Here This Weekend: 26th Annual High Noon Winter Antiques Show

Photos courtesy of Brian Lebel

Over 350 lots of authentic western art, artifacts and collectibles will cross the block at this annual auction taking place here iat the Mesa Convention Center.
To look at this month's events and upcoming events please go here >> http://apps.mesaaz.gov/events/calendar.as
Those going to the show and auction on Saturday can cross directly on Center Street to see two homes featured in
The 16th  Annual Historic Home Tour in Mesa from 10am to 4pm.
Tickets will be available the day of the tour at 9:30 a.m. at a location in neighborhood (stay tuned for details) or tickets may be purchased in advance, online with a credit card.
Until January 22, you can buy tickets online, or in person at the museum. On the day of the tour, you can buy tickets in the historic district.

More details and information can be found in the following link >> http://www.valleyhistoryinc.com/2016-home-tour/
Tickets are $20 and all proceeds benefit the Mesa Historical Museum
Why not make a day or over-night stay for antiques and history in the New Urban DTMesa?  
On/Off Main Street you can Find History by George and antique and collectibles at shops and plazas, The Old Brick House Vintage Market, Primitives at Pole Barn, toys for kids and adults at Lulubell's and Power Pill vintage arcade + salons and boutiques for men and women, cookie and ice cream shops, pizza, coffee shops/galleries and fast-food joints all within blocks of each + blockbuster attractions like Mesa Arts Center, The Arizona Museum of Natural History - and you can find more!

If you are bi-coastal and deep-pocketed you can also attend The Park Avenue Armory Winter Antiques Show that runs for a week

January 22–31, 2016

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Park Avenue Armory

The Winter Antiques Show in New York City is the leading art, antiques, and design fair in America, where curators, designers, and collectors vie for the best works on the market, from Antiquity through the present.

http://winterantiquesshow.com

Highlights for fhe High Noon Winter Antiques Show here in DTMesa include:

• 50 years of western pulp art from three important collections
• The contents of the classic Arizona saddle shop, Carlock Saddlery
• Art and artifacts from the collections of Iron Eyes Cody and his neighbor, artist Clarence Ellsworth
• Great Meanea saddles and other Meanea material
• Roy Rogers' boots
• A massive and elaborate Mexican bridle that belonged to Buck Jones
• Spectacular Native American beadwork from the collection of Bob & Lora Sandroni;
• An extensive collection of saloon barback bottles; and much, much more.

Live, online, phone and absentee bidding options available.

SHOW: Saturday, January 23, 2016
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Sunday, January 24, 2016
9:00 am - 3:00 pm

$10 daily or purchase online and save.
Under 12 free. Free parking.

Show Location:
Mesa Convention Center
263 N. Center Street
Mesa, AZ 85201

Dealer set-up Friday, January 22nd. VIP and early entry tickets available.

AUCTION:
Saturday, January 23, 2016
5:00 pm
Preview Hours:
Thursday, January 21: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Friday, January 22: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, January 23: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Both the Auction and Preview are free and open to the public

Auction Location:
Phoenix Marriott Mesa
200 N. Centennial Way
Mesa, AZ 85201

Next door to the show; free parking.

Host hotel and accommodations:
Phoenix Marriott Mesa
200 N. Centennial Way
Mesa, AZ 85201
800.835.9873 or 480.898.8300
or visit them online

The 4th Industrial Revolution > Ready or Not // Why we need a public cloud for the public good

What do you, dear readers, tune into for the news?
Shocking headline stories yesterday here in Mesa about child abuse/sex trafficking and a gunman pointing a rifle out of a hotel window? or Trump and Palin [what a pair, huh?] attracting viewers like flies to cow-shit? ...
You might have missed what's happening in Davos Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, the annual meeting of business and political leaders.
If those people are all too much to wrap your heads around, there are celebrities speaking also.

Leaders there are focusing on issues impacting the world in the fourth industrial revolution, a digital transformation brought about by ubiquitous, powerful, mobile and networked technologies. It’s not the next technological revolution – it’s already here.
Here's some context - that most mass media don't  provide - As with the three industrial revolutions that came before, this is about more than fancy new technology. The Spinning Jenny of the first industrial revolution didn’t just make it faster and easier to produce textile products – it fundamentally altered the Western world’s social landscape, from one dominated by small, rural craftsmen to one of factory workers and machine manufacture.

The third industrial revolution wasn’t just about personal computers and mobile phones –  research shows it increased the amount of time children spent studying and professionals spent working, breaking down the age-old barrier between public and private life.

Similarly, the fourth industrial revolution will transform everything from how we learn, work, live and socialize, to the way we see the world and our role in it. What distinguishes this revolution from those of the past is its scale and speed. With previous industrial revolutions, change came slowly, sometimes leaving entire countries and continents unaffected. Not this time.

