This is a photo of my home town…Kansas City. The Plaza Lights are lit on Thanksgiving night and burn through out the holiday season. I didn’t make it back to KC this year to see the lights. OH WELL!!! Two years ago we flew home to see the lights…the weekend of an ice storm. We slid our way from the hotel to the Plaza…a white knuckle drive. The Plaza was practically deserted but everyone who braved the ice was in a celebratory mood. It was magical.

To all of my readers throughout the world, thank you for a wonderful year. I’ve had a ball. Next to my computer there are stacks of inspiration just waiting to share with you. We are going to have a great 2010.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

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This morning at a meeting of clergy, we were each asked to share some about a Christmas observance that has meant a lot to me. Instantly, this came to my mind.

When I was eleven years old, my family moved to a town in northern Virginia. That Christmas, they put on their first Living Nativity pageant – essentially a re-enactment of the Christmas story in an outdoor setting using live animals, live actors, and with a choir singing and a narrator reading the story. I sang in the angelic choir that year. Nearly twenty years later, I joined the staff of that same church and began to participate in the Living Nativity pageant, this time directing the choir.

Three years ago, the church I serve as pastor in Kansas City celebrated our first Christmas in our very own building. And we presented the first Crossroads Living Nativity pageant. Last year, it was just too cold, but this year, we’re back at it – with live animals, live actors, and a choir. And I’m getting to be the narrator, telling the story. It doesn’t matter at all that we combine the Matthew and Luke birth narratives or that we add in John’s prologue. The smells and sounds of the animals, the excitement of the children, and the joyful spirit in the air shouts Christmas!

I invite your comments and your questions.

–Jack Price

Today started out with my husband having to spend the day preparing the roads of Kansas City for the winter storm rolling in, so sadly he was absent for our day.  Also absent was my son Jeremy, he will join us tomorrow.  This morning the kids & I frosted our Christmas cookies!

The Grandparents & Aunts, Uncles, and cousins came over and we had a wonderful dinner.  Then Emma got an idea to “sell candy”.  Promptly, everyone lined up!

Then it was time for pictures by the tree

Oldest brother, youngest brother

Sean with his cousins

Shannon’s 4 boys, Andrew, Alex, Adam, & Brayden

Missing 2 of us

Then on to the presents

Hoping your Christmas was joyful!

I wanted to wish everyone in the Kansas City area (and beyond) a Happy Holidays from Brad Papa! Remember to Come To Papa For All Your Real Estate Needs in 2010!

Just a quick post… I am soon to be headed home to Kansas City, MO for Christmas.  I’ll be back on Monday.

No Golden Book post today, but look for it next week!  In the meantime… happy holidays!

Relief at the Javanaut in Kansas City

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Happy Holidays everyone! I’m currently in Kansas City enjoying the festivities with family. I decided to take a little time away from work to study some new skills (mainly Flash) and polish up my design portfolio. It’s cold and damp here in Kansas City and I really miss the warm California sun already. I’ll be back in Los Angeles in early 2010 with new skills under my belt and excitement to kick off a new decade!

CODA will be having a night of great food, drinks and music New Years Eve night.  From 7:00pm til 9:00pm we have a 3 course Prime Rib dinner for $16.95.  Music starts around 9:00 pm with only a &7.00 cover charge.  Line up includes: Assemble the Sirens – Andrew Woody – Jenny Carr – The New Lost Souls.  Make plans to spend the evening at CODA.  There will be a Champagne Toast at Midnight to celebrate the the New Year.  2010 is here and we’re going to Celebrate!!

WE WILL BE CLOSED FOR LUNCH JANUARY 1ST BUT WE HAVE A NIGHT FOR SERVICE INDUSTRIES PEOPLE.  FRIDAY JANUARY 1ST.  WE APPRECIATE ALL OF THOSE WHO WORK ON NEW YEARS EVE. WE WILL HAVE DISCOUNTS ON ALL FOOD AND DRINK TIL CLOSE.

CODA is hosting another Music Fest the night after Christmas with some of Kansas City’s best musicians.  Starting at 4:00pm Saturday December 26th.  Line up includes: William Saunders – Alan White – Jason Vivone - The Night Owls – Heather Thornton – Jem Razz – Ruskin Quartet.  This is a benefit for Wayside Waifs and CODA will be taking donations of pet products or cash donations.  Come on in and see some of Kansas City’s best musicians and enjoy a night at CODA!!

