Black & White, Formal Portrait, Photoshop, Saydie

Congratulations Saydie – Gamma

June 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to check back in with my favorite 2018 high school graduate Saydie.

Thought I would start with more of my favorite bits of wisdom given at commencement speech:

Success is like a mountain that keeps growing ahead of you as you hike it… Err in the direction of kindness.
-George Saunders

People should always err in the direction of kindness. Wish I saw more of that in my everyday life.

Saydie:

We’re at the point in the Saydie pictures that we are warmed up. Giving the umpire the signal that we are ready to play ball.

Alexis, Animals, Becky, Blogging, Brandon, Carla, Commercial, Elainie, Flowers, Holidays, Jason, Johnathan, Logan, Mom, Russ, Shannon, Teresa

05-12-08

June 9, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

There are 3 sets of images to be found in the collection of pictures in the folder 05-12-08.

The first set are pictures from a Mother’s Day celebration at my Mom’s house.

The second set are a collection of pictures of flowers at my Mom’s house. A Mother’s Day Peony and a tulip.

The final set of pictures is from the first part of making a batch of Little White Lye Soap.

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

The Most Fun You Can Have with Caustics

Mother’s Day Barcecue

Mother’s Day

On our next walk down the lane of memories, we will look at the first Jaycees activity I participated in. All the signs were there, I wasn’t paying attention.

Andy, Art, Black & White, Blogging, Boone FUMC, Christianity, Photoshop, Still Life, Work, WPC - Alternate, WPC - Reminder, Youth Group

You Still Wonder Why I Existed, I Exist in a World That’s Real Different!

June 8, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

I need to start this post with yet another apology. On Monday, when I posted the submissions for RELIGION and THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE I did not post a second picture submitted by Andy.

This was not an error of carelessness like in some past weeks. I legitimately didn’t know that it was a submission.

You see, he sent me a picture of Hawkeye propaganda. I didn’t realize that it was a submission for RELIGION. I thought he was committing a hate crime and I nearly called the police.

However, I remember that in some societies, being a Hawkeye fan is considered a mental illness. With the way this society stigmatizes mental illness, I thought I better just pretend like nothing happened. Back away from the propaganda and nobody gets hurt.

But the ordeal wasn’t over. You see before Andy sent me the picture of his boat, he implied that I might not publish his submission. I let him know that I will publish ANY submission that doesn’t get me in trouble with the law.

He then sent me a picture of his boat with the following explanation:

I feel closest to God in my boat on water at sunrise or sunset…

I can relate to this sentiment. I don’t fish (much), although I did catch a fish worthy of a Master Angler Big Fish award once, but didn’t turn it in due to my modesty. I also often feel closest to God when I am in nature.

I texted back:

I was worried it was going to be some Hawkeye garbage.

He then sent me the picture of Hawkeye propaganda with the commentary that they go together. I didn’t put together that the pictures went together. I thought that the propaganda was on the boat, because it is.

I have since rectified the situation. If you click on the link below, you can see Andy’s submitted Hawkeye propaganda:

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 142 – RELIGION

Now that bit of unpleasantness is behind us, I need to remind you that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is:

WORK!

A WORK picture is anything that involves WORK. A person WORKing. The tools somebody uses when they are WORKing. The results of WORKing. If you don’t know what WORK is, ask an immigrant. They get the job done. We all know that Peter Piper claimed he picked them, he just underpaid Pablo.

The world wasn’t ready for the following RELIGION pictures on Monday. Not sure the world is ready now, but I can’t hold them back any longer:

You’re welcome world!

Event, History, Politics, Street Photography

Books Not Bullets

June 7, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

A brief history of school shootings in the United States. Maybe you’ll detect a trend:

July 26, 1764 – Greencastle, Pennsylvania

Enoch Brown school massacre: Perhaps the earliest shooting to happen on school or college property, in what would become the United States, was the notorious Enoch Brown school massacre during the Pontiac’s War. Four Delaware (Lenape) American Indians entered the schoolhouse near present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown and nine children (reports vary). Only two children survived. However, this incident may only incidentally be considered a school “shooting” because only the teacher was shot, while the other nine victims were killed with melee weapons.

