Ice Jackets are a very cool product to hit the bar scene.  They allow you to turn a liquor bottle made of glass into a bottle of ice. Ice Jackets are essentially a mold that allow you to encase your liquor bottle with water, for placement in the freezer. Once the casing is removed, you have a 100% ice covered bottle, except where the liquid comes out of course!

Upon recieving my first Ice Jacket I was immediately impressed. You could tell right away that it was a quality product and not some cheap plastic junk. You would think that this is something fairly simple.  The casing is heavy duty and has rubber seals in all the right spots to make forming the mold fast and simple. While the photos of the basic ice jacket already look cool, I decided to experiment on my own. Eventually, I started to toss in some food coloring to see what combinations I could come up with. I decided to do a green and red version in the spirit of the up and coming holidays that turned out quite well. The liquor poured out ice cold, just as I like it.

Without a doubt the Ice Jacket gets Captain BarBlogs seal of approval on both quality construction and funtasticness. When your a super hero you can make up words like that. If your throwing a party I’m sure you can imagine lots of different ideas for this product. I know I will be doing both. 

Cpt. BarBlog

Botanical Ice Holiday Table Display

A great idea for your Holiday Table Setting! It is SO beautiful and unique and you can create it!

Here are some easy instructions:

**Make ahead 2 days before you need it to allow for freezing time.**

1. Recycle a smooth food container (yogurt, milk, pudding, margarine, etc). to use as your mold.

2. Fill it to 75% capacity with water.

3. Add cranberries, hardy boxwood type plants, berries, eucalyptus branches, or any stick type plants. Allow some of the plants to rise several inches above the water line. Use fresh, or dried flowers/plants.

4. Freeze part way, then place a candle on the top of the display such as floating candles, or the little tealite candles.

5. Finish freezing over night. Remove ice bouquets from their plastic containers by dipping for a few seconds in hot water.  Find a freezable platter with a rim and float the boquets on a thin layer of  water. Add berries to the platter and re-freeze. The platter will catch extra water as it melts. Placing a wash cloth, or fabric underneath to absorb any extra moisture when you set it out for display. Keep in freezer until guests arrive.

Botanical Ice Boquet

I went to a wedding of my relative the other night. The wedding decorations are very nice. I was very impress with the style. What I like very much was when they cut the wedding cake, there were some bubbles came from the other side of the cake. The picture turned out so good.

The Entrance of the wedding had a gallery showing pictures of bride and groom.

The ice sculpture is in a picture of cupid holding flowers.

The stage and backdrop’s decorations are classy classy classic….. I LOVE IT!

The bride and the groom

This is the groom’s sister and me.

Last Wednesday I had an opportunity to photograph the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction for a second year. There was some changes this time, the obvious one being a new venue – the QC Waterfront Convention Center in Bettendorf to showcase the event’s Around the World theme: 

There was a bit of culture showcased on stage – traditional and contemporary African, Indian and Native American dances, along with a jazz ensemble in the lobby:

Nearby the jazz ensemble were tables of silent auction items - including lots of wine, hotel stays, gift certificates from area restaurants, polo shirts, purses, car washes, oil changes, tickets to area museums, theatre tickets, photo packages by me and more.

Off to the side, was an ice sculpture of the March of Dimes logo. 

Like last year, I couldn’t tell you what I ate but I liked nearly everything I tasted. This year was no different except there were more dishes and they were all sooo good!!  Also, kudos to Chef Angela Pobanz of Bass Street Chop House for remembering that I am vegetarian and whipping up a meatless plate for me.

Rose Goodding-Robinson, a certified nurse-midwife, was given special recognition at the evening’s event for her work in developing the first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the Quad Cities. Well deserved!

Now for the action of the live auction.

Just to highlight a few photos below, this live auction was a hit thanks to the wickedly awesome auctioneering talents of Jana Stenzel of Stenzel Auction (top left). One of the lucrative items being auctioned off was a football signed by Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz (middle left) along with press box seats at the Iowa-Minnesota game in Iowa City on Nov. 21. Troy and Kasi, (center) whose family photos I took earlier this year, were winners of the Ellen DeGeneres package, which includes tickets from AirTran (Lucky them!). Steve Ketelaar of KUUL 101.3 FM served as the evening’s emcee (right center) and March of Dimes Division Director Deena Bradford (bottom left) had the honors of presenting a live auction package. And back to Jana (bottom right) who was successful in selling identical packages to a man who lost a bid.

Last but not least, the event can’t be ended without recognizing Grant, this year’s Ambassador Child. His parents Jeff and Linda presented a slideshow telling their story about Grant being born 9 weeks early and the emotions surrounding his difficult birth and ultimate road home as a newborn. Even though it was past his bedtime, the 5-year-old took a moment to hug a few generous donors. In the final tally, $62,000 was raised from the evening’s event!

