Top # 3

The top of a slide at a playground...

Another Topper

Keeping with the theme of tops - this is the top of the Dodson fountain at LSU...

At The Top

A close-up of the top of the Old State Capitol, taken from the rooftop garden of the Shaw Center across the street.

Louisiana Book Festival

Cars were blocked from Fourth Street today in front of the State Library, fittingly enough, for the 2007 Louisiana Book Festival. I am a bad Daily Photo Blogger - I admit I was concentrating more on the displays and exhibits instead of taking photos.

Daytime Satellite

The moon makes a daytime appearance.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sudsing Up

The view from inside Benny's Car Wash...

Spooky Storm

This is the scariest picture I could come up with for Halloween: a nice big thunderstorm that happened a few months ago...

Main Street

Here's another colorful mural - this one is on the side of a warehouse on Main Street.

At The Y

This mural is painted on the side of the A. C. Lewis YMCA on South Foster Drive in the mid-city area of Baton Rouge. It features scenes of different activities children and adults enjoy at the Y, such as swimming, yoga, and soccer. The mural is now behind a chain-link fence after someone attempted to vandalize it.

Spiderweb

At last! I've made my escape from the pernicious web, and can post again...

I HAZ A BUKKIT

My cat decided to join me last night in the home office, but instead of jumping on top of the desk, she hopped into an old Christmas candy tin. She also likes squeezing herself into shoeboxes and curling up in laundry baskets.

Moving House

When most of us think of moving house, we think of packing up our belongings in boxes, loading them into trucks and vans, then transporting them and unloading them inside new homes.

But other people choose to take the house with them!

A motorcycle cop was on hand to block traffic at the intersection, and the power company sent two crews to turn off electricity running through the power lines.

And no, your eyes don't deceive you, that is a man sitting on the roof of the house.

He has an important job: preventing the traffic lights from colliding with and damaging the roof. Here's a closeup of him in action:

He's a braver soul than I am, and I hope he's been well compensated for his work. Even though the house was moving quite slowly, this doesn't seem to be a task for the faint of heart.

It took no more than ten minutes, maybe even less than that, for this home to make its way across the Government Street/Lobdell intersection.

Baton Rouge Magnet High School

Here's another "castle" in Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Magnet High School, built in 1926. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was also named on Sunday as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in our state by The Trust for Historic Louisiana. Although the high school is one of the top-ranked academically in the state, students are learning in a decaying building: water damage from leaks in the roof, falling plaster, decaying bricks. The school board is trying to determine whether the school should be partially or completely renovated, or whether it should be torn down and a new school built. Allumni of the school who hope to preserve the historic front building are gathering support for their cause through a petition drive and a Facebook group.

Here's a fun fact about BRMHS: Elvis Presley played a concert here in 1955...

Preparing For Liftoff

When the balloon championships were in town, it seemed like competitors were taking off wherever they could find an open space. This balloonist was inflating in a vacant lot behind CAMD, which is the white building on the left. CAMD is LSU's Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices.

Grab Your Umbrellas

Back from the dead . The office has calmed down to a dull roar, so I can start breathing again.

Above is some rain brought by Humberto to my neighborhood on Thursday night. I hope that our drought-stricken southern and midwestern neighbors received some showers of blessing from Humberto.

Tangled Webs

Last week, I noticed that under the birdbath, an enterprising spider was weaving. Its handiwork is no longer there - I think the thunderstorm we had on Tuesday washed it out - but the spider has moved on up, to the nearby white oak tree, and is spinning away again. I admire the determination of spiders. If the web gets destroyed one day, the next day start building another.

Why The Delay?

I apologize for my inconsistent posting. Nothing serious or tragic has caused the delays, just the usual office chaos. I am crossing my fingers that everything settles down reasonably soon and I have more time to focus on taking pictures and blogging.

Thanks for your patience...

(above photo: Art Building at LSU)

The Return of Rain

This may not seem like an exciting photo, but it was very exciting late yesterday afternoon when a thunderstorm broke the monotony of the heat wave. I'm still mastering the art of photographing the rain, so the best photo I could manage was one of a raindrop-splattered patio.

Think Cool Thoughts

A third record-breaking day of heat today, and another one expected tomorrow. Sounds like a good time for a spearmint snowball! This is a cup of finely crushed ice that's covered in spearmint syrup which stains your tongue for a day or two. If you don't like spearmint, that's okay, you could choose strawberry flavor instead, or bubble gum, or pina colada, or wild cherry, and I think the snowball stand even had a birthday cake flavor...

