At least the Kalamazoo State Theater does!

This picture was from our trip there in March to check out Abbey’s new house, which is awesome by the way. That evening we checked out the “downtown” area of the Kalamazoo megalopolis and I spotted the above marquee there.

Robin Trower!

That would be a great show. I am heartened that he is still touring and when we got home from that trip I listened to “Bridge of Sighs” and “Live” back to back. SO good.

During that trip I also picked up an album from Green Light Records for my Hipgnosis collection, which by the way I have given up on. I went into a full explanation in my latest YouTube video, which in an ironic twist features an album that Abbey turned me on to. Full circle.

However, the most mind-blowing thing from the trip was the mental trip I took when I saw this simple turtle sculpture.

I stopped dead in my tracks and my mind spun out to when I was a kid and played in the school playground that was just down the road from my grandparents trailer that I would stay at during the summer. This playground featured 2 types of equipment. The first was metal. I’m talking death-defying slides that were sometimes obscured by low clouds, a row of teeter totters that no doubt caused at least several children injury, and ridiculously tall climbing structures made of metal poles that I would NEVER let any kid of mine play on, but remember this was the 70’s. The other type of equipment was this weird surreal landscape made of cement. There were climbing structures and shapes to play on. THIS was one of them.

I was so stoked about seeing this I made Joe get on it.

and then Cyn and I got on it.

What an incredible blast from the past!

AND… as I sat down to write this I looked for a picture of what I called the “moon base” when I played on and around it. I found it!

I played on this thing for hours. I pretended I was in a shoot out and stuck my pistol hand out the little holes, or pretended this was a base on the moon, or a jungle tree house.

Turns out it was all designed by the same guy!

Full article and memory blow out here:

https://hyperallergic.com/401168/from-swiss-cheese-to-dna-the-inventions-of-a-seminal-playground-designer/

I wonder if this turtle is a “repress” or an original sculpture.

See how I brought it back to music there to justify including it!?

Hey. I write this. It only has to the flimsiest excuse.

Thank you Jim Miller-Melburg. You rock!

See… I did it again.