Melting Man, Nele Azevedo, Berlin

I saw this via MOMA’s twitter feed (Would that be the twitter feed that’s loads more fun than Tate’s? Yes. Yes it would)

Nele Azevedo, Melting Man, Berlin – unurth – street art.

Basically it’s art concerned with raising awareness of global warming. The basic premise is pretty straightforward – human-shaped lumps of ice are aranged as if in some kind of stadium  and then nature takes its course and they turn to puddles. The simplicity of the concept and the resulting visual spectacle really worked together to create something arresting and poignant.

Vatnajökull, Iceland - image courtesy of N4n0

I was also reminded of Katie Paterson’s Vatnajökull (the sound of) which I saw at Modern Art Oxford back in 2008.

It consisted of a mobile phone number written in neon lights on the wall. Dialling the number connected you to a microphone submerged in a lagoon next to Vatnajokull – a melting Icelandic glacier .

Only one person could connect at a time making the experience more valuable and personal than a stream over the web and the various creakings and gurgling sounded variously ancient, lonely and urgent.

In the interests of trying to share the experience with you I found and dialled the number, however it just transferred me to a voicemail account for the artist – as a second best there’s a soundfile you can listen to online.

A quote from www.icesculpture.co.uk

‘ice on film is magic, fractures, bubbles, crystals and facets are combined with ideal clarity in our ice making process.

from the smallest shard to entire sets, still and film shoots reveal a wealth of detail that only the camera can unlock’.

How do you bring more attention to the melting ice in the arctic regions? If you’re the German World Wide Fund for Nature you place 1,000 ice sculptures in the shape of sitting humans on the steps of the German capital at noon. As the sun slowly melted them away the impression they left was sad.

Blue Crystal from the brother team of Sven Sauer and Frank Sauer is a conceptual plan for an amazing piece of architecture.  It was created from the idea of a swimming world, as ice offshore Dubai occurred. Blue Crystal shall carry a multitude of luxurious restaurants, an underwater lounge and a ballroom on 5 levels. A blue landscape of ice that turns into a dreamy world of beautiful silence, far away from the hectic city.

Funny how it always seemed to happen this way.

There were the expected crowds of people, asking questions, taking photographs, milling about, sucking the oxygen out of the cold night air, closing in from all sides, squeezing the rational marrow out of all sensible thought…yet the answers had flowed, pouring out of the sheer adrenalin and anticipation. Years in the planning, the endless pushing & pulling, arm-twisting, the heart-ache and exhilaration – would this idea ever take wings and fly? Why did everyone say it wouldn’t work until the tipping point was reached when the doubting voices melted away, to be replaced with the congratulatory back-slapping sounds of the nearly-there now wellwishers.

But that was months ago. In the midst of it all tonight, the noise became a distant burble as the space cleared. Then – as always seemed to happen - there was that moment, that glorious, selfish, solitary moment – a moment of unadulterated, tearful pride & breathtaking joy!  She stood alone at the top of the Ice Sculpture – Her Ice Sculpture – a dream come to life, a vision of steel, concrete and ice. Shimmering and breathing, waiting for its time to come, bursting with expectation and ready to test the mettle of countless future wannabee’s.

As the lights of the pretty little village sparkled in the valley below, her heart was pounding and all was still. Was this the end of the journey or just the beginning of a new adventure – who knew, who cared? This was the now and the now was all that mattered. The gold medal glistened under the halogen floodlights as she tucked it silently inside the cool latex of her jet black speed suit – the suit she wore that fateful day in Vancouver 2 years ago when she made the World sit up and take notice of New Zealand as a serious player in the winter olympics.

The push-off was flawless as ever, the skeleton gathering itself, ready to receive, feet quickstepping over the blue-glass ice track neatly curving away into the darkness and into history. The first ever athlete to tame the first ever bobsleigh track in the Southern Hemisphere – each turn meticulously planned, each straight a chance for millisecond clarity…high in, low out, watch out for No. 8, don’t move too quickly after No.6….yet how would it be in the unforgiving truth of this very cold, very special night. She would know soon enough.

There must have been applause from the gloved hands pushing out from a sea of shining blurry faces, ghosts washing away behind each turn, an eternity of slow-motion recall. The speed was breathtaking…was she actually touching the ice at all? And then it was over – just as quickly as it had begun. The world would once again flood in, speeches to make, photos to be snapped, history to be recorded.

But not yet, not just yet. Standing now, looking back up the track…was that another skeleton racer she could see speeding down? Younger, more inexperienced, pushing hard, determined, clipping the sides, shading just off the pace. “I’ll wait for her to finish…there are some things I’d like to share with her. There is much to learn”

Being a Las Vegas native, I’d like to think I know the ins and outs of the city, but more often than I’d like to admit, I get a surprise thrown in my face to show me just how little I know about ‘my town.’  Guess it’s a good thing my name is ‘a girl in her element’ and not ‘a girl in Las Vegas.’

The wedding we went to on Friday night was out at a Paiute Golf Course that I didn’t even know existed.  It’s a few miles outside of the city nestled against the mountains.

When I got there, I was thrown for a loop because it was absolutely gorgeous and serene.  For a couple hours that night, I forgot that I lived in Vegas.

Okay, so that’s not entirely true.  The table of very tipsy women I was seated with, making up rules about blackjack and poker quickly brought me back to reality.

If you squint and look really closely towards the right of the photo above, you might see a little white speck.  That’s the bride… and groom, of course, taking photos which I thought was really cool.

I personally prefer the natural scenery of the outdoors (even if it is a neatly kept golf course as opposed to a wild jungle) than the stereotypical (but very true and abundant) back drops of many Las Vegas chapels.

The other thing that led me to shriek very loudly was the ice sculpture.  Thank goodness, this was during the time when the bride and groom were outside taking pictures.  Nothing like being super loud at someone else’s wedding.

I think more than just being a humongous block of frozen water expertly carved, it was the background that it rested against that made it ’shriek worthy.’

Plus, how badly do you want to stick your tongue on it?!? Shrieking and getting stuck to the ice sculpture… what a delightful wedding guest I make!

What are some hidden gems in your town?

Iconic Manchester building Urbis is going all nice and icy to celebrate the launch of Smirnoff Green Apple and Smirnoff Lime. On the 11th of September 2009 Smirnoff will be unveiling five fabulous ice sculptures in five even more fabulous cities across the UK*

In Manchester you can slip on down to The Great Northern where Urbis will be recreated as a 2 metre by 8 metre ice sculpture – which will take 4 men approximately 5 hours to assemble and carve from the time the blocks arrive on site. The design which is being created by some of the world’s top ice sculptors will also incorporate limes, green apples and of course bottles of that all important Smirnoff flavoured voddy.  

So after all that you fancy a tipple then head on down (before melt down) to The Great Northern sculpture site for the launch at 6pm next Friday. If you are one of the first 20 people to mention the name of this blog (rainycitytales) you will be entered into a prize draw to win some vodka to sample for yourself (c/o those nice folks at Smirnoff). 

* In addition to Manchester you can get a piece of the action at the Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries, on the rooftop of Edinburgh’s Prince’s Street Mall, London’s Covent Garden or at Liverpool One.

Aubrey and Chris: continued from part 1.

The wedding ceremony was held on the deck of Lesner Inn. Guest started out with pink lemonade prior to being escorted to the upper deck.  Pink hydrangeas, white orchids and greenery lined the aisle and created a simple but elegant look.  The white organza arch marked the alter and created a true ceremony feel while guests overlooked the beautiful Lynnhaven inlet.  Pink fans and personalized programs sat on every seat awaiting for each guest to arrive.  Bridesmaids in pink accented with beautiful lime green bouquets created by Holly Days Floral, finished off the complete fun and elegant look.

After the ceremony, guests were treated to a cocktail reception complete with hot hor d’ouerves, raw bar, and full service bar.  Everyone enjoyed the food and beverages while the Caribbean Steel Drum Band set the mood for the beginning of a fun filled evening.  Ice Art showcased the raw bar with a sand dollar art sculpture that held the seafood and showcased the theme of the reception.  The ice included actual sand dollars that had been frozen into the ice art.

Cloud Nine Events arranged 2 white sofa’s for guest to relax, adding just a hint of fuschia in the decor through draping and pillows in the seating area.  Just enough pink to tease the guests without them knowing what was to come!

The seating arrangement map was created by the bride and produced by RSVP stationery.  It not only let guest know where they would be sitting, but also gave hints to the pink while coordinating with the beach theme.

While guests were enjoying the cocktail reception, Bill Murray with Onon Digital Photography had the pleasure of taking the bridal party and couples formal shots.  Once again, thank you Bill for all the great photos.

The Beautiful organza arch marked the ceremony alter on the deck overlooking Lynnhaven Inlet that magically transformed into a fuschia glow as the evening progressed, beach themed table map informed guests of their seating, pink hummer limo brought our bridal party to the Lesner Inn, and Ice Art created a fabulous sand dollar ice sculpture for the raw bar

Part 3 coming soon!  Don’t miss the final photos and the brides story in part 3.

First half of the year is now gone so it is time to select personal favourite images from my Helsinki According to PPusa daily photo blog’s this year’s entries.

Again I have a bit mixed feelings about these. On the other hand just a few years ago I would have never believed that I could take photos like these but when I consider how many photos I’ve taken and how many hours I’ve spent, I should have been able to produce better images. I haven’t challenged myself enough and I haven’t been as carefull as I would want to be. I should plan more and not just go out randomly and shoot everything that moves (or is not moving).

Most of my images contain hardly any post-processing except cropping. When I post one image a day, I don’t have the time. Too often there have been big problems with exposure/white balance/crop/horizon/… that I notice too late as too often I just quickly select the images for the next week without paying enough attention to them.

These are not my best images from 2009 so far as quite often I’ve initially chosen a wrong image from a set for the blog and it’s not abnormal for me to discover better crops for photos when they are already several weeks or months old. For example, several images from the Historical Military Camp at Suomenlinna Sea Fortress set would have had a chance to make it to these favourites if I only would have posted them in the Helsinki blog.

See the original Helsinki Day Ends with Samba entry. In the blog I mostly post photos of people only when they are performing publicly so any photo containing a clearly identifiable person is quite near making as one of the favourites.

Click here to see more photos from the samba carnaval.

See the original Suomenlinna Sea Fortress was Conquered… entry. Suomenlinna looks great with all these yellow flowers. It was just quite difficult to take a photo that would show what I was seeing and this is one of the few where I was getting to the right direction.

See the original Finnish Orthodox Church entry. This is not a very special interior shot but basically I just had to include it because the vast majority of my photos in the blog are shot outdoors. I should take more indoor shots in the future.

See the original I Fell Asleep… entry. Probably the easiest way to take a photo that looks better than the average is to take a photo of a subject that has been lighted by someone who knows more about lighting than you do.

See the original After the Game entry. An ice hockey player in a unfamiliar environment. I should have waited till the players on the background leave and it could show more clearly that these stairs are outdoors and not just inside a ice hall.

See the original Baboonrights Activism. A rare image in the blog that might cause some emotions in the viewer.

See the original Trams at Hämeentie Street entry. Green trams are a symbol of Helsinki and usually you don’t see three of them at the same time. This was taken on the very first day ever when I had time to be outdoors shooting when it was snowing.

See the original Boxing Legend Gunnar “GeeBee” Bärlund. His statue actually looks very good from many different angles.

See the original A Prince in the Making entry. Ice sculptures look great on location but they are not that easy to photograph when the sky is dull and the ground is white.

See the original Snow Leopard Attack entry. I’ve noticed that I’m better at reacting to something unexpected than creating a photo when I have lot’s of time for composition. I don’t know if that is a good or bad thing. At least it is easier to improve skills on the latter.

See the original Paradise Island entry. On of the great things about Helsinki from a photography point of view is that the seasons are very different and the time between sunrise and sunset varies so much that on the summer the sun is practically up all the time and during winter workdays you might not see the sun at all.

See the original When Hel(l)sinki Freezes over entry. This kind of ice looks good on location but a photo should also contain something else or it will look pretty boring.

I did a similar collection last year so click here to see my personal favourites from the year before (2008)

Space Oddities – Looking For Rock In All The Weird Places

by Ali MacLean

In this town, it’s easy to get jaded. Every club or party these days seems to need to top some pinnacle of bacchanale… a regular night with drinks and music just wont do. A warehouse rave is just ordinary. It has to be louder, harder, faster: rollerskating parties, dodgeball parties, plastic surgery parties, parties where you’re in a video game, parties where you come as your spirit animal, parties in a subway car, parties in the basement of the Ramada, Edward Scissorshands parties, staring contest parties…the weirder the better.

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And now rock shows are going by way of parties. It’s not enough to just stage something in any old raw space or polo field. First Fridays sets up songs next to stuffed Woolly Mammoths and dinosaur bones. Tom Morello raged against deus ex machinas in a Venice Church. DJ Squeak E Clean has dropped it like it’s hot at a Hollywood car wash while fashionista DJs The Misshapes have spun for the well heeled in an airplane hangar, complete with planes standing by.

It’s time to step it up to the realm of absolutely bizarre. Rock show in a cemetery? Check.

Glasvegas are known in Hollywood more for their cataclysmic buzz and for disappointing a sweaty Coachella crowd by their last minute cancellation. Tough it’d be odd to see these Scots in a searingly hot desert rather than in pissing rain. Perhaps that’s why their playing at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery just fit. But a show at a cemetery? It has to be some sort of sacrilege or at the very least a nuisance to those who haven’t quite crossed over. And seeing how out of control Angelinos can get when their basketball team wins. Do we really want to start a riot on a hell mouth just so some indie kids can rock out in a new, exciting way?

Traipsing over graves to get to the gig, I was already feeling guilty for looking for fun in a place of death. Maybe I’m not so goth or emo after all. I’ve been interested in seeing Glasvegas since NME editor Conor McNicholas recommended them to me last year, but with all the huge hype surrounding them, I was expecting to be disappointed.

The staid, upwardly mobile hipster crowd, waited patiently as the Glasvegas wake was delayed by nearly an hour. Finally, fresh off a stunt/gig at another strange venue (Las Vegas wedding chapel), James and Rab Allen took the stage in the Masonic Lodge, by walking down the crowded Hall and waiting for a crew dude to pull back a curtain hung on a wire. This crude set up revealed a gothic, yet etheral stage complete with an old wurli, a grand piano, white roses and a giant angel ice sculpture with a red broken heart. A perfect marriage for the Glasgow boys’ moody and soaring songs. Though some people in the crowd wondered aloud whether or not the rest of the band would join them, James and Rab kept it acoustic-ish and intimate, only pausing to bring up pianist Paul Cantelon for a rendition of “Stabbed”.

Glasvegas In the Masonic Lodge

James, channeling both Strummer and Costello in dark Ray Ban sunglasses, repeatedly asked for the lights onstage to be brightened as he tried to make out the keys of his Wurlitzer in only the glow of a film strip showing old movie stars and a rain of glitter. I suppose the shades didn’t help this, but when faced with entertaining food for worms, I guess I might do the same. Tunes like “Geraldine” and “Daddy’s Gone” sounded better than the rocking originals – the whole show had a Leonard Cohen vibe to it. A man across the aisle from me complained that it wasn’t a full band, I wanted to yell at him “It’s called NUANCE! Adjust, motherfucker!”. Where I was expecting to be disappointed, I was actually swayed and haunted. It was fitting to hear these Scottish dirges on a gray, misty graveyard evening. Though the moisture did give one pause – my friend next to me remarked that she was nervous that the giant ice sculpture was melting onto the instruments and amps and might cause the Allans to be electrocuted. They could be killed. “Well, they’re in the right place, if it does happen.” I replied. Sometimes location can be the x factor of the evening.

ice sculpture of death

When I was invited to see a special acoustic performance with Bat For Lashes, I jumped at the chance. The Glasvegans had whet my appetite for some UK atmosphere and I couldn’t wait to see Miss Natasha in a dark and smoky club or out of doors under an old street lamp where the mist and fog could swirl around her layered synth songs.

Wait, she’s playing where? At a jeans store. On the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade. In the middle of the day. For a Neighborhood Social. Really?

Lucky Brand Neighborhood Social

As the kick off for the first Lucky Brand Neighborhood Social, Lucky lined up live silk screening by Giant Artists, denim painting by William Lemon III and provided fair food snacks for the people who stopped in. The inner sanctum of the store was reserved for a wrist banded crowd, to be treated to DJ sets by KCRW’s Jason Bentley, plus a Bat For Lashes set before their big show at the El Rey.

KCRW's Jason Bentley

Natasha Khan and her supremely talented keyboardist, Ben Christophers, took the makeshift stage which was wedged in the back of the store. People lined up and sat on jeans bins waiting for the elfin Khan to utter a sound. Khan, dressed in a gauzey pink blouse and sequined headband was instantly copied as girls in the crowd slid strings and scarves across their bangs. Ben, looking very Gold Rush/The Sting era in a long john shirt, vest and braces seemed perfect to play turn of the century xylophones, harpsichords and zithers that he whirled around like a mad scientist in a music shop. (note: see interview below for more on Natasha’s gear!)

Ben Christophers

You could hear a pin drop in between Natasha’s lilting songs, which the singer commented on, nervously. “You can talk in between songs. Be rude. It’s ok.” But the small crowd was silent and with rapt attention as if beholding the glory of a living unicorn.

Natasha Khan - Bat For Lashes

And that she is, or more closely resembling Kira from the Dark Crystal playing the keys. Her voice lilted daintily and then crecendoed into a powerful yelp, taking after her predecessor, Bjork. Natasha ended the quick half hour set with a lo-fi version of Daniel and then floated away backstage, er I mean, into the stock room.

Natasha Khan and Ali MacLean

A stock room seems hardly the place to hide away such a talent. But then again spaces and places are the name of the game today. Perhaps the thrill of the nu show is to find an oddity to jack up interest in the artist. frankly neither of these acts needed that extra push. They could’ve played in a brick walled condo in Barstow and still held as much interest.Oh dammit. I’ve just given promoters a new bad idea. Please, guys. No Barstow condo shows…

Pierce Brosnan gives one last mission as James Bond. Starting off in North Korea, Bond is betrayed and captured. 14 months later, Bond is set free, but traded for Zao (Yune) who was captured by MI6. When back in his world, Bond sets off to track down Zao. Bond gets caught up in yet another scheme which sends him to millionaire Gustav Graves (Stephens). Another MI6 agent known as Miranda Frost (Pike) is also posing as a friend of Graves. Bond is invited to a presentation held by Graves about a satellite found in space which can project a huge laser beam. Bond must stop this madman with a fellow American agent, known as Jinx (Berry). Whilst Bond tries to stop Graves and Zao, will he finally reveal who betrayed him?

