Garris

Recchia, where did you take this from? - Garris

Whew! I wasn't sure where I was going to carve out the time in the next 72 hours to go through everything comprehensively. As for the 11th and 12th, they're already on my calendar... - Garris

Does anyone know the status of the retailfront next to XO Steakhouse on North Main? I thought it was going to be a restaurant owned by the Mills Tavern/XO/Ten folks (the Chinese Laundry?) but it's been covered by plywood for a while now. Any updates? - Garris

I just had lunch recently with someone who has a studio there and was complaining that the area is going development crazy. As a result, he said that they (the artists) are being priced out of the neighborhood by the tax increases resulting from reevaluations... - Garris

Interesting article from the NY Times: "Rural Colleges Seek New Edge and Urbanize By ALAN FINDER A new concept of the college campus is taking root: a small city in the country that is not for only the young." - Garris

Two articles from the NYTimes of potential interest to Providence/RI urbanites: Article about Portland's new mass transit Sky Tram connecting the waterfront to their medical complexes: "City That Loves Mass Transit Looks to the Sky for More" Artcle about the damage Vancouver's incredible Stanley Park (a forest right downtown) took this year due to storms and what it will take for it to recover: "Vancouver Journal: Its Wild Heart Broken, a City, Like Its Eagles, Rebuilds" - Garris

Yup, I too heard it a few weeks back. While likely not necessarily very true around here, when you travel the nation's vast interiors, you realize there are a LOT of very poor suburban and rural areas out there... As with most things, the guilded left and right coasts are very different than the rest of the country. - Garris

Everyone's already jumped on this topic with completely accurate replies, but I'll add my $0.02... I've known people who've lived in the Imperial Place building, and the units are indeed beautiful and large. The sunsets they get are fantastic. That said, they aren't cheap... And Cotuit is right that there's just not a "there there" to that neighborhood yet. No services, no center, no purpose yet. It's shoehorned between 195 (as has been pointed out, that will change after 2012) and 95 (separating it from the sprawling industrial and medical complexes). It's dead after 5, save for the restaurants here and there that, being all of the someone-had-to-tell-you-about-it, hole-in-the-wall variety don't add much to the streetscape in the evening. I know several people who live there and walk to the medical complexes (very easy), but it's not a walk I'd love to do at midnight from the train station. Cotuit is right that once the highway work is done and Brown figures out how and what they want to do with that neighborhood down the road (they just bought much of it), it could be utterly transformed in the next 5-8 years, but that's some time... As for the project in the parking lot across the street from Imperial Place, I could have sworn Thom said at one point (in a post or a UP gathering, I forget which) that this idea was dead, but I very well could be wrong... Depending upon when you're coming, renting (at Avalon, the 903, Promenade, or future Capitol Cove) and then waiting for all of the condo towers to finish might be the best way to go... - Garris

Yup, and should be a good game too... A classic offense/defense struggle that I (and probably everyone else) think the Colts will take handily. Win or lose, Manning earns his superbowl appearance and addresses the only blemish left on an otherwise legendary career. - Garris

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. There are a lot more book donation options than I thought! - Garris

Matt's got the flu? I'm down with a virus I picked up in my recent visit to San Francisco this week . Enough of these viruses this year!! Question for everyone: My sister and I would like to donate some books we have to somewhere locally. I can't find any reference on the PPL pages if they accept book donations (they're very happy to take cash, though). Does anyone know of an institution to donate books to? One that distributes them to the elderly, nursing homes, anywhere? Thanks! - Garris

Um, wow, thanks! I'm actually not upset at all. I certainly harbor no ill will against the city. This was a random act of violence that could have happened anywhere, including here (like, oh, in say, Kennedy Plaza ). I'm actually amazed that in my roughly 3 and 1/2 years of doing photography in all parts of cities, at all hours of the night and day, and carrying around lots of expensive equipment that this hasn't happened before. I may need to rethink some of the risks I take to do this little hobby (although I don't know what I could have done differently here... I was in a first world nation in a first rate city in one of the most bustling areas of that city during peak pedestrian flow hours...). It was fascinating, though, that I was walking through the city only hours before with a friend of mine who lives there and we were talking about how US cities like Providence and Boston have moved their homeless shelters and social service agencies out of the core downtowns to more of the margins of their commercial centers, while Montreal has kept their institutions right in the center of everything, even expanded the presence of them lately. I asked my friend why they do this, and she said that Montreal chooses not to hide their social problems from their citizenry. As a result, there are homeless, people begging, people drunk/high, etc everywhere downtown. On virtually every street, from the most downtrodden to the most ritzy. I've never seen anything like it in a US city. It was amazing. So while I applauded Montreal's progressiveness to my friend, I also mentioned that their had to be some quality of life and/or criminal cost to keeping those agencies right in the center of town, and she admitted there was, but the tradeoff was worth it and some people would knowing pay that tradeoff. I guess I did . - Garris

Thanks to everyone on their well wishes. I'm happily quite fine . I have my first of two batches of Montreal shots online on my website. The link directly to the gallery is here. Doing the slideshow option will miss the commentary for the photos. Two sample shots are below: Skyline at sunset: One of the blocks in Old Montreal: Enjoy! - Garris

