Leslie Hall- Internet sensation - Diva with a Gem Sweater

A couple of years ago I saw a video online, it was the most creative, off the wall thing, that I think I've ever seen anyone do. The woman's name is Leslie Hall. She can dance, she can sing, and she has a bizarre fetish for gold spandex pants and Gem Sweaters. She is incredibly talented. Some people maybe not feel that this is an art form, some may feel it looks like an acid trip with no return, but let me tell you what you can respect about her. She has formed three bands with all the same people, meaning, when she goes on tour she dominates. She is running the show, she is the show. Genius.

Ramona- In Leslie's band 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing her in concert and it was fantastic. She was just as interesting and talented as she is in any of her YouTube videos. Her band consisted of 3 other women, a man playing drums, wearing a onesie, and an iPad. The women in her band were amazing. I'm not sure how a person can keep a straight face while wearing a tiger head and playing a bass while someone sings an ode to Gold spandex pants. The entire concert was kid friendly and it was good fun. At the end she allows her fans to get their pictures taken with her while she smiles brightly.

Me and Leslie Hall

One of the greatest things about the concert was Leslie's crowd interaction. She always takes a couple people from the crowd, people with Gem Sweaters on, and has a "Gem Sweater Naming ceremony". She basically puts her hands on the person, like they do in Pentecostal Churches, speaks some gibberish (she calls it this) and names the sweater.  It's exactly like a religious ceremony, it's amazing how she ties these parts of culture together.

Gem Sweater naming 

She has mastered a look by branding herself in her glasses, gem sweaters, and gold spandex. She takes things that are familiar everyday in Iowa and blends them in with other brands of American culture, like rap, R&B, pop music. I think it's interesting what a pivotal role YouTube has played in the development of culture.  I am excited to see her come back to Grand Rapids anytime.

Hot Air Balloon Rides

Ballon rides are a lot of fun. Soaring in the air with just a basket below you and a gas fire above you. The colors in the balloon are so vibrant, mixed with the noise and the air.  When we inflated the balloon it was a process. We first laid it out on the ground, connecting the basket and the balloon. Our balloon guide allowed Randy to light the fire on the balloon to inflate it. The fire was bright and burst into bright orange colors that made the balloon begin to rise. As it rose towards the sky it tried to take the basket with it...... which was good, because I think that is the point of a hot air balloon....

After it was fully inflated we stepped into the basket and disconnected it from the ground and began our ascent. As we began climbing in the air the basket felt more and more stable the higher we got. Until it grew higher than the trees and houses. At this point I began thinking about how very scary it was to be that high, how falling out of the basket would result in death, how the only thing holding me in the air was a straw basket and really hot air.... I had to push those thoughts out of my head in order to enjoy the moment. It wasn't as I expected, we didn't have to drop any heavy weight or sandbags, the balloon just wanted to go up. 

Being that it was Autumn when we took the balloon ride the trees were all sorts of lovely colors and they looked like a painting.  The ponds and lakes that we crossed over looked like puddles and we could see our reflection in them.  The balloon operator lowered the basket several times so we could see our reflections  more clearly in the water, and take pictures.

We saw horses dancing, dogs barking, and people that were harvesting pumpkins. The pumpkins looked like tiny little orange blobs, just dots on the ground and the people looked so small. Our balloon guide explained to us that horses and dogs always react in the same way to the hot air balloons. 

Meanwhile Randy was on the ground driving the truck that was following us so he would be where ever we landed. This was extremely tricky because the wind takes the balloon where ever it wills it to go, so Randy had to communicate via radio with the man in the balloon.  It was comforting to hear his voice, and considering the very important position he had been placed it, Randy was extremely calm. Randy's mother had done this a lot, she has been on several balloon rides and showed very little concern for anything, until we went to land... and everyone realized we would need more help. So she called a few friends.

Slowing the basket down required the balloon operator to use the trees, then he picked a field in the distance and told Randy where he was planning on landing so he could go to house and ask permission. The landing happened so fast and the balloon operator said it was the worse landing he ever had. The basket bounced as it hit the ground. It tossed us around and around, then dragged, he told me to climb out while it was turned on its side. So I did and held the basket to try and slow it down, Randy's mom then got out and did the same, followed by the balloon operator. Then we had to rollup the ballon and pack everything all away. 

