Blog Renovation

I have had this blog since February this year. I don't know where I want to go with it. I'm not political, so that won't work..Too many jock sniffing sports blogs.. I want to keep it simple and not be a current events blog. in the next few week I will rededicate myself to my blog and talk about whatever..It may be a history lesson, it may be about a day at work, kid's tennis or my son's Cub Scout meetings.

Consider this a blog renovation

Keith Urban has to be the hardest working man in Country Music

This morning I wake up with a headache. Not from an all nighter of drinking..This 41 year old body couldn't take that much abuse..LOL ..No we went to see Keith Urban and Jake Owen last night at the Gwinnett Arena. It was a fantastic concert. Jake, I'm not familiar with put on a great forty minute set, kept the crowd into it as he put on a great show, bringing a couple up on the stage and serenaded them as they slow danced..I think it made their night.. We didn't have to wait long between sets..I remember seeing Guns and Roses twenty years ago and waiting almost two hours before GNR came on because Axl Rose was a goober.

Keith came on and played non stop for two and a half hours. He played is old favorites and new ones from his Get Closer album..Keith went out into the crowd several times, close to the end of the show he went to the other end of the arena and played up in the club seats, where at the end of "You look good in my shirt" he autographed and handed his Fender Stratocaster to a fan that I believe it made his year.

Keith during the show



It was a fantastic show..it only took us thirty minutes to get out of the arena parking lot..We got home about 12:30 and crashed..Luckily the kids were spending the night at some Good friends of ours so don't think we neglected them.. Have a good day.. and Exedrin Migraine

Where Atlanta has failed

I'm not talking about the city itself but when it comes to Atlanta sports lately, Hotlanta has been cooled. The Braves are fine..not quite to their run of division titles from the 90's and 2000's and which are proudly displayed everywhere at Turner Field..The Falcons are headed in the right direction with Arthur Blank, Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Smith, Matt Ryan and new draft pick..Julio Jones..(RTR!!)..

No the disappointment to me is losing the Thrashers, the second time a city in NHL history to lose a franchise to a small market Canadian city..The city (Winnipeg) in 1996 lost their team to Phoenix, AZ who may from a year from now may pack their things and move away to Quebec City or Hamilton, Ontario.. The Thrashers were destined to fail..Poorly run by a crappy ownership group who did not know who was actually in charge..Also owning the Hawks didn't help.. The Atlanta Spirit Group showed toward the end they cared more about the Hawks and making money off Phillips Arena. Hockey is a rich mans sport..If you want to play when your young, your parents better pony up and sacrifice to get you in the right camps, and training facilities..The Thrashers didn't get out into the community, well the community they got to were mostly upper middle class and above white folks who could afford tickets and were willing to spend it until the Thrashers kept putting a crappy product on the ice..Even the most die-hard fan could not stand it anymore..
This left the NHL no choice but not support a product that was on life support..At least the metro area still has the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, the team is owned by separate group and will stay here for three more years.

The other disappointment is watching tonight's newest Sprint Cup date at Kentucky Speedway. This was Atlanta Motor Speedway's first race date of the year, well would have been in March.. AMS now has one race date left. No longer a Chase race, now it sits on Labor Day Weekend. AMS struggled badly for the last ten years to get people to sit through races that were mostly boring and too damn long. There does not need to be a need for a 500 mile race these days.. If you have never been to a race at AMS, be prepared to sit in traffic for awhile..

Good evening folks

My photo of the day

Downtown Atlanta 7-6-11

Three Day Weekend

We spent our three day 4th Of July weekend in Alabama visiting my parents and my mother-in-law. We had a great time but it was blasted hot..Its hot in the ATL but going back to where we grew up seems to be hotter..Pippin walked around with his tongue hanging out all weekend. He is kind of spoiled with the AC.. The kids played at my parents pool most of day on Sunday. No matter how much sunscreen I put on the kids it just did not matter..I also resembled a lobster. Sunday evening we spent quality time with some good friends: Angelle, Dwight and their two daughters.. The kids played Wii while we talked and walked around their farm taking pictures..We hated to leave good friends, time flies when you are having fun.
The Fourth we came back to the ATL planning on watching fireworks in our usual location in Roswell, Ga. The weather did not cooperate and we decided to head back home..We watched Capital Fourth, Where Steve Martin and his bluegrass band were outstanding. We also watched Macy's Fourth from NYC..They know how to do fireworks right. Its on our bucket list to do..Roxanne saw it in 1982 while her and her mother visited relatives in NYC...The Fourth is my favorite holiday..Its sad after it passes until Alabama kicks off in the Fall.



Most docile thing you will ever see



Old Fence Weaver Alabama



Sully and Kate playing at grandparent's pool



Kate and Sully having a water battle

Sully

Playing Angry Birds on Ipad

Cross Tree Art

Bama Birdhouse

Kate and Sully building their coasters at Home Depot on the 2nd

Kate and Sully at the pool

Federer

Today was not a great day for Roger. I have been a fan since he upset Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001..Today he blew a two set lead to Jo Wili Tsonga..Someone he has owned in recent years. I watched as he lost serve three times..Unlike the Fed to do that. Is he on the downside of his career? I surely hope not.. I would like to see him win a tournament again..Not just a slam which I'm thinking it may be slipping away with Novak playing above the atmosphere and Nadal when he is on, forget about it.. It stinks when the possible greatest player of tennis has to walk out after dropping a match after leading two sets..

Lets hope he leaves the court on a good note the next time with a trophy in hand

Photography Bucket List

I received an email today from a local photography group  about a "photography bucket list". My bucket list would be in no particular order:

1. Cork, Ireland..what I understand there is not a shortage of photo ops in Ireland..Ireland's second city would be a great place to take some good shots.

2. New York City..I'm probably one of the few that has not yet been to the Big Apple

3. British Columbia..The Vancouver Olympics made us want to hop on a plane and check it out. With the Pacific Ocean and the Canadian Rockies not far away would be memorable trip.

4. London..There are a ton of old things to take a good shