Epic Status Photoblog

2007 Blizzard in the house…

 

It started with droplets of water freezing on the trees.

 

? The snow sticks to the icy trees.

 

?

? The combination weighs too much and snaps branches.? These tall bushes should be standing vertically.

 

?

? See all the horizontal branches, broken from the ice and snow.

 

?

Snow on trees like peanutbutter on bread

 

? The wind blew the snow into large drifts.? The Iowa DOT reported that there were some roads that had drifts up to 15 feet high in other areas of the state.? I-235 and I-80 were both closed and blocked off because they were deemed impassible.? There were hundreds of semi trucks stuck in the Des Moines area because of the closing.? See the Iowa DOT 2007 blizzard photo album? for some awesome pictures.

Nature

? We’ve been wanting to go back to? Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, IA (just outside of Des Moines) for some time now.? The last time we? played slots was last summer, on our way home from Kansas City we stopped at Lakeside Casino outside the small town of Osceola.? We planned ahead and decided we’d go this weekend, waste some $40 in nickels/etc.? The weather was supposed to be horrible on Saturday with plenty of freezing rain and snow, so there was no decision to make, we went Friday night.

Cherish and I arrived and had a couple drinks before Richard and Heather got there.? After they showed up we went to the high roller room first.? I’ve had good luck there before so we thought we’d go there for a couple plays then go to the nickel machines.

 

Richard walks right up to a slot machine, the first of the night.? Minimum bet? is? $5, he inserts the cash and pulls the handle.? Bam, 7-7-7, wins $500.? What are the freaking odds of hitting that on your first play?

 

? Right after Richard won, Cherish walked up to the machine next to it.? She had her lucky panties on so she thought she might have a chance.? She inserted $20 and after 1 or 2 pulls, bam, $405.? No freaking way!?

 

Money for nothing, chicks? for free?? This is no endorsement for gambling.? You usually lose, it’s a fact, the odds are much? against you.? Don’t expect to ever win.? ? My view is gambling is generally throwing your money out the window with a very remote chance of a winning.? Set your spending limit before you go.

Now everyone wants to go home but me.? Richard and Cherish already won a decent amount.? Heather has enough common sense to want to take it and run.? I wasn’t quite satisfied as we’ve only been there for half an hour and just started playing at that moment.? After trying the high roller machines myself and failing,? I made everyone stick around and play the nickel machines for a while.? No wins there.? After another 30 minutes, it’s time to leave and celebrate.

 

Driving to the Park Ave. Pub

See our ratings for the Park Avenue Pub in Des Moines.

 

Some dirty old man at the Pub cracked a “Rubber Nut” on the pool table for the ladies.? Let me guess, you can hide quarters behind your ears and detach your nose between your fingers?? Talented!

 

? Fun with condoms.? Anyone for fisting?

 

? I like them rubbed “this way.”

 

? Josh is a ham for the camera.? There’s always something interesting to capture when he’s around.

 

? After Bar

 

? Walk like an egyptian, and other hijinks.

 

? Richard and Heather and Redeye, bad Canon Powershot, bad.? Go sit in your case.

 

Very late, time for bed.

 

?

? Pedestrian bridge over I-235 in Des Moines.

 

Winter weather alert, travel not advised.? You can’t win if you don’t gamble.

 

Bars, Des Moines, People, Unusual

Continuing from the first page…?

 

? Skywalks everywhere in Des Moines.

 

? Hidden behind a parking lot and under a skywalk, I found this dungeon with bars above the door yet the wall doesn’t quite reach the ceiling.? I’m guessing this is just a detterent to keep homeless from making this area into a home.

 

? Several skywalks in the background.

 

 

? 801 Grand, tallest building in Des Moines and IA I believe.

 

? Another one of 801 Grand.

 

? Above street parking.

 

? Under pass or overpass?

 

? This is the loading area at the Marriott downtown.

 

? The Marriot.

 

Why use boring blinds when you can put? up sails.? I have no clue what this space is or how this looks on the inside, but? it’s definitely interesting from the outside.

 

 

 

? Just another parking garage.

 

I hope to someday return with the camera and grab pictures from other areas downtown.

 

Buildings, Des Moines, Downtown

Urban landscape pictures from downtown Des Moines.? I really like architectual photos so I hope to do more in the future.?

This? isn’t? even downtown, but it was on the way and I had to get a picture of it.? This is a mural on the side of the Italian American Cultural Center of Iowa.

 

A further away shot of Downtown Des Moines, showing the tallest buildings.? The building on the right with the lights on it’s edges is the Ruan Building.? 801 Grand is the tallest building.? The brightest one, to the left of that, is EMC Insurance I think.

 

? Driving under a sky walk.

 

? Another skywalk with a couple more in the background.? Des Moines is crazy about skywalks.? According to the city, skywalks make up more blocks per capita in Des Moines than in any other city of a comparable size in the U.S.? It has become a sort of status symbol for businesses.? If you have a building downtown, apparently adding a skywalk link shows that you’re important and that you have money.? According to? Wikipedia:Skywalk? Des Moines, IA has 30 blocks connected via skywalks, with over 3.5 miles of length.?

