Notes and Motes
Sep. 23rd, 2009 05:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jjmaccrimmonSeasons change, as do all of us passing through them. Fall is definitely in the air here in north Alabama though given all the rain, it may be hard to tell. We’re now in our 19th day with some appreciable rainfall in the Huntsville/Madison area. We’ve had some heavy rains, but nothing the local streams and rivers haven’t been able to handle. Oddly, the weather has reminded me increasingly of the Pacific Northwest. In fact, instead of the leaves changing colors early, the mild temperatures and rains have contributed to the area looking even greener. I know it won’t last, but the foliage does start to change, the colors ought t be spectacular.
Soccer
Soccer continues to be an exercise in time & excitement management. Chris absolutely adores the play and competition, but the coaching of his team is starting to frustrate him. Chris is mainly being played as an offensive striker or forward on his “Manchester United” team. His coach is alternately giving him contradictory instructions on where and how to play. When he plays position (as instructed), he alternately is yelled at by his coach for not pulling back to play defense and ignored by his team thinking he’s an opportunist. When he pulls back to support the defense (which he’s mobile enough to do), his coach has been yelling at him for not playing position and being aggressive on offense. Damn’d if he does and if he doesn’t. I e-mailed his coach to explain this, but there’s a small language barrier issue. His coach is a former member of the Ugandan National Soccer Team and he didn’t entirely understand my (written) concerns. I’ll try to explain it better tonight at practice (assuming the weather permits).
The rains have been the one thing that has helped to moderate the soccer activities. Had several practices and scrimmages not been rained out last week, we would have had soccer activities 6 out of 7 days last week. This week, we’ve already had one practice cancelled, so we’ve gotten some breathing room.
Photo Activities
Because the weather has been so wet and gloomy, I’ve devoted a bunch of time to editing and uploading pictures recently. This past weekend I edited over 300 images and either uploaded them or cut them to CD-Rs. Of these photos, 150+ were from a steampunk meet-up at Burritt on the Mountain; 40+ were from a surprise birthday bash for the leader of the local steampunk group; and 100+ nature shots from several summer wanders. I also copied nearly 250 photos to CD-R for The Posey Peep Show from their previous performance. These were raw and unedited but in this case, I needed to get “Clementine” a set of images and I simply wasn’t going to get to them anytime soon.
Speaking of the Posey’s, I took Wendy and Brenna to see their show on Sunday. It was in part a reward for Brenna and a chance for Wendy to shoot in a very challenging venue. I think they both loved the acts. The Posies had special guests, the Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow featuring Betty Bloomerz and Insectavora performing with them. The Squidlings are from out of Philly and reminded me so much of Freak Show Deluxe from Los Angeles. Both groups alternated performance routines which complimented each act and were full of energy and chaos. Brenna was practically giddy about getting to go and couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful the performer “Insectavora” was.
Right now, I’m deep in the planning stages for a 50’s style, pin-up shoot in late October with 3+ models. My plan is to rent a 2010 Mustang Convertible and have the ladies in various Betty Page poses in and around the car. I’m very much hoping that my friend and SWYD promoter Heathra will be the make-up artist and possibly pose a bit too. Although we’re going for 50’s style, I think she’d look great in black stockings w/garters, black pumps and a red (halter) top (bare back) in order to show off her tattoos. Just a thought...
Soccer
Soccer continues to be an exercise in time & excitement management. Chris absolutely adores the play and competition, but the coaching of his team is starting to frustrate him. Chris is mainly being played as an offensive striker or forward on his “Manchester United” team. His coach is alternately giving him contradictory instructions on where and how to play. When he plays position (as instructed), he alternately is yelled at by his coach for not pulling back to play defense and ignored by his team thinking he’s an opportunist. When he pulls back to support the defense (which he’s mobile enough to do), his coach has been yelling at him for not playing position and being aggressive on offense. Damn’d if he does and if he doesn’t. I e-mailed his coach to explain this, but there’s a small language barrier issue. His coach is a former member of the Ugandan National Soccer Team and he didn’t entirely understand my (written) concerns. I’ll try to explain it better tonight at practice (assuming the weather permits).
The rains have been the one thing that has helped to moderate the soccer activities. Had several practices and scrimmages not been rained out last week, we would have had soccer activities 6 out of 7 days last week. This week, we’ve already had one practice cancelled, so we’ve gotten some breathing room.
Photo Activities
Because the weather has been so wet and gloomy, I’ve devoted a bunch of time to editing and uploading pictures recently. This past weekend I edited over 300 images and either uploaded them or cut them to CD-Rs. Of these photos, 150+ were from a steampunk meet-up at Burritt on the Mountain; 40+ were from a surprise birthday bash for the leader of the local steampunk group; and 100+ nature shots from several summer wanders. I also copied nearly 250 photos to CD-R for The Posey Peep Show from their previous performance. These were raw and unedited but in this case, I needed to get “Clementine” a set of images and I simply wasn’t going to get to them anytime soon.
Speaking of the Posey’s, I took Wendy and Brenna to see their show on Sunday. It was in part a reward for Brenna and a chance for Wendy to shoot in a very challenging venue. I think they both loved the acts. The Posies had special guests, the Squidling Bros. Circus Sideshow featuring Betty Bloomerz and Insectavora performing with them. The Squidlings are from out of Philly and reminded me so much of Freak Show Deluxe from Los Angeles. Both groups alternated performance routines which complimented each act and were full of energy and chaos. Brenna was practically giddy about getting to go and couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful the performer “Insectavora” was.
Right now, I’m deep in the planning stages for a 50’s style, pin-up shoot in late October with 3+ models. My plan is to rent a 2010 Mustang Convertible and have the ladies in various Betty Page poses in and around the car. I’m very much hoping that my friend and SWYD promoter Heathra will be the make-up artist and possibly pose a bit too. Although we’re going for 50’s style, I think she’d look great in black stockings w/garters, black pumps and a red (halter) top (bare back) in order to show off her tattoos. Just a thought...