I forgot to post this one a while back. Nothing profound, but just a nice intimate shot of one of my favorite facades in Wayland Square. This building, 104 Butler Ave near the main entrace to the East Side Market plaza, is an odd one. I think it's a two family home, but the doors face each other on the sides of the entrance perpendicular to the street. I'm guessing the windows belong to the bottom unit. It's also one of the few non-retail, non-apartment buildings I can think of on the East Side that is absolutely right up against the sidewalk. Interesting. I'm not even sure if it's occupied. I've seen the light on at times, but I can't recall seeing anyone come in or out, and I can't recall lights in the windows. It's not a neglected building in any way, but it's a tad worn looking. Whatever its status, it's one of my favorites for being so offbeat. - Garris

What an amazing photo and fascinating viewpoint this is! Thanks for posting it! I've never seen quite a longitudinal perspective on city like this (you can almost put an arrow above each building identifying it...). I'm trying to figure out the buildings left of the skyline (JD and West End?). Considering how far right the Brown Science Library is in the shot, I'm guessing those buildings aren't far enough left to be hospitals (the zoom flattens everything out perspective wise...). I'm guessing the storage tanks (which could quite large, and thus have to be closer to the camera) are the East Providence tanks? What zoom is this, BTW? There's a lot of "noise" in the photo beyond the summer haze, and I'm not sure if that's from a digital zoom or post-production magnification.

Overall (see below), my experience has been a positive one. It has some achingly beautiful neighborhoods... Unfortunately, though, I had a downright scary experience this evening that abrupted ended any photography for this visit, as I was physically assaulted by a man while photographing. This was on the riverwalk area in the Old Port/Old Montreal section right across from the History Museum, essentially their Waterplace park. I was setting up a shot when the man rushed at me from my right. I braced for his impact, but it still sent all of my equipment and gear flying everywhere. I yelled for help as he tried to drag me to the ground and was hitting my face. I literally threw him off me and and I hoped that would be it, but he came at me again and tried to do the same. I again didn't go down and again threw him off and urged him to calm down, telling him he could take anything he wanted and go. He said he didn't want my camera, but wanted money. I gave him what I had (about $30 Canadian), and he got mad, saying it wasn't enough and he, oddly, ripped up the bills. I showed him my wallet was empty and he seemed to get really mad, and I got really worried about his mental state and that he was going to rush me for a third time and started to hope he didn't have a weapon. Thankfully, he saw some people strolling towards us and bolted down the riverwalk out of view. Amazingly, this happened in a very visible, well trafficed area in view of about 6-8 people (and someone cycling), all of whom were within 40-60 feet of me. Not a single person intervened and no one came up to me afterwards to see if I was OK. Everyone just kept strolling along, some not even looking at me. Thankfully, I'm fine. Two bumps on my forehead, a small cut on one of the bumps, and a sore side from the struggle. My jacket's damaged and the camera is badly scuffed in one area, but who knows what this guy was high on (why rip up the money, even if only $30?) and I consider myself enormously lucky this wasn't worse... I went to a police station to report it and to say the officers were dismissive would be an understatement. Let's see, they told me: - "Your injuries aren't that bad at all... You don't need a doctor or anything..." - "He doesn't have anything of yours, right?" - "You wouldn't actually come up and testify if we found him, right?" - "You realize this report means we'd need to send out an officer to look for him now, even though you say he fled..." - "Why didn't you call 911 right away?" - "Are you really sure you want to press charges?" (I was asked that no less than 3 times) - "So were you really assaulted?" Me: "Well, he was punching my face with his fists and trying to wrestle me to the ground, twice..." Officer: <Sigh> "Yeah, I guess..." The station, I believe at the Eastern edge of the gay-lesbian part of town called "The Village," felt itself in an unsafe area. I was dismissed with a copy of the data of the complaint and an, "All done..." No offer to drive me back anywhere, not even an instruction of how to get back anywhere. Nice... My favorite line of the night was when they asked if anyone else was nearby and I expressed surprise that no one nearby had come to help at all, the officer chuckled and said, "This must be your first time in Montreal." Again, feel lucky to be back here able to post... Back home tomorrow... Good night! - Garris

Hey everyone, I finished my tough hospital rotation and am taking a few days off, some of which I'm spending right now in Montreal. It's been a brutal trip photography-wise (overcast weather, cloudless nights, bone-chilling cold, harsh daylight, and wind... Lots of blurriness inducing wind...). I have processed one of my best photos of the trip thus far and thought I would share it. It unfortunately might be the only photo I share if things keep up like this , but here it is: A moon rises over Montreal's Skyline looking Southeast... I look forward to posting my Montreal impressions (and catch up on the, oh, about 600 UP-Prov posts I've missed over the last few days) when I get back. Happy New Year everyone! - Garris

Cotuit, That's a fantastic shot! Great, great eye... I'd print and frame that if I were you... - Garris

Great shots. The beautiful thing about the Waterplace Towers from Prospect Park are that they completely block the G-Tech building, which happens not to look so great from that perspective. - Garris

Here are the two more: The Capitol almost glowing due to the hazy night: The view of the holiday skyline from the steps of the Public Library - Garris

Two recent photos: A different look at the Garrahy Complex: The Winter season on Washington Street: One or two more tomorrow! - Garris