Today is Bill’s birthday, so I need to wish him a happy birthday.
I hope your birthday is filled with all the Batman and Wolverine that you can handle!
Time for another collection of images from my trip to the George Perry Floyd Square:
Still plenty more pictures to share from what was one of the most powerful experiences I had in 2023.
Today seems like a good day to share the rest of the pictures from my day at the Iowa State Fair with Jen, Evie, and Layla. We saw some big chunks of the Fair and ate some great food and made some great art!
Here are some of my favorites:
You may recognize this artist’s style. Some of her work hangs up at Jimmy’s Barbecue.
I love this idea.
I’m a sucker for a picture of people looking at art.
I have a standing, handshake deal, with Evie (and hopefully Layla is in too) to go to Snakes Alive this year and get our picture taken with a snake. This going to Day 1 of the Fair with the Gorshes has become one of favorite little traditions!
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is possible that this will publish late this week. I am getting my taxes done at 11 this morning and when this publishes is dependent on how long that takes. BIG BUCKS! NO WHAMMIES!*
CIRCLE! 360 degrees of fury! But is there enough fury in a CIRCLE to make it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 22, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):
1-Myriah Sharp – 1 (2)
2-Elainie Hernandez – 2 weeks
3-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
4-Monica Jennings – 3 weeks
5-Suzie Brannen – 4 weeks
6-Lowell Davis – 4 weeks (2)
7-Michelle Haupt – 4 weeks
8-Alexis Stensland – 4 weeks (2)
9-Brandon Kahler – 5 weeks
10-Mary Green – 6 weeks (2)
11-Scott Degeneffe – 23 weeks (2)
12-Sabas Hernandez – 24 weeks
13-Mike Vest – 29 weeks
14-Sheri Fakhouri – 33 weeks (2)
15-Logan Kahler – 34 weeks (2)
16-Nathanial Brown – 35 weeks
17-Jesse Howard – 35 weeks (2)
18-Tamara Peterson – 38 weeks
19-Mindi Terrell – 50 weeks (2)
20-Linda Bennett – 79 weeks (2)
21-Sarah Toot – 80 weeks
22-Angie DeWaard – 84 weeks
23-Dawn Krause – 88 weeks
24-Kim Barker – 94 weeks
25-Joe Duff – 95 weeks (2)
26-Teresa Kahler – 106 weeks
27-Carla Stensland – 106 weeks (2)
28-Micky Augustin – 108 weeks
29-Andy Sharp – 109 weeks
30-Bill Wentworth – 110 weeks
31-Cathie Morton – 114 weeks
32-Elizabeth Nordeen – 115 weeks
33-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 117 weeks
34-Kio Dettman – 119 weeks (2)
Here is the list of rules for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:
1. The picture must be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch and take pictures challenge!
2. There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme. If you send me more than 2, I will use the first 2 that you submit.
3. Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM next Monday.
4. To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one that clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
5. No screen captures. This is a photography challenge. Not a “look at what I found on the internet” challenge.
There are still 2 ways to submit:
1. Email your submission to bennett@photography139.com.
2. Text your submission to my Google Pixel 8 Pro.
3. Sometimes, for special people, for special circumstances, we can negotiate something.
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks or the rules of the challenge or how to submit. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:
Adam Gordon (Boone, Iowa)
Evie Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week
Willy McAlpine (Boone, Iowa) – 1 week
Jason Stensland (Lake Waubay, South Dakota) – 1 week
Jason Stensland (Lake Waubay, South Dakota)
Elainie Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Sara Lockner (Johnston, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 4 weeks
Suzie Brannen (Clive, Iowa)- 5 weeks
Lowell Davis (Ames, Iowa) – 5 weeks
Michelle Haupt (Iowa) – 5 weeks
Alexis Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 5 weeks
Alexis Stensland (Ogden, Iowa)
Brandon Kahler (Ames, Iowa) – 6 weeks
Mary Green (Iowa) – 7 weeks
Mary Green (Iowa)
Scott Degeneffe (Boone County, Iowa) – 24 weeks
Sabas Hernandez (Ankeny, Iowa) – 25 weeks
Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 30 weeks
Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa) – 34 weeks
Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 35 weeks
Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa)
Nathanial Brown (Jefferson, Iowa) – 36 weeks
Jesse Howard (Ames, Iowa) – 36 weeks
Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 39 weeks
Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 51 weeks
Mindi Terrell (Iowa)
Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 80 weeks
Sarah Toot (New York City, New York) – 81 weeks
Angie DeWaard (Des Moines, Iowa) – 85 weeks
Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa)
Dawn Krause (Boone, Iowa) – 89 weeks
Dawn Krause (Boone, Iowa)
Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 95 weeks
Joe Duff (League City, Texas) – 96 weeks
Joe Duff (League City, Texas)
Teresa Kahler (Ankeny, Iowa) – 107 weeks
Teresa Kahler (Iowa State University – Ames, Iowa)
Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 107 weeks
Carla Stensland (Ames, Iowa)
Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 109 weeks
Andy Sharp (Mason City, Iowa) – 110 weeks
Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska)- 111 weeks
Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 115 weeks
Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 116 weeks
Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 118 weeks
Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) 120 weeks
Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa)
Christopher D. Bennett (McHose Park – Boone, Iowa) – 542 weeks
38 participants! That is a new high for this year!
There were submissions this week taken in the following places:
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
Thanks to Jason’s trip to South Dakota and Sarah’s trip to New York, we can add those to this year’s list!
Here is the Year 11 list of states where submissions have been taken (submissions taken in each state):
+ Hawaii (2)
+ Iowa (195)
+ Kansas (8)
+ Michigan (2)
+ Nebraska (6)
+ New York (1)
+ Pennsylvania (5)
+ South Dakota (2)
+ Texas (9)
The big milestone this week was the first ever submission from Jason! WooHoo!
But it wasn’t all good news. Myriah couldn’t build on last week’s submission and her streak was over before it even began!
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:
TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES! What a great theme for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
I look forward to your interpretation!
That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of TRAINS, PLANES, & AUTOMOBILES in this place in this place that was heavily influenced by a book on trains next Monday.
*There were no BIG BUCKS! But there were also NO WHAMMIES! But at least I didn’t owe any money.
When Jesse and I went down to Memphis to watch the embarrassing debacle that was the Liberty Bowl we made sure to eat a bunch of delicious food. Fortunately the Pastor at my church lived in Memphis for several years and he gave us several solid recommendations on places to eat.
Here are the pictures from my Memphis food adventure with Jesse:
St. Louis–style pizza is a type of pizza popular in St. Louis, Missouri, and surrounding areas.[1] The style has a thin cracker-like crust made without yeast, generally uses Provel cheese, and is cut into squares or rectangles instead of wedges.
For supper that night we ate at Central Barbecue.
The cole slaw was maybe the worst thing I’ve tasted in my life, but the rest was amazing!
Breakfast the next morning in the hotel.
B.B. King’s Blues Club with Andree and his brother.
It was so dark in there, there aren’t many pictures.
But the entertainment was hard to beat.
Breakfast again the next morning. We really didn’t eat supper the night before.
More breakfast at Gibson’s Donuts.
We got a free donut cause it was our first time.
Before the game we had brunch at Railgarten with some awesome people! Cyclone fans!
Food was nothing special but it got the job done.
Also we met up with Jon and his friend.
Corky’s after the game!
Give me a pile of everything that is delicious and bad for you!
Way better coleslaw!
It was a great trip and so much great food! I would say that Corky’s was my favorite. But I don’t think we had a bad meal. That includes the lunch at A&W in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on the trip back.
That is the last food adventure I have to share right now. Maybe I will come up with one in the next few days. So I will have one to share next Sunday. Time will tell!
