Bimmer Jones’ Photoblog

Spurgeon’s One Stop is the latest entry into the closest thing I have to a series of abandoned roadside merchants. Not sure how long this one remained open-- a dimly-lit interior and schmutz-coated windows obscure any unsold inventory that might have suggested its closing date. (Dunnavant, Alabama, October 2017)

The Streeterville neighborhood is home to the original Gino’s East, known for its take on Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. While Pizzeria Uno enqueues diners in the bar, finally seating them as their pies come out of the oven, Gino’s East’s customers enjoy a more traditional dining experience, ordering drinks and appetizers from their tables as their pizzas bake. (Chicago, May 2017)

I found this Beetle close to home, blessed with, shall we say, patina. The original Bug was odd-looking, slow, and barely crashworthy, and Volkswagen sold millions of them because of their anvil simplicity and low cost. The body looks intact, so a good going-over with an orbital sander might reveal sound metal underneath. However, for the cost of restoration, you may be able to buy a cleaner, more desirable 60′s car. This one, based on its barely recognizable license plate, has been parked 20-25 years. (Shelby County, Alabama, September 2017)

A mid-afternoon walk around the Triton Museum of Art provided the subjects for a casual shooting session. The museum was founded in 1965 by lawyer W. Robert Morgan as a community gallery and repository for the Santa Clara Valley. Morgan was known for his Triton Morgan Horse breeding program at his Gilroy ranch. Morgan’s family continues the Triton line at their ranch in Hollister, California. (Santa Clara, California, August 2017)

Georgia had a catfit Friday, gallantly defending the living room from a highly dangerous area rug. (Chelsea, Alabama, August 2017)

General stores, once the predominant retailers of rural America, have been closing over the past fifty years as their owners retired or passed on, with chain establishments like Dollar General taking their place in the communities, and sprawling Walmart stores offering regional coverage. This store, Paul C. Marsh & Son, welcomed customers from 1945 to 1994, and possibly sold gasoline into the 1980s, when Unocal (Union Oil of California) discontinued the 76 gasoline brand in Alabama. The Dekalb County Tourist Association’s John Dersham caught up with the store’s final owner, Dan Marsh, in a 2014 piece for his Lookout Mountain Blog. I tend to digitally develop these kinds of photos, so I’ll probably have some Tri-X-look treatments of these up in the not-too-distant future. (Locust Fork, Alabama, August 2017)

This survivor 1962 Ford Falcon was found roosting off El Camino Real. Like most California cars parked more than a couple of blocks from the beach, this one’s rust-free. Unlike many, this one hasn’t seen any cosmetic changes and wears period-correct black plates. (Santa Clara, California, August 2017)

University of Alabama students and alumni can be found everywhere. When they’re hungry for deep dish pizza, they leave their mark on Gino’s East on E. Superior. (Chicago, May 2017)

View from John Hancock Center facing south. Chicago’s known for its skyscrapers, and the two tallest are known for their controversial residents. On the left, Trump International Hotel and Tower on N. Wabash stands as an extended middle finger to the city President Trump spends his time bloviating about when he’s not scheduling photo opportunities designed to give the impression he’s governing. To the south and west, Willis Tower (233 S. Wacker) is the global headquarters of United Airlines, which turns doctors into patients. While both UAL and Trump are getting Twitter Thrashed, only the POTUS’ River North digs will be makin’ bacon later this summer. (May 2017)

My workplace offers up everyday coffee from Royal Cup most of the time, but every day or so somebody brews a specialty blend (Starbucks’ Pike Place, Colombia and Ethiopia are regular selections). This container of “Ubuntu” is probably more a homage to the Ubuntu operating system (whose forum members award “beans” to helpful contributors), than brewed from the beans of the Ubuntu Coffee Cooperative. (Vestavia Hills, Alabama, April 2017)

When I started posting photos here a short time ago, I chose the name “Bimmer Jones,” which I sometimes use on other social networks. I wanted something that kinda looked like a real name if you squinted a little and stood ten feet away. An old friend from the Web 1.0 days started it with things like “Spork McGregor” and “Sphang Ortiz.” There’s also been a “DeAquanetta Cantrell,” “Aptiva Norman” and a “Baby DeCappy” (who has become Coors-swilling meme apocrypha, the original author having fallen through a crack in the universe some time around 1997). Unexpectedly, a BMW fan started following the blog a couple of days ago, so I realized I needed some automotive content. When Birmingham had its annual don’t-blink-or-it’ll-melt snow shower, I got this shot in the driveway. My daily driver is this 2016 328i F30 I picked up last summer to replace an E90 from 2011. It has the 8-speed ZF slushbox, so I’ve already sacrificed my enthusiast cred with this one. So, why “Bimmer Jones?” Well, Medium showrunner Glenn Gordon Caron’s first series in the mid-1980s was a quirky dramedy called Moonlighting. While not the show’s target audience, the show had two things that could pique the interest of a sixteen-year-old guy-- Cybill Shepherd’s plunging necklines, and an ’85 635CSi. By 1990, both Moonlighting and the E24 6 Series were gone. While Cybill never quite turned my head again, I always noticed a BMW. My F30 has been a comfortable commuter and a pleasant highway cruise vessel, but I still have a space in my living room for an E24. Especially if it’s in Bronzit Beige Metallic. And 1987 Cybill Shepherd is in the front passenger seat. (Chelsea, Alabama, January 2017)

With spring finally underway, foggy mornings like the one in this Chelsea subdivision should be over for a while. (Chelsea, Alabama, December 2016)

This quaint cottage on Swede Alley in Park City would probably sell for $500,000-$750,000. A similar home in San Jose would put you back $350,000. In Atlanta, a small house in Duluth would be $170,000, while one in Calera, Alabama would only be $103,000, but you wouldn’t be able to ski as part of your commute. (Park City, Utah, February 2017)

By this point, Canada Geese should be on their way home, but this honkin’ hoser is still doing pre-flight checks. (Chelsea, Alabama, March 2017)

I found this walking hairball outside an Albany motel in 2007. Since then, Georgia has spent the first of her nine lives chomping kibble, guzzling gooshyfood and dislocating humans from their seats. Here she is preventing a bed from being made. (Chelsea, Alabama, January 2017)

Hello, tweetie! A pigeon claimed the crown of my front yard’s Bradford Pear. This rather undistinguished bird looks quite regal perched atop the desiccated berries that are the Bradford’s fruit. (Chelsea, Alabama, January 2017)

I don’t know a lot of this old convenience store, but some of the ABC stickers on the door and a central air conditioning installation suggest Bailey’s Grocery stayed open at least into the 1990′s. Unlike most stations today, Bailey’s offered only regular unleaded and premium, while a lonely pump at the edge of the lot dispensed diesel to cars and trucks during the oil burners’ late-70′s early-80′s heyday in the US, and tractors and farm vehicles long after. Patrons also would have needed a fat wallet to fill up here-- a cash-only policy meant they didn’t take Visa, and they sure didn’t take American Express. (Bailey’s Grocery, Sterrett, Alabama, January 2017)