Charles Egerton

Smoky Mountains

2011-02-01T18:04:00.004-05:00

Met up with Scott on the first week of November, 2010 to do some hiking near Ashville, NC and then in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(<<Slideshow) It’s about a six hour drive to Asheville and the last time I made this trip through the Smokys it was dark, foggy and scary. This time it was cloudy, but much more pleasant.  Asheville, NC is beautiful, with a scenic downtown and a couple of good breweries. We first tried the Green Man Brewery or should I say try to find the Green Man. The GPS had an old location and I still haven’t learned my lesson on not trusting them. It’s a redesigned auto garage, you walk in the open bay door and you’re at the bar and the vats are where the lift would be. I remember the beer having a distinct taste and very tasty. They didn’t server food and we didn’t want to drink our dinner so we headed over to the Ashville Brewing Company. The food was passable, thank goodness the beer was better.

The next morning was an early start. The plan was to hike Mt Mitchell, but leaves covered the wet road, plus the fog, rain and darkness made it somewhat treacherous. Not knowing where the road stopped and the the side of the hill began. We almost ran out of gas. Luckily there was a lone gas station in Busick. The attendant got a kick out of us intending to hike in the rain. Then we couldn’t find the the correct back road (it wasn’t on the GPS and almost unreadable on Scott’s park map) to the trail head. The park was closed for the season, so there were no rangers or other guest to get directions. My Fusion earned off road status that day and deserves it’s own Boy Scout badge. When we finally got to the parking area we walk about a mile down a gravel road looking for a ‘blue blaze’ that marks the trail head. “Where in the blues blazes is the the blue blaze?” We came back to the parking area, crossed a bridge into an empty camping ground and found a map the showed us the trail. It was a descent hike, cool weather, only a little rain, interesting scenery, and the trees still had most of their leaves. We got in about six miles in five hours, but we didn’t get to the top. We still had to make the three hour drive to Gatlinburg. When we got back to the camp and crossed the bridge, Scott looked back and saw the blue blaze on a tree right next to the bridge. We did take time to drive to the top of Mt Mitchell. That’s right you can to the top instead of hike, but where’s the fun in that. There was a little bit of fall color left and many of the pine trees were covered in freezing fog.

The drive to Gatlinburg was nice. Many of the Tennessee hills still had fall colors and the Foothills Parkway had some scenic pull offs. After checking into the hotel we were staving and eager to try The Smoky Mountain Brewery. The higher your hopes the greater your fall and we crashed at SMB.  I read reviews on Yelp.com and I asked myself, "Did these people really eat here?" I love micro-brews and in every town I visit I give the local stuff a try. I wish I hadn't. The Cherokee Red (which kinda sounds racist doesn't it?) was as bland as white bread. It is one of the few times I wish I had ordered a generic beer. My roasted chicken and cheddar sandwich was cold and then fell apart. I had to eat it with a fork. My Subway sandwich earlier that day was so much better. The pretzels (from a supermarket probably) and beer cheese were forgettable. The cheese had already congealed and the dip was only marginally tasty. Scott’s meal and brew were so bad he complained about it on the trail all the next day. He belched and said, “That tasted about the same coming up as it did going down.” I gave SMB a 1/2 star on Yelp. The next night we went to Calhoun's and found they, along with the Cherokee Grill next door, are owned by the same company and sold the same beer as SMB . We immediately walked out and went to Bubba Gumps. It was excellent. The salmon was delicious and the Yuengling Beer quickly suppressed the memories of SMB’s barely-should-be-called-beer beer.

Gatlinburg is Gatlinburg. What happens in Gatlinburg stays in Gatlinburg, because you don't want anyone to know you’ve been to Gatlinburg. It reminds me of Myrtle Beach, NC and Sedona, NM;  beautiful scenery surrounded by the gaudiest, tourist trap of a town. If Myrtle Beech is known as the redneck Rivera, then Gatlinburg is an Ohio State fan’s Myrtle Beech. They out numbered UK and Tennessee fans combined.  There is a place on the strip that sells “authentic” moonshine for $24 per Mason jar. If that’s what bootleggers got for 12oz then no wonder they risked their lives running illegal corn liquor.

The real reason to come here is The Great Smoky Mountains National Park with it’s incredible terrain and trails. I thought it would be warmer since it was the first week in November and much further south. What I didn’t consider is the altitude of the mountains. You could step out of the hotel room in town and it would be wet and look up at the hills and see snow on their tops. I did bring enough clothes to stay warm, but not the right gear to really stay dry.

The first day we hit the Little River trail. It was an easy hike on a wide trail that covered 5 miles in 3 hours. About an hour in it started to snow and by the time we got back to the car there was an inch and a half on the ground. It was very tranquil walking by the river, small water falls and just listening to the snow hitting the dry leaves on the ground. (Video>>)

We wanted to walk the trail to Clingman’s Dome, but US 441 across park the was closed due to snow. So on Saturday we took on Rainbow Falls, covering 6 miles in 4 hrs with an elevation change of 1800ft ending 4255ft, and Grotto Falls, covering 2.8 miles in 2 hrs with an elevation change of 3600ft ending at 7000ft. We started in snow, with about an inch at the lower elevations, and ended in snow, where there was about four inches on the ground. The trail was covered with slush and mud where hikers had trampled down the snow down. There were single, snow and iced covered logs that lay across the steams; making the crossing precarious. So it was a good idea to keep my head down to make sure of my footfalls.  Both falls had a decent amount of water running over them and with the snow on the trees and rocks it made for a serene setting.

On Sunday Scott took off early to make the trip back to Memphis. I eventually got up and found that the road to Clingman’s Dome was now open. It was a beautiful drive up the parking lot at 6000 feet, the trail to the observation tower was still covered with a fresh six inched of snow. Between the altitude, the snow, meeting Faron in Lexington for a late lunch and me being a wuss about half way up the trial I turned around and headed home. If I had know what awaited me in Pigeon Forge I would have skipped Clingman’s Dome. It took about an hour to drive the three miles of the strip and this was at 10am on a Sunday. Don’t ever get caught between a Pigeon Forge tourist and his all you can eat Sunday breakfast buffet. If I ever get back I will leave at 4am or take the long more scenic way back.

Also the next time I won’t wait for three months to write a blog entry. Remind me sometime to tell you about the hide-a-bed sound buffer.

NLDS

2010-10-12T12:27:00.001-04:00

I’ve never been to a playoff game much less go into the clubhouse after a win.

I got the call up to the majors on Tuesday for the Saturday NLDS game 3, Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies. Midwest Uplink, a satellite truck out of Indy, was providing the uplink for MLB Network. They needed someone to be on the field for the live reports, before the game, in case something went wrong. I had to be on site at noon, all the cable had been run the day before, so most of the day was waiting around. The camera crew and producer were from NY and incredibly fun to work with. We did live stand ups, Ken Rosenthal talking to the studio, and some interviews. They sent back footage of Doc Halladay doing sprints in the outfield around 12:30. I asked the producer why he would be at the park so early. He said, “He’s just a beast. Always working out and trying to get an advantage.” Yikes, almost eight hours before a game and, unless something goes seriously wrong, he won’t even play. But there he is working out.

This was the first time I had been on the field of Great American Ballpark. It was great being in the dugout, on the field during BP and warm-ups, and just to see the stadium from the field like a ballplayer. I didn’t watch the game from the camera platform in the dugout. It was too crowded with photographers, video crews and others. So I watched the first two innings from the press box, but it was packed like the stadium and you can’t cheer in the box. What fun is that? So I took a walk around the stadium to shoot some video and just get a feel of the game and crowd. It was standing-room-only just a real big league park should be. During the clinch game it was only 75% full. It takes opening day and a playoff to sell out the stadium, with a few exceptions.

At the top of the 9th inning I met up with the crew in the hallway that comes out of the Phillies dugout, on the opposite end from the clubhouse. Then we moved just outside of the dugout. The Red media handlers lined us up single file against a wall, like we were getting ready to jump out of a C-47 transport onto Normandy. We did all have gear in both hands or strapped to us. It was bottom of the 9th (with the Reds down 2-0) and we couldn’t see the field, but one of the guys had a radio and gave us reports. We heard a roar go up from the crowd. “Brandon Phillips singles” Maybe, just maybe... OOOOOOO, from the crowd. “Double play, 4-6-3.” Okay, maybe not. After the last out, we get ready to go on the field when security asked us to move to one side so the umpires and get though. I had worn my maroon cap with EKU on the front and as the umps came down the steps the plate umps looks at me, smiles and says, “I like your hat.” “Thanks.” It was a humorous end to a sad game.

We set up our position in front of the Phillies dugout to capture the team celebrating sweeping the Reds. We were hardwired to the satellite truck so we couldn’t move. We did get a shot of the team drenching Cole Hamels in Champaign. But most of the team had already moved into the clubhouse. The 2nd portable unit went with them. Luckily the audio guy had borrowed some rain gear to keep the Champaign off. Our tape runner Marisa was not so fortunate. She looked like kitten that had fallen into the pool. We never got an interview on the field, but I had a clubhouse pass, so after things quieted down I went to check out some of the celebration. Plastic sheets, with NLDS Champs logos, hanging over the lockers. All the team, reporters, cameramen and our runner were soaking wet.

I’m still not such a grizzled pro that this wasn’t amazing event to me. There’s a lot I didn’t take advantage of. I didn’t walk through the Reds clubhouse before the game, I didn’t watch any of the game from on the field, I wanted to run out to center field as if it were the top of the first in the World Series. Yet, to be there, to be paid to be there and to be on the field of dreams (sorry, I just couldn’t not use it) for the first playoff in Cincinnati 15 years! The first in GABP. It was a first for me.

sights and sounds of the park

A last side story. I was telling the crew about once I held the World Series trophy. The the audio guy, Todd, tells me he’s held them all: World Series, Lombardi, Stanley Cup, NBA, Masters and a few others. The camera guy Sal, who worked for the NHL, said he got to keep the Stanley Cup for a day and has held a some of the others too. Then the Sat. truck owner Paul tells similar stories. My story is no longer special in this group. Just to all the other people I know. ;-D.

Lebanon & UC

2010-10-11T21:05:00.001-04:00

The fall of the year keeps me busy most weekends with football. Even if it’s the least stressful and least paid games. Such as Lebanon City Cable. They city owned operator with their owned local origination channel. The pay is only $100, but, because they set-up early, I don’t have to be there until 6:30 for a 7:oo pm game. Then, after the game, it’s just 30 minutes to tearout and go home. I finally had a decent game. Because of a blocked punt, the game was 14-13 Lebanon over Miamisburg with seven minutes left. Lebanon scored with three minutes left to make it 21-13. Miamisburg made a good drive, but with the ball on the Lebanon 45 the QB hit two receivers who dropped the ball on successive plays. On third down and interception for a pick 6. Ending the game.

Saturday was a 7pm UC game with a 2pm call time. It’s was 111th annual Battle for the Bell for the rivalry that got it’s start in 1888. While Miami leads the series 59 wins to 49 (with seven ties) UC has won every game since 2006. And this game would be no different. The halftime score was 45-3. In the second half UC put in some 2nd string players and that’s where the score stayed.

Fall into Some Work

2010-10-06T00:18:00.001-04:00

I got a last minute call to be an assistant on a machinery shoot. It was interesting this machine, that was bigger than an M1-A1 tank, spit out little 5 gallon plastic jugs.

Thursday, yet another exciting game for wazoosports. Eastern High School in Louisville beat Shelby Co. 48-6.

Friday I went back to the Reds, but again, the Astros tied up the game. And again, Jay Bruce came up in the bottom of the 9th, then again in the 11th, but this time no heroics, Houston won. We did get to see the Reds pull off a squeeze bunt to score a run from third.

Saturday morning was a little different shoot. I was getting video for a Insight Cable commercial of a bank in Aurora, IN. The bank wanted to show they were involved in the community. So, I went to shoot a parade, while the workers rode the float handing out candy and such. There were so many entries that even after the parade started we waited an hour before their float got underway. But after they got going it was none stop. I’d run up in front of the float, get my shots, and do it all over again for about 30 minutes. I decided to skip my walk that afternoon and for the next three days.

