My World Tuesday #63: I Never Would've Believed It

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"Winterfest? Seriously?"
Raleigh, NC - December 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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Let's clear one thing up right up front. Raleigh, NC has hosted the NHL Entry Draft. It has hosted two Stanley Cup Finals, and one Stanley Cup Champion. It has been promised an NHL All-Star Game at some future point. (Yeah, about that? Mr. Bettman? Gary? Can I call you Gary? Still waiting on that one pal.)

For all that, Raleigh is never, ever gonna host the NHL's Winter Classic Game. Not gonna happen. Because the Winter Classic Game is played outdoors. And for that, you have to be able to have ice ... outdoors. And for that to happen, you have to have sub-freezing weather, right?

Right?

Okay, apparently not. Enter some engineering geniuses who've figured out a way to keep ice frozen outside... in a climate where you'll never find a pond frozen hard enough for a small dog to walk on. The rink is about 20% of the size of an NHL rink, measuirng around 40' x 85' and will remain open until January 31st as part of a two-month celebration called "Winterfest". If you've got a half hour, the local ABC affiliate, WTVD has video of the Opening Night celebration that took place December 4. (Apologies to Big Apple residents for the comparisons to Rockefeller Plaza... it's just growing pains. They'll get over it.)

Maybe it's just me, but when the mean temperature for the month of December is probably 50° F or better, I have a hard time associating that with something called Winteranything. Granted it'll get cold here in spells, but overall? I have to wonder what kind of shape this rink is in most days.

But hey. Looks like people are having fun and that's the key. So what do I know?

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My World Tuesday #61: The Only Thing Missing (is the mirror ball)

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"Fayetteville Street Disco District - Wide View"
Raleigh, NC - November 2009 (Click to embiggen)

"Fayetteville Street Disco District - Close up View"
Raleigh, NC - November 2009 (Click to embiggen)

"Fayetteville Street Disco District - Side View"
Raleigh, NC - November 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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On the same night I shot last week's photo of The R Line, I got this collection from the southern end of Fayetteville Street. Since this is a family meme, I won't quote my initial reaction on spotting the four alien mothership anchor points in the first shot. I'm not sure how the MWT Team would feel about that kind of language after all. But there issued forth several refrains of another 3-letter acronym before I left the "Disco District". If you look at the second shot, you'll see the "rainbow tower" in action. The rainbow spirals up toward the top of the tower, which then lights up in one of a set number of colors. (Four would make sense since there are four towers, but there may be more. I didn't stay around to map it out.)

If you can stand are interested in seeing one of the towers in a fuller view, I had a top-to-bottom shot of this same tower in this Thematic Photographic post earlier this week. And if you'd like to see these during daylight hours, fellow Raleighite Carver has this same section of Fayetteville Street featured in her My World Tuesday today. (No we didn't plan this. Honest!)

The solid lights at the top alternate among the four towers creating the effect of... Actually I don't know what they're supposed to be creating here. Maybe it's just me, but this seems like an awfully big investment in something that might be cool the first time you see it (or might not) but after that... not so much. But what really sealed it for me -- and caused me to utter the phrase that became my title for this week -- was the "Saturday-Night-Fever-dance-floor-turned-sideways" display in the third photo.

With so many things in the city's infrastructure needing attention (and money) I really have to question what the idiots good folks who spend our municipal tax dollars were thinking when they hatched this scheme.

Because damn.

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Thematic Photographic 78: "Different" v.3.0 - You Were Warned

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"Over The Rainbow"
Raleigh, NC - November 2009 (Click to embiggen)

 Hosted by Written Inc.

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I told you yesterday that you'd see some of the city planners' ... different ideas on the aesthetic of lighting effects. And here is one of the premier examples. this is Fayetteville Street, the main street of Raleigh's Central Business District and home to no fewer than five major banking institutions' local headquarters. This ... whatever this is, sits at the corner of the site of the now demolished Raleigh Civic and Convention Center (the battle over which is a whole other post). If you're wondering, those black specks underneath the rainbow are oak leaf silhouettes. (Raleigh being the City of Oaks, it makes sense, yeah?) The rainbow kaleidoscopes its way up the tower, and the top then lights up in one of four colors. The colors at the top alternate, so that it and the other three towers just like it all display different colors as their respective rainbows climb from the base. Throw in a bank of rainbow themed lights along the sidwalk (that look like they were salvaged from Club 54) and all that's missing is the mirror ball. Only here, that would probably be the mirror acorn like that big brass one they drop here on New Year's Eve. (Raleigh being the City of Oaks, it makes sense, yeah?) The new Raleigh Convention Center has a similar lighting setup, where the lights along the side of the building change colors at intervals leading me to wonder exactly who the city hired to design all this. But you gotta admit. It's different.

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