Category Archives: Sports

Baseball/Softball, Candid Portrait, Jay, Movies, Road Trip, Travel, Willy

Field of Dreams

August 10, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Jay, Willy and I made a little trip to the Field of Dreams on Sunday. Have a look.

Lunch

Independence, Iowa

Field of Dreams House

The Field of Dreams

Jay

Coming out of the corn field.

The Field of Dreams

Rounding 2nd

Going for Three

Wily and his Camera Phone

Souvenir Shop

The line between the ghost world and the real world.

1st Base

Willy sunning himself on the bleachers.

This is actually what Jay looks like when he watches baseball.

Enjoying the game.

“I love this guy.”

The remnants of when the Field of Dreams was owned by two feuding families.

I had never been there before. I think I got much more out of the experience than Willy and Jay. I only wish I had brought a glove and a ball.

Art, Brog Frog, Football, Iowa State

2008 Cyclone Wallpaper

July 27, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Shawn recently released his newest Cyclone wallpaper. Go ahead and download it. It will make you feel good.

2008 Cyclone Football Wallpaper

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Shawn is a badass graphic designer.

Alexis, Art, Baseball/Softball, Carla, Elainie, Flowers, Jason, Macro, Road Trip

Albia, Iowa

July 21, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

I drove to Albia on Sunday to watch Elainie play softball in the Little League State Tournament. I was honestly expecting to only watch one game because they were playing Grand View. I can never recall a Boone team beating a Grand View team. But it happened. Boone beat Grand View 9-6. They played Monroe County in the title game and fell 7-1.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Not going to make a play on Elainie’s monster smash!

Great Raspberry Shakes!

There is one other thing. It is traditional to paint your vehicle to support your kid’s team when they go to tournaments. I understand that. However, there needs to be some common sense exercised.

For example. Say you have a daughter. Say that daughter is a pitcher. Say that daughter strikes people out. A reasonable thing to do would be to paint a couple “K”s on your van because the “K” is the symbol for strikeout in score keeping.

Now think about it. Just off the top of your head, what amount of “K”s would you not want to paint on your van.

Has it come to you yet?

Figured it out yet?

Have that answer yet?

Yeah, that seems like a bad idea to me. Even if there are 3 outs in an inning.

For the record, this van was from Wisconsin and not Boone.

Animals, Baseball/Softball, Becky, Boone County Fair, Candid Portrait, Contests, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Monica, Robert, Running, Willy

Images from a Saturday

July 20, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

I had a rare busy Saturday. Although admittedly a lot of my Saturday was spent watching other people do stuff or sleeping on a wet lounger. Perhaps the highlight of my Saturday was trying the taco dip that spawned Monica’s world famous taco dip. I should have gotten a picture of that.

The first batch of pictures is from Willy running the 4K at the Iowa Games. Willy also ran the 8K. Then for fun, he ran 18 miles when he got home.

The next batch of pictures are from the Minor Girls State Tournament in beautiful Huxley, Iowa. I used to have a friend that lived in Huxley, Iowa. Maybe that guy will return a phone call some day…

Kalista’s team beat Madrid in the game that I witnessed, before falling to Grand View in their next game. Their game against Madrid was an excellent example of how positive energy overcomes negative energy.

Boone won the game. The deciding factor in the outcome of the game was positive energy. I do not think that Boone had the more talented players. I do not think that Boone had the superior strategy. I think the entire difference in the games was that positive energy was flowing from the Boone coaches and negative energy was flowing from the Madrid bench.

As many of you know I despise Little League. This comes from 10 years of coaching and many more years sitting in the stands. Little League is a shining example of how adults go out of their way to ruin children’s activities. There is some good, but it is usually outweighed by the bad.

An example: While the outcome of the game was still in the balance, the Madrid coach began yelling at her daughter as she was coming off the field for what she perceived to be a couple of mental errors on her daughter’s part. At about second #15 of the tirade, the 8 or 9 year old girl began crying. The Madrid coach’s response: “Don’t you cry. This is YOUR fault.” Another timeless childhood memory provided by Little League.

I won’t even get into the sequence where the Madrid coach began yelling at the Madrid fans.

The next batch of images comes from my trip to the Boone County Fair to visit Becky.

My favorite part about the Boone County Fair (besides getting the World’s Best Funnel Cake!) is the fact that the Boone County Democrats were giving away free gun locks.

The Fair was followed by a trip to the Henning household in Ogden. Christopher and Robert were both back in town. Christopher from Iraq. Robert from Wyoming. I wish I had taken some pictures, but I didn’t.

This was followed by a trip to Lone Wolf State Park AKA the McAlpine Lair to do some barbecuing. No pictures of this either, so you’ll have to take my word that it was a good time.

Baseball/Softball, Elainie, Jason, Night

Royals Win!

June 19, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

On Tuesday Night, Elainie’s Little League team won their league championship. Below are a few photos.

The game was at night, so there is some digital noise and blurring caused by slow shutter speeds, but you’ll get the general idea.

Elainie made the All-Star Team, so I might have to make a couple of those games this year, since it looks like I won’t be able to make any of her 9th grade games.

Baseball/Softball, Jesse, Lowell, Saydie

BNLL

June 7, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

Some pictures from a couple hours at the Little League Park watching Jesse and Lowell’s team.

Becky, Olympic Sports

Special Olympics

May 23, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

I had a chance to catch up with an old friend of mine today, Kim Lively.

