I Love a Parade: Part II

As promised, below are more pictures from the Oct. 27th Arizona State University Homecoming Parade. Enjoy!

I want to say this was entered by one of the dorms, but am not sure.  They built a handmade replica of a computer dashboard, which included a mouse. How meta.

Next up was one of the international student clubs, which included flags from several nations and a HUGE globe.

Although the homecoming game was against UCLA, the next entry chose to heckle another PAC 12 rival, the USC Trojans.  Below: Trojan Horse

The next entry showcased some of the campus’s newer building which have incorporated green standards to reduct energy consumption.

This entry celebrates the class of 1962.

Field goal anyone?

This car with ASU’s pitchfork emblem was one of the last entries.

Again, there were more entries than shown here, but I found it difficult to capture all of them.  Anyhow, a great time was had by everyone in attendance.  This is one event I try not to miss.

Photo Friday: Back to the Rosson House

Hello and Happy Friday!  October has flown by and I haven’t had the opportunity to upload some of the newer pictures I’ve taken.  I’m out of town this weekend, so this seemed like a good time to direct some attention back to an older Photo Friday post on the Rosson House.

Rosson House: Present Day

Located in Phoenix’s Heritage Park, the Rosson House was a custom built in the 1890s for approximately $8,000.  The Victorian style architecture of the home was unique for the area, which mostly consisted of adobe structures.  The original owner, Dr. Rosson owned the home for two years.  The home had several owners over the years and by the 1950′s, it became a boarding house that basically deteriorated into a flophouse.

 In 1974, the city of Phoenix purchased the home. Six years and $750,000 later, the home was restored to the way it looked in 1895.  The tour guide informed us that the wallpaper was the original 1895 design and cost $40,000 to restore because it had to be custom made by a company back east.

If you’d like to read my adventurous tour of the Rosson House, check out my post from last spring:

http://nmnphx.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/photo-friday-rosson-house/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life

A quick snapshot of a sleepy side street  late afternoon in the height of the summer in Downtown Phoenix.  The Phoenix Convention Center is across the street at the east end and Central Ave, the lifeblood of  Central Phoenix, is to the west.

You can see the misting system is working in full force to provide relief to restaurant patrons brave enough to sit in the outdoor patio.  There is a car parked by a meter in every parking space available as parking is extremely hard to find in downtown.  Even putting this picture in black and white, you can still see a ray of sun hitting the glass of the first visible business at the front of the photo.

It’s about a quarter to five and the only reason I’m out and about is to head to the express bus stop, which will whisk me away from this scene of asphalt and concrete.

Check out the details of The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge here.

Related Posts:

http://vivianesview.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/weekly-photo-challenge-everyday-life/

http://leahjlynn.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/weekly-photo-challenge-everyday-life/

http://foldedcranes.com/2012/09/17/weekly-photo-challenge-everyday-life/

http://greatgreths.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/weekly-photo-challenge-everyday-life/

Photo Friday: An Afternoon at Cabrillo Redux

Hi there!  Hope most of you are enjoying this transition from summer to fall.  For this week’s Photo Friday, I’ve opted to update a post from last summer.  The photos below are from my visits to the Cabrillo National Monument back in October 2009 and March 2010.

Cabrillo National Monument is located at the very tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in California.  This national park, which is very affordable at $5.00 per car (2010 prices – do check current prices if you decide to go), provides breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. To see the exhibits at the Visitor Center and walk the path around the lighthouse takes approximately an hour.

From the top of Cabrillo National Monument, you can actually see the San Diego Bay and part of downtown.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

Before WordPress adds a new Photo Challenge, I wanted to post for this challenge.  This will serve in lieu of my normal Photo Friday post.

I shot this while heading towards Chase Field near the light rail tracks on a cloudy spring morning.  Despite the urban setting, it is a bit strange that there are no people in the vicinity. In many ways, this signifies a failed attempt at creating an “urban” atmosphere.  Phoenix has always struggled with its identity.  It has fought heavily to be in the major leagues of big cities, yet it  never quite seems to deliver.  Depending on what you think of big cities, this could be a pro or a con.

