Things went 'under the radar' for a while about Mesa Royale Mobile Home Park that first got attention almost a year ago in an article written by Arizona Republic news reporter Maria Polletta on June 15, 2015 and featured in a post on this blog. Update to this story: this is the original parcel of land targeted by the Mesa City Council to get developed for the ASU Downtown Mesa campus that's now under consideration right now for approval in a different location next to City Hall.
If the back-handed land deal had gone according to plans, the residents of the trailer park would have gotten kicked out of their homes and the property cleared and bulldozed by now [six months later] to make way for the 2500-student ASU satellite campus. It didn't work out that way - find out why tonight at 5 o'clock' and who "the insiders inside City Hall politics" are.
Your MesaZonawatched in real time over the course of days unidentified figures using a hydraulic lift and scaffolding to scale the heights of a 35-foot high blank concrete wall at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum. What appeared is titled "Desert Rose: New Generations". It's a beautiful eye-catching work of public art in the Creative Place Making urban landscape here downtown. Temporary banners were previously used to announce exhibitions @ MCAM. This one looks permanent.
It is a commissioned exterior work and part of one of the four inside gallery exhibition spaces that opened to the public on Friday, May 13, 2016. It's one thing just looking at art and passing by, but when we have the opportunity to meet and interact with a world-renowned artist here in The New Urban DTMesa that certainly "makes my day" happy to live downtown one block away from the Mesa Arts Center. Admittedly, the close proximity to an urban airspace is one consideration to have made the decision to live here.
More than 30 years ago [gosh, is yours truly dating himself?], spray-paint graffiti was considered vandalism and cracked-down on in New York City - it appeared everywhere spontaneously all over - on the sides of drab gray underground subway cars and above ground on public buildings next to empty unused lots and in densely-populated neighborhoods, low-income and high-income. There were campaigns to remove "graffiti", cans of spray paint were locked up behind closed doors, graffiti artists who "made their mark" were hunted down and arrested, until artists who emerged in the public eye became very popular and famous - there was no stopping them from expressing themselves with vibrant colors, images boundless and unrestrained right in-your-face wherever you went in New York City.
Yours truly had the pleasure to know more than a few now-called "aerosol artists" way back when art took a quantum leap rocking what was the art establishment.
Here on the scene in Mesa thirty years later, the artist known as "El Mac" made a huge public impression for sure. On a personal level, he is one of the most humble and sublime major art figures yours truly has ever met. At the opening reception ten days ago a friend of his who's a photographer told me he's a hermit, disappearing for days to create works-in-progress. That may be the case for an artist to make his personal space his own in act of creating art, but in public he doesn't hesitate to engage people in soft-spoken conversations when they want to meet him. Likewise with the many children who wanted to know more. Here's a link to a nice article
LA muralist El Mac brings graffiti style to Mesa
"El Mac: Aerosol Exalted" features portraits of everyday people painted with street-art flair.
Kerry Lengel, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:16 a.m. MST May 20, 2016
Blogger Pre-Note: this post may be too subtle for some readers but here's one reaction looking at public art. Gotta say that the many installations of public art here in The New Urban DTMesa most certainly make "the original one-square mile" a Creative Place . . . it's not so squareor for that matter conservative any more. If you need a reason to take a walk, looking at public art might be a good one to exercise your body and brain at the same time, with plenty of stops for a good brew, water or coffee/tea, ice cream, a snack or sandwich or lunch. We've enjoyed the many figures cast in bronze all over the sidewalks for years - everything from figures of founding pioneer families and early settlers and business leaders, to bears, salmon, boys playing baseball, girls reading, people sitting on benches talking or waiting, horses, a huge fat pig, dinosaurs, a boy-and-girl playing with the world's deadliest killing weapon and ducks getting fed crackers [both at City Hall], a climber, a newspaper boy-on-a-bike with dog running alongside, neon-inspired aerosol art on the sides of historic buildings, design lab mini-murals on the fronts of buildings along Main Street, move-able panels by Creative Catalysts, a big pink chair, a big high-heeled shoe, a gold Humpty Dumpty, the super-sized "Desert Rose" [ sub-titled New Generations/Nuevas Generations ], Sunset Park in 1st Street, monumental Valley Metro Public Art at all three light rail stations and transformer stations along the Main Street line extension and this one in front of The Drew Building. While there's a new emphasis on interactive public art [Twilight Garden @ Morris Park + Musical Shadows @ Mesa Arts Center, this one is "a silent shout" about the news and howwegetit - ornot. The big headline = TRUTH in capital letters . . . juxtaposed in the background is FOG JUICE.
