Neon in Birmingham: I’m bringing neon back, (yeah)
July 31, 2007, 12:38 pm
Filed under:
AL,
Birmingham,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham, AL,
Magic City Flickr Group,
Neon in B'ham,
neon signs,
Photographs 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…
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.
Neon in B’ham: A newer sign for a long time auto dealer on the east side
East Lake Auto is located near I-59 in North East Lake section of Birmingham. The current sign pictured here still isn’t as cool as the original neon sign that is no longer functioning. My urban landscapes professor (as well as my old boss in Savannah) would like the urban look of the dealership. Of course, all of this talk just means that I’m going to have to go out there one day and take a picture of the other sign.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the Neon in Birmingham series.
Enjoy the day,
Cheers.
The Year in Review: July 2006
December 28, 2006, 7:31 am
Filed under:
AL,
B'ham social events,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham, AL,
Blogging,
Cats,
Cities,
Commentary,
Crisis in Lebanon,
Daily Princetonian,
Jay Saxon,
music,
music venues,
Neon in B'ham,
neon signs,
people,
Sunflowers,
The Year in Review July started with a bang as we posted images from this year’s Thunder on the Mountain fireworks display.
A time of discovery for all
We then took part in one of the more active days in the city, as many of Birmingham, Alabama’s cultural attractions opened their doors to each other’s members for free, encouraging people to join these fine organizations in the process. We’re hoping that the Day of Discovery becomes an annual event and that more people will take advantage of what there is available.
We also invited people to take a look at some of the other blogs in the region as we talked about the effect they are having on conversations and just how influential it and other social networking has become here in the Magic City.
Discovery was also the theme as we said goodbye to the Moonlight Music Cafe and suggested saying hello to the other musical offerings available in town, whether on CD, airwaves or in venues.
Discovering how you fit into the local picture as a resident was another issue we linked to in this post.
Sunflowers (and lots of them)
We seemed to go a little crazy with the sunflowers; here, here and here. OK, so not really on the last one.
Stressful times for a Birmingham native overseas
We also saw the naming of our new city schools superintendent as we watched as a local was caught in the middle of one of the more tense situations one could imagine; being in Beirut during the recent outbreaks of violence trying to get home. This post attempted to cover both of those stories. We tried our best to provide some access to the e-mails Jay Saxon sent during this period (thanks to some help from the guys at The Daily Princetonian). We were happy when we had the chance to say that he was homeward bound and ready to head off for his next adventure.
Oh yeah,
It was our one year anniversary here at the Ramblings, but no cake 😦 You also had a chance to meet the official guard cat of the Ramblings too.
One more thing; enjoy this photo of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church sign. Hopefully we’ll see it again soon.
Enjoy the day,
Cheers.
See also:
The Year in Review: January and a little December ‘05 too
The Year in Review: February 2006
The Year in Review: March 2006
The Year in Review: April 2006
The Year in Review: May 2006
The Year in Review: June 2006
The Year in Review: May 2006
December 26, 2006, 12:59 pm
Filed under:
AL,
American Idol: Season 5,
B'ham social events,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham, AL,
Blogging,
Cities,
Commentary,
LMBO,
Movies,
Neon in B'ham,
neon signs,
outdoor films,
The Year in Review The latest American Idol
So, there’s this guy who was living in Birmingham, AL who made it onto American Idol. We had tried to avoid the whole thing, but then a funny thing happened in May: he made it to the final three, and then the finals. Taylor Hicks brought the musical world back to the Magic City for the third time in four years, giving those that were new to town the notion that we were new to the music scene, or at least not recently involved.
We did decide to get into the act, posting pictures from Hicks’ parade down the Birmingham Green to City Hall. Here’s another one for good measure. We also had the chance to get some images from the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra’s performance after Hicks won the competition. The proceeds from this particular after party went to a great local cause as well.
Just how important is D I to the psyche of a “sports fan” town?
Birmingham-Southern took steps to make academics a visible priority on campus as it took steps to move from NCAA Division I to Division III. The dialogue that followed both here and in mainstream media was heated and surprising. Those wondering just how not having scholarships would benefit a sports program’s competitiveness needed to only look down the road to Montevallo as the baseball team made a run for the NCAA Division II Championships. While it did not garner the same press that those two big schools normally do during their seasons on the gridiron (hell, the high school teams were getting better coverage), it showed just how excited a town and a school can become in that situation even without the media circus.
Lighting up the night, one sign at a time
With one post of a much beloved neon sign, we started the Neon in Birmingham series, hopefully showcasing images unique to the Magic City. Click here to see the series. We think we’ve finally caught up. There’s a lot more of them to document too, so let us know if you see any.
Staying busy
For those that continued to say that Birmingham had nothing to do, it sure seemed that there was a lot to do when May hit, including:
The first of a successful outdoor film series, Movies by Moonlight
Do Dah Day (images available through this post)
The Strokes, Black & White, and Catalyst; three ways to enjoy the night before Idol madness hit
McWane announced their feature film series for the IMAX screen
Other shots
This image provided what could become a rare view of past and present in Birmingham.
The next generation of news sites are here… Are we ready?
Development announcements were endless in the city
More later.
Cheers.
See also:
The Year in Review: January and a little December ‘05 too
The Year in Review: February 2006
The Year in Review: March 2006
The Year in Review: April 2006
Neon in B’ham: A sign in Vogue
December 22, 2006, 8:38 am
Filed under:
AL,
art,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham, AL,
history,
Neon in B'ham,
neon signs,
Photographs,
Random shots 
Holiday greetings welcome you in their window while the warm glow of Vogue Cleaners’ sign lights up what became an otherwise overcast day in the Magic City. The business won an award in 2003 from the Birmingham Historical Society recognizing the restoration of the sign, originally installed in 1947. Click here to view the brief as well as to see what other projects won preservation awards at the local level in 2003.
Check out the rest of the series, or at least those that have been posted so far, on this page. There’s also the Smugmug and Flickr photosets.
Merry Christmas to all and safe travel to those of you that will be hitting the roads today.
Cheers!
Dre\'s Ramblings 