Fireworks At The Capitol

On the first weekend of December, the state of Arkansas puts on a little fireworks show after the holiday lights are switched on at the capitol. It's a great tradition, and still remains as one of the truly great things that our state government does for us every year.



But Christmas isn't the only time there have been bangs and explosions at our state capitol. There was also the time that the capitol was used for a 1986 TV movie called Under Siege (not to be confused with the movie where Steven Seagal is a chef on a boat and has to stop terrorists). In this Under Siege, bad guys are attacking Washington DC. They shoot rockets at the Capitol and do other bad things. Since presumably the Capitol in DC was unavailable, the makers of the movie set off explosions at the Arkansas capitol instead.



And then there is the cinematic masterpiece that is Stone Cold, from 1991. This time, some bad guys have attacked the capitol. But luckily Brian Bosworth is there to stop them. On the third floor, one of them foolishly tries to drive his motorcycle at Mr. Bosworth. He dodges at the right moment, sending the motorcycle through the window and into a helicopter.

Into The Fog

After taking pictures of the downtown Christmas tree, I got back in the car and started driving around. Away from the bright and cheerful colors on the tree, the fog made everything look moody and somber.







They say that fog comes on little cat feet. And the fog did quietly and steadily increase, so that the tops of the downtown skyscrapers seemed to dissolve away.







I headed back by the Capitol building again. It was quiet there except for the security guards who seemed to be on constant patrol (they drove by several times and were probably really bored). They only other people out were the cleaning crew, who were leaving the building in a large group.  



The thick fog amplified two bright spotlight beams, which were pointed at the Capitol dome. The lights are mounted on a street light across the street, and if you stand under the light it makes an interesting effect where it just looks like two beams are shining down from Space onto the dome. The joke is that it looks like the aliens are maybe trying to beam up some of our strange state legislators (and the governor) to return to their home planets.



It was starting to get late, but I made one last stop before heading home. I drove by the offices of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, which sits on the river by the Baring Cross Bridge. You can get a really good view of the bridge from their parking lot, and as I drove up I saw a train was starting to cross the old bridge. I grabbed the camera and tripod and ran out of the car, hoping to get a shot set up in time. Of course, the center column of the tripod decided this would be a good time for it to detach and fall to the ground. I jammed it back in and got the tripod set up. I managed to just barely get the camera onto the tripod with enough time to set up a shot before the train passed through the bridge. Still shocked that it was actually all in focus.



The train passed over the bridge, and loudly headed down the tracks towards Union Station with a bang and a clatter. I carefully gathered up the camera and then hurried across Cantrell Road (luckily not much traffic on this late night). I managed to get this shot - it's a 20 second long exposure of the train as it rumbled on by. The rail cars turned into a blur as they made their way to the station, which was nearly obscured by the fog. I was only able to get three exposures here before the end of the train passed below. The cacophony of sound from the train quieted down, and was enveloped by the fog.

Little Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

It was a foggy night, but that didn't do much to diminish the bright lights of the Christmas tree set up along Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock.







The tree sits next to a sculpture called "Helios," which features this sphere at the top. The lights of the tree looked kinda neat reflected in the sphere.





The tree sits at the intersection of Main and Capitol Streets. It was a bit brighter there this year, thanks to multiple lights in the windows of the Boyle Building. The 12-story building was constructed in 1909 and was the tallest building the in the state for a few years. But for the past few decades it had been left empty, until the state recently purchased it and started renovations. It'll soon be home to offices for the state Attorney General, and if there is anyone from that office reading this I would love to have access to the roof to take pictures anytime y'all would want to open it up for visitors. Please and thank you!

Zooropa

On a recent Saturday, Jonah and I decided to head over for a quick visit to the Little Rock Zoo. It was a pleasant afternoon, and many of the animals were out and about.





We saw most of the animals there - the lions, tigers, penguins, cheetahs and otters. At the Angolan Colobus exhibit, there was even a baby.



And we went by the elephants too...



And we ended the trip with a visit to the chimpanzees. This one was sitting high above the others, and had a contemplative look on its face. I wonder what it was thinking? Was it thinking of life beyond the zoo? Or maybe it was thinking how the human visitors are as caged and trapped as the other animals here, in their own way? Or maybe it saw the other chimpanzee nearby eating his own poop. We'll never know.

Downtown

This has been a strange year for fall colors. The trees in Central Arkansas have been slow to change over, stubbornly remaining green for several weeks. They seem to have finally started to change as it was time for Thanksgiving.



The fall colors were looking good around the Clinton Presidential Library, which seems to have become the top spot for people to take family pictures and portraits in Little Rock. There were several photo sessions going around, along with a large group of cheerleaders getting their pictures taken at the library.







It was starting to get dark, and there was just barely enough time to get one more stop in before sunset. I hurried over and got this shot of the Broadway Bridge.



As I left, I drove by the back of Little Rock City Hall, where I saw this bright bit of fall color. I liked the contrast of the vibrant foliage set against the back of the building, so I stopped for a quick photo. As someone who works in a cubicle in an office building, I feel happy for whoever works there that has this tree to look at from their window.