oh my that's a big bear

No, not a bear rug but a big bear on a rug. The bear took up most of the room.

bear on rug

After a confusing descent involving staircases and elevators, we traveled deep into the lobby of a Grand Rapids MI hotel and were shocked by this sleeping giant. Upon close examination I suspect this bear was resting after a extensive pedicure.

We recently made a road trip to Grand Rapids to see Art Prize. Grand Rapids has presented 10 of these public art events. This was the third Art Prize I've had the fun of checking out.
I guess you could call it BIG art.

(interested? here's a link to the Art Prize web site) 

More hotel wildlife

He'll need a special size bed

city jungle attention grabber

Nice weather but she looks frozen

tough day at the park

this spot was buggy

rising recycling

One of the top prizes was awarded to "The String Project". I don't have any pictures of it. The project's many photos fill a website. To better explain I copied this from their about page:

"THE STRING PROJECT” began in January 2018 and features photographs from around the world. Their focus has been on creating a project that connects the viewer to the image in a more tangible way, bringing the photograph to life. In “THE STRING PROJECT” all of the people hold the same string, "a visible representation symbolizing an invisible connection."

Their website https://www.thestringproject.org/

fragment days or days of fragments

Warning: The following contains an acceptable amount of errors. Please remember this is the internet.

What reads better? fragment days or days of fragments? Really, do you give a click?
I benefit from low expectations.

One thing I've come to expect is Friday Fragment posts.  I just looked back deep into my soul blog post history and discovered I joined in on the FF thing back in 2010.  (read my first one here)

While I'm sure Mrs. 4444 has more than enough fragments of snow and ice (we do), she welcomes new fragment posts every Friday at her blog.

nicely decorated bug I saw in Grand Rapids MI

Speaking of ice and snow, this polar vortex must have enjoyed it’s visit back in earlier January because it keeps coming back. It really has become an unwelcomed guest. The other day we thought we would warm up by watching “The Heat” movie (on DVD). Very funny movie and the extras on the DVD are worth watching too. My laughing probably warmed me up a little. My mood certainly was improved.

cuter than a towel animal on your resort room bed

The laptop, she-who-knows uses, was getting slower than an AARP tweet. In gadget-years it was approaching 90. I decided getting a new model would be less frustrating than trying to keep the old clunker running virus free (I talking about the laptop - what were you thinking?). Actually, we went beyond new model and went for a new type of gadget, a tablet. Also, the old clunker was windoze operated and the choice to go Apple I-pad was a no brainer for me. I have found Apple gadgets age better than the competition.

The touch no-mouse interface (you smartphone smarties know better than me) is very different than the mouse right/left clicking I was doing long before Myspace pages came and went. I was trying to figure out email delete/trash stuff and thought I would ask Siri. Remember all the Siri stories and parodies. I’ll tell you now, she is still around for a fun time.

I asked Siri, “Go to help”.
Siri replied “Did I do something wrong?”
Puzzled I stared at the screen and noticed my translated text was “Go to hell”.

She-who-knows, after she was done laughing said, “see I’m not the only who has trouble understanding you.”

disco ball distraction

I still haven’t found what I’m blogging for. I'm thinking of writing a parody on U2’s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. Nah, my luck I’ll end up in a Joshua Tree out in the desert. I think I have a mindset issue. (I’ve been setting my mind down too often) 

How is your mindset? 

Left, right, up, down?

more art to share

Grand Rapids has nice places to reflect and good reflections. Today I have more pictures from the Art Prize that I wrote about about a week ago.

cute guy sharp feet

If you have not picked up on my attraction to odd stuff then maybe you have not read enough of my blog. The Art Prize offered plenty of odd entries. Some of them were a pun. Like this "wall eye". If you don't fish never mind.

big walleye

I didn't like every entry. This one was just an old SUV with flat tires and a huge board running through the front seat area. It was so dumb it attracted people just trying to figure it out.  I think the artist ran out of time or creativity.

A good artist floats his/her head in the clouds looking for inspiration.

Has art ever made you hungry? This piece started a craving for a candy bar.

do you have a favorite?

You can find more photos from around the world at Unknown Mami's Sundays in my City (click the button)

art is no stranger to the street

In my last Friday Fragment post I offered up just one picture from our visit to the Art Prize in Grand Rapids, MI.  It's difficult to determine which pictures to post.  Art Prize is a big big free art contest.  (more info at artprize.org)  This is the second year we have explored it.  One of the rules require all entries to be new, so you know you will be seeing art you have not seen yet.

using art piece for a selfie

Just now, when I went over to collect the Art Prize link I learned that the 2013 winner is this quilt:

the artist got $200,000 for this 100 sq ft quilt

This sculpture was in the top ten.  It had water flowing out of the bodies.

exercise and water play combined

After we parked (compared to Chicago this parking is easy and inexpensive) I noticed even the stairwell on the parking garage was involved.

If I were a giant, I could sit anywhere and fish.

shhh don't wake a fishing giant

At their city art museum (of course the art museum is one of the venues) we attended (thanks to my wife's connections) a nice reception (free drinks and appetizers).  There was this large acrylic sculpture titled "Grand" which is the name of the river flowing through Grand Rapids.

don't get wet

After I snapped (do you still "snap" pictures on smartphone or is it touched?) this picture and seeing the people walking just beyond the piece, a flash of an idea shot off in my brain.  I was surprised my wife played along and helped.  (note this was BEFORE the drinks)

hey I'd like another rum and coke

You can find more photos from around the world at Unknown Mami's Sundays in my City (click the button)

no shutdown of fragments

Friday Fragments keep posting because there’s no politics involved. You can elect yourself to post your own agenda of fragments and Mrs. 4444's collection of FF posts will be there for your link-up.

