Category Archives: Jaycees

2009-08-05

Today we reveal the images for May and June from the 2020 Photography 139 Calendar.

The May Image:


2020 Calendar - May
May

The May image is of the Dunning Spring waterfall in Decorah, Iowa. Jesse and I took a road trip to check them out and to photograph them as my birthday road trip. I entered this picture in the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon, but it was not selected for display. In fact, the picture that was selected for display is not in the 2020 calendar. It is the September image for the 2019 calendar. This picture was taken on May 17, 2019.


Details

Camera: Sony ILCA-77M2
Focal Length: 20mm
Aperture: f/18
Exposure: 1/2
ISO: 50

The June Image:


2020 Calendar - June
June

If you think it was weird that there was a picture from 2013 in the calendar, then this one will really mess with your head. This black and white image of a swan was taken at Lake Laverne on the beautiful campus of Iowa State University. I came across it when during our Saturday walks down memory lane as I restore old entries of “An Artist’s Notebook”. I liked it and I decided to throw it into the collection of nominees for the pictures I would enter in the Boone County Fair Photo Contest. I didn’t expect anybody to pick it, but Logan did. It won a Purple Ribbon. It was taken May 10, 2006.


Details

Camera: Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
Focal Lenght: 300mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure: 1/500
ISO: 200

Tomorrow we’ll reveal the images for July and August.

+++++++

The pictures in the folder 2009-08-05 are from the last Ames Jaycees event I ever attended. It was at that point just a formality. I had joined the Ames on the Half Shell Committee, therefore I was going to fulfill my duties. The moment that last not of the Ames on the Half Shell season faded from existence, I was Audi 5000.

Now that you have sat through several entries about my ill-fated time with the Ames Jaycees, I think you, loyal reader, deserve an explanation for why it came to an end.

I joined the Ames Jaycees for two reasons. First, a friend asked me to join. This person, we will refer to as “1”, was like 1000% into the Ames Jaycees. Her passion was somewhat contagious. I was also doing her a favor because recruiting a new member made her like a 33rd degree Mason. I don’t know, the inner workings and rankings of the organization were something I never cared about. Even when I was at my peak Jayceeness. Which I’m guessing was about January of 2009. my passion for the Jaycees was about a 5 on a scale of 1-10.

By March of 2009, I knew that that my time with the Jaycees was over, but I also knew, I would finish out the Ames on the Half Shell. I was a quitter, but I always finish out my commitments.

In January of 2009 I joined the Board as a Vice-President in some capacity. VP of Promotions or something like that. All it really meant was that I ran the website and had to go to an extra meeting a month. Which was okay, even though I am a person that to their very core, loathes meetings.

Which brings me to the other reason I joined the Jaycees. I needed an excuse to leave my house now and again. This provided that. I didn’t realize it would put so much undesired drama into my life.

The Board was split into basically two factions. There were 1’s friends, who were also all 1000% into the Jaycees. The other half of the boardroom was dominated by the President and his cronies. The President was apparently buggering one of the vice-presidents, which wasn’t cool because he was married, but not to the vice-president he was buggering. I can’t even recall how this even factored into the story, but it provided me with a chance to use the term buggering.

The President and the VP he was buggering didn’t like one of 1’s friends, we will call her 2. I think it was because 2 knew about the buggering, but I don’t know that to within a degree of certainy. What I do know is that what happened next is that the Buggered VP accused 2 of some creative accounting involving some kind of Halloween drinking outing that involved the Jaycees.

One reason why I was a 5 on the Jaycees at my peak Jayceeness was that they like to talk about drinking. I don’t mean they liked to drink. They liked talking about drinking. You know that thing that high school students and college students do when they drink, they can’t stop talking about it. “Look at me I’m drinking.” Yeah, nobody cares. Shut up and drink your Zima Chad.

This is all hypothetical at this point. I haven’t been around a high school student or college student that is drinking alcohol, since I left the service of the Evil Clown Empire, but I’m sure it hasn’t changed much. Other than, I assume that nobody drinks Zima now. White Claws?

But I digress…

The charges were at least 76% hokum that stemmed from some kind of personal grievance with 2. Plus, there might have been a bit of a power play in there. A chance to show dominance. A chance to show that the Buggered VP wasn’t the President, but she was still running this beach.

I think there was some kind of trial. Not really, it was really just one person’s word and then there was some kind of vote. 2 got sent to Jaycee prison. I think she wasn’t allowed to touch money for a year.

Almost as soon as the sentence was handed down, 1 and all of her friends resigned. Grabbed their Jaycee ball and went to Nevada and Des Moines. That left me alone. Like I said, I was a 5. In January. at this point, I was a 3. Even at a 3, I was willing to stick around and fight for the soul of the Ames Jaycees. When the people who were at a 1000% were like deuces and checked out, I was like make that 3 a -2.

The funny thing is that after everybody else left, 2 stuck around. I’m not sure if I respect that or not. Maybe I’ll have to talk to her about it someday.

I fulfilled my obligations and haven’t been to a Jaycee event since. I sometimes see them at the unofficial reunions and I chalk this up as a life lesson. I don’t leave my house now.

(This is how I remember everything going down, I’m sure some of my details aren’t 100% accurate, but if you are going to complain about that, you can bugger off.)


Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

If you want to look at the pictures from the 2009 Ames on the Half Shell season, you can click on the link below:

Ames on the Half Shell – 2009

Next Saturday’s walk down Memory Lane will involve things I grew in my backyard.

2009-07-17

The pictures in the folder 2009-07-17 are from the second to last Ames Jaycees event I ever attended. I can’t remember the timeline of everything that went down that caused me to up and quit the Jaycees, but I’m pretty sure that I had already resigned my Board Position several months before and at this point I was just short-timing it.

These pictures were at Ames on the Half Shell and the band was Kountertop. Kountertop fit into that category of generic classic rock cover band that is the bedrock that Ames on the Half Shell was built on, but their musicianship was of a higher quality than the most of the band that played there. They even played a few originals here and there.

They used to play live backup band for a Karaoke night down at People’s in Des Moines. I don’t know if they are still together or not, but my Google search only came up with a Facebook page that seems defunct.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day:


Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

Kountertop at Ames on the Half Shell

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

Kountertop

I’m not sure all that will be involved in next Saturday’s walk down memory lane, but it will involve Mark for sure.

2009-07-10

The pictures from the folder 2009-07-10 are all from an Ames on the Half Shell concert that featured by far my favorite artist that we ever booked. Her name was Bonne Finken and she was one of maybe 3 artists that we booked during my entire run with the Jaycees that couldn’t be described as generic classic rock cover band.

Listen, that isn’t an insult. There is nothing wrong with a classic rock cover band. They are usually pretty enjoyable to listen to, but they certainly don’t challenge you as a music enthusiast.

I’m terrible at describing her sound, but it both pop and rock and it is undeniably powerful. Bonne is still producing music, but she has moved on from this local scene. She moved to Tennessee. She released her third album earlier this year. It was produced by a member of Slipknot.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Bonne Finken’s conert:


Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

Bonne Finken

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

Bonne Finken

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve flowers and sparklers, but not necessarily together.

2009-07-06

The pictures in the folder 2009-07-06 are from my 2009 Independence Day. I spent the day immersed in Ames Jaycees projects.

The beginning of my day was spent helping with the special Independence Day Ames on the Half Shell with The Nadas. Then I finished the day helping out with the fireworks display.

Shannon’s cousin Matthew came down to help with Half Shell. Teresa helped as well. Logan and Willy were in attendance at the concert.

It was a very long day. Now I barely even leave my house on Independence Day. I should probably remedy that in 2020, but I’m guessing that won’t happen.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the album:


Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Nadas - 4th of July

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

Independence Day - 2009

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

4th of July

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve my favorite artist to every play Ames on the Half Shell.

2009-06-29

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-29 are mostly from a softball game between Alexis’ team and a team coached by Jesse and Lowell. I assume Alexis’ team won the game because of… Bennett genetics.

There are some pictures of Larry Howard in this post. Larry passed away earlier this year. He isn’t the first person to have passed on, that has surfaced on these walks down memory lane, but one of the closest.

Here are some pictures:


Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Little League - 2009

Garden

Garden

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

None of these pictures have ever been published before. They were lost to the ages until now.

The pictures at the end are from the Ames on the Half Shell performance by a band called Otter. I was in charge of booking the bands that year and I won’t deny that I booked Otter because their drummer was a pretty loyal Ames Jaycee.

