Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens | Des Moines, Iowa

The Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens, located on the east bank of the Des Moines near the Des Moines Botanical Center, was opened on August 1, 2009 as the first phase of the CCCA Chinese Cultural Center of America’s Riverfront Project. The Gardens feature Responsibility Character Boulder, Victory Pagoda, Pioneer Hi-Bred Bridge for Friendship, John Deere Chinese Pavilion, Principal Financial Bridge for Prosperity, and RDG Circle of Diversity.

No Comments / Apr 14.10 / Travel / by Jen-Kuang Chang

Des Moines Botanical Center | Des Moines, Iowa

After having a robust cup of double-shot espresso in a café located in the trendy East Village district near the Iowa State Capitol, I unhurriedly drove toward the Des Moines Botanical Center with my slow mind tagged along like a sleepy monitor lizard with no nametag. The laid-back street scenes of Des Moines, accompanied by Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor for Strings and Organ in my car’s stereo system, shadowed me like Edward Hopper’s paintings. Phew. I must look like a semi-unhappy ghost if greenish aliens happened to observe me far away from Mars with their super-telescope.

 

The Botanical Center greeted my semi-unhappiness with a tropical smile, cheerfully tossing scads of vivid natural colors to me as if we were participating in Songkran Festival in Thailand. The man-made indoor creek was graced with koi fishes’ elegant movements and there was this zen-looking little turtle motionlessly floating in the pond surrounded by beautiful tropical plants.  I positioned my field-recorder at the turtle, transfixed, anticipating to capture this little turtle’s wise-words when awakening from a long meditation about sun, flowers, and lovely spring time.

The Des Moines Botanical Center | Des Moines, Iowa | 2010 | Field-recording by Jen-Kuang Chang

The Des Moines Botanical Center, located on east bank of the Des Moines River, features a 150’ geodesic dome filled with tropical and sub-tropical plants, koi, birds, and turtles. The center, completed in 1979, is currently managed by the Des Moines Water Works.

No Comments / Apr 12.10 / Found Sound, Photo, Travel / by Jen-Kuang Chang

Clear Lake, Iowa

I took a mini-break in Clear Lake, Iowa, from my seemingly endless dreary conversation with the Interstate 35 on my way to Minneapolis.  This unplanned visit turned out to be one of interesting stops of the trip filled with bits of magical sparks.

After feeding my hungry car in a gas station, I visited a café to have a glass of iced tea and ran into musician/songwriter Stoney Footwalker from Britt, Iowa, enjoying a pleasant chat about Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.  Footwalker, wrapped in his incredibly fascinating aura of music and history, kindly shared his poem “I’m Not Afraid” with me.  I then drove pass the famed Surf Ballroom, where Rock & Roll musicians Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens performed their last show before their airplane lost control in bad weather and crashed in Clear Lake on February 3, 1959.  That particularly day has then been known as “The Day the Music Died” since the release of Don McLean’s song “American Pie” in 1971.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

I gave up the idea to visit the monument at the crash site and decided to take a short stroll near the Lake View Drive instead.  The gorgeous sunset gently washed out my worldly thoughts and I can faintly hear Buddy Holly singing his “Peggy Sue” across the lake of speechless beauty.

No Comments / Apr 12.10 / Travel / by Jen-Kuang Chang

Ola Babcock Miller Building | Des Moines, Iowa

The Ola Babcock Miller Building, formerly known as the Iowa Historical Memorial and Arts Building, was renamed by the Iowa Legislature with support of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women to honor Ola Babcock Miller in 1999. Ola, born on March 1, 1871 as Viola Babcock, was elected as Iowa’s first female Secretary of State in 1932 and has been known as “The Mother of the Iowa Highway Patrol” for her role in creating Iowa’s state road patrol. The building, located near Iowa State Capitol at East Grand Avenue and East 12th Street, is the home of the State Library of Iowa.

No Comments / Apr 12.10 / Travel / by Jen-Kuang Chang

Dakota Jazz Club | Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant in the downtown Minneapolis looked just like any other trendy restaurants on Nicollet Mall in the early morning. Reserved and affably low-key. The only somewhat jazzy item was the yummy-looking Cocoa Rubbed Beef Tenderloin Sandwich from the lunch menu. But when I started to imagine how jazz greats like McCoy Tyner and Ray Brown masterfully jamming in this place in some jazzed-up nights, even the empty outdoor seating area magically began to swing and sing.

No Comments / Apr 10.10 / Travel / by Jen-Kuang Chang