Daughter In-Tow

Magma Hotel in Superior, Arizona

If yesterday was for grieving the passing of my mother, Jessica’s grandmother, today is for exploring. We dropped Caroline at her office an hour early and my daughter and I headed east. I have a loose idea for our road trip but it’s flexible enough to detour. Our first stop is here in Superior, Arizona where we encounter a surprise I’d have never dreamed would happen: the Magma Hotel has been renovated. We first learned of this town from the movie U-Turn and most everything on Main Street then was boarded up. Today though things are looking better with the old Magma Hotel set to open around May along with a new restaurant across the street.

Clouds north of Superior, Arizona

Kathy over at the Rolling Rock Gallery & Copper Triangle Mining Services was in the shop early, a matter of fact she informed us that she shows up roughly at 7:00 so she can practice her bagpipes. She’s also the incredibly informative person who gave us the rundown on the improvements coming to town and of her time as a security guard on the various sets around town back when Oliver Stone was directing Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Bob Thorton, Joaquin Phoenix, and Nick Nolte in U-Turn.

Jessica Aldridge and John Wise in Miami, Arizona

At least one obligatory selfie had to be taken, though I want one without my progeny wearing her sunglasses hiding her stink-eye. She and I passed through this way about seven years earlier and while I may have liked going somewhere with her today we’d never been, I think we’ve pretty much been everywhere in Arizona.

Jessica Aldridge praying in Miami, Arizona

I’d bet a dollar that not one prayer was given today and this was all about the performance for the camera…..and the recreating of the same scene we had photographed years before.

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Miami, Arizona

Of all the times I’ve passed through this part of Arizona down interstate 60 I can’t say I remember seeing this particular church. Pay attention to these blue skies because out on the horizon the clouds are building with an ominous dark layer low in the sky.

La Luz Del Dia Cafe and Bakery in Globe, Arizona

A quick stop for a coffee in Globe at La Luz Del Dia Cafe & Bakery was more for consuming a half-hour until our lunch spot opened. Our server seeing we had been taking photos and I writing while having my coffee offered to show us a bit of history and took us out back and told us about a three-story building that claims to be the “Tallest three-story building on Earth” with the distinction of also having been a brothel back in the days when that activity was considered a bit more normal in old west mining towns.

Spicy Salsa with Avocado at Ed's La Casita East in Globe, Arizona

Lunch at Ed’s La Casita East in Globe, Arizona starts with their amazing and, famous to us, Spicy Salsa with Avocado! I’ve probably blogged about this before but we were first introduced to Ed’s La Casita West when they had the location back in Superior. It closed years ago and it’s a rare day we happen to be out here and that it coincides with this place in Globe being open.

Inside the ruins of Seneca Lake Campground in Arizona

We stopped at the long-closed Seneca Lake Campground that Caroline and I have visited previously that on occasion even had RV’s still camping (squatting?) here. The dogs had the chance to stretch their legs and I had the chance to wander the ruins which I have a serious fascination doing.

The bridge over Salt River Canyon, Arizona

The more I look at this photo of the bridge here at Salt River Canyon the more I don’t like it, but it’s really all I have as the other photos are worse. So it goes. We were here today too.

Looking down Salt River Canyon in Arizona

We stopped for the view but found something of far greater value.

Jessica Aldridge posing with some random false teeth found next to the road in Arizona

We found Mildred’s false teeth and have rescued them for her. Her address in Minnesota is etched into the inside gum so we’re sending them back to her. While Jessica is most times quite brave she was just way too timid to shove this old lady’s teeth in her own mouth. I then tried to convince her to wedge them in her dog’s mouth at which point she thought it would be hilarious to see my anus smiling with them jammed in there. Had the picture turned out halfway decent I would have shared it, ask to see it privately and I might share it with you.

Sparky in the background and Piggy in the foreground

These are my daughter’s blind dogs Sparky and Piggy, Piggy is in the foreground. It seems that evil Piggy, who is ashamed to show her face, somehow blinded Sparky, as he had his eyesight for many years until it started to fade away; surely it was the doing of the evil (but mostly sweet) one named Piggy. Jessica has been traveling with these rat terriers for nearly a decade or more, they have been her constant companions. I tried to get them both to look my way but that coordination just wasn’t going to happen. Piggy was adopted blind by the way and she’s certainly not evil, but Sparky the butthole sniffing, obsessed idiot in the background probably has more issues than anyone cares to talk about. Apples and trees come to mind as I write this…

Karen Mae Kurchoff RIP

Karen Goff and John Wise at a Great Lake in the Eastern United States

This is my mother, Karen Mae Kurchoff. She was a difficult person with questionable decision-making processes, but she was still my mom, and now I will only be able to look back at our lives because hers has passed. In October, she experienced a stroke that affected her left side to an extent that, without her concerted effort, would leave her paralyzed; she chose paralysis. A couple of weeks ago, she made another poor choice when she stopped eating, followed by the stopping of drinking any fluids four days ago. So tonight, with little struggle and no fanfare, she quietly and by herself, through the haze of a morphine-induced stupor, took the exit ramp.

