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.