Note:  Any and all descriptions of sculptures and activities are for 2009.  The sculptures are guaranteed to change, and some of the activities may also change.  It’s best to check just prior to going.

Sapporo Snow Festival Zoo

10-chome saw a return of large sculptures.  The first was a medium sized zoo.  It featured various animals that could be seen in Asahikawa.  They called it the Snow Festival Zoo, but in reality, it was almost an exact copy of the animals in Asahiyama Zoo.  However, it was a nice sculpture.  The main attraction has to be the Northern Animal Families.  This was sponsored by STV (Sapporo Television).  This sculpture featured three families, the Blakiston’s fish owl; the Steller’s Sea eagle; and the Ito (a type of salmon).  Unfortunately, the bird’s beauty and size overshadowed the fish, and I doubt many people recognized them.  I really enjoyed this sculpture and I feel it was the most beautiful large sculpture of the entire festival.

Winter Animal Families

Garuda and Naga

11-chome and 12-chome could be rolled into one block.  11-chome had an “International Gourmet Corner” and the 36th International Snow Sculpture Contest.  They had 12 entries from 12 countries.  Thailand’s “Garuda and Naga” won the competition with Lithuania’s “GLOVE” coming in second.  I agree with the winner being “Garuda and Naga”, however, I didn’t like “GLOVE”, but it was artistically pleasing compared to the others.  In 12-chome, you will be able to see various different sculptures made by volunteers and locals alike.  They tend to be simple and feature a lot of characters that are well known in Japan.  By the time you reach this area, you will be tired of sculptures and in need of a break.  I would, however, advise against going to this area at night as there aren’t enough lights to truly show these sculptures.

After you finish with Odori Park, Sapporo Dome offers something for everyone.  Outside the dome, you can do various activities such as snow rafting and tube slides.  You can also build your own snowman and make your own skis.  There are a few places to get a good beer and food and various other sculptures.  Inside the dome, you can enjoy the Snow Market, eco advertising, and various other corporate booths promoting various things.  I never made it to this area as it’s focused towards families rather than single adults, so I never even thought about heading to this spot.  If you have children, I would definitely recommend this place as it looks like a lot of fun.

Susukino Ice Festival Award Winner

The final place to visit during the Snow Festival is the Susukino Ice Festival.  The ice festival is 6 blocks of small ice sculptures.  The entrance had a sculpture of Hokkaido’s famous clock tower.  From there, you will be greeted by various peacocks, angels, and everything you can think of.  Some notable sculptures were a few bars promoting the different Japanese drinks such as Sapporo Classic (beer), and Suntory Whiskey.  While I never visited this site during the day, I’d highly recommend visiting at night as the sculptures look extremely beautiful under the street lights.

Goomba

My final impression was that this is definitely a festival to visit.  I think it’s beautiful and very impressive.  Aside from the people and the cold, it’s great to go north and see the beautiful snow.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t do everything that I wanted to do.  That’s the problem with visiting and not living in this beautiful city.  If you do go, try to visit the festival, both in the day and at night.  You will see different sides of this festival.  Unfortunately, after a few hours, you will be sick and tired of all the snow sculptures and everything will start to look the same.  Dress very warm and do as much as you can in the short time you have at the festival.

このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。

マンツーマン英会話が1時間2000円! 格安 英会話レッスンはIHCWAYで決まり!

Note: Any and all descriptions of sculptures and activities are for 2009.  The sculptures are guaranteed to change, and some of the activities may also change.  It’s best to check just prior to going.

Hakodate Bugyo Chousha

5-chome brought a little ice and eco awareness to the festival.  The first part was an Eco Plaza.  This was essentially a place to put windmills and other eco friendly stalls.  It was easy to forget this section as it was there to promote ways to save money and the environment.  If I could understand Japanese a lot more, I would have enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, it was too difficult at the time, and too cold, to really appreciate it.  The main attraction was the Hakodate Bugyo Chousha.  This is the original government building, located in Hakodate, to govern all of Hokkaido.  It was destroyed but it is currently being rebuilt.  It should be opened in 2010.  The park is well known in Hokkaido.  This sculpture was made out of ice, and lit up with various colours at various times to coincide with special shows.  Unfortunately, they turned off the lights as I was about to start taking pictures.  It was beautiful though, and how a large ice sculpture should look like.

6-chome was a place that I could easily forget.  It was the site of the food park.  One block where all they did was sell nice hot food for the hungry festival goers.  I would avoid this block as a lot of the food didn’t look that good, and I was already full from dinner.