Up, Up, and Away

During this oppressively hot weekend, Baton Rougeans who were brave enough to step outside during the morning may have seen balloons floating by. It's not a hallucination brought on by heatstroke, thankfully, but a sign that the Southeast Regional and Louisiana State Hot Air Balloon Championship had returned to town. Each day's competition began during the coolest time of the day - 6:30 in the morning.

Heat Advisory

Baton Rouge, like much of the southern United States, is under a Heat Advisory today. The high temperature is expected to reach 97 degrees Fahrenheit, but with the lovely oppressive humidity it will feel more like 105 degrees. But look at this nice, clear water from one of the downtown fountains! I wonder how cold it is?

If you're in a hot area today, be careful, remember to drink plenty of water.

Easy Streets

This week LSU started up its "Easy Streets" program, designed to make the campus more pedestrian-friendly and to prevent collisions between walking or bicycling students and vehicles. Traffic booths like the one pictured above are set up at ten locations throughout the campus to restrict the flow of vehicles along streets. Faculty and staff who have a special access card will be able to travel along the roads, but students who commute will have to park their cars in the lots surrounding the campus and move it on foot to class, which most did anyway before this program began. It will be interesting to see if this program eliminates those drivers who think that the "Yield To Pedestrians" signs at crosswalks are suggestions for someone else.

August Theme Photo: Breakfast

This month's Theme is a Typical Breakfast, so above here is the breakfast I ate this morning: a bowl of corn flakes in skim milk, and a sliced nectarine.

Then I go to work and eat cupcakes out of the vending machine.

There are currently 86 blogs participating in this Theme Day:
Saint Paul (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - New York City (NY), USA - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hyde, UK - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Stockholm, Sweden - Paderborn, Germany - Singapore, Singapore - Haninge, Sweden - Nottingham, UK - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Manila, Philippines - Boston (MA), USA - Seoul, Korea - Singapore, Singapore - Joplin (MO), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Paris, France - Sequim (WA), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Boston (MA), USA - Chennai, India - Madison (WI), USA - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Toulouse, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - La Antigua, Guatemala - Selma (AL), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Sheki, Azerbaijan - Sydney, Australia - Mumbai, India - Seoul, South Korea - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - New Orleans (LA), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Villigen, Switzerland - Montréal (QC), Canada - Stayton (OR), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Moscow, Russia - Springfield (MO), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Arlington (VA), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Anderson (SC), USA - Oslo, Norway - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Manila, Philippines - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Stavanger, Norway - Bastia, France - Hong Kong, China - Wailea (HI), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Sydney, Australia - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Kansas City (MO), USA - Grenoble, France - Paris, France - Evry, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Prague, Czech Republic

ROYGBIV

I was driving to work this morning, and the skies were gray, and I was feeling a bit glum, but as I got closer to the office, WOW! A rainbow!

This put a smile on my face as I began my work day...

Give Me Wings!

The slogan for Red Bull energy drinks is, "Red Bull gives you wiiinngs!"

I wonder how often the driver wishes the Red Bull car had wings, to fly over the gridlock on the roadways... ;)

It's Raining Again

It rained again this afternoon, but thankfully not enough to cause any flooding. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the Midwest and Texas and in England facing rising rivers.

A Work In Progress

This is an older building on Lafayette Street downtown that is undergoing renovation. I think it used to be a hotel at one point in time.

I wonder what it will be in its next incarnation...

Offices?

Apartments?

Another hotel, perhaps?

Sunday Drive

I admit that I get stuck in a travel rut. I travel from my house, to my job, then to the store, then back home, making the same circuit day after day. If I do branch out, it's on Sunday mornings, when traffic is barely existent and it's much easier to move around Baton Rouge.

The above photo was taken as I tried to learn the layout of the new Picardy exit off Interstate 10 in south Baton Rouge. With few cars around, I was able to explore the onramps and offramps for about 10 minutes, stress-free.

Muse

Our harpist is part of a frieze along the outside of the State Capitol building. I never noticed her until this year, as I searched for items to photograph.

