Light and high beauty

Denver Tea Party photos

2009-04-15T23:54:00.007-04:00

More of my photos are here, in my "Denver Tea Party" Flickr set.

Holiday's last hurrah

2009-01-13T11:24:00.004-05:00

It always makes me a little sad to take down Christmas decorations. But alas, time marches on, so over the weekend I started doing so, leaving only the outdoor lights still illuminated. Those, too, will come down soon. But for now, they can still create pretty scenes like this:

Those would be these lights, seen through the window shades. I should also note that the wooden dining-room table and chairs are a new addition to our condo -- gifts from V, who just moved to a smaller apartment and so has no room for them. Thanks, V!

Anyway, here are the other outdoor lights, during yesterday morning's unexpected snowfall:

Also, in uploading these pics, I realized that I never got around to posting pictures last month of the indoor portion of Christmas-lights display. So here you go, from back in December:

That's a live tree, albeit a miniature one, which I bought at Whole Foods. (I was originally looking for a small artificial tree, but when I saw the mini real tree, I knew it was perfect.) We had to go with a small tree, on top of our entertainment center, to keep Loyette from getting into it. With another baby on the way, I suspect we may be going with small Christmas trees for the next few years. :)

Anyway, there were also some yellow and green Christmas lights to the left of the tree, but I didn't photograph those. (D'oh!) Finally, here's a shot of Toby resting in front of the fireplace:

Our cats definitely know how to live the good life. :)

Evening vistas

2009-01-13T11:23:00.004-05:00

Venus over downtown Denver:

Crepuscular rays over suburban Denver:

Rocky Mountain high

2009-01-13T11:20:00.000-05:00

Looking out the window on an evening flight from Phoenix to Denver:

See also here and here.

Message-mobile

2009-01-13T11:16:00.003-05:00

Just when I think my Election 2008 photo set is complete, I see something like this:

Heh. Clearly a Democrat. ;)

P.S. At least the driver isn't as outwardly bitter as this guy.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:23:00.003-05:00

Two champagne glasses of milk, for Becky's and my traditional New Year's milk toast, sit on the Zaks' living room table in Arizona, while Times Square begins its countdown to 2009 on the TV in the background.

Star light, car bright

2008-12-27T21:54:00.002-05:00

A car drives by as I take a picture of Orion above the Superstition Mountains:

More Superstitions

2008-12-26T21:51:00.002-05:00

The Superstition Mountains, shortly before sunset tonight:

And, fifteen minutes later:

Panoramas created with Calico. (Same goes for yesterday's rainbow photo.)

Christmas Day rainbow

2008-12-26T00:51:00.000-05:00

Superstition Mountain, Arizona.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:38:00.001-05:00

Above: The Zaks' Christmas tree (elevated for baby-proofing purposes).

Light and high beauty, indeed

2008-12-01T22:35:00.007-05:00

The Moon, Venus and Jupiter, shining bright over Denver earlier this evening:

It was a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in 2005 that first gave me the idea for what would become the title of this blog, "Light and High Beauty." Tonight's stunning three-way conjunction of those same planets, plus the Moon -- the three brightest objects in the night sky -- was even worthier of that name. Absolutely beautiful.

The above photo, incidentally, was taken from the 33rd-floor sun deck of the Barclay building downtown. It's a 0.6 second exposure, with a 3.5 f-stop and a 200 ISO.

More photos here.

Panorama

2008-12-01T00:02:00.003-05:00

The view from our seats in Section 25, Row 90 at the Los Angeles Coliseum for Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

Here's a larger version of the same picture (which I stitched together using a nifty piece of software called Calico). And here's an even wider view, and the full-size version thereof.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon

2008-11-30T23:48:00.006-05:00

The three brightest objects in the night sky, together for a close encounter Sunday, as seen from Gold Canyon, Arizona:

Venus is the brighter one, closer to the Moon. In the first photo, you can also see some airplanes taking off from Sky Harbor Airport.

