Chattanooga Riverfront

This is a shot of the Chattanooga riverfront with the Market Street Bridge and the Tennessee Aquarium. This is two seperate photographs "stitched" together. Photography buffs might want to know that I increased color saturation by 70%.

Another Great Day!

Today I broke out the mountain bike and took a ride on the Tennessee Riverwalk all the way from the Chicamauga Dam to Coolidge Park in Downtown Chattanooga. The weather was perfect today and Chattanooga has come alive once more. The Riverwalk was teeming with walkers, skaters, and bikers and Coolidge Park was bustling with activity today and there were a lot families taking advantage of the huge fountain there. I'm estimating my ride at about 18 or 19 miles round trip. Not too shabby for an old guy.

I stopped from time to take a few picture. I've put a couple here and more on my FlickR page.

Long Overdue

Yesterday Susan and I did something that was long, long overdue. We've lived in Chattanooga for 8 years and we had never ridden the Incline Railway up Lookout Mountain. For anyone interested, the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway (or "funicular" if you prefer the proper name) is the steepest incline railway in the world. When you first enter the cars you're actually sitting back in an inclined position. You gradually become more vertical as you ascend the track and close to the top you feel like you're hanging over the edge of a steep precipice. This was really neat although I am pretty sure that Susan kept her eyes closed for most of the trips up and down the mountain.

When we got to the top of Lookout Mountain we took a short (3 block) walk past the Giles House over to Point Park. From there you can see all of Chattanooga. There are also several Civil War monuments there and the lanscaping is beautiful.

Angst Ego Id

Some days the pieces just aren't held together quite as tightly as others.

Hmmmm

I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one that ever looks at this stuff anymore!

My Favorite Time Of Year

Winter is finally over, the trees and flowers are in full bloom, and the kids are playing in the fountain at Coolidge Park again. Today was absolutely clear and 71 degrees. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Braxton with Stephanie Culberson

Here's my grandson Braxton with Miss Tennessee 2004 Stephanie Culberson. Braxton had a part as an extra in the (as yet un-released) Bartlee Norton video Back On The Ground.
Braxton got to miss a little school and have a bit of fun. It was great getting to meet Stephanie, who was both very attractive and quite friendly. It was also interesting to watch Bartlee and crew work on the video. It is unbelievable the amount of different shots and camera angles that are required to get the finished product. I'll try to post more on this at a later date.

Surreal

Photo Friday for March 7, 2008: Surreal

Something's Coming!

This is the Tennessee River Railroad Bridge which crosses the Tennessee River just below the Chicamauga Dam. This is just slightly past the beginning of the Tennessee Riverwalk where I love to run/walk on the weekends. When I was there last Sunday I decided to get a shot of this train crossing but I just could not find a location that would let me get the shot that I really wanted. For better or worse I've posted this one anyway. This really awesome when you're standing under this bridge and a train is crossing. One of the really neat things about this bridge is that the center span (see the large tower in the distance) actually raises straight up when very large boats (such as the Mississippi Queen) must pass to get to the locks of the dam.

Live At The Bijou

Live At The Bijou????Actually, the title of this post has practically nothing (almost) to do with the subject of the post. Susan and I recently celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and she got me an ION USB turntable. I have been slowly converting my vinyl LP's to digital media and todays' selection was Live At The Bijou by Grover Washington, Jr. So far I've recorded several of my older Todd Rundgren albums (mainly Runt, The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, A Wizard A True Star, and Something/Anything). I've also recorded two Gong albums, Shamal and Expresso.
This turntable is pretty great in that you just plug it into the USB port of your computer and then use the software which was included to record albums directly into iTunes.

Lord Of The Dance

Friday was my and Susan's anniversary and I finally got tickets to a show that Susan has wanted to see for years. We went to see Michael Flatley's LORD OF THE DANCE. I have to say that every thing about this production was top notch. We had a great time and enjoyed this show very much. I have no doubt that we will see it again should it ever return to Chattanooga.
I would post some pictures but I did not take any (cameras were prohibited) and the official website does not have active links to the photos. You can check out the website and look at the photos and listen to sound clips there.

Something To Fall Back On

Today I was listening to some older Todd Rundgren. I still like the older Rundgren tunes now just a much (and many cases more) as the day they were released. Click on the album cover to follow a link to VH1 where you can watch and listen to some Todd Rundgren videos from the 80's.
GOOD STUFF!!