CLINCH

2010-10-05T23:38:00.001-04:00

If I were to pick just one game to see the Reds play this year, I picked a good one. Tuesday Sept 28th. Wood was pitching a perfect game through 5. Then Houston tied it up. Aroldis Chapman came in to retire the top of the ninth. Throwing 100 and a 101mph pitches. Then in the bottom of the 9th, Jay Bruce was first up and took the first pitch over the center field wall and the Reds win the the division for the first time since ‘95. 30,000 fans go ballistic and explode with more energy than the fireworks going off above the stadium. The chant of BRUUUUUUUCE was everywhere: in the stadium, in the concourse, down the ramp and across the bridge after the game. My friend Ed said, “This is the most exciting thing in sports I’ve even been a part of.” Amen.

It’s hard to record something and enjoy and be in the moment, but I’m glad I did.

3 Days-632 miles

2010-09-27T19:57:00.001-04:00

Working with wazoosports is like having a girlfriend. They don’t tell you everything you need to know, you have to negotiate sometimes, and it takes a lot of work, but in the end there may be a payoff.

Last Thursday I was only suppose to work the North Hardin game. I wanted to work the Friday Lexington Catholic game, but they hadn’t yet set the crew. Wazoo had asked, more than once, me to go to Campbellsville University, but it was so far away and I wanted to get home that weekend. While at North Hardin they called and asked what it would take to get me to Campbellsville. I asked double rate, they countered with 35% increase. I thought about it and called back. I’ll work Campbellsville, with the rate increase, if I could work Friday. Okay, done deal. I hadn’t planned on a 3 day road trip, but I did have some clothes in the car, I just had to figure where to stay. Luckily, Kelly let me flop at his house in Richmond on Friday and that cut about three hours of road time.

Friday’s game, the wazoo crew was 90 late, was the only one of interest. North Hardin lost to rival Central Hardin 10-9. Friday night was a slaughter with Catholic crushing Lexington Christian 62-0!!!! Half way through the third quarter the crew is begging for the mercy rule and we got it not long after. There was no mercy with the weather, it rained during some of the setup and most of the first half. Saturday’s score was not as bad as it might have been. Campbellsville beat Lindsey Wilson 48-30. 2010 is the first year Lindsey Wilson has put a football team on the field and it’s mostly freshmen and sophomores. It was a decent game. The set up for the game did not go smoothly, some of the equipment was missing (there was a second crew in Murray doing a game), other pieces didn’t work, so we improvised, two of the crew had not run camera on a multi-camera productions (i.e. the director, me, yelling at them), I had to rewire the switcher to get everything to work, and master control, in Atlanta, lost audio at the beginning of the game. Very hectic, but we got it all together with time left to eat lunch before kickoff.

The drive over the three days was beautiful. Friday, I went past Fort Knox. Saturday, it was beautiful morning drive, with the sunrise and fog, through the back roads on the way to Lancaster, Danville, Lebanon then Campbellsville. I didn’t get much sleep Friday night. The train crossing was not far away and the train whistle must have gone off five times that night. When I got home Saturday at 8:30, after a three hour drive, I only lasted an hour before I hit the sack and slept until 7am.

Today, I deposited three check instead of one. Payoff.

Satellite Media Tour

2010-09-27T17:46:00.001-04:00

Had my first experience with a satellite media tour last Tuesday (9/20). An expert sits in a studio while news organizations around the US (or world) ask them questions. In this case we had a researcher who had an new study on women with HIV. There was a 2nd interviewee with HIV who had set up support groups for women. We did 23 interviews with TV and radio stations or programs between 6am to 11:30am. A few interviews lasted 15-20 minutes while others went only a couple of minutes long. Some of the stations were one right after the other. They would say good bye to one and 10 seconds later hello to the next. The markets ranged in size from number 1 and 2, NY and Chicago, to 172, Hannibal MO,. The difference between radio and television was funny. On TV the two were sitting up straight while smiling and looking in the camera. During radio, they were kicked back and generally not looking at anything, but maybe each other and occasionally with eyes closed . I am still amazed at how productions such as this come together. The producer was from Atlanta, the satellite truck from Alabama, the group organizer Dallas, and the client from New Jersey. Only the researcher was from Cincinnati. Well, most of the six crew (Including myself directing just two cameras) was local. All these elements come together for one six hour period to get the message out, through a one-on-one interviews, that will reach across the US.

Bengals

2010-09-26T22:16:00.001-04:00

The last Bengals game I went too was a preseason against the Packers in 2006. The last regular season game was about 10 years ago versus the Patriots the day after a big snow. The Bengals won on a last second TD and the fans were throwing snow in the air. Because of the cold, I couldn’t feel my feet for a few days, but it was a great game.

My friend Fitz texted to see if I was interested in going to the Ravens game. Absolutely. We started the day at Hooters. Of course. They had their A team working that day. Then we took the shuttle boat to the stadium. You can’t park much closer. In the stadium it’s incredible, a packed house, the energy during the anthem, the jets fly over, the player intros, and then the game. The seats were great, right on the goal line, row 22. Not much see, while the Bengals won they did it with 5 field goals and no TDs, but it was a win. Fitz would tell me how much the tickets cost so I just bought the beer at the game. Four beers at $7.75 each. I should have bought the tix outright. .

They only let down of the day was my iPhone. It didn’t work. And I mean it didn’t work. While I had bars, I had no calls. Now just how am I suppose to call my brother, and rub it in his face that I’m at the game, if I can’t call him? The crack up was AT&T is one of the stadium sponsors. The scoreboard had an ad where subscribers could post pictures. It was a professional’s sideline picture. Because NO AT&T CUSTOMER COULD EMAIL A PICTURE!

Fitz, congratulations. You made the blog. Even if it’s only at the end of the video.

Tour de Kentucky Norte’

2010-09-22T00:50:00.001-04:00

Monday 9/13 and Tuesday 9/14 I shot some footage for a NKY tourism video.

Day 1 I drove to Augusta and took the ferry across the river. Then Maysville, Flemingsburg, Goddard, Falmouth, and Lake Kincade. Day 2 it was Dry Ridge, Williamstown, Owenton, Perry Park and Carrollton. Many of these towns brag about their architecture, but most of the building are just old. The script called for video of The Outlets at Dry Ridge. It described it as a ‘shoppers paradise’, but the place is 80% empty with only a few retail stores, a karate school and a church. The highlight of of Williamstown was The Olde Town Mall with live country music. It was and rundown, old Tractor Supply store that was now a church. Thank God for the disenfranchised protestants filling up empty retail space. With so little to shoot in some places I did what I could. When in doubt, shoot the courthouse. The Quilt Box was interesting. located out in the country down a gravel road, it attracted quilters as far away as Dayton Ohio. I did enjoy seeing the Goddard Covered Bridge again. A friend of mine was married there about over 20 years ago and have always thought it was as quaint and beautiful as Kentucky can get. Owen County had the Elk Creek Hunt Club and Winery. What a beautiful restaurant and scenery. Maybe Trimble County’s will be as nice when it opens. I didn’t get lost once (wasn’t paying attention to the GPS) and the GPS took to a dead-end (never trust the GPS), but it was interesting way to get paid to see the back roads of Northern Kentucky. Oh yeah, the title comes from eating Mexican two days while on the road.

Bettin’ the Spread

2010-09-22T00:42:00.001-04:00

I would guess that some teams wouldn’t want me near their games. I ran camera when Ballard beat Madison Central 42-14, UC dominated IN St Univ. 40-7, and the Columbus Crew was humiliated by Seattle 4-0 (nil). Which, like dog years, in regular sport scores equals 40-0 (nil). So, by my math, that’s a combined score of 122-21 in the past two weeks.

While in Richmond I decided to stock up on my EKU gear. I bought a T-shirt, a collared shirt (you know, for those nights I like to dress up), another hat and some stickers. Total cost, $70. Now I only get $150 to do camera at the wazoo games, so if you subtract the gas ($20) the taxes ($37), and the clothing ($70). I cleared $27. I got back from Richmond about 12:30am and was up 6am for a 7am crew call to run scoreboard camera for the UC game. These are pretty low key jobs with a great spread of food before the game. Running camera for the Crew game was tougher than I expected. I’m following the ball then a defender kicks it all the way to the other end and I have to pan quickly to follow. Only a little more exciting than having to watch a soccer game.

Labor Day

2010-09-19T23:44:00.002-04:00

Thursday I worked another football game at West Jessamine with wazoosports.com. Uneventful game and day. The past few games the producer had made arrangements with a local restaurant for food in exchange for an on air mention. I didn’t happen this time, but we were told the concession would take care of us. Yeah, a hot dog and a coke. After the game I headed home to Bedford
Friday I drove some the back roads of Trimble County and over to Madison,IN just to get out and enjoy the weather. Went to see a friend that night and his daughter was at the football game. It didn’t take much to get him to go have a beer. At the bar he told me that it was the first one he’d had since December. DECEMBER! Man, you don’t know how good you’ve got it until you see another man’s problems. On the drive back to mom’s I pulled off the main road onto a gravel lane, shut off the lights, got out of the car and just stare at the stars. I was a clear, windy, beautiful night and the with no moon. I could see the armed cloud of Milky Way. Incredible.
Saturday Donald had a get together for the UK vs UL football game. He was kinda bent out of shape because some Cardinal fans may be there and wearing their colors. One showed up with a pink “Louisville” jersey on. And the day was saved. It’s fun to see a UK game with dyed in the wool fans. When the game finished I headed to Phillip’s where I was promptly shanghaied into playing cornhole. I embarrassed myself. I improved after a couple of games. Marcia complemented me on getting better. Somehow I don’t feel that proud. I did kick 13 yr old Michael's butt in a footrace and that I am proud of.
Sunday I went back to NKY to work the MDA telethon. Star64 does the local cut-in for the network. It’s a long two days (5-midnight Sunday and 6am to 7pm Monday), but a fun crew. All the years of effort seem to pay off at least for some. There were two kids, ages 16 and 4, there that had really improved with therapy. The stories of others and how hard their daily lives are just make you appreciate life more.
Man, you don’t know how good you’ve got it until you see another person’s problems.

Boston

2010-08-30T19:51:00.000-04:00

Click on pix for slideshow & on the videos to play in youtube. I took all the photos & videos with my iPhone 4.

July 15th. Took my first trip to Boston Mass. It was an easy flight, with an empty seat next to me, to Manchester NH, of course there was a connector in Detroit. Detroit Metro has some really peculiar art. There's a light show/installation art between concourse B & C and concourse A. Plus there's a jumping fountain.

Kevin picked me up and though it was an hour to his place he said it was closer, by time, than going into Boston airport. We took a long walk along the Charles River, there were lots of sailboats out, past some beautiful boathouses for the college rowing teams, MIT, and then to Harvard Square for food and drink at John Harvard's Brew House. The Bad News Brown & World Cup Wheat were not bad. Afterwards we walked thought Harvard Yard, stopped by beautiful Memorial Hall, then watch some street performers in the square. Now I can honestly say, 'Yeah, I went to Harvard.'

Kevin is big into music, so I trust his instincts on where to hear some good sounds. We ended up at Toad (not The Toad , just Toad ) in Porter Square and really enjoyed Melvern Taylor and His Fabulous Meltones. They had a large box electric guitar, an upright bass, a simple set of drums and Melvern on a ukulele. In the middle of one of their songs I heard a trumpet. We looked around and the club is so small that she was at a table, at the front of the bar, blowing her horn. Fun and funny.

On Friday we took in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. An incredibly spectacular building inside and out. So much art work and artifacts: Rembrandt, Singer Sargent, Van Gough, but my favorite piece was J.M.W. Turner’s - Slaveship. At first look, gorgeous, on closer examination grotesque. Then we walked to Fenway Park to go see the Bosox play. We stopped at Lansdowne Restaurant. This is where I found my new favorite beer. Sam Adams Boston Brick Red. Unfortunately, of course, it's only available in Boston.

The area around Fenway Park has restaurants, bars, gift shops, street performers, umpa bands, vendors and crowds of fans. It was amazing to walk into Fenway Park. Built in 1912 it’s the oldest park in the MLB. It's been refurbished a few times, but luckily they didn't take away the charm. Our seats were about 20 rows from the top straight up from third base. When I sat down one of the nefarious post blocked home plate. About 15 minutes later a kid said I think you're in the wrong seat. Turned out our seats were one row down. With the post removed I had a great line of sight. Even though my knees were a little tight to the row in front of me. There was rain delay and a grand slam home run by the Rangers, but what a fun night.