Here's another shot of the heavenly trio -- you may need to squint in order to spot Jupiter, directly above Venus -- roughly 24 hours earlier, as seen from inside the Los Angeles Coliseum during Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

You can more easily see Jupiter in the larger version of that same picture. You can't quite make it out in this wider view, which also shows the Irish and Trojans lining up for a play. But trust me, it's there!

Yet another 24 hours earlier, here's a shot of just Venus and Jupiter (no Moon), as seen from Palm Desert, California, during our drive from Phoenix to L.A.:

The three heavenly bodies will make their closest approach to one another after sunset Monday. Definitely worth a look.

UPDATE: The climax!

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

2008-11-30T23:01:00.003-05:00

The Band of the Fighting Irish, making its first-ever visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum, spells out "BON JOVI" while playing "It's My Life" during halftime of Saturday's USC-Notre Dame game:

The lyrics of "It's My Life" declare that it "ain't a song for the broken-hearted" -- but with the Irish putting forward an utterly inept offensive effort that put an exclamation point on two consecutive horrible seasons, that's debatable at best.

Smog, glorious smog

2008-11-30T22:51:00.005-05:00

Anyone who's driven to California from Arizona will, I think, recognize this view: it's the moment when the smog cloud of Indio announces that you've left behind the near-emptiness of the desert, and re-entered civilization.

Speaking of the desert, here's a shot from about an hour earlier, showing one of the Mordor-ish mountains that lines I-10 in southeastern California as it passes through the Mojave Desert:

They're seriously a bit spooky. As Eomer says in the Return of the King, "Those mountains are evil."

Who?

2008-11-28T01:40:00.000-05:00

The owl statue on Ted and Ginny's back porch:

Another fiery Denver sunset

2008-11-28T01:37:00.005-05:00

I took this photo out my car window while driving home from work on Tuesday:

The Superstitions

2008-11-28T00:08:00.002-05:00

Clouds and sunlight interact this evening in Superstition Mountain, Arizona:

And a bit earlier, when it was raining over the mountain:

The view from our window

2008-11-18T19:56:00.000-05:00

Sunday, November 16, at 6:43 AM:

Later that day, at 4:53 PM:

(See also here.) And, ten minutes later, at 5:03 PM:

The mirror of Galadriel

2008-11-15T00:08:00.002-05:00

Actually, it's just a pool of water at the UT Gardens in Knoxville, back in September. (I'm finally starting to sort through some of my photos from the busy last two months.)

Post-election pics

2008-11-09T16:41:00.003-05:00

I saw this car in a mall parking garage on Thursday:

Heh. A bit bitter, are we?

Meanwhile, even the cut-rate liquor stores were urging people to get out the vote:

Again, here's my full Election 2008 photoset on Flickr.

Election 2008

2008-11-01T22:19:00.002-04:00

I've been posting a bunch of election-related photos -- from both Tennessee and Colorado -- in my Election 2008 Flickr gallery. The gallery goes all the way back to January, and continues through today's Obama rally in Pueblo (where I took the picture above).

Needless to say, I'll be taking and uploading more election-related photos over the next few days.

Ah, the South

2008-10-26T16:02:00.002-04:00

On the list of things I'll miss about Tennessee: funny messages on the church sign down the street.

"Seven days without Jesus makes one weak." Heh.

You say Tomato...

2008-10-26T01:52:00.003-04:00

One of our favorite spots in Knoxville: the Tomato Head patio on Market Square.

Farewell

2008-10-26T01:34:00.002-04:00

Leaving my office in Knoxville for the last time, Friday, October 24.

Photoblogging Knoxville, the final days

2008-10-19T01:42:00.007-04:00

With our impending move to Denver, this Photoblog will soon take on a distinctly less Knoxvillian, more Coloradan flavor. And while I very much look forward to photographing the gorgeous grandeur of the Rockies and the bustling beauty of big-city life, I'll definitely miss the more understated, subtle charms of Knoxville. It's been a great place to live for a year-and-a-half -- and a fun place to take pictures.

