Archive for September 2008

8

Minneapolis Downtown Library

I've never been tempted to look for a book nor found any comfort in the interior, but for a photographic subject, this 110 million-dollar César Pelli monstrosity gets five stars. This is the Nicollet entrance to the Minneapolis Central Library.

2

61 HENN-LARP 92 KQRS

It's time to take a break from the woods and head downtown. One of the great things about Minneapolis is how quickly you can go from wood ducks & herons to busses and skyscrapers. Yes, this image is heavily processed. My skills in color management are being called forth and it's time for me to start honing my edge on the whetstone of a daily blog. Stay tuned this week for more processed deep-city images.

0

Pinecones on Parade

This scene appealed to me because I could throw the clouds out of focus to emphasize the details and contrast in the pinecones. If you look closely, you can see a cobweb complete with spider. This is the same tree that I found the snake in, but a different day. If you're from here, you know I didn't take this over the weekend. What follows two days of rain? Monday. I guess it was worse south of here, so I should be happy. It's going to be in the 60s today and back to the 70s Tuesday. The colors are coming! Soon glorious winter will return to this Northern Decidious Forest. P. S. I wrote this at Caribou during the very peak of the Full Moon, which was at 5:45am! Carmen, Bryan and I went out to look at it just before sunrise. Yes, we all howled!

1

More Turtles

The fans cheered in raucous approval, awaiting the next serving of pablum. more turtles, more turtles... Then a chant rose from the masses. more turtles, more turtles... Soon the 'dear leader' new he had lost control. more turtles, more turtles... He had to act fast. more turtles, more turtles... Like all dictators, he was a wise opportunist more turtles, more turtles... He told the crowd he knew what was best for them. more turtles, more turtles... He knew what they really needed, they really wanted, more turtles, more turtles... And as always, he provided: More Turtles!

2

Minnesota State Butterfly - The Monarch

I found this little guy flitting through the neighborhood, bringing a flash of color wherever he went.

1

Early Morning Duck Adventures

This is Eloise. Eloise spends her mornings on Cedar Lake, but after the ducklings have gone to school, she joins her girlfriends to go dabbling on Minnehaha Creek. She's not interested in popular entertainment or the latest fashions, but mention one of her ducklings and she'll quack your ear off (she's got a stack of photos of them in her pocketbook). This particular morning Eloise was heading out to the PDA (parent duckling assn). Since she was planning on taking a stand against the geese hanging out on in the schoolyard, she was all dressed up and ready for the spotlight. To get over the jitters of the expected media, she had me take some candid photos before she left the lake. "Normally we just ignore the Geese", said Eloise, "sure they sleep in the park and honk at all hours, we've come to accept that over the years." The problem started earlier this year with the unexpected closing of the pool hall down the street. "They used to wake up early and just leave", she said, "But now they stumble out of the park around noon — someone is giving them hard cider." The biggest problem is that they hang out in the duckling schoolyard and hiss at the kids. "My little joey is having nightmares", she said. Though rumors abound, including the hint that someone has called the Minneapolis Food Shelf, hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

6

Ducky Pond

Another glorious day splashing around in the duck pond amongst the lily pads. Much less common than the Mallard, these Wood Ducks are much quieter and have more of a peep call than the classic quack. When they are disturbed and take off, they make an "oo-eek, oo-eek".

5

Sunday Morning Sunrise

Happy Sunday Morning! All of God's creatures welcome another beautiful day.

5

St. Paul RNC Convention Photos

That's OK, I didn't want to go that way anyhow. Really. Here's a photomontage of my adventures Thursday Night in Downtown St. Paul during the Republican Convention. The oddest thing about the experience was that despite the apparent tension expressed in the photos, everyone was really calm and civil. It was just a few agitators that made it a problem. The cops were really cool about everything and not antagonistic at all. I was joined by Snapshutter and Slinger. Check out their sites, they have some great photos and Slinger has a full account of our day, so I don't have to repeat it. Thanks guys, I had a great time! My only regret at the end of the day was that we didn't go back to check out the protesters one more time before we left. Now I'm glad we didn't the police got sick of them at around nine. They were driven into the Sears parking lot and arrested. I didn't get and photos of that, but I did get to sleep in my own bed. Key kids, stay in the museum, reality is just too interesting right now. Which one of these guys should we Taze? Should I take a poll? Note the riot cops on the left. A Snow Plow in the summer. Huh. I wonder what else you can get off a bridge besides snow with one of these? I wonder where this guy stands on the issues... I don't think he was born in the US, maybe he should try the Senate. During the speech, Chris Matthews takes a break for dinner. In spite of all the crazies, out-of-town trouble-makers and the invasion of the National Spotlight, St. Paul is still a beautiful place. Maybe we should invite all of them back in February for the Winter Carnival and show them how we have fun?