This image of the St. Paul Cathedral under a winter sky evokes a cold Russian movie set in my mind.
The historic Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Full of dark meticulously carved woods, old world chandeliers and an epic atrium of marble, columns and light.
The epic atrium at the historic Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Very European feeling, rising four stories up to soft-lit skylights, surrounded and supported by a multitude of columns upon a reflective marble floor.
I took some pictures of this building almost a year ago and now I finally got a shot of it from up on high... from the top of the IDS, in fact.
Imposing concrete columns in the dim light of a parking garage in downtown St. Paul. Follow the light...
I have no idea if this place is still active but I like the framing their bridge gives to the skyline.
A Twin Cities landmark next to the Hennepin Bridge. A local guy even made a font based on this sign.
Down on the Mississippi river, near St. Anthony Main, is a big water treatment plant. Imposing towers of metal quietly lord over the flowing river.
Tower stairs on the big water treatment plant down on the Mississippi river near St. Anthony Main.
Powerline tripod structures along the river in downtown Minneapolis.
The trusses(?) of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis.
Looking the length of the Stone Arch Bridge towards downtown Minneapolis. A very cool place to hang for a bit on a sunny spring day.
I thought perhaps this fishing boat might contrast well with the large barge in the background, but it didn't do anything for me. I did some color and contrast moves and then the image became (in my opinion) much more interesting.
Ice has disappeared from the city lakes (finally) and the water is so so blue. A light spring breeze scatters light off the surface.
Not just any kind of junk from around the world, no sir-ee, good old fashioned American Junk! Yee-ha!
Some very large food product boxes in the window at Sister Fun in Uptown, Minneapolis. Mmmm, Jello. I quickly snapped the photo while driving past.
Yet another bar in downtown Minneapolis, this one in place of the old Pickled Parrot. The original fun bar?!? It hasn't even opened yet. How do they know? Maybe somebody should start one called "booze. the original sad/lonely bar"
The Holsum Bakery Thrift Store. Bread, Donuts, Cake and Sweeeeeet Rolls! Yes!
Location: Downtown Minneapolis.
Nothing says "class" like large black paint scrawled on the exterior wall and questionable spelling of the establishment's name combined with a broken entry way and less-than-new vehicles parked in front. Still, I'm intrigued.
Location: Downtown Minneapolis.
Personally, I don't much understand the average person's attraction to an establishment such as this (the giant phallic neon?), but then again I've been told I'm a musical snob. Still, the neon looks cool at night.
The view of First Ave. from the Target Center/Block E skyway on a chilly February night. First Ave (the music club) is behind the gigantic check-me-out-I'm-oh-so-cool neon guitar.
The large picture shows a gigantic 300-pound freshwater turtle -- as if I needed any thing else to be paranoid about while swimming! Of course they'll probably tell you that these turtles only eat little things like bugs and worms, but that'll do nothing to allay my fears. Giant turtles are pretty cool, but sometimes they just looked annoyed at my photo-taking. You'd think perhaps I've never seen a turtle before with all the pictures I took. Notice the turtles in the last pop-up photo -- they're totally having turtle-sex! Nasty! The turtle dude is sitting upright with the turtle lady in front of him getting their freak on. Yeah, I watched.
See more aquarium pictures.
Distractions are necessary for mental well-being so I decided to visit the aquarium at the Mall of America. The futuristic moving sidewalk gradually glides you through a giant plexiglass tunnel, surrounded on all sides (well, not the bottom, of course) by creatures from the watery realm. Take your time here and just watch quietly. Breathe deep.
See more aquarium pictures.
Murray's Steak House. Home of the butter knife steak. Or so I've heard. I've never been. But then, I don't eat red meat, either. Nice look to the place, though. Guess I have a thing for neon at night and that swanky sort of design.
I like the top half of the Sexworld building, but those horizontal pink and purple neon lights at ground level kind of destroy the coolness of the look.
For some reason I have always thought this building in downtown Minneapolis was very beautiful.
Late afternoon sunlight bursts through the clouds above the Minneapolis skyline on a late fall Saturday. A bit of tweaking in Photoshop adds more drama.
Downtown Minneapolis just after dusk. I'm not sure what it is, but looking at the skyline always makes me feel good, like this is home and it is an awesome place. Something like that...
Finally some nicer weather and the ability to sit out on the patio in back of Grumpy's downtown. A gorgeous spring night.