Before we leave, I hope to update my Knoxville photo gallery, which I've been woefully lax about doing in recent months. For now, here are a couple shots I took last week, which I rather liked:

The first shot, of the Sunsphere, I actually took out my car window, while waiting at a red light on Henley Street the other day. I loved the cloud pattern and the positioning of the Sunsphere directly in front of the Sun, so I quickly rolled down the window, waited until there were no cars directly to my left, and snapped the shot. I got it just in time, before my light turned green. :)

See also my ever-expanding Election 2008 gallery, which I've mentioned on my other blog here and here. And, like I said, stay tuned for (hopefully) more Knoxville photos, sometime in the next 10 days or so.

Great Big Sea!

2008-10-13T21:16:00.003-04:00

At the Paramount Theater in Denver, Colorado, October 9, 2008.

Full gallery here.

The halls of power

2008-09-25T11:19:00.001-04:00

Third floor, Supreme Court Building, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Worldwide Photowalk, Knoxville Chapter

2008-08-23T23:23:00.011-04:00

I went on the Knoxville Photowalk today -- part of Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photowalk -- in and around Market Square.

It was quite a scene, with several dozen photographers milling around, at times swarming -- like a horde of paparazzi -- around the same, seemingly mundane thing. Such as, for instance, a random dog:

The owners look rather bemused. They weren't alone! :)

Not surprisingly, a whole bunch of the photographers also snapped photos of Loyette at one point or another. (That includes Becky.)

But our baby girl wasn't the only center of attention. The various kids playing in the fountain were also a big hit, as were the guitarist and his dog. Oh yes, and who could forget the wooden pig:

Anyway, Becky and I had fun (as did Loyette!). But alas, I don't think I took any particularly extraordinary pictures. Here, for what they're worth, are a few of my favorites from the photos I took:

Of course, I was severely outclassed in the camera department, as just about everyone there had not just digital SLRs (in most cases more advanced than my Digital Rebel XTi), but also various fancy lenses and stuff, which I don't have. Then again, I can't exactly complain, considering that Becky was using my old Canon PowerShot A95 -- and yet I personally think she got the best photo that either of us took!

Harumph! :)

Anyway, my full Flickr gallery is here. It's three pages long.

P.S. Photos by other Knoxville "photo walkers" will eventually appear here.

Already, pics from today's various photowalks -- in locations all other the globe -- can be found by searching for the tag "photowalk."

Becky

2008-08-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

At the Tomato Head in Market Square today.

All quacked up and ready to go

2008-08-16T18:17:00.006-04:00

Boxes full of duckies, minutes before they were dumped in the Tennessee River for today's Great Knoxville Rubber Duck Race:

This is what they looked like a while later, as jet-skis pushed them down the river:

And here's a shot of the two boats floating around the river with giant duckies on them:

My full photo gallery is here.

Perseid dawn

2008-08-13T12:32:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned on The One Blog, I went meteor-hunting Tuesday morning, during the peak of Perseid shower. I saw 68 of the little buggers, and photographed two of 'em; more on that in a moment. But my best photos came a little later, as morning dawned.

This shot was taken at 5:47 AM -- 30 minutes after "astronomical twilight," five minutes before "nautical twilight," and 65 minutes before sunrise -- and it clearly shows the early morning light in the eastern sky, along with Orion and many other stars. This was a 10-second exposure at 1600 ISO. (Larger view here.)

Dawn over the foggy Smokies, 15 minutes before sunrise. (Larger view here.) I deliberately overexposed the early sunlight in order to showcase the fog in the valley. Here's a similar shot after sunrise. And here's an earlier photo with the sunlight more properly exposed.

A panoramic view of Maryville, Knoxville, and the northern Tennessee mountains in the distance, taken 40 minutes before sunrise. This shot was actually stitched together from multiple photos. (Larger version; even larger version.)

Pretty as they are, those morning shots were incidental to my main goal of viewing -- and photographing -- some meteors! And I succeeded in that, too. Here's a zoomed-in, digitally enhanced version of my best meteor shot, which also includes an unidentified satellite:

The original is here. A more significantly enhanced version -- with lots of detail, but lots of noise -- is here.