Sungnyemun

7-chome was the first site of the first non-commercial snow sculpture.  They recreated, to scale, Sungnyemun.  It is the main gate that allowed people to enter Seoul.  Having been originally built over 500 years ago, it was a national treasure.  Unfortunately, an arsonist burned the structure down in 2008 and the wooden structure was destroyed.  The stone foundation was still standing, and thus they will be capable of rebuilding this beautiful structure.  Thankfully, the Korean government did an extensive analysis of the structure prior to it being burned down, so they know how to rebuild it.  Unfortunately, we don’t know when it will be rebuilt, but hopefully it will be sooner than later.  While this is a non-commercial sculpture, it was sponsored by HBC (Hokkaido Broadcasting Company), so their name is featured in all advertising, and below the sculpture itself.  In this day and age, it’s hard to get anything done without sponsorship.

Hamamatsu Castle

8-chome brought another beautiful sculpture.  Hamamatsu castle, located between Tokyo and Osaka, was recreated.  While it isn’t the most beautiful castle, or the most majestic, it is, as any other castle in Japan, historical.  I can’t help but feel it was recreated because they ran out of other famous historical buildings to recreate.  I will admit that it was more beautiful and more detailed than Sungnyemun.  This one was also sponsored, by HTB (Hokkaido Television).  Behind Hamamatsu Castle, they had a mid sized snowboard ramp.  They had small competitions and demonstrations for people to watch snowboarders in action.  I doubt it was very special.  I find watching a half pipe competition to be more exciting.

Train Station

9-chome saw a large reduction in the size of the sculptures.  A mid sized sculpture of a train and station was the main attraction.  The only problem was that the station was hard to see, and the train was covered in fresh snow.  I’m sure it could have looked better, but unfortunately, it seemed to have been rushed a little.  Thankfully, the rest of this block was comprised of various other sculptures that were no bigger than 2 metres in height.  Unfortunately, with so many people, it was difficult to take any pictures.  I might suggest going before 10am, as the festival officially opens at 10am.

Note: This is another multi-part series.  There are too many things to talk about within this festival.  Part III will be posted next week.

このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。

マンツーマン英会話が1時間2000円! 格安 英会話レッスンはIHCWAYで決まり!

Sapporo TV Tower

Note: Any and all descriptions of sculptures and activities are for 2009.  The sculptures are guaranteed to change, and some of the activities may also change. It’s best to check just prior to going.

Every year in February, Sapporo holds its biggest festival.  The Snow Festival is by far the most famous and popular festival in Japan, during the winter.  In January, the Japanese Self Defence Force trucks in hundreds of tons of snow that will be used in snow sculptures that range in size of a one metre to the size of a small building.  All of the sculptures are located along all 12 blocks of Odori Park, which is where the main action takes place.  There is a secondary site located at Sapporo Dome.  This site is geared towards families and having fun.  A third unofficial site is located in Susukino.  This is actually the Susukino Ice Festival, and as the name implies, this festival contains nothing but ice sculptures.

Epson's Tsuyoink

The traditional starting point of the Sapporo Snow Festival would be the Sapporo TV Tower located at 1-chome of Odori Park.  Heading up the Sapporo TV Tower is something I would recommend, however, I didn’t go up as it was too busy.  From the observation deck, you’ll be granted with a beautiful view of the entire festival.  If you are in the mood, I’d also recommend a quick pint at the Otaru Beer restaurant located on the ground floor of the TV Tower.  1-chome is also the site of a small skating rink.  It’s reminiscent of Rockefeller Centre in New York, only the surrounding buildings aren’t as tall.  In 2009, they had a sculpture of Tsuyoink, which means strong ink.  It was obviously sponsored by Epson, as it’s their personal mascot.  1-chome is also the location of a small stage where they have a few concerts and lots of information for everyone.  This was one of the most crowded areas as well.

Tropical Fish

Upon entering 2-chome, I was graced with the sight of some beautiful ice sculptures.  This year, they had various tropical sea animals swimming.  They also had a sculpture to promote the Nippon Ham Fighters; Sapporo’s very own Japanese baseball team.  This section of the festival wasn’t very good.  It was very difficult to see the sculpture properly, and large ice sculptures didn’t come off well when they are as detailed as this one.  The smaller, simpler sculptures worked out better.  In my own opinion, it’s not worth the time and effort as you can’t get close enough to see the actual detail of the sculptures.

TAKA and TOSHI's slide

3-chome provided another dynamic to the festival.  In 3-chome, the festival had two different sculptures.  The first is a small shrine and maze for good luck.  They had a few special items if you walked the maze.  You could get a picture taken with Hiyokochan, a popular character.  I didn’t know this character at all, but they said they are popular.  The shrine is also a major place for people to pray and to bring some good luck to the festival.  Unfortunately, this attraction was closed when I visited.  The other attraction to see was the TAKA and TOSHI slide.  TAKA and TOSHI are a popular comedy duo in Japan who comes from Hokkaido.  This comedy duo designed this slide.  It was a nice and I wish I could try it, but alas, it was closed when I went.