A fog machine, fog generator, or smoke machine is a device that emits a dense vapor that appears similar to fog or smoke. This artificial fog is most commonly used in professional entertainment applications, . . . Fog machines can also be found in use in a variety of industrial, training, and some military applications. . .This fluid (often referred to colloquially as fog juice) vaporizes or atomizes inside the fog machine. Upon exiting the fog machine and mixing with cooler outside air, the vapor condenses resulting in a thick visible fog.
Jonathan Pie covers all the right wing points the Queen expressed in 'the queens speech' -
fantastic rant once again
HUFFPOST COMEDY says this:
Comedy news reporter Jonathan Pie couldn’t resist having a pop at the Queen’s Speech in his latest “on-air” outburst this week, dissecting every aspect of what was announced in Her Majesty’s state opening of parliament (all while educating the cameraman in pop culture references).
“The deficit continues to grow,” he says, “homelessness continues to grow, food bank usage continues to grow, child poverty continues to grow, let’s build a space port!
“It’s like fucking Dickens meets the fucking Jetsons!”
Like Jonathan Pie? ...you can follow him on Twitter
17 hours ago - The latest Tweets from Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews). Jonathan Pie is a news reporter https://t.co/uRLQNd47cb all enquiries to paul@mhatalent.com.
"Let's see what sh*t the poor cow had to say" says Jonathan Pie on #QueensSpeech.
Of all the great and wonderful people in the food biz your MesaZona blogger had the pleasure to meet, get-to-know and opportunities to work with during a previous lifetime in the culinary worlds of New York City, Ina Garten - better known to most as "The Barefoot Contesssa" - has got to be one of my favorites both on a personal level and for her remarkable career development to humanize what makes food good, always adding that something more to recipes while creating her own personal touches and takes on traditions. At that time she owned a food shop in Westhampton, living in a loft at 75 Fifth Avenue [while yours truly did on-location catering on another floor in same location] and having a home and barn in Easthampton, at the eastern end of Long Island.
May 17, 2016 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
WILLIAMS-SONOMA ANNOUNCES INA GARTEN’S COOKING FOR JEFFREY MULTI-CITY BOOK TOUR SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Williams-Sonoma announces a multi-city event series with Ina Garten to launch her new cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (Clarkson Potter; on sale October 25, 2016; $35.00; Hardcover). The events, produced by Mills Entertainment, begin on November 2 in Tampa, FL and conclude in Mesa, AZ on November 15. Starting today, Williams-Sonoma will be offering a limited supply of signed cookbooks for presale in advance of the event. Williams-Sonoma customers will also have first access to tickets for the tour.
