Tempe Town Lake Mishap July, 2010

I'd never taken many pictures of Tempe Town Lake, because I knew other people would shoot it just fine. The only ones I had taken were to show the light rail line when it was new...

...or the Tempe Center for the Performing arts when IT was new...

...and it was sort of a backdrop for that photo-play I did last year with my friend, Ana; but not the most prominent feature in that one, either:

I remember as far back as high school in the '80's, reading in the New Times about plans to make the dry bed of the Salt River into a lake, with a sort of boardwalk area, water sports like rowing and fishing available, as well as shopping and dining. The idea always seemed too progressive for the voters, though, who kept shooting down bond proposals, one after the other. A funding method was finally approved in 1989, though, and the lake filled in July of 1999. Gradually, the area around Tempe Town Lake has become the focal point for city fetes such as fairs and holiday celebrations. A family can have a nice evening there for free, and it's a clean, casual, safe place in the city for just chilling out alone or with friends. There are boat and bicycle concessions along the shore, and the lake is stocked with fish.

Historically, the Salt River (or Rio Salado) had been a normally dry river bed that cut a broad swath through the south central portion of the valley and provided a natural boundary between Phoenix and Scottsdale on the north shore and Tempe and Mesa on the south. The only time it ever had water in it was on the infrequent occasions when water shed from snow and rain in north central Arizona would overwhelm the reservoirs further upstream. At those times, not only would the Salt have water, but it would often flood. Most bridges would wash out, save always the 1937 structure carrying Mill Avenue traffic, and its 1912 railroad counterpart, just a few hundred yards to its west.

With the exception of flooded periods, car traffic on the Mill Avenue bridge was north-bound only, and south-bound traffic actually took two paved lanes down into the river bottom and back up the other side. If unobserved, semi-athletic people could climb up under the bridge from the middle of the river bed and spend unmolested time in the archways just below the road surface. I did this on more than one occasion and became familiar with the clack-clack-clacking of the boards on the underside of the roadway as cars passed overhead. (I assume the boards must have formed the roadway floor during the bridge's construction phase and had since been loosened by decades of traffic and seismic vibration.)

Prior to the existence of the lake, walking out and dangling off of the train bridge was actually potentially lethal, because a careless move could easily result in a 25ft fall onto jagged rocks. In current times, the potential 9ft fall into a 16ft lake could almost be taken as sport. Even if you didn't know how to swim, you were probably out with a friend who did and could rescue you.

The state of affairs took a temporary but swift turn back toward the pre-lake days on July 20th, 2010, when the western dam of the lake failed, and most of the lake's approximately 1billion gallons of water made an abrupt exit downstream.

I was alerted by a friend on FaceBook that SOMETHING had happened, and I scooped up my camera bag and tripod and went to see what I could see. The path from where I could park a car, to my eventual perch about 100yrds downstream of the actual rupture was sufficiently strenuous and circuitous as to cause me to be slightly muddied and bloodied by the time I was finally able to get a shot. Although there was no signage saying I COULDN'T be in the area, the police were quickly erecting barricades all around, and policing (!) the area with both a patrol car driving along the river's northern pedestrian footpath, and helicopter. I was counting on eventually being kicked out, but wanted to delay that event as long as possible. Luckily for me, a portion of land adjoining the river bank has a fenced off area of construction, with a crane on it. I climbed the fence into this area and was able to wait unnoticed until the coast was briefly clear and then slide down the riverbank.

By then, an hour had passed since the initial flood and, although the bank was saturated to about the 6ft level, I was easily able to find a stable place to set up the camera. The current was lazy at this point, and didn't seem to be more than 2ft deep.

I could get a fair idea of what had happened with my naked eye; but it wasn't until I set the E-P1 to a long exposure that I could actually see any details.

The picture above, taken from the downstream river bank, shows the failed center section of the lake's western levee. More than an hour after the initial breach had sent the contents of the lake careening down the normally dry riverbed, water was still gushing through the opening with visible force.

The picture below is grainier, but I upped the iso to 6400 and was better able to capture the splashing water.

By the next evening, the dwindling pools were teaming with the remaining fish, all huddling together trying not to be noticed by the increasingly corpulent herons.

To anyone who grew up here, the dry(ish) river bed doesn't look so foreign or jarring.

Unfortunately the remaining fish won't be saved alive. Instead, there's a report today that they'll be saved freshly dead, and given to a local man who owns an alligator named "Tuesday." I can't make this stuff up.

