Category Archives: Jay

Derrick, Flowers, House, Jason, Jay, Scottie D.

Holy Hollyhocks!

June 16, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

This past Sunday was Hedgegeddon (pronounced Yardegeddon in the Jansonian dialect) and it was a complete and utter disaster. It rained all weekend (or so it seemed) and the rain didn’t stop for Hedgegeddon.

In the end Hedgegeddon Round 1 – You Win this Time Mother Nature! was a complete failure. There were 2 No-Call-No-Shows. 1 person backed out at the last minute. The ground was one cohesive piece of mud and wouldn’t give anything up. The chains and straps became wet and mud covered and slipped off the hedges regardless of technique. In the end, the ultimate battle between Man and Nature wasn’t even close.

The crew of Jason, Scottie D., Derrick and I were completely and utterly demolished. Even though Nature laughingly ran up the score on us at the end (like Tom Osborne teams of the past) by having my spade break in half in Derrick’s hands, our spirits are not crushed.

There is a reason that the most common signature at the bottom of my emails reads:

Man can be destroyed, but not defeated.

Hedgegeddon 2 – Suck It Mother Nature! (that is a working title) has already been scheduled. Barring rain, this time Mother Nature will feel the bitter taste of defeat. After all, the words before “A man can be destroyed…” are “But man is not made for defeat.”

Despite the Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland U. size of this last setback, the day was not without some small modicum of success:

There was actually a good thing that came out of Hedgegeddon. I stopped mowing certain sections of my yard in preparation for this unblessed event. When I stopped mowing a certain patch of the yard I found out that I have hollyhocks. Sweet!

I’m particularly proud of these hollyhocks because apparently these are a difficult flower to grow in this part of the Cyclone State. However, I can grow them without even trying. I truly am becoming a master gardener!

Here are a few other flower pictures from the Bennett Flower Gardens:

I’m hoping that there will be some moonflower and lily action in my backyard in the next couple of weeks. It also seems like the cherries will be ready for picking in the next couple of weeks as well!

Black & White, Flowers, Jay, Macro, Mom, Personal Photo Project

Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 18

May 21, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

My goal for Personal Photo Project of the Week No. 18 was to capture a tulip picture. I visited tulips in my Mom’s yard, my Grandma’s yard and in Pella. After taking a lot of pictures, the photo below is the picture that best captures my tulip vision.

Amen

Here are a few other pictures from the Amen Photo Session(s).

Reviewing these pictures makes me excited for my trip to the State Center Rose Garden I have planned in a couple of weeks. I like roses more than I like tulips, but that might because of the Chuggler Incident that happened in Pella many a year ago. I suppose I should let that go…

I should also take somebody other than Jay to State Center. He didn’t enjoy waiting for me to get done taking pictures of roses last time.

Anders, Andree, Becky, Carla, Cousin Amy, Dawn, Derrick, Jay, Jeff Daniel, Jeff Kewer, Jen, Jesse, Johnathan, Kelly, Logan, Mom, Monica, Nader, Russ, Sara, Scottie D., Shannon, Steve, Willy, Yin

A Small, Intimate Gathering

May 19, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I had my, what could theoretically become, annual Birthday Barbecue on Saturday. I would like to thank all of the people that attended and made the evening special:

Bardole, Shannon
Bennett, Charlotte
Cousin, Amy
Daniel, Jeffrey
Degeneffe, Austin
Degeneffe, Melissa
Degeneffe, Scott
Dill, Colby
Dill, Dan
Dill, DJ
Gorshe, Derrick
Gorshe, Jen
Henning, Monica
Howard, Jesse
Howard, Kalista
Howard, Kelly
Howard, Saydie
Howard, Taylan
Hugen, Todd
Janson, Jay
Jauhari, Andree
Jenson, Terra
Johnstone, Jack
Johnstone, Jason
Junck, Sara
Kahler, Logan
Kahler, Russ
Kewer, Jeff
Krause, Dawn
McAlpine, Willy
Nitchals, Peggy
Parsaei, Nader
Perkovich, Becky
Roberts, Lori
Roberts, Steve
Runestad, Anders
Stensland, Carla
Stensland, Johnathan
Wever, Ada
Wever, Amanda
Wever, Greg
Yin, Amy

