Thanks. I wasn't sure.

I like how they let me know that 101 is "hot". Thanks. And no wonder I feel like I just lost 10 pounds after mowing the lawn.

Hoooweee

Funny*

Report: Floodwall Lacks Adequate Protection Against Southsiders

*if you live in Richmond, otherwise not so much. Kind of like telling people Noble stands for No Brains Little Education. Funny to someone who lives in Somersworth, not so much to anybody who lives anywhere else.

Things I Saw this Week

A 1980s Caprice. I would have gotten closer, but just as I took this picture the bus I was trying to catch came barreling around the corner up ahead. I almost missed it.


















The modern day hobo


















I know what you're thinking. Why can't I center my shots? Well, you see, I'm trying to get pictures with my phone without looking like I am taking pictures. All covert like. It's a safety measure.

This looks like fun. Putting it on my list o'things to do.

There goes my breakfast

A human turd on the sidewalk is pretty disgusting. It's right up there with decapitated dog and 50 pounds of rotting fish guts in July.

Pumphouse Park

The weather outside yesterday was, in the words of my favorite English scholar, awesome. So, we went to visit a park that we haven't been to before. One of the great things about Richmond is its abundance of parks. Many of them are filled with history, and if you know me, you know I love history. Pumphouse Park is no exception. From the Gothic Revival architecture of the actual pumphouse to the remains of the canal, this is probably my new favorite park. I plan to come back next with my fishing pole. I've heard there's great fishing in the canals.

Here's a few of the pictures I took:

The rest can be viewed here if you are so inclined.

All Kinds of Awesome

My first post with Windows Live Writer. I was intrigued by the idea of being able to write plug-ins for it.

That's not what is all kinds of awesome though.

While riding my bike through Hollywood Cemetery, a hawk swooped out of the sky and snagged a fat squirrel off the ground and flew off with the squirrel shrieking like a stuck pig.

That is all kinds of awesome.

I don't know what a stuck pig is, but I imagine it sounds really loud, high-pitched and frantic.

Not the Best Way to Make Money

Some crazy drunk guy called me a faggot this morning. Totally unprovoked. He didn't even ask for money.

I'm Famous

Richmond Canal Walk a work in progress

"a man reading over lunch by the water"

That was ME. I swear it.

My agent has practically promised me in the near future a role as "innocent bystander" and "man who speaks on the condition of anonymity"

I'm goin' places, ba-by!

Libby Grace Jefferson

Took a walk on my lunch break, as I am often prone to do, the other day and stopped at three locations on Church Hill, Jefferson Park, East Grace Street and Libby Hill Park. The views of the city from these points is pretty cool. Unfortunately, my camera and the hazy part of hazy, hot and humid didn't help either.

First up, Jefferson Park.

There she is. The tallest and ugliest building in Richmond. Heck, Virginia too. Maybe even the entire eastern seaboard. Something straight out of Leningrad. A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Never Built Virginia exhibit at the Library of Virginia, and while I have no photographic proof of it, the original plan for this, the ugliest building in America, was for TWIN TOWERS connected on several floors by bridges. Amazing, that somebody could design one of these monstrosities and then say to themselves, "my design is so awesome, it needs to be doubled in size."



Another shot, showing the VCU Medical school buildings. Nothing spectacular.



A view of Grace Street. That's where I will take the next pictures from. I'm not sure what that white tower is. Some sort of satellite/antenna/radio deal.



See, theres Jefferson Park. I'm a Jumper.



Ahhhhhh. Make it go away! It actually might be kind of funny to take a picture of that building every where I go. Its like a painting where the eyes follow you around a room. No matter where you are in the city, this colossal concrete tower of fug is always looming over your shoulder.





Libby Hill Park

Tobacco is king. Or used to be anyway.



Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument. My first thought was, "they had sailors?"



The view that named the city.

Nope. Won't Be Going There.

Article about a bunch of modern day hobos living on islands on the James River.

My most recent excursion to the pipeline is right near where these guys live and you can see the islands in some of my pictures. I was curious about the islands and was going to make my way over there one of these days.

Not so sure that would be a good idea.

Back to the Pipeline

Decided to relive my drearm a couple of days ago and revisit the pipeline to see how the river has changed since March.

It's a lot different with foliage.




The water is a lot lower too.









Last time around I was stopped at this point by the water.





The pipeline takes a sharp left up ahead and goes out into the river a bit. If I wasn't wearing work clothes I could have waded out there. Instead I walked through the woods.

See how the water is calm in this picture? That's because the pipeline makes a little dam of sorts. There was a homeless guy swimming in the river just out of the picture. I was afraid I had spooked him because he started to come out of the river after I took the shot. I repeated a silent prayer over and over, "Please don't let him be naked. Please don't let him be naked."



There was actually a couple of homeless people encampments in those woods. I was a little spooked. Especially after a youngish looking dude with huge dark circles under his eyes popped out from behind a tree. My "how's it goin'" was met with a cold stare. Guess he don't speak Yankee.

Cool shot (to me) of the Manchester Bridge. The lighting is harsh. I'm no professional.



And last but not least, this bridge that was burned down after they fled the city during the Civil War.

Live Your Drearm

Drunk graffitiing. Like drunk dialing but anonymous, unless you get caught, then its equally as embarrassing.



Here's the rest of the pictures from my most recent lunch excursion.

The water pipeline.


The ladder to get down to the pipeline.


A view down the pipeline.


The spot from where I took the 2nd picture.


Blue Heron nests.


Just a shot of the river.


Looking down.


Manchester bridge.


Oops. No more railing.


Don't fall in.


Time to turn around.


The view back.


Random pictures of the river.




Other photos, if you are so inclined.

Pipeline
Richmond
Herons

Toodles.

Richmond Downtown

Took a short trip up to the City Hall Observation deck last week. It's a bummer that there isn't a better view of the river, but here's a few of my photos:

New Federal Courthouse


Capitol


The View South
That's the SunTrust building in the center


Old City Hall


The Tallest and Ugliest Building in Richmond


John Marshall House


The rest, if you are so inclined.