Spoto reads Fader.

Barcode on Houston.

American Hardcore Art?

Check out my review on Working Class.

The New Museum on the L.E.S.

I'm blogging on Working Class now.

Springtime Evening Stroll on the L.E.S.

First Day of Spring.

El fin de la Luna...

On my way to work this morning...

Absolut Green Promo with Kurtis.

This is what I saw today on the bus ride home..

Decals and Dominos.

Sleep is for the weak.

Game Show Studios

Last night Pickles and I went to see the taping of the newly revised game show Million Dollar Password with Regis Philbin out in Astoria at Kaufman Studios. We got first row, prime seating. Sarah won a raffle prize Nintendo DS Lite - Onyx (DS) and we both drooled over Celebrity Contestant Steven Weber. (haha). It should air sometime at the end of April or beginning of May. It was interesting to be there live, but since I'm not really a TV person or for that matter a TV Game Show person, I think I'll just stick to adventuring around outdoors from now on.

Here fishy, fishy...

Treasure these moments of simplicity.

Maggie and Me.


February 17, 2005


February 23, 2008

A Visit to Big Lick: Old stomping ground.

As a teenager in Jr. high School, I used to hang out and work in the various shops, restaurants, live theatre and museums in downtown Roanoke. Market Square was my hallowed haunting ground. Jody used to say that Roanoke was like a movie set. I always have a rush of mixed feelings whenever I come back to these parts.



When I first met Chris Crooke, he was working at 309 First Street as a dishwasher. After work, he and I would sit in the parking lot just across the street and hang out and talk for hours. Now there is a new building in its spot.

Just up the street, you can see the building which housed the former Mill Mountain Theatre dormitories. On the second floor in the back was the first place I lived when I moved out of my house when I was 14 years old.


Farmers market stalls.



Mill Mountain Theatre scene shop entrance. The original scene shop was just in the back of Center in the Square, just off to stage right. My friend Reed and I credit Bob Sims for teaching us the base of everything we know about building and welding. I spent many a late nights working over there doing set construction.



I've always liked the Agnew Seed Building. I never understood how they were able to stay in business considering that you never really see anyone patronizing the place and aside from the $0.10 seed packages, not much in there costs more than $20 bucks. It was nice to see it still there though.

Deco.

For months now, my father has been telling me about the former Grand Piano Building in Downtown Roanoke. Apparantly when the city was doing some rennovations to revamp the old empty warehouse into apartments, they discovered under the decades old layer of red bricks, this incredible Art Deco facade. Amazing that the orignal windows were all there too which had been covered both inside and out.

The Art Museum of Western Virginia - New Building Project.

With a $40 million budget that I believe has already been pushed to closer to $60 million, I was surprised to see such a significant building squeezed into the space of the old Hunter Viaduct. Several of my friends who still live in the area were referring to the building as "an ugly monstrosity," though being a New Yorker, I found that I quite like the building. It seems though that perhaps for a building this fantastic, it might be better suited if it were to have been placed out in an open area. Perhaps even more appreciated if it the site could include some grass and landscaping, rather than forced amongst the Historic Deco downtown buildings. But I guess that's what all the controversary has been about.