Oot and aboot

"Shorty'z Smokes" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

(That title's not nationalist against Canadians, I promise. I just like how it sounds in my head.)

Woke up this morning, and after the kids got on the bus, bound for another day of 'learning,' I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do for the day. I have a bunch of photos I need to work on from the wedding Gypsy and I went to shoot a couple weeks ago (what I'm doing while I have down time, as we're not getting paid for it...), but it wasn't something I was particularly looking forward to.

Then, outta the blue, my brother calls. I knew he was supposed to start his jury duty today, so I was a little surprised to hear from him, though I figured it meant he'd gotten out of it. He had, and was downtown and not wanting to go all the way home just yet, so he wanted to see what I was up to. I, of course, was more than happy to go out and shoot.



We got downtown, parked, and walked around for about an hour. I went into Fourth Street Live! for the first, and probably last, time, and there were some folks walking around on some sort of guided tour of Louisville. Nothing too exciting, but it's outta the house, so I'm okay with it.

"Untitled" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

He didn't want to rack up a huge parking expense, so we went back to the car and moved it to a spot we know is free and almost always has space. We headed towards the new KFC Yum! Center, a large monstrosity on the Louisville waterfront which serves as an arena, venue, etc. As we're walking by out front, Jack runs into someone who works at Whole Foods with him, as she's just leaving the center. She asks us if we want a couple of tickets to get in, as they are having private, self-guided tours for ticketholders. I guess her sister and their friend didn't show, so she had a couple extras. Of course we enthusiastically accepted, thanked her, and went in.

"X" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Inside there were very few people, and they mostly staff members. We went up to the man handing out brochures, maps, and information about the place, he gave us the "75 cent tour," as he put it. Basically, he told us how to get around inside, which proved a bit more complicated than we thought, and Jack and I both drifted off before he was done. In our defense, it took a good five minutes for him to finish... We set off, pamphlets in hand. It's a very modern-looking building, both inside and out, with lots of swooping lines, suspended panels, brushed aluminum, and funky lights.

"The Bar" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

After you go upstairs, to some cryptically-named level (S2, I believe...), you are first greeted by more modern lighting, including a wall which glows red, and a counter/bar which glows white. Lots of things glow inside here. This is also right in front of the press boxes (at least, that's what I assume they are...), and right up the way from the luxury boxes and suites.

"Upper Crust" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Here's a view of the court from one of the luxury suites. Probably the only time I'll ever see that view. Not that I'm gonna lose any sleep over that fact. I probably couldn't give less of a shit. It's just interesting to think that that's something I'll never again see live... Hence the photo!

"The Suite" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

This one's of the interior of the suite. Fukken nice! I especially liked this guy, he was just sitting there, waiting for something to do, gettin' paid to text... They didn't have any names written on the doors to these places, only numbers, for privacy of the owners I assume. I went rifling through the cabinets and refrigerator, looking for something to take from the rich people. All they had were condiments... You think they'd have had more...

"The Lounge" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

A cool little area full of places to rest your weary fat ass. Looked rather comfortable, rather more than it was.

"Burnett's Vodka Lounge" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Also known as The White Room, and Miami Beach (don't ask on that last one, I don't think I'm nearly fashion-forward enough to give any guesses on why that might be the name...).

"Evan Williams Bourbon Bar" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Also known as The Red Room. These two, including the White Room above, are on opposite sides of the arena, under the bleachers, where now, instead of smokin clandestine cigarettes and having awkward grope sessions, you can get piss drunk (as long as you've got the fundage)! Very pretty, and pretty expensive. In fact, knowing the Taco Bell downstairs offers a side of their world-famous (HA!) nachos for a piddling $4.00 (yes, the same side you get in the restaurant for a third that), I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess as to what two fingers' of Evan Williams comes out to in the end... I guess if you have nothing better to do with your money...

"Shown On The Range" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

A cool reflection in the granite countertop/electric induction range-in-one. Like I said earlier, this place had some wicked cool lighting in it.

"Spirit Room" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

This is the might Spirit Room. When you drive by on I64, you'll see this enormous... wave... coming at you. It's all shiny and glass and shit. You're seeing the outside of this room. It's rather large, and the view is as well. Though it's just a view of the Ohio and I64, from a little higher up than ground-level.

"Spirit People" Downtown Louisville. October, 2010.

Another photo inside the Spirit Room, of some people coming in from outside.

And that was pretty much our self-guided walking tour of the new KFC Yum! center (yes, the ! is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, as evidenced by it being everywhere inside). It's modern, it's pretty, it's new. I liked it well enough, I just feel like I'm missing out on the point.