Next year, I will move the barbecue back to its traditional spot of the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Feel free to circle the date May 28 on your 2011 calendar that you have yet to purchase. It will perhaps be an even smaller and more intimate gathering. I might start instituting a survivor type invitation policy similar to the fashion of invites that Jay uses for Symposium.

Special thanks need to be extended to the following people:

Sara for taking the pictures for the invitations.

Sara for providing the s’mores goodies.

Jay for making three desserts: chocolate raspberry cookies, key lime bars and apple crisp.

Steve for providing homemade salsa and chips.

Becky for making a pasta salad.

Scott and Melissa for bringing a banana creme pie.

Shannon for baking a fresh rhubarb pie with rhubarb picked from my personal rhubarb patch.

Johnathan for bringing over cornhole.

Logan and Russ for running the grill.

Mom for baking a cake and creating a watermelon fruit thing.

Derrick for being the fire-starter.

Andree for being the best dressed person at the party.

Shannon for opening the party.

Willy for closing the party.

There isn’t any photographic evidence to support that this party existed. I was too busy to touch a camera and Sara didn’t take any pictures this year. Maybe next year I will add “Party Photographer” to the list of Staff positions for this shindig.

If you wish to be hired for this position (no pay, no benefits, possibly a STAFF t-shirt*) simply send the answer to the following question to bennett@photography139.com:

Why would I make an awesome Party Photographer?

I suppose I should start planning Friendsmas now. It can wait a couple of months.

*That is not a joke. There will be staff t-shirts next year.

Animals, Black & White, Carla, Dawn, Jay, Jen, Julie, Macro, Night, Railroad, Shannon, Still Life, Vest, Weddings, WPC - Submissions

RWPE #18 – Wild

May 10, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Here are the submissions for last week’s theme – WILD:

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Dawn Krause A

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Dawn Krause B

Michael Vest of Waxen Media

Christopher D. Bennett

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Carla Stensland

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Julie Johnson of The Joy is in the Journey

There were a couple of late submissions for FEET. They can be seen on the FEET post:

FEET

The Random Theme Generator has been generating and this morning it spit out the following theme:

LEADING LINES

The best definition of LEADING LINES is a photo with very strong lines in the composition that lead the viewers eyes through the photograph. A simple example would be almost any picture of railroad tracks or of a highway. A viewer will naturally follow lines through a photography, so it is a powerful compositional tool to put your subject at the end of lines.

Below are a couple of examples of LEADING LINES:

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

Remember, the lines don’t have to be straight. An “S” Curve in an image is a very powerful compositional tool. Of course, as always, no reason to be too literal with the theme.

Dawn, Jay, Jen, Sara, Shannon, Vest, WPC - Submissions, Writing

RWPE #15 – Long Exposure

April 19, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

The submissions for this week include the youngest contributor to date. I’m not sure of Scott’s exact age, but I know it is south of double digits. I should really know his age, considering I helped plan the guest list for his birthday party.

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Dawn Krause

Michael Vest

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Scott Krause

Christopher D. Bennett (Not touched by Photoshop)

Dawn’s Poem of the Week

Long Exposure

The bones ache from a long cold frost
the flowers wilt and whither
a tear glistens on her frozen face
no fire to beckon hither
desolate, forsaken, out of place
the heart has lost it’s dream

Shall she awaken from this dream
to find her world blanketed in frost
rocking in this forgotten place
where beauty will fade and whither
not a sole to motion hither
would there be confusion upon her face

A close glance upon her face
reveals her captive dream
to laugh and call him hither
and melt the frost
and no longer whither
to finally escape this place

Time has no bearing on this place
It holds the demons she must face
Her choice to live, love, or whither
to lose her dream
to bitter frost
or to let the warmth come hither

Searching for hope to draw her hither
an escape to a happier place
no threat of frost
on her lovely face
her hope gives birth to every new dream
letting the old ones die and whither

Never let her spirit whither
to love she must come hither
replace a shattered dream
make her world a happy place
let joy alight her face
and warm her heart to frost

Lest we let the dream whither
Melt the frost and call her hither
Bring happiness to her place and joy upon her face

Dawn’s poem is a sestina. It is a highly structured poem consisting of six six-line stanzas followed by a tercet for a total of 39 lines. Don’t feel bad. I had to look that up too.

Shannon Bardole’s Artistic Appreciation Pick of the Week

Next week’s theme is considerably less complicated. A person could make an argument that almost any picture that is off center would qualify.

Next week’s theme is:

Rule of Thirds

The technical way to define The Rule of Thirds is as follows:

The rule of thids is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

Thanks Wikipedia!

Here is an example, albeit not a perfect example of the technique:

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On the intersections…

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With the lines clearly drawn out…

This isn’t a perfect example, but I wanted to make sure that this was a picture that included Jen because she was the first person I ever heard utter the phrase: “Good use of the rule of thirds” when looking at one of my pictures. A picture of the Gilbert water tower if my memory isn’t faulty.

It might have been the exact moment that I knew that Jen was a keeper.

Baseball/Softball, Basketball, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Faust, Formal Portrait, History, Jay, Jesse, Willy

Home Run Derby: The Next Generation

April 15, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

When me and my chums were in high school, we would spend a few choice nights of the Spring, Summer and Fall in my Mom’s backyard playing Homerun Derby with a big red bat and a plastic baseball.

Homerun Derby was a double elimination tournament that consisted of a series of 9 inning games between two opponents. Anything besides a homerun was an out.

While the other gladiators awaited their turn in the arena, they sat on my Mom’s deck munching on the goodness that is Casey’s pizza.

If memory serves me, I won the first Homerun Derby, but never again tasted the sweet nectar of victory.

While my booming blasts are the stuff of legend, (I’m certain that I once knocked a ball all the way to Carroll Street) Homerun Derby was more a game of precision.

There were numerous low hanging branches from the walnut tree and some of the neighbor’s trees that knocked down balls that were hit “too high”. Of course many a low line drive, that would have easily escaped the unfriendly confines of anywhere else in Bennett Field, were knocked harmlessly to the ground by the Green Monster in rightfield. Plus, towering above the Green Monster was a basketball backboard that knocked more than its fair share of dingers back into the outfield and turned the glory of going yard into just another out. Slightly more dramatic than a grounder back to the pitcher, but as far as the scoreboard was concerned, it was the same thing.

It was Willy’s sweet lefthanded stroke that usually won the night. His line drive swing seemed custom made to avoid the obstacles that brought many a hard hit shot harmlessly back to the ground inside the wooden fence that marked the playing field.

While it might seem like a juvenile enough activity, it was important enough to our ascent into manhood that when my Mom moved from the dilapidated structure on Greene Street to her current home on South Benton that we got as much of the old gang back together as we could and had a reunion Homerun Derby.

My legendary blasts were not enough for me to score a victory on my homefield. Willy’s sweet compact line drive swing failed him on this evening as well. Jay’s notoriously crafty pitching (that once earned him the moniker Dr. K) also couldn’t guide him to the winner’s circle. Jesse took home what might be the final Homerun Derby crown of our lives on that night.

It could even be said that Jesse’s performance in the ballpark, on that night, was in the ballpark of dominant. Bennett Field and Homerun Derby legend holds that you only get “Randy’s Meat” once a game, but on this night it seemed like Jesse was getting Randy’s Meat 10-12 times a game.

I don’t want you to leave this entry thinking that Homerun Derby wasn’t serious business. We even had our own set of trading cards, although I think only Jesse’s card survives. Although I just got a “great” idea for another Personal Photo Project.

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Apparently Jay’s thought Jesse should spell his name like a girl.

Recently Faust and Jackson came over to what I guess is the current incarnation of Bennett Field. Less like Fenway and more like Wrigley. I went into the magical green trunk of sports equipment and produced a big red bat and some plastic baseballs.

I don’t know if Jesse is officially retired from Homerun Derby, but if he isn’t, I think Jackson might be coming for his title.

I don’t know if it is because the old champ could hear the smack of the bat or smell the pine tar in the air, but a few minutes after the Fausts left he showed up to have his picture taken.

These shirts were given to the winner and loser of the Computer Mine NCAA Tournament Pool.

Winner

Loser

No word yet on whether there will be a special Jackson vs. Jesse exhibition match in the future. I say clear off a cornfield halfway between Boone and Mankato and lets get this thing going!

Black & White, Jay, Railroad, Ruins

Wild Goose Chase

April 14, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 15 Comments

Here are a few images from an afternoon I spent on the backroads with Jay.

Milton Lott’s Grave

Jay

Closed

Damage

A Closer Inspection

Two Bridges

The New and The Old

I know it is but a pipe dream, but I do dream that some day they make the old Kate Shelley High Bridge a person walking bridge. I hope that isn’t a “bat wings” type of dream.

Animals, Black & White, Dawn, Derrick, Faust, Formal Portrait, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Movies, Music, Sara, Willy

The Story

April 1, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

“You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess.

No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what I’ve been through
like you do.”

-Brandi Carlile (The Story)

Most people know that I am a loner. I keep to myself mostly. Most nights I can be found sitting home alone working on my studies or my projects or watching my shows.

A couple of years ago Jay decided to give one of his friends the nickname “Lone Wolf”. I was quite shocked when this nickname did not come my way. Instead it was given to the social butterfly and vice-mayor William McAlpine.

I knew this was a dreaded mistake. If there was a member of the animal kingdom that best described Willy’s social agenda it was clearly the salmon. Chinook, steelhead, pink or sockeye. I’m not sure which one, but he is definitely a salmon.

However, I made peace with the slight because I don’t have a particular affinity for nicknames.

Then it happened. Jay came to his senses and stripped Willy of the nickname that he did not deserve and placed it squarely on my shoulders. The true loner.

Jay made me a mask and we had a small ceremony where the title was rightfully transferred to me.

I AM LONE WOLF!

However, something hasn’t sat right with me in the few weeks since I became Lone Wolf. I don’t doubt that I am the Lone Wolf. A quick perusal of my social calendar shows that I do little more than go to work and come home and sit on my couch, alone.

I don’t get many emails. I don’t write many emails. I don’t get many calls. I don’t make many calls. I don’t get many texts. I don’t send many texts.

I have 289 Facebook Friends. Not a single one of them can tell you my favorite color, my favorite movie, my favorite show or my favorite musician.

With apologies to Travis Bickle, “Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape. I’m God’s lonely man…”

I’ve learned to embrace this loneliness. In fact, Jill introduced me to a movie called World’s Greatest Dad. The core message of the movie is summed up near the end with the following voice over:

“I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.”

That is my philosophy. Or I should say, that is the philosophy of The Lone Wolf.

But even though I know without the foggiest doubt that I am the true Lone Wolf, it didn’t feel right. Jay unilaterally stripping Willy of his moniker and giving it away. That is a lot of power for one man to possess.

Therefore I am giving Willy a chance to win back his nickname. I have challenged the vice-mayor, the social butterfly, the salmon to a Lone-Wolf-Off!

The month of April will be a Lone-Wolf-Off between the true Lone Wolf and the Salmon. Winner gets the name! (But I keep the sweet mask either way!)