Saturday was busy. We walked the Freedom Trail and just happened on to a moving service in remembrance of the 54th Massachusetts, the regiment from the movie Glory, and the anniversary of it's attack on Fort Wagner in the Civil War. We also stopped at The Old North Church, the site of the Boston massacre, the state capitol, Nathaniel Hall, but most interesting was going on the USS Constitution. Old Ironsides. I don't know how 400 sailors could live on such a small ship. Nearby was the WWII destroyer USS Cassin Young. It was hot day in Boston and while I was on the ship I put my hand on one of the steel beams on the officers mess and it was like touching the the top of a grill. A whole new appreciation for being stationed on this ship, in the heat of the Pacific, in WWII.

We took the ferry over to downtown Boston and we stopped by The Black Rose Pub. Where a buxom blond 'talked' us into Stella Artios draft competition. Didn't win anything, but we got to keep the glass. That night we were back down in the Fenway Park neighborhood to see Crowded House at the House of Blues. Kevin had some how got free tickets off craigslist from a guy who just wanted someone who would appreciate the show. I remember them from college and I was a very good show.

Sunday, before my flight, we took a trip to Portsmouth, NH. A quaint little town just across from Maine. We mostly walked around town to see the architecture and some famous buildings like the John Paul Jones house. Had nice lunch and brew at the Portsmouth Brewery and then on to see the USS Albacore. A Navy research submarine from the 50s. Very cramped. An interesting comparison to the USS Constitution was both ships restricted sailors to about one gallon of water a day. Then it was off to Manchester to catch my flight.

My Flight(s) out of Manchester were delayed/cancelled (see my rant below). So, I got a free night’s stay. Manchester is a nice city to spend a couple of hours. I took a long walk around town to look at some of the refurbished old cotton mills along the river, the ornate buildings downtown and, of course, have a beer. The Strange Brew tavern is unique and the Trout River Red was not bad.

Before flying Delta a new rule for the check list . Always pack extra underwear ‘cause you never know how many nights you’ll have to stay.

Here’s my little rant I tweeted to Delta. Returning from Manchester NH to CVG, on 7/18, I self checked in at the kiosk. I get to the gate to find the flight, DL 2213, was delayed because of mechanical problems and DET connection canceled. After standing in line at the gate for two hours Delta got me room & food vouchers for overnight stay. But why did kiosk issue the ticket when there was a delay? I was at front check in and they could have rebooked my flight instead of waiting in line at the gate. The next day, 7/19, DL 5403 was 1hr delay because of mechanical problems with the door. Then there was a 20 minute delay waiting for the gate in DET to clear before we could offload. I barely made my connection in DET. I am self employed and missed work Monday and lost money because of Delta. Why do I keep flying Delta? I want some kind of reciprocal.

An update. I did get an email from Delta and I got a $125 flying voucher?! But that only means I will have to fly Delta again.

Some extra videos

Portsmouth, NH

Metro, 54th Mass Reg.& DT Boston

Brew Ha Ha

2010-08-29T23:32:00.001-04:00

August 18, 2010. I went down to Sawyer Point to catch some comedians and try some new brew at Brew Ha Ha Festival. Saw some of the guys that I did shows with back-in-the-day and some of the newer ones. It was fun. I only found one decent beer. The Dark Horse Boffo Brown. Most of the beers popular beers that I’ve had before.

It wasn’t all good. There was an idiot that interrupted my friend Jeremy’s set. He was trying to get in the audience to dance in an attempt be on the Ellen. Even when four Cincinnati Police and two security came to escort him away he refused to leave. I hate people that are incapable of an original thought especially if they show no respect for someone whose job is all about original thought.

One stage had shut down, the main stage was on a break, and the third stage had one of the worst comics of the night. He did a 30 second impression of a fart. I was going to give him a tag for one of his first jokes, but after that he didn’t deserve my expertise.

click on pix for slideshow

Marengo Caves

2010-08-29T23:21:00.001-04:00

August 6, 2010. When the weather gets too hot above ground, go underground. Marengo Cave was a good choice. It's just a short scenic drive just across the river from Louisville and northwest of New Albany IN. Discovered in 1883 by siblings Orris and Blanche Hiestand. (Why don't those old names come back in fashion?) Marengo is a wondrous, small, system that offers two short easy tours; the Dripstone and Crystal Palace. For the more adventurous there are also exploring tours.

I took the trip one week before school started. When I got there I thought, “why did I take this trip one week before school started?” The kids weren't bad, there just would have been less people on the already small tour. Although, there was one kid who moaned and whined (you know, that just-short-of-crying sound) on part of the Palace tour. One kid has a bad day, we all have a bad day.

Both tours were just over 90 minutes and the formations were beautiful. You get to weave through stalactites, stalagmites, columns and around flowstone formations. Not look at them from a distance. And cavers must get hungry, because of some semi-official names of formations are: bacon, soda straws and taco shells. That could explain why on the Marengo tours the guides talked less about the science of the cave and more about what formations and shadows look like. “Doesn't this shadow look like George Washington? This formation looks like a volcano so we call it Vesuvius. And this looks like the Great Wall of China. So we call it...” You get the idea.
What I wanted to see was the Crystal Palace. So many types of formations in one place. It's suppose to be one of the most beautiful cave rooms in the US. We walked into the dimly lit room, sat on some benches and they begin a video presentation. It was projected onto a wall and was hard to see and, because of the room, almost inaudible. When it's done, the the the lights come up full and TA DA the Crystal Palace! 10 seconds later the lights go down and it's “This way please.” What? Huh? I got less than 30 seconds to see the room fully lit. They spent 10 minutes, later in the tour, trying to throw pennies into the ceiling of the cave and we only go 30 seconds to see the Crystal Palace? That was really the only disappointment. I would have liked to see the room in all it's glory and a little more science, but certainly a trip worth taking. I'm sorry I waited so long to see Marengo Caves. I won't wait so long to get back.

Interesting Marengo facts. Well, according to Wiki anyway.

On the way back to mom's I stopped in New Albany to grab a bite and hit the New Albanian Brewery. I had some pineapple chicken wings which weren't bad. The beer was a little on the bland side.

Work out the Wazoo

2010-08-29T23:17:00.001-04:00

Aug 21, 2010. I should have known. I SHOULD HAVE KNOW!!! I got a call to work a game at South Oldham. I didn’t question once why it was a 6pm start for a Saturday game. When I got there I found out why. It’s was a bowl game, which means TWO GAMES!! For the price of one dayrate from me. I was, and still am, pretty pissed. 50/50 blame though. I shoulda asked and they shoulda told me. If I wasn’t getting paid at the end of the night I would have walked and I only had a 30 minute drive to mom’s not a two hour drive to Richmond.

The first game was close, Conner over Oldham 22-20. The second, Moore vs North Oldham, was a nightmare. It started late because one of the light poles went out, then the passing games began. Moore would incomplete pass, incomplete pass, complete pass then run out of bounds. North got almost all of their yard on the ground. Despite that the first quarter was ONE HOUR LONG! In the third there was an injury that delayed the game 30 miinutes. Even at the end of the game went it was truly over, North won 56-18, Moore insisted on passing. All in all it was six hours of football.

Tuesday was tear-out for tennis. Getting rid of cable that been in the elements for ten years. Luckily it wasn’t too hot of a day

Wednesday, I was back with Wazoo help tape an interview with UK women’s coach Matthew Mitchell. I talked about traveling to Spain to watch basketball and while there they saw some of the Tour de France. Plus they were in Spain when they won the World Cup. He’s the kind of guy if you ask a question he can go on for minutes. A great interview. Afterwards Rick took me to Fayette Mall to look for a new EKU cap. My last one is somewhere in California. Dick’s didn’t have any EKU apparel. There were three stores, in only one section of the mall, that sold only UK stuff. We went to Around Sports and when I walked up I saw Tennesse and, of all things, OHIO STATE BUCKEYES clothing. But did have two, count ‘em two, EKU caps. I felt good.

Thursday it was Doss High School vs somebody-I-can’t-remember. They all run together after awhile. I do remember that I was a sloppy game. Lots of turnovers and interceptions. The setup went so fast that we had about three hours to kill. I would have sent to Iroquois Woods, but the conversation was too good.

Friday night it was Lexington Christian Academy vs Christian Presbyterian Academy from Nashville. They week before CPA had beaten 2009 KY AA champ Ft Campbell. After Friday they added the 2009 KY single A champ to the win column. It was my first time to LCA and it is a huge campus with all the playing fields in one location. The stadium is huge, with molded seat for VIPS, a nice press box and a track surrounding the football field. Can ya smell the money. And I must say, some of the best looking moms of any HS sporting event I’ve been to.

I worked almost 38 hours and 25 hours in drive time drive time. It was a pretty busy week. That doesn’t happen often. And I’ll make sure it doesn’t too often.

Tennis 2010

2010-08-29T22:59:00.001-04:00

August 5, 2010. I knew they were remodeling the tennis center, but when I went to the facility, to help set-up for this years tournament, I couldn’t believe that the huge building in the distance was part of the new complex. It looked massive compared to the old building. It is an incredible structure. Instead of being in the dank basement, the interview room is now on the forth floor. So I got a little more exercise climbing up the steps multiple times a day. The crew, at the tourny and on the video side, are fun to work with and it’s a pretty easy gig. Plus on Friday there was a happy-hour in the press box. Sweeeeet!

Now, I’m not a what you call a huge sports fan. I’ve met plenty players and coaches over the years, but not once have asked to have my picture taken with them. I don’t lose money or sleep over any team. I hate to see my favs lose and sometimes get a little ill because of it. Having said that, I was ‘this-close’ to…Maria Sarapova. A six foot two athletic goddess. After an interview in the press room, as she was leaving, I said, “Good luck.” and she LOOKED ME IN THE EYE and said, “Thanks.” Try not to be too jealous. In her first match I got some decent pix of her.

During the finals of the men’s side, I went up to see a friend Phyllis. The finals was an exciting match between Marty Fish and Roger Federer. They split the first two sets, stayed on serve and both sets went to tiebreak. After Roger won the second tiebreak 7-1 I thought he’d roll in the third. But again neither player lost server until 4-4 when Roger broke Fish and then served to win the match.

It’s the last year for two separate weeks for the tennis touney in Cincy. Next year the men and women’s will be combined. The complex will be completely redone and bigger. I’m just hoping to be apart of it.

Sacramento

2010-05-26T21:33:00.001-04:00

I didn’t get out of the hotel soon enough again. I assumed the museums would open at noon, but when I checked the website they opened at 10am. When I got to downtown Sacramento the traffic was nuts. There was a Pacific Rim Fest. and the exit was backed up. I found a place to park not too far from the festival, The California Railroad Museum, and the Crocker Art Museum. The festival was fun with some great entertainment (video). I wanted some Thai food, but the lines were too long. The railroad museum was incredible. An older gentleman on a Yosemite shuttle recommended it. It had all varieties of full size locomotives and railcars, life size dioramas, and a nice display of toy trains. There was trestle above the other trains that had a narrow gage train. The Crocker Museum had some interesting pieces, but most of the works were from local artist for a silent auction. The interior of the house was beautiful. I was only allowed to take a picture from inside the lobby, the ballroom was stunning with the railings, molding and woodwork. When I left Sacramento I got some shots of the Crocker house and the state capital, it’s ironic that with all the pictures I took (1200+) the last four were overexposed. I mean completely blown out. (click photo for slideshow)

When I got home it took me two days to recover, just tried and rundown. And maybe just a little melancholy because I’m headed off to someplace new everyday.

Ceres, CA

2010-05-25T19:37:00.001-04:00

It was a nice drive out of Yosemite to my hotel in Ceres. The canyons, waterfalls and cliffs turned into low rolling hills of grasslands. It look like parts of Texas or Kansas.

Dinner was at Jenny’s Family Dining. I had a new waitress and I asked for the large prime rib. Another waitress came over whispered, “That’s L, G...”

I interrupted, “Are you teaching her how to spell large?”

“She’s new and I’m teaching her abbreviations.”

“So, one blonde teaching another how to spell?”

They both pointed their index fingers at me and said, “HEY!”

It a good dinner, but the restaurant had shrines for Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and George Strait. Also a wall of honor to those service in the armed forces. (click photo for slideshow)

Panos

2010-05-25T19:00:00.001-04:00

Here are some panos I shot, but couldn’t edit until I got home. (click photo below) Many of them have 6-7 shot merged together in Photoshop.