Since 1997, there has been over 162 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. Surgical procedures increased by almost 80 percent, and nonsurgical procedures increased by over 233 percent. (courtesey of www.surgery.org)

I sat on Sunday and watched a lot of games that had zero meaning and a lot of teams that had a better chance of winning on XBox 360 or lets take it back Super Techmo Bowl. Then I started analyzing the season for a few teams and thought that not only should I expose them but give all the owners a few suggestions on what not to do next year. Then I watched the Monday Night Game and I have to say that I love my Redskins, but really who was playing the Giants was it the Washington High School Redskins? Lets start with some of the teams that at least gave an effort to play and win.

Kansas City Chiefs

Most Impressive Win against Pittsburg. Gotta Love it Since I hate Pittsburg.

Although the Kansas City Chiefs record does not suggest that they come out and fight, they have and continue to fight, The win over Pittsburg backs up that statement. Now here is my opionion of what should happen next year. Sign another quarterback and sign a running back. It may also be possible that you get a quarterback from the draft because the person you signed last year in hopes of getting what you thought would be the next Tom Brady is a flop and will continue to be a flop. He was only good with the Patriots simply because he had a tandem of receivers that gives defensive backs hell and a running back twosome that holds it’s on. You go and sign the guy you thought led that team last year to a really big contract and it hasnt paid off for you. Shame, Shame. And here is another suggestion make some trades to get some additional first round picks and draft what you need and not what you think is the best in the draft.

NEXT UP:
Washington Redskins

What and the HELL!!!

The Washington Redskins have a lot of problems but the most obvious is the fact that they wore an ass whooping like they owed some money to the city of New York. I think the Monday Night viewers would have gotten a more exciting game if the New York Offense played the New York Defense or shit even the practice squad for Washington Redskins. The Redskins have a lot of problem so I will start with the one that is affecting the team the most. Mr. Snyder. Sell the team to the city and the rest will handle itself. Jack Kent Cooke is hitting flips in his grave because of the shit you have done. The other problem is a quarterback. Jason Campbell you are at best a back up and you know it. The third thing is the fact that you have a coach that is not calling his own plays. Fire Him and put him out of his misery. You would really be doing him a favor. Now the solution. Get another quarterback maybe in a trade or something, let the coach call his plays and leave the has beens at the bingo hall. Deangelo Hall well should I have to say anymore. Let’s just say you need to rework your whole team and maybe you will be a force to reckon with next year.

Clevland Browns

Need I say More!!!!

You fired your coach last year and hired an even worse coach. Damn did you see what he did with probably the best quarterback in his time with Brett Favre last year in New York. What and the hell made you think he was going to do anything different in Clevland. Well as you can see he didn’t and now you are stuck on stupid. I refuse to really talk about what the problem is because this blog would turn into a mini series book, but know this, they have potential and it is going to take the right person to bring that leadership out. Is the answer Holmgreen, NAW I dont think so. But get in the draft game and get what you are in desperate need of. A quarterback, a defense, a wide receiver, running back, shit start from scratch. Enough Said!!!

Tampa Bay

This year's Bucs look like the teams first year in the NFL.

I was told that if I didn’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

And now the grandaddy of them all.

St. Louis Rams

This is the best thing going for the team. Rebuild around him.

So the moral of the story is if your team is not going to show up and play send the big ass babies homes and promote the practice squads. What they have done to your organization is nothing short of Enron. RUINED.. But there is hope. Owners if you have any questions please feel free to call me I am looking for a coaching job and what better place to start then one of your fucked up teams.

The truly lousy weather forecast has convinced us to leave much earlier tomorrow for western Kansas and to drive straight through, rather than stopping overnight with relatives in Topeka.  Still bracing for some bad weather (ice, freezing rain, snow, blizzard, we’ve heard it all could be a possibility between Des Moines and Dodge City) but we’ve also made a pact that we will STOP if the driving gets too treacherous. D has alerted relatives in Kansas City (three hours into the trip) and Wichita (six hours into the trip) that we may be showing up on their doorstep. (With an Iowa ham and home-made ginger cookies.) Not to worry if I don’t blog for the next few days. My in-laws live in a rural town of 100 people on the Plains – and I’m thinking no wi-fi. They have dial-up internet so that’s a possible option. Merry Xmas to all.

Leaf shot taken in Rock Creek by our home.

leaf

I’m trying to keep more of the personal dreams to myself but I have a few that are kind of strange and might possibly mean something but that I don’t think are overwhelmingly personal.