Then nothing until….

November 12, 1840 – Charlottesville, Virginia

John Anthony Gardner Davis, a law professor at the University of Virginia, was shot by student Joseph Semmes, and died from his wound three days later

Then nothing until…

November 2, 1853 – Louisville, Kentucky

Student Mathews Flounoy Ward took a pistol to school, where he shot the schoolmaster William H.G. Butler as revenge for what Ward thought was excessive punishment of his brother the day before. Butler died, and Ward was acquitted.

August 16, 1856 – Florence, Alabama

The schoolmaster had a tame sparrow and had warned the students not to harm it, threatening death. One of the boys stepped on the bird and killed it; he was afraid to return to school but did so. After lessons, the master took the boy into a private room and strangled him to death. The boy’s father went to the school and shot the schoolmaster dead.

The 1860s

6 shootings – 8 deaths

1870s

7 shootings – 3 deaths

1880s

11 shootings – 2 deaths

1890s

8 shootings – 13 deaths

1900s

14 shootings – 13 deaths

1910s

19 shootings – 12 deaths

1920s

10 shootings – 5 deaths

1930s

9 shootings – 10 deaths

1940s

8 shootings – 11 deaths

1950s

17 shootings – 14 deaths

1960s

19 shootings – 44 deaths

Including:

August 1, 1966 – Austin, Texas

University of Texas massacre: 25-year-old engineering student, Charles Whitman, got onto the observation deck at the University of Texas-Austin, from where he killed seventeen people and wounded thirty-one during a 96-minute shooting rampage. He had earlier murdered his wife and mother at their homes

1970s

31 shootings – 38 deaths

1980s

42 shootings – 51 deaths

1990s

66 shootings – 94 deaths

Including:

April 20, 1999 – Littleton, Colordado

Columbine High School massacre: 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, killed twelve students and one teacher. They injured 21 additional people, and three more were injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair committed suicide at the end of the massacre.

2000s

67 shootings – 101 deaths

2010-2014

92 shootings – 96 deaths

2015-Present

76 shootings – 86 deaths

Here are more pictures from the Des Moines March for Our Lives Rally:

There still are a few more pictures from the March for Our Lives rally left. But not many.

Art, Black & White, History, Iowa State, Mom, Politics, Travel, Vacation

The Mount Rushmore of Presidents Vol. 1

June 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

It is time to crack into the final spot I hit in South Dakota with my Mom last year. Mount Rushmore.

People (particularly bored sports talk show hosts) are always trying to make comparisons in the sports world to Mount Rushmore. Who would be on the Mount Rushmore of Iowa State athletics? (Dan Gable, Fred Hoiberg, Troy Davis, Jack Trice) Who would be on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore? (Lebron, Magic, Jordan, Wilt) Who would be on Cyclone basketball’s Mount Rushmore? (Hoiberg, Niang, Tinsley, Grayer) Who would be on Cyclone football’s Mount Rushmore? (Troy Davis, Jack Trice, Seneca, Matt Blair)

That type of thing?

But does the Mount Rushmore of Presidents have the 4 best Presidents on it?

According to the official results of the 2018 Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey, they did a pretty good job.

A little about the survey:

The 2018 Presidents & Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey was conducted online via Qualtrics from December 22, 2017 to January 16, 2018. Respondents were current and recent members of the Presidents & Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association, which is the foremost organization of social science experts in presidential politics.

Here is their Top 10 Greatest Presidents

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin Roosevelt
4. Teddy Roosevelt
5. Thomas Jefferson
6. Harry Truman
7. Dwight D. Eisenhower
8. Barack Obama
9. Ronald Reagan
10. Lyndon Johnson

Therefore, the creators of Mount Rushmore did manage to pick the 4 top Presidents that were available to them. FDR hadn’t been President when Mount Rushmore began. He was President when it was abandoned however. During WWII, the United States couldn’t afford to spend any more on the project. At this point, it is safe to assume it will never be finished.