To see each pix full size click here

San Joaquin Valley

2010-05-25T18:43:00.001-04:00

On my drive Sacramento to Sequoia and back, (those green squares on the map are groves) I noticed miles of groves growing everything from: oranges, almonds, plums, peaches and grapes. What Kansas is to wheat and Indiana is to corn and soybeans, the San Joaquin valley is to everything else you eat. My third hotel was in the town of Dinuba CA. The GPS would tell me I was only two miles away, but all I could see in the distance were trees, vines and green. Sure enough there was a fair size small town in the middle of all this growth. (click pic for video)

Yosemite Vernal & Nevada Falls

2010-05-24T18:30:00.001-04:00

Saturday was my last day in Yosemite. My plan was to hike Vernal Falls then to the top of Nevada Falls. Yep, that was the plan. The hike was no where near as tough as Upper Yosemite Falls. Though still 3.4 miles one way (compared to 3.6 for UYF) it was not nearly as steep and hardly any switchbacks. It was a pleasant, mild, clear day for a walk. As I got to the base of Vernal Falls the spray from the falls covered everything. Climbing up to the middle of the falls the over rough hewn steps the chill of the water, runoff of melting snow, being driven against my face was numbing. (video) When I got to the top of Vernal and back into the sun I had to dry off my soaked hoody. There was an incredible rainbow in the mist and as the water droplets moved through it, the rainbow looked like flames being stoked in a fire. From Vernal I made my way up to Nevada Falls and I got to within half mile of the top and I turned around. I doesn’t sound far, but I had already been on the trail two and a half hours, it would have been 45 minutes to the top, 45 at the top and 30 down to where I turned around and I wanted to see some other things before I made the three hour trip to my next hotel. On my way down the day had turned from sunny to snowy, You couldn’t tell the mist from the flakes. The trail had become considerable more crowed and less enjoyable. It was still a great walk with two spectacular falls, plus Illilouette Falls in the distance coming off the side of the cliff face. (Here I attempted to track with my iPhone again)

(click photo for slideshow)

Back in the Yosemite Village the weather had changed. One side of the valley was sunny and the other was dark and in a snow storm. The one landmark I had ignored for the past three days was El Capitan. An incredibly magnificent megalith. I walked up the base just to stare 3600 feet straight up at it’s shear north face. A marvel to look at and I can’t comprehend the the climbers that spend days ascending to the summit. I made one last attempt at getting a valley shot from tunnel view, but that snow had engulfed the most of the park.

Yosemite, what a beautiful place. It had a little of Kings Canyon and Sequoia inside it’s borders. I will try to get back here real soon.

Sunday it’s Sacramento for some museums and the Pacific Rim street festival. I will post that, probably my last for this trip, in a few days.

Yosemite Half Dome

2010-05-23T11:48:00.001-04:00

No, I didn’t climb it! The cables to the top are not up yet. And honestly if they had I doubt I’ve would have been able to do that one. Again, I got an early start and took an easy stroll today around most of Mirror Lake in front of Half Dome. Half Dome looks like it is peeking (or would it be peaking? How cleaver of me) it’s head over the two mountains in front. I tried to catch some photos (without much luck) of tree swallows skimming bugs off the surface of the lake.

Then I went to Lower Yosemite Falls. There’s a bronze model of Yosemite trail. The climb looks a lot shorter on the relief sculpture. On the walk up it’s a very beautiful view of upper and lower falls. It was loud with the roar of the falls and wet from the spray. I got wet again when I tried to get some shots of Bridal Veil Falls. (video) The bride was crying. Nothing but a torrent of water, blowing against me from the wind generated by the fall. I had garbage bags in the car, not for me, but for the cameras. Of course, I forgot them.

Leaving the park I noticed some people looking up at El Capitan. There were watching rock climber on their accent to the top. And yes, I would like to do that, but not at that height. Maybe something like Red River Gorge.

I tried again to get a shot of the valley from the tunnel view, but I’m not having much luck with the sun.

Upper Yosemite Falls

2010-05-21T23:30:00.001-04:00

What’s the saying? The greatest of journeys begins with the first step. My first step was getting out of bed. Up at six am to beat the crowds and because I wanted to hike to Upper Yosemite Falls. The trail starts off with switchbacks (180 degree turns) that snake all the way to the top. I was huffing from the gitgo. I was on the trail at 8am and there were already people coming down. I kidded one couple about running down part of the trail. They said there were trying to make three falls in one day. I asked another couple where they were from. When they said Denver I commented ‘you must be use to this.’ The girls said they were use to the altitude, but not the climbing. Well that’s my problem, I live at 700 feet and I’m climbing a 7000 footer. On one section of trail the mist from the falls covers everything. It’s dripping wet with puddles all over. It was interesting to hear the falls close-up; the roar, mist hitting the leaves, the deep drumming as the water hits bottom from 1500 feet. There were points where I was so winded I ignored the scenery and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. It took me three hours to reach the top, but what a spectacular sight with the green water vanishing over the cliff. Then as I peered over the edge half the water turned to mist and the rest collided with the valley floor. Since I was already up there I decided to trek over to Yosemite Point one mile and 45 minutes away. An incredible view. I thought it would be easier to hike down, but the trial is so steep it was a little precarious. At the end I had spent 8.5 hours on the trail, covered 10 miles total with a 2700 change in elevation. That, I think, is a good day. Except, I think I’m going to lose two toenails, Maybe I should save them as kind of a medal. (click photo for slideshow)

I also ran across two more snakes. This time without the dancing. The same black and brown snake, I found out it is a California striped racer, as from Kings Canyon and a Kingsnake (red-touches-black-venom-lack) at the end of the climb.

Most of the pictures in slideshow are from my iphone. I was test driving an app call GPS Motion X. I was able to download the tracks to Google maps, but not the pix. You can see where the iPhone lost GPS signal. Here’s an iPhone video.

Do You Know the Way to Yosemite?

2010-05-19T23:52:00.001-04:00

Today was pretty much a bust. I got a late start outta Dinuba and thought I was making up some good time. But after I got into Yosemite Park they had construction off and on all the way to the valley floor, around the visitor center and parking areas. Two hours to the park entrance and 90 minutes to the visitors center. At lease I know where the stimulus money is going. And yesterday day I had Kings Canyon almost all to myself. Not the case today. At the valley view overlook there may have been 20 people. As I was taking some shots, I heard airbrakes behind me and out poured 80+ from two busses. I’ve three more days in the park though and I plan to get out real early tomorrow morning. I finished the day off with some really good BBQ at Todd's Cookhouse Bar-B-Que and a really good brew, Firestone Double Barrel Ale. (click photo for slideshow)

Kings Canyon Day 2

2010-05-19T11:44:00.001-04:00

Much nicer day Tuesday in Kings Canyon, bright, sunny and warm. Realized that the part I was in yesterday is a part of Sequoia. Kings Canyon is at the very end of of the road. Kings Canyon is an even deeper valley than the front of the park. The cliffs rise sharply in a very narrow valley that millennia ago was a glacier. There are miles of rapids and some some falls, Grizzly and Roaring River, on the drive in, but I decided to take a deeper look into the valley. So I took a nine mile hike to Mist Falls. It really made to rest of the park look a little tame. Off the main trail I moved into a side gorge. I saw a couple looking at two bears about 50 yard off. They were just wrestling at first then it got a little rougher. Kinda like my brother Donald and I when we were young. It always started out with laughs, then…. Two miles, or so, in the rapids became cascading falls for the rest of the hike. It was an elevations gain of 900 feet over uneven ground for the trek. I was tired and my feet were sore, but Mist Falls was well worth the time. It cascades down the falls which then drops about 100 feet to even more cascades. And it was, to use one word, misty. On my way back I was on the trail, that was cut through a boulder field. When just as I getting to step a three foot long black snake crawled across my path. SCARED THE CRAP out of me. Now I’m not afraid of snakes, unless then suddenly snake across my hike. I did an impression of a football player running through tires while trying to play Dance, Dance Revolution. 30 minutes later I came upon another bear about 30 yards away. I stopped. Then I went to change camera lens to get a close up when the bear turned and looked right at me. We were both motionless for at least 10 seconds. Then he turned away, walked, then started running away from me. I am just that intimidating. The whole hike took four hours total, but it was incredibly enjoyable. I am just surprised and glad that today that I’m not sore and my feet don’t hurt. (click photo for slideshow)

Sunny & 60

2010-05-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

Beautiful day in Southern CA.

Kings Canyon

2010-05-18T01:04:00.001-04:00

Misty dreary mornings, most people would complain that it’s not a good day to take picture. But a photographer would say, drizzle adds an atmospheric element that creates a dynamic mood. Well, that’s the BS we tell our friends that think your nuts for going out in the rain. The mist in Kings Canyon on my first day would have been more upsetting if it wasn’t for that I was going to be there an additional day. Besides it gives it a Lost World kinda feel. (click photo for slideshow)

Gateway

2010-05-17T23:27:00.001-04:00

Went to eat Sunday at Gateway Lodge, mostly because it was located next to some river rapids. They were full so they asked if I would mind sitting with some other people.

“Nope.”

Four people (one guy and three ladies) from all over CA were there to see a friend play. Teresa Russell was her name and man could she play. She had prerecorded backup instrumentals, but with a push a foot pedal she would sing background lyrics that would loop. Live she would play and sing. Teresa was quite the picker.

Hotel Three Rivers

2010-05-17T21:29:00.001-04:00

It’s a tricky thing, hotel ratings. You check Expedia, Hotel.com ratings and their users, but they don’t tell the whole story. Sierra Lodge is a unique, quirky. For my room you park under the room and walk up a spiral staircase. None too easy with luggage. There’s a sliding glass door (with opaque glaze) to get into the room and the decor is a faux cowboy cabin circa 1970. Complete with grizzle bear bedspread and pillow case. The staff was incredibly friendly and chipper. The view from the patio was nice, though my room was less than 20 away from the highway. The road noise after dark was not bad, but the earplugs didn’t hurt either. Always be careful of ‘free wireless’. It’s freely roaming somewhere just not in my room. It is very iffy. I am not disappointed I stayed here at all. (click photo for slideshow).

Yosemite Flight

2010-05-17T21:25:00.001-04:00

Continental flies out of an incredibly small terminal at CVG. It was delayed 30 minutes, but I didn’t miss my connector in Houston. Almost didn’t get out of Houston though. A nasty thunderstorm was bearing down and we took off just as heavy rain started to come down. When our flight turn onto the main runway I could see planes lined up on the taxi way and lighting bolts were striking behind them. We had to go south to avoid the storm and that put us 50 minutes behind. Pilot told us that they close the airport for 90 minutes after we left. Serendipity, I got to see some really beautiful sunset cloud from above. I love the window seat there are some incredible sites.

Sequoia

2010-05-17T21:21:00.001-04:00

I have read magazines and seen the TV shows, but none of it compares to seeing it in person. The Sequoias are huge and majestic. They make the biggest trees back home or even the pines I saw out west look miniscule. One of the plaques stated that looking up at a sequoia is like a mouse looking up at me. I do know how the Lilliputs felt around Gulliver. Some interesting facts: their roots only go down six feet, but out about a 100 feet. The bark is about two feet thick and a 300 foot tree grows from a seed less than the size of an oat flake. After the 2nd & 3rd day though… nope still the same feeling. I had a chance to walk along through some groves, then lay on my back and look at trees that go on forever. (click photo for slideshow).

2010-05-17T18:57:00.000-04:00

Kings Canyon CA. A misty day, but still some great sites. Coming back
tomorrow.

2010-05-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

The Internet at the hotel has been iffy the past two days. So here's a
post before I head off to Kings Canyon today.

2010-05-14T23:55:00.001-04:00

On the ground in Sacramento 50 minutes late, but we out out of Houston
in time. Pilot said the airport closed just after we left due to
thunderstorms. It was some nasty lighting at take off.

2010-05-14T18:44:00.001-04:00

at the gate. Looks like I'm gonna make my SAC flight.

CVG to Houston?

2010-05-14T14:28:00.002-04:00

Yep. Of course. Delayed 30 minutes. Maybe, just maybe. I'll make the connector in Houston.

Vegas & Death Valley

2010-04-30T09:05:00.003-04:00

(Click photos to enlarge. Click on video to play in the blog or double click to play in youtube)

(Additional Photos Click Here)

Not a fan of Vegas. I don’t gamble, much. I don’t drink, much. And it’s tough just to get around. After 3 1/2 days I am ready to get outta town.

It was an easy flight, an 8:30am flight, with a four hour layover in Salt Lake. Probably the luckiest thing happened in SLC. I got a standby seat on an earlier flight. Instead of four hours it was only 50 minutes in SLC. Another reason to carry-on your luggage.