The plan is to have all of the rubber bladders which comprise the western levee replaced, and for the lake to be full and operational (as it were) by November, 2010. Ironically, the refurbishment of the western levee had been scheduled to begin on July 21 - the day AFTER the big spill. The plan was for a temporary structure to be put in place during the work, which would then not require the lake to have been drained. Closed-circuit tv footage of the instant the dam burst showed a spontaneous rupture at the seem of one of the bladders; meaning no foul-play is suspected. It is sheer good luck that it didn't rupture a day later than it did. Had that happened, lives definitely could have been lost.

Although I've seen homeless people sleep basically right below the dam in the past, the authorities report having found no inadvertent victims.

JAVA Country Bar Roundup

For JAVA Magazine - May, 2010

(Miss Brittany Doster at Shotgun Betty's)

This ain't yer grand-pappy's Western scene, young 'un. The days when REAL cowboys frequented bars in the downtowns of Phoenix, Scottsdale or Tempe ended in the 1970's, if not earlier, and the establishments which catered to them ended as well. What replaced them were bars, steak restaurants and lounges which chose western-ness as a theme to attract the growing tourist and college dollars.

If you seriously want to get in with the crowd that knows how to castrate a bull (properly, I mean), then you'll have to head out of town. Go to Wickenburg, Casa Grande or Coolidge. Just remember, REAL ranch folk party a little differently. They're up and out before dawn, and in the sack (sleeping) by 8pm.

If you want to get your country groove on, but do NOT want to have to feign interest in the latest hilarious insemination mishap, the Valley proper has you covered. The past few years have seen the emergence of several new venues for those looking to scoot their boots, along with the demise of others. Here we present a roundup of some of the hottest of the kicker bars in the area. One thing is for sure in the Valley - when it comes to Western, there's something for nearly everybody, even if you don't own a hoof pick.

Hot Off The Grill Country

When trends ignite, club owners scramble to cash in, and the collection of clubs that spring up are often a mixed bag. Such is the case in downtown Scottsdale at the moment, where three new clubs are hoping to ride the current cow-person trend through to the end. They are Saddle Ranch Chophouse, Shotgun Betty's and Revolver. One of these places definitely has some charm.

Saddle Ranch (Scottsdale Rd between Fifth Avenue and Drinkwater) is the Western bar Disney would build if Disney still built bars. It's sort of like a double decker Cracker Barrel restaurant, but with booze and more expensive meat. Although the space is cavernous, the central mechanical bull ring doesn't leave much room for dancing, unless it's in the main thoroughfare to the bathrooms. There's a lot of staff running around talking to one another, but they seem to leave the patrons pretty much alone.

While the mechanical bull is a unique attraction in the area, it doesn't take long to figure out that it's not the "bull's" good side you have to get on, but the dude in the booth with his hand on his joystick, CONTROLLING the bull. Basic rule: Hottie girls stay on as the dude bumps and grinds them via his cyber-bovine proxy / too-drunk frat guys get spanked (not in a good way.) Though this may be a suitable ethos in many respects, it spoils the notion that chance or skill are really at play, and means that the bull thing gets boring real fast. If you DO decide to ride, however, remember to tip the joystick dude. Got yer back.

One final word about Saddle Ranch - I was referred to their publicist in L.A. for all comments, and the monitors throughout the place were playing Lady Gaga, Jay Z and Usher. Make of that what you will.

Shotgun Betty's, just down the street at Stetson and Wells Fargo, is a better bet. It's just as inauthentic (when did the country aesthetic and the 1990's Poison video one combine?) but a better place to hang your hat for a couple hours.

Just to get it out of the way, if you haven't heard, it's owned and operated by the same person that owns Skin Caberet, and is his take on the type of bar made famous in the movie Coyote Ugly, where the bar girls get on top of the bar and put on a show periodically. The girls employed seem to be between the ages of 21 and 22, and have a body fat percentage somewhere in the 12% - 15% range. They're dressed in daisy dukes, boots and cowboy hats, and the Western theme pretty much ends there, visually.

It's a small and semi-dark place once night falls, and the walls are lined with tall, cozy banquets. The dancers are there when you want some eye candy, but it's also possible to sit back, have fun with your friends and get pleasantly bombed without the typical Scottsdale meat market mentality taking over. Shotgun Betty's is fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. In that way, it actually does kind of embody the old country spirit.

Besides their nubility, the bar and cocktail staff also seem to actually care about the patrons. They are present enough to be there when you need them, and they pay as much attention to the women as the men. Score one for good, old-fashioned hospitality - a much welcome return to form for Old Town!