Photo Friday: Blinding Sun

We all know you aren’t supposed to look straight on at the sun.  So for kicks I aimed my camera phone towards the sky, looked away and clicked a picture of the otherwise blinding and bright afternoon sun.   This was on my way to the bus stop near a building provides shade on the walk to the stop, so it’s not as though I was just wandering around outside in the summer for fun.

I just thought it looked cool and wanted to share it.  All my pictures of the sun are sunsets (see Photo Friday: Sundown at San Diego Bay for an example).

Photo Friday: The Dog Days of Summer

Since I don’t mention the weather enough in my blog (yeah right), I decided to incorporate a few fun facts about the term “dog days of summer”.  What does it mean? Why do we use the term?

The term comes from Sirius, a.k.a the dog star.  Sirius goes through cycles where it rises and sets at the same times as the Sun.  The Egyptians and Romans saw that the dog star coincided with the height of the summer heat and posited that Sirius was adding to the heat.

The “dog days of summer” in the northern hemisphere  is defined as the time period from 20 days before Sirius coincides with the Sun to 20 days after.  This typically begins early July and runs through mid-August, though it can extend to early September depending on the region.

In Phoenix for example,  the monsoon storm season can run through late August – even past Labor Day which results in a longer period of heat and high humidity.

I thought this picture of my uncle’s little doggie was a great visual for “dog days of summer”.  I snapped this in early June when it was still somewhat tolerable outside (which would be before the onset of the dog days).  We were grilling some hot dogs and this guy was enjoying the sunshine in the early part of the afternoon. Of course, after about 10 minutes he ran back inside.

For more information on the term “dogs days of summer”, check out these links:

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/dogdays.html

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=178/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Nature

UPDATE: Thanks to Tim over at  20 Lines a Day for posting my entry.  You vote for it by “Liking” my photo over at:

http://anexerciseindiscipline.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/weekly-photo-challenge-nature-nicole/

I’m trying my hand at the Weekly Photo Challenge over at 20 Lines a Day.  This week’s challenge is Nature – The Great Outdoors.  I struggled over which photo to submit as I have quite a few.  Should I submit my most recent photos from a visit to my local riparian preserve? Should I submit an older photo from SoCal climbing around Point Loma?

Just a Rainy Saturday Afternoon

This is what I get for making fun of the CDC in my earlier post.  It had been cloudy off and on again today, and just when I decided to jump in the pool around 2:45pm this afternoon, this happened…

Photo Friday: Accidental Snapshot

Back in the day when I had to use a regular old camera to take pictures, I always seemed to accidentally use up 1-2 pictures per roll.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken a roll of film to get developed only to find a picture of:

-A shot of the floor or

-Wadded up tissues from the inside of my purse or

-A wall

Seems my affinity for snapping a photo by mistake has continued into the digital age.  While taking some photos in vicinity of Chase Field, my camera went off while I was climbing up some stairs at the Phoenix Convention Center.  I kept the picture because I thought the twisty staircase actually looked cool.  Maybe I have weird tastes.  Anyhow, below is the accidental snapshot.

Do you have any interesting tales of photos that should have never been?

Photo Friday: PB&J

Every year my company does a peanut butter and jelly drive during the summer to donate to local foodbanks.  The TV station on the bottom floor of my building (yes, the same building that was evacuated just days earlier and no I don’t work in the TV station) was doing a feature to kickoff the month-long food drive for the 4pm newscast in the lobby of the building.  I couldn’t help but take some snapshots of the event.  I took the picture from the atrium area above the lobby – no way I was taking a chance of showing up on the news!

Photo Friday: Graduation 2012

Thought I’d end the week on a happy note.  My cousin graduated from high school last night.  I took a few shots of the field.  I especially loved the sparkly 2012 adorning the goal post.