The Pawn Shop

In tough times, when we are low on cash but high on 'stuff', where do we go? To DA PAWN SHOP!
This is a tribute to the place we go when the rent is due and the stereo isn't sounding so good! Or when that wedding ring will buy groceries now that my a-hole of a husband or wife decided to play with the babysitter!

Also..notice the framing job on the furniture store next door. Wicked! All of this can be seen just west of Morse and Cleveland on the north end of Columbus.

Average Joes Pub/Marilyn surprise

I went to the Average Joe's Pub at Polaris at the end of June. Cool pub, pretty good pub grub. Not a well established hole in the wall place at all, it is a chain, but not bad for a good time. My friend Brian had a gift certificate which defrayed the cost. The neon inside was nothing spectacular, but not too bad either. Typical bar signs. Since I was there, I had to take some pics. Sadly I have been frequenting many different places this summer and forget to bring a camera or take a good picture. Enjoy:



The Budweiser sign was particularly ironic. The sign is now outdated since a couple weeks after I snapped that shot, Budweiser is now a Belgian owned beer. Still brewed and operated in the good ole U S of A though. THe Coors one..nice sign..but I don't care for Coor's (unless it is free or very very cheap) and I didn't care for Super Bowl XLII, being a die hard New England fan.

Last month also, my daughter and I decided to do the pasta/salad/pizza buffet at Massey's across the street from our home. The exterior was featured back at the beginning of this blog..cool red and green neon reflecting the Italian heritage of pizza. But inside something I didn't expect. Norma Jean aka Marilyn Monroe opening a bottle..in all it's neon glory. I am sure I could buy this at Spencer's for $50 or so, but I didn't expect it in an otherwise plain jane Massey's dining room.

This was another phone dump. I MEAN IT..I will be doing some neoning soon. Possibly as early as tonight. I am thinking of doing a video tour, incorporating video logging my travels as well as still images. And of course, music.

Crew Stadium

Yep, I went and watched a soccer game. Was an awesome time. For all those who haven't given it a try, I recommend it. Fairly inexpensive and a good game. Way too many Americans simply won't watch anything that isn't completely American with American stars. I love baseball and football but this is the WORLD'S SPORT, and last I checked, we are still part of the WORLD. Surprisingly little variation neonwise in the six or so concession stands. UNfortunately, concessions are major league prices (well, it IS MAJOR league soccer!). Thee were taken the evening of 6/28. By the way, the Crew beat Colorado 2-1.

EAST POLARIS/MAXTOWN ROAD

I got off work a bit early last night and decided to head up Cleveland Avenue to the western edge of POlaris Parkway/Maxtown Road area to see what was going on up there. Not terribly exciting but I did find a few good ones. I stayed east of I-71/the mall area because that is one happening place as far as neon goes, and I will need several hours to cover that area, hopefully next week sometime. All these pics were taken the night of Friday, 6/27 with my digital camcorder still function.







OK, in order: 1. Diadora. At a soccer related store at Westerview Center (ok, not really Polaris/Maxtown area, but was on my way there)

2. Damon's Grill, Polaris Pkwy and St. Rt. 3/State Street. This sign is on the back of the building, not facing Polaris but facing it's parking lot.

3. Quizno's. Subs. Yummy. Located in a stripmall at Maxtown and State.

4. Multicolored OPEN sign, Mexican Restaurant in same strip center. I enjoy these multicolored yet simple installations. Much more interesting visually than the red and blue stuff.

5. SportClips. A hair salon catering to men, with TV's showing sports while getting a haircut. Steam towel treatments and all. But I would likely get a bad cut since I would be moving my head to watch the sports on their TVs!

6. Panda Express. Fast Chinese food. It's pretty good, but a little on the pricey side.

7. Camille's. Some sorta fakey French-style sidewalk cafe, like you would see in Paree, but this is actually in a stripmall at Polaris Pkwy and Worthington Road. It's in the middle of s sorta dead stretch between the 3C highway and the mall area. Cool sign.

8. Pei Wei, an Asian Diner..near Polaris and Cleveland, about halfway between the mall area and State Street. I never put the words "diner" and "Asian" in the same phrase before, but Cameron Mitchell did. Looks like a nice place but probably way overpriced Chinese food. There appeared to be cool Chinese neon beer signs in here, and this was one. The place was closed but a few employees were in there and started staring at me as I pointed my camera into their establishment. Maybe one day I will return for more pics.

In the meantime..

I know it has been a while again since I have done some neoning. I thought spring would have been a great time to get out with the camera, but life has kept me plenty busy! Between my 3 and a half-year-old daughter, work, chores, etc I don't have a lot of time and as much energy to be up til 1am taking pictrues. And I am rarely able to get away during the prime time hours, before places roll over and go to sleep, and around most areas of Columbus, that is much earlier than I get off work. But I am hoping with a few schedule changes in the coming weeks I can kick summer off to a glowing neon start. Also with the warmer weather and my decision to get back to walking as exercise, I will be spending some of the little free time I have walking in the city, especialy when it is not raining like it usually does around here. Sometime this month or next I will be doing the High Street corridor and downtown, which I have been looking forward to since I started this blog. Of course, businesses come and go as does neon, so even my geographic photo tours need ammending and updated now and then. And anytime I see something interesting in my usual stomping grounds I will be sure to have a camera with me.

In the meantime, until I post a new set, watch this slideshow I made back around the time I started this blog. I know, most of the neon in this is NOT from around Columbus, and no, sadly, none of it is my own photography. But I thought the pics along with the music made for a pretty cool cat neon experience!

PHONE FUN

I had several pictures left on my phone that I needed to dump. Since I don't have unlimited texting and messaging with my cell plan, I need to buy a special prepaid card to send text and picture messages. I finally did that. These pictures were taken throughout April and May.





These pics were obviously at Hooters (I go there for the beer and wings of course..) in early April.



Don Pablo's Tex Mex restaurant. Quite a bit of neon in the place, but mostly Corona and Dos Equis beer bottle outlines. I wish I had a better camera on me for the 'baños" shot though.




My dad was in the hospital and doing better, so he wanted a milkshake. These are pretty nice looking signs, and unfortunately we were there around 4PM so they didn't look so good in bright sunshine. I want to go back and shoot them at night, but the place closes so darn early and they unplug the lights when they leave. Maybe with summer about here they will stay open a bit later..or leave the lights on when they close at night! And YES that is me and my green monster (1998 Ford Escort Wagon) visible in the last pic!

been a while..but 2 leftovers for now!

I know it has been a while since I have taken any pictues or posted any Columbus neon sign photos. I have been quite busy with 'life' I guess you could say. Sad, because it has been a pretty nice spring so far, with many warm and sunny days. But I hope to get back out there, maybe Grandview, soon, as early as tonight maybe. The "Jeni's" and "Accent" pics were a leftover from the last time I went neoning. Oops, I somehow missed them after uploading the rest of the pics. I have a few photos on my phone I will upload later today after I purchase some messages (my plan does not include unlimited text or picture messaging). Look for those pics soon! I will be back!