What is a Lone-Wolf-Off? For the entire month of April we will be tracking our social engagements. At the end of the month, an impartial panel (consisting of Jesse, Dawn and Faust) will determine who is the true Lone Wolf.

Therefore, I should point out that for the next 30 days, don’t be distressed if you don’t see me, if I don’t return your emails, phone calls or texts. I’m in full Lone Wolf mode. I will most likely return your correspondence on May 1 when I am celebrating International Worker’s Day!

Although I should point out that at some point in April many of you will be getting an invitation to my birthday barbecue in the mail. It is a well known fact that lone wolves like meat cooked over a fire and the antiquated feeling of using the United State Postal Service.

Last night I went to see Chloe and have dinner with Sara. Since it was my last social engagement for the next 30 days, we took a few pictures to celebrate my Lone Wolfness.

The Lone Wolf is a savage beast.

Insane Enough

But the Lone Wolf also knows how to keep it laid back.

The Lone Wolf – confident, but not cocky.

Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwl!!

On a sidenote, since this seems to be the year of nickname stripping, I also think that Willy is also in extreme danger of losing the nickname The Dance Machine.
Jen and Jill can assuredly attest to the following statement:
On Sunday, Derrick set my living room carpet on fire with the dance moves he busted off to the Norah Jones compact disc that was playing on my home stereo.

I would propose a Dance Machine Off between these two gents, but I think we all know that Willy doesn’t really dance. He just likes to pretend that he does.

Andree, Baier, Dawn, Derrick, FNSC, Jay, Jen, Jill, Movies, Russell, Sara, Willy

My Great Shame

March 25, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I cited a FNSC ending in My Great Shame a few journal entries back, but I never indicated what was My Great Shame. A few people already know about My Great Shame because I exposed those people to it. I’m not sure if I exposed them because I wanted them to share in my misery or if I was using this exposure as an excuse to continue in my shame.

However, I have been motivated by other people’s strength in the last few weeks to quit my shame. If Jen, Derrick, Jill and Sara can quit or work on quitting smoking, I assuredly could give up my shame. It is after all, not a physical addiction.

I witnessed some of the strategies that others have used to quit smoking. Cinnamon sticks. Only smoking at work. Not smoking at work. I tried in vain to step down with a crutch, but it didn’t work. I had to quit cold turkey.

It was My Great Shame, but I can proudly proclaim that I have been free of its demon clutches for three weeks now.

What is My Great Shame?

The Starz Original show Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

This easily has to be the worst scripted program to ever grace the airwaves. I’m pretty sure that it is written by junior high students hopped up on meth. It is a combination of 3 things: extremely bizarre and gratuitous sex scenes, extremely ridiculous bloody battle scenes and the most pathetically-written-profanity-laced-dialogue ever. The dialogue makes the dialogue in Games and Quietus appear that it was written by Shakespeare.

Despite the fact that it is beyond horrible, I couldn’t stop watching it and I was ashamed. I knew it was clearly beneath me and didn’t belong in the guilty pleasure category like Just One of the Guys.

The best excuse I can give for watching this wretched show was that I couldn’t wait to see what ridiculously stupid thing would happen in the next scene or in the next episode.

I wrote to Andree, Baier and Russell and told them about how I couldn’t stop watching this terrible show. At least Baier and Andree watched it and came to a similar conclusion as me. This was truly the worst scripted program in the history of television.

I decided that I wasn’t strong enough to quit cold turkey. I spent a Sunday watching Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus and backed it up with Ben-Hur. I figured watching excellent historical drama would cleanse my palette and free me from the grip that this show had on me.

However, while I was watching Kurbrick’s Spartacus I got a text from Jill about how her dad loved Spartacus: Blood and Sand. She had rightfully mocked him for watching this terrible show. I didn’t think that this information would lead to a relapse for me, but it did.

On the Thursday of that week I was at Jen and Derrick’s house. Derrick told me that they were spending the upcoming Saturday with his parents. I was gripped with an uncontrollable urge to expose them to Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I grabbed their remote and loaded up an episode from the OnDemand menu. I fast forwarded through most of the episode and we watched the scene where Spartacus defeats Theokoles.