Many cities that have built skywalks are realizing that it was a bad idea.? They reduce ground level traffic, eliminating retail on first floors.? To get to 2nd floor businesses on the skywalk, you have to obviously find stairs or an elevator up from the street level.? In some places you may have to walk a block or so to find an open business with access to the 2nd floor skywalk.? Also? even in much larger cities? it creates a ghost town effect? because people are? split between two levels.? Read http://www.walkablestreets.com/skywalk.htm? for more information on skywalks backfiring.? ? Some cities are taking theirs down in the name of downtown revival.? I just heard on the news that we approved to add a couple more links on the South-West end for the Allied Insurance complex.?

 

Very interesting windows, with what looks like a tinted pane in the middle of each.

?

A neon sign for The Travelers.? I think it’s an insurance company but other than the sign, I’ve never heard of them.? Since the sign is still lit, they must be in business still.

?

 

?

? Read much?? Nine different news dispensers.

 

This appears to be a retirement / nursing home.? Check out the different colors you see through the windows of rooms with lights on.? I’m not sure if it’s window coverings or painted walls that are creating this.

?

? Skywalk to the convention center.

 

?

Fire escape

 

 

See? Page 2? for more.

 

Buildings, Des Moines, Downtown

So, I was driving through downtown and noticed something strange.? There was a ginormous amount of water flowing down a street, but it wasn’t even raining.? Turns out, a water main broke and turned loose some infinite gallons of water down this steep street.? These pictures don’t do this scene any justice, the low lighting made it hard to show how much water there was.? Not only were there large streams on both sides of the street, but the velocity that the water was comming down this hill was amazing.?

 

This somewhat illustrates the speed of the water running down the hill.? This is a current caused by a curb where a driveway is.

 

 

 

The brown streaks at the bottom are the water flowing down the hill.? The speed of the water made it blurry like the car.

 

 

This one shows approximately how much of the street is taken over by water in some places.

 

 

I could not figure out what the people on the left were doing.? They were holding what appeared to be golf clubs in the stream of water flowing down the side of the street.? It looked like there was a news crew setting up to film also.

 

? More currents in the street from the speed of the water.

 

This is the bottom of the hill where the water was going to.? I should have followed it to see how far it ran and what it was flooding.? The storm drains in the street were either already filled from the water or couldn’t handle the flow.

 

Should have followed the stream to find the lake.? Oh well.

Des Moines, Downtown, Unusual

Lance wanted to rent a couple hotel rooms and have a party for his birthday.? Something must have been going on in town because many hotels were booked.? He found one in Ankeny (a further out suburb of Des Moines) that had two rooms left, he took both.

 

? Everything is brand new on this side of town, fancy A-town.

 

This place is off the hook.? Literally.

 

S*Dog, Savanah, arrives at the hotel.? She is drunk as a movah bruva.? Her swaying and staggering motions made her a blur in most of my shots.? She was perved of that liquor.? Hey who ordered the clown?? She was the entertainment for the night.

 

We were loud as hell with people coming and going every 5 minutes all night.? I can’t beleive no one complained about the noise.? Either this place has the best wall insulation in the world, or the people around us were way too nice.? I’d be mashing skulls and Cherish would have thrown a bitch fit.

 

Someone read me a bedtime story!

 

? Who can do the funky monkey?

 

? No, it goes like this!? Jason shows Bailey how it’s done.

 

 

?

? Check my “O” face

 

? That funky monkey.

 

Damn, spilled on my leg.

 

? Damn it, now the other leg.

 

?

Lance, smoking a square.

 

?

? New tattoo for Lance.

 

Where is Jason?? Where is Savanah?? Are they in the other room?? Oh, there they are.

 

? Out!

 

? Bailey tries to introduce Savanah’s tits to the world.? No dice.

 

Scarfaliscious

 

? Ahah-hehe-ahahah-ahooo-ahoohoo-eh-heh

 

?

In the limelight. ? What’s the chance of catching the flash from another camera?

 

Parties, People

? Rock is basking in the light of the Boulevard beer sign.? It adds a wicked highlight effect.? Now only if he would have been more still.

?

Great beer.? I was drinking Guinness at this bar, but Boulevard is great beer also.? After drinking free and cheap Budweiser at the other two bars, I was ready for some real beer.

 

? Rock had some chicky-chickies come down.

 

? I’ll have to remember this for when I’m real drunk and I forget which feet are mine.? That must have hurt like a mother bruva!

 

?

We’re? walking over to El Bait Shop from Johnny’s.? Walking underneath these huge air conditioning units makes me nervous.? I have not much faith in rusty metal.

 

Walked by the new Science Center of Iowa where they have the new IMax theater.? It’s a very interesting looking building.? ? Only they could call this? contraption of a building home.

 

Shuey and Ty at El Bait Shop.

 

Plenty o nick-nacks in El Bait Shop.? Apparently clutter is the technique.? Everyone does this now, years ago it was the trendy thing for bars and restaurants.? I think now it’s just over used and bastardized by idiots.? How about some clean lines, flat smooth surfaces,? and simplicity?? At least one bar in town could take up a modern look.? Check some hip bars in larger cities for some examples.