25th Anniversary of Tokyo Disney Resort

Kousuke Kitajima

4-chome had another set of commercialized sculptures.  Unlike 1-chome, these were more tasteful and had an actual meaning.  The first was “~Dreams~”.  This huge sculpture was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of Tokyo Disneyland.  It featured all of the major Disney characters.  Mickey, Minnie, and even Tinkerbelle were featured.  They also had a plane that had working lights to provide an interesting dynamic to the sculpture.  On the other side of the block was a huge sculpture to promote the possible Tokyo Olympics in 2016.  It featured 3 of Japan’s most recent, and famous, gold medalists from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Kousuke Kitajima was the prominent figure.  He won a lot of swimming medals and was pictured in his victory pose after winning gold.  On either side of him were Yukiko Ueno and Masae Ueno.  Yukiko was the pitcher and captain of the Japanese women’s softball team, and Masae was a Judo gold medalist.  Tokyo is currently in the running for the 2016 Olympics.  The other candidates include Chicago, USA; Madrid, Spain; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Currently, Tokyo isn’t doing well, but they do have a chance.

Note:  This is another multi-part series.  There are too many things to talk about within this festival.  Parts II and III will be posted in the next two weeks.

このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。

マンツーマン英会話が1時間2000円! 格安 英会話レッスンはIHCWAYで決まり!

UPDATE: To view the formal photos from Kim and Mike’s reception, please click HERE.

We first met Kim when  she was part of the wedding party when |mist| covered Kristi and Jared’s wedding several years ago.  Fast track to 2008, Kim approached us one sunny day to shoot her and then fiance Mike’s reception at the Dallas Petroleum Club on March 28, 2009. We of course said yes, especially since we love shooting referrals and look forward to seeing familiar faces in our shoots.  We were definitely in awe of what the couple put together for this reception – the Dallas Petroleum Club was transformed into a feast of the senses – from the vibrant and gorgeous floral arrangements, the spread of  delicious hors d’oeuvres and multitude of dinner options , the band that got the crowd to its feet, and to the guests who were dressed to the nines for the evening of fun, laughter and good times. Here are a few of our favorite shots from the evening.

The stately Dallas Petroleum Club

Before heading to the 40th floor, we spotted this cool area by the elevators.

Upstairs, we had a great view of the Dallas cityscape at Sunset. It was way too windy to shoot outside but we thought this shot brings in the outdoors quite nicely!

Got a cool reflection on the glass!

They had a gorgeous wedding cake…

and flowers

As the couple entered the Petroleum Club, they kicked off the reception with their First Dance

They had this amazing ice sculpture that also served martinis!

And some “ice” on the ice sculpture…

Kim and Mike, thank you for letting |mist|  be part of this special event!  We’re busy working on the rest of the images and we can’t wait to share them with you!

This Saturday, March 28th from 8:30-9:30pm, is Earth Hour. Everyone is expected to shut down all electricity and electronics for one hour, for the purpose of bringing awareness to climate change. Huh?

Okay, I understand that global warming and melting ice caps and blah blah blah are ruining our future, but how am I supposed to check my Facebook and Twitter (follow me!) during the crucial hour from 8:30-9:30pm? Don’t they know that’s primetime for letting all your friends know where you are heading that night?

The California Culinary Academy in San Francisco kicked off the Earth Hour celebrations by carving an ice sculpture in front of the Ferry Building this week, which is what caused me to actually learn what Earth Hour is. I thought they were just carving a sculpture to bring awareness to the culinary school! Silly me, something always has to be in protest of something here in the city.

What I think makes this protest cool is not the fact that it will raise awareness of a serious issue, but the fact that it will blanket parts of the city, and others around the world, in darkness. In downtown, more than 120 commercial buildings will go completely dark, as well as the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge. Other iconic landmarks include City Hall, the Ferry Building, and Coit tower. I’m picturing a very eerie sight, very cool. This is when the Zombie flash mob should be roaming the streets! How creepy would that be?

Around the world, other cities and iconic landmarks will be participating in this cause. The Las Vegas strip, the Coliseum in Rome, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, all will be going black. I wonder if this will cause a permanent shift to complete blackness, because as they say, once you go black, you never go…nevermind.

Earth Hour Official Website
http://www.earthhour.org 

I saw this on Wreckreation Nation.  I love ice sculptures, sand castles, buddhist sand paintings.  They all accept the idea that everything fades, but still try to make something cool in the mean time.   Ice Sculptures LTD made this Rube Goldberg mouse trap.

Today Billybob released a preview for the ice sculpture contest. Right here is a picture of a ice sculpture where they will feature 5 sculptures for 3 weeks.

Also can you please help me to get more hits, because around 200,000 hits I thought my blog would take off with hits. I am going to ask Chrisdog93 to add me to his blogroll. I would really appreciate it if you help me convince him to add me to his blogroll. Who ever convinces him will be on my special blogroll for 4 – 6 months.

-Oreo 8000