The room at Hooters Hotel and Casino was only $35 a night and that's about what it was worth. The bed was comfortable, but, like it's motto, the decor was delightfully tacky, yet unrefined. The whole hotel had a rundown feel and look to it. On check-out I got a surprise. There was a $7.50 per night resort fee for use of the facilities. Who knew it cost money to steep in a hot-tub with white trash. At check-out I muttered “Just another reason not to come to Vegas.” and the older woman behind the counter said, “You got that right.” You can live here and not be a fan of Vegas.

The NAB was fun. It's kind of a Star Trek convention for people that are into professional video equipment. The big buzz was on 3D (yes, with the funny glasses), mobile DTV, and HDDSLRs. The last one was very interesting, shooting incredible video on large format still cameras. I have a Canon 40D and when I bought it, six months later the 5D and 7D came out with video capabilities. Of course! Video cameras now are incredibly small. I was enthralled with the Sony MC 50. It's 6”x3”x2.5”, has audio in/out, manual iris & focus, shoots 8hrs of HD all for about $1500. Wow! 20 years ago I made a trip to Pasco WA to shot a documentary on the Miss Madison hydro. Me and 200 plus pounds of video equipment. Luggage not included. Now, I could take just that camera in my backpack.

I ran into some people I know; Jeff Miller, Ginny and Greg Buzzell and Tom Navarro. That's how small the biz is. Go to Vegas and find people ya know.

Outside of the convention was so, so. The TBNK guys and myself got together to eat at Toby Keith's; don't like him, his music and his food didn't fare much better. Shapely, cowgirl waitress' in tight jean shorts was the only up side. Gordon Bieresh was more like it. I really enjoyed this place in Phoenix, always good food and great beer. Then we ate at Gonzalez y Gonzalez in NY NY. The people watching was great. There was a lined that formed to see one of Cirque du Soleil 320 plus shows in Vegas. I could have sworn one girl was in line twice with a different man. My worst eating ordeal was a 45 minutes bus trip to go six blocks to Wynn, (I said it was tough to get around) the restaurant I wanted to eat at had a 90 minute wait. I made the long trip next door to the Venetian to a place near the canal. It was two hour venture just to end up with $20 nine inch pizza. Beer included. On the gambling part, (first off, I don’t care what ya play. To win money, there’s nothing more fun than yelling at a horse to cross the finish line.) Jason showed me a simple bet in craps. I started with $20 and left with $47. Which IS better than I ever did at the track.

Thursday I took the suggestion from a photo website I belong too, Ohio Valley Camera Club. One of the members suggested Red Rock Canyon, just southwest of LV. What a beautiful drive. High, jagged peaks sounding a valley floor. The premier geological formation is, because of fault activity, the the oldest rocks are higher than the youngest. The park road is one way with plenty of places to park and hike. Interesting scenery and interpretative center (also known as a museum). For the month leading up to the trip I was having trouble with my gout. I finally went to the doctor and got some steroids to take down the swelling. Well, three days of walking on the strip and NAB did not help. I was popping ibuprofen like they were Chicklets. Not being smart enough to bring my hiking shoes, but instead my tennis shoes, is not the best way to climb over rocks and uneven trails. It's a great park for climbers and there were a few out getting thrills from their skills.

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I went to Mt Charleston, on my drive to Death Valley, and ate at the lodge. Lunch at 7700 feet. It was still early enough to have snow on the ground, but sunny enough to be warm enough to eat outside. Chili in a bread bowl. Tasty.

Spent the night in Shoshone, CA (pop 50) at the Shoshone Inn. An old motor inn that look from the 50s and hadn't been upgraded since. I mean, they still use keys! The room was Spartan and the bathroom was small. The A/C was open-the-bathroom-window-a-little-and-turn-on-the-inlet fan. There was free internet, unlike Hooters, and the pool was quite interesting. It was three tenths of a mile down the road and it too had seen better days. The unique thing is it was fed from an underground spring of the nearby hills. 90 degrees of pure relaxing and I had it all to myself for about 20 minutes. A burger and a beer at the Crowbar Cafe & Saloon and then early to bed.

Friday early, I was off to Death Valley National Park. In the morning, before sunrise, the temperature was cool. I hoped to get a sunrise picture, but it was still cloudy. I had the road to myself and rarely passed a car. The winter and spring had brought a fare amount of rain to the valley and the wildflowers were in bloom. It was an interesting sight to see an expanse of beautiful yellow desert sunflowers coming up out of what looked like barren, rocky soil. One interesting flora was parasitic plant called Dodder, also known as Witches Hair. The orange color glowed in the morning sun. The scene changed when I reached Badwater Basin, a dry lake bed and the lowest point in North America. I walked out to the center of the lake. The salt is about a half inch thick and it gives the appearance an even the sound of walking across granular snow. I took my foot and scrapped back the salt. Underneath was a thin layer of water as if it were ice. Standing in the middle of the lake I had the feeling that ice could give way and I would fall in. The salt forms various, geometric shapes. Closer look at the deposits showed hair-like formations. A few miles down the road was Devil's Golf Course. A field of small, boulder formations with sharp, jagged, saw-tooth salt deposits on top. I only walked about 10 yards in to the course, but thought it was a little too precarious and my balance not steady enough to go farther. I imagined that if I fell, the rocks would rip into my flesh like something in a Stephen King novel. After the sun came up the temperature started to rise and by the afternoon it was 95 in the shade. There were plenty of places to explore; the Artist Drive & Palette, Mosaic Canyon, Mesquite Sand Dunes, Zabriskie Point . I managed to hike in many of these spots, even with bad feet. I'm such a whiner. If you can make it to Death Valley for the spring flower bloom, it's worth it.

It was about a 2.5 hour drive to Vegas and I was about 30 miles from the airport, but still had five hours before my flight. So I turned around and drove about 40 minutes back over the mountains to find a place to watch the stars come out and the moon chase Venus across the sky.

I got a little concerned at the airport, the two gates on both sides of my flight were getting rowdy. One overbooked and was asking for 30(!) volunteers to take a $300 voucher and an extra nights stay. How do you over book a flight by 30! How do you make money giveing away $9000 in vouchers plus rooms? That didn't happen to me, but on the 12:30 (Saturday) AM flight and I was hoping to get some sleep, but there were 3 screaming babies, all within 6 seats from me. Even earplugs don't help stop that. The looks on people's faces, as they made their way to back of the plane, only to realize they to were not getting any sleep was at least humorous. I land at 7:30 (3hr time difference), I get home about 8:15 and go straight to bed. At 9:30 mom calls to check I landed safely. My fault, I told her I would call when I landed, but didn't. I get back to sleep, and at 10:30 all the neighborhood dogs start barking. (reminder, call animal control Monday).

GOLD!! Gold I tell ya!

2010-03-12T11:21:00.001-05:00

My friend Chele and I spent Thursday at the Cincinnati Museum Center to check the exhibit “GOLD!” and the OMNIMAX film “Under the SEA”. The Gold exhibit was huge. Plenty of samples of gold in it’s natural state including a formation called crystallized gold. Which I had never heard of. Different examples of coinage from ancient civilizations, beautiful artifacts from India, Asia, & Central and South America (that survived Spanish melting). There were some large gold bars recovered from American shipwrecks from the mid 1800s. The coins looked as if they were minted yesterday. Some of the displays were of gold plated items, so they had Emmys, Oscars, KY Derby trophies. One of the neatest awards were Olympic gold medals won by local athletes at the ‘72, ‘88, and ‘08 games. Some interesting info from the show; 78% of gold is used for jewelry, 12% for electronics, medical and dental, and only 10% is used for financial transactions. It takes 30 tons of oar to get 1oz of gold. Gold is so malleable you can get 7000 sheets the thickness of a dime. They didn’t allow pictures, but I managed to sneak the 1st shot and lifted the 2nd from the website.

The movie was beautiful showing creatures mostly from the Great Barrier Reef. Sea lions, sea snakes, sea dragons, whales and cuttlefish. Big screen and beautiful movie.

My March Madness

2010-03-12T00:35:00.001-05:00

I had quite a few freelance jobs this last week. It started on Tuesday with a trip to Atherton HS in Louisville. Wazoosports had to do 6th region girls basketball. And I do mean had to. The powers that be told them, if they wanted to do the boys finals they had to televise some girls games. The Atherton games were the only ones that fit into wazoo’s schedule. An older gentleman ask me why we weren’t at Bellermine Univ. That’s where the good games are. I shrugged my shoulders and he said, “These are going to be the worst games in either region, boys or girls.” He was right. PRP 25, Central 56. Fairdale 40, Butler 58.

Thursday I went back up north to Miami U to work with Classic Teleproductions. A much tougher setup this time ‘round. I turned down the handheld camera and picked the crows nest. I didn’t realize that we were using cameras with real lenses. Instead of one trip, with a small camera, up the stairs it was three, with two forty lbs cases and a large tripod. I just kept telling myself I was getting paid to exercise. I’m old enough to be smarter than this. I couldn’t see the viewfinder so I used duct tape to mount it on the back of the camera. Classy.

Saturday was a long one. 6AM on the road to Richmond for the 11th region boys semi finals (12PM & 2PM) and girl’s finals (8PM). I got to direct these games, but I don’t remember much from them. They run together after awhile. There was a three hour gap between games because Wazoo was also doing the OVC women’s finals in in Nashville. That means I got home at 12:30 AM.

Monday it was off to run camera again, at Bellermine for the 6th & 7th region boys finals. The place was packed. For the second game all of the Male HS students couldn’t even get into the game. I took a break at halftime and there were about 100 students outside still waiting to get in. The game was delayed for about 20 minutes. Just before tipoff, for the first game, a popcorn machine caught fire in the lobby. They had to use a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. The fire alarm went off and the fire department showed up. There was no need to evacuate the crowd, but some of the smoke rolled into the gym and gave it eerie, humid look. Appropriate, ‘cause it was very hot. Better games though, Butler Iroquois in OT and Ballard came from behind to beat male 60-56.

MU & Miscellaneous

2010-02-23T10:51:00.002-05:00

Did my third Miami Univ. basketball game of the year for Classic Teleproductions. Early call time of 7am Saturday, which meant being on the road by 6am. The main crew didn’t get there until 7:30 and we were done setting up by 9am. We had two hours before we had to be on camera for the first of two games at noon. An extra hour of sleep would have been nice, but I had a client that said once, “Somebody’s gonna pay for getting me out of bed today.” That’s the way I look at 7am calls.

We told to be on camera at 11am to get star shots, the ten seconds of video for the one star player played back during the show open. It never fails though that they will get distracted in the truck and when they’re ready to roll tape they players will have left the floor. And there we sit, waiting for them to come back on the floor. Always make sure you go the the bathroom before you go to your camera. You never know if you’re going to get a break before the game or eat for that matter. I packed a small, cooked microwave pizza and ate that in the crows nest high atop Millett Hall. At halftime of the women’s game I got a break and found some calzones, for me and the other top camera op., in the media room. Between games another calzone.

Hey it’s a long day! After the game a college kid asked if we wanted any leftover pizza. A college kid that gave up a pizza. You ever heard the like? I got to thinking, Sunday, while visiting mom, we ate pizza at Hometown and I had a Red Barron’s in the middle of the week. I got so much greasy in my blood that it would float on top of water. But I worked most of it off going back a forth to my camera.(right click video to watch on youtube)

Jan 23rd.

Ran camera at the EKU vs Morehead basketball game for Wazoosports. It was fun to be in the coliseum and not in the truck. The place was rockin’ with over 5600 fans. I hadn’t seen that many people in Alumni since the Waylon Jennings concert back in the early 80’s. I made a trip to the campus bookstore to get a t-shirt and just walk across campus. There were quite a few kids on campus and I couldn’t stop thinking to myself, “I was never this young.”

