Maidens of Mayhem by Jim Ehrhardt

It’s Roller Derby Saturday night and the championship bout is between Spokane’s Maidens of Mayhem  and the Rolling Hills team from Pullman Washington. 

Are we ready yet?

Rolling Hills makes their first score. 

It helps to understand the rules of roller derby otherwise the game indeed looks like mayhem.

Oops, one too many minor penalties and off to the penalty box for a short time. 

Halftime. Just watching the match builds up an appetite.

Jammers take off again when the whistle blows twice.

This is s between you and me now!

Nearing the end of the bout the scores are high – and the Maidens of Mayhem trounce Rolling Hills by 178 to 60!

Jundt Art Center and Museum by Jim Ehrhardt

The Jundt Center lies on the west end of the Gonzaga University campus. The center houses Gonzaga’s art department and several large exhibition spaces.

The Chancellor’s room features a tall open spire from which hangs a 2000 pound red chandelier created by Dale Chihuly, a famous Seattle glass artist. This magnificent work of art is made of about 800 individual blown glass spirals. 

The Chancellor’s Room also displays these three glass bowls also created by Dale Chihuly. 

On one wall of the room you will find a montage of screen print faces by Piero Fornasetti an Italian artist. He created more than 500 faces, all based on one portrait of a woman. The full wall display shows 39 of those faces. 

Displayed here is a 1972 bronze cast of Auguste Rodin’s 1885 sculpture titled Study for the Nude Figure of Eustache De Sainte-Piere. A cast of Rodin’s The Kiss is also displayed in this room. The Spokane River flowing at a high level is seen reflected in this display. 

 

 The center also has a large gallery room. This 2800 square foot room currently displays the final art projects of graduating seniors - paintings, sculpture, and ceramics. 

Friendly student guides work in the gallery to host visitors and answer questions.  

The Jundt Fine Art Center and Museum frequently changes its gallery and entry arcade displays, and it hosts traveling art exhibitions. Visitors are welcome Monday through Saturday.

Go Zags by Jim Ehrhardt

No, this isn’t about basketball, or baseball, or even golf. It’s about a walk across the Gonzaga campus on a bright spring day. 

Just up the hill from the athletic complex is the Applied Science building which proudly shows its sweeping lines. Gonzaga does have an interesting mix of old and new architecture. While some of its buildings date to its founding in 1887 many others are modern like this one. 

It is early in the season and the trees are still bare of leaves, but that won’t last long. Some few of the trees are just beginning to bud.

It is a little cool today and just about perfect for chasing a ball in the central Quad Square.

There is a lot of activity at the Crosby Student Center today. This center was named for the famous singer/actor and Gonzaga graduate, Bing Crosby.

It’s really hard to miss this sign.

Almost time to leave the campus, and on the far west edge of campus is the Jundt Fine Art Center and Museum. This is one of the newest additions to the campus and its design seems to be an interesting melding of old world and modern. It houses a central exhibition hall and a large art gallery where today the final art projects of graduating seniors are on display. And for another day -- the Jundt Art Center is open to visitors and admission is free. 

The Patsy Clark Mansion

The Patsy Clark Mansion sits on the northwest corner of Chestnut Street and 2^nd Avenue in Spokane’s old Browne’s Edition. This intricate 12,000 square foot, three story building is on the National Historic Register.

Built in 1897, this was the home of mining millionaire Patrick Clark and his wife Mary. It was destroyed by fire in 1889 and was rebuilt at a cost of over twelve million dollars including the cost of furnishings. Since then the mansion has seen several cycles of use and renovation as it transitioned from home to restaurant to reception/event center, and to its current use by a legal firm.

Today, the mansion’s interior and exterior are exquisite. Its windows are renovated with stained glass.

Its woodwork displays intricate carving and detail, and its stonework is magnificent. Its mechanical systems have been modernized.

Large rooms on the main floor open to even more spacious and brightly lit rooms. Down in the lowest level a darker, cooler, silent room. Finally, the outside once again.

Old buildings like this have their charm - and they also have their whispered history.

The Yakima Hamfest

The Yakima Hamfest. What’s that you say, a hamfest? Well, that’s where a bunch of amateur radio operators get together to visit, swap stories, and buy and sell electronic equipment. Amateur radio operators go by the nickname of “hams”, hence the term hamfest. Really, hamfests are like any swap meet -- with food that’s not good for you and good conversation with old friends, and a lot of used electronics for trade or sale - electronics that may or may not work and you take your chances. There are often technical lectures on radio wave propagation, antennas, licensing, radio operating techniques, and emergency procedures. Hams are known for their help in providing emergency communication services when all the usual services like telephone, cell phone, and the internet are out of order.

Yakama hosts this hamfest every year and it was held this last Saturday. We left Spokane at 2:30 am Saturday to drive there to arrive two hours before it opened to the public. That was so we could see all the good deals before the masses flocked in the doors. The event was held at the Saleh Community Center just outside Yakima. The marquee sign outside the center announced the event; and as it rotated through its display cycle it also announced upcoming yoga classes, quilting and macramé days, and other equally (exciting) events.

 

When the doors opened to the public at 9:00 half the folks turned right and made a bee-line to the cafeteria for the heart stopper breakfast of ham and deep fat fried eggs, and the tooth straightening coffee. The rest of the crowd funneled into the main hall where rows of tables were set up with all sort of used and new electronic equipment, parts and cables and books. The hall was soon full of hams visiting and haggling over prices.

Some tables overflowed with ancient radio equipment some of it dating back to World War II, and surely not in working order. Some hams like to restore old equipment and even those old radios got some attention. Some of the more modern equipment came with verbal guarantees, “it worked the last time I checked it.” It’s apparently best to avoid those “last time I checked it” deals. Then, some tables had equipment that looked pretty good, nice and shiny and clean. 

The hamfest was scheduled to last well into the afternoon. Folks made the rounds from table to table and back again and again. Sometimes the prices would go down as the day wore on and the sellers got  more desperate not to have to carry their wares home again.  By mid-day most folks were carrying out their newly found treasures. Out went huge antennas, books, radios, and sometimes gear they had no idea what it was but looked interesting. 

It was a funny thing – you could see the satisfaction at getting a “good deal” on almost every face. Even so, I’ll bet I see a lot of that same stuff on the tables again next year.