MayDay

No, I use Photoshop's cropping/perspective tool to correct the "keystoning" on those shots. Same results as the offset lens without the expense :-)

Don't make me scowl! I can't afford the wrinkles! :x

In the same article he wrote this: "I’ve only watched these powerful forces at work for slightly more than 40 years." "Mike Polensek, dean of City Council, probably has been around too long." Hmm, rather than the pot/kettle reference, isn't that the "fossil calling the triceratops" old?

Well folks, this will be the last photo thread from me for a while. I'm going on vacation for the next week (I'll be turning 34 in the meantime), and I thought I should do a retrospective from the past year. I didn't travel as much as I'd hoped but overall my 33rd was a very good year for me. Enjoy: Columbus: Pittsburgh: Akron: Youngstown: And of course, Cleveland:

Well given the source, I took it as a compliment - I mean, he did get the "bitch" part right :wink:

Wow, to think I might not hear another homeless guy call me a "faggoty-assed bitch" because they've already been shooed away by one of the BID crew! Oh to dream... :-)

My only comment would be - if she was one of the owners who asked for a property devaluation for tax purposes, but now expects a "fair" price, I just don't have much sympathy. It's one or the other - either your property has value and you don't need to have a devaluation, or it doesn't and you'd better take what you can get. "she's ready to take it to court..." Unfortunately for her, the Supreme Court's decision will make short work of her attempts at prolonging the process. And she won't have much to persuade anyone via sympathy (i.e. no residents are being displaced). That's the danger of sitting on a parcel and waiting to resell it at a profit.

Although it's sad to see that the site will be undeveloped for the near-term, I'm glad to see that an experienced developer will be handling the project. Coral has had quite a bit of success with their other projects.

I reluctantly suggest my hometown of Salem in Columbiana County. I say reluctantly because my experience growing up... well, it could have been more pleasant to say the least. The downtown is compact, somewhat intact with some locally-owned shops (including a fantastic coffeeshop, Friends Roastery) a branch of Youngstown's art museum, and nice pre-war architecture. There's also a mile-long stretch of older homes that is a National Historic Register district south of downtown (South Lincoln Avenue). Check the urbanohio page devoted to Salem at http://www.urbanohio.com/Salem.htm Don't get me wrong, it's hardly a cultural mecca and I'd doubt I'd move back at gunpoint, but it can make for a decent daytrip.

The one thing I can absolutely assure you of when you visit Cleveland (well, two) - you will have good food and (if you imbibe) good and strong drink(s). As we're going to have some newcomers, I think it might be best to start downtown, head to Ohio City for lunch (lots of options, let people explore on their own), see who is still up for more and take the Rapid from there to University Circle. Cincy-Rise, in the past we've split up after dinner... people tend to have different ideas of what constitutes a "great time" when it comes to a night out. However, it seems like whatever your scene - there's always a few who dig that too. :-) Regardless of anything, the starting time will be 10:00am on Saturday and we'll definitely meet downtown so we can take advantage of the Rapid. I can put together an itinerary so people running late will know where to pick up.

See, the problem is - I don't eat bananas like that. I first peel the banana completely, and place the banana on a paper towel. I then break off the bottom "tip". Then I proceed to surgically remove the "strings" (god I HATE those things). Then I break the banana into bite-size pieces. 1. Yes, I know I'm a retentive nutjob, and 2. the only reason Kirk Cameron "found God" was because he wasn't attractive to begin with, and he knew that unlike other child stars (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Rick Schroeder, etc.), he'd never work mainstream media again.

Oh dear... while I'm deeply sorry to hear about your camera phone, I'm not sure if we can forgive you for not be able to show us the pics. We may have to revoke your forum privileges for such a transgression :wink:

"Could possibly be getting access to the scaffolding currently surrounding the upper reaches of the Terminal Tower. Damn I hope it isn't windy that particular day." Very cool! Please be careful and PLEASE take a camera, and please take lots of high-res pics for us!! :-D

The desktop is clean - I can't say the same for the folders :wink:

Gentlemen, I wish I didn't feel the need to explain this, but I post this hoping that some of the co-workers on my floor might miraculously read this. We're talking about toilets and what's the best approach to selecting a toilet to "bomb the harbor", "download brownware", or "drop the kids off at the pool", as it were. It's very simple. Our restroom has four stalls. If you're the first person in and all stalls are available, feel free to take your choice. However, it's recommended to take a stall at either end (#1 or #4): If you happen to go into the restroom and you see a stall occupied, please select the stall furthest away, or at least leave an empty stall between you and the occupied stall. Now, you don't want to be this disgusting pig/slob/moron/dork/f#cking j@ck@ss. He's the guy who sees nothing wrong with plunking his overgassed rear in the stall next to an occupied stall - EVEN if an open stall is available. Ideally, he'd wait until one of the stalls is available - thus ensuring the comfort of his co-workers. But sometimes we can't always time these things properly. Even so - there's a thing called a courtesy flush. It involves flushing the toilet and a little bit of good timing so as to camoflauge shall we say, the noises involved with expulsion of waste in amounts that can be measured in raw tonnage. It also sends said waste on its way, lessening the acrid stench. But - this guy doesn't know that - and his co-worker now has to go home because he's overcome by the fumes. Please - I beseech you. Learn the rules. Be good to your co-workers.

They aren't kidding about Oak Hill - the blight is incredibly widespread and on a level that rivals the worst areas of much larger cities. Here are some pics from Oak Hill: The northeasternmost part, near Market Street. On the left side of the pic, the building has collapsed. This building has been falling apart for almost a decade - in other cities, it would probably at least have been boarded up and secured or demolished: Next to the building is this house, stripped of its aluminum siding and left to rot: Close to the heart of Oak Hill (on Oak Hill @ Woodland). Note the boarded up door has been broken down: A few blocks away, this apartment building is abandoned, with overhangs on each entrance having collapsed: More of the same: Not even churches are immune - while I expected to see blight, this was absolutely surreal: It's not completely without hope - some infill projects have happened, but they're the exception to the rule: And this lone house (or shall I say compound) is one of the few holdouts: Finally, Oak Hill might not have much, but they do have this great view of the downtown skyline:

"to be met by an escort(aka the poopoo) at the next station." Ahem, I have it on good authority that the proper spelling is po-po. "Excuse me miss, I speak jive" :wink:

You're asking my opinion about license plates... remember, I've been car-free for almost five years! :-D I'll send you an Illustrator file (eps) of the logo.

"Coming Soon... Out of Place: a portrait of surfing the Great Lakes A film I've been working on for almost 5 years. Ninety percent is shot in Cleveland. I hope it will make a positive impact and change perceptions of how people view the coastline here. It should be edited and released by next fall!!" I'm sorry I missed this when you posted it - are you one of those people that surf in the winter? :-o

I was over by CSU today and I saw a plume of black smoke about a mile directly south. Then I heard a noise, like when a truck goes over a steel plate in the road on a construction site but I realized that was the explosion. The pics from the news choppers didn't seem quite as awful as it looked from where I was standing. Scary stuff!

"I do want to point out that it was a bit hazy that day, so the picture quality isn't going to be spectacular." Oh shut the hell up - you know these are awesome! "You forumers in Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton, and Toledo need to get ColDay up in the air!" Hey, let ME have a crack at it in the next month or two - then we can get ColDay flying over Cleveland.

Just a few new updates - three new skyline views are the most recent :-)

Did someone grow wings? :-D

Back in the day when I worked at the Caxton Building, my co-workers and I would head over to Erie Street Cemetery and have lunch. It really is a peaceful public space - granted there's the dead people and headstones, but hey - it worked. Nice set of pics!

"The reporters were trying to make a big deal of how all the passengers (probably six or seven) and the bus driver just left the trolley , calmly and quickly, without helping the victim. But to me it looked as if they were trying not get stabbed themselves." THANK YOU. I love how the talking heads sit there in the comfort and safety of their respective studios try to poo-poo the passengers for not trying to subdue an obviously unstable, violent person with weapon IN HAND. I watch Fox 8 in the morning, and their commentary is why I'm calling them out - I'd love to see either Wayne Dawson or Tracey McCool try and tackle some wacko nutjob with a knife. They acted all taken aback because the passengers got off the trolley! I'm sorry - I'll be the first to call 911 and get help, I'll gladly try to administer CPR or do onsite triage, but I'll be damned if I'm going to try and take down a perp who has just demonstrated that he has no qualms about plunging a knife into a complete stranger. It's not like RTA would pay my medical bills!