Pikeville College Feb 5, 2010

2010-02-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

Am I just bored or do I really need the money that much?
That was the questioned I ask myself when Larry, Wazoosports.com, asked if I wanted to direct a basketball game at Pikeville College.
“No, I think I'll pass.” I told him
“Well, I gonna have to cancel that game. I just can't get a crew to go to Pikeville College.”
Hum, I wonder why? View Larger Map'>Pikeville is not bad town, it's just so far away.
Larry tried to change the game to Georgetown, but the higher ups refused. He called back and asked what it would take to get me to do the game. The general rule is never be the first to name a price. You will always lose. But I gave him a price that was 30% higher than the normal pay for the gig and he accepted. DAMN! Shoulda asked for more money. He might have turned me down, but I wouldn't have to go the Pikeville either.
I met the crew in at the Winchester exit, after a 90 minute drive. Then it was another two hour drive to Pikeville. You'd think that a huge Chevy SUV would have plenty of leg room, but not when the person in the front passenger seat is close to 300 lbs. It's a pretty drive, winding roads with snow on the ground, but I've seen it before. When I drove it back in the summer. I had only been to Pikeville once in my life, in the past six months I've been there twice.
The Eastern Kentucky Expo Center is a very nice multipurpose facility. Used for ballgames, concerts and religious services. (photo)We had a hard time setting up; cabling problems, intercom problems, which meant not-getting -dinner problem. I've freelanced enough to always pack a snack, so I dined on an apple and a granola bar. Not enough to last through two games. Between the games one of the camera guys said there was some free food in a break room. The only person in the truck was some poor girl Wazoo had dragged from their office to the game. They were that hard-up for crew. When we asked to go get us some food, she said
“I'm not hungry.”
“Well, I am! Go get me some food!”
Way to be a part of the team. She was not happy. She grudgingly went to find the free food. After only five minutes she came back and told me she couldn't find it. Camera 3 got us a shot of one of the camera people with free food. Way to be a part of the team.
“Well then, go get me a hot dog.”
“Not unless you ask nice.”
“I'm hungry. Go get me a hot dog woman!” I was laughing when I said it. She wasn't. I did get my hot dog though.
After the games it was a looong trip home. I decided to take the the very backseat. It was a little more cramped, but I thought I could do a time warp nap and be back at my car in the blink of sandman's eye. I didn't work. By the time I got back to my car and then the trip home, it was late. On the road at 10am, home at 3am. Nope, the next time I will not be the first to name a price. (double click to play in youtube)

I say Rio, You say Rye O

2010-02-22T23:18:00.004-05:00

Around the first of January I made the three hours trip, to work for wazoosports.com, at The University of Rio Grande in Rio Grande Ohio. They pronounce it 'Rye O' Grand, so it will rhyme with Ohio. Clever. The college is the only thing for miles around, unless you count the Bob Evans Farm Homestead Museum. The Buckeye version of Harlan Sanders.

There's some more history at Rio, The University of Rio Grande is where Bevo Francis played basketball. Yep, THAT Bevo Francis. I hadn't heard of him either. He holds quite a few NCAA records and some other not recognized. 150 points in one game, 3964 points in one season. His jersey is proudly displayed in the lobby of the gymnasium. Hung on cork board with thumbtacks. Classy.

I spent the night to take a side trip to see some of the Indian ceremonial and burial mounds around Chillicothe at the Hopewell Culture National Park. I've been here a couple of times, but am always amazed how these people built something so huge, without the use of the wheel or shovels, and 2000 years ago! These mounds, the ones not destroyed by generations of us white people, exist all over Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

Music & Memories

2010-01-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

When I got my first job one of my vices was music. I would go a local record store, Recordsmith in Richmond (RIP), and spend some portion of my paycheck. The guys there got to know my taste and turned me on to some great music; Rev Horton Heat, SCOTS, and many others. I spent a lot of time at concerts, listening to local bands and searching for new and different songs. I rarely, even now, listened to radio stations higher than 92 on the dial. These independent stations and stores were so much fun in my quest for tunes.

Now, Internet radio, online stores and MP3 players have replaced most of that.

I was reminded of this when I stopped in to Phil's Records and Tapes in Southgate. Well, Phil's Music and Memories now. That should tell you how long the store has been around, Records and Tapes!? When I moved to Newport the store was just a few miles away. I would stop in and go straight to the used bin, then to the new rack, and before leaving a check of the dry erase board to see what new releases were coming soon. Phil's moved to Latonia, then Erlanger, now to Southgate. It's considerable smaller, but the telling (I was gonna say odd) thing is, half the store is records. I guess now they're a niche store for audiophiles that love albums. It felt like a walk down memory lane. The whole time I was there I kept getting this feeling that, 'This is the last time I will ever be in a record store'.

I would use my iPhone to check net prices on the used CDs. Why do I need to buy it in the store? For the jewel case? The Album art or liner notes? I can check all that out on allmusic.com. Now there is myspace. I listened to all of Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears before I bought it. How great is that? There are tunes on LaLa for ¢.79 songs. That's almost as cheap as a single play on a jukebox. Amazon has full albums for $7.99 and some for $5.00. I got Neko Case- Middle Cyclone for five bucks!

I've almost stopped going to concerts. I hate audiences. I didn't pay to hear you scream the lyrics or, worse, not pay attention at all and talk throughout the shop. At one Steve Earle concert he started talking against the death penalty. Two idiots yell, “Shut up and play!” If you don't already know about Earle's views why did you show up? Did they pay $40 just to hear Copperhead Road? My iPhone has almost replaced my radio. Old tunes, from my CDs, pop up unexpectedly like friends to say hello. I'm still a member of WKNU and WVXU. They do a good with local music an news. My new car has Sirius, but I don't think I'll subscribe. The quality isn't there, especially on the talk channels. I might as well stream it from my iPhone, as long as, of course, I have cell reception.

But there is a tinge of guilt. Phil's, and all the others, have giving me great direction for music. I look at my CD collection and can see their influence. I did buy one used CD: a Dwight Yoakam great hits. I still haven't replaced music from my cassette days. My direction now is the net, but thanks for the music and memories.

Eastern Kentucky Sept 2009

2009-10-20T18:19:00.001-04:00

September 1^st - 4^th I took a little drive through Eastern Kentucky. I drove the back roads through Cynthiana and Paris to I-64. From there to Cater Caves State Park. I was a nice little cave system quite different from Mammoth Cave (where there were 120 on the tour, here I was just me and the Ranger). You can get right up next to the formations. Plenty of little soda straws, stalactites, stalagmites and a new one (too me) helicites. They can’t decide if they want to form up or down. After a night in Ashland I took US23 to Whitesburg. I drove through most of the towns (Paintsville, Prestonsburg, Pikeville) on the way, they all had very small streets. Not a lot of room in the mountains for roads. On day three I got up early enough to still catch some fog in the valleys, from a pull off on US119, around Whitesburg . I also made a stop at Kingdom Come State Park. Some beautiful overlooks and trails there. After that I tried to find the top of Black Mtn. but, the road got too rough for the Mustang. The drive on US 119 to Middlesborough was beautiful. That maps had US 23 from Ashland to Whitesburg colored as scenic. It was nice. If you enjoy refineries. But I will take US119 any day. I took a quick detour to Harlan, just to say I had. I really wanted to make Cumberland Gap at Middlesborough before the visitors center closed. Middlesborough is the only US city in the middle of a meteor crater. How about that? I knew there no alcohol sold here when I didn't see any beer advertisements at the gas stations windows. Plenty of cigarette signs though. No blue laws against that. I went to Harrogate TN to visit the Lincoln Memorial Museum on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. Interesting but, most of the displays were down for refurbishing. Friday morning the park opened early enough to get some decent clouds in the Gap shots. The road trip ended in Lexington with a lunch my friend Keith Combs. I’ll have to make this in the fall, one of these years.

Memphis

2009-08-07T12:52:00.003-04:00

Took a trip to Memphis last vweekend to see Scott, but first I made a stop at Mammoth Cave.

I went on the new Entrance Tour which was very interesting. The previous days rain made for a lot of water dripping into the cave. The beginning of the tour were steps that descended into a pit. It was almost a waterfall because of the rain. Then there were tight corridors, low ceilings and interesting water cut formations. There were 120 people which slowed down the tour. We had to rush through the last quarter that included Frozen Niagara. Unfortunate.

Friday, after finally getting to Scott's, we went to eat at Crescent City a really good Cajun restaurant.

Saturday it was off to Rendezvous BBQ ribs in downtown Memphis. It's a dry BBQ and it has a little bite back. I thought it was tasty. Then, since the rain let up, we went over to Beale Street to see the acrobats, have a beer and watch the crowd. Bailey whined he was bored. His suggestion was Tunica, MS and go to the gambling boats. Once there the cheapest table was $10. I know I gonna lose money, I just don't want to do it that fast. So it was back to Memphis.

After checking my iPhone I thought the rest of the rains would miss downtown and going to the Redbirds baseball would be safe. As we headed to our seats The Bailey became infatuated by his reflection in a large sheet of pain glass and kissed it. Popping his nose, knees and elbow in the process.

Sunday morning it's back on the road to head home. I took back roads to Jackson, TN, by way of Bolivar, and it was a fairly scenic drive. I also stopped by Mike’s Rock shop in Cave City, KY to pick up a cut geode and some smoky quartz.

Cedar Point(less)

2009-07-25T12:28:00.001-04:00

I’ve been trying to get a group of people to head up to Cedar Point in Sandusky OH. It’s the rollercoaster capital of the world. In the end it was only Kevin and I . The afternoon we left I checked the weather for N OH and there was a 20-40% chance of rain. That night, at the hotel it was 50%. The next day 100%. The weather radar was full of rain. We cut our losses and headed back home. A four hour drive one way.

So I wouldn’t be a total loss we stopped in Wapakoneta, OH to visit The Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum. It was a nice little museum with lots of artifacts from Armstrong’s life and the space program. It’s worth a stop if you’re passing by or looking for an hour drive day trip.

Tinsley Ellis

2009-07-25T12:01:00.001-04:00

On July 17 I met up with Kevin to see Tinsley Ellis at Play by Play Cafe in Silverton. It was a good show, but the opening act, The Scotty Bratcher Band, really kicked it. He’s from Cincy so, I am gonna have to check him out. If I have to go see a band it should be in Cincy, no smoking. I forgot how reassuring it is to go to a blues show. All the other fans make me feel younger and thinner.

Friends and Fun

2009-07-14T22:09:00.003-04:00

Monday I had lunch with three friends, Alissa, Trudy and Dawn. They spent half the hour talking about Trudy’s baby shower. What the hell was I thinking? I was still great to get together with them.

That afternoon my friend Chele and I went to Kings Island. We decided to take the twilight special; after 5pm for $25. The website states, “You can do a lot in five hours.” Don’t you believe it. We were only able to hit seven rides: The Beast, The Racer, Backlot Stunt Coaster, The Vortex, Firehawk, and the new Diamondback, twice. The Beast and the Racer are still a lot of fun. I don’t care how old they are.The Stunt Coaster was more cute than thrill. The interesting thing about it was the start. It was a catapult. So you go from 0-60 in a few seconds. I can’t ride The Vortex anymore. Too tall. My knees hit the seat in front of me and the the shoulder harness pressed me into my seat like a medieval torture device. Firehawk was a blast and worth the 50+ minute wait. You get on the ride, then the seat reclines back, you go up the first hill on your back, then at the bottom of the hill it flips over and you’re flying through the air like Superman. As the ride was going up the hill I could feel my iPhone slipping out of my pocket so I spent most of the ride trying to keep a hand on my phone. Diamondback was our first and last ride of the day. It was incredible. The only thing that holds you in is a small lap bar. There is an unobstructed view of everything around you. If the lap bar isn’t too snug you will get so much air time. I felt like I was floating through the whole ride. But being careful not to get slammed into my seat at the bottom of each hill. The last ride on the Diamondback was at sunset,even more fun in the dark. I hadn’t been to Kings Island in, maybe, five years. I should get back more often, but start the day in the morning so I can get in more rides.

Fountain Square Friday

2009-07-11T10:34:00.003-04:00

I decided to to do lunch in downtown Cincy Friday. I parked in Covington KY and walked across the Roebling Bridge. I stopped by Mythos to get a gyro and headed to Fountain Square. There were some skateboarders doing demos.

After a scoop of Graters ice cream I went to the top of Carew Tower. Very hazy, I should so this when the weather is not as humid. Lots of cute women out. I think I’ll make this a weekly thing.

That evening I went to The Blue Wisp Jazz Club. They have free jam/workshop from 4:30 to 7. I didn’t stay long, but it was good music.

Lord, forgive me.

2009-07-08T17:28:00.006-04:00

I fell off the wagon today and man does it taste goooooood. I bought and made a big ole pitcher of tea. I've had tea in the last three or so months, but all of them fell short of the brew I had, have, perfected over the years. Let see if I can keep it under 1lbs of sugar a week.

To add to it all, I've fallen off the exercise wagon. (I need a seatbelt) I was doing really well, but two weeks ago I wrenched my right knee and I couldn't even ride my exercise bike. Then this week my left ankle started aching. At first I thought I had twisted it on Donald's farm, but when the hurting didn't go away and I could feel the heat coming off the joint. I decided it was gout. I had been taking allopurinal for gout, but during flare ups it can make it worse. So now it's indomethocine until it get better.

