Pabst Blue Ribbon

Love it or hate it, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer is an icon of the American culture. From the opening scene of Laverne and Shirley in the bottling factory (filmed in the building on the left in the first picture) to Dennis Hopper's reference between Heineken and Pabst Blue Ribbon in the 1986 movie Blue Velvet (I'll let you, the reader, look that one up) it's everywhere you go, especially if you're willing to look for it.

The buildings have fortunately been saved and are one by one being converted into new, usable, office and living space. It's nice to see that in a disposable world, some pieces of our history and culture are being saved, even if it is just on the surface.

The main Pabst sign.

Stained glass on an interior door.

The Captain.

The opening of the wings at the Milwaukee Museum of Art. The sound is horrid thanks to everyone around trying to talk over the wind, but even there in person the wings are silent. It's rather awe-inspiring to watch something so massive open without a sound.

More Quadracci Pavilion

The repetition of design makes the Quadracci Pavilion in Milwaukee fascinating to walk through and photograph. The use of a 16:9 HD ratio as opposed to the normal 4:3 helps to capture this repetition and how  it changes throughout the day.

Om Nom Nom Nom

The Quadracci Pavilion gets ready to munch on another visitor.

Wingspread in Panoramic View

Wingspread was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Herbert Fisk Johnson, of SC Johnson, in Racine, Wisconsin. It's one of his later designs and is based off of a pinwheel layout. Thanks to Wright's long and sometimes rambling Prairie designs, it was another perfect opportunity to play with the panoramic software.

Outside view. Main entrance in center.

The software added a fun wave to Wingspread. Frank Lloyd Wright would have never added such a wave to a design which is situated on top of flat ground.

Interior view from just inside the main entrance.

The hearth is the heart of the home. Wingspread really emphasizes this with its central mantle in the living area. Not seen in the back is the fireplace on the second story which is intended to burn eight foot long logs in a vertical position. History says that the vertical fireplace was used only once since there's nothing more disconcerting than having eight foot tall burning logs fall into the room when the bottoms burn out.

The Mantle and Chimney.

Light from the surrounding windows in the roof play off the mantle's brick throughout the day. The massive height of the mantle not only helps to ground the room, but is an excellent opportunity to use the panoramic software to go vertical instead of  horizontal.

Panoramic Milwaukee

I've become spoiled by technology. Instead of having to take multiple pictures and then sit at home and try and stitch them all together in Photoshop I can just pull up an app on my phone and let it do all the work for me. There's an added benefit (or fault depending on what you're photographing) of the inadvertent curvature to the images which in some cases gives the whole panorama a slight fish-eye effect.

Add in the interesting architectural combination of the War Memorial Center designed by Eero Saarinen and the Quadracci Pavilion by Santiago Calatrava in Milwaukee. Sprinkle it with a nice cloud formation coming in off Lake Michigan and you get a very nice shot indeed.

This shot really is worth opening up for the full size. 

Yellow Ferrari

This Ferrari 308 is stunning all by itself, and not just because of its color. However, throw a quick filter onto the picture to make the Ferrari's color the only color in the shot, and it looks ready to jump off the screen.

Mullett Beer

I'll admit that I'm actually looking forward to trying this one, as I'm all for supporting my local Texas breweries. However, I also fear that I may want to also go take the t-tops off my Firebird and grow a mullet.

The Hidden Hedgehog

One thing I've always enjoyed about gardens is the sense of discovery that one can get while wandering around. In a large garden with a meandering path it's always the fascination of just what lies beyond the next bend in the trail or on the other side of that hedge.  In smaller gardens the discovery is usually a little more whimsical in nature (Garden Gnomes are a potential exception here).

This little pottery hedgehog is hiding in a clump of mint. When things are overgrown you can barely tell he's there, making you have to hunt to find him. When the garden is a little more orderly you still have to look for him as he's under a birdbath and partially hidden behind a wall as well. Each time you spot him though it's as though he's looking back with a cheerful "Hello there!"