 

?

I’ll take? another one.

 

Here’s Corey, he was the only person I’ve met before from this group, I think.? Cherish and I have hung out with him before, he is a friend of Brittany’s.

?

? Yes, those are all working beer taps. They have over 100 and something beers on tap.? I’m sure most of them are the smaller canisters instead of full kegs.? Most of their beers are micro brews.? Micro brews are ok, but it’s certainly nothing to get excited about.

 

Stupidly (it’s late, we started drinking at 5:00) we all go over to an apartment after we close the bar at 2:00 am.? It’s snowing again and a little hard to get around.? In fact the cabbie that picked us up later this night slid past a L intersection and went some? 5-10 feet through the snow covered grass before stopping.? Maybe this is a clue that he should use some caution when it’s slick out.? Hmm.

 

? Apparently when we all got to their car, it was a? makeout sesh in the front of the Durango.

 

Apparently there was a competition, now this couple in the middle were going at it.

 

There isn’t much privacy when you’re sitting next to two people and there are 8 people in the vehicle.? That’s right, two in the front, four in the middle, and two in the rear cargo area.

 

I was actually more tired than drunk, but yes, drunk too.? I’m usually in bed around 2am on weekends.? Also I usually don’t start drinking right after 5:00pm.? We were out until around 4am.? I now have much more respect for complete drunks.? Drinking all day is really, really hard work.? I’m exhausted.

 

? A? couple of them were talking about wanting to do a beer run because it’s after 2am (no beer sales after 2am in Iowa).? This was the only gas station open that was on the way.? Probably not a good idea.?

?

 

?

? Apparently the toilet leaks at the appartment, to fix this you put a towel in the corner to soak up water (and possibly evaporate some into the air?).? Those colored spots on the towel are mold.? Yum.

 

Absolutely no bubble baths in this joint.

The rest of the apartment? was quite well kept.

 

Bars, Des Moines, Downtown, People

Shuey called me while I was stuck in traffic trying to get home from work, he wanted to go to a couple bars.? He said he’d drive, so now I have a replacement chauffer after all (Cherish is in Kansas City for work seminars).? Before this we went to Bogeys on Hickman for free beer until 7pm.? Then we went to the Twisted Parrot for a couple hours.?

 

? Now we’re driving to the East side of Des? Moines? to drop off his truck and take? a cab out to Johnny’s Hall of Fame.?

?

? Not too shabby now are we?

?

? Walking to Quick Trip to wait for a cab to take to Johnny’s.? They have a hard time finding his house sometimes so it’s just easier to wait there.

 

Yes, that’s fresh snow, it snowed a lot this night.? It started around 4pm real heavy, then snowed on and off through around 2:00 or so.

?

? I like? this? double image caused by the reflection on the glass.? The two images collide gracefully.? See the car at the pump at the top, then look at the girl at the counter in the same positon.

 

?

? Damn, that is a ton of candy for a gas station.? Apparently candy is a staple of the East side diet.?

 

Practicing the folded arm greeting.

 

Mocha Chocolatte YaYa what?

 

When you see this sign, it’s probably not safe.

 

It was Rock’s birthday, he did the “it’s my birthday” dance.

 

Rock’s brother.

 

? These Chick’s come here a lot.

 

This dude.

?

? Those some big pimpin glasses for sho.

 

Epic Status cash money millionaires, holla atcha boy!? ? …and all that stuff

 

Shuey didn’t have any cash after the cab ride and a few beers, but? he generously contributed his credit card for added props.

 

? These chicks came up and asked us to take their picture.? Shuey took this one, without the flash while not being still.? They asked us to email it to them, I lost the peice of paper with their email on it.? Oh well, the shot came out horribly blurry anyway.? Sorry gals.

 

?

? Chillen with some of the regulars at Johnnys Hall of Fame in Des Moines.? I rep pretty much anything, I’ll throw an East coast, a dirty South, then a central side.? Whatever I’m feeling.?

?

They wanted their portrait too.? Sorry, it’s a little dark and the angle is a bit too much.? But hey, what do you expect from a bar patron who’s been drinking since 5:00pm?

See page 2 for more.

Bars, Des Moines, Downtown, People

Granted? I realize? that Des Moines is no LA, traffic is still a major headache.? Considering the size of Des Moines, traffic flow is not impressive.? This is compounded by urban sprawl over the last 15 years or so to the West of Des Moines.? Tons of people work downtown but live in the Western suburbs.? Over the last couple years, an effort has been made to revitalize downtown and make it a more attractive place to live, which would reduce the amount of people depending on I- 235 and other main arteries leading toward downtown.? ? Personally my drive time is between 20 and 30 minutes each way to get to work downtown.? It’s not horrible, but it could be much better for a city this size.? This also takes into consideration that many companies start at an offset time so that people are driving in at different times.? For instance, starting work at 8:15am instead of just 8:00am.

 

 

 

 

 

?

 

 

 

Cars, Des Moines, Streets