Here some pictures from the trip to Mount Rushmore:

A few more pictures of Mount Rushmore are still stretching their legs, waiting for the call to get into the game.

Black & White, Flowers, Macro, Photoshop

Earth’s Laughter

June 5, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The earth laughs in flowers.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The great thing about flowers is that we can all agree that earth truly does laugh in flowers even if we can’t agree on whether or not the earth is flat or a globe or even pear shaped.

Last year, I think I got away from flower photos a little bit. I’m not entirely sure why other than maybe it was because I might have felt that I was starting to become self-referential with my flower photography.

Nah. That probably isn’t it.

I do know that I have yet to take hardly any flower pictures this year either. That doesn’t mean I didn’t take any flower pictures last year. In fact, I was commission by a relative of mine (a cousin somewhere on my Mom’s side) to photograph her extensive flower garden. So I did, but I never shared the photos.

So here is just the beginning of a ton of flower pictures from Donna Jones’ flower garden. This collection consists of petunias and lilies. If you don’t know which is which don’t be afraid to ask, for my way of mocking you will be very gentle.

There are plenty more of Donna’s flowers in the on-deck circle taking their practice swings. Checking out to make sure they have the proper amount of pine tar on their bats. Stretching their bat swinging muscles. You’ll get to see if they have what it takes to go yard very soon.

Andy, Angie, Animals, Becky, Boone FUMC, Cathie, Event, Flat Earth Joe, Jesse, Kim, Linda, Michelle, Micky, Shannon, Tamara, Video, Work, WPC - Submissions

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 142 – RELIGION

June 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Before I get into the participation and the tommyrot and the PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE quoting, I want to point out the historical significance of today. Today is the 2 year anniversary of The Great Turtle Race Robbery of 2016!

If you don’t know about The Great Turtle Race Robbery of 2016, let me give you the short, short, short version.

During the football season, me and few fellow computer miners engage in a spirited bit of gambling. The winner each week gets to claim a red solo cup filled with change. Well, maybe not exactly filled, but there is some change in it.

At the end of the season, the person with the most red cups is proclaimed The Witch and they get the travelling trophy. A Franklin Broomworks Children’s Broom.(Incidentally, I agree with Franklin Broomworks and their hardcore child labor policies.) In the event of a tie, the title of Witch gets conferred in a tie-breaking competition that is determined by the people that are not involved in the tie.

In 2016, the tie-breaker was a turtle race.

The 4 people tied for first place were Joe (AKA Flat Earth Joe), Michelle, Cathie, and Humble Narrator. Before our traditional year end banquet at Zeno’s in Marshalltown we congregated at the Colo Outpost of AMOutdoors. What happened next is something conspiracy theorists have been discussing for 2 years now.

But don’t take my word for it, roll this conspiracy’s Zapruder film.

NOTE: If you are an email subscriber to “An Artist’s Notebook and are in the Outlook list, you will have to go to the website to view this atrocity. If you are in the regular distribution list, you already had to come to the website, so this message isn’t for you:

As you can see, the Red Turtle (MY TURTLE), clearly wins this race! Yet inexplicably, the Orange loser turtle is somehow declared the winner. Rigged! I can only speculate at what level the Russians were involved.

That being said, if you are into hunting and fishing, you could do worse than checking out Micky’s hunting and fishing website by clicking on the link below:

AMOUTDOORS

Just don’t trust the guy to run a turtle race. He is as crooked as dog’s hind leg. Depending on the dog, crookeder.

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Participation rates!

Tommyrot!

Here are the submissions for RELIGION:

Becky Parmelee

Kim Barker

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole

Andy Sharp

Tamara Peterson

Andy Sharp

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:

WORK!