4th of July

2009-07-05T10:20:00.000-04:00

Not a full week, but at least some stuff to keep it interesting. On Tuesday I met up with Srinivas, Lilia and some of their friends at McCormick's and Schmicks. They had a really good M&S red beer. I miss read the tap and thought it said S&M. I felt a little old when one of the girls said her father's 50th birthday was coming up. Damn, I'm two and a half years younger than her dad. It was a fun get together. Some good laughs.
Wednesday Chele and I went to see Ice Age 3D. $13.75!!!!! for a matinee!!! It was decent movie, but not worth $13.75. 3D needs some improvement. It was blurry and disorienting. After we headed to Bar Louie for dollar burger Wednesdays. The hostess sat us all the way to the back, where the windows overlook the river, and there was Dave Hyden, a comic I use to perform with. He was writing material for a showcase at Newport Funnybone that night. He shot out some material and I tried to tag some of it. I miss writing with the guys.
After Chele and I parted ways went back to the APT, but decided to go back out and see the showcase. I think this was the first showcase (open mic) I had seen in three years. It will be another three years before I go back. I was the same old 'dick and pussy' show. That's what's it called in the biz. Hyden had a good set. Audiences love him. Alex Stone had a great set; very clean, original and funny. It was a hot audience. They were laughing at everything. And NO, I didn't get the urge to get back on stage.

2009-07-05T10:18:00.002-04:00

Went home on Thursday and Friday went for a hike along the Egerton Nature Preserve, AKA Donald's farm. There was an old county road that hadn't been used in 80 years. It looked like a trace, it jutted out from the hillside, lined with some rock walls, the road was covered with leaves, no trees and small incline headed up and down the side of the hill. The creek bottom wasn't running, but there were three of four small cascade falls. I nice walk up and down the hill.

2009-07-05T10:11:00.003-04:00

I had to take another shower before heading to Louisville to see the Kentucky Show and the Kentucky Center for the Arts. It's a nice short film on the history and beauty of Kentucky. After AAA and library card discount (yep, they asked if I had a library card) it was only $4.
With the movie done I made my first ever visit to see a race at Churchill Downs. Fitz met up with me there. When I told him it was my first visit he said he had been coming to Churchill since he was four. The place is huge, about four time larger than Keeneland. Most of the races only had 6-8 horses in them. Overall I think I was $5 ahead at the end of six races when I left. It's easy to say you're ahead when you don't really keep track of the money.

2009-07-05T10:08:00.003-04:00

A light rain fell all day on the 4th of July. I sat out on the back deck to just listen to it hit the leaves on the trees. I started back to Newport around six and when the rain let up I drove over to the Weidemann House to shoot the Cincinnati fireworks. The show was only 10 minutes, I guess since it rained they cut it short. When I got back to Home street I went down to the end of the road to watch the annual battle of Newport and Covington. These People really go all out for their backyard shows.

How long will it last?

2009-06-21T08:28:00.001-04:00

95% of all blogs are abandoned. Glad I'm not doing it for the money.

Covington Quest

2009-06-20T22:30:00.008-04:00

What a fun Saturday. Three guys and I from TBNK participated in Covington Quest. Thirty, or so, teams (divided into 4 colors groups) compete in 12 challenges ranging from: dressing in firefighter uniforms and carrying a teammate 20 feet, blindman's hot dog eating and bobbing for meat (cow's tongue, below). After each challenge we were given a riddle as to the location of our next destination. I started out running to each challenge, but the rest of the team couldn't keep up. I don't know if could have kept it up for three hours. We covered around six miles all over Covington, Kentucky. (this map takes a few seconds to load) We ended up one hour behind the 1st place team and a half hour out of the prizes. Next year, two months out, I will be team trained and maybe we will cover more ground in less time..

Human Bodies

2009-06-20T19:49:00.006-04:00

Friday my niece and I went to see Bodies Human in Louisville. Human bodies preserved by plastination are on display: Limbs, organs, skeletons, blood vessels, nerves and bodies in various positions.
The most interesting thing were displays that exposed only the veins and arteries of legs, arms, kidneys and liver. It's amazing how blood flows through the parts of the body.
The hall very kinda warm and humid and had the smell of an old folks home. The eerie thing of all these human bodies were exhibited in the former Fishers meat packing plant. The donors would be rolling in their graves, if only the had been buried. I wonder if the families were told their relatives would be exhibited with respect. Maybe, when they were alive, the cadavers wanted to be on stage and be famous.

PITP

2009-06-18T17:01:00.007-04:00

Went to Party at the Point Wednesday with Ed.
A few, more than normal, beauties that night. (click pics to enlarge)

Flag Day Weekend

2009-06-15T21:33:00.018-04:00

It was a good weekend. Rain Friday caused Michael's Little League game to be postponed, so I headed out to Mt Lookout Tavern to meet up with Mel, Aislinn and others. Good lookin' crowd. Too bad they were all under 25. Felt like a chaperon at a junior high dance. Mostly watched game 7 of the NHL Championship with Mel. Too bad for her team the Red Wings.
Saturday I was up to see some Little league. Michael's team made a good comeback to win in the last inning. Michael went with a friend so Marcia, Mike and I headed to had Rio Grande Restaurante. Back at the apartment I started talking about what I had been doin' and they went right to sleep.

That night I met up with some folks from TBNK for karaoke. I belted out and beat up Tom Jones-It's Not Unusual. Evidentially women will scream no matter who sings it. When the college guys got up to yell By The Dashboard Lights I said, 'it's time to go.' (That's my Bud Josh singing)
Sunday more LL Bball. This time it was a loss. Got back to hit the Newport Italian Festival for an hour and sample about four dishes. Mama Vita's was really good. As soon as I left a huge storm hit and washed them out.

Sunday night Mel, Kevin, Aislinn and I got together for a Florence Freedom game. FF won 4-1. It's a nice small park with cheap drinks and food. Not a lot of people there I think they were scared away by the storms. But it was mostly clear in Florence. Afterwards we had one last one at the Beer Cellar on the river in Newport (next to Hooters). Aislinn is from Kalamazoo MI and she suggested Bell's Oberon. It's a nice wheaty beer.

Monday I rehydrated.

Rattle, Rattle, Rattle, Pt 2

2009-06-11T17:48:00.001-04:00

I decided to get a second opinion on the catalytic converter so I went to Bill's Service in Latonia. (Bill's Standard Service 3415 Decoursey Ave Covington) The rattle was just a flange to hold the tailpipe. $62.94 to repair. NOT $1100 NEWPORT FIRESTONE!!!! I'ma gonna have to have a talk with Firestone.

Wellness smells tasty.

2009-06-11T17:39:00.002-04:00

Went to Walgreens to get a BD card and they had a Wellness RV in the parking lot. Glucose & cholesterol were good. BP, BMI & body comp. a little high, 'cause I'm carrying a little too much around the middle. I'm workin' on that. The odd thing was after I got some gifts and free food.
Hot dogs and potato chips!? How's that for wellness?

Rattle, Rattle, Rattle

2009-06-09T09:44:00.002-04:00

That's the sound that has been coming from under my car for the past few weeks. I found out at Firestone the catalytic converter needs to be replaced. $1100! Ouch! Checked around and that is the price. Maybe I can get a free oil change out of them too.

The Excitment Plan

2009-06-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

New Todd Snider is out today. One free download on Amazon.
I miss when he would rock out on at least one song per album.
Sounds like there's some up-tempo blues on this one though.

Video on Demand

2009-06-02T16:33:00.003-04:00

Here's a link the documentary I did on Mother of God Church in Covington.
and if you're interested The Dinsmore Homestead from last fall.

The weekend

2009-06-01T22:10:00.001-04:00

Saturday was Summerfair. I go to this festival every year. A roving band of gypsy artist from all over come to show off their unique works. I didn't buy anything this time. Each year I tell myself to 'just print out your photos and save the money!'
The most interesting artist was EC Seigel. You gotta check out his site. It looks like metal but it's paper mache! I was looking at it for 10 minutes before he told what it was made of. Cool. And I hate using that word.

2009-06-01T21:57:00.002-04:00

Spent Friday night with some friends to celebrate June birthdays. I saw some people I hadn't seen in years. One guy is now half his size. Ate some good food then the mosquitoes had their fill of me. The night ended badly though with cornhole and bad jokes.

Sunset

2009-05-29T08:27:00.004-04:00

The iPhone sucks at sunset colors. Imagine the sky with a salmon color tint and much more reds and oranges. Next time I'll get my real camera.

Live long and prosper

2009-05-29T08:17:00.004-04:00

I went to see the new Star Trek movie last night. I was really good. Action from start to finish. It erased all the previous stories because of time travel plot. So I guess that means this group of characters can move forward without having to worry about continuity with past series.

oh well. . .

2009-05-29T08:11:00.001-04:00

I got my hours cut back from 25 to 15 yeasterday. Now I'm part part-time.

Video on Demand

2009-05-27T11:23:00.004-04:00

Here's the final edition of the Mother of God Church Documentary.
Produced at TBNK
While I'm at it here's a link to the Dinsmore Homestead Documentary.

Rain, Rain Go Away

2009-05-26T19:55:00.001-04:00

I got caught with my apartment windows down today. The weatherman said the pop-up showers wouldn't happen until late afternoon or early evening. Around 2:30pm I went to Kroger I came out 20 minutes later and it was cloudy and wet. By the time I got home it was sunny again, but the living room floor was soaked. It's the cleanest it has even been. Well, at least a third of it is clean.

Wha' a bizy Memorial Day weekend

2009-05-25T22:12:00.008-04:00

Friday night I had dinner with Jason and Keith at Claddagh Irish Pub at Newport on the Levee. Harp's Lager kinda bland. A beer you have to drink just to get the taste. Saturday home to Bedford to go out with the guys to BJ's in Louisville. Nice place with really good beer. I had their Red, then I tries the Red, and I finished off the evening with aaaaaaa Red. I samples a seasonal called Nitwit not much too it. The Hefeweizen was good though.

Sunday a trip to Skyline Chili so Scott could get his fix while he was in town. Man, the restaurant is soooo much better than frozen. Then Reds game. Our section was so crowed with white trash I now know what a discarded cracker feels like in a landfill. We moved to the left side of the top section because it wasn't crowded. We had the pretty much had it all to ourselves. The Reds beat Cleveland in extra innings. Then it was off to Taste of Cincinnati. Some Pad Thai, Cajun jambalaya and shrimp creole. And I do mean creole with one shrimp. Plus a BarrelHouse Red and Warsteiner Dunkel. My friend Ed met up with us, but I could only last a couple of hours. I'll have ask if he went back down to Taste after he dropped out tired ass's off across the river.

Monday, I couldn't stop watching The Longest Day on AMC. I didn't finish it 'cause I went to a birthday party for Kevin. He's the one that turned down Harvard. It was a fun, relaxing was to end an almost full weekend.

PITP/PASP

2009-05-21T22:07:00.015-04:00

Wednesday was my first Party at the Sawyer Point of the year. Not to be confused with Party in the Park. Completely different. One of these two parties happes every week during the summer on the Cincinnati side of the river. Met up with Melissa, Kevin, Aislinn and something called Shock Top Belgian Wheat. I hate the way beer taste after you brush your teeth. Oh wait, I didn't brush my teeth before I went to the party. That's the way this beer actually taste.

I love summer when the women under dress for over exposure.

You can never go home again. THANK GOD!!!!!!!

2009-05-21T21:33:00.007-04:00

Went to my old middle school for career day. No, I didn't go as unemployed. I had a DVD with some of my work and a large camera hooked up to a monitor. I'm stilled amazed how people act when they see themselves on camera. It's like they've never seen technology, although I have a friend that hadn't heard of twitter until recently. The 6th graders were inquisitive. The 7th and 8th graders just stuck to the questions that were required by their teachers. Some of the questions were fun.
“How many hours do you work? How much do you make?” You mean, right now?
I swear I don't remember much about middle school, but I don't remember my friends having such squeaky voices.

Maifest

2009-05-17T22:03:00.006-04:00

Covington Maifest. It's not called Maifest because it's held in May. It's because it 'may' be one of the ugliest festivals around.

The beer is Kentucky Ale. A good one a little bitter for a bit of bite.