The meteor is the diagonal line. The horizontal line at upper left is a passing satellite, which I didn't notice with my naked eye when I took the photo. It's not on Heavens-Above's list, so I'm guessing maybe it's a secret military satellite or some such thing. Cool!

Here's another meteor shot (enhanced version), taken a few seconds earlier, which also shows the same satellite. Believe it or not, these two photos were the only meteor pictures I captured all night -- and they were taken consecutively, within 30 seconds of each other!

Meanwhile, speaking of satellites, the first "meteor"-like object that I photographed yesterday morning was actually an Iridium flare of -1 magnitude, caused by Iridium 31:

Again, that's digitally enhanced; hence the noise. The original is here.

The constellation that the satellite is passing through is Pegasus. The three clearly distinguishable bright white stars are, from bottom to top, Markab (the one the flare almost intersects with), Algenib, and Sirrah. The photo is a 68-second exposure, which explains the star trails.

One last photo is worth mentioning and showcasing here. Take a look at this picture, and tell me what (aside from a passing airplane at right) you think it shows:

If you said "the dawn's early light," your guess is plausible, but wrong. This 20-second exposure, 1600 ISO shot was taken at 4:49 AM, long before the earliest morning light began to appear (astronomical twilight was at 5:17, sunrise at 6:52). And anyway, it's looking south-southwest, not east. Moreover, this light was visible all night long, and never got noticeably brighter or dimmer.

So, what is it? Well, unless there's a massive fire in the Smoky Mountains (and if there was, I'd think I would have heard about it on the news), it must be a city "light dome." But the question is, which one?

The answer, I believe, is that it's actually two light domes. The more diffuse, less intensely orange area at right, which is off to the southwest, is the light dome of Chattanooga, roughly 85 miles away. Meanwhile, the more intense, distant light dome to the left is -- I believe -- the light dome of Atlanta, some 130 miles away!

I almost can't believe that's right, but it must be, since there's a whole lot of nothing, city-wise, between the Foothills Parkway and Atlanta. Looking almost due south, across the Smokies, the only possible major source of city light is distant Atlanta. I had no idea light pollution could reach so far afield, but apparently it can!

Anyway... there are lots more photos of my wee-hours outing on the Flickr set. All the stargazing photos are on Page 1; all the sunrise photos are on Page 2. Enjoy!

Grand old flags

2008-08-10T00:21:00.001-04:00

The American and Tennessee flags, at Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge.

SEE ROCK CITY

2008-08-10T00:17:00.007-04:00

These things are all over the South (though far less so than in the olden days). Today we finally took the signs' advice, drove to Chattanooga, and saw Rock City.

Everybody pays attention to the spot where you can supposedly see seven states, but Loyette was a big fan of "Rainbow Hall." Made for a nice picture, too:

No standin, either

2008-08-10T00:16:00.002-04:00

Sevier County, Tennessee.

Dueling nerd cars!

2008-08-10T00:15:00.000-04:00

Apple on the left, Linux on the right:

Morning shadows

2008-08-10T00:13:00.001-04:00

First Baptist Church, downtown Knoxville.

Jesus saves (on tires at We Got Wheels)

2008-08-10T00:12:00.005-04:00

As I've mentioned before, I've gotten quite used to seeing ichthyses on cars -- but on a tire shop?

Only in Tennessee. :)

Liberty Bell

2008-08-10T00:10:00.002-04:00

Not the Liberty Bell, but a Liberty Bell, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee:

Here's another shot. Taken during Stringtime in the Smokies.

More election photoblogging

2008-08-07T21:08:00.006-04:00

It's Election Day in Knox County, and when I went to vote this evening at Cedar Bluff Middle School -- the largest precinct in the state, according to State Representative Stacey Campfield -- I took a bunch of photos while walking to and from the polling place. Here are a few of 'em:

State Rep. Campfield (R) and Criminal Court Judge Ken Irvine (D) campaign for themselves.

Robert Bratton, the Democratic candidate for county trustee, greets voters.