Drive Carefully

Lighted signs, warning drivers to slow down and prepare to stop, now stand along a three-mile stretch of Interstate 12 after two major multi-vehicle crashes that killed four people. Both wrecks happened at the O'Neal Lane exit, where the freeway reduces from three lanes of traffic to two. Traffic tends to slow down and bottleneck here as people try to merge. In both of the crashes, police believe the drivers failed to notice that other vehicles was slowing down or stopped, hence the signs to alert motorists.

"Let's be careful out there..."

Blue Blooms

I don't know what these blue flowers are called, but I think they're lovely...



Can anyone identify these mystery blooms?

Shaw Center for the Arts

The Shaw Center for the Arts, which opened just two years ago in downtown Baton Rouge, features several art galleries, including the LSU Museum of Art, and a 325-seat performing arts theatre. There's also a popular sushi restaurant on the top floor, with an outdoor terrace offering envious views of the Mississippi River.

One nice feature of the Shaw Center is the Second Saturdays program this summer. On the second Saturday of each month, admission to galleries is free, and there are special arts activities planned for children. Some of the activities planned for August include an Instrument Petting Zoo, where members of the Baton Rouge Symphony show children how to play their instruments, and a crafts project using patterned papers, inspired by an ongoing exhibit of Japanese prints.

Oliver Pollock

This is a closeup of a 17-foot high bronze statue of Oliver Pollock, sculpted by Frank Hayden. Pollock was an Irish native who became a successful merchant in New Orleans during the years before the Revolutionary War, and he used his wealth to help finance the War effort. Pollock is also believed by some to have invented $, the dollar sign.

Baton Rouge in 2107?

This is one of four murals featured on a small outdoor stage near the riverfront. I like the fanciful vision of a future Baton Rouge. Hopefully those flying saucers we'll be traveling in will alleviate some traffic nightmares - or would they create gridlock in space?

Friday The 13th

It's Friday the 13th, and I've gotten stuck under some sort of grating!

(actually I'm not really stuck)

When I was younger, I used to be scared when Friday fell on the 13th day of the month. I was convinced that bad things would happen, and would go home and tell my mother all the troubles I had that day. Eventually she had her fill of it and told me that it was all in my mind, that the 13th was like any other day and could actually be a lucky day, but I was focused solely on the bad things that went on and forgot about the good things. I reluctantly took her advice, and to my surprise soon found that, yes, Friday the 13th actually was like an ordinary day.

I hope that none of you are triskadekaphobic, and that today turned out to be a lucky day for you...

Hot Enough For You?

To my poor car, the outside temperature felt like 99 degrees today. At the time I took this, the actual temperature was probably closer to 89 or 90 degrees, but with the added humidity (67%) it felt more miserable. I am very thankful that the air conditioner in my car is working. Fall can't come soon enough.

(PS yes, I know about my dusty car. It's getting washed and cleaned on Saturday :) )

The Sun, Moon, and Stars...

...and the planets, too.

This is above one of the doorways to Nicholson Hall at LSU, home of the physics and astronomy departments.

In Bloom

The crape myrtles are in bloom across Baton Rouge. This one is at the Botanic Gardens, which has a lovely crape myrtle garden. Crape myrtles are native to China and eastern India - I didn't know that until today.

Stop 'N' Sip

You don't have to have wings to enjoy the backyard birdbath. This squirrel likes to quench his thirst there. Lucky for him, the cats were sleeping when he stopped for a break.

Drive On Thru

Taken while I was in the drive-thru line at Raising Cane's on Government Street, waiting to get chicken fingers for lunch. I like the way the power boxes are camouflaged by the arrow...

Love, All

I was trying to figure out an unique way to take a picture of a tennis court. I don't know how unique this is, though ;)

The good news is, the sun is shining right now!

Kickin' Back On Friday

This is a playground ride that looks like a see-saw, but instead of moving up and down, you move around in a circle.

Hope this Friday will begin a weekend of fun and summery (or wintry) delights for you!

More Precipitation

More rain again today. Over three inches this week. I'm hoping for a day of sunshine so that the yard will dry enough for me to mow the lawn. But I'm thankful that we're not facing flooding, only more mosquitos.

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July!

A Spot For Reflection

A closeup of the benches at the MLK Memorial that I posted about yesterday...

MLK Memorial

My other choice for yesterday's Theme Day would have been the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial near the Governmental Building. It was sculpted by New York City native Arthur Silverman when he was in his seventies. Each of the benches in front of the memorial has a plaque with a famous quote from Dr. King.