No, Joyland is not what you think. It is an amusement area in McKenzie Park. My wife and I took some pics and I'm posting them here, in my efforts to "document" Lubbock, Texas. I'm foolish enough to continue this effort even though I realize that I live in a police state, that we are all potentially subjects of searches and seizures of property with no warrant, or even confinement for indefinite periods with no hope of speedy trial or legal representation. Even though I am contending that the Constitution of the United States has been reduced to the status of mere toilet paper, I am not ranting. I am merely stating facts. At any rate, here are the pics! JOYLAND! Have fun while you can!
We decided last Saturday to get even more pics! I will show them all to you in the future, but I processed some of them and got some rather moody black and white "artsy" effects. I post them here without further comment:
This is still stuff from when my wife and I got out to photograph odd stuff downtown. That was two weeks ago! Well, I'm going to post the rest of that. After leaving downtown's mysteries and vacant buildings and deteriorated roads and curbs, we drove East and found an illegal dump just off Ash Avenue:
And then we took a road to Aztlan Park or Aztlan Area in the Guadalupe Neighborhood and saw some much nicer things. Guadalupe Neighborhood is kind of off the beaten path for most, but I'd rather live there than in Tech Terrace. But here is some of what we saw in the Aztlan Area (or park):
Now, this might not look like much to you, but here in Lubbock anything that is not dirt or concrete is considered to be "scenery". Note the water! WATER!!!
We left the mystery zone and found what used to be a skating rink!
Of course, it was in disuse, long abandoned and boarded up. The eaves were interesting, however. Probably a lot of old lead paint:
And in the streets, more evidence of urban decay:
The theme of downtown Lubbock seems to be: Yes, we have no BIZZWAX, and of BIZZWAX we have none!
I did not take any pics July 4th, but back in 1998 or 1999 I was at Fourth on Broadway and I took lots of pics then. I will share one of those pics, since nothing changes very much:
But note that it was raining! VERY unusual!
The weekend my wife and I drove around downtown, we paused at the old Kress building. Right across the street was the old JC Penny building!
And then we circled around and found a rather odd building, abandoned of course, like most of the buildings in downtown Lubbock. I took a bunch of photos there. This particular ruin had a gargoyle!
It looks to me to be emblematic of the sort of spirit that would preside and reign over this hot, dry, windy, dusty, insular, otherworldly, burg. Here is another view:
Welcome to Lubbock, and abandon hope! Heh. Heh. There were cryptic signs as well:
Did we stumble upon the hidden heart of this morbidly self-righteous city? If so, that heart is in need of repair...
What's that pot for?
To be continued...