The polling place, about 90 minutes before closing time.

WATE 6 news anchor Gene Patterson reports live from the precinct.

It might not be as sweet as Campfield's Mustang, but Irvine's got a campaign car, too. (Incidentally, thanks for the link, rep.!)

More photos here.

UPDATE: As I mentioned over on The One Blog, Rep. Campfield had a few hours of (perhaps unexpected) suspense last night, but ended up defeating challenger Ron Leadbetter by a margin of roughly 10%. Here's a shot of Campfield campaigning yesterday evening:

Judge Irvine, meanwhile, was defeated, as was trustee candidate Bratton.

More on the election here.

Downtown

2008-08-05T07:22:00.003-04:00

Sitting by the fountain in front of Riverview Tower (a.k.a. the BB&T Bank building) in downtown Knoxville yesterday, this view caught my eye:

Dept. of missed campaign-slogan opportunities

2008-08-05T07:21:00.001-04:00

Don't be a sheep -- vote for Baah!

A light from above

2008-08-02T18:08:00.012-04:00

"A light will shine down from somewhere. It will light upon you. You will experience an epiphany. And you will say to yourself, 'I have to vote for Barack.'"

Heh. For the record, Obama was joking when he said that. Still funny, though.

Oh, and the photo? I snapped it late this afternoon in West Knoxville, in the midst of taking pictures of folks campaigning at the Downtown West "early voting" site. (Today was the last day of early voting for the Knox County election; Thursday is Election Day.) Here are a few of the other photos I took:

Aunt Sam wants YOU! ... to vote for Ken Irvine.

Various candidates had supporters out campaigning for them...

...but only Stacey Campfield had his own vintage campaign Mustang!

Signs, signs everywhere.

A couple emerges from the polling place after casting their votes.

More pictures here.

UPDATE: Welcome, InstaPundit readers!

If you liked these photos, you may want to check out my Super Tuesday gallery.

See also my general Knoxville and East Tennessee galleries.

Somebody alert Stephen Colbert!

2008-07-28T08:10:00.000-04:00

Heh. That bear is a real ham.

This baby monkey, on the other hand, was decidedly more shy:

(Both photos taken at the Buffalo Zoo on Saturday.)

One Mac to rule them all...

2008-07-25T23:02:00.002-04:00

Best. Conference. Ever!

2008-07-25T22:59:00.002-04:00

See, Phoenix and Las Vegas don't get all the cool conferences. Buffalo's got the lieutenant governors this weekend!

Do you think they sit around and complain about how their governors are jerks? ;)

Also: how many Eliot Spitzer jokes will there be?

Hearing voices

2008-07-24T07:24:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, I feel like the bananas are talking to me...

How much for that commie in the window?

2008-07-22T14:41:00.003-04:00

Speaking of commies... I saw this piece of artwork in the window of the Sloane Gallery in downtown Denver this morning:

It's not every day you see Vladimir Lenin staring at you while you walk down the street. :) Well, unless you walk down 17th Street between Wazee and Wynkoop every day, I guess...

Protest early, protest often

2008-07-21T23:55:00.004-04:00

The Democratic National Convention in Denver is still more than a month away, but some protesters are apparently getting an early start:

Actually, that guy is apparently a long-time regular on the corner of 17th & Broadway, according to a couple of locals I talked to. I guess his signs used to target exclusively Bill and Hillary Clinton; he's just recently branched out into Obama-bashing.

Then there's this guy, who was standing just off the 16th Street Mall, repeatedly and loudly warning that "Bill Clinton will send Al Qaeda to Denver with Weapons of Mass Destruction":

He also mentioned something about Ebola, and later, Vince Foster. And each rant ended with, "Open your eyes, repent, and be saved," or words to that effect. Very odd.

Airborne

2008-07-21T21:02:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, over Kansas or eastern Colorado (I'm not sure which).

Statues

2008-07-19T12:10:00.001-04:00

A pair of small statues at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville.

