-scale international coffee company fully owned and controlled by the coffee growers. Could they also provide a model solution for the immigration problem?

Arizona Cardinals stadium roll out grass field

jaimev — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:30:56 -0800

One of the stars of the new NFL season will make its debut this Sunday. It's not a player - it's Arizona Cardinal's stadium. It's got a retractable roof, and a movable grass field that can roll out of the facility where it will reside most of the year and get its nourishment, maintenance and grooming. First of its kind in North America. NPR audio piece.

After the operation it was confirmed...

amberglow — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:46:29 -0800

Sherri Finkbine --as reported by BBC News, on this day in 1962 (video clip too)--her travails and travels, the law, publicity, and what happened afterwards. (more here from American Prospect in 05: ...A Gallup Poll taken that year showed that the majority of Americans supported Finkbine, and her case was a turning point ...)

KCDX: commercial free radio

rkent — Mon, 01 May 2006 11:44:37 -0800

KCDX: Five years of non-stop rock. "There is no discipline at KCDX, where the song choices are as chaotic as a schoolyard at recess... The signal, which started broadcasting throughout central Arizona and much of Phoenix in 2002, played an eclectic mix that included hits by Huey Lewis and the News and an obscure 1971 tune about cannibalism by the Buoys. There were no commercials, no DJs, no way the station made money."

Some Animals are more Equal than others

headlemur — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:33:56 -0800

Son of Senate president offered plea deal in assault case Clifton Bennett, 18, the son of Arizona Senate President Ken Bennett, and his co-defendant, Kyle Wheeler, 19, were charged in January with 18 counts of aggravated assault and 18 counts of kidnapping for the incidents, which happened at a youth camp last June. The younger Bennett confessed to police that he and Wheeler sodomized the 11- to 14-year-old boys with broomsticks and flashlights in at least 40 incidents, court documents show.

Character First!

Otis — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 14:21:45 -0800

Character Counts! Last year, Arizona State Treasurer David Petersen stood in front of the International Building Cities of Character Conference to deliver a keynote address. Inside the Character Training Institute's headquarters, Petersen took to the conference podium to tell how his state's Family Services Committee passed "Character Education Legislation." "All schools now have it implemented," he said. "We're fighting for the soul of this nation." Petersen added that he attributed his passion for character to a personal meeting with evangelist Bill Gothard, founder of Institute in Basic Life Principles. Petersen is now the focus of a theft and fraud inquiry alleging that he used his position and state funds to promote the character education program, a program to which he had financial ties. Is your city a City of Character?

Cattle ranching conservationism

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:49:58 -0800

If you're going to to break into the cowboy business, this is as good a place as any to do it. [more inside]

Almost there

euphorb — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 11:49:08 -0800

Quicktime virtual reality panoramas of thousands of picturesque places in the Western United States and Canada. Feast your eyes on The Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite, Mossbrae Falls, Monument Valley, a Ghost Town, the Cascades, Palm Canyon, Joshua Tree, Las Vegas, Redwood Forests, poppy fields, palm groves, and Bumpass Hell. (via Highways West) (previous Mefi appearance)

Back to Eden

alms — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:02:59 -0800

When the Glen Canyon Dam was completed, it took 18 years for the waters of the Colorado River to flood 186 miles of the most beautiful canyonlands in the world. David Brower called it America's "most regretted environmental mistake." But now Glen Canyon is coming back.

Oh conservatism, thou art sick!

troutfishing — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:08:17 -0800

Becoming what you hate : Nathan Sproul, case study in moral relativism on the Religious Right "former head of the Arizona Republican Party and of the Arizona Christian Coalition....Sproul is connected with the Republican National Committee-funded voter registration organization, Voters' Outreach of America Inc." - Sproul's firm is accused of fraud and the destruction of voter registration forms. He also failed to pay his workers and his office rent. Rick Perlstein, in the Village Voice, comments on the Sproul scandal : "Both sides are not equally bad, and any reporters who don't recognize that conservatism's very core has become shot through with a culture of mendacity should turn in their press badge..... It used to be that we could count on the conscience of conservatives to protect our democratic institutions."

Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer

JeffK — Sat, 31 Jul 2004 08:45:48 -0800

Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer. President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.
The jounalist's name was Mamta Popat. She sure sounds like a terrorist.

There's no turning back now....

quibx — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 12:38:15 -0800

Mayday Mystery. At the University of Arizona, a series of ads has been placed in the school's newspaper, the Arizona Wildcat. These ads have shown up every year around May 1st for the last 20 years or so, and seem to be cryptic puzzles relating to some sort of secret counterculture organization. Bryan Hance, the former webmaster of the Wildcat, noticed the ads, and has been trying to track down what's been going on ever since. He is chronicling his findings at www.maydaymystery.org. (via ARGN)