Sunday, Sun day, sundae

2009-05-17T21:48:00.008-04:00

A trip today to the Cincinnati Observatory. It was Sunday, sun day, sundae. They were looking at the sun and there was free ice cream sundaes. I got see solar flares and prominences. The wooden telescope was installed in 1843 and the 'new' scope is from 1904. (MAP)

Blue Chips

2009-05-15T13:41:00.006-04:00

Wednesday night was the Blue Chip Awards. Local access and public access facilities submit video projects in a competition. I had one in the running, but another project from TBNK won. Paige here won 7 out of 8 categories she entered. Plus a special award for a promo about a world record breaking attempt for the the most-bugs-in-a-mouth. The guy in the blue suit put 9 roaches (there's one on his award) in his mouth.

DTs

2009-05-15T10:54:00.001-04:00

I've been going through some D.T.eas this week. I keep saying to myself, “I think I'll make some tea. Uuugghh! I can't.” Light headaches and tired too.

Short walk

2009-05-12T18:18:00.002-04:00

Trying a new program on my iPhone called Fitino.
090512 Kinda neat, huh?

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2009-05-12T16:52:00.007-04:00

Here it is. My last picture of tea. I didn't realize how much sugar I consume. Last month I bought a four lbs bag of sugar, I put the date on the lid of the sugar holder and a month later it was gone. That's a pound of sugar a week! So we'll see how long this last. If I can keep it up, at a pound a week, in five years I could weigh negative 40 lbs. Every year, when I'm on vacation, I go without for two weeks, but I've also been teaddict since I was a kid. If you're a friend keep me in your thoughts. If you're a Yankee and don't understand a Southerner's love of sweet tea then go fx#k yourself.
I should freeze some in case I need a hit later.

Appalachian Fest

2009-05-09T17:00:00.003-04:00

I have never been to the Appalachian Festival before and I won't be going back. $5 to park and $8 to get in; $13 for a kitsch fest. There were some nice wood turned pieces, blacksmith produced objects and interesting pottery, but the rest was just a bad county fair. Okay, the music was fine. I don't get to hear live Bluegrass that often.

Reds Win! Reds Win! Reds Win!

2009-05-09T16:58:00.002-04:00

The Reds have fireworks after the Friday home games and they actually won tonight. I'm not gonna say they are at least playing well, because I'm superstitious only when it comes to baseball. So, I'm not about to talk about them playing over 500 ball.

a Da Da Da

2009-05-09T16:34:00.005-04:00

Back at the Cincinnati Art Museum today to drop off the photo CD of the One Party and to see the exhibit Surrealism and Beyond. The exhibit is beyond my comprehension, but I do have a better understanding of why the artist created these pieces even if I don't understand the works themselves. It started in Europe after WWI. The world they believed in was destroyed. Not just physically, but psychologically and socially too. So the artist destroyed to their concept of art as they had known it. Sort of a shell shock art.

walk

2009-05-08T12:43:00.002-04:00

Since I didn't go to work today I went for a short walk this morning.

work, work, work, work, work, work.

2009-05-07T21:39:00.004-04:00

This is were I've lived these past few months. Okay, lived for 25 hours or less a week for the last few months. I believe that I will actually be finished with my documentary on the Mother of God Church. Then what? St Mary's Basilica of the Assumption probably.

TBNK.ORG

One

2009-05-07T21:16:00.005-04:00

Last night I went to the One Party at the Cincinnati Art Museum. I volunteer to take photos to get experience shooting people. This is a fun event because CAM brings in some interesting performers. Such as the afro-beat band they're very energetic. I can't remember their name. I saw them last year at Celebrate as One on Fountain Square. Some of the belly dancers had a lot of belly to dance with. I could have joined them.

The King Tut head was a filled with candy. No matter how old, people rush to free candy.

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-06T20:43:00.003-04:00

Went to Fountain Square in Downtown Cincinnati to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. All that means is I had a taco and a Dos Equis.
My friend Chely showed up and we watched some couples salsa.

It's kinda odd the Google Satellite image has the fountain in it's old location. The street view has it in it's new location

The Bells! The Bells!

2009-05-04T18:42:00.010-04:00

Sometimes my profession allows me to go places that I would not open to others. Today I got to climb up to the bell tower of Mother of God Church in Covington. The steps reminded me of the Hitchcock movie Vertigo. Rickety steps and bare brick walls. I was in the belfry while they pealed the bells. Yes, I was wearing earplugs. Where's my Esmeralda? The big bell didn't chime. It was temporarily broken. After the the ringing I went to over the largest bell and gave it a tap. Just after the quarter hour chime went off and scared me half to death. I was thinking, “What did I do? Did I do that?” I watched the video when I got back to TBNK and you can see the video jump when the quarter hour chimes hit.

A Case of the Mundays

2009-05-04T09:56:00.002-04:00

I was listening to my iPhone and thought that Buddy Miller's "Did My Ring Hurt Your Finger." would be a good tune. What a depressing song to start off a Monday. It's still a good tune, but next Monday I'll listen to Kings of Leon.

When Pigs Fly

2009-05-03T23:27:00.006-04:00

I got up early today to go to the Flying Pig Marathon. It was a little cold and wet. It's days like this I am glad I'm not a runner, but not too lazy to walk a mile to The Overlook in Eden Park. I thought I would be able to catch a glimpse of some friends that were running. No such luck. There were just huge packs of runners. I never did see Josh or Rob, who is running his first full marathon. I'm certain I was distracted by the women runners. They do still have sports bras don't they? A barbershop choir entertained the runners and as they ran by the they weren't too tired to applaud and cheer.

One thing I noticed, in this race there were more women running in pig ears than there were black people in the race.

Cliff notes

2009-04-30T23:14:00.002-04:00

Put in a couple of hours work, then had lunch with some former co-workers, David and Ed, at the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. Afterwards I went for a walk in the woods at Boone Cliffs State Nature Preserve (MAP) with a friend Chely. Needed the walk with all those tortilla chip I ate at lunch. The cliffs has some small glacial, conglomerate cliffs, tall trees and this time of year beautiful wildflowers. We saw Wood Poppy, Spur Lock, Wild Columbine, Canada Violet and Phlox. I didn't know these blooms Chely brought her flower book. We saw two that we couldn't identify. The trail was only a little wet from all the rain, but it was cool, windy, full of bird songs and only the occasional sound of a jet plane.

Snapped these with my iPhone. The first two we didn't find in the book.
The last is Wild Columbine

The Bailey

2009-04-27T21:34:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it!
Scott 'The Cat' Bailey has landed on his feet again.
Memphis.
Thank ya, thank ya very much.

Happy Birthday Darwin

2009-04-26T20:07:00.015-04:00

I went to a little park (MAP) that's on the the Ohio River in Bellevue KY. There are two Bellevue/views in NKY and who can blame the original settlers there's lots of beautiful views in NKY. I went to read and enjoy the excellent weather. Other people were also out. Some flying kites, reading, playing basketball, or throwing football. On that last part, a family some how managed to get that football stuck in the very tip-top of a tree. It was quite funny watching them trying to get the ball down. They were either too large to climb up even to the first branch or too small and young to risk death. It reminded me of the monkey experiment. Hang a banana from the ceiling, then put a monkey and some boxes in a room and see if he can figure out how to get the banana. Eventually the largest one got the second branch and shook the top of the tree enough to drop the ball.

UC Spring Football

2009-04-26T19:46:00.004-04:00

Worked the the UC spring football game Saturday night. I thought it was only for the scoreboard, but when I got there I found out it was for Fox Ohio. Instead of three cameras there were five and no van, but a full truck. Not top of the line stuff, but usable. Some rough stuff at the start, but the over game was alright. What really sucked is university didn't feed us this time. Luckily the campus has a Subway right next to the stadium. I ran 'close follow' that's the tight short you may see on replay. It was tough. For Insight I run 'game' the wide, main shot. I had to stay a little wider than I would like just so I wouldn't lose the pass. It's still easier that trying to keep up with hockey.

(the cameraman is Wayne Roberts)

Mindi's medium

2009-04-25T11:33:00.003-04:00

Ad. mim. Mindi spilled some milk on a table and the result a little baby's foot. Mindi's preggers so I wonder if there's something karmaistic 'bout this?

Hofbrau Dunkel

2009-04-25T11:27:00.001-04:00

Hofbrau House

Newport Kentucky

grrrrrrrr grrrrrrr

2009-04-25T11:23:00.002-04:00

I took a little walk on a trail at Highlands Cemetery Friday. Beautiful cemetery. Yes, I said beautiful. Big monuments, budding trees, and the flowers were starting to bloom. The trail was down in a valley and away from the cemetery.
I wasn't on the trail for 50 yards when I saw two women and three dogs coming up the trail. Of course the dogs weren't on leashes. This one huge black lab starts bounding towards me. He was wet from being in the creek. It got to about three feet and I excepted him to jump me, but I yelled and he kept his distance and went back to his owner. Another black lab came up over the hill and started bellowing like he was on a hunt. He started running towards me and his owner was screaming for him to come back.
aaaaa. He's not listenin'
The dog gets within ten feet from me, ears are down, barking and growling.
“He won't bite.”
Yeah, right.
I pick up a stick and make myself as big as I can. The I yell at the top of my lungs and he backs off a little. The girl said he was threatened because I picked up a stick. I felt threatened 'cause there's a growling dog right in front of me.
She's trying to put a leash on him (why is the smaller the woman the bigger the dog-that-you-can't-control?) still saying he doesn't bite, he doesn't bite. I tell her, in my outdoor voice, you're suppose to keep your dogs on a leash. She get frustrated and says I should calm down.
I love dogs. I swear I do. I love them so much it's the reason I don't have one. I love dogs I just hate their owners.
And dogs in the city, please.
“Let's keep him tied up in the yard all day and then take him for a 30 minute walk in the evening. I can't wait to have kids.” Poor animals.

Jazz @ CPL

2009-04-23T11:48:00.000-04:00

Cool Man

2009-04-23T11:46:00.005-04:00

The Cincinnati Public Library has a short jazz concert once a month during the winter and I've been able to make few of them. I know very little about jazz. Okay, I know nuttin' 'bout jazz. Except for the Charlie Brown Theme. I'm not hip or cool enough (if there such things) to get it, but looking around the audience, I fit right in. The interesting thing was it appeared to be a melee of beats and a cacophony of sound, but they all still hit on the 2 and the 4. Or is it the 1 and the 3 in jazz?

Wooster Tavern

2009-04-19T21:52:00.009-04:00

Heidi invited me to her hubby's birthday part at the Wooster Tavern in Mariemont.
It was a fun night.
Found out Trudy was preggers and expecting in October.
Some cute women there, but even my camera wasn't enough of an icebreaker to really talk to any of them.
Oh well, free beer, food and cake.

Rick & Heidi

Charles Egerton

Smoky Mountains

NLDS

Lebanon & UC

Fall into Some Work

CLINCH

3 Days-632 miles

Satellite Media Tour

Bengals

Tour de Kentucky Norte’

Bettin’ the Spread

Labor Day

Boston

Brew Ha Ha

Marengo Caves

Work out the Wazoo

Tennis 2010

Sacramento

Ceres, CA

Panos

San Joaquin Valley

Yosemite Vernal & Nevada Falls

Yosemite Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls

Do You Know the Way to Yosemite?

Kings Canyon Day 2

Sunny & 60

Kings Canyon

Gateway

Hotel Three Rivers

Yosemite Flight

Sequoia

CVG to Houston?

Vegas & Death Valley

GOLD!! Gold I tell ya!

My March Madness

MU & Miscellaneous

Pikeville College Feb 5, 2010

I say Rio, You say Rye O

Music & Memories

Eastern Kentucky Sept 2009

Memphis

Cedar Point(less)

Tinsley Ellis

Friends and Fun

Fountain Square Friday

Lord, forgive me.

4th of July

How long will it last?

Covington Quest

Human Bodies

PITP

Flag Day Weekend

Rattle, Rattle, Rattle, Pt 2

Wellness smells tasty.

Rattle, Rattle, Rattle

The Excitment Plan

New Todd Snider is out today. One free download on Amazon.I miss when he would rock out on at least one song per album.Sounds like there's some up-tempo blues on this one though.

Video on Demand

The weekend

Sunset

Live long and prosper

oh well. . .

Video on Demand

Rain, Rain Go Away

Wha' a bizy Memorial Day weekend

PITP/PASP

You can never go home again. THANK GOD!!!!!!!

Maifest

Sunday, Sun day, sundae

Blue Chips

DTs

Short walk

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Appalachian Fest

Reds Win! Reds Win! Reds Win!

a Da Da Da

walk

work, work, work, work, work, work.

One

New Todd Snider is out today. One free download on Amazon.
I miss when he would rock out on at least one song per album.
Sounds like there's some up-tempo blues on this one though.