WORK! What a great theme! But what is WORK photography? WORK photography would be a photo of somebody doing their job, at their job, the tools for their job. But WORK doesn’t just happen at a job. WORK can also be done for fun. Like gardening. Or landscaping. Or mowing. Wait, mowing isn’t fun, but it still counts as WORK. Along with doing dishes and dusting.

As always, 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.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 COMMENTARY DIVISION

In recent weeks, 3 people have earned their very own Photography 139 avatars by leaving comments on “An Artist’s Notebook” entries.

Welcome to the Photography 139 commentary world:

Joe Duff
Linda Bennett
Tamara Peterson

Do you want your very own Photography 139 like giants in the blog post commentary industry like:

Angie DeWaard
Andy Sharp
Jesse Howard

All you have to do is leave a comment on an “An Artist’s Notebook” entry and I will gladly create you your very own Photography 139 avatar!

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 POST NOTIFICATION

I’m currently using a post notification plugin called MailPoet. I’m not 100% satisfied with it, but it will stay status quo until I get back from my mission trip to Houston at the end of June. At that time, I will (hopefully) have the free time to play with a couple of different plug-ins.

If you use Outlook to view the post notification emails, let me know and I’ll switch you over to the Outlook subscription group.

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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 labored Monday!

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Oh wait, that isn’t all I have for today. If you are out and about from 4-7 today, I will be hanging out with the Boone Area Humane Society taking pictures for their booth and mascot at Ericson Public Library’s Summer Reading Kickoff.

If you don’t want to come see me, come to see Hope:

Just to make it clear, I will not be in the dog costume. I am about a foot too tall for the costume.

Black & White, Formal Portrait, Photoshop, Saydie

Congratulations Saydie – Beta

June 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

It is time for lap 2 in the Congratulations Saydie marathon. But before we get into the photo bonanza, I want to take a small quick time to take umbrage with one of the responses I received to the last batch of Saydie images. They pulled out the part of the entry where I referred to Saydie as my niece and held it up to mockery, since we share not a scrap of DNA or would share part of a family tree through marriage.

This person feels that the only nieces and nephews I have are my biological nieces in nephews and the children of Olivia’s brother and sisters.

My reaction to their commentary is just pure sadness. I hope they don’t go through life with this stilted definition of the word “family”.

The New York Times ran an articles and asked high school students to define family. I just want to share two:

Caitlin

I do not think there is such thing as a “normal family” because everyone’s lifestyle is different, and it would be a stereotype to say that all normal families have a Mom, a Dad and kids or a pet. That is not true. Some people choose a different choice. There are kids with two moms, or two dads, and with one mom or one dad. There are also plenty of kids who live with a close relative as well. Family are the people you feel safe and secure with. Everyone’s family is normal to them, because that is how they live their life. So be proud of your family, and don’t classify one family as normal.

AND

Taylor

I define a family as a group of people who share laughter, sadness, tragedy, victory, loss, regret, happiness, and success together. A family is hard to define. Most commonly one thinks a man, a woman, and their children. Time has shown this isn’t an exact answer. Grandparents, adopted parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and even just friends can make up a family. Family is important for individuals to lead happy lifestyles and to become satisfied with their life.

I just hope that the commentator opens their heart some day. Maybe if they owned a dog…

Here are a ton more pictures of my niece Saydie:

There will be a ton more pictures from Saydie’s senior pictures photo shoot in the coming weeks!

Art, Baier, Black & White, Blogging, Flowers, History, Macro, Road Trip

05-10-08 – A Tale of Gypsum Junk

June 2, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in today’s collection come from the folder 05-10-08.

These pictures came from a road trip to Fort Dodge I went on with Jason Baier. A road trip that ended with us coming face to face with a gypsum penis. What is more, that was the ultimate goal of the road trip.

This journey started when I was reading a magazine on the greatest hoaxes in history. One of the hoaxes was the Cardiff Giant. I’m not going to go into an incredible amount of detail, but what is important to know is that the gypsum that made up the Cardiff Giant came from Fort Dodge. It was purchased in Fort Dodge. Loaded on a train in Boone. Shipped to Chicago. Carved in Chicago. Then buried and dug up in a farm near Cardiff, New York.

