Wednesday Night Photo Post: Winter PIcture of a Houston Oddity

No. 7: Scene after Snow-storm  , originally uploaded by CAR Julia.

I love this place.  And I love CAR Julia's picture of the abandoned Chong Hua Sheng Mu Holy Palace.

Endangered Attraction: Austin's Cathedral of Junk (Part 2 - Photos)

The following photos are from a selection from the latest trip. Here are all my 2010 and 2009 Cathedral of Junk photos.

A Bad Sign, Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

No More Shed, Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

That's Me in the Picture, Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Vince's Truck, Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010 2, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Cathedral of Junk - Austin, TX - 2010, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Endangered Attraction: Austin's Cathedral of Junk (Part 1 - No Photos)

Austin's Cathedral of Junk has survived decades of Texas weather to only be possibly done in by a single complaint.  The city received a recent complaint purportedly from a visitor stating that they felt unsafe after going through the cathedral.  My personal first thought was that it's someone with an ax to grind, but granted the structure feels precarious and does not evoke feelings of safety.  So, don't go!  The place was found in violation (no surprise, codes weren't intended with an attraction such as this in mind) and Vince Hannemann has until the end of March to bring the Cathedral up to code or demo the whole place.

I found this out on Thursday, the first day of a three day trip spent in Austin.  So, I had to visit the CoJ on Friday.  It had already undergone some transformation since my March 2009 visit, gone was access to the upper tiers and demolished was the visitor's center shed.

I have no hopes about this surviving without the intervention of higher ups.  When I was there, Vince was heading out to a meeting with the mayor (and/or the mayor's office.)  I wished him well, knowing it was all I could do.  

I'll be posting a Part 2 to this post, Flickr has been cranky with online editing.  Once those pix are looking right, they'll be here on the blog.

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News coverage (with video):

Cathedral of Junk in peril due to code violations - News 8

Volunteers hope to save Cathedral of Junk - News 8

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Art Overhead at Rice

Rice Mosaic, originally uploaded by Tom Haymes.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Tet Fest & Chua Linh Son Temple

Tet_bw1, originally uploaded by hoanghuymanh images.

Tet_bw5, originally uploaded by hoanghuymanh images.

Tet Festival in Black and White, and more at Manh and Lieu Photography.

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Also, from Flickr user mlsnp, a gorgeous set of the Chua Linh Son Temple.

New Houston Mayor Say Bloggers Can Be "Negative and Snarky": I Say "WHATEVZ!!!"

I kid!!!

It's nice listen to the new mayor (whom I voted for) talk intelligently about technology. She talks of bloggers as almost neighborhood captains (constituency, point of view, etc). Avoidance of most local news means I hadn't seen much of the mayor on TV. I'm liking what I'm seeing in terms of her realism and insights.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Masonic Aztek Mural, Galaxy Auto Upholstery - Houston, TX

Masonic Aztek Mural, Galaxy Auto Upholstery - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

New On Flickr: The University of Houston Digital Library

Luis Marquez Photographs, originally uploaded by University of Houston Digital Library.

The University of Houston Digital Library now has an additional internet presence, a new Flickr page. While the World Famous Red Headed Widows, ca. 1909 postcard not there yet, the Flickr page is only a few days old, so it will be interesting to see how the digital library uses it. Personally, I'd like to see all the historic Houston photographs placed on an available map.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: The Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy

All my Stibbert Museum Photos.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stibbert Museum - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti is Italian: Graffiti in Italy

First impressions taking the train from Leonardo da Vinci Airport to Roma Termini?... there are a lot of kids with loads of free time and lots of paint in Rome.  Seemingly, every abandoned train platform and track-side structure was tagged with graffiti.  Also truly unexpected, the abundance of aged and abandoned buildings that scattered the landscape, within view of the rail line running from airport to central.  Years-long decay of structures and the defacing of buildings didn't impress this first-time visitor.  Italy sells itself on historic ruins, so the toll of nature and patina of age is expected in picturesque roman buildings.   It's the more contemporary neglect that was shocking.  Leaving Rome, there was lovely countryside to take in (looking a lot like Southern California), but even then graffiti gravitated to any building near the rail line..

The Florence is heavily affected by rampant tagging. The official tourism board has a page dedicated to historic graffito, but for obvious reasons, there is not mention of the current plague that affects the many of the city walls.  The Travelers Notebook touched upon Florence's graffiti issue in June '09 article, Florence Defaced By Graffiti, Declared Ugly and Depressing.

Outside the Accedemia, look for the block-plus long scrawled massages by those waiting in line for the David and other works.  In the barely populated off-season street, I didn’t understand why so much graffiti lined the walls until I noticed a simple message “4 hour.”

Being neither fluent in Italian nor of Florentine opinion, its impossible to know the local sentiment.  I heard from a local that the new, young mayor is working on the task.  As a visitor who was only in the city a few days, I can only imagine what those who live with this daily.

Train Station Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Greetings from Baden, Ontario Stencil Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Stencil Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Graffiti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Space City

"Space City", originally uploaded by bill barfield.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Shots From the Italy Trip

Exhaustion.
A cold.
Poor sleep.

Yup, all of those came back with me, mostly.  There was an ideal trip to Italy and this just wasn't quite the one.  Why no blog entries while on vacation?   Google and Blogger decided not to join us abroad.   Gmail, nope.  Google maps, nope.  Google search, nope.  Blogger, nope.  Had to use a poxy service just to get them kind of running.  The rest of the internet, just fine. 

There were some good times had and here are some pictures as proof.   More stories and images to come this week.

Hold Your Nose, Via Toscanella - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Inside the Duomo - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Museo di Firenze (Local History Museum) Biblioteca delle Oblate - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Boboli Grotto by Buontalenti - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Piazza della Signoria - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Reproduction of David, Piazzale Michelangelo - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella - Florence, Italy, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Ungrateful in Florence: Mark Twain as Good Company Abroad

The month of pre-flight stress, the hours of plane and train travel, the jet-lagged and cold early mornings have all conspired to make me feel grumpy, achy and not receptive to an unfamiliar city. Fortunately yesterday, one of the missus' professional lunch companions recommended another who was felt the same after his trip as well.

"How the fatigues and annoyances of travel fill one with bitter prejudices
sometimes! I might enter Florence under happier auspices a month hence
and find it all beautiful, all attractive. But I do not care to think of
it now, at all, nor of its roomy shops filled to the ceiling with snowy
marble and alabaster copies of all the celebrated sculptures in Europe--
copies so enchanting to the eye that I wonder how they can really be
shaped like the dingy petrified nightmares they are the portraits of."

Mark Twain literate cynicism about travel might be the perfect antidote to my current fatigue. I hope last night's rest, more of Mr. Clemens' wit and a good breakfast will get me on a happier path.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Felix's

Felix Mexican Restaurant bw, originally uploaded by mata-leão.