..Another place of note in Phoenix..

Down the road from Mel's Diner..also on Grand Avenue,is another Phoenix landmark. It's called Mr Lucky's. One of the most famous Country/Western bars in the Southwest, this once popular nightspot now sits silent. I had many chances to go there when I was younger, but I chose instead to head to Graham Central Station which was right down the road. The cool thing about Mr Lucky's was that it didn't just cater to the Country crowd. It had a basement,and there was where they had their rock club. I'm not sure when things really started to change..maybe 8 or 10 years ago. It then became a Mexican club playing Tejano and Cumbia music. The one constant through all of this was it's marqee. It is a tall impressive sign that stands out in the large empty parking lot beside Grand Avenue. At the top is a joker..well..I guess the whole thing IS actually a joker.Whatever. Needless to say, it's a bit torn up..but it has a character that draws you in..well in my case it does. The future of this sign and establishment are unknown at this point. Judging by the rate that they're razing and building stuff up and down Grand Ave, it will be a matter of time till we find out it's fate..

Places of note in Phoenix...

Ok...so as a kid growing up in the 70's and 80's, I watched a lot of tv...A LOT of tv. I liked just about everything..and we pretty much watched everything..especially on prime time. One show in particular was Alice. It starred Linda Lavin and Vic Tayback as Alice and Mel ..she the waitress and he the cook/owner. A pretty funny show..at least at 10 or 11 yrs old for me anyway. Well I find out that the shows opening credits were filmed right here in Phoenix! There's a Mel's diner right on Grand Avenue..not far from downtown. Over the years it's changed hands a few times,and even had its name change too. Now it goes by Mel's. The Marquee has been altered a bit from the time when the show was filmed which was 30+ yrs ago. You can notice the difference where the oval piece at the top with "Mel" is now missing from the sign .The letters that say "diner"are missing as well. The coffee cup is still there though the lightbulbs that run along either side are no longer lit. John and I went by there and took some crappy pics of the diner at night.We took ours from the east side, so that's why the cup is pouring in the opposite direction. It's not located in the best area of town,although I have to say that there's been a lot of revitalization with cafes and galleries opening nearby. I guess they do pretty well although they're only open for few hours each morning. Maybe it'll get restored to it's former glory when the other businesses are really up and running. I'll prob go back and get some better pics in a few weeks. I'll also try to go to Mr
Lucky's too. Mr Lucky's is an old dance club/bar on Grand Ave that in it's heyday was one of the premier spots to go to on Friday and Saturday nights. It had Country music upstairs and rock and roll downstairs.It later became a latino club after it was sold by the owner. Now it sits vacant with a fence around it. It looks sad. At least the marquee is still out front.I have to say that I never went there when it was popular. I was supposed to go a few times,but I always ended going to Graham Central Station down the road on Indian School. I hope I get there before it's all torn down. I don't think that'll happen for a while as it's been in it's current state for a couple of years now. Phoenix needs to take stock in it's history,no matter how trivial it may seem. Am I wrong?

There's always calm amongst the chaos..if you know where to find it...seriously.

A few weeks back I went downtown with my son to take some paperwork "someplace" in an effort to straighten things out regarding our house. That by itself is another issue, and could be part of the reason for the"chaos"in the title above. Ok, actually it is. That's not why I'm writing this though. It's all about the pictures. Really.Since high school, photography has been a big part of my life. So....while I was downtown I managed to take some pics of stuff. There aren't too many...but I got to see a different side of Phoenix. Tell me what you think....

Life in the checkout lane..Surely make you lose your mind...

Well, I'm back working at the store I started out at 22+ years ago..Fry's #28 located at 43rd Ave and Bell road. I have to say that I had a lot of mixed emotions about returning to the Kroger Corporation after having spent half my life there. I mean they do treat me pretty well there..but there's no consistency..and the hours always fluctuate. Yes, I am blessed to have a job. I know that many people are unemployed. In fact some of those people are my friends...even so, it can still be very frustrating sometimes. I still think about the year I spent away from retail. I wish I could make the money I did while I was up in Morenci. It was more than I had ever made at Fry's..with or without me working a second job. Sometimes you have to see the different sides of life to appreciate what really matters. I guess I just want to make a lot of money without losing myself or my family in the process. I will work my ass off if I know there's something to be gained in the end. I saw that first hand at Freeport-McMoran. If you work safely and efficiently in a productive manner, you make a lot of money...For all I know I may be on a picket line before this year is out because that isn't the way my current employer thinks. The real kick in the ass is that Fry's has a union and Freeport-McMoran does not. That by itself could be a discussion all on it's own, but that will be left for another time. At least..for the time being I am employed..and blessed...right?

Where it all began...well...basically

This is a photo of my paternal grandfather John Mc Parland with his wife Mary (Hughes) Mc Parland and their oldest son John Mc Parland in 1919. My father Mark Mc Parland was born a few years later in December of 1922 and was the youngest of their three boys. My uncle Peter was the middle one. This is the only picture that exists of my grandfather (to my knowledge). He died about a year after my father was born. To make things easier on my grandmother (so they thought) his brother Thomas (my great uncle) and his wife Mollie took my father from Staten Island to Manhattan and raised him as their own child. So this is where my journey begins..or rather began..back in NY. My branch of the tree would grow through Manhattan..into Brooklyn..take root..sprawl into NJ..back to Brooklyn again..extend out to L.I ...sending even deeper roots..finally popping up in AZ of all places. It is HERE where my legacy truly started...and where I stare at it on a daily basis. It is ever changing...