I went to the State Fair with Sara on Sunday night with the mistaken belief that we would go see Vanilla Ice and Tone Loc in concert.

We were going to be ironic, not because we thought this would be good, but in the end, the joke was on us. The crowd was so large, that we instead just ate more delicious State Fair food and then ate some more delicious State Fair Food.

Some pictures:

Sara thought this lamb looked like Jupiter.


This ride almost killed me last year.

What is the State Fair Koan?

Look at the picture below:

Try to answer this impossible question:

What is prettier: Sara and I or our art?

“This song is about a man that tells the truth about things that didn’t happen. It seems to be a male thing.”
-Glen Hansard – Introducing “Lies” at First Avenue – July 25, 2010

Most of this comes from an email that I wrote about my weekend in Minnesota.

Sara joined Willy and I for FNSC at The Colorado Grill. After the meal had concluded, Sara and I packed up into the car and headed for Crystal, Minnesota to stay the weekend with her brother Steve and see my favorite band, The Swell Season, in concert.

The trip started with a cloud of sorrow as I was hoping that Jen and Derrick would be joining us for the trip. I had tried to convince them to make the trip even though I knew First Avenue was not a good venue for a 7 month prego to watch a concert. Even if that concert was going to be transcendent. I even went so far as to give Derrick a Mr. T sticker from my childhood sticker book in an attempt to help him see the obvious solution to getting Jen to Minnesota.

My immense powers of persuasion did manage to move them from “no way Jose” all the way to “sitting on the fence”. Unfortunately while they were sitting on that fence a storm with 85 MPH winds came through one Saturday night and shattered the fence and 3 of their favorite trees. This ended my dream of their attendance.

It would not be the last disappointment this weekend.

As I opened up the Buick on the highway, Sara fired up her iPod and we had a Johnny Cash sing-along. At least we did when I knew the words.

Fueled by Johnny Cash and Big League Chew we made it to Steve’s residence in record time.

Our hosts Steve and Maggie


Maggie

We woke up in the morning and headed to Harriet Island to watch Flugtag. I was expecting it to be a pretty big deal, but nothing like it ended up being.

I was hoping to find The Britsons down there, but when we got down to the river there were 90,000 people crowded on both sides of the river. We started our day on the north side of the river, but the entrants and all of the “stuff” appeared to be on the south side of the river. So we made the several mile walk to the south side of the river where we met up with Becca.

Flugtag was cool and I’m glad that I went, but I’m not sure I would go again. It was so crowded on the south side of the river that a person could barely turn around. Although one flying craft did set a new world record, almost every other craft just fell 30 feet off the ramp into the water. There were no food vendors and the only drink for sale was Red Bull and they sold out of that before I got my thirst up.

After we met up with Becca we made the several mile trek back to the north side of the river so we could actually see something and breathe.

On the move to the south side.


St. Paul

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I don't know what these people were, besides interesting.


View from the Bridge


A “Flying” Craft


Another Entrant


Another Entrant


A Hamburger “Flying” Craft


It was so crowded on the south side that you couldn’t see anything but the video screen.


Back to the north side.


Underneath the bridge.


Stopping to pose with Becca.


At least you could see the flight deck from the north side.


Straight Down


This would be fun!


Think it will fly?


If you said, “Sort of.” You win!


Sara getting hot, I imagine.


Becca photographing Flugtag.


Becca photographing Flugtag.


It was hot enough and dry enough by the river that Becca went for a refreshing romp through a fountain.

After Flugtag we ate at a joint called Shamrock’s. I had my third Juicy Lucy this year and I’m still declaring Matt’s Bar to have the best in the business.

After the meal we dropped Rebecca off at her car with plans to meet up for supper at a restaurant that I saw on Man vs. Food.

On an episode of Man vs. Food they went to Gasthof zur Gemutilichkeit to try their Meterbratwurst Challenge. I had no desire to try downing a Meter long bratwurst on my own. I had plans for the remainder of the evening and big plans for the next day. I didn’t want to be miserable.