Three doors to the west on Stetson, a new club called Revolver has taken over the space once occupied by Six. Revolver describes itself as "western chic." Seems like the same old vibe, though, and you'd be damned before you find any decor from farther west than Chicago. Fortunately they kept the absolute best part of Club Six - the bathrooms. There may be a reason (besides the bathrooms) to go here, but not if you're looking for anything remotely cowboy or western.

Old Country

(Model: Anakaren Slazar)

The Rusty Spur (Main Street in old town) beats Handlebar J's (just north of Shea) by a couple of years, 1958 versus 1960, but surely there's room enough for both under the heading of "oldest western bar in town." Your experience at either would be just about what you would have had there thirty years ago. The wood is real, the live country music is real, and they are both locally owned and operated. They were ALWAYS places that attracted a large percentage of tourists versus locals, but at least at this point they're authentically OLD places that do so. In a town that does very little to preserve its real past in favor of pandering to winter visitors and college kids with the latest re-interpretation, their very survival all these years merits you stopping in at least occasionally.

The Rusty Spur, in particular, is ripe for a local revival! This Summer, after the tourists have gone and ASU is on hiatus, this is the place to be. No table is too far from the bar to yell for another round,

or too far from the stage to join in on a verse of "Cold, Cold Heart."

An honorable mention must at this point go to The Coach House Tavern, located on Indian School Road, at Goldwater. It's not particularly country/western (the only real nod to the genre being an old wagon wheel nailed over the entrance,) but it's another leftover from a city that once proclaimed itself "The West's Most Western Town." A determinedly un-pretentious hole-in-the-wall, the Coach House has been the neighborhood bar of choice for locals for fifty years and continues to go strong. A large patio was added not too long ago, which doubled its capacity, but the heart of the bar is still a small, dark and funky room with decades of residue in the cracks. It's easy to find patrons who have been coming for twenty years or more, no matter when you visit. With drink prices approaching half of what you would pay at some of the surrounding clubs, it's no wonder, either.

Cattle Baron (people who own people who own cows) Country

The Stockyards Restaurant (Washington, just west of 48^th Street) is another hold-over from the Valley's past that has retained much of it's original character and mission. Though difficult to imagine now, as recently as the early 1970's, there was an enormous cattle yard located between Van Buren and Washington at 48^th street. At one time it was the largest in the world, and old-time residents can attest that it smelled like it, too. Beginning in 1954, The Stockyards Restaurant sat on a small elevation usually just upwind (to the south.)

The Tovrea family which owned the meat packing company and the restaurant were local upper-crusters, and The Stockyards became the meeting place for the men (such were the times) who made Arizona happen. Backs were slapped, deals were sealed and pesky investigative reporters plotted against in the overstuffed leather booths. Though cleaner and much less stuffy since a 2005 renovation, it is just as quietly iconoclastic as ever, and the hand-carved mahogany bar is still a sight to behold.

The Stockyards Restaurant is the Durant's of the western crowd. It's just right for those nights when you got $200 bucks to blow and only a nice sippin' whiskey and a charred chunk of large quadruped will do. You know what I'm talkin about.

Alt Country

For men and women who dig men and women, respectively, there's a happening and locally famous bar at Camelback and 7^th Avenue in Phoenix called Charlie's. Long before Brokeback Mountain lifted the weathered canvas veil on same-sex kicker love, Charlie's was strumming that crowd's tune. Now celebrating its 25^th year, Charlie's remains the premier place in the Valley where couples can do the Texas two-step cheek-cheek, toe-to-toe, and scruffy beard to scruffy beard. It's a wild Western place, actually, renown as much for being fun as for being gay. LOTS of straight people go, too, because Charlie's knows how to have a good time, western style. Just leave your inhibitions at the door and nobody gets hurt, yuh hear?

Big Country

There is an entire class of country club which doesn't aim to be anybody's cozy watering hole - they want to attract people by the heard, and they do! Mostly off the beaten path, where lower real estate prices help make a basketball arena-sized bar more viable, clubs such as Graham Central Station, Whiskey River, Tom Ryans and Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar and Grill" load people in by the thousands. Whether you're line dancing, seeing a country band or just getting loaded, bring a posse - a BIG one. You'll need them to hold your seat when you hike to the bathroom!

We've focused on just a few interesting places, but by no means is this sampling of western night life exhaustive. In a city with the footprint of the greater Phoenix metro area, there are tons of out-of-the-way places and many of them attract a more or less countrified crowd. Find em and tell your friends. Stick them in the pocket of your Lee jeans and make em your own.

