Scottsdale; We are so VERY Grand here...

I took a slightly different route home from work tonight, so we could focus on the bizarrely silly world of Scottsdale, where I work.

Scottsdale is a city that is part of the Phoenix Metro area.  Where the rich and the beautiful come to gather.  They like to be fancy here, but in very strange ways....

Have you seen the movie "Peter's Friends"?  I like that movie.  In that movie, there is a line where an Englishman who has moved to Beverly Hills takes his starlet wife back home to England to meet his old friends for the first time in 10 years, and they go to his best friend's very old, very stately manor. 

Carol:  "Peter, this house is gorgeous.  I wanted to buy an English mansion in Bel Air, but Andrew said it was vulgar.  It was just like this, only brand new.

All the freeway walls here are decorated. We like it pretty.

Andrew:  "I rest my case."

I think of Scottsdale a bit when I hear that line.  The idea here to a point seems to be, make something big and flashy and....TAH DAH!!!  IMPRESSIVE!!!

Now there are a lot of fantastic and beautiful things in Scottsdale; but seeing as how this blog is for the funny and bizarre bits of life, THAT is what I am showing you here...

JUST ADD WATER...

First, a personal note to a friend - Higton, I beg of you - close your eyes.  If you are reading this, skip to the next section.  I don't want your eyes to burst into flames, or your head to implode.

OK, for the rest of you, here we go.

Rich people and their boats in their back yard man made lake.

One of the big mysteries to me here is the deep affection for man made bodies of water.  Apparently, you really know you've "Made it" when you move to the desert and then turn it into a lake.  In the posh neighborhood, they have the man made lake set up to the backs of their houses, and they all buy little boats so they can go back and forth to each other's houses that way.   Keep in mind, Arizona's current drought has now surpassed the worst drought in the last 110 years of record  keeping.  But still... we love our fake lakes.

STRANGE STATUES ETC.

Ok Higton, come on back.   The rule seems to be here, "If it's big, it's art".

The big blue green pointy thing that glows. Please don't ask me...

Then, head up north to Scottsdale and Frank Lloyd Write Blvd. to my personal fav, which I don't think has a name, but I call "The big green and blue pointy thing I don't understand".  This went up some years ago, seemingly overnight.  It's very large - and pointy - and at night?  It glows.  Blue and Green.  Quite brightly.  I assume this is art as well.

Scottsdale is also very fond of it's fountains.  I actually really like these - I took a picture of one of my favorites.  I pass it every day, both coming and going to work, and it's actually quite lovely - but again, seeing as how we're not even supposed to water the lawns except for super early in the morning or later at night so we don't waste water with it evaporating in the heat of the day, should this be running non stop?

As I mentioned, Scottsdale is all about the pretty - so having unsightly cell towers around is absolutely an unacceptable thought!  To that end, we have hidden ours in plain sight - see?  Where once there was a cell tower, now there is a lovely palm tree.  Issue resolved.  I love nature.

Finally, while I had to head home, I wanted to give you an example of one of the MANY silly buildings we have.  Fast food restaurants in super fancy buildings, etc.  Enjoy this one, it's the pic of the large white building below...