In the first dream I was visiting Kansas City and instead of attending the Awakening services, some of my friends wanted to go eat at my favorite restaraunt, Thai House. I was having a lot of difficulty making a decision as to whether I wanted to eat at Thai House or go to the service that evening. So if anyone can think what this may be about…

The second dream I was flying over a large body of water in a helicoptor or small plane. I was in the the aircraft with a friend, though I don’t remember who it was. We were taking in the beautiful sites of the coastline when suddenly in the water, dolphins erupted, dancing playfully in the expanse. When we landed, we notice the landscape covered in pine trees and boulders as breathtaking wild horses wound their way through the coastal forest. We followed the horses to a beach where people gathered to play and swim. The horses ran fearlessly among the people. All were in awe of the gourgeous creatures… but as I watched, I felt an urge to warn the people that though these wild animals were amazing to look at, they were also dangerous. I felt the urge to shout “be careful! watch out!” As I am contemplating this thought, I see my friend Wendell on the beach. He is about ten feet from me and a wolf is clinging ferociously to his arm, biting him. I pull out a black water bottle and squirt the wolf in the face and immediately, the wolf runs away and Wendell is free.

I am not going to explain some of the symbolism that I think may be involved here, but would like to know your opinion, if you have one.

I love having such beautiful babies to photograph. Owen and Rylie are the sweethearts I get to take care of along with my own.

And my own little Christmas Bear…

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Two days before our nine-hour drive to western Kansas for Christmas: let the weather worries begin. Here in Des Moines, some Christmas eve events are already being canceled, thanks to forecasts for icy weather. Ugh. It looks like Wednesday – when we’re supposed to leave midday – Des Moines will get   “ice to rain”  – one of my least favorite forecasts, following closely by “wintry mix,” (Thursday’s forecast). The good news is that if we can make it safely to Kansas City (three hours south), the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday is just plain “rain.”  (It will be warmer in KC, with a high of 51 vs. 34 in Des Moines) and by the time we reach Salina – in Central Kansas – the forecast is a little more appealing….”showers” on Wednesday and “snow/wind” (not so hot) on Thursday. I haven’t summoned up the courage to look at the weather reports for Sunday when we’ll be driving home.

Francois Boucher, Jupiter, in the Disguise of Diana, and the Nymph Callisto, 1759, oil on canvas, approx. 30″x26″

The Kansas City School District has filed a $4.8 million lawsuit against Independence schools over funds the Kansas City district says it is owed. Kansas City claims in the lawsuit that Independence promised to pay back county revenue it received when Kansas City operated seven schools in western Independence. Independence says that money already has been paid.

Voters in both school districts approved a boundary change in November 2007 that shifted western Independence and Sugar Creek schools from the Kansas City district to Independence. Kansas City says the districts reached a deal in which the city would still receive tax revenues through June 30, 2008. But county property tax revenues for those students went to Independence beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

SOURCE: Kansas Fox4

The hardscape is the non-living functional and architectural element of the landscape.  Hardscape design requires and understanding of construction and drainage to produce a space that is designed to fit with it’s purpose and scale.  When designing these spaces we must know the intended and even unintended uses of the space.  Find out about the dynamics of the clients lives in order to determine the function.  An understanding of the psychology of space as it relates to human behavior and emotion is a critical part of designing these spaces.  People tend to gravitate towards walls and edges, people feel more comfortable when steps between elevations occur in groups of at least 3 risers.   Slight changes in elevation can break up a space and divide a larger scale into more intimate settings.  All of these concepts play a role in site specific design of hardscapes.

 The truly elegant and timeless hardscape designs do have one thing in common.   Great outdoor hardscape spaces have a strict attention to detail.  These details come in both the construction of materials in how the meet or join, and also in the choice of the materials for the specific situation.  Any natural stone will lend to more timeless quality in the landscape, however there are some artificial products that have been tumbled or colored to give a great stone-like appearance with less labor.  The scale of the material is also important in great hardscapes.  Generally my motto is the bigger the better when building outdoors, but some thought should be put into which portions are larger or smaller.  Steps are always a great place to exaggerate the scale when possible.  And I never build a skinny rink-a-dink seat wall.  We always build double walls to give the everlasting feel of landscape to last a thousand years.  If we are using natural stone we even attempt to make it seem as though the wall has already been around a thousand years and has a millennium left.

 The key to designing a quality hardscape is using quality materials with well thought out details of a great design derived from an in depth understanding of the space and it’s users.

See more of my work @ http://andrewlwright.com