THIS IS NOT A FAST-READ OR A QUICK-JAB > readers will hopefully choose to interact with this page to access and process more information in some links provided.

 

One of the links provided is to the blog that announced yesterday at Davos what Microsoft is doing. [Hey! Satya Nadella, Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer blogs ]

Today Microsoft Philanthropies, the recently-announced expansion of our commitment to global giving, is making a big statement. We will donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources over the next 3 years to 70,000 non-profits and NGOs worldwide.

http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/01/19/why-we-need-a-public-cloud-for-the-public-good/

 

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

20-23 January 2016 Davos-Klosters, Switzerland

Live Speakers

Agenda-Events-Reports-Projects and webcasts!

Go to >>  World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016

Peer-To-Peer Sharing > Parallel Universe for 2 Bloggers?

First of all, yours truly wanted to bring up the concept of PTP Sharing that hit me  in the head at that Internet of Things DevFest last weekend at the Elliott/Nesbitt Theater in the Mesa Arts Center. You know - where everything gets connected to everybody and everything, right?
Sometimes yours truly feels like a Neanderthal alien in the fast-emerging IoT universe until starting up a conversation with a BlockChain entrepreneur snagged leaving the fest. He nailed it to me by saying "You know the way email disrupted the world. Right? . . "  ah-Hah!
A parallel universe is a theory of a self-contained separate reality co-existing with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality.
It was one of those revelations that rocked my world for sure.
Anyway ... here's a connection to an urban dude not previously known to me: Richard Layman who lives and works in Washington D.C. The only connection between him and me is that your MesaZona blogger enjoyed four years there at Georgetown University way-back-when.
Richard publishes a blog called Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space   
"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging."
Certainly both this blog and that blog tune in on some of the wavelengths
Check him out >> http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/

Friendly Reminder :)) One Week To Go > Poster Design Contest Deadline 29 Jan

The third annual Southwest Maker Fest will come to downtown Mesa on March 12, and your design can help make it a success! Proposal deadline is in ONE WEEK!

Click on the link below to see the design contest guidelines and please consider submitting a design for this exciting, collaborative event. The design will be used for the SWMF 2016 poster and program cover. We would love to feature YOUR creative ideas to promote an event that celebrates the power of creativity for individuals and communities across the region.
http://www.southwestmakerfest.com/

Report From Fronteras The Changing America Desk

To Spanish-English bilingual speakers Fronteras are usually considered the borderlines or border areas between areas [like the westward expanding American Frontier and Manifest Destiny we were taught in history classes].
In recent areas of conflict, the federal government in one case in Oregon is choosing to stand-off and one case from Mormon-dominated towns on the Utah-Arizona border the federal government's Department of Justice is choosing go to trial this week in Phoenix.

[Image from Wikipedia]

Why is such a large geographical area all the way from the state of Oregon to the states of Utah and Arizona a fertile ground for news attention? An answer might be found in the historic settlement patterns and land claims in the West before there were recognized state boundaries on lands
The image to the left from Wikipedia shows boundaries of the provisional State of Deseret (orange with black outline) as proposed in 1849.
Modern state boundaries are underlaid for reference.
Some history is important to note here - The State of Deseret  was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by settlers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government. The name derives from the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon.
The provisional state was a bold proposal, encompassing most of the territory that had been acquired from Mexico the previous year as the Mexican Cession.
The proposal encompassed nearly all of present-day Utah and Nevada, large portions of California and Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon.
Although

The idea of creating a state based on Mormonism began to fade away after the coming of the railroad in the 1860's which opened the territory to many non-Mormon settlers . . . now over 200 years later  those claims on lands and the domination of religious beliefs in the issue of religious discrimination in the function of government are getting attention. To read and listen to the report on the DDOJ trial taking place this week in Phoenix you can go here >> Fronteras Desk Report on January 19, 2016

How all this plays out remains to be seen 

• in the Bundy Oregon stand-off,
• in the Department of Justice actions at a trial in federal court starting Wednesday in Phoenix,
• and here locally in the City of Mesa on the issues of equality and inclusion for all protected classes by the force of law with the passing of a City Ordinance where the minority Mormon religion has dominated government and politics for decades.

Senior Field Correspondent Jude Joffe-Block (Phoenix) caught the radio bug while assisting a radio reporter in Mexico, and has been happiest wearing headphones and pointing microphones ever since. She initiated Fronteras Desk coverage in Las Vegas as the project's first Senior Field Correspondent there. She then joined the Phoenix newsroom in July 2012.
Previously, she contributed stories on immigration and criminal justice to KALW in San Francisco and multimedia content in both Spanish and English to The Associated Press in Mexico.
Joffe-Block is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and Yale University, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico.
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Take Me Out To The Ball Game > Under Armour Pre-Season All-American Tournament

That happened over the weekend at Sloan Park, home base for Chicago Cubs Spring Training here in Mesa.
The official season at that sports complex starts in March. That's a big thing - a big investment of public money from borrowing millions in a municipal bond issue by the City of Mesa. That subject - and leveraging the debt service owed by taxpayers in the city [$3,260 per capita] - was addressed by City Manager Chris Brady in a divided discussion about land-speculation being considered by the Mesa City Council at a recent city council meeting.

