Nothing Boring About A Classic. . . . .

Living will five women tends to take its toll on a man.... So every once in a while I tend to day dream..... Today, this is what I dreamed about...

Over the river and through the woods....

This past weekend loaded up the family truckster and ventured down south for a visit to my parents house in NJ.... As always, the kids had a wonderful time with grandma and grandpa and it's even more special when they come to grandma's house.... here are some of their favorite things about grandma and grandpa's house.  (Please forgive the quality of the pics on this post.... I only brought my wife's point and shoot and shot these around 9:30 tonight. They had no processing and the macro function is very limited but still, they were fun to take.)

GRANDPA HAS A REAL GUMBALL MACHINE



WITH REAL GUMBALLS!!




GRANDMA'S FRIDGE HAS LOTS TO LOOK AT...




AND FARM "MAGANETS" FOR LUCI TO PLAY WITH.




GRANDPA AND MOMMY TOOK THE BIG GIRLS TO THE BOOK STORE...




WHILE THE LITTLE GIRLS PLAYED WITH GRANDMA'S JAR OF SHELLS...



SOMEONE DROVE THE MATCHBOX CAR UNDER THE FRIDGE...



BUT GRANDMA CAME TO THE RESCUE!



The First Party Is Always The Best. . . .

Yesterday I had the pleasure of shooting Thor's first Birthday Party.  His parents were as happy as could be and he was surrounded by a loving crowd of family and friends.  His favorite part was the cup cake of course... the other kids seemed to like the pinata the best!  I think I had the most fun of all....  Thanks Howie and Michelle, you have a beautiful family and I know the memories you've made will last a lifetime.

The Circus Is In Town. . .

Here is an absolutely intriguing photo by mark mirko It was taken during a photo project in 1997. I found it freakishly entertaining. I hope you do also...

Stealing Photos? Now This is Bulls**t.....

This post is from Chase Jarvis's Blog.... I thought those of you in the art community would enjoy it and maybe help solve the case!

Stealing Photos? Now This is Bulls**t.

Thursday - 10th of February, 2011

Stealing digital photos has long been a pasttime for some web junkies, and we as photographers have always dealt with it. Sign of the times. But this week’s theft of Jason Lee’s Polaroid portrait of actor Dennis Hopper is straight-up bull shittake.
The art collective ThisLosAngeles last week reported that, after a gallery opening called These Friends, they agreed to let a patron use the restroom just before closing. Turns out that this particular patron visited the toilet, but also paid a visit to the incredibly valuable (and beautiful) one-of-a-kind-polaroid-portrait of Dennis Hopper (shot by artist/actor Jason Lee) in the back of the gallery…and he swiped it. Pulled the art off the wall and walked out.
G’head and blame the gallery, blame the collective, blame the attendant who let the guy take a leak, blame whomever. The point is that I’m blaming the perpetrator and you should too. Stealing is bad, stealing one of a kind art is worse, and that the thief is amongst us…
Now–after several days and a $25,000 reward–Lee’s Polaroid is still missing. The gallery is facing the prospect of going out of business, the cops have little resources to sink resources into finding the culprit and recovering the loss. Wouldn’t it be nice if we in the photo, art, design, pop culture community could track this photo (and this criminal) down?
Citizens arrest. Call Jeremy Weiss at 323-747-5301 or this@thislosangeles.com if you have any tips.

Soccer Fans will love this....

I found this video just amazing to watch and had to post it.... being an ex-soccer player and all,  it inspires me to take up film making...

What Every Man Wants . . .

Today while working outside trying to rake the 2 1/2 feet of snow and ice off my roof, I had some time to think... some "man time".  As the day turned to dusk, and my frozen body was rocking back and forth on the ladder I peered into the house only to find my wife and daughters nestled on the couch next to the wood stove watching a program on television.  And all I could think of at the time was, "Geeze, do you think she could have turned on the back lights for me?  I mean, I'm out here in the dark for Pete's sake."  Now before you jump ugly on me for my comments, let me just say that my wife is the hardest working woman I know.  She runs the house, pays the bills, takes care of the kids and all their appointments, as well as the pets.... She cooks, cleans, and the list goes on and on.... But what I was having was a "Charles Ingalls" moment.... Let me explain... 

The past three days may have been the worst days of our married life together so far... three days ago our whole family came down with a stomach flu.... my wife and I were out of commission... and there were two of the four kids holding buckets (if you get my drift)... every seven minutes someone was in the bathroom with #2 or #3(the medical term is emesis)...It was so bad, I was taking the bucket from the kids!  We both looked at each other and shared the common look..."Is this really happening?"..... While laid out on the pullout sofa, our family did get a lot of "family time".  We were watching a program on television some of you might recognize..."Little House on the Prairie"... for those of you who don't remember, it was a show about the "old days" when Pa worked outside all day, and Ma tended to the home... The whole point of this long drawn out monologue is this... In the episode we saw, Pa came in from work and lunch was waiting for him.... and Ma came over and kissed him on the forehead and he ate... After lunch he went out to finish his work for the day.... and I thought, "That's it!"  That's what every man wants.... Not SEX like most of you think... don't get me wrong, sex is still high on the list for men but what they REALLY want and need today is for their loving women to take care of them.... Not in a sense that they need to be waited on hand and foot... but just a simple gesture like making lunch, or smiling and giving them a thank you kiss after they come in from shoveling snow off their wife's car, or  a glass of water after they've been outside working in the hot sun in the summer.  A simple gesture to say that they're being taken care of by you... So you see, when I said "Geeze, do you think she could have turned on the back lights for me?  I mean, I'm out here in the dark for Pete's sake."  I was having a Charles Ingalls moment.....  By taking the time to "take care" of your man, you will reinforce that the work he is doing is "manly" and appreciated by the whole household.... this appreciation is needed by all men... it's what makes them want to act like men... you see, if you want your man to act like a "MAN" then you must do the following:  Allow him to do "stupid" house maintenance and outside work (by allowing him to do this, he will think he is taking care of you),  Then, take the time to say "thank you" by meeting one of his needs (food, water, affection, etc.).  This will register in his brain as "I'm taking care of her and she's taking care of me."  By allowing this process to continue and evolve, you will find that he draws closer to you and actually pays more attention to you.... At least, it seemed to work for Charles Ingalls......

(I'd like to take time to thank Michael Landon for all of his hard work with the Little House series.... I hope he looks down on us an knows that he left quite an impression and it's still just as good today as it was years ago..... if you don't believe me, pick up the dvd's you won't be disappointed.....)