Southwest Coffee Talk

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by PHX31

The moisture comes mainly from the Gulf of California... not Gulf of Mexico.

I have always heard Gulf of Mexico, but googling the topic it looks like both might be the right answer.

[Vicelord John]

I make it rain.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

I have always heard Gulf of Mexico, but googling the topic it looks like both might be the right answer.

There is a TON of info on the monsoon and all weather on noaa's NWS site.

Here's the answer to the Gulf question:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/monsoon/..._gulfsurge.php

[PartyLine]

Originally Posted by Evil Empire

Nope, Rawhide moved to the edge of Chandler like 4 years ago.

Ahh

[Don B.]

Originally Posted by PHX31

There is a TON of info on the monsoon and all weather on noaa's NWS site.

Here's the answer to the Gulf question:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/monsoon/..._gulfsurge.php

I think I should modify my statement to include both gulfs:

Upper level moisture is also transported into the region, mainly from the Gulf of Mexico by easterly winds aloft.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/monsoon/monsoon_NA.php

--don

[Tfom]

Don,
My undergrad was in meteorology and I would say that's a pretty good summary. I would agree with what phx31 said about late june and the heat. A strong monsoon flow will definitely keep temps down. This would be why the hottest day was in late June vs. early July because you would need very low moisture levels to get super hot days. It's an ebb and flow though, there's plenty of days in July with dewpoints in the 40's which doesn't do much to effect the temps. A weak monsoon year like last summer gives you a lot of days like that. In terms of the debate over where the moisture comes from, I would include both gulfs, but when you see a classic monsoon flow you get the strong flow off of the GOM from the high pressure sitting on the four corners. In terms of the freezing in the winter, it can really vary from place to place. I regularly have to scrape ice off my car in the winter and I live right by the fairgrounds. Because temps can drop so quickly due to the low moisture, a little microclimate can develop where it is several degrees cooler than most places. Not that you would include all this in what you have written, but that's my 2 cents. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

[Evil Empire]

http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/...n-phoenix.html

It's official: James Beard Award-winner Nobuo Fukuda is headed to downtown Phoenix. His new restaurant, Nobuo at Teeter House, will open this summer in historic Heritage Square, just across the way from another James Beard Award-winner, Chris Bianco and his Pizzeria Bianco. Fukuda has inked a 10-year lease, with an option for five additional years.

At lunch, the restaurant will be a teahouse, serving soups, salads and sandwiches, along with Asian teas. At dinner, it turns into an izakaya, a Japanese tavern serving small plates.

Fukuda also plans to install a four-seat counter where serious foodies can make reservations for the kind of omakase (multicourse tasting menu) dinner he did at Sea Saw. That Old Town Scottsdale restaurant closed almost a year ago, a victim of hard times.

The restaurant will have room for about 35 inside and another 24 on the patio.

It has been quite a week for the increasingly dynamic downtown Phoenix restaurant scene. On Wednesday, La Grande Orange founder and president Bob Lynn announced that he would open LGO Public House at CityScape.

[mwadswor]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...#reply19367065

Tempe Town Lake on fishing show tonight

by Dianna M. Náñez - Feb. 12, 2010 11:17 AM
The Arizona Republic

"Fishing in the desert?"

That was pro bass fisher Mike Iaconelli's reaction when his producers pitched the Valley as the next location for his cable TV show on fishing.

Iaconelli has fished in Chicago, Sacramento and other major cities across the nation since he began hosting City Limits Fishing two years ago. The program airs on cable's Versus channel and is produced by Gannett Video Enterprises.

Iaconelli grew up in Philadelphia, fishing the city's urban lakes. When he became a professional young bass-and-angler fishing champion, Iaconelli made it his mission to attract a wider audience to the sport.

"If you want to grow a sport, you have to bring a more diverse group to it," he said. "I see fishing as an extreme sport. You're in a boat; sometimes going 80 mph. You're up against nature. What's more extreme than that?"

In each episode, Iaconelli travels to a different city and tries to catch the fishing limit within eight hours, the average time that a one-day fishing license is valid.

Fishing is traditionally seen as a rural sport, he said. Iaconelli figured if he could get more city folks fishing, the sport would take off.

When the producers and Iaconelli discussed where he would travel for the third season, someone pitched Phoenix.

Iaconelli said he was doubtful about the Valley of the Sun.

"To be honest, when Phoenix came up in the meeting, I was surprised," he said. "I always thought Phoenix was this giant city in the desert with cactus."

Iaconelli's visit to the Valley proved fishing at Town Lake was as good as any city or rural lake.

In October, Iaconelli fished Town Lake with Brett Hite, a pro fisherman from the Valley. The two men caught their bass limit in record time, compared to the dozens of cities Iaconelli had fished during his show's first two seasons.

"It's a fisherman's dream. Oooh, that's a big one," Iaconelli said on the episode as he reeled in a Town Lake catch.

The fishing went so fast, Iaconelli had time to try fishing at Tempe's Kiwanis Park lake and Arizona State University
Research Park.

Nancy Ryan, Tempe's Rio Salado Project manager, oversees Town Lake operations. Ryan said that regular Town Lake fishing enthusiasts will not be surprised by Iaconelli's success.