Mirror image

2008-07-18T22:37:00.000-04:00

This way and that

2008-07-18T22:35:00.002-04:00

These two photos were taken Wednesday morning from exactly the same spot in front of the Bank of America building on Main Street -- just looking in different directions.

Vandalism you can believe in

2008-07-15T19:57:00.002-04:00

Obama stickers -- and an ad for a band -- on a utility pole in front of the UT Law School.

O rly?

2008-07-15T19:54:00.001-04:00

Seen at a gas station in Knoxville:

I object in principle to this sticker's message. How am I, personally, helping to "avoid costly drive offs" by pre-paying? I wouldn't have driven off anyway, even if I'd paid after pumping! And people who would drive off, won't heed the sticker's request to pre-pay. So, who is this message geared toward, exactly?

This has been today's annoying-stickler-for-details post...

Everyone's your friend...

2008-07-14T22:08:00.010-04:00

...in New York City!

Regular, long-time readers will remember that photo -- it shows the Empire State Building on August 14, 2003, the night of the Great Northeast Blackout. It's part of my just-uploaded Blackout of 2003 set on Flickr.

It's also part of my general New York City set. (Speaking of which, a lyrical hat tip to TMBG for the title & opening line of this post.) And the NYC set is itself a part of my slowly-but-surely growing "Places I've lived" collection on Flickr.

So far, my New York photos are all from summer 2003. Here are a few of 'em:

Gay pride parade, Fifth Avenue.

George Washington Bridge, under construction, at sunset.

The Met.

Dominican parade.

St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Doesn't this sign just scream "New York"?

Newark at left, downtown Manhattan at right, seen from the Staten Island Ferry.

Much more here. (View as detailed thumbnails -- four pages' worth -- or as a slideshow.)

I'll be adding more NYC photos to Flickr as time goes on -- along with lots of other photos from the last several years, as I work through my photo libraries. Stay tuned!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-07-11T16:58:00.007-04:00

As you may have noticed, I've switched my main domain, www.brendanloy.com, so that it redirects to this site -- my photoblog -- instead of my weekly blog. [UPDATE: This is no longer true. See here.] I think that will make me a bit happier with the current blog setup, at least in the short term. And it makes sense: the photoblog is updated more often, and it's really my favorite of the three blogs right now.

You can still, of course, access the weekly blog (and its accompanying linklog) easily. Just use the "MY OTHER BLOGS" links at right, or if you prefer, bookmark weekly.brendanloy.com directly.

Oh, and stay tuned for improvements to the commenting system. I'm finally making progress on that front, and I hope to be Haloscan-free by ~~the end of the weekend~~ Tuesday. (Among other things, my blogs will load much faster once Haloscan is gone!)

Anyway... since this is supposed to be a photoblog, here's a photo -- one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken, in fact. It's a shot of the 9/11 anniversary tributes in the New York City skyline on September 11, 2003, taken from Staten Island:

Love thee, Notre Dame

2008-07-10T21:45:00.010-04:00

For a long time now, I've been meaning to put together a mega-album of Notre Dame photos that I took during my three years in law school. Well, I decided to start tonight. I've only gotten through fall semester of 1L year, but there are already some pretty good ones... if I do say so myself. :) For example:

The full album -- so far -- is here. Larger thumbnails can be found on the 3-page version: here, here and here. Or you can view the whole album as a slideshow.

Stay tuned for more additions, from 2005 on.

Fog on the sound

2008-07-06T14:46:00.001-04:00

A cormorant on a rock, and a sailboat in the distance, on Long Island Sound. Taken in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

Rain, rain, go away

2008-07-04T15:12:00.003-04:00

A stationary front is causing scattered showers and thunderstorms across much of the eastern half of the country. Not exactly ideal for the holiday weekend -- but hey, the raindrops on the roses look pretty:

Road trip scenes

2008-07-03T21:52:00.005-04:00

Pal's Sudden Service, Kingsport, Tennessee.

Holiday weekend traffic, Tappan Zee Bridge, New York.

