Eclipse and Blood Moon

Here are a few pictures from this evening's lunar eclipse.

We almost missed it. Good thing they showed a shot on the Sunday Night Football broadcast.

The moon is almost completely in the earth's shadow at this point. I didn't notice the purple tinge with the naked eye but it shows pretty clearly in the photo. I don't think it is a camera or lens effect.













Here the eclipse is total although the light might have been a little more even a little later. At this point there wasn't enough light to autofocus. Had to do it manually.

Crystal Bridges - Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth Exhibit

On Labor Day Margot, Mom, Tom, Misheil and I visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Currently they are hosting a special exhibition of the works of Andy Warhol and Jamie Wyeth.

This portrait of Warhol was painted by Wyeth.

The dog's name is Archie.

This is Warhol's Endangered Species series.

Click to enlarge.

Flowers were a common theme of Warhol's work over the years.

Nude Three-Quarter Figure Nureyev (Study #18) was painted by Jaime Wyeth in 1977. Does Three-Quarter mean from the knees up or 3/4 of a foot?

Nureyev defected in 1971 at the age of 23. He died of AIDS in 1993.

Warhol bought this stuffed dog in the late 60's thinking it was once owned by Cecil B. DeMille hence the name Cecil.

The dog was never owned by DeMille but was a champion and was displayed at the Dog Hall of Fame at Yale University's Peabody Museum until the museum closed in 1964.

Here Margot looks at some cat pictures by Warhol.

These are works of  Jamie Wyeth.

Wyeth is the son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth.

The exhibition covered 6 decades of Wyeth's work.

Twin Houses was painted in 1969.

The picture on the left, Portrait of Shorty was painted in 1963 when Wyeth was 17 years old.

I found the sheep to be very striking. I had to remind myself it is a painting not a photograph.

Click to enlarge.

Wyeth painted Inferno in 2006.

Crystal Bridges is preparing to display Frank Lloyd Wright's Bachman-Wilson House on the grounds. The house will open on Nov 11, 2015.

This house was originally built for Gloria Bachman and Abraham Wilson in 1954 along the Millstone River in New Jersey. Because of the risk of flooding the subsequent owners decide to sell it to an institution that would relocate it. The house was disassembled and rebuilt in Bentonville, AR.

The spider sculpture is titled Maman and is by Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). It was cast in 1999.

Here is an interesting video on the erection of the sculpture.

Erection of the Spider

World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off

How can you NOT think Northwest Arkansas is the most cosmopolitan place in the U.S.?

They host the World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off, after all.

Yes, it is a real thing. Margot and I checked it out last weekend.

That's a Bobcat and a Fox squirrel.

This guy was one of the M.C.s at the event. Love the 'stache.

Here is a link to the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods visit from last year.

Bizarre Foods - Squirrel Cook-off

The weather was nicer this year than last.

We arrived late and all the squirrel was gone so we didn't get to taste any. Each team prepared a different dish. I wanted to try the squirrel-on-a-shingle.

What would a Squirrel Cook-Off be without a gun give-away for the raffle. Yep, that's a .22 caliber rifle. They said they were giving them away early because the winners needed to do some paperwork.

Here is some more taxidermy on display.

No idea what the extensions on the front of the tractor are all about.










Anybody know what kind of flower this is?

The Bentonville courthouse square is very nice. The whole town is pretty nice. I guess being the corporate headquarters of the world's largest retailer has its privileges.

That's a statue of James H. Berry. He was a Lieutenant in the Confederate army and latter governor of Arkansas and a U.S. Senator.

Labor Day Weekend - A Few Pictures

Our 4-legged grandchild really enjoyed playing on the raft. I'm sure our 2-legged grandchildren will enjoy it just as much next summer.

I just thought this was a nice picture of Tom and Murphy.

I eventually kicked them off so I could relax - and burn.

Before we rafted up with Greg and Theresa Greg pulled us around on the tube. Here Misheil celebrates a successful ride.

I even got in on the action. Greg has 5 levels of rides complete with descriptions. I chose the merry-go-round. The complete list is princess, cupcake, merry-go-round, twister and terminator (or "Is that all you got old man").