We landed in a soybean field several miles from where we took off. The adventure was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again some day. 

Peru: Wonders of the World with Food and Nature

Side view from Manchu Picchu 

Have you ever dreamed of visiting a place? Thinking about the place, reading about the place, and dreaming about the place? Peru was that place to me. The top of my bucket list. It began when I was nine years old and I saw a picture of Manchu Picchu in an old text book. My father and my grandmother had both been school teachers and we had an abundance of text books in the house. One day as I was browsing through them, in my parent's closet where I was not supposed to be, I came across a picture of Manchu Picchu. I felt drawn to it, immediately I fell in love. Like a child with a new toy I sat and read about it. When I was done, I read it again, looking for information I might have missed the first time. I took the book to my dad and told him all about it, asking him, "How can I go there? Do a lot of people go there? Is there a job I can get someday that will take me there?" On and on and on. Luckily for me my dad was a school teacher and god endowed him with the patience to answer my questions, all of them.  He explained Cuy (the traditional cuisine of Guinea Pig), he explained the Anthropologists go there to study and Photographers go there to take pictures. I could not get enough information. I wanted to do anything to go there. I asked for more information on Anthropologists and how they get to go there. I collected any National Geographic with the articles about Peru. I learned so much about Peru and the more I learned the more I wanted to go. This has been a part of my life forever, I even got my undergraduate in Anthropology when I graduated college because I was so intensely interested in Peru and as I got older other places.

The city of Cuzco

I, like most people, have a tendency to let my fears control me. If I am afraid of something then I back out. Peru was no different. I had a goal to go there by the time I was 30. I didn't make this goal, for a myriad of imaginary reasons: South America seemed dangerous, the cost of the trip, no one would go with me, there is a cornucopia of vaccines to get...... so obviously there were a plethora of diseases to which I could be exposed, basically I was making excuses for my fear.  Randy finally convinced me that I had to go and stop making excuses, but he couldn't go with me. He made me get all the vaccines and urged me to find someone to go with me.

I finally took my journey to Peru last October after getting 6 vaccinations and begging my former boss to go with me. It was begging, I texted him, called him, dropped hints, sent emails, he finally considered it when he saw Lake Titicaca and that's when the deal was sealed, (mostly he wanted to fish in it, but he was ok when I told him we wouldn't be able to do that because he would get to see Alpacas and perhaps eat one).

 The first day in Peru we went on a tour of the city and saw many of the cathedrals downtown and the Plaza de Armas. There were so many things to see that we were sure we would not see everything. Everything was so interesting, I felt like an explorer. The money was different, the people were different, the language was different.

The tiles in the church at the Catacombs. Many of them were shipped in from Spain.

 At the Cathedrals we saw so many different kinds of art and artifacts. The tiles the Spaniards introduced in the churches was the most interesting part to me, they would send the heavy tiles made in Spain to Peru, and then they would send the gold back from Peru to Spain. The boats needed the weight to ensure that they could carry the weight of the gold. The mixture of the native people and the Spaniards created an entirely new culture.  The Catholic Church worked feverishly with local artists to create religious paintings to help convert natives.  The local delicacies continued to flourish, but there was a mixture of the old and the new. I felt very fortunate to be able to see all these things that I read about and to understand them first hand. As we traveled throughout the country these mixtures became more and more evident. In two separate churches we saw Jesus with the Cuy (Guinea Pig) at the last supper. Cuy is a very important delicacy, it's similar to a Christmas Goose, or a turkey at Thanksgiving, it is reserved by native people for the most scared and important events.

The Mummy 

 Luckily we got to see the Mummy and the artifacts with which she was found.  They are currently trying to build a temple similar to the ones the Incas built. The architecture of the Incas has been lost over the years, the earth quake proof buildings they built are not a mystery any more, but how they created them still is because even today it is difficult to chisel the rocks and make them fit perfectly. 