However, I did want to see the Meterwurst and photograph it. So my plan was to try to convince Jill to split one with me despite the ludicrous $8.00 fee for splitting meals. But fate worked against me and Jill had to cancel on Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit because she was pressed into babysitting duty after her friend’s dad had a heart attack.

I regrouped and made a new plan. I talked Becca into splitting the massive bratwurst with me.

Bethany joined us at the restaurant. As did my friend Matthew. Despite the website making a big deal about getting a reservation and the restaurant calling me back twice to confirm the reservation, the restaurant was only about 70% full when we got there.

Then came the biggest disappointment of the trip. They were out of Meterbratwurst. Becca and I ended up splitting some kind of bratwurst plate that was disappointing. Their bratwurst ended up being the blandest tasting bratwurst of my life.

Becca described it perfectly:

“It tastes like a mixture of bland bratwurst and potato bologna.”

That is not a good combination if you aren’t familiar with potato bologna.

Another huge disappointment was the no free refill policy on pop. Are you kidding me? Are we in a Nazi Germany themed restaurant?

On the positive side, the side dishes were excellent and what I ate off of Steve and Sara’s platter was also delicious. Also, the house accordion player belted out an awesome version of Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight”. I believe that I have used my immense powers of persuasion to convince Bethany to book the guy for her wedding.

Then after the meal, it got a little bit weird. The waitress approached us and asked us if we wanted some post dinner smokeless snuff.

I passed as I like to keep my body a temple. No alcohol or tobacco in this temple. Only extremely greasy fried foods are allowed in The Bennett Temple.

My five dinner compatriots tried both the spearmint and raspberry “flavors”.

What they do is put a little bit of the snuff on what looks like a teeter totter. Then they place it under your nose. Then when you are ready they slam down on the teeter totter and you breathe in, snorting the “goodness” up your nose.

Gauging from the pictures below, it was a very enjoyable experience.

Becca wiping her nose.


Bethany in pain.


Bethany enjoying her smokeless snuff.

After the meal, I was planning on meeting up with Nate to go to The Uptown Theater to see Troll 2. Troll 2 is supposed to be one of the worst movies ever made, but highly entertaining. It is so bad that there is currently a movie playing art house movie theaters about it called Best Worst Movie. While that fits into my personal sense of humor, I really just want to see a movie in The Uptown Theater.

However, the timing of things just didn’t work out. I ended up outside of Toby Keith’s talking to Lenny about his 50th Birthday Party and his 35 year old wife. I don’t know Lenny or his brother Lorenzo, but they did provide a certain amount of entertainment until Nate picked me up and we went to Perkins so he could have supper.

At Perkins I had a bottomless cup of Cherry Coke. I don’t think I ever appreciated free refills more.

I spent the night at Nate, Bethany and Becca’s place.

The plan was for Bethany, Becca and I to meet up with Steve and Sara for brunch at Hell’s Kitchen, but it turns out that you need to have a reservation to eat there. Hell’s Kitchen will also have to wait until my next trip to Minnesota.

It also turned out that 11 am was too early for Becca to wake up, but I will let it slide since she was up late watching Once.

The substitute for Hell’s Kitchen ended up being Stabby’s Cafe. A small cafe that Bethany had been eying since we drove past it on the way to Matt’s Bar back in February.

It was a tasty little breakfast, although I was slightly disappointed with their logo. It was a knife through a heart. I knew it was a long shot, but I was hoping that they sold t-shirts with a “stabbing hobo” logo.

There had been much discussion about where we should eat before the concert. Becca had been pushing pretty hard for Azia, but her boyfriend Gelli pushed for his parent’s restaurant: It’s Greek to Me.

Gelli, Becca, Bethany, Jill, Sara, Steve and I met up there before the concert. Gelli kept bring out appetizer after appetizer. Although they were all tremendous, including the Sagnaki, one that really struck me was very simple. It was watermelon with feta cheese on top of it. I thought it looked so extremely weird, but it was so extremely tasty.

I had the Roast Leg of Lamb. It was incredible. Well, I don’t want to go too far with the superlatives though. Because the desert: Kadaifi was truly off the charts when it comes to superlatives. I have spent a few restless nights dreaming about it.