Then I just told them to ask Derrick’s dad about the show.

I walked out of their house knowing this terrible show was out of my life forever.

The previous Friday was the Jucy Lucy experimental Friday Night Supper Club. Near the end of the night I was aimlessly flipping channels when I came across the brand new episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. I told Jay and Willy that they HAD to see this show. Everybody should experience what might be the worst show in the history of television. I apologized to Dawn for subjecting her to such a thing as this show.

Jay and Willy agreed that this show was wretched but it had a certain lure to it. You do want to keep watching to see what extremely bizarre and terrible thing that they are going to do next.

Dawn “pretended” to get a text message in the middle of the show and left.

I woke up the morning following exposing Jen and Derrick to the show and felt terrible about being powerless against the dreadful allure of this awful show. My self-esteem took a beating. I looked in the mirror (not literally) and I quit Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

I walked away from the show that day. It has been 3 weeks now and I finally feel good about myself again.

Basketball, House, Jay, Jesse, Linda, Movies

A Clockwork Couch

March 17, 2010 Christopher D. Bennett

In the last couple of weeks I have been making huge organizational changes to my basement. However, other parts of the house have also seen wholesale changes. I recently changed out the white table my Aunt Linda gave me for a 10 foot long workbench to act as the entertainment center in my living room. I also purchased a new couch and loveseat. To further augment my living room experience, I have made my rear speakers wireless and now I no longer have to worry about hiding the wiring for the rear speakers under the rug.

Have a look:

Living Room Changes

As you can see from this picture, these new changes to the living room make my weekly ritualistic viewing of A Clockwork Orange much more enjoyable.

The new couch and loveseat are undeniably real horrorshow. I think that they will increase the comfort of my droogs when they come over to see how the colors of the real world only seem real when they viddy them on a screen. The couch is comfortable for sleeping, so I can take a nap when I have something of a pain in the gulliver. Comfortable enough that I might not awaken when I give orders for awakening. I shouldn’t think on that much though. Thinking is for the gloopy ones and the oomny ones use like, inspiration and what Bog sends.

Now that the speakers are in the proper place, the surround sound sounds a million times better. I don’t have any problem approaching anybody and asking: “What you got back home, little sister, to play your fuzzy warbles on? I bet you got little save pitiful portable picnic players. Come with uncle and hear all proper! Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones. You are invited.” When I have a wonderful evening and I need to give it a perfect ending with a little Ludwig Van it will be bliss! Bliss and heaven! Gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. A bird of rarest-spun metal or like silver wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense. As I slooshie, I will know such lovely pictures!

If my droogs Jay and Jesse try to wrestle on the new furniture while waiting for me to get ready to hit the Korova milkbar and a night of the ultra-violence, I will have no problem smacking them with my cane. If they ask why I did that, I will tell them calmly “For being a bastard with no manners, and not a dook of an idea how to comport yourself public-wise, O my brother.”

If they tell me: “Yarbles! Great bolshy yarblockos to you. I’ll meet you with chain or nozh or britva anytime, not having you aim tolchocks at me reasonless. Well it stand to reason I won’t have it.”

I will tell them, “A nozh scrap any time you say. But not near my new couch and loveseat. They are real horrorshow.”

Of course they will back down and say they need to go home and get a bit of spatchka.

After all, I have to protect my new couch and loveseat. To not do so, I would suffer the tortures of the damned, sir – tortures of the damned.

Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.

Final NCAA Bracket Chance

Today is your final chance to sign up to be embarrassed by me and my extensive college basketball knowledge in The Roundball Oracles NCAA Tournament Pool. So far 14 people have signed up for the free lesson in humility. 2 of them women! This isn’t a “boys club”. If you have an interest in participating, email me at: bennett@photography139.com and I will see that you get all the necessary information.