ABQ.Strange

Shoe Pole

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:18 -0600

This phone pole is in a neighborhood near downtown Abq. I saw a blurb about it in the paper a few years ago, and drove by recently to see if it was still there. As you can see, it is. I'm not sure what it means, but it's awesome.

Sky On Fire

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:33 -0600

A nice Saturday evening in May.

Welcome back IE users. There was a bug in the photoblog software, introduced in the last upgrade I did a few months ago. It caused the images to be blank for IE users. I didn't notice it myself because ... well ... what's IE? :-) Anyway, fixed now.

Fiery Foods 2009

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:23 -0600

We went to the Fiery Foods show this weekend. Lots of cool stuff. Most interesting find was some Mexican "sipping chocolate". Think intensely rich hot cocoa with a jalapeno kick. These folks from Defcon Sauces had the only booth with a cyberpunk theme.

Cruising San Mateo I

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:20 -0600

A new year, a new camera, a new abq-strange post. This sculpture's real name is "Cruising San Mateo I" but everybody in Albuquerque knows it as the Chevy On A Stick. It was quite controversial
when it was installed in the early 1990s. Art has always been in the eye of the beholder and all the old arguments against funding public art came out on this one (and still surface every now and then). But now that the tiled '54 Chevy has been there for almost 20 years, most people are quite used to it, and will at least concede that it makes the area unique. For me, I love it!

Big Red Arrow

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:51 -0600

This huge red arrow has marked the Indian Plaza shopping center for decades. The center was completely rebuilt a few years ago, but they kept the arrow since it had become almost a landmark. The mayor has been pushing to pass a sign ordinance in Abq to forbid commercial signs that are more than about 6 feet tall. Existing sign owners would have a few years to tear down their big old signs and replace them. As far as I know, they're still arguing over the issue, but they did make it clear that the big red arrow at Indian School and Carlisle would get an exemption and be preserved.

Roadrunner Showdown

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:57 -0600

We spotted these two roadrunners (Geococcyx, according to Wikipedia) sparring in the library parking lot. There was a third bird nearby just watching. I'm not sure if this was two males fighting over a female, or a male courting a female while another bird watched. Either way, they are very cool when they run. The guys who animated the velociraptors in Jurassic Park must have studied roadrunners.

CSI ABQ

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:41 -0600

This terrific public art piece is outside the Metropolitan Forensic Science Center. If you get there
at the right time of day the thumb print throws a shadow on the building wall. I feel lame for posting this without getting a better picture, but it's pretty cool even without that effect.

Spider Mural

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:39 -0600

Sorry ... have been away for a while. I return with this photo of a spider mural painted on the back of a residential wall which faces an arroyo. There are several murals in this area, which seem to be tolerated, if not encouraged, by the area residents. Personally I think this is a great way to make those miles of bleak cinder-block walls more interesting.

Antenna Farm

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:03 -0600

Albuquerque is bordered on the east by Sandia Mountain, which rises 1 mile above the city. The antenna farm at Sandia Crest relays radio, TV, telecom, and other signals for the city and elsewhere around of the state.

Sunset 2

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:49 -0600

Time for another sunset. This is from basically the same vantage as Sunset 1, but the light and clouds were very different that day.