by Dru Bloomfield on July 31, 2010
We visited the Arizona Science Center last weekend. It was a hot summer day, and my son picked it over a trip to the Grand Canyon. 
It had been many years since I’d visited the Science Center, so it was a good refresher. The building is currently undergoing major renovations, but there was still more than enough to see, even though we skipped the featured exhibit (The Science of Fear!), the planetarium, and the IMAX theatre.
On the first floor, the home construction exhibit, “Many Hands Make a Home”, is always a hit with both kids and adults. It is fun to see how a home is put together step by step.
Moving upstairs, we spent a bit of time on the “Music Landing” playing with sound, and then headed over to the Get Charged Up Gallery, another one of the many hands-on exhibits. In here, I laid on a bed of nails. It was prickly, but not painful at all. Actually, it felt pretty cool.
On the third floor, the “My Digital World” was new to me. Fun! I had to pull my camera out for one of the exhibits (see the show below). Still don’t know quite how the technology works on this one, but totally enjoyed watching everyone play with the light!
The Forces of Nature exhibits on this floor were interesting, too. My favorite was the short movie about weather, complete with wind, heat, and rain showers.
SRP sponsored a solar exhibit, “Solarville”, in the fourth floor hallway. Small, but definitely educational. It’s so much easier to understand a concept when you have a chance to play or get a hands-on experience.
The Arizona Science Center is located at 600 E. Washington in downtown Phoenix, just north of Chase Field. We parked in the garage just north of the Science Center, and with validation, the charge was only a buck (even though there was a Diamondbacks game going on at the same time). Exhibit hours are usually 10-5, seven days a week, but you will want to check the center’s web site to make sure.
Helpful Arizona Science Center Links:
by Dru Bloomfield on July 4, 2010
I was looking for something to commemorate this year’s 4th of July, and thought of the huge U.S. flag that flies over the Toyota dealership on 16th Street and Camelback in Phoenix. I’m always wanting to take a photo of it when I’m in the area, and today, I realized that what I really need to do is take my video camera. It’s the largest flag that I think I’ve ever seen and it seems to float at full-mast even in the slightest breeze.
That flag would complement this video of Judy Garland signing the Battle Hymn of the Republic beautifully. For now, you can just imagine.
by Dru Bloomfield on May 31, 2010
The U.S. flag inspired the National Anthem
The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner – O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Many thanks to all those who have served and continue to serve to preserve our land of the free and home of the brave.
by Dru Bloomfield on May 19, 2010
Here’s a morning minute for you!
Easy to smile with this one, and a great reminder to appreciate our lives.
(I could easily tie this one into home buying, but the message is a lot bigger than that!)
Enjoy your day
by Dru Bloomfield on December 26, 2009
I met Joe Ferrara in San Francisco last year. He is a prolific blogger, an intellectual property attorney, and a social media strategist. He also has a passion for helping people, and which I discovered in his session at the first Real Estate BarCamp, where he was leading a session on how to help homeowners’ stay in their homes. As I recall, he used the term pro bono repeatedly!
A few days ago, Joe announced the results of Sellsius’ 4th Annual Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers for 2009. The winners were women from accross the U.S., who had been blogging for at least a year, were pushing the envelope, using video, and involved in some sort of community service, charity, and education.
Joe’s list for this year included:
I’m delighted to be included on this year’s list! Thank you, Joe. What a wonderful way to end the year!
by Dru Bloomfield on November 26, 2009