The meal ended up being on the house, but that is not the reason that I highly, highly recommend checking out It’s All Greek to Me if you are anywhere near the Uptown area.

Becca and Gelli left us to go to work. The rest of us made our way to First Avenue. The doors opened at 7. We got there at about 6:20. The line was already around the block.

While there were a few disappointments over the weekend, these were definitely erased by the concert. The Swell Season did not disappoint.

We picked a spot about 50 or so feet from the stage to watch the opening act. The opening act was fair and his voice reminded me of Neil Young and that is a good thing.

After the opening act was done, Bethany, Jill and Sara went outside to smoke. The crowd almost immediately took their spots. It was so compacted in there that it made Flugtag feel like an open field.

A small highlight of the evening for me was when a guitar tech walked across the stage with Glen’s trademark Takamine NP15 and the crowd gave a big cheer.

The Swell Season started the show with my favorite song from Strict Joy, Low Rising. As the song concluded I got a text from Jill. They couldn’t get back to me. They were back by the shirts.

So I made my way through the crowd to get back to them. I made no new friends in this process, but I did make it back to them.

They followed Low Rising with two more songs from Strict Joy: In These Arms and The Rain. Two more great songs.

This was followed by another favorite from Once: Lies. Lies is one of the greatest driving alone and singing songs ever recorded.

Then Marketa took over the vocals for If You Want Me.

She played guitar on their next tune Fantasy Man.

Glen took back over vocals for my 2nd favorite Swell Season song: Leave. This was followed by Back Broke.

Then they played a great cover of Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic. I was very excited to hear a band play a cover of a Van Morrison song that wasn’t Brown Eyed Girl.

They followed this with another Marketa song: I Have Loved You Wrong.

Next was a classic from The Frames: Revelate.

Then they finished up with two great more songs from Once: When Your Mind’s Made Up and the Oscar winning Falling Slowly.

Glen started the encore with a completely unplugged version of my favorite Swell Season song Say it To Me Now. Just him standing at the front of the stage wailing. It was awesome! I had to show Jill that I had goosebumps.

Marketa followed with a new song called Crossroads. I look forward to a time when I am in possession of a recording of it.

There are really only two songs I don’t like in Once. One is Fallen from the Sky that is more than slightly too techno for me. The other is the only song that isn’t performed by The Swell Season. It is called Gold.

Strangely, every musician I know seems to love this song. I think it might be the vocal harmonies that annoy me, but whatever it is, I just don’t like the song.

Gold was the next song they played and I actually enjoyed. The harmonies were less grating in person. Also, the current incarnation of The Swell Season does not include a violinist. Gold is also much more enjoyable without the violin part.

It makes me wonder if I would like Fallen from the Sky live.

Before the final song of the night Glen gave the crowd a vocal lesson and we sang the backing vocals for High Horses.

It was an absolutely amazing show and probably the best concert I’ve ever seen. Even though I had been standing for well over 3 hours I didn’t want the show to end. They could have still played their cover of Springsteen’s Drive All Night that they played at the Hollywood Bowl the week before. Or their cover of The Byrds’ You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere from the I’m Not Here Soundtrack. Or their cover of Candi Staton’s Young Hearts Run Free. Or their cover of The Pixies’ Gigantic that they play on one of their live DVDs. Or numerous other Frames songs like What Happens When the Heart Just Stops or Fitzcarraldo. Or Paper Cup or The Verb from Strict Joy!

But I have no real complaints. Their voices are even better live than they are recorded. I can’t wait until they come around again. Hopefully to a venue where we can sit, but if not, I will still be there.

2/6

This is a 6 (in reality a 7 part project but shhhh….. both of you that know the endgame) part project. In case you have forgotten:

Part 1

More pictures from The 2/6 Photo Session:

Part 3/6 is scheduled to be published on September 17.

I am headed to Minnesota tonight with Sara to eat at Gasthof Zur Gemutlickeit, see Troll 2, witness Flugtag and of course see The Swell Season in concert. I’m also hoping to catch up with some Minnesota friends (Jill, The Britsons, Matthew) and formally congratulate Bethany and John on their engagement.

I’m returning to the Cyclone State on Monday at a time yet to be determined. Since I don’t want anybody to lose a minute of time on next week’s RWPE I will reveal the Random Generator’s choice for next week’s theme now:

REFLECTIONS

Personally I think this is the best of the 52 themes. I hope there are lots of submissions. I’m looking at you people that I have helped buy a camera in the past…

The Glow that Illumines

I took this series of pictures after Todd and Peggy’s wedding with Sara insisting I don’t do anything dangerous or illegal. Here are more pictures that aren’t dangerous or illegal:

I will have to revisit this concept with somebody that cares less about my safety and laws in the future.

Every 100 or so posts, I like to make a list of the most popular pictures on this blog.

Here is the list of the 10 most popular photos in the Artistic Gallery.

1. Outburst of the Soul


2. Self-Portrait


3. Jen Relaxing Between Sets


4. Grizzly McAlpine


5. Rebecca – Senior Pictures


5. UnHingd Publicity Photo


7. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg


7. Obama


7. Obama


Campanile Self-Portrait


7. Alexis – US 30 Flood

The 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Snapshots Gallery

1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto


2. Jesse eats a Bob’s Dog


3. Jesse and I at the Surf Ballroom


4. Jesse Kissing the Blarney Stone in Emmetsburg


5. Shannon reading map in Backbone


5. Jesse and I in Clinton


5. Jesse in the Surf Ballroom


5. Jen and Shannon making a deal at a Bonne Finken Concert


5. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at a Bonne Finken Concert


5. Sara and Jen at a Bonne Finken Concert


Robert checking out the view in Balltown

If you want to see how this list has changed since the last time I posted it follow this link:

Number 750

I will check this out again in another 100 Journal Entries.

One other thing…

If you would like a Username and Password for either of the galleries, send me an email with what you would like your username and password to be, and I will get you set up.

Having an account to the Galleries allows you to Rate, Favorite and Comment on Pictures. Plus, it allows you access to the “Secret” Albums.

I had a pretty awesome Memorial Day Weekend and saw all of the right people. Plus, my grill got quite the workout.

The weekend started with FNSC at my humble abode. The group core was there, plus Jesse and Dawn. Jesse, Willy and I hung by the fire pit until about 2 in the morning.

On Saturday morning I got up early to go to the bank with Mom and Teresa to sign some legal documents involving a safety deposit box.

After that exercise I hit up Salon 908 where I put up a new 20×30 picture in the salon to replace the one that had been sold. While you are waiting for a haircut at Salon 908 now you can stare admiringly at this picture:

I also got a sheering. Now I look borderline presentable. Even though I declined the eyebrow waxing that was offered.

I went home to clean up the kitchen best that I could. I had a Chef coming over to use it that afternoon and while I know that he looks down on my pathetic assortment of kitchen utensils, I wanted the area to be clean while he made magic.

After the kitchen cleaning, I went to Reiman’s Music to take pictures of a white piano for that week’s RWPE.

Next was a trip down to Beaverdale to pick up Sara. Although the Sara pickup also involved taking out her old air conditioner and putting a new air conditioner in her house. This ended up being a more painful process than I wanted it to be, but despite having to remove a nest from her window sill, the air condition finally found its home in her window.

Then was Todd and Peggy’s wedding. They got married on a golf course in Pleasant Hill. It was an impressive affair that included a free round of miniature golf, a photo booth and fireworks.

After the wedding Sara and I went to a bridge overlooking 235 so that I could work on a Personal Photo Project that will be published on July 9. It was from this experience I learned that another criteria that I should look for in photo assistants is the ability to turn a blind eye if I want to do something that is slightly illegal or dangerous. Sara doesn’t like it when she perceives me to be in “danger”. Of course, I already knew this from Personal Photo Project No. 16.

After dropping Sara back off in Beaverdale and doing some final tweaks on her air conditioner installation I voyaged back to Boone. A trip that takes quite a bit longer now that the Highway 17 bridge over the Des Moines River is closed until August.

I was hoping to make it back to Boone to hit the tail end of Nate’s birthday bash at The South Side, marking my triumphant return to the Boone Bar scene for the first time since 2008. However, I pulled back into Boone at roughly 1:40 and decided that it wasn’t worth it to go for 5 minutes. So instead I returned home to the Clockwork Couch and watched the tele.

Shortly after I got home Nate and Bethany returned home. They were both staying with me for the weekend and we talked briefly before they both crashed.

I got up early on Sunday morning and went to church. After church I grilled out with Nate after he returned from a poor round of golf with his friend Ryan. Earlier in the morning I had inadvertently interrupted Ryan’s vomiting efforts. It must have been quite the party that I missed.

Tim had bought a Nate a birthday cake with Nate’s 3rd or 4th grade picture on it. Most of Nate’s picture remained, except Nate’s face. Apparently Ryan had eaten Nate’s face the night before. After we were done grilling, I had some of Nate’s cake.

Later Nate proclaimed that the chicken wings he had made in my kitchen on the previous day were the best that he had ever made. This was a bold proclamation. Just ask Corey Faust if you doubt the veracity of that statement. Nate is going to make these legendary wings next time I go to Minnesota. Looks like I might have to cash in on that when I go see The Swell Season at the end of July!!

After resting from the grill, Jill came over and picked me up. We hit Jen and Derrick’s for a barbecue. Derrick grilled up bratwurst with pineapple in them. It was decided that these brats tasted slightly breakfasty. Even though Webster doesn’t consider breakfasty to be a word. They were still tasty. Plus any chance to eat burgers made with Derrick’s super secret burger recipe is always a great time.

I got to watch the Gorshe Baby Ultrasound for the third time. I still have no clue about the sex of Baby Gorshe, but I enjoy watching the video nonetheless.

After a lengthy discussion about the greatness of Daniel Tosh, we left while Derrick napped on the loveseat.

The next morning I slept in until 9:30. That is a late morning for me, except on the occasional work day. Nate, Bethany and I grilled out for lunch. By this time, my grill was definitely entering the danger area that cause the fire during the 2009 Road Trip Planning Barbecue, but it made it through another meal without incident.

After the meal Nate and Bethany packed up and I burned Bethany a copy of Strict Joy for their car trip home.

I then grabbed my camera and took a few pictures.

After taking pictures I went to the cemetery. At the cemetery I ran into Carla. We walked around the cemetery for about an hour. Then I went home and prepared the house for an impromptu family barbecue.

I didn’t clean the grill, but it did manage to make it through yet one more meal without erupting into flames. I should clean that at some point.

After the family went home I rested on the Clockwork Couch and watched Wooden Shoes. A movie made my a fellow computer miner by the name of Scotland Thompson. If you want a review of the movie, too bad, but I will loan my copy out.

I would like to report to interested parties that do not know yet…

Willy did finish his 100 Mile Race this past weekend.

Willy knocked out 100 miles in La Grange, Wisconsin as part of the weekend of Kettle 100 Endurance Runs.

He ran 100 miles in an official time of 28 hours 24 minutes 29 seconds.

I know, pretty insane!

Every once in awhile somebody introduces me to something fascinating that exists in the world that I did not know about.

Sara did this with PostSecret.
Shannon did this with Six-Word Memoirs.

Last week, Dawn introduced me to Day Zero. For lack of a better term, it is a Motivational Website. It urges people to create a list of 101 things that they want to do in 1001 days. You make your list on the website and it immediately starts a countdown to your deadline. You are also able to track the goals on your list that you have accomplished.

I don’t know that I will make a list. I still haven’t sent anything in to PostSecret. I still haven’t written a Six-Word Memoir. But I am fascinated by the concept.

The Day Zero website lists the Top 101 things that people have set as goals. As of today, this is the current list:

1. Donate blood
2. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
3. Sleep under the stars
4. Get a job
5. Get a tattoo
6. Kiss in the rain
7. Go camping
8. Leave an inspirational note inside a book for someone to find
9. Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen starting with each letter of the Alphabet
10. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
11. Find out my blood type
12. Fall in love
13. Send a secret to PostSecret
14. Build a snowman
15. Go horseback riding
16. Dance in the rain
17. Don’t complain about anything for a week
18. Go to a concert
19. Get a massage
20. Ride in a hot air balloon
21. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
22. See the Northern Lights
23. Make a new friend
24. Get married
25. See 10 classic movies I’ve never seen
26. Go on a road trip
27. Take a photography class
28. Go ice skating
29. Complete a coloring book
30. Go on a cruise
31. Fly a kite
32. Identify 100 things that makes me happy
33. Read 100 books
34. Go skydiving
35. Go on a picnic
36. Attend the midnight premiere of a movie
37. Influence a person to make a day zero list
38. Buy a lottery ticket
39. Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home decor
40. Answer the “50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind”
41. Complete a 365 day photo challenge
42. See a drive-in movie
43. Learn to knit
44. Go vegetarian for a month
45. See a movie in 3D
46. Go to 5 different museums
47. Write a short story
48. Get a passport
49. No fast food for a month
50. Write a song
51. Go barefoot for a day
52. Graduate
53. Send a message in a bottle
54. Host a dinner party
55. Improve my posture
56. Run a half marathon
57. Buy a car
58. Go skinny dipping
59. Make ice cream from scratch
60. Spend a rainy day watching films in my PJ’s
61. Write a book
62. Put change in someone’s expired parking meter
63. Dye my hair
64. Run a marathon
65. Write all my bad memories on paper, burn this paper afterwards
66. Sing karaoke at a bar
67. Learn a poem by heart
68. Have a baby
69. Clean out my closet
70. Carve my name on a tree
71. Go to the zoo
72. Go rockclimbing
73. Spend a day at the beach
74. plant a tree
75. Not log into facebook for a whole week!
76. Bake cupcakes
77. Take a Yoga class
78. Read all the books currently on my shelf
79. Expand my vocabulary by 100 words
80. Make a birthday cake for someone
81. Attend a film festival
82. Make a custom recipe book
83. Learn Spanish
84. Have dinner by candlelight
85. Go fishing
86. Stop biting my nails
87. Identify 100 things that make me happy
88. Get a facial
89. Visit the Grand Canyon
90. Buy something from Etsy
91. Join a book club
92. Develop a better skin care routine.
93. Run a 5K
94. Graduate College
95. Go to Las Vegas
96. Take a dance class
97. Do some volunteer work
98. Ride a horse
99. Knit a scarf
100. Go skiing
101. Buy a house

The URL for Day Zero is:

http://dayzeroproject.com

If this inspires any of you to make a list, let Dawn know. Inspiring somebody else to make a Day Zero list is on her list and then she will have 1 less thing on it!

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.

I woke up on Saturday morning and decided today was a good day to do yard work. I don’t normally reward myself because just being me is quite its own reward, but I knew that I wanted to work up an extremely healthy appetite for the night’s dining. I was going to The Open Flame with Derrick, Jen, Sara and Cousin Amy.

I’m not a person that embarrasses easy. It is the residue of not really caring all that much what other people think. However, there are a couple things that do embarrass me.

One of the many reasons that I enjoy dining with Derrick is that I know that he will not commit a dining faux pas that will leave me having to make apologies for being seen with the chap. He doesn’t order his steak well done. He doesn’t order boneless wings.*

I was looking forward to grilling a steak rare-medium rare while standing next to a man doing the same thing. After having a healthy portion of The Open Flame’s legendary appetizer Sampler Platter. We’re talking about almost a foot tall of onion rings, potato skins, cheese balls and mushrooms!

Before I could even make it out my door to start on yardwork, my Mom and Grandma pulled into the driveway and headed to my backyard for the year’s first rhubarb harvest.

I don’t want to bore you with too many details of working in the yard. The short version is that I trimmed back the raspberry bushes and removed a few bushes. I might have mowed and run the weed whacker. But the biggest accomplishment really was removing the bushes. I’m particularly glad to be rid of some bushes that were taking up valuable real estate around the gate by my garage.

In between bushes I got a text from Jill wanting to know if I had seen the ultrasound pictures yet. I had not. She told me that she thinks that Baby Gorshe is a boy. I told her I would get back to her after I had watched the video.

