I had a hard time finding a good pair of gym gloves. I don't have callouses now. Where my wedding ring is used to be heavily calloused. They are good for grip strength and double asbike riding gloves.

Carpark at night in Tempe, AZ. I have a fondness for photographs of parking garages and parking lots.

Heading off to a pub in Tempe, AZ. Reminds me of the Reservoir Dogs film when they all walk in a line as way of introduction. Accepted dress is a mixed bag, it is supposed to be business casual, but the software developers have started eroding that. I wear a t-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots to work every day.

Summer is coming back to Phoenix.

Fred and Patrick at the pub on Thursday night for happy hour. The laughing was probably at PHPs expense. Java developers are that juvenile. Most of the discussion was about technical issues and languages.

We went to a Mayme Kratz exhibition at the Lisa Sette Gallery recently. Her art is a series of acrylic layers in soft colors that have organic material embedded deeply within them. The material either glows through or is cut such that is it shows in sharp relief. They are very soft, pleasant and quite beautiful artworks.

We were up in North Scottsdale yesterday and decided to revisit Sol y Sambra which was a tapas restaurant we had been to previously. It was closed. Not only that it had been closed a year and a half or so.

Each time we go to Los Angeles we end up hanging out in Manhattan Beach. What a lovely area. Manhattan beach is kind of a mix of the Tamarama suburbs and Manly Beach with a Bondi type restaurant and pub culture. Basically a bundle of many awesome things that make Sydney beaches so great. The American beaches all seem to have a pier, as does Manhattan Beach.

We went to John Tuomisto Bell's exhibition at Kitchen Sink Studios as part of the 3rd Friday's Art Detour. The display was called the Unstable Group.

There was some very cool stuff there, including a new piece that was in iron. It was rusted well and suited the Phoenix style use of Corten in architecture perfectly. It was a series of iron heads, about the size of a male fist, that were mounted on iron poles about five feet tall. In essence they were a like a large wind chime. It was wonderful.

John mainly works in brass/bronze and most of the pieces were of that nature. The photo above is of a piece that is about nine foot long with symmetrical figurines on it. This photo captures one of the figurines expression really well.
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.