This could be a false memory, but I believe I got some pushback on that. Definitely a lack of enthusiasm about it from some other Jaycees. I found this weird because every single year the Jaycees booked this absolutely terrible band called Saucy Jack based on the fact that a member of the band was a brother or ex-boyfriend of an ex-Jaycee. They booked a terrible band based on somebody that wasn’t in the band and wasn’t even a Jaycee any longer. And they were terrible.

Almost all the Half Shell bands fell into the category of generic classic rock cover band. Saucy Jack was in that same category. But they played every song about 10% slower than it is supposed to be played.

I remember once they played “Everlong” by Foo Fighters, which is a Top 100 song for me, and it took me about 45 seconds to even figure out what the hell they were playing.

But booking the slightly stoner band with a Jaycee drummer, that isn’t cool man.

But I digress…

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve the Boone City Band.

2009-06-22

Better strap it on. This post is going to be a LONG one, covering a ton of diverse ground! There are a ton of pictures in the folder known as 2009-06-22. I considered breaking this into multiple posts, but then I decided, “Nah, bro. We got this.”

Thee are night flower pictures, pictures from Ames on the Half Shell, pictures from Ottumwa, family pictures, and pictures of cherries.

The pictures from Ames on the Half Shell were from when The Josh Davis Band played there. It must have been rained out because the pictures are from DG’s Taphouse. The Josh Davis Band is my second favorite band to play Ames on the Half Shell. Not including Against the Grain or whatever Derrick’s band was called when they crashed Half Shell. It appears that I never published those photos.

The pictures from Ottumwa are from when I went there to help Jen & Derrick help with the house that Jen inherited from her uncle.

The cherry pictures are from when Shannon came over and baked me a cherry pie from the cherries from my cherry trees. It feels good to be self-sustaining.

There are pictures in here of people that are gone now. Gone, but definitely not forgotten:


Night Flowers 2

Night Flowers 1

Wet Stuff

Wet Stuff

Night Flowers 1

Night Flower 2

Wet Stuff

Wet Stuff

Wet Stuff

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Josh Davis Band

Ottumwa

Ottumwa

Ottumwa

Ottumwa

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

06-22-09

06-22-09

06-22-09

06-22-09

06-22-09

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

Night Flowers: Session 1

I Can Not Tell a Lie

Night Flowers: Session 2

Skin to Win

Abstemious

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Little League baseball.

2009-06-12

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-12 are from the Burnin’ Sensations Ames on the Half Shell concert in 2009. It rained that day, so the concert got moved to DJ’s Taphouse.

I believe that Burnin’ Sensations have played Ames on the Half Shell every single year since Ames on the Half Shell began. They are your basic classic rock cover band, but they put on a very fun show.

Here are some pictures:


Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

Burnin' Sensations

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

Burnin’ Sensations

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

2009-06-06

The pictures from the folder 2009-06-06 are from the first Ames on the Half Shell concert of the 2009 season. The band that played was Vivace. I’m not sure if they are still around, but they were just a real solid classic rock cover band. Classic rock cover band pretty much describes the local music scene in central Iowa and pretty much describes almost every band to ever play Ames on the Half Shell.

Here are some pictures:


Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

Vivace

I drastically upgraded the Ames on the Half Shell website before this season. It looks like they still use the same platform that I built, but they have upgraded the look considerably. What is interesting is that they added a “History” page that lists every band that has played Ames on the Half Shell, except they don’t have anything listed for 2009.

That same year they Ames on the Half Shell logo was completely redesigned. It looks like the logo has been updated since then, but still plays on the same theme.

If you want to see more pictures from Vivace’s 2009 performance at Ames on the Half Shell, click on the picture below:


Vivace ></a><br />
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<p>By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic ” an=”” artist’s=”” notebook”=”” entry=”” to=”” its=”” original=”” glory:<=

Ames on the Half Shell



Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve even more Ames on the Half Shell.

07-20-08

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!


07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

07-20-08 - Kountertop

Iowa Games - 2008

Iowa Games - 2008

Iowa Games - 2008

Iowa Games - 2008

Iowa Games - 2008

Iowa Games - 2008

Boone vs. Madrid - 2008

Boone vs. Madrid - 2008

Boone vs. Madrid - 2008

Boone vs. Madrid - 2008

Boone vs. Madrid - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

Boone County Fair - 2008

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.

07-07-08 & 07-12-08

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.


07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-07-08

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

07-12-08 - Saucy Jack

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.