Valley Fever Sundays at Yucca Tap Room in Tempe

For JAVA Magazine May, 2010

Once a week, there's a place in Tempe where time takes a cigarette and country music lovers are transported to the smokey, whiskey soaked days of the early 1970's. Dana Armstrong, a third-generation Valley of the Sun girl, has done her level best to conjure up that bygone era for patrons of Yucca Tap Room at Southern Avenue and Mill.

For the past five years, Armstrong has hosted Valley Fever, Sunday nights at Yucca Tap. At the weekly gig and various special events throughout the year, fans can experience a more authentic version of the "Arizona country" Dana and many grew up with, albeit with much less nicotine.

"I wanted to recreate a kind of old Arizona feel...kind of like Mr. Lucky's" Says, Armstrong. Mr. Lucky's, which closed in 2004, was a long-time favorite of the Valley honky-tonk set. Although it spawned such pale imitations as big-box country-themed clubs Graham Central Station and Toby Keith's, Mr. Lucky's was there from the get go, and there was nothing ironic, kitschy or retro about it's country/western character.

"I wanted to rebuild that moment. I just brought the records I wanted to hear to the place I wanted to hear them," she explains. "I invited everybody I knew and hoped some would show up...I figured if they stayed that was just a bonus. I didn't want to force it on anybody - Whoever else appreciated it, that's who I wanted to be there."

Dana thinks the Yucca Tap Room was the perfect environment. "It looked right - it's been there for forty years."

The Yucca Tap Room is kind of easy to miss, but once you find it you'll understand the appeal. To say it's unassuming is an understatement. It looks very much as it has for forty years, just off the southwest corner of Southern and Mill, with a low, flat roof and peeling paint. Yucca still doesn't accept credit cards, either - yet another charming throwback to the past!

Once inside, though, the atmosphere is warm, and you can hear some of the best music in town. "After about three months [spinning records at Valley Fever], we decided to start adding [live] music...usually just one band every Sunday…"

The bands are mostly NOT cover bands, though. "Some of them are just straight honkey-tonk bands, like Junction Ten...they write their own songs, but they sound like they're from 1975, which is perfect for me. I can't really label it...we have some bands that come at it from a sort of folk angle, but they all have the same spirit. The bands don't stick to covering those songs, but they're definitely strongly influenced and inspired by those old songs."

Valley favorite Flathead is part of what Dana calls the "Valley Fever family" of bands. "Greg Swanholm [lead singer of Flathead] is like our biggest supporter...he was there from the beginning and still comes every Sunday," she says. "The thing about Flathead is they're so unique and hard to categorize...I don't know what to call their music, but it fits right in."

Armstrong has noticed the popular re-discovery of country/western culture of late, but draws a distinction between that and Valley Fever. "It may be a trend right now generally, but at Valley Fever it's the real deal." Instead of re-packaging and borrowing from the original version of the culture, "we're actually trying to re-cultivate and delve into it."

Why 1970's honkey tonk? "I have this thing where I just want to be living in a very specific era...it goes back to my childhood and my dad's taste in music...Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Mo Bandy…" She plays older stuff, too. "I'll play anything from the fifty's...Hank Snow, Hank Thompson...but my favorite is the late 60's to early 70's."

In addition to Sundays, Valley Fever typically hosts several day-long events throughout the year. "We have our annual all-day show called the Quarantine usually in March. Last year we had Waylon day, to celebrate his birthday, then we had HanksGiving, where six bands played all Hank Williams covers."

"It's still fun!"

Halloween - Protection PSA

Happy Halloween!

I have to say that this is not my favorite holiday. Actually, I'd be hard pressed to name a favorite, because I pretty much hate all of them for one reason or another. The one exception is probably Veterans' Day (or Remembrance Day for my U.K. friends - you know who you are.) In my opinion, that's a great reason to have a holiday. Most of the others are just pandering to one religious constituency at the expense of all the rest; which is un-American, isn't it?

Nonetheless, I've produced a little PSA - because I care - and this is a better time than most to raise awareness of the issues within it. It's hard to explain, so you should just watch. In order to allow you to focus on the images, there is no sound (It WAS going to be very elaborate, though, I assure you.) Enjoy.

Not to be preachy, but I hope you all learned something from that.

BTW, some of those photos were actually not bad, and you can see a slightly less racy, but way larger version on YouTube if you like here

Next blog will be about small farming around Phoenix, AZ. It's a growth industry (ugh - couldn't help it.) I did it for JAVA Mag.

© Corrin Green