Should my short note of memorializing my mother seem distant, she effectively chose suicide by self-neglect instead of taking the more difficult path. That is how she lived most of her life. I cannot know what ultimately made her the person she was, but I know she had plenty of blame for nearly all that were a close part of her life. I can’t say I really ever knew her to be genuinely happy, as there was always an undercurrent of frustration and wanting things to be better because good enough was never enough.

While my mom was affable and could endear almost anyone to her loud Buffalonian screech, she often honestly tried to be a good person for others she respected. For those she was supposed to love, there was conflict and tension. I will wonder in the years to come what was it in childhood that impacted her ultimate happiness. Why, at 14 years old in 1962, would she get pregnant and then, six years later, abandon her children? Why did she take the easy road and endure the pain and suffering of abusive husbands? Why didn’t she fight to live to a ripe old age?

In the end, she would never explain a thing, though when my sisters and I asked her a week ago why she chose the path she was most recently on, she said, “Because it’s easy.”

Is it really so easy to just go die?

Sahba Motallebi with Naghmeh Farahmand

Sahba Motallebi with Naghmeh Farahmand at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

Another amazing performance at the Musical Instrument Museum, tonight’s musicians were Sahba Motallebi and Naghmeh Farahmand. Sahba is considered one the best Tar players and although she now lives in Los Angeles she was originally from Sari, Iran where she learned and perfected her craft. My daughter Jessica who arrived yesterday afternoon was able to join us with me even able to find her a seat in our row. Like all concerts at the MIM with a focus on world music, this was only attended by maybe 180 visitors (in a 299 seat venue). My lament about attendance is that without enough support from our Phoenix and Scottsdale communities we will not be so fortunate in the future to catch these amazing performances that offer us such an intimate peek into other cultures.

On The Phone – NOT!

Caroline Wise at the Wagon Yard Saloon in Phoenix, Arizona

Saturday and Sunday mornings we go for breakfast at the Wagon Yard Saloon. Most times we sit at our favorite table, but it was taken, so was our second favorite table. So we wandered around to the side of the saloon we’d never visited….where the pool tables live and this old defunct payphone. This relic has seen better days just as many of us in this joint have too. At the bar this morning are the usuals having their mix of bloody marys, beers, rum, and cokes for the shameless and then there’s Caroline and me who are here because our previous “old favorite” disappointed us once too many times. We’d seen the price posted on the giant sign for this landmark telling us of breakfast for a few bucks. Sure enough, it’s a reasonable meal and the two of us get out of here for under $12, not including tip. We no longer have to put our orders in as the staff knows we’ll get the same thing as always. Anyway, out back by the pool tables, it felt like we were in a different restaurant, but it was this old coin-operated payphone with the US West logo still on it that captured our nostalgia. I kind of wish this phone worked so I could call myself and leave a voicemail and wait for that voice to come along and remind me to deposit the next quarter or my call will be ended.

Old Friends New Worlds – TimefireVR

Adriana demoing some updates in Hypatia by TimefireVR LLC

Had some visitors by the offices of TimefireVR today, former staffers Adriana and Kyle. I had recently run into Adriana while I was out shopping and said hello after not seeing her for eight months since we experienced a total layoff of staff back in July. Slowly, the company was restaffed and, for a while, was in other people’s hands, but in January, it found its way back to the original shareholders.

Kyle visiting Hypatia at TimefireVR LLC

Adriana’s other half is Kyle, who also worked for us last year and was one of the casualties. Behind him, also in VR, is Jason, who was kept on through all the chaos, and Stephanie, on the left, recently came back on for some contract art and is staying with us part-time. It was great seeing these two, but at the same time, it’s still rough as the emotional toll of last summer has lingering effects.

Piston Honda MKIII

Piston Honda MKIII from Industrial Music Electronics

Well, it has been three weeks since I first got this Eurorack module that will be known as the Piston Honda MKIII. Scott Jaeger the founder of Industrial Music Electronics is its inventor and mad scientist that is currently programming this beast. Tonight I’m testing note tracking by voltage, a built-in tuner, and then I thought to self-patch this thing in every way I could think of. So far today I’ve installed four firmware updates bringing the total to 40 different versions. My “job” is to test for bugs but Scott also gets an inordinate amount of feedback on the interface and how the user might be confused by particular modes or methods that were initially experimented with. Throughout this process, I’m watching the evolution of a brilliant yet extremely rough module come into a smooth maturity that is creeping ever closer to perfection. Trivia; today was the day that Scott introduced oscillator tone variations called Orthodox, Degenerate, Problematic, and Pathological.