Florentine, Again

Columbus, Ohio

Yeah, I've posted it before. It was really pretty against that sky, though, so I revisited it.

Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano

Rife's

Columbus, Ohio

An improvement on the subject of one of my first posts, an old, upscale little fruit & vegetable market/butcher shop in the Grandview area of town.

Louis Prima - Yes, We Have No Bananas*

*Warning: earworm

Nicol's

Zanesville, Ohio

Tom Waits - Ice Cream Man

2 Years!

stripes
Lima, Ohio

This blog turned two on the 19th! I cannot believe that (minor exceptions like this last crazy week aside) I've stuck with it this long. I cannot believe that those of you who come by regularly have stuck with it either.

Thanks to all of you who have commented, downloaded, and bookmarked. You all are the cat's jammies.

In the time since I started this, I've gone from using only a little point and shoot to owning and using a DSLR, an SLR, an instamatic, a Holga, and a $3 panoramic. I no longer haunt cemeteries all year long, but I do still hold Halloween in my heart all year long and now look forward to celebrating it with a bunch of fellow bloggers for a whole month every year. I've discovered how much I adore old fashioned ice cream stands and drycleaners.

Speaking of my fellow Halloween bloggers, several have become regular, all-year-long friends, and one of them - a real life graphic designer, no less - has made one of my fondest wishes for this blog come true. Thank you, Karswell for creating my spiffy new banner! I loves it very much.

Last year, I posted the top ten most downloaded songs all year, and the number of downloads never topped 15, I think. I will do the same for this last year, and the numbers have indeed grown a bit! The vast majority of the most-downloaded were songs I posted for either Halloween or Christmas, which surely means ... something, I guess.

10) Hot Chip - Colours
at 26 downloads

9) Book of Love - Witchcraft
at 27 downloads

8) Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good
at 29 downloads

7) Foo Fighters - Baker Street
at 30 downloads

6) Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am
at 33 downloads

5) The Pipettes - White Christmas
at 35 downloads

4) Frank Sinatra - Witchcraft
at 35 downloads

3) Tom Waits - Silent Night
at 38 downloads

2) Jonathan Coulton - RE: Your Brains
at 38 downloads

1) The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
at 53(!)downloads

Surly Girl

the chandelier at the Surly Girl
Short North
Columbus, Ohio

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By the Light

Damask

I think it's damask, anyway.
Ohio Theatre
Columbus, Ohio

Edith Piaf - La Vie En Rose

It's Curtains

Ohio Theater
Columbus, Ohio

While I was up there on the second floor shooting away during a recent Flickrmeet, I kept attempting to get this right. The rest of the grand old theater looked beautifully and primly Victorian, but this curtained second floor area with nothing but darkness behind, looked like Dracula was going to glide forth any moment. (I know Dracula's of the Victorian era too, but ... oh, you know what I mean. There's prim, shiny Victorian, and there's dark, creepy Victorian.)

Oh and sorry about the punny title.

The following are tracks from the soundtrack to a computer game; American McGee's Alice, a creepy, dark take on Alice In Wonderland. The score is done by Chris Vrenna, and can also be bought through Amazon.

Village of the Doomed
The Funhouse
Time to Die

Stripes

Cambridge, Ohio

The White Stripes - St. James Infirmary

The Red, White and Cones

Dairy Isle, left side of the building
Newark, Ohio

Jimi Hendrix - Star Spangled Banner (Live)

(Summer's coming!)

Pic - Training Sculpture

Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio