Category Archives: Photography & Ephemera
Pedal like your life depends on it!
Bob lives in Madison, WI, where it’s damned cold. And every morning (and every evening) he hops on his bicycle and peddles pedals five miles to work. Whatever the weather, no matter how cold. Or so he says and I want to believe him. I don’t know how you ride a bike in ass-deep snow but Bob says you can (special tires?).
He snapped this photo this morning. It was a few degrees below zero. Note his rosy cheeks.
When it’s that cold, what happens when you sling a bucket of warm water into the air? It freezes before it hits the ground.
Update: Willie Lohman “peddles” like his life depends on it. Thanks, E. for the reminder.
Sleevefaces
I never visit the J-Walk Blog without finding something interesting. Today it was sleevefaces. 
There are hundreds of these. Too many to browse in one sitting and the J-Walk’er picked a couple of good ones. Dog lovers might enjoy this one.
“Country store on dirt road. Sunday afternoon.”
July 1939. Gordonton, N.C. You really have to see the full-size image (at Shorpy) to appreciate this photo by Dorothea Lange (for the Farm Security Administration). [via J-Walk Blog]
Macworld virgin
In couple of weeks I will attend my first Macworld in San Francisco. 60,000 rabid Mac fans gather for a week of… well, I’m not quite sure but look forward to finding out.
Three Macworld veterans are letting me tag along and their enthusiasm is infectious. These guys are my age and they’re as giddy as a GTO full of college sophomores on their way to spring break.
They know the ropes and have planned our trip like a Delta Force strike. This morning at our planning meeting, I was informed that we’d be getting in line at 4:30 a.m. for the keynote by Steve Jobs.
Macworld sounds like a bouillabaisse of Burning Man, 60’s Be-In, and Jonestown (substitute microbrews for Kool Aid). Can’t wait.
Classroom at Missouri School of Journalism
Snapshots
A woman/man/boy takes my picture at a crowded sidewalk cafe. I object and the woman/man/boy runs away. I give chase. The mysterious photographer dashes in front of a bus and is killed instantly. I look down and see the camera at my feet. I pick it up and walk away. A couple of blocks away I go into a bar and turn on the camera, looking for a clue to the identity of the photographer. There are just 12 images on the camera, the last one being the one just taken of me. The story unfolds as I attempt to unravel the mystery, searching for clues in the twelve photos.
To put some meat on the bones of this story, I really should come up with interesting photos. For example, let’s say one of them is crash scene of Princess Di (time stamped 5 seconds after the crash, before anyone else arrived).
And maybe one is a shot of Lee Harvey Oswald posing by the window in the book depository. (A digital image before there were digital cameras?)
If we want to take a spooky tack, the first image could be the crushed body of the photographer under the bus.
You get the idea. Would this make a better TV series than feature? You could post the images online and invite fans to help solve the mystery. Hmmm.
Comments/ideas are encouraged. And if this has already been done, please let me know.
Las Vegas pix
Got back from weekend in Las Vegas, then down to the Lake for an off-site planning retreat. Playing hell with the blogging. Barb’s are sure to be better and I’ll add them when we can find time to coordinate. She’s been busier than I. And, yes, I know I haven’t captioned or titled the flickr images. I’ll get to them eventually.
I also grabbed some video but that’s gonna have to be a weekend project. Gonna try to give the new iMovie another try. Watch this space for big announcement on Friday. I’m all tingly.
The Basement Diaries Redux
L-R: Richard Peck, Jim Bob Green, John Robison, Charlie Peck (seated), Jane Marshall, Joe Browning (seated), Lynn Strickland
I’m committed to the do-over for The Basement Diaries but I’m quickly discovering it’s going to take a lot longer than I anticipated. I keep discovering pages that had fallen behind the digital chest of drawers. I’m starting with just recreating all of the pages and getting them linked. I don’t want to think about re-scanning hundreds of photos. This is the signature image for The Basement Diaries. Everyone has a snapshot like this, that captured a time and place.
Next summer will be the 40th anniversary of “the basement summer,” so I’ll have to have the site back up before then. Which means even less blog time for smays.com.
Gun Spinning, Tomahawk Throwing & Trick Roping
Nice post and Flickr set on the Wild West Arts Convention by Dr. Everett Mobley. He explains this photo in his post. I love this photo. If I had an outfit like that, I’d wear it to work tomorrow. Well, maybe not the hat.