The Eve Of Construction: A Groundbreaking Experience

January 14, 2015 Timothy Price16 Comments

Over two years ago they said “Give up your parking spaces, a grocery store is at hand!” And the city took out the bumpers, fenced the lot, and the lot sat empty. And yet no grocery store. A year went by, and they used it for a staging area to finish the multi-colored apartments across the street. And yet no grocery store. With the apartments finished, the fences came down, “No Parking” signs went up, and yet no grocery store. People started parking on the periphery and then in the still empty lot. And yet no grocery store. The “No Parking” signs disappeared, more parked cars, movie studios set up staging one day and disappear the next. Another year gone by, and yet no grocery store. Then came Monday’s announcement of the ground breaking for the new grocery store on Tuesday. Yesterday was gloomy and cold as the people gathered and the politicians and business representatives gave their speeches. Shovels ready, cameras rolling, the grocery store is at hand. Hooray! Let the destruction begin.

45cu1282 — The tree is down and the apartments are finished. A similar day as yesterday in the lot behind the office over a year ago.

paperboy — Liz celebrating the apocryphal news of the grocery store almost three years ago.

The Shine

January 5, 2015 Timothy Price36 Comments

Laura and Holly having their shoes and boots shined at Model Shoe Shine Parlor on Gold, a couple of doors down from our office.

Spunk Watches Italian Music Videos

December 16, 2014December 16, 2014 Timothy Price31 Comments

Spunk has started watching Italian music videos. His current favorites are Anna Tatangelo’s “Sensi” (Feelings) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB6QA7snWqk, and Litfiba’s “Squalo” (Shark) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbcYNU71JOo.

In “Squalo” there are a couple of women painted up as skeletons who dance in the darkness for a few seconds at various times throughout the video. Spunk would start pawing at the skeleton figures every time they came on screen. I wonder how he sees the figures that makes him want to touch them.

I put on another Italian music video, but Spunk lost interest soon after it began, jumped down and started playing with his toys on the floor. When I replayed “Sensi”, he bounded across the room, slid up to the computer and intently watched the video again — he seemed to be enamored by Anna.

The lyrics to “Sensi” in Italian and English are available at http://lyricstranslate.com/en/sensi-feelings.html. I did not find an English translation for “Squalo”.

Bold, Fearless & Funky

October 11, 2014October 7, 2017 Timothy Price16 Comments

Marble Brewing Company, http://www.marblebrewery.com, is another award winning craft brewery in Albuquerque. Awarded the 2014 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year award by the Brewers Association, they have an impressive operation with the brewing, tap room and bottling all on site at the corner of Marble and 1st Street near downtown Albuquerque. A food truck was parked on the street serving hamburgers and French fries to the patrons spending their lunch or a leisurely Friday afternoon at the brewery.

I took the title for today’s blog off of Leah Black’s business card. She is the events & social media coordinator for Marble, and a pro at drawing drafts. After Ben interviewed Ted Rice (head of Marble) for The Beer Trale, http://www.thebeertrale.com, Leah was very accommodating and allowed us to roam freely in the brewhouse to observe, film and photograph the operation.

The Beauty And The Beer

October 10, 2014 Timothy Price11 Comments

Ben Lolli is producing a series called The Beer Trale at http://www.thebeertrale.com, which is about the people behind craft beer. Ben worked for me in 2009 as one of a team of techs who inventoried technology in our local school district. He is on the road interviewing some of Albuquerque’s award winning breweries, and he asked me to help out with still photography and video. Last night we visited La Cumbre Brewery (http://lacumbrebrewing.com/aboutus.html) owned by Master Brewer Jeff Erway and his wife Laura — school teachers turned master brewers — who now produce award winning beer.

Downtown Books

April 25, 2014April 26, 2014 Timothy Price21 Comments

While you can’t quite get out the door of Downtown Books with a nicely broken-in classic in your hands scot-free, by handing Scott Free a couple of bucks on your way out the door, you will have acquired a great read for a modest price. And that’s how it is at Downtown Books at 108 8th St, SW in Downtown Albuquerque, its rooms filled with shelving, stuffed with books that cover just about every topic, genre and discipline imaginable. Downtown Books is in a building that was Albuquerque’s attempt at row houses in the early years of the last century, and collectors can find books of the same vintage as the architecture. It’s a bit of an understatement to say that Scott has just about everything anyone might want in books, including a kitchen sink full of children’s books. There are areas where you can sit down and peruse books at your leisure in the laid-back, welcoming atmosphere of the shop.

Ironically, Scott and I and both our wives had studied flamenco dance together in the early 1990’s. Scott had the bookstore on 6th Street for some time, but then when he moved just two streets to the west, we lost track of each other. We happened to cross paths on Monday when I was out front of our building talking to Nina and Greg from Cafe Fino. Scott walked by and we said “I know you!” so we talked a little while, and he mentioned he had moved his bookstore to 8th Street. So for the past 8 years or so we were working just 6 blocks from each other, but had lost track of each other.

If you are in the Albuquerque area, Downtown Books is worth taking the time to visit. The web site is www.downtownbooksabq.com and you can find it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/downtownbooksabq. If you are looking for a that special, hard to find book, you email Scott at dtownbooksabq@gmail.com he might just have what you are looking for.

Parapet Down

March 26, 2014 Timothy PriceLeave a comment

In preparation to raze the burned out flamenco building, workers tore out the parapet wall from Patrician Design’s building in order to detach the flamenco building’s roof from the two buildings firewalls. The workmen also sawed out portions of the front and back of the flamenco building to detach the structures’ vertical attachments. The workers labored under a sunny sky throughout the day, but then the sky became overcast with ominous inklings of rain after the workmen had retired for the day.

Espresso Fino

March 25, 2014 Timothy Price15 Comments

Espresso Fino opened at 222 Gold Ave, SW in Downtown Albuquerque right next door to our office. Owned and operated by Greg with his lovely daughter Nina, and handsome son Pablo (not pictured), Espresso Fino offers fine espresso coffee using organic beans. The shop has a brand new Nouva Simonelli 4 group Aurelia II espresso maker that is as bright and shiny as a fine mirror. They also offer pastries from Le Café Miche (two doors down on the corner of 3rd and Gold), breakfast burritos, and they will soon offer goodies from the New Mexico Pie Company.

Greg is former furniture craftsman from Taos, New Mexico, who has operated two other coffee shops in Taos over the past six years. Now that Greg and his family are offering their espresso making skills on Gold Street, be sure to stop in and try out their coffee.

Vida Loca

February 14, 2014 Timothy Price3 Comments

Around 4:00 PM, Di Anne came back with her lunch of fried platanos that she had picked up from one of the street vendors, and told me that there was a guy on the street with a snake I should photograph. I went out and found one of the street vendors who prints hats and T-shirts and makes jewelry packing up for the day. I asked if he had a snake and he said “yes” and motioned to his friend who brought out a healthy Ball Python. His artwork has a nice local flavor at very reasonable prices. He told me he is out selling his goods on Central Avenue most days.