Market Music

There are always lots of buskers at the Market Square Farmers Market. These guys actually sounded pretty good playing some jazz standards.

Market Saturday

The Market Square Farmers Market is bigger and better than ever. Local organic produce has never been easier to find.

Center Stage

The decorated Christmas tree on the Market Square stage is a thing of beauty, but I like the array of red and green stage lights even better.

Festive

Look at those festive ribs - I mean decorative metalwork over the entrance to Krutch Park - all decked out for the holidays. And bonus - there's the horse and carriage waiting to take some riders on a short sightseeing trip around downtown. The lighted tents in the background are part of the ice rink on Market Square.

Ribs

Ribs festooned with festive lights always put me in a holiday mood. How about you?
Is it a dinosaur on a pedestal? Maybe. I'll show you the big picture tomorrow.

Inflation

I'm not Sky Watching today because I'm too busy watching this inflatable Santa at the ice rink on Market Square. He looks more like Yukon Cornelius to me. Bet he has a pick ax behind his back too.

Skating Away

For the past few years, the businesses on Market Square have sponsored a huge ice rink for the holidays. It's quite popular with families and teens. I am content to remain an obesrver, as I spend most of my time on the rink either clinging to the wall or dusting ice shavings off my rump after another fall. I'm just impressed that an outdoor skating rink exists in the Mid-South, where temperatures often remain above freezing during the winter.

Drink Down the Moon

We'll drink up the sun,

We'll drink down the moon.

Let the people say little or all.

- traditional folk song

For more skies, visit Sky Watch. It's become a Friday tradition.

Deus Ex Machina

Yes, this is an inferior plot device designed to get me through Sunday - an archive shot of a wonderful machine in all its chrome-and-pipe glory from this summer on Market Square.

I'm Thankful

It's Thanksgiving Day in the US today, and I'll bet this photo was the last thing you expected to see - it's not a parade, or food, and definitely not turkeys in any sense of the word. I've been reflecting on the things in my life for which I give thanks. And although I'm thankful for having food on my table, and for the ability to watch a parade, and even for turkeys, I am also extremely thankful today that I could exercise my right to vote in the national and local elections this month.

That came to mind as I passed the monument to our Tennessee suffragists on Market Square one evening. It was only 88 years ago that the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, giving women in this country the right to vote. And that was made possible in part by the women memorialized here in bronze. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which cast the deciding vote to pass the amendment into law. Out in front you see Lizzie Crozier French who founded a suffrage society in Knoxville, and behind her are Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville, and Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis. I'm thankful to them for giving me the gift of a voice in my government.

Hola!

The Hola! Festival, an annual celebration of Hispanic culture, came to Market Square yesterday. I arrived too late to see the traditional costumes and dances during the Parade of Nations. But I made up for it by eating my way around Central and South America (carne asada ... mmm).

And then there was the music and dancing. The top photo shows a mariachi singing traditional Mexican ballads. The woman standing next to me was singing along. When the DJ began playing Latino music from the stage, everyone cut loose. What a joyful crowd!

Where was I? Shaking my tailfeather behind the camera, of course. No hay ritmo, but nevermind, that's never stopped me before.

Tall Tale

When I go out to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, it's never just about the food. I chat with the vendors whose produce I buy every week. I see friends and neighbors and catch up on the news of their lives. Many folks bring their dogs to market, so I get to meet them and their owners. Knoxville is a very friendly town. 

When I'm finished shopping, I have breakfast at an outdoor table on the square and read the newspaper. I had my picture taken a couple times yesterday by tourists - hey, it's a public space, happy to be of service. Then, three hours later, I head for home, but there's usually one last opportunity for discourse with street performers and buskers. I met this young lady who took a shine to stilt walking and decided to come out to the square to do some walking around (that's her mom in the background). 

And her appearance helps me the make the point of my overly-rambling tale: the market brings people together, which is something that has been sorely lacking in our modern lives.

Renovation Continuing

Kind of looks like jail, doesn't it? But it's really a renovation project for one of the buildings on Market Square. The building was in a dangerous state - the roof had caved in, and the insides were deteriorating. Since this is an historic district, the city stepped in and told the owner to improve the building or the city would condemn it and take it from him. Looks like that worked. The photo was taken through the window on the alley at the back of the building. This is an archive shot from a few months ago - the project is now done, and looking for a new business to occupy the space. 

Jazz Buskers

These days, Market Square has all kinds of buskers, especially on weekends. Usually it's not very elaborate - a lone saxophone player, or a guy strumming a guitar, or the girl that brings her cello out occasionally to play Beatles tunes. So when this trio casually set up, I didn't pay much attention - until they started playing. They were the most astonishing jazz trio I've ever heard on the square, playing standards like Take the A Train. They attracted quite a crowd, too (and made a great photo opportunity). I hope they come back again.

I've been a bit under the weather for the past few days, so I haven't been able to visit too many of you recently, but once I get feeling better, I'll be coming 'round again!

Duke

Duke is a Great Dane who is as big as a pony. I think I could saddle him up and ride off into the sunset. He's even too big to fit in the photo. Duke and his owner visit the farmer's market every Saturday. All the little kids look up to him, and so do I.

Under the White-Hot Sun

This is actually an archive shot from this past June, when I was experimenting with the metering on my camera. I liked the effect created on this photo. The sun has just gone supernova, a blinding white flash where all you can see is the man on the bike and the two police officers in the background. Do not adjust your screens, you have entered the twilight zone.

Which is all my indirect way of saying it's too hot to go out and look for photo opportunities.

Backstage

Here we are backstage at the Globe Theater. No, we're not on the South Bank of London, but on the Market Square stage in downtown Knoxville. As you can see, with some plywood, draperies, and ingenuity, you can create a Shakespearean experience anywhere.  

Bridge and Tunnel Bard

You might not recognize this as a play from Shakespeare - they're not in traditional 16th century dress, after all. But this is indeed a scene from Tennessee Stage Company's version of The Merchant of Venice. This tale of greed, racism, and the quality of mercy is being performed 1950s mob style, with gangsters, big hair, and New Jersey accents. I'm not sure I like it as well as the 'traditional" renderings of Shakespeare, but I'll give them points for creativity.  

Neither Heavy Nor Metal

Perhaps I'm being a misanthropic curmudgeon about joining in on theme day this month, but I just couldn't get inspired by Metal. Instead, I give you Rosie, who is the opposite of metal. I met her and her owner at the farmer's market, and she was quite eager to greet me, since I still smelled like bacon from breakfast. 

And I know, I didn't sign up for Sky Watch this week either. But if you enlarge the photo, you can see the sky reflected in Rosie's big brown eyes. 

The Bard Returns

I've always thought that Shakespeare is a wonderful thing. "What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason." Hundreds of years after this was written, and the very first actor playing Hamlet recited it on stage, it still makes modern audiences think. And Shakespeare is versatile - you don't have to be the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-Upon-Avon to stage one of his plays, say, for example, Love's Labours Lost, which the RSC is performing this summer. In fact, you could very possibly be the Tennessee Stage Company of Knoxville, Tennessee performing this same play on the stage at Market Square this summer in front of a plywood Globe Theater. A high hope for a low heaven, as they say in the play.

The Shakespeare on the Square festival takes place over the next few weekends, alternating Love's Labours Lost and The Merchant of Venice. I'll probably be posting a few more shots of our intrepid thespians during the festival. So pack a picnic, pull up a lawn chair, and enjoy.