dancing with the cars

when the weekend comes, instead of plopping down in front of the tube and wasting away the few precious hours when i'm not locked up at my job, i always find it rewarding to go into the city to see what other people are up to.

lately i've been packing up some gear and heading downtown to see what goes on at the regional convention center. much money has been spent to revitalize the urban core, and to an extent it has been successful, given the crowds usually found in the vicinity -- with all the major hotels, government buildings and ritzy entertainment venues.

what follows is my travelogue -- and i never even heard about the st. patrick's day blowout down the hill!

talk about tiny dancers! these kids can really move, though. and judging from the full-size ones i'd see later, they're well on the way

most of today's visitors were here for the car show, which was held in the adjoining exhibition space. i'm too cheap to shell out $9 to enter -- and what's the point? the real action was out here in lobby!

i hope she's been saving up, cuz these cars ain't cheap!

waiting their turn on the dance floor.

she looks about as thrilled by the cars as i am.

this is more like it. i didn't know whether i'd be allowed to shoot or not -- just slipped in the back of the stage and started working. cameras these days are just awesome!

a quiet moment before the next routine.

i got a little bolder and walked into the hall so i could shoot from the front. 

i gotta hand it to 'em: they really work hard on their dances -- and at least there's more of a point to it than cheerleading.

i got a kick out of these three putting in a little last-minute preparation before they went on stage.

back to the cars -- kids were all over these things. too bad, by the time they get their licenses there won't be any fuel left!

i'm a sucker for these airborne shots!

it's nice to have a dream... but why this one?