Contemplate

Buddha statues at the Chua Phat Phap Buddhist Temple on 62nd Avenue in St. Petersburg.

Showboating

The Seafood Shack Showboat Cruise in Cortez. I wanted to give the paddle-wheeler a timeless look by going monochrome, and altering the color balance in Photoshop.

Also:

• Spare Parts in Cortez
• Old Florida Fishing Shack

Serendiptious

It was fitting to run into John Scott’s “I Remember Birmingham” on display at the Poynter Institute a few weeks back during the Times’ Festival of Reading. I noticed it, almost hidden in a recessed area of the wall, after a talk on the Freedom Riders, given by Ray Arsenault, a USF history professor who wrote Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Somehow on the way to the talk, I walked right past a piece that made me draw a gasp when I first saw it.

Although the Poynter's display wasn't as dramatic as the one at the Museum of Fine Arts, with the illuminated blocks spread apart in a darkened room, the piece still retained its resonance. Maybe even more so after hearing other-worldly things like the incident at Anniston, Alabama. There, the local members of the Klan threw a Molotov cocktail on the activists’ bus and then tried to block all the bus exits. Following the attack, the Klan members wanted to burn down their own community’s hospital because it was treating some of the Freedom Riders.
Wow: The Reactionary Conservative’s Guide to Shitting In Your Own Bed!

Overheard before the talk were two old ladies behind me reading a handout that was a copy of an application to join the Freedom Riders, but was not dated. When they got to the part that warned about potential violence, the one lady remarked to the other:
“Well, I guess that leaves us out!”

Scott's piece is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts. Scott's from New Orleans, but the piece was created at Graphicstudio in Tampa.

Moonscape

Floodlights illuminate deflated slides at night on a deserted stretch of Clearwater Beach at Pier 60.

Outdoor Retreat

At the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg.

TBay Around the Net

Flickr tags "polk," "florida," and "signs":

• Silver Moon Drive-In, Lakeland (Domoni/photo)
• Scratch N Dent (Domoni/photo)
• Lakmar Motel (Uh...Bob/photo)
  

Found Photo Series, No. 9

No, the "Rum Cured Crooks" isn't a jacket cover for the latest book about an Ybor City bolito operation. This cigar label was found in a St. Petersburg antiques shop.

Also:

• Found Photo Series, No. 8
• Found Photo Series, No. 7
• Found Photo Series, No. 6
  

Due for a Revival

A trio of block patterns, throughout the bay area--an architectural use I'd like to see make a comeback.

Head Start for Horror

Hmmm...looks like the zombies are getting an early start this year.

TBay Around The Net

Flickr tags: "tampa" and "redneck":

• DIY Gone Bad? (yankeepez/photo)
• They Hate Us For Our Freedom Fries (shutterblog/photo)
• They Call It Getting "Tampa'd" (temporarySPASTIC/photo)

Afternoon Tea

At the Gas Plant Antique Arcade on Central Avenue in St. Pete.

Globe O' Booze

I needed a drink when I got home from TIA, so it's only fitting to start back up with the World Liquors sign on Central Avenue in St. Pete.

Going Out of Town

A brief interruption in posting -- gotta go out of town until Thursday.
Image courtesy of: Spell with flickr

Temporary Skyline

A cruise liner looms over the Bennigan's on the second floor of Channelside. In front, giving some scale, is the covered escalator to the second level.

TBay Around the Net

Tampa Bay in Orange:

• Nice photo, including setup details (jeremyallen35/photo)
• Polluted-looking (katiew/photo)
• Beach wedding in Anna Maria Island (thecharmedgirl/photo)

Ybor Collective

Among the images: details from Ybor City lamposts; the statue of writer, poet and Cuban independence leader Jose Marti; a cigar factory lector taken from a detail on an outdoor mural; and the Centro Ybor sign.

TBay Around the Net

Flickr tags: "tampa" and "photobooth":

• Facial Gyrations (photo/unaesthetic)
• Fully Loaded [I mean the booth!](photo/unaesthetic)
• Al (photo/NuckleheadEd)

Everything Changes

I never would have gone to something like the Home & Remodelling Show that was at the Trop last weekend before. But before buying a condo, I never would have spent three days painting indoor walls, either. I wish there had been more cool stuff, such that you might see on HGTV, but at any rate, here's a series of (relative) highlights.

Here is the Trop all luau-ed out at the Exotic Plumeria booth, followed by...

The Weekender

The Weekender outdoor grill, just under $9200, including deep fryer.

Hoffman Spa Collection

...and my favorite, the Rock Salt Crystal Lamps, made from 100% crystallized Himalayan salt.