Released: September, 1985
Genre: Pop rock
Length: 39:42
Label: Rhino
Producer: Todd Rundgren

Journeyman

Okay, I know that this is not the kind of post that I normally do but I've learned that NBC has cancelled one of the best new television shows in years, Journeyman. The show was often compared to Quantum Leap but it was so much better in my opinion. You actually believed the characters and plot lines. Both casting and acting were first rate. Monday night was the one night that I stayed up later than normal just so I wouldn't miss a minute of this very excellent show. I can only hope that this show will be brought back, even if on another network. Perhaps NBC is just not ready for such a well written show that challenges the mind and offers top notch entertainment. Now only time will tell.

More fun at the Gaylord

Susan and I knocking around with "friends" at the Gaylord in Nashville

Unique Performance Art

Susan and I were at the Gaylord in Nashville this weekend where we saw a very intriguing and unique performer. As we were walking along the sidewalk in the Delta area there was a large IVY vine on one of the walls. Just as we approached we heard several people gasp as the whole ivy vine started to move. The "vine" was a young lady would was expertly disguised as a plant (and she was also on stilts). She moved around the area and stopped occasionally to strike various poses. It was a really neat performance. I know that I have seen video clips of these type performers before but I cannot remember where. If anyone does know please drop me a line.

Photo Friday: Sunrise

For the Photo Friday subject SUNRISE. I shot this on the way to work back in October at the Chicamauga Dam in Chattanooga, TN.

Getting back in shape

Yeah, yeah. I know that this is a pretty poor picture of me looking really ragged, but I am very proud of this picture for several reasons. I shot this with my cell phone camera last Sunday at the Tennessee Riverwalk. I shot this at the five mile marker on the trail where I ran approximately 9 1/2 miles. By the way, I started at an area called the Frye Fishing Center which has an excellent park and a cafe called "OUT OF THE BLUE". It's just past the one mile marker. I ran (and walked) to the six mile marker before turning around. The weather last Sunday was great with temperatures in the low 70's (unlike today, a mere 7 days later, when we had snow flurries). This is my first real outdoor run after my lung surgery back in May. Oh, I do run approximately 5 1/2 miles 4 to 5 days a week at the gym but running on a treadmill just isn't the same as the great outdoors. Also, the dynamics of running outdoors seems entirely different than running on the treadmill. I do know one thing. I LIKE RUNNING OUTDOORS. I have to commend Chattanooga and Hamilton County for providing such a great park in which to run. The trail extends 8.5 miles one way, from the Chicamauga Dam to the Tennessee Aquarium. There are several rest areas with toilets and water and there is a great family park with a playground and snack bar that has great raspberry tea and deserts (as well as an excellent selection of kites!). This is time well spent and I plan on doing a lot more of it. I am hoping to get myself in good enough shape to run a race in the spring. We'll see how it goes!

PhotoFriday: Fantasy

I tried planting some onions in this little garden spot two years in a row but something digs them up everytime. I just can't seem to keep the squirrels, cats, dogs, and other "pests" out of my garden!

a little Photoshop 7.0 fun for PhotoFriday

Photo Friday: UNFINISHED

It's been awhile since I did any new Photo Friday projects. It seems as if I have spent almost every weekend since mid July working on the house. I titled the photo above "Missing" for the Photo Friday subject UNFINISHED. As you can see the chair would be finished were it not missing its' legs. Of course that hasn't stopped Susan from using it anyway as she loves to sit in it to read.

House Painting Update

The house painting is coming along nicely but I did run out of steam this weekend and did NOT finish everything that I wanted. I had hoped to finish the south end of the house but found several pieces of siding that begged to be replaced instead of repainted. That could have been a pretty tough job but my son-in-law Jeff came over and helped me with it. So far I've stolen the last three weekends from him and worry that I can never repay such a large debt. We finished replacing the siding about 2:30 on Sunday and then we called it a day and went swimming. First time that I've been swimming in the river in several years and it was fun. I was a little worried since I had not been swimming since my surgery. I didn't have a bit of trouble and it was actually very relaxing. I'll definitely have to try to relax more, swim more, and just plain try not to let life hurry me along to fast!

Well, enough rambling for now. Here's a couple of pictures of the painting progress.