The Urubamba River

The Urubamba River Valley is also called the Scared Valley of the Incas. The picture above was taken from the bus as we drove through the area. Everywhere we went was surrounded by mountains, they were all around us and they were extremely majestic. It felt like they were holding up the sky around me and I felt incredibly safe and comforted by them.  We went to the market in the Scared Valley and I bought a traditional Peruvian hat. Everywhere we traveled to had a different kind of hat. Peru is very much the land where people wear many different hats. 

The food was one of the best parts of the entire trip. Most Peruvian dishes consisted corn or potatoes. Peruvians figured out pre-history how to avoid potato blight, just plant many different kinds. There are over 2,000 different kinds of potatoes that have been cultivated in Peru and 55 varieties of corn are currently grown here. The spices that were used were delightful and everything I ate seemed to dance in my mouth. I have never been a fan of cilantro but somehow they made it delicious. I did try the Cuy as well, which disappointed my niece because she has two Guinea Pigs as pets.

Uros Islands, human built Islands made of reeds. 

Lake Titicaca was a very interesting place. It is at 12,500ft and is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. The lake itself looks like a glass of water that has been overfilled. It is almost as if the water is above the land. This is the only place in the world where people build their own islands and live on them. These have been there since before the Incas. The native people that live on these islands created them as defensive tactics against tribes like the Incas. They use reeds from the lake to create the Islands, their houses on the Islands, and their boats. The reeds are also editable at the bottom. They taste like a really mild onion and they supposedly have chemical properties that help the thyroid (this is what they told us). They had extremely colorful clothing and like many places in Peru each of the islands had a different hat. Each Island also had a president that the people living on the Island elect each year. There is a primary school for all the islands that is also on an Island all by itself. The people living on the island have to go really far to try and get things they might need or want off the islands. To get to the islands we had to take a motor boat and it still took an hour. This was a place that felt like time had never touched. They still caught fish out of the lake, dried them by the sun, and lived communally, sharing everything.  I tried the dried out fish and the beans that had been boiled in water.

This trip was a dream come true and I don't think that I could ever imagine if I would have missed this experience. I am satisfied with my experience of Peru. I just think that 10 days wasn't enough and this one blog only scratches the surface of what I experienced in those 10 days. 

SuperBowl Village

This year I had the opportunity to attend SuperBowl village with Randy. He did ice sculptures every single day to specific themes in the Everyday in SuperBowl Village carried a different theme.  Here's a couple pictures of some of those days and some other "non ice" related stuff...  

This day's theme was "superhero day"- Derek and Randy decided to use the insignias from the armed forces to create this ice display.

SuperFan day was great, Randy and Derek used roman candles to light up the display. 

This was the first day I arrived. This sculpture had pretty much melted but it was really cool. A lot of cancer survivors had their pictures taken with it and they were really touched by it. 

The streets of Indianapolis were crowded every night of SuperBowl village. There was many free concerts and activities for everyone to enjoy. 

 This sculpture was part of the scavenger hunt. Contestants had to take pictures of various things around the park and one of the things they had to take a picture of was the ice sculptures. Inside the sculpture on the right there was a football that was the prize for the winner of the scavenger hunt. 

The people of Indianapolis go crazy when they see a Colts logo. Randy and Derek made many of them and they were a big hit. 

 There was more than just ice at SuperBowl Village. There were giant signs and banners everywhere, they dressed up Indianapolis by covering the buildings. This particular one had all the football helmets in both leagues, with the Lions at the very end.

This was the fan dome. It was so cool. Upon entering there was revolving doors, because opening two doors at once would cause the dome to collapse. The dome was a giant circular tent, with a lot of Xbox 360 Kinect games inside. In order to get in they had to count the number of people, it was free, so we had to get there a little early and stand in line. 

 We took a tour of the Pacer Stadium, this is where a lot of the concerts happen in Indy. The tour was nice and we got to see where the Village HeadQuarters was located. Carrie was our guide, she works for the Pacers Marketing and she gave us an awesome tour of the entire operation. After the tour we went to Joe's Crab Shack and Derek wore this awesome bib.