Flying car, somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Dandridge, Tennessee

2008-07-01T14:24:00.013-04:00

I had occasion this afternoon to spend a couple of hours in Dandridge, Tennessee, the second oldest town in the state, incorporated in 1793. It's a lovely little town -- population 2,078 -- and, needless to say, it is veritably suffused with history. Today being a gorgeous day, I couldn't resist snapping a few photos.

The Tinsley Bible Drug Store, where I had lunch. It's basically a combined restaurant and general store. Locals apparently say that "if you can't get it at Tinsley Bible Drugs, you don't need it." Oh, and the food is really good!

The Dandridge Revolutionary War Graveyard. The folks buried here were members of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, the oldest church in Jefferson County, founded in 1785 when the area was part of the State of Franklin.

A view of the Highway 92 Bridge, Douglas Lake, and the earthen dike that protects Dandridge from being flooded by said lake. When the lake was created by the damming of the French Broad River in 1942, the initial plan was to simply let it flood much of Dandridge -- until, according to Wikipedia, "the citizens of Dandridge appealed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, pointing out that the town was the only place in the United States named for Martha [Dandridge] Washington."

Full Flickr gallery here.

UPDATE: Welcome, InstaPundit readers, to my brand-new photoblog! I know there isn't a lot here now, but this site will be a prime focus of my blogging energies, now that I've shut down the Irish Trojan blog. [UPDATE: Stylesheet problems fixed. If you previously viewed the linked page when it was messed up, you may need to reload it, and possibly clear your browser's cache.]

Since I'm living in Knoxville, there will undoubtedly be a lot of East Tennessee photoblogging here. So, if you like that sort of thing, you may want to bookmark photo.brendanloy.com and check back occasionally.

In the mean time, you can already view my Flickr galleries of Springtime in Knoxville, Harriman Cruisin', the Porters Creek Trail in the Smokies, Super Tuesday in Knoxville, and various other photo sets. Enjoy!

Jesus fish

2008-07-01T00:15:00.002-04:00

These ichthys things are everywhere in East Tennessee -- both the actual Christian ones, like this, and also the assorted rebuttals (Darwin, Dogwin, etc.). I really need to gather all my ichthys photos together and create a Flickr album called "The Jesus Fish Wars in Knoxville." :)

Anyway, I took this picture the other day. It was the first time I'd seen an ichthys on a gas-cap door. But hey, with gas prices being so high, maybe it's not a bad idea to remind yourself of your faith while filling up at the pump!

Sunrise, sunset

2008-07-01T00:08:00.002-04:00

Morning and evening shadows in downtown Knoxville, on June 25, 2008, as seen in the shadows on a pair of buildings on Main Street:

The Post Office and Courthouse.

The First Baptist Church.

Colorado and Arizona

2008-06-20T11:12:00.000-04:00

Elk Meadow Park, Jefferson County, Colorado.

D&F clock tower, Denver, Colorado.

Superstition Mountain, Arizona.

Landing at sunset, Phoenix, Arizona.

Invesco Field in the early morning light, Denver, Colorado.

Window washers, Denver, Colorado.

Evergreen Lake wetlands, Evergreen, Colorado.

Ducks on Evergreen Lake, Evergreen, Colorado.

Sunset on the Superstitions, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

More in the Flickr set.

Storm, then calm

2008-06-11T23:24:00.001-04:00

East Tennessee got hit by severe thunderstorms today. I took some photos of the storm clouds over downtown Knoxville -- and, later, some photos of a beautiful cloudy sunset over West Knoxville.

My Flickr gallery of the storm and sunset also features several small snapshots of cloud-to-ground lightning, taken from some video I took of the storm.

Test #3

2008-06-05T11:01:00.001-04:00

This photo is from Harriman Cruisin' 2008. Click here to view the whole set.

Test #2

2008-06-05T10:56:00.001-04:00

IMG_6455.JPG, originally uploaded by irishtrojan.

This is a test

2008-06-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

IMG_6432.JPG, originally uploaded by irishtrojan.

Test, test, test.

Flickr

2008-06-05T10:48:00.001-04:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.