Dre\’s Ramblings


Neon in Birmingham: I’m bringing neon back, (yeah)

Pardon the cheese, it was on a bet from a few months back. I figured the safest way to begin a renaissance at the Ramblings (at least this version) is by restarting the Neon in Birmingham series. For those new to the game, we take images of all of the neon signs located in Birmingham, AL proper. Why? Just because…

SAS neon sign

This is one of the newer signs here in town. It belongs to the new offices for Sims Architectural Studio. The office was formerly located on 20th Street in the city center. Now they’re enjoying digs in what’s becoming another design district for the city along 2nd Avenue South.

The official homepage for the series has moved to the (soon to be) new home for Dre’s Ramblings. You can always check out the Flickr set for the series and visit the Magic City Flickr Group’s set for more images.

Cheers.



So, how do you celebrate two years of blogging?

I’m not quite sure where the time’s gone. I really didn’t even realize it until I started making the first major changes to the site in months. Somewhere between beginning to transfer posts from this account to a self-installed version of the site, I was immediately reminded that Saturday was two years since I first decided to join the blogosphere. As always, here’s the obligatory link to the first post.

This year has been a crazy one for me, with the death of my grandmother and the decision to go off on my own and launch a website. Both have definitely affected how I view the world and have made me appreciate those that can continuously burn a candle at both ends. In many respects, I guess I’ve accomplished the intent of the 101 in 1001 list (already moved to the new site), to get out of the comfort zone and push the limits. I just hope I’m not pushing too hard.

Realizing that it’s been two years also made me realize that it’s been a long time since I’ve posted regularly. Though I will probably never post at that insane level that I did last summer on this blog, I do intend a slow but steady return to doing this more personal site. Plus, I’ve gotten a lot of grief about not putting up a picture in the about us section. We’re in the process of moving to a new site, so I’ll save you from that (not really). Here’s a shot that Bob Farley took for use in an upcoming online magazine article about The Terminal.

Andre on the roof

Speaking of the hub, this link will take you to a submission form that allows you to submit questions for the 2007 mayoral candidates here in Birmingham. It’s my intention (with my now growing staff) to ask the candidates these questions soon and share them with you. Some will be asked to all of them while others will be asked to specific ones. You get to decide who as well. I’m determined to make this more about using the medium as a tool to inform even if it’s become one that leans towards making sure that one’s opinion will reign down on you and you must agree. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ll also take a moment to thank those of you who’ve still stopped by the check on the site and those that are supporting The Terminal. It’s definitely been an interesting journey so far and I’m looking forward to more adventures in the coming year.

Cheers.




The GoDaddy mystery continues…
June 19, 2007, 1:04 pm
Filed under: AL, Birmingham, Birmingham Alabama, Birmingham, AL, Blogging, godaddy

Apparently when I called about what I described in my last post, not everyone was necessarily aware that it was happening. Something has happened with Go Daddy’s servers that have effectively shut down several websites today.

Besides my own site, the actual Go Daddy homepage is not accessible. There also appears to be a problem with the Chicago Sun Times site and locally, the Birmingham Weekly site.

I’m sure there are several other sites that use Go Daddy as a host locally have been affected during the early part of the afternoon.

The person I spoke to at Go Daddy stated that there was not a known time for when the problem would be fixed but that they were working on it as quickly as possible. Luckily just as I was about to hit post, the problem appears solved.

The joys of working in a virtual universe.

We’ll talk to you again soon.

Cheers.



City Stages 2007 – Day Two

Right place, right time

Dr. John

I’d heard Dr. John’s songs. I’d seen Earth Wind & Fire play several times at City Stages. So I gave into curiosity and ventured over to what has long been known as the singer-songwriter stage, and I was not disappointed.

It was a great performance and I’m glad I got there early. When I say I got there early, I ended up catching the tail end of Marcia Ball’s performance as well. Both of them were incredible. I did venture elsewhere in the festival grounds but I also checked out Icon over at The Tutwiler Hotel.

The crowds were a bit lighter in the afternoon, but it seemed like everyone that was going to come out did after the sun went down. The Birmingham News is reporting that festival organizers think they can break even based on Friday’s numbers. Friday was quite steady, but not crowded, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens based on last night and today.

I think that day 3 will be the “tipping point” and a test to see what can happen in the future. A return of a gospel stage with top flight acts is great, as is the idea of (maybe coincidence?) booking several bands considered to be Christian alternative throughout the stages today. It will be interesting to see what the numbers reveal afterwards.

Today Betsy performs with the Birmingham Community Mass Choir as part of the festivities. She’s looking forward to it. I’m wondering how fast I’ll fall asleep when I finally head on home later on today.

Cheers, and Happy Father’s Day!