For just a few minutes, following a brief shower, we got some of that strange light that made everything look a little unreal.
Category Archives: Photography & Ephemera
Junior High Basketball Team
I think Frank Proctor made me memorize the state capitols and all of the U. S. presidents (I no longer know either). One summer he started his “Merry Mobile” business. He drove up and down the streets of Kennett selling frozen treats. He was also the junior high basketball coach and one of my greatest achievments was “making” the team. I loved playing basketball in the back yard but was terrible at the real thing. I warmed benches through the 10th grade before hanging up my Chuck Taylors and rediscovered the joy of the game at the city park. The Web cannot be complete without this photo of the Kennett Junior High Basketball Team.
Back Row: Terry Hunter, Mike Shipman, Robert Taylor, Phil Ayers, Buddy Shivley, Jerry Bird, Otis Mitchell, Randy Carter, Brett Baker. Front Row: Tommy LaTurno, Ben Pickard, Larry Hale, Bruce Baker, Steve Mays, John Robison, Tommy Saunches, Darrell Jackson, Tony Stewart.
Self Portrait
A couple of years ago I confessed that I thought I looked my best in theatre restrooms. Now I’ve done the unthinkable. I photographed myself in that challenging setting. In the tradition of all great risk-takers, I had no cover story in the event someone walked in.
Aileene Hanks
A nice lady named Pat found her way to my KBOA830.com website (“I have no idea why my mother-in-law had this post card. You may keep it. I have decided I cannot keep everything.”). Google revealed that Aileene Hanks (Anna Aileene Hanks Williams) wrote and recorded a song called “In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions.” The song was recorded by The Blackwood Brothers in 1954 and later by Elvis in 1960 (You can hear Elvis’s version on “His Hand in Mine; Amazing Grace CD1). In a pre-Web world, Pat would never have found my KBOA site and I wouldn’t have been able to find out anything about Aileene Hanks or that Elvis had recorded her son. So, are we better off that we did? I believe so.
Family
No blogging this past week while visiting my brother Blane (with ball) and his family. They live in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, and are home for just six weeks. Two years since we last saw each other and likely to be two more before next visit. I went bowling for the first time in 45 years. Played putt-putt. What is more important than family?
Funny people: Jim Obradovich
Jim Obradovich was high on my Unborn Blogs” list and he somehow discovered this (could he be reading this very post?). He hinted that he might be willing to take run at blogging and offered to send photos from his new part-time job.
“…beginning tomorrow evening at the Iowa State Fair Parade I will commence my duties as “Fairfield” the State Fair Mascot. Fairfield is a 6-foot blue ribbon of merriment. I will be undertaking my “Fairfield” duties for 2 to 3 hours a day, while the rest of the time I’ll be writing press releases on everything from sheep dog trials to the heaviest pigeon competition.”
Captain Banana
I loved that Peter Parker sort of threw together his first Spider-Man costume and it looked like it. And it would be silly to waste precious screen minutes establishing where he got his official outfit. But didn’t you wonder? We have to assume it didn’t come off the rack, so it was custom made. Maybe by the same tailor that makes all the WWF costumes.
While Superman’s costume was indestructible, we saw –in the final battle with the Green Goblin– that Spider-Man’s is not. So, did he have a few extra made? And what happens when they get dirty and pitted out. Wash or dry clean? Hangers or folded?
I’ve had some experience in this area. For several years I lived a double life, too. Captain Banana was one of my alter egos during my radio days. My mom made my costume for me. Thermal underwear, Day-Glo cowboy boots and a plastic motorcycle helmet. It was one hot mother. I wore it for a charity Bike-a-thon and nearly died.
I really liked the movie. I’m not sure how special effects can get much better than the final 40 seconds of Spider-Man. If there was a weak spot it was probably Willem Defoe as the Green Goblin. But I respect the guy for taking the part. I mean, he played Jesus for Christ’s sake.
Roadside Memorials
You’ve seen them. Countless times. Those small white crosses –usually with flowers– next to the highway. Sometimes there will be two or three, clustered together. I’ve always assumed these marked the spot where someone lost their life in a traffic accident. What else could it be? If there’s a mystery here, it is — at least for me– why I have never seen someone placing these little markers. Not once, in almost 40 years of driving. In fact, I can’t find anyone that has ever seen someone placing these little crosses. Think of the odds of that.
And what’s the highway department’s policy on these? Do they leave them up indefinitely? For a few weeks? If they do take them down, what do they do with them? Burn them? Store them? So many questions. Jerry Whiting has been thinking about this for a while at Roadside Memorials.
I look good in theater restrooms
Maybe it’s the lighting or the tile, I can’t explain it. I first noticed it many years ago when I was a little more conscious of my appearance. I’m not a good dresser and my grooming is just so-so. But one day I dashed into the men’s room at a movie theater and saw myself in the mirror. This was how I wanted to look all the time. At first I thought it was just that theater restroom but the city or size of the theater didn’t matter. I look just as good in the Seattle Cineplex as the small art house in Kansas City.
I’ve never shared this information with anyone because there’s no way to verify it. I can’t take my wife with me for the obvious reason. And she’d tell me I looked good anyway. I can’t take a male friend (“Hey, I think I look pretty cool in the men’s room mirror… would you come with me and tell me what you think?”). I thought about trying to sneak a camera in but discarded that one pretty quickly. There’s just no acceptable explanation for taking photographs in the men’s room.
So we have here one of life’s little jokes. Sort of a “Restroom of the Magi.” I’ve been given the gift of seeing myself look just the way I want to look but I cannot share this experience. Perhaps I should be happy there is any place where I feel good about my appearance.
To those of you who know me and might have occasion to see me in a theater restroom, please don’t say anything. If you agree that I look damned fine, just give me a thumbs up or the OK sign and let it go at that.
Sheryl Crow on cover of Stuff
A co-worker recently gave me a copy of Stuff Magazine. I’d never heard of Stuff and he explained “it’s sort of like Playboy but everyone keeps their clothes on.” He thought I’d be interested in this issue (March, I think) because Sheryl Crow as on the cover and there was a nice group of photos on the inside.
Like me, Crow grew up in Kennett, Missouri, a small town in southeast Missouri. Aside from the Kennett connection, Crow looked extremely hot in the Stuff layout. She just turned 40 and decided it might be fun to do some cheese cake.
People from Kennett are understandably proud of Sheryl Crow. She is, without a doubt, the most famous person to call our little town home. I should point out that I do not know Sheryl Crow. I’m 14 years older and our paths never crossed.