"Town Lake offers a great fishing experience without having to travel hours to some of the outlying lakes. We have many of the same fish that anglers are looking for. And after fishing you can take in dinner on Mill Avenue."

The Town Lake episode is the third season premier for City Limits Fishing and airs at 7 p.m. Friday.

• More on City Limits Fishing: www.versuscountry.com/showpage.aspx?sid=45

• More on Iaconelli: www.mikeiaconelli.com

• More on Town Lake fishing: www.tempe.gov/lake/Fishing/default.htm

Not being a fishing fan I think this would be about as exciting as watching paint dry, but it's still nice exposure for Tempe and Phoenix.

[phxbyrd]

since you think this isn't your cup of tea but nice exposure for the city, why turn your nose up at the WWE?

[Vicelord John]

fishing + WWE = trailer park woodstock

[Evil Empire]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

fishing + WWE = trailer park woodstock

[HooverDam]

So I'm going to see "The Toasters" on Monday at Martini Ranch in Scottsdale and local 2 tone ska band "The Two Tone Lizard Kings" is opening up for them. I had seen the Lizard Kings once before but wanted to refresh my memory so I searched them on YouTube and found a cool (if cheaply made) music video of theirs with lots of nice urban shots of DT Phx & Tempe. Its a cover of the old Temptations song 'Aint too Proud to Beg"

For some reason I feel like it may have been posted before, but anyhow here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inxqHL1F260

[HooverDam]

I have 2 questions, my questions are 2, number 1:

1. Driving down the I-17 tonight around Metro Center there are a TON of hotels/motels. Who the hell is staying in those? I imagine they were built at one point to capitalize on Metro Center/Castles and Coasters but now that areas pretty rough and its not like there's even a Spring Training site right near by. Can someone smarter than me explain to me what their customer base is or how they stay in business out of curiosity?

2. There used to be a bar downtown across from Hotel San Carlos/Seamus McCaffreys called Monroes. Its been closed for probably 2 years now, does anyone know anything about why it ever closed? That basement room it had would be a perfect place to do a small local comedy show about 5 or 6 nights a week if that bar was ever up and running.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

I have 2 questions, my questions are 2, number 1:

1. Driving down the I-17 tonight around Metro Center there are a TON of hotels/motels. Who the hell is staying in those? I imagine they were built at one point to capitalize on Metro Center/Castles and Coasters but now that areas pretty rough and its not like there's even a Spring Training site right near by. Can someone smarter than me explain to me what their customer base is or how they stay in business out of curiosity?

I'm gonna take a stab at this one. I've driven cross-country 4 times now and the area along I-17 could be in any medium to large sized city in the US. It actually reminds me a lot of Oklahoma City on I-40. When driving and looking for a place to stay I'd look in these areas because they are directly off the interstate, on the outer-fringe of a city, with cheap room rates (Ex: Motel 6 $39.99). I think they were built at a time when many cities were building this model that catered to truckers and road travelers. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that I-17 is a short route that is used to connect 40 to 10.

[glynnjamin]

FWIW, the Sheraton by MetroCentre has a convention center that a lot of people use. Plus it is a good location for people (as Leo said) to stop and rest for the night. I used to work at one of the hotels there, maybe around 1999, and it was pretty much meth heads and skeevy hooker types. It was one of those weekly hotels so i dont if that really compares to the rest. I do know that during MLS Spring Training the Kansas City Wizards were staying at the sheraton and the Columbus Crew were staying at the one closer to Metro.

[SunDevil]

Hey, any of you know an Optometrist? I've noticed that the highway signs at night are a lot blurrier than they used to be and I might need glasses or something. It's probably been about 10 years since I've had my eyes checked.

[Vicelord John]

I've seen a guy at Southwestern Eye Center in Tempe a few times named Arlen Roper. Really cool young white guy who was able to remove a seed pod out of my eye once without scratching anything and also gave me a prescription for glasses and then said I don't need them and save my money. He said he was only giving the prescription to make his office happy and I could throw it away.

Nice talented honest guy.

[NorthScottsdale]

I usually just go wherever my insurance is accepted.. I think most places are pretty good.. it's ultimately up to you whether you get the right prescription or not.. you just tell them what you can see/can't see while looking through different lenses.

[HooverDam]

Check out this building thats the UKs pavilion for the Shanghai Worlds Fair:



Its made up of tubes that sway in the wind. Its pretty neat, it kind of reminds me of a barrel cactus if it was a different color. A building like that would be really cool here in AZ if behind the tubes it was glass so you could see out, the tubes would provide plenty of a shade/sun screen for the building inside.

[HooverDam]

So I recently bought PBS' "Arizona Memories" series, its quite terrific. Specifically the "Az Memories from the 60s" briefly talks about the death of downtown and the movement to malls/the 'burbs. But beyond specifically downtown the series has lots of old footage and photos from Phoenix gone by. Its interesting, though quite depressing, seems like something special slipped away...maybe we'll get it back someday.

Anyway, if anyone wants to borrow the DVDs from me, shoot me a PM, I know theyre expensive to buy and not exactly rentable at a Blockbuster or whatever. I have the 50s, 60s, and 70s DVDs as well as the first 'Arizona Memories" which is only about half an hour and talks about the 40s/WW2.