The original Cardiff Giant is in a museum in Cooperstown, New York. A replica is in Fort Dodge. A pale and pathetic copy is housed at Living History Farms. The Living History Farms Giant is more modest than the original Giant. He covers his gypsum junk with his hands. The Fort Dodge Giant and the original just leaves it out there, blowing in the wind.

Some of the pictures below have never been made public before because Baier and I very flagrantly broke some museum rules. I hesitate to publish these photos because he is now a big time white collar criminal with infinite PTO and numerous minions. I would hate for our youthful indiscretions come back to haunt a man of his stature. However, I’ve done no research to back this up, I think the statue of limitations on our museum crimes has passed. I think he will be safe.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Fort Dodge to meet the Cardiff Giant and his gypsum junk:

I learned the hard way that not all people consider glorious pictures of gypsum junk to be appropriate. Back when I was using Photobucket to store my blog images, pictures of The Cardiff Giant that showed him in his full glory were flagged and then taken down. I can feel only pity for people that can’t appreciate great art.

I replaced the images that showed images with his anatomy with pictures like this:

Yeah. Lame.

What isn’t lame is that by adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery I was able to restore the following historical “An Artist’s Notebook” posts to their original glory:

LESSONS LEARNED IN A GIANT’S TOWN

TOO HOT FOR PHOTOBUCKET

There are more pictures from the Cardiff Giant Road Trip that I didn’t share here. You can see them by clicking on the link below:

THE CARDIFF GIANT ROAD TRIP

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Little White Lye Soap… I know… but this time action photos… and Mother’s Day.

Baier, Road Trip, Scottie D., Town Sign Project, Travel

The Town Sign Project Vol. 7

June 1, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Way back on my birthday I decided to make a solo tenderloining trip to Winterset. Scottie D. had been ducking the Winterset trip for several months now and everybody else seemed to have to work on my birthday, so I figured, why not fly solo and take a few pictures for the TOWN SIGN PROJECT while I was on the open road?

I headed down 17 and the went west on 141 for a little ways before pretty much taking 169 the rest of the way to Winterset.

I have to confess that the signs I found on this route were almost universally boring. Almost.

However, I’ll let you make your own assessments:

Madrid, Iowa

Perry, Iowa

Minburn, Iowa

Dallas Center, Iowa

Adel, Iowa

De Soto, Iowa

Winterset, Iowa

Van Meter, Iowa

Granger, Iowa

Madrid is know for caring way too much about high school sports AND The Filling Station.
Perry is known for being a town that racist people like to badmouth.
Minburn is known for having a pretty cool park bathroom.
Dallas Center is known for being the DC of DCG. DCG is known for being the thing that Jason Baier hates the most in the world.
Adel is known for being the hometown of Nile Kinnick. Kinnick is famous for being the last Iowa Hawkeye football player that that didn’t spend time in jail.
De Soto is known for being spelled Desoto.
Winterset is known for being the birthplace of John Wayne and covered bridges.
Van Meter is known for being the birthplace of baseball hall of famer Bob Feller.
Granger is known for having a hot water water tower and a cold water water tower.

You might not have believed me about Minburn having a cool park bathroom, but have a look:

I didn’t just love it because of a “any port in the storm” situation, but there is some truth in that. It is just cool looking.

However, I also want to call attention to a peculiar aspect of the Minburn town sign. Remember the town sign?

Minburn Town Sign

It has a bench behind it:

If you were to sit down on this bench, you would be staring at a brick wall:

I would love to know the story behind the Minburn bench with a view of a brick wall. If anybody knows, let me know!

I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to work on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT again, but I’m hoping to go snooping up around the Rolf, Iowa area in the nearish future next.

The results of my tenderloining adventure will be published soon. I know a few of you have been waiting on my official ruling.