Do the collapse/Raleigh f/4.5 @ 1/250 sec

Time lapse

I managed to almost oversleep this morning but did get down to Crabtree Valley Mall about 7 a.m. Unfortunately, the meeting spot we'd chosen was barricaded off as after a certain point, Raleigh PD closed off the mall parking lot and decks. Some folks made it in. I wasn't one of them. So, the greenway at the underpass beneath the Creedmoor Road Extension was next best available.

aklikins called and had vantage point at Circuit City, which apparently went well. Not long after, I spotted jason0x21 and Cindy. Another Flickr user was up in the Steak and Ale lot, but as with a lot of potential vantage points that were not the Crabtree parking deck, the view was obscured by trees. Apologies for missing maegwynn if she came out... We didn't see her.

It was pretty spiffy, but I'm happy I didn't go through a lot of effort to be in place at dark thirty. It wasn't that good. Post implosion breakfast at IHOP was tasty.

Now, to figure out the rest of my day knowing that rain makes cycling not as fun. Edit: Movie w/ Jeannie sounds like fun.

Sunrise on Intentional Destruction/Raleigh f/8.0 @ 1/1000 sec

I'll leave the addressing of Nevermore Film Festival [1] until later. Let me instead talk about the intentional waking up at 5:15 and going downtown before sunrise to find a good perch to see the Convention Center get dropped. Very cold, but worthwhile. I managed to keep frostbite away from my fingers and toes, I was at the corner of Dawson and Carrabus for a minute or two before Baron arrived, followed shortly by Rob. Tom and Mark filled in a bit later.

About six minutes after seven, a guy from the bomb squad shouted a countdown, giving us a 30 second heads up. Some medium, attention getting booms, then some very large ones as the convention center dropped. Walking toward McDowell, dust and the smell of burned explosives drifting westward. Hmmmm. Cough. I hope what they said about the asbestos was correct. Anyway, a few seconds and it was done.

See what some of the rest of the Raleigh Flickristas have put up. Mark posted some video from our vantage point.

On a somewhat related note, what would have been really cool is if Kulture was open and serving coffee.

1. Still on today! I'm at least there for Death Trance