It's Football Season

I have been a football fan since high school. Over the years Kansas City has had its ups and down with its NFL team, the Chiefs. For the last few years, it has been mostly downs. For various reasons, today was the first home game I've attended for the last two Chiefs' seasons. I was anxious to see the not-yet completed stadium renovation and had hopes that the game, played against last year's Super Bowl winning Pittsburgh Steelers, would not be a lopsided Pittsburgh blowout.

The stadium scoreboard graphics get wilder and wilder each year.  The introduction (with very LOUD music) features robotic "transformer" Chiefs this year.

The once proud Arrowhead stadium used to rock on Sundays. The stands were filled with 77,000+ rabid Chiefs' fans. The tip of one of the Arrowheads, way up where the air is thin, was reserved for the few opposing fans who happened to be brave enough to venture into Arrowhead.

Today, however, was far different. The stands. about 20 per cent empty, were filled with probably 25 per cent Pittsburgh fans, decked out in their yellow and black, waving their yellow towels.  All in all, most Kansas City fans are true midwesterners and cordial to opponents (not like the Buffalo Bills fans who pelted us with snowballs when we travelled to Buffalo for a playoff game many years ago - when the Chiefs were good and Joe Montana played for us).

I've been in this situation before when we've travelled to away Chiefs games and the stands were half full of our Chiefs' red and gold. It's a pitiful reflection on a local team when the opposing fans take over.

We were able to take some wind out of the Pittsburgh fans' sails by running the opening kick-off back for a touchdown. Warpaint the horse has made his reappearance to celebrate Chiefs' scores. He was always a fan favorite in the 60s and 70's - although now the horse is ridden by a buxom horse woman and not a pretend Indian Chief in full war headdress.

Our usually hapless Chiefs pulled it out in overtime, making the day a success with the star player a former college walk-on at a Division 3 college.

Go Chiefs!

Thunder Snow

Another strange spring day in Kansas. Much of the state was hit with blizzard conditions. In Kansas City, we started with sleet around 1:00 pm that changed into snow about an hour later. It's now 8:00 pm and still snowing. We probably have four inches, which is a far cry from the 28 inches Pratt Kansas got last night. And, it's March 28th!

It was a perfect day to play with the camera, mostly under protection of a covered patio. I got a macro filter last summer and have never used it, so gave it a try today. The close up photos are done with the new filter.

The first photo is of the tulip tree. These blossoms will be brown and withered tomorrow. They can't survive the freezing temperatures.



A beautiful little tulip. I don't know if the tulips will survive. We'll see tomorrow.



This is the forsythia bush - the yellow background is forsythia flowers blurred with the very shallow depth of field



These berries are the precursor to very fragrant Viburnum flowers. The clove scent fills the air when they are in bloom. My guess is that we'll have to wait until next year to enjoy the fragrance.



Another beautiful tulip



A different variety of tulips - can you tell we're gardeners?



The tulip tree with snow coming down full force



When does it ever snow when the forsythia are in full bloom? It makes for interesting photos.



I shot at a high iso to give a very fast shutter speed to capture the snowflakes



It will probably be 70 degrees again next weekend, just like it was last. This has been a strange year for weather.

Plaza Lights II

We took advantage of Friday's spring-like weather to go on a photo safari to the Country Club Plaza with our niece, who is interested in photography. It's usually "bundle-up warm with hat and gloves" weather for a December Plaza lights photo-shoot, which makes for clumsy handling of a tripod and camera. Since it was in the 60's yesterday evening, it was sweater weather, which made for a nice, leisurely two-hour walk-about on the Plaza with cameras in hand.

We arrived about a half hour before sunset to make sure we were able to take full advantage of the twilight half-hour after sunset.  As I mentioned in my Arboretum post below, cloudy or clear, the sky photographs as a brilliant blue for about one-half hour after sunset, with the color changing minute by minute. Last night was no exception - and we even got some pink cloud reflections for a fleeting couple of minutes.

It's fascinating to see the world through the "photography eyes" of another.   My niece had ideas in her mind as to what she wanted to accomplish during the photography session.  I took the first photo below as she was  trying to capture the motion of the traffic and pedestrians with the lights in the background. Although not yet technically proficient with shutter speeds, iso's and apertures, she was able to articulate her vision perfectly and I was able to manage the technical aspects to help her express her vision.  I'm anxious to see the end result of her efforts and will post a few of her photos when I get them from her.

She loved the way the flags were stiffly flying with the Plaza lights in the background - a view I hadn't noted.

Below are a few photos I took.  It's tough to get a unique photo of the Plaza lights since the landmarks have been photographed millions of times.   This first photo is something different I tried.  It's a small section of lights on a building - kind of abstract.

Nice hanging baskets throughout the Plaza - decked out for the holiday season

The pair of bronze statues standing guard - gifts from Xian, the Chinese sister city of Kansas City - you can see a close up of one of the statues in my first Plaza lights blog entry on December 13th. 

The Time Tower - one of the most photographed towers on the Plaza

Here's the beautiful pink reflection from the sunset into the clouds - it lasted less than five minutes 

One of the Path of Gold lampposts with the Clock Tower in the background

Another beautiful tower

A few hours after we got home, the temperature dropped 35 degrees.  We had a first ever (at least that I recall) tornado watch in December with accompanying violent thunderstorms for several hours into the morning.  This, after sleet and snow a few days earlier!  I think we chose the right day to wander around the Plaza!

Country Club Plaza Lights

Kansas City is famous for the Country Club Plaza, the first suburban shopping center in the United States, which dates back to 1922.  Every Thanksgiving for the past 83 years, the Plaza comes alive with miles and miles of colorful lights strung along the European inspired buildings and towers.  

This first photo was taken in 2000, the first year fireworks were set off after the lights were switched on.  We had the good fortune to be watching the ceremony from an apartment balcony that overlooked the Plaza.  The fireworks were spectacular and have become an annual tradition!

In this second photo, you can see the throngs of people standing in the street immediately after the lights were turned on.  Each year a celebrity flips the switch with the help of a child from the audience.  This year, it was Kansas City's own, David Cook, the 2008 American Idol.

This is truly the moon rising next to the Time Tower, overlooking Brush Creek.  This shot was toned and textured.

The moon again but with the color of the lights of the Time Tower.

The glow of a street lamp.

It's fun to walk around the Plaza and look for reflections.  In each ornament, the lights of the building across the street are reflected.

The final photo shows a statute that was one of a pair - gifts from Xian, Kansas City's sister city in China.

For the history and more information about the Plaza, visit:  

http://www.countryclubplaza.com/plaza.aspx?pgID893