Category Archives: Shannon

Animals, Baseball/Softball, Becky, Boone County Fair, Contests, Geri, Jaycees, Jesse, Kalista, Music, Running, Schmidt, Shannon, Willy

07-20-08

September 22, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There are so many images in the folder called 07-20-08 that I’m going to split the next 2 folders into 3 posts, most likely.

The images in this post are from Ames on the Half Shell with Kountertop, the Iowa Games, some softball, and the Boone County Fair.

Kountertop was one of my favorite bands that played Ames on the Half Shell. To be honest, Ames on the Half Shell was a collection of nondescript classic rock cover bands. 1 band was just about indistinguishable from the next. Which worked for the target audience of Ames on the Half Shell. They just want to get a good buzz and listen to music that doesn’t challenge them.

There were a few exceptions, but they were pretty rare.

Kountertop did fit into the mold of classic rock cover band, but they at least had some style. Plus, they were skilled musicians.

The softball pictures are from a game between Boone and Madrid. It was a battle of some Bennett family friends. The Howards from Boone and the Madduxes from Madrid.

The Boone County Fair pictures were taken with Becky and some of her family. You should be warned that there are some bunny pictures in there. If you don’t like bunny pictures, turn back now!

By adding these photos to THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 PHOTO GALLERY, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

FRIDAY WITH KOUNTERTOP

IMAGES FROM A SATURDAY

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve even more softball, pictures from my first mission trip, and possibly a trip to the Miller farm.

Event, Flowers, Jaycees, Music, Night, Shannon

07-07-08 & 07-12-08

September 15, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

Going to put two folders of images out there on this post. The folders 07-07-08 and 07-12-08 contain pictures of light painting of flowers and from Saucy Jack’s night at Ames on the Half Shell.

I haven’t really done much light painting lately. It is something I need to try my hand at again.

I remember Saucy Jack being the worst band to play Ames on the Half Shell the times I attended Ames on the Half Shell. They were booked every year because they had a connection with somebody who maybe was once a Jacyees. They were kind of a poor man’s Hairball, only without the limited musicianship. Also, without the theatrics.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original gallery:

Night Visions

Saucy Jack

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve lots of softball, among other things.

Animals, Commercial, Shannon

What Do You Call a Wasp?

September 13, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 9 Comments

I was going to go through quite a bit of older photos before I published photos of Shannon extracting honey from a few weeks back.

Then, Satruday’s episode of SVENGOOLIE featured the bee movie TERROR OUT OF THE SKY, the sequel to the bee movie THE SAVAGE BEES. I was inspired by this terrible movie to edit and publish the honey extraction pictures as soon as possible.

Shannon was extracting honey for her husband’s business Foley’s Russian Bees. Honey isn’t really even the main part of his business. His main business is raising and selling queens, however with so many bees, honey is produced.

Honey has become a very sweet side business.

If you are interested in buying some honey here are the prices:

12 oz for $6
24 oz for $10

I don’t believe you can buy the honey from their online store, however, if you let me know, I can pass an order on to Shannon.

Click on the link below if you want to know more about Russian Bees:

Foley’s Russian Bees

Here are the honey extraction pictures:

If you are wondering, What do you call a wasp?

A wanna-bee!

Wait, I got more!

What a bee’s favorite novel?
The Great Gats-bee!

What do you call a bee that can’t stop eating?
Chub-bee!

Why did the bee go to the barbershop?
To get a buzz-cut!

What did the confused bee say?
To bee or not to bee!

Okay, I’m done.

Becky, Commercial, Event, Jaycees, Music, Night, Shannon

07-05-08

September 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The images in the folder call 07-05-08 involved a long day of Jaycee activities I engaged in on July 4, 2008.

I began the day helping out at a special Ames on the Half Shell event involving the Burnin’ Sensations and The Nadas. Then I went and helped setup and set off fireworks.

It was a pretty full and tiring day.

Here are some of the images:

There are more pictures from that day. You can check them out if you want. Click on the link below:

Jaycees – Independence Day – 2008

By adding these images to the Photography Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” post to its original glory:

Independence Day

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flower. Night flowers.

Andy, Animals, Cathie, Flowers, Jesse, Kim, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Photoshop, Shannon, State Fair, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 153 – ANIMAL

August 20, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

ANIMAL seemed to really bring out the creative impulses of a lot of people. Plenty of ANIMAL submissions!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates! You came to see the submissions!

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Andy Sharp

Kim Barker

Mike Vest

Cathie Raley

Jesse Howard

A solid week of submissions!

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

COMPETITION!

COMPETITION! What a great theme! But what is a COMPETITION photo? A COMPETITION photo is any photo that deals with competing. It could be a race. A football game. A board game. It could be people preparing for competition, like practice or working out. People don’t just compete against other people. They compete against time. They compete against themselves. Humans aren’t the only beings to compete either.

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

2. Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date. It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very competitive Monday.

Baby Got Rack, Contests, Event, Macro, Melissa, Michelle, Scottie D., Shannon, State Fair

Baby Got Rack Takes the Iowa State Fair

August 19, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A reminder that today is the last day of the Iowa State Fair. If you are going, you should make your way to the Cultural Building to see the pictures that I had accepted for display. They will come down at approximately 8 PM. Also, I will be at the Iowa State Fair today, if you want to try to look me up.

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On Tuesday, Baby Got Rack went to the Iowa State Fair to compete in the Iowa State Fair Farm Bureau Cookoff.

Baby Got Rack earned their way there by winning the Combination category at the Boone County Fair. The Combination category is any dish that combines 2 or more meats. We won with Scottie D.’s famous Mediterranean Pizza and his Barbecue Pizza.

Baby Got Rack took a little bit of a different formation this year. House dropped out this year. A couple of other people auditioned for roles on the team, but only one person stepped up to join Baby Got Rack. That was Bryon Porter.

I will also add that Baby Got Rack’s guardian angel, Melissa also increased her role with the team this year. In year’s past she had stayed mostly in the background. Running the books and being in charge of procurement. This year she also was in charge of making the pizza crust.

I can’t lie. At the Iowa State Fair they both did more work than me, probably. It looks like once again there is no Pufferbilly Days Barbecue Contest. We had heard rumors that it was a done deal at the Boone County Fair. But those rumors ended up being lies. Dirty, dirty lies! At least as of this writing, there is no listing for a Barbecue Contest on the Pufferbilly Days website.

Sorry people that were planning on coming to visit us on the Sunday of Pufferbilly Days. Tuesday might have been your last chance to see Baby Got Rack in action until at least May. When Baby Got Rack will cater my birthday party. If I have it. Which currently, everything trends to that happening.

Since I knew this was probably the last time Baby Got Rack would gird its loins for the field of barbecue battle, I took as many pictures as possible. Here are some of my favorites:

Unloading.

Baby Got Rack’s Latest Superstar

Fire!

4 AM came early for this guy!

Injecting the Pork

When you’re this stylish, you take a selfie!

4 AM also came early for this guy!

Applying BGR’s Proprietary Rub

That is a good looking piece of meat!

Seasoning the chicken!

Melissa is also our Interior Decorator.

Lots of competitors!

Strictly speaking, this isn’t a team competition. Scottie D.’s name is the only one you’ll see in the record books.

Bryon rocking the swag!

Checking the meats! Arby’s got nothing on BGR, on so many levels.

Cutting up the pizza toppings.

Is that 2 types of bell peppers? I’ll never tell!

Melissa, making magic.

Magic!

Crust!

Time to let the meat rest!

Delicious!

Mmmmm… Pork!

I love our chicken. It still might be my favorite thing we make.

Seasoning Up!

Spreading the Sauce!

(Wipes drool off of keyboard.)

Cheese!

Sean! This guy is the chicken master, but he entered pork. He got 2nd place in Pork.

Starting to look like pizzas!

Barbecue Pizza

Mediterranean Pizza

They gave everybody that came a Participant Ribbon*. Some people put it up. We put it away. BGR doesn’t come to “participate”. BGR comes to dominate!

Pizza. Macro.

The crowd starts to swell around our booth.

Pizza on the grill.

Picking out pieces for the judges.

Next year, we will have our own hashtag!

Piece for the judges.

Category Judges.

Scottie D. working his magic.

Giving the judges a sample of the meats.

Everybody loves this pizza!

The Showmanship Judges.

Ed Wilson gave Scottie D. a fist bump.

Scottie D. was briefly on the news that night.

There was one pizza catastrophe, but people didn’t care, They wolfed it down!

People love free samples, but not everybody is what I would call appreciative.

Scottie D. being interviewed for the pseudo-radio broadcast.

More free samples!

The Grand Champion Judges.

This is our favorite judge.

The Secretary of Agriculture.

We won our Category.

Baby Got Rack Team Picture. Melissa refused to be in it for some reason.

There are plenty more pictures from the day’s event. If you want to peruse them, you should click on the link below:

BABY GOT RACK – 2018

That is probably all she wrote for this year’s Competitive Barbecue Season. I’m sure Baby Got Rack will be back in 2019, unless Scottie D. decides to open up a restaurant instead of all this small fish stuff. Many people wanted to know where our restaurant is and we had to break their heart.

Special thanks to everybody that came down to see us and support us:

Shannon
Barb Shedd
Michelle’s Parents

BGR out! Mic drop.

*I’m not one of those people that freaks out about giving out “participant” ribbons. I don’t suffer from the disease of toxic masculinity. If you want to give kids participant ribbons, it isn’t making them soft. It isn’t making them less competitive. It might even people helping their self-esteem. Which is fine by me.

Becky, Derrick, Event, Jaycees, Music, Shannon, State Fair, Steph, Still Life

06-28-08

August 18, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There is quite the eclectic collection of pictures in the folder 06-28-08.

There are pictures from Ames on the Half Shell. The Box Brothers are the band.

There are pictures of the WHO Tractor Ride.

There are pictures of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

And finally, there is a picture of the most accurate nickname I was ever given.

The Intimidator mailing label was on a gift subscription to American Photo magazine from Steph. I had that nickname because 98% of the people that I have managed in my life have been terrified of me. The other 2%? Fools.

Of course, there are more Box Brothers images than I care to share here. If you want to see more, you can click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2008

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Work Half Done

Burden

Box Brothers

The Right Color Tractor

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve a wedding where I was a 2nd shooter. I don’t know or even remember the name of the people that got married. However, if the other weddings I’ve done photography on is any indication, they are probably divorced now. That might have taken a dark turn, but #facts.

Andy, Animals, Kim, Naima, Photoshop, Shannon, Tamara, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 152 – FEAR

August 13, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Don’t forget that tomorrow, Baby Got Rack will be competing at the Iowa State Fair Barbecue Competition. We can be found on the grand concourse somewhere. Also, I have 2 pictures on display at the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon in the Cultural Building.

Both are worth supporting, at least I think…

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I knew that FEAR was one of the toughest themes in this set of 52 themes and the steep drop in participation this week bore that out. I promise that this week’s theme is much, much easier.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates, you came to see the submissions:

Tamara Peterson

Kim Barker

Tamra Peterson

Andy Sharp

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

ANIMAL

ANIMAL! What a great theme! An ANIMAL photo is pretty self-explanatory. An ANIMAL photo is any picture that includes an ANIMAL. Or an ANIMAL byproduct.

For anybody that wants to book an appointment to photograph Naima. She charges $500 and hour and she takes frequent breaks.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very animalistic Monday.

Alexis, Baseball/Softball, Elainie, Event, Jason, Jaycees, Music, Night, Shannon, Tenderloining

06-22-08 & 06-23-08

August 11, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There is a bit of variety in the folders 06-22-08 & 06-23-08.

There are pictures of Elainie playing softball.

There are pictures of an Ames on the Half Shell concert. Vivace I believe.

There are pictures of Scottie D. and I tenderloining.

Have a look:

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following “An Artist’s Notebook” journal entries to their original glory:

Royals Win!

Tenderloin Quest: The Beginning

Vivace

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve more Ames on the Half Shell, tractors, the most accurate nickname I was ever given, and a wedding. The wedding if I’m feeling ambitious.

Andy, Black & White, Cathie, Dawn, Kim, Micky, Nature, Shannon, Tamara, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 151 – TREE

August 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

REMINDER

NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED YET, VOTE!!! THERE IS A 3 WAY TIE IN 2 CATEGORIES. IN 2 OTHER CATEGORIES, 1 VOTE SEPARATES 1ST AND 2ND. 2 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE.

It is once again time for me (and by me, I mean you guys) to pick out my photos to enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Once again, I am going to leave it up to a popular vote.

The Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest allows you to enter up to 6 photos.

There are 4 Categories:

1. Nature
2. Photojournalism
3. Photoshop Enhanced
4. Hidden Treasures of Boone County.

I have selected 60 images for you to consider. To simplify things, I have split the 60 photos into 6 sets of 10. If you wish to exercise your enfranchisement, clicking on the link below will take you to Poll #1. Vote for one of those pictures and then move onto the next poll, until you have voted in all six polls.

The winner of EACH poll will be entered into the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Click on the link below to start voting:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominees

Voting will end at midnight, August 8.

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TREE seemed to be a theme that motivated several people to get up off their couch and take some photos this week. Maybe I’ll have to keep it around for the next set of 52 themes.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Kim Barker

Dawn Krause

Micky Augustin

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

Cathie Raley

Christopher D. Bennett

A solid week of submissions!

FEAR!

FEAR! What a great theme! I know this might come off as one of the harder themes and I admit, it probably is one of the harder themes. Some might argue that it is redundant because earlier int he challenge we had the theme SCARY. Those people are wrong though.

A SCARY photograph challenged you to take a picture of something you find SCARY. Like snakes or spiders or ghosts or the truth.

A FEAR photograph challenges you to take a picture of the reaction to something scary. Like running away from a snake or a spider or a ghost or the truth.

Of course, there is more than one way to skin a community cat… I mean interpret a theme. I look forward to your interpretations.

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Congratulations to Jodie Cue! She is the latest person to show taste, class, and sophistication by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. Jodie has one of the hardest jobs in the world. She is a Pastor’s Wife. She also has a job that pays her where she works with kids with special needs. I can stop right there and you get the idea of what kind of an amazing person she is, but I won’t. She works with the middle school students at our church’s youth group, helps teach Sunday School AND started a laundry soap ministry at our church. Laundry detergent is one of the major needs at food banks, (but like female hygiene products) it is something that people just don’t think about when they donate to their local food banks. Our local food bank can barely keep the laundry detergent on the shelf. We are able to make it for for pennies. I’m not sure how many pennies, but pennies!

So if you see Jodie out on the mean streets of Boone, feel free to give her a knowing glance and teach her the super secret Photography 139 handshake.

Welcome aboard Jodie, I know you will fare well!

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very fearful Monday.