 These giant LCD screens hung all over the city so that everyone could see the concerts that were playing on the stages. During the day and night the streets were filled with Music.

This was part of our tour. The people working at the headquarters had the most spectacular view of the city and I was way to overwhelmed to take a lot of pictures.... 

This was part of the parking ramp. It made me laugh. It was the only spot available and no one else wanted to park underneath of it, for fear the pipe would burst. 

The last thing I want to share about SuperBowl Village was when Randy got to teach the Governor of Indiana's wife how to carve. It was pretty cool to see the first lady of Indiana use a blow torch. She was terrified. 

Aerial Fitness: Learning how to Climb

The other day I tried something new, Aerial fitness. Using silk ropes, one climbs to the top and winds themselves into knots. As complicated as that sounds, it's much more complicated than that, a body must be coordinated, a body must be able to pull itself up into the air using just these silk ropes, this can be learned quickly. It becomes a matter of physics after awhile. My first attempt was probably like many others first attempts, it was clumsy, difficult, and I felt it was extremely exhausting.  Once before I had tried a flying trapeze and this was a similar feeling, a struggle to make my body turn gracefully. The instructor made this appear effortless and many others in the class who had had practice did too. It looked so simple and fun, in reality it was painful and difficult. As the class progressed it became more and more interesting to see how they turned and twisted to pull themselves up higher and higher, wrapping the silks around their bodies and hanging on like spiders moving up and down effortlessly. I still struggled, it was my first class so I decided not to beat myself up about it too much.... if the soreness I felt the next day is any indication of the parts of my body that will be "toned up", I will continue doing this until I am ripped like Jillian from the biggest loser.  

 This move used so many muscles that I never knew I had.... once you get the hang of certain movements it becomes a bit easier, even the first time. The body develops a "muscle memory" after doing this a couple of times. Anyone can do this, anyone who is willing to try something new and listen to instruction.

I didn't get very far off the ground the first time, but with more practice I will be able to get higher.... I hope... :) 

This is a link to the place I went: http://aerial4me.com/

The BlackHills: Extraordinary Sites

In January this year I went to the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was a very interesting trip. Randy was doing ice sculptures for "meals on wheels". Derek did a lot of the live sculpting demonstrations and Randy got to be a judge for the Chili Contest. I rented a car and drove to Wyoming to see the famous Devil's Tower. There were so many things to see in Rapid City, South Dakota and it was impossible for us to see it all. We saw Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, and  statues of all the Presidents of the United States. Most of the real tourist areas were closed for the winter, which was kind of a bummer.  I only had three days to stay here, so I tried to see as much as possible. 

Mount Rushmore was much larger than I expected. I wasn't really sure what to expect. It was extremely cold, but I loved the view of it. How extraordinary is it that humans carve these things out of the side of a mountain? The talent of a person/people to sculpt such a thing in a matter of years is really amazing.

 This is Derek hard at work. He is a master with a chainsaw. He carved while Randy taught others about ice and had them learning how to make ice sculptures.

 This is Devil's Tower, Wyoming. It was an hour and a half drive from Rapid City. This was the most pleasant drive I have ever had. The scenery was amazing. Wyoming was beautiful upon entry, the snow was glazed over and it looked like glass. There were hills and plateaus. While coming across Devil's Tower it can be seen about 10-15 miles out because it is so large. I stopped to marvel at it and it seemed a little eerie. I kept expecting a dinosaur, or some large prehistoric creature to pop out behind it. This natural structure seems almost unnatural, intentional, as it were a pillar for something larger...

 I loved Crazy Horse Memorial. Mostly because of what it stands for and because the family that continues to build it does so without the help of any government. Crazy Horse represents a lot, to me it represents the true American way, work hard, work long, expect results, and don't quit until it's finished. The man who designed Crazy Horse had ten children and seven of them still work on this project. When done it will be larger than an Egyptian Pyramid. More information can be found at:
http://crazyhorsememorial.org/

The Badlands were other worldly, being there was as being on another planet. I had no idea it would have such extreme landscape. After reading about it more and more I discovered it wasn't really "bad" the land it actually very lush and good for growing.