After I concluded my yardwork I showered up and headed to the Gorshes.

I looked at the photos. We watched the 11 minute video. It was both in 2D and 3D. I weighed all of the information and came to the conclusion that I have NO CLUE about the sex of Baby Gorshe. Jen did tell me that most people seem to think that Baby Gorshe is a girl, but the more that Jen watches the video the more she is inclined to think that maybe it is a boy. I guess we’ll find out in September.

The Open Flame is as awesome as I remembered it. I can’t quite figure out why I only make it there every few years. This is a flaw in my life that I shall remedy in the future.

The meal was awesome and the conversation was 95% baby. Except for a part where I think I regrettably offended Cousin Amy by referring to The Black Crowes as has-beens. The truth is that I would go see The Black Crowes in concert for like 15 bucks, but not 50.

Although in fairness, there are very few bands I would pay 50 bucks to see.

UnHingd
The Swell Season
The Foo Fighters
Brandi Carlile
Building 429
Butthole Surfers
Eric Clapton
Norah Jones
Pearl Jam
Pink Floyd
Red Hot Chili Peppers
She and Him
Tom Petty
Jeremy Camp
Tristan Prettyman
Shannon Curfman
Wynton Marsalis
The Smiths (If they ever reunited)

Everybody else that I would pay that much money to see is dead.

Either way, after the meal I was way too full. I considered the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to eat at all on my last day of vacation.

*I admittedly will give a pass to most women in my life for ordering boneless wings because let’s face it, women don’t know anything about chicken wings.

This is the first Personal Photo Project of the Week where I didn’t actually take the pictures. I just designed them. Sara was kind enough to take time off from her studies to come up and take these pictures that graced my birthday barbecue invitations.

These pictures are not presented in order of personal preference, but simply in the order that they were taken.

Done Got Old Alpha


Done Got Old Beta


Done Got Old Gamma


Done Got Old Delta


Done Got Old Epsilon


Done Got Old Zeta


Done Got Old Eta


Done Got Old Iota


Done Got Old Kappa


Done Got Old Lambda


Done Got Old Mu


Done Got Old Nu


Done Got Old Xi


Done Got Old Omnicron


Done Got Old Pi

The theme for the invites this year came from an old blues song originally recorded by Junior Kimbrough, (I think) but was introduced to me by Buddy Guy on his album Sweet Tea. An album that I believe might have been a gift from a Sam Goody employee.

I’m not going to pretend that the song is a masterwork, but you never know where you will find inspiration.

Done Got Old

Well, I done got old,
Can’t do the things I used to
‘Cause I’m an old man

Well, I done got old,
Well, I done got old,
I can’t do the things I used to do
“Cause I done got old,

Remember the day, baby
That done passed and gone
When I could love you
Most all night long

But now things gone changed
And I done got old
I can’t do the things I used to do
‘Cause I’m an old man

I can’t look like I used to
I can’t walk like I used to
I can’t love like I used to,

And now things gone changed
When I done got old
I can’t do the things I used to do
Because I’m an old man

And I’m an old man
I’m an old man
I’m an old man
And I’m not the same
I’m a very old man

In addition to Sara taking the pictures I should thank her for loaning me the prop cane. Derrick was also instrumental (bad pun intended) in loaning me the unstringed, left handed guitar with real bullet holes.

After the photo shoot, Sara and I met up with Jen and Derrick and went to Wallaby’s for celebratory fried mushrooms. Something that I like to think is a tradition for us.

To answer two surprisingly common questions:

1. Yes, the white shoes were intentional. A lot of people have a problem getting their head around the white shoes, but believe me they were very intentional. Even Sara had a little difficulty with them. Her first few pictures she tried to shoot around them until I told her that they should be in the picture.
2. My favorite pictures are Alpha and Mu.

I ordered something like 75 prints and since I only have about 10 friends and I don’t have much use for pictures of me, if you show up to the barbecue and want an additional picture of Blind Dog Bennett, that might be arranged.

One last sidenote, the guitar is destined to be turned into a clock, but if it doesn’t become a timepiece, Derrick is going to set it on fire and smash it. After all, that is what Derrick likes to do.