ABOUT THE TOUR Ina Garten, Emmy Award-winning host of Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa and New York Times bestselling author, will be taking the stage to share inspiration from her new book, including how cooking for her husband Jeffrey was the start of her extraordinary career in food. Ina will also be answering audience questions at these interactive engagements. A promotional code for presale access to tickets for the tour will be shared with Williams-Sonoma email subscribers as well as those that follow @williamssonoma on Instagram. To opt-in to receive Williams-Sonoma emails and exclusive offers, visit: https://secure.williams-sonoma.com/customer-service/email-list/ TOUR DATES & BOOK PREORDER* INFORMATION:
November 2, 2016 at Morsani Hall at the Straz Center in Tampa, FL
November 3, 2016 at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 10, 2016 at State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN
November 15, 2016 at Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, AZ
To preorder books and purchase event tickets visit: williams-sonoma.com/inagartentour ABOUT THE COOKBOOK Ina’s most personal cookbook yet, Cooking for Jeffrey is filled with the recipes Jeffrey and their friends request most often as well as charming stories from Ina and Jeffrey’s many years together. There are traditional dishes that she’s updated, such as Brisket with Onions and Leeks, new favorites, like Roasted Salmon Tacos, and of course several delicious chicken recipes, like Roast Chicken with Radishes. Wonderful new salads, including Maple-Roasted Carrot Salad and Kale Salad with Pancetta and Pecorino, are also included. Desserts range from simple Apple Pie Bars to showstoppers like Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel. For the first time, Ina has included a chapter devoted to bread and cheese, with recipes and tips for creating the perfect cheese course. From satisfying lunches to elegant dinners, Ina offers recipes Ina tested over and over again, so readers can serve with them with confidence to the people you love. Customers can purchase unsigned books at williams-sonoma.com or at Williams-Sonoma stores across the country starting in late October. In celebration of the book launch, Williams-Sonoma retail locations will host a Cooking for Jeffrey Cookbook Club event on November 9th, including a culinary demo of recipes from the book. For more information about Williams-Sonoma’s Cookbook Club visit: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/pages/store-events/store-events/cookbook-club.html *Preordered books will be available for pickup at the events and require purchase of a ticket toenter.
About Williams-Sonoma Since its founding by Chuck Williams in 1956, the Williams-Sonoma brand has been bringing people together around food. A member of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) portfolio of brands, Williams-Sonoma is a leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, providing world-class service and an engaging customer experience. Products include cookware, cooks’ tools, cutlery, electrics, bakeware, food, tabletop and bar, outdoor, cookbooks, as well as furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. Each store has a professional demonstration kitchen for cooking classes and tastings conducted by expert culinary staff. Williams-Sonoma Cooking Schools, located in select locations in the U.S. and Australia, offer hands-on classes led by professional chefs. A comprehensive gift registry program for weddings and other special events is available in stores and online. On williams-sonoma.com and the Williams-Sonoma blog, Taste, customers can find recipes, tips, and techniques that help them create delicious meals and wonderful memories. Williams-Sonoma is also part of an active community on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube. About Mills Entertainment Mills Entertainment is a leading producer and promoter of branded live entertainment. Mills collaborates with top brands and personalities to develop, market, and produce live events throughout the US and worldwide. Current projects include Theresa Caputo Live! The Experience, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live, Cesar Millan Live, Mel Brooks: Back in the Saddle Again, and Dolan Twins 4OU Tour. www.millsentertainment.com
Dear readers, this will take some time to get through, so let's start with the most recent and most clear reporting first, followed by another one three days earlier and one going back to March 2011.
From the get-go - five years ago - any reasonable person might get curious about the overlapping roles of so-called "educators" [with no degree in teaching] becoming politicians who get entangled in questionable real estate deals or other irregularities, then go back into education thanks to an illegal appointment and tendering his immediately-effective resignation admitting "personal and professional limitations" . . . this went down two days ago! With a big family to support he'll need to find another job sometime soon.
This all might have dropped out of the news or gone under-the-radar screen locally, except for what happened to Mesa resident Richard Crandall in conservative Colorado where he was Commissioner of Education for just four months, after nine months in the same position in the state of Wyoming.