Oh I guess a budget is more complex than a FF post but many bloggers get their FF postings done along with all the duties of their busy lives. On the other hand, Congress has been unable to pass a budget and the accompanying appropriations bills for the past FOUR years. Ok that’s as far as I’m going with this political craziness because I try to keep this blog above politics.

I didn’t spend as much time in blogland this past week as I typically do. The reason was good. My wife and I, along with her mom, took a short trip to see this year’s Art Prize contest in Grand Rapids MI. I’ll drop one picture from our trip but I’m planning a future post(s) filled with public art pictures we viewed at the contest. (Here’s my post from last year’s Art Prize.)

LED art

I could use a good blogging right now. Relax with some background music and a fresh full comment section.

Somewhere over the rainbow - 
way up high in blogland. 
Skies are blue and the fragments you dare to post really do get read.

I wrote another (this could be a warning) parody of an oldie and worked blogging/social media into it.  tell me why

Tooth fairy inflation got you down? 
Trying to stay within a budget and still enjoy a good shopping experience? 

Lisleman’s suggestion - read customer reviews on Amazon. Most of the good reviews are for products you would never think of buying. For example, I was shock to find Radioactive Uranium Ore for sale on Amazon. (Useful for testing Geiger counters and performing nuclear experiments)

I just checked. It’s still in stock and 20% off. If it’s 20% off many people will buy no matter what it is. Here’s my favorite product review:

Whenever I fly I always pack a can of this wonder stuff in each piece of my luggage. As we all know, so many bags look alike. How often do you get to your hotel, only to find you have walked away with the wrong bag, and are forced to wear a stranger's underwear for the rest of the trip? We've all been there right? So when that confusing luggage starts whirling around the baggage claim carousel I just whip out my Geiger Counter and let the uranium go to work for me. I merely wait for those comforting clicks (and after longer flights look for the glowing hot spot) and I know I have found my bags. Occasionally airlines lose my bags (yes, it does happen people). But whenever I fill out that claim form, and let them know my uranium is missing - well I tell you, they literally SPRING into action. They'll track down that errant bag faster than you can say "Chernobyl."

And I cannot tell you how many new friends I have made in TSA and Customs since I've adopted this sure-fire system. Nothing brightens their day quite like finding a traveler with potentially fissionable material. Throw away those gaudy rainbow bag straps forever and step into the atomic age. It's no longer just uranium, it's my-ranium. Thanks Amazon!

Birds fly over the rainbow. Why oh why can’t I.

unusual quilt

At the start of October I posted pictures from the ArtPrize event held in Grand Rapids MI. I intentionally left out these pictures below. All the art displayed there was new and unique but I want to highlight my connection to this one. This piece was inside the big Amway Hotel and because of my engineering background I saw more than memory chips.  Actually memories flashed back in my head.

On the surface the art medium is just mass produced circuit boards mostly from computers. They look like little cities from the side.

Having worked for years in development of telecommunication equipment I’ve experienced the trial, error and time pressure of designing circuit boards. Sometimes a mistake gets the attention of the whole lab as smoke drifts up from a fried board.

High tech cutting edge quickly becomes scrap in which another person finds completely different things. The artist is Eric Celarier.

Like photos from around the internet? Go to Unknown Mami’s place on Sundays and you’ll find a collection of them.
 

playful penguins

I posted many pictures from our visit to Grand Rapids ArtPrize recently.  This set of pictures are all from one entry that I found amusing.

The waterfall fountain is outside the Gerald Ford presidential museum.  Real penguins would probably enjoy the place.

You can find more pictures from around blogland at Unknown Mami's SIMC.
 

artprize - great fall trip

In my last post I quickly posted two pictures from a public art contest we visited last weekend. The contest is called ArtPrize and is too big to see in one day. They had 1517 entries in this year’s contest. The first contest was held in 2009. This art competition idea has been a grand idea for Grand Rapids, MI. The streets were crowded on the Saturday we strolled around the venues.

This shiny mirrored building was not a contest entry.  You can enjoy this reflective view on any sunny day in Grand Rapids.
 

   

Much of the art was humorous. Originality and creative fun mixes well. Who would of thought of a tub full of moose?

The surprise factor you get with certain angles produces that “oh, I get it” feeling. Art is about connection right? A few hundred picture frames neatly arranged on the floor. That’s nice. Oh I get it, why that face looks a little like me.

Some offered a chance to watch the artist creating. Many of them had the artist nearby to answer questions. My wife and MIL registered to vote. I thought I would post my opinions here. 

The variety of materials, shapes, and techniques were enough to turn your antlers blue. We saw only a small portion of the 161 venues. 
 

Regular followers might remember two odd gifts I received this past year which could be the offsprings of those metal mouth guys casting their shadow. Also, you might remember I’m a big Einstein fan. If the Frisbee had been around during Al’s life I bet he would have tossed a few in a special relative direction. 
 

Great weather, nice city, but the walking and crowds do tend to get you a dragon.