Pretentious Artsyness

Happy Friday! Here's a few random shots around town.

Ships Ahoy

This is a close up view of the Algobay (tanker?) ship that is parked in Portland for the winter. Usually this space is used for cruise ships in the summer, so the city made a smart move and rented the spot out to this ship for the winter.



Today's reader photo, below, is from Michael Sosnowski of Maine Real Estate News and Maine Home Connection. I hear that now is the right time to buy! I like how this tanker, unloading at Spring Point in South Portland, has "protect the environment" written on it. Aside from any cynical remarks I can make about that, it's more inspiring than the standard "no smoking" that is usually put up in that spot (that's also a good message for sailors and the general public!)

Local News by professionals:

Press Herald reports (that's what they do) about the State Theater. Is it actually going to re-open?!?

Channel 6 can't tell us whether the Pirates are moving to Albany or not. The civic center needs replacing, but even if the Pirates leave there is a good shot at getting another AHL or ECHL or Quebec Major Junior team in there.

Mayo Street

Mayo Street Arts had a grand opening recently. You should check out their site (they are also on my constantly updated list of blogs in the right-hand column of this site) for future events. The place is conveniently located on Mayo Street, just off of Cumberland Avenue.

And the sign of the day:

Portland Daily Photo Weather Report: From looking out my windows, I would guess it's going to rain today.

B&M Baked Beans

From Foodreference.com:

In 1876 B&M baked beans were the first baked beans to be sold in cans. The Burnham & Morill Company canned baked beans for use by fishermen who worked their fishing fleet out of Portland, Maine.

This first photo is several months old, notice the sign is up. Apparently it was removed over the summer and was supposed to be replaced.

From this week... still no sign!

And this is in the same area and was worth a photo...

3 Miles

A few more from the Saturday walk around the Cove.

Morning on the Cove

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a walk around the Back Cove. Almost felt like spring.

First Portland Winter Market

You can check it out each Saturday until April 24th at 85 Free Street, from 10am-1pm.

Custom House from the Ocean

Another photo with one of my favorite buildings, the good old Custom House on Commercial Street. An interesting read about the building can be found here.

"Located near Portland's waterfront, the U.S. Custom House is a testament to the city's maritime history. It was built to accommodate the city's growing customs business, which, by 1866, was collecting $900,000 annually in customs duties - making Portland one of the most significant seaports in the country."

Other news:

I'm sure everyone has seen the new pressherald.com by now. According to the Press Herald, the new site has received "...almost 100 percent positive feedback." I wonder what the actual percent of positive feedback is? Sounds like biased reporting. (I think the site is a great improvement).

2 Signs

Just two signs...

Portland Maine Winter Market

I've been hearing some buzz about the new 'winter market' opening on Free Street soon, so here is a picture so people can find it. It's opening on Feb. 20 at 85 Free Street (Next to MECA and across from the Civic Center) and will be open each Saturday in the winter from 10am-1pm.

Sounds like a great idea. Maybe I'll get some photos of the event this weekend.

Middle of February

Valentine Bandit

Happy Valentines Day! As expected, there were a million hearts taped to all the windows downtown and a few banners on the usual spots. This tradition is now in its 34th year. Here's just a couple...

Here is the wikipedia article about this. Odd that it started in Portland in 1976 and the whole article is about Montpelier, VT where it started in 2002. Oh well.

No Snow

Following Monday's post, here is another photo of a car. This Mercedes was on Brown Street recently. I think I've seen it around before.

Other news...

As you've probably read by now (and noticed in recent photographs), we don't have any snow on the ground and that has led to the cancellation of the snow related WinteRush events this year. Meanwhile, Washington D.C. has received twice as much snow than we have this winter.

Boda Restaurant / 645 Congress St

Formerly the Bangkok Thai, I like the new look of Boda. This is at 671 Congress Street, at Longfellow Square. There's a little blurb about the place in this article.

And up/down the road, the sidewalk at 645 Congress has been opened (it was closed for several months, and and the building was behind scaffolding), revealing a nice facade. I think the place is opening soon, if anyone is looking for an apartment. There will be some retail on the first floor as well.

Hot or Cold?

This is taken from the same spot as yesterday's photo. As I was taking this, I was thinking "this looks like it was taken in the summer," although it was below freezing at the time.

Get off my Commercial Street!

Where did they get this bumper sticker? Seen on the DiMillo's wharf:

Answer to yesterday's "where is this?" post: Anonymous got it very right, it's the beautiful building at the corner of Exchange and Middle Streets in the Old Port. Nice eye.

Where is this? #2

I know where this is (because I just took this picture), but do you?

Keep Your Ears to the Ground

The view looking down Congress Street from the west side of Munjoy Hill:

Enjoy daily photos? Check out some of these sites and millions more here...

http://www.cluelessinboston.com/

http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/

http://genevadailyphoto.blogspot.com/

http://portlandoregondailyphoto.blogspot.com/

Best of Portland '10

The Portland Phoenix's annual 'best of' poll is now in the beginning phases. I don't know who added Portland Daily Photo to the list of nominees in the best blog section, but thanks! There are a million awesome local blogs to vote for (write-ins are accepted also) and lots of other categories, so go there and vote for all your favorites!

Also of note, was there a category for food blogs last year? Maybe there was and I am forgetting. Either way, it's good for them to have their own category, because as I mentioned in a post a while back, Portland is the food bloggiest city in America.

Nosh Kitchen Bar

This place at 551 Congress St, in the former home of the White Heart, opened recently. I haven't seen any formal reviews yet but will keep an eye on urbanspoon and Portland Food Map for critical reactions. You can see their hours and menu on their own website. Looks good to me!

Update - Check out the comments to this post for some reader reviews!

"If you frame it, it's art"

- Using one of the settings at http://bighugelabs.com/frame.php

Update - ignore the black frame around the whole image, that's from blogger

Parallel Barker

Get it? Parallel Barker?! Uh?? Nothing? A quick search for 'parallel barker' on google leaves me to believe that this post will instantly be the #1 search result for that phrase.