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September 29, 2007
Horsing Around
| Today was art appreciation day at the downtown plaza. Not
really, but it seemed like it. The Chico Palio kicked off Artoberfest with
a horse race and the Mayor's art awards were given out. Were you aware
of that Chico had a Mayor's art
award? I didn't know until I watched that Art Commission meeting a couple
of weeks back. I wonder if there is a Mayor's blogger award? I probably wouldn't get it, but maybe I would be a runner up. I think Blogging from the Darkside by Darth Raider would probably win. The art awards were given to Shakespeare in the Park for moving to the plaza and making their plays free to attend, a developer who voluntarily put art on his Hegan Lane project, and Paula Bush, an Art Commissioner in the last term. At first I thought Bush getting an art award was incestuous and an example of the Art Commissioners just picking one of their own. Since she didn't receive the award for her art, but for her 8 year commitment on the Art Commission, I'm pacified. There's nothing wrong with that. The Mayor wasn't in town so the awards were given by our last Mayor, Scott Gruendl. The Palio itself was a fun event. There were a few hiccups. The number of race teams was pretty small, I think there were 8 or 9. The crowd was good sized and grew larger when the Loyd Family Players started pounding their drums. But the city forgot to shut down the streets for the race. Luckily interim Assistant City Manager Dennis Beardsley was around. I saw him on the cell phone, and then directing traffic from Main Street to 5th. It took a little while but the roads got closed. One thing I love about Chico are the happy hippies that dance at the various events. It's fun to see adults that aren't constrained by the social behavior blockades most of us build as teenagers. Watching them also gives me the opportunity to develop a myriad of new dance moves that I'll use to embarass my son when he's older and entertaining the opposite sex. I think Chico Velo had the most horse-like "horse". They came in last place but did so with style. First place went to the speedy Boys and Girls Club of Chico, which was probably powered by pixie sticks. I think the Palio was put on by Friends of The Arts with funding from the City of Chico. They did a good job, and I could see it get better as time passes. |
| Notes: I often take a number of photos for things I'm going to post about. It's always a pain figuring out which ones to use. Today I took some video with my camera and created a larger video from clips, still images, and audio. It took a little time and is pretty amateurish, but if you like it I might do it more. |
 |
CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Tempra Board (with some help) see comments below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at September 29, 2007 01:18 PM
Comments
Genghis Khan. I can't take credit for this because Derek Vail gave me the answer. He apparently knows his world history a little better than I do. Something to do with military prowess based on horses. I will take credit, though, for reading this blog on a Saturday night. Oh wait, that isn't actually something to be proud of.
Posted by: Tempra at September 29, 2007 07:29 PM
Tempra you.....! Who said you could let Derek play? Next thing you know there will be smart people taking over.
Yep, that's our ol' buddy Ghengis, founder of the original Khan Palio and also the original Happy Hippy.
(Jennifer got it right off, too.)
Posted by: Gregg Payne at September 29, 2007 08:13 PM
Dang, Tempra is right.... It is Mr. K.
http://www.wpclipart.com/famous/warriors/Genghis_Khan.png
When I worked for GE in the mid '80s "Leadership secrets of Genghis Khan" was required reading....
Posted by: Mark Sorensen at September 29, 2007 09:02 PM
Tempra,
If you're embarrassed to be commenting on a Saturday, how do you think I felt actually blogging about something?
The CI Challenge was Genghis Kahn. Kahn is a title, meaning ruler and Genghis' birth name was Temujin. Genghis Kahn created the second largest empire on earth (largest in contiguous land holdings). The Mongol Hordes are widely known, and represent the military success of Genghis and his kids using horse archers. They also adopted techniques from their opponents, such as siege warfare. Had Genghis not died while expanding his empire westward we might all be speaking Mongolian today.
Since Mongols were nomadic they did not have experience ruling the many cities they conquered. They allowed subjugated areas to rule themselves as vassal states. This created an ethnically diverse culture with religious tolerance. A meritocracy was used to determine who their leaders were, with the exception of Genghis and his family. And the Mongolian empire supported open trade routes throughout its lands.
There are lots of other impacts Genghis Kahn had on western culture. Here are some of the descendents or events related to the Kahns.
Actor James Kahn, singer/songwriter Chaka Kahn, the Kahnnes film festival in France, the story of the little train “I think I Kahn, I think I Kahn…”, that dance the Kahn-Kahn, that’s enough for now...
Lon
Posted by: Lon at September 30, 2007 06:29 AM
Anyone that survives eight years on the Art Commission should get a medal.
I remember, when I was on the commission, we were all discussing how to race the horse art sculptures, who would be on the teams and how to make it inviting and inclusive to everybody.
I got a lot of dirty looks from the ladies in the room when, in my usual oblivious political incorrectness, I mentioned that if it was going to be a race, people would want to win, and the groups would naturally want the youngest, biggest, most athletic guys to be on their teams.
Silly me. Watching your video made me laugh.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at September 30, 2007 10:15 AM
Lon,
Off-topic, or at least a few days off of an old topic. You're some sort of voodoo practitioner. The original Miss Monneypenny, aka Lois Maxwell, just passed away. May you never feature my photo in the CI Challenge.
Posted by: Brian Ray at September 30, 2007 10:05 PM
B-Ray,
Sad. I hope Penny from Lost in Space has her things in order.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at October 1, 2007 05:28 AM