Let's put discussion in the warm-up bullpen about the city's big debt service costs      for now to look at one pre-season happening in the big major league business of baseball that was here at Sloan Park.
Most people think of baseball as a spectator sport - they watch the players either in-person by paying to attend [one-day or overnight-stays at local lodging where the city makes money on hotel occupancy taxes and sales taxes from spending in retail and restaurants]. Team owners make billions in broadcast rights sold to networks to show the games, networks make millions selling on-air ads during the games and sponsors pay millions to get attached to sports and athletes. What the City of Mesa might gain is unclear - an analysis of ROI return -on-investment would show that but figures are sketchy.

Seeing a report in Idaho's Standard Journal 12 hours ago showed there was another industry in the sport of baseball - pre-season evaluation and training with an attention-getting bait: Your Path to Greatness Starts Here
Only one event gives you the chance to make your mark on the field as an Under Armour Pre-Season All-American. Players will be put onto teams based on their region and teams will then compete in two days of intense competition. Last year, all 30 MLB teams had a scouting representative along with the MLB Scouting Bureau.
Here's a link >> https://www.baseballfactory.com/ua-baseball/ua-pre-season-tournament/

The Standard Journal staff did a great job reporting on one aspiring baseball player
Madison baseball player Hayden Leatham competes at prestigious baseball tournament
Father Matt Latham is shown in a courtesy photo accompanying the article with his son Hayden at the Chicago Cubs spring training facility here at Sloan Park, formerly Wrigley Field.
Six teams of 12 players competed at the event, in front of several scouts. Morales said representatives of every Major League Baseball team were in attendance, as well as college scouts.
Since the The All-America Baseball Game’s inception in 2008, 217 of the 255 draft eligible players from the Under Armour All-America Game were selected in the MLB Amateur Draft including 60 first round picks.

Sloan Park is one of ten locations all over the country for the 2016 Under Armour Tournament Schedule - complete schedule and locations in this link >> http://www.teamonebaseball.com/tournaments/

Re/What works > Social Media = More Than Selfie Posing + Self-Promotion

Wael Ghonim, Internet activist and computer engineer, believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it.
In just six days his 13:34 You Tube video Let's design social media that drives real change  filmed in December of last year and uploaded on January 13, 2016 has attracted 238,444 viewers.
While there are obvious advantages to social media, some claim that it has a deceptive presence that gives people a false sense of satisfaction just from clicking a button without taking any real action or risks.

For your MesaZona blogger, I am thrilled to see such a forward-thinking venture develop as a way to engage more people with politics and thus improve engaging citizens, increase transparency with insisting on open data, and establish accountability in government using digital democracy.
All are clearly stated outcomes and goals for the City of Mesa in Bloomberg's WhatWorksCities.
Simply put: interactive communication undoubtedly increases the accountability of governments.

What did Wael Ghonim do? He anonymously created a Facebook page. It had more fans than established media organizations and even top celebrities.He crowd-sourced ideas from people - It made people realize that they were not alone. Then came the consequences. His online world became a battleground filled with trolls, lies, hate speech. He stayed silent for two more than two years, using the time to reflect on everything that happened, trying to understand why did it happen. It became clear to him that while it's true that polarization is primarily driven by our human behavior, social media shapes this behavior and magnifies its impact. Say you want to say something that is not based on a fact, pick a fight or ignore someone that you don't like. These are all natural human impulses, but because of technology, acting on these impulses is only one click away.

What does he say now? 
There are five critical challenges facing today's social media:
1. We don't know how to deal with rumors. Rumors that confirm people's biases are now believed and spread among millions of people.
2. We create our own echo chambers. We tend to only communicate with people that we agree with, and thanks to social media, we can mute, un-follow and block everybody else.
3. Online discussions quickly descend into angry mobs. All of us probably know that. It's as if we forget that the people behind screens are actually real people and not just avatars.
4. It became really hard to change our opinions. Because of the speed and brevity of social media, we are forced to jump to conclusions and write sharp opinions in 140 characters about complex world affairs. And once we do that, it lives forever on the Internet, and we are less motivated to change these views, even when new evidence arises.
5. -- and in his point of view, this is the most critical -- today, our social media experiences are designed in a way that favors broadcasting over engagements, posts over discussions, shallow comments over deep conversations. It's as if we agreed that we are here to talk at each other instead of talking with each other.