Back in July when I went up to hang out with my Minnesota family, I made a stop at George Perry Floyd Square to just see it, experience it, and photograph it. It was one of the most powerful experiences I had in 2023.
If you don’t know what George Perry Floyd Square is, here is some info from the Wiki:
George Floyd Square, officially George Perry Floyd Square, is the commemorative street name for the section of Chicago Avenue in the U.S. city of Minneapolis from East 37th Street to East 39th Street. It is named after George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered there by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. The streetway and memorial site is centered at the 38th and Chicago intersection.
Public outrage over Floyd’s murder resulted in the largest mass protest movement since the civil rights movement, largely over issues of systemic racism and police brutality. In the following weeks, racial justice activists and some community members erected barricades to keep 38th and Chicago street intersection closed to vehicular traffic for over a year during 2020 and 2021. Artists and demonstrators installed several exhibits, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art to memorialize Floyd and visualize racial justice themes.
To be honest I didn’t know about everything that would be there. I had seen pictures of the painting on the side of the building and the memorial in front of the building and I wanted to see that. Much of everything else I saw was a surprise.
Here is the first collection of pictures:
Still a ton of pictures to share from this experience!
Here is the balance of images from the quick road trip I took with Jesse up to see Bethany, Nora, and the musical JAGGED LITTLE PILL.
Some of these are at that art park. The others are from around the Orpheum.
Do you think this was left by Cindee and Randi or somebody that is doubling it up in their love life?
So how was “Jagged Little Pill” you might be asking?
It was okay. There isn’t much there-there as far as the story goes. Although that is a generic criticism that could be made of most musicals. It definitely feels like a stretch to make the songs fit the storyline. It is definitely worth seeing, but I don’t know I would go see it again. Once seems enough.
The Orpheum Theater is beautiful, but if you are of the female persuasion, the bathroom situation is a bit of a disaster. Go before you get to the theater. That is a Photography 139 Orpheum Theater Pro Tip! If you are a dude, it ain’t great shakes, but you are a dude, so it is still quite a bit better.
All in all, it was a fantastic trip! Go to see Rancho Deluxe. Got to hang with Bethany and Nora. Got to eat a great breakfast. Got to see a cool art park. Got to see a good musical. Got to hang with Jesse. 10 stars. Would recommend!
I am definitely starting to run low on food adventures, but I think that there are a few on my horizon. This food adventure took place in November. I cruised down to a state park near Winterset cause it was on my list of places I wanted to see in 2023. On my way home I stopped at a Mom and Pop ice cream shop called Frostee’s. It was the second to last day it was open in 2023. Here are some pictures:
This year I should go back and buy a Frostee’s shirt!
Even a gross Coke cup can’t ruin ice cream.
Got a raspberry malt as I’m trying to take more risks.
How was it? You know I have the Ted Lasso policy on ice cream:
Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.
-Ted Lasso
Last year May 7 was the first day Frostee’s was open. I imagine it will open about the same date again this year.
Frostee’s is located:
101 East Green Street
Winterset, Iowa
There is one other picture to share from this trip. It wasn’t taken at Frostee’s but on one of the famous Bridges of Madison County. It made me laugh, maybe it will make you smile too:
Next Sunday’s food adventure. Will cover the food I ate on my recent trip to Memphis.
Back in August Jesse and I took a road trip up to Minnesota to watch the musical “Jagged Little Pill”. It was a quick trip, but we did get to spend some time with Bethany and Nora. They took us to this fascinating art park. I took a few pictures…
Still one more collection of images to share from this day!
Time to share the rest of the collection from my trip to Rancho Deluxe with Jesse on our way up to Minnesota. Definitely something you should visit if you like art at all.
I definitely want to visit this place again… and again… and again!
Time to share the rest of the images that were rejected for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. Some of these are similar to ones included in the calendar. They come from a wide range of projects. From auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to alternates for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE to some just good old flowertography
There is still one more post about the 2024 calendar left. Then we can put it to bed or up on some walls.