Kim used to by my lobby person when I was running Campus. She was competing today in the 50 meter run at the Special Olympics.

I found out that the Lively family was named Family of the Year. It doesn’t surprise me, I’ve known Kim and her mom for several years now and they are both such wonderful people.

I managed to get a couple pictures of Kim.

This year’s Special Olympics marks like the umpteenth time in a row where I left the Special Olympics thinking that I’m going to take time off work and volunteer next year. Now that I know that Becky (the most volunteeringest* person I’ve ever met) volunteers for Special Olympics I might see about making her my Accountability Buddy for making sure that I volunteer next year.

* I realize that volunteeringest isn’t a word, but bugger off the English language is constantly evolving and it will be a word soon enough.

Blogging, Bowling, Jaycees, Jesse, Willy

300

May 17, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

The subject of this entry is not a reference to the Spartans. This is the 300th entry in An Artist’s Notebook.

This post is mostly to announce to the world in general:

“You’ve beaten me, again!!”

It isn’t the first time that the world has beaten me. It certainly won’t be the last.

A few weeks back I indicated that I was getting an alarmingly high amount of text messages on my phone and it was time to get a text messaging package. I knew that the bell had tolled for me, but I did nothing about it.

Until today. After volunteering at the Jaycee’s Bowling Challenge (where incidentally I think I was the least favorite volunteer of the people running the Challenge) I made the trip to the mall and signed up for a text messaging package.

There you have it world. You win again. Feel free to text message me to the fullest of your heart’s desire. You won’t hear me grumble about it ever again.

I also picked up a new phone. The keypad was fading fast on the old phone. I didn’t pick up anything fancy like Jesse or Willy. However, I do now get the joy of putting in new Caller ID Photos of my friends and create new ringtones for them. That will give me something to do. I just need to figure out just the right song and just the right picture for each friend.

I still need to get the old pictures off my phone. That could make for an interesting entry some time in the future.

Bowling, Derrick, Movies, Music, Road Trip, Self-Portrait

Tell My Friend Willie Brown

May 6, 2008 Christopher D. Bennett

I have a week chock full of fun activities, but I think one might stand above all the others. Tonight Derrick and I are having a little bonding time by watching Crossroads.

If you instantly thought of the Britney Spears movie, you are not my friend. Please erase my e-mail from your address book. Delete my phone number from your cell phone. Unless, you are willing to learn. Then you can remain my friend, but you may have to make amends for your sin.

Those of you that instantly thought of the 1986 Walter Hill classic, good job. You get a gold star and might get a birthday present from me if you meet the rest of the birthday present getting criteria.

This movie is so sweet that it even eclipses the other events from this week.

I got this wad of cash last night at the bowling league awards ceremony. Yes ladies and gentleman, that is what 38 smackers looks like.

But even getting money is eclipsed by Crossroads.

New Road Trip Hat

I’m even going on two road trips this week to break in my new Road Trip Hat. The Big Jesus Road Trip on Friday. Then on Saturday I’m going on The Cardiff Giant Road Trip. The Cardiff Giant Road Trip had taken on a bit of an added dimension after some information I received last Wednesday. I don’t want too give too much away, but think “Gypsum Penis”. At least if I correctly deducted what the term “modest” was meant to insinuate.

I’m also going to see Chicago on Thursday at Stephens.

Plus, I’m having supper tomorrow night at Jimmy’s Barbecue.

If that isn’t enough, there is serving food for the Mother-Daughter banquet on Saturday night.

Of course there is the traditional Mother’s Day Barbecue on Sunday.

Yet they are all eclipsed by tonight’s viewing of Crossroads.

Derrick recently went down to the home of Delta Blues for a 3 or 4 day extensive training session with Peavey in Meridian, Mississippi. I gave him the mission of either getting a Mississippi String Tie (which is what a bluesman wears in Mississippi) or at least making it to Highway 61.

The folks at Peavey kept him so busy that he never accomplished either mission. In fact the only time he was free from them he made a trip to a gas station. He did report to me that they served catfish at this gas station. We both agree that Gas Station Catfish would make either a great song or album title.

I thought I would just share some of my favorite scenes from Crossroads.

The Crossroads

“Where I come from, you don’t blow no harp, you don’t get no pussy.”

Highway 61

Mississippi Blues Tie

“Look at this old guitar here you been squeakin’ on. I bet you saw this thing in a music store and bought it just because you thought it was beat up! Well you got it all wrong. Muddy Waters invented electricity.”

“Where you learn to play them pussy chords, in music school?… Now if you spend as much time with your hands on them strings as you do on this girl’s ass, you might get somewhere.”

“Lots of towns… Lots of songs… Lots of women… Good times… Bad times… Only thing I wanted anyone to say is… ‘He could really play… He was good’.”

The Crossroads Again.

The Devil’s Guitarist.

The Guitar Battle.

Now that is a movie. I’m already getting me some of them Crossroads Blues:

I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please

Standin’ at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Whee-hee, I tried to flag a ride
Didn’t nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by

Standin’ at the crossroads, risin’ sun goin’ down
Standin’ at the crossroads baby, the risin’ sun goin’ down
I believe to my soul now, po’ Bob is sinkin’ down

You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown
That I got the crossroad blues this mornin’, Lord, baby I’m sinkin’ down

I went to the crossroad, mama, I looked east and west
I went to the crossroad, babe, I looked east and west
Lord, I didn’t have no sweet woman, ooh well, babe, in my distress