Purple Puddles: July 2006

July 30, 2006

Artist Builds Vegas Sign With Cards, Dice
document.write('');

Artist Bryan Berg sits on a ladder in front of his sculpture of the famous Las Vegas sign made from playing cards and poker chips at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Thursday, July 27, 2006. LAURA RAUCH
By FRANCISCA ORTEGA (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated PressJuly 30, 2006 3:23 AM EDT
LAS VEGAS - Take 500 decks of playing cards, 1,800 poker chips, 800 dice and more than a few tubes of Super Glue. Add an artist who likes to stack things and mix in some Vegas glitz. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas," or at least welcome to a life-size replica of the famous sign made out cards, dice and poker chips.
Bryan Berg, perhaps best known for building a 25-foot castle out of playing cards, broke his no adhesive rule to build the sign for the World Series of Poker.
Berg called the sign, which is attached to a scaffolding of wood and weighs 400 pounds, a "logistical nightmare." It took about 450 hours to complete.
"It's like brain surgery," he said. "I didn't even know if it was possible."
Unlike the original at the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip, the replica does not have a flat front. Pockets of its face are left bare so the structure's interior design is revealed. The honeycomb pattern of the cards and their laminated covering catch the light, making it appear the sign is lighted up and shimmering in the desert heat.
It hangs above the stage in the Rio hotel-casino's convention center, where more than 8,500 entrants are competing in the main event of the World Series of Poker tournament.
A graduate of Harvard's Graduate School of Design, 32-year-old Berg began stacking cards when he was 8. At 17, he won a Guinness World Record for the world's tallest house of cards with a 14-foot-6-inch-tall tower. In 2004, he broke his own record with a 25-foot-tall recreation of Cinderella's castle.
What started as a hobby has turned into a career for Berg. He now makes sculptures out of cards full-time.
This is the first time Berg has used glue in one of his sculptures.
When Loctite Super Glue commissioned him for the project, he said he agreed only if the final design "flew, floated or hanged," - something so people could see glue was used.
"I don't (usually) use tape, or glue anything together, and I've never even considered it. I've always been a purist," he said. "I think it's important that I'm up front about it."

July 29, 2006

You know you are an Arizonan if ...

1. You are willing to park three blocks away because you found shade.

2. You can open and drive your car without touching the car door or the steering wheel.

3. You've experienced condensation on your ass from the hot water in the toilet bowl.

4. You would give anything to be able to splash cold water on your face.

5. You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top.

6. "Dress code" is meaningless at high schools and universities (picture lingerie ads).

7. You can drive for four hours in one direction and never leave town.

8. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.

9. The four seasons are: TOLERABLE, HOT, REALLY HOT, AND ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

10. You know that the heat you feel when you walk outside is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.

11. You think someone driving wearing oven mits is brilliant.

12. Salsa is a part of your daily diet.

13. You can listen to a weather report of 117 and not flinch.

14. You notice your car overheating before you drive it.

15. You can pronounce San Xavier, Saguaro, Tempe, and Cholla

16. You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.

17. You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink.

18. You can be in the snow, then drive for an hour...and it will be over 100 degrees.

19. You can make sun tea instantly

20. You run your a/c in the middle of winter so you can use your fireplace.

21. The best parking is determined by shade.....not distance.

22. You realize that "Valley Fever" isn't a disco dance

23. You actually burn your hand opening the car door

24. Sunscreen is sold year round, kept right at the checkout counter.

25. You put on fresh sunscreen just to go check the mail box

26. Some fools will market mini-misters for joggers and some other fools will actually buy them. Worse.....some fools actually try to jog.

27. You know hot air balloons can't rise because the air temperature is hotter than the air inside the balloon.

28. No one would dream of putting vinyl inside a car

29. You see more irrigation water on the street than there is in the Salt River, and, on that note, you have to go to a fake beach for some fake waves.

30. You can fry an egg on the hood of a car IN THE MORNING!

31. You think a red light is merely a suggestion.

32. Most of the restaurants in town have start with "El" or "Los" or end in "bertos."

33. Your house is made of stucco and has a tile roof.

34. You think 60 tons of crushed red rock makes a beautiful yard.

35. People who have black cars or black upholstery in their car are automatically assumed to be from out-of-state or nuts.

36. You know better than to get into a car with leather seats if you're wearing shorts.

37. You can't find anyone at a park until 7:00 PM

38. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Arizona.

July 17, 2006

Committing to change

Committing to change
Facing long standing issues
Dealing with the pain

Pain born of actions
From my less than innocent
Teenage romances

Pain born of constant
manipulation by a
Master with a face

Pain born of secrets
Of my own in order to
Protect my family

Pain born of searching
Unknowingly for true love
Without condition

Pain which led to an
Unhealthy relationship
With eating and food

A relationship
That left me feeling happy
As well as betrayed

Now habitual
Food has become a friend
As well as a foe

I have committed
To let food be nourishment
Not a friend or foe

I have chosen
To eat to live and no longer
Will I live to eat

July 13, 2006

Thirteen Things about the week of JULY 6th -July 13th, 2006

1. In about 3 hours we head to town to visit the Dr.

2. He will give us the results of my husbands MRI

3. Hopefull we will find the reason he has had SO MANY horrific headaches.

4. I am scared to know but even more scared not to know.

5. On the way home we pick up my new eye glasses.

6. I found a black spider with two yellow fuzzies on his back outside this week.

7. I opened the back door & found a BIG lizard sunning himself about 3 feet away.

8. I nearly crapped my pants when I saw him.

9. I have lost 3 pounds this week.

10. I am down ONE 8 ounce can of soda each day.

11. I have been journaling everything I put in my mouth.

12. I have consumed 8 to 13 glasses of water each day this week.

13. I have exercised on Sun, Mon & Tues this week. That is up from NO exercise at all!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

July 06, 2006

Thursday Thirteen Edition #48 Week 2

irteen Things

Thirteen Things about this week

1. We got the flat tire on the car patched.

2. The Monsoon offcially began on Sunday.

3. We took the girls to a free Fourth of July Fireworks show.

4. The show was REALLY crappy! It was the worst I've EVER seen!

5. It rained REALLY hard about 30 minutes after we got home.

6. The four of us went to the Doctor on Monday.

7. The girls got 4 shots each.

8. The Dr. told my husbnad to get an MRI.

9. He thinks my husband might have an annurisim.

10. I am scared about it.

11. I was on the phone with the Dr. office, the insurance company & the Diagnostic center for a total of 3 hours today.

12. I took the kids to the librbary today.

13. The oldest made a paper plate frog for the craft at the library.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants