AllanThinks

Tonight's the Night

This should be pretty epic. If you are in Central Kentucky, come on out and support your crazy, community marching band.

Kind of meta, don't you think?

I took this photo Saturday night at the 40th annual Beaux Arts Ball in Lexington. There was a photo booth set up where attendees could have their photo taken for free.

Sometimes photographs compose themselves.

As always, if you click the photo, you will be taken to it's page on my Flickr photostream, where you can see a larger version of it. And I think it looks even better in the large version.

The Christmas Card

Big Ass Balloon Dog in the Palace of Versailles

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

More art appreciation. Doesn't the balloon dog look like he is gazing at the painting?

This piece, by Jeff Koons, is called Balloon Dog (Magenta), and was one of about a dozen pieces by the artist on display throughout the Palace of Versailles.

The juxtaposition of these neo-pop pieces with the classical art of the palace was, to say the least, intriguing.

It turns out there are 5 Balloon Dog pieces, in different colors. I've been told that the red one is currently on display in Berlin.

I am still not done processing photos from our trip, but what I have done can be seen here.

FreeKY

This is a photo of a troupe of fire dancers called Foxfire Hypnotica, who performed during the FreeKY Festival, a free festival of music, art and exhibitions of eclectic culture, held on April 26 in downtown Lexington. It was the culmination of Alternative Music Week, sponsored by WRFL, the independent, commercial free, student run radio station at the University of Kentucky.

The entire week of concerts, art shows, and other events also served as 20th anniversary celebration, and a fund raiser for the station, which plans to increase their power, and reach a wider audience.

Alison and I attended several of the events during the week, including a concert feathering Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, at The Dame the Saturday before FreeKY, a bluegrass music show at Al's Bar, and a concert and art show held at our friend Lori's shop Isle of You.

The FreeKY Festival began at 11 a.m. and continued until almost midnight, featuring a number of bands, an art exhibit, vendor booths, and community group exhibitions. The musical headliners were Jolie Holland, and The Apples In Stereo. We hope that they decide to throw another party like this next year.

Ali and I got there around 3, and stayed until it ended. We took our cameras, and we both took tons of photos. You can see her set here, and mine, here.

As always, the photo is clickable.

 

Alas

Dragon Gate

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

Troll Haven Farm, Sequim, Washington.

Yeah, Hon. I'm An Iguana.

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

Last weekend, Alison and I traveled to the Washington, DC area to visit one of her cousins and her fiancé. Another cousin and her husband drove down from Philadelphia to join in the fun as well.

We flew into Washington National Airport early on the Friday morning, took the Metro to Alexandria, VA, where we met up with her cousin at her place of work. We left our luggage with her and took the Metro back into Washington where we spent the day sightseeing. We took in part of the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, the White House, and Chinatown.

At the end of the day, her cousin, Bonnie, met us at the Chinatown Metro station where we took another train to Maryland where she lives. Saturday, we went to Baltimore for HonFest 2007.

HonFest is billed as "a unique celebration of all things 'Bawlmer.' It is a celebration that pays homage to the neighborhoods, the language and the people of Baltimore." All things campy are honored at the festival. Big hair, cat-eye glasses, leopard skin spandex, feather boas, pork chop side burns, and pink flamingos abound. The photo above is one of the stranger things we saw that day.

Bands played all day on two stages. Just about any musical style you could imagine was represented.

And then there was the food. Lots of food. The aroma of the street was intoxicating.

You can see my photo set of HonFest 2007 here.

I had heard of this festival before, but never thought I'd get a chance to attend. But I am glad I did get that chance. I hope we can attend again next year.

ghosts in the coffee house

Click image for a much better view.

Alison and I can't get enough of Third Street Stuff & Coffee.

It is an eclectic gift shop and coffee house in downtown Lexington. We visit at least a couple of times a week, and we like to take our cameras with us.

You never know what, or who, you might find there.