"Colorado’s Commissioner of Education announced Thursday he is quitting after just four months in the position. The job was more than Rich Crandall could handle, according to a joint statement from the board and him. Crandall’s resignation takes effect immediately . . . Crandall is a former Arizona state senator who served six years before resigning to take the helm at the Wyoming Department of Education, a job he started in July 2013, overseeing 91,000 students statewide. Crandall was appointed by the governor but the state’s Supreme Court said in January 2014 that the governor did not have the authority to appoint what had previously been an elected position. [Blogger note: The position of Director was dissolved when the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the legislation that created the position unconstitutional.] Crandall left Wyoming in April, 2014 and returned to Arizona, where he owns a nationwide company that provides consulting dieticians to assisted living and long-term care facilities. The Colorado Board of Education hired Crandall despite his lack of significant management experience in education. Prior to his time in Wyoming, Crandall’s most-closely related educational role was as chair from 2005 to 2008 of the Mesa Public Schools (AZ) Board of Education, a district with 69,000 students. He acknowledged in his job application he has never worked as a teacher or principal. In announcing his departure, Crandall cited family responsibilities and the demands of the job.That same news release included a statement from board Chair Steve Durham, which said that while he appreciated the importance Crandall put on family needs, he also recognized his own “professional and personal limitations in this demanding position.” Blogger's note: image and excerpts from Marianne Goodland's report is the following link
A report from an investigation commissioned by the Fiesta Bowl disclosed unseemly ties between the Scottsdale-based bowl and politicians, who included lawmakers who pushed legislation that benefited the Fiesta Bowl.
[AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin]
An investigation that revealed disturbing levels of corruption at the Fiesta Bowl entangled prominent Arizona political figures, . .
Senate President Russell Pearce was a big recipient of the tickets and campaign donations from Fiesta Bowl employees, and his name is mentioned dozens of times in the report. Pearce, a veteran lawmaker who has drawn national prominence for sponsoring legislation against illegal immigration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The Mesa Republican, Gov. Jan Brewer and U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl were in a bipartisan array of 23 federal, state and local candidates who the report said received contributions totaling at least $46,539 since 2002. The report said the bowl-affiliated donors were then illegally reimbursed for the donations by the bowl.
(However, there was no indication that any of the politicians who received the contributions knew of the secret reimbursement arrangement, the report said.)
In another political tentacle of the scandal, the report identified several lobbyists and political consultants Sen. Rich Crandall, a Mesa Republican who was a representative at the time of the 2008 trip, said he asked about the propriety and that a bowl lobbyist assured him that the arrangement was traditional and proper.
“That was what we were told,” Crandall said. “Of course you look back now — what a naïve move on my part.”
Read more: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/03/30/arizona-politicians-figure-in-fiesta-bowl-scandal/#ixzz49ClQoXjK
Education
M.B.A., University of Notre Dame, 1997
MA, Accounting, Brigham Young University, 1993
B.S., Accounting, Brigham Young University 1993
He is a Certified Public Accountant and he is the Founder and Chair of CN Resource and is also the CFO/Partner for Crandall Corporate Dietitians, and a managing member of Delos Development
He currently serves on the board of directors of digital marketing firm ChannelNet. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he is married to Leann Larson Crandall and together they have 13 children (seven from Rich's first marriage to Patrice Webb and six from Leann's first marriage) Crandall is a moderate Republican former member of the Arizona State Senate and Arizona House of Representatives. Elected in 2007 to the House and 2010 to the Senate, he resigned from the Senate on August 16, 2013, and the seat was declared open when President of the SenateAndy Biggs (R) received his paperwork on August 20, 2013.
More than 30 years ago [gosh, is yours truly dating himself?], spray-paint graffiti was considered vandalism and cracked-down on in New York City - it appeared everywhere spontaneously all over - on the sides of drab gray underground subway cars and above ground on public buildings next to empty unused lots and in densely-populated neighborhoods, low-income and high-income. There were campaigns to remove "graffiti", cans of spray paint were locked up behind closed doors, graffiti artists who "made their mark" were hunted down and arrested, until artists who emerged in the public eye became very popular and famous - there was no stopping them from expressing themselves with vibrant colors, images boundless and unrestrained right in-your-face wherever you went in New York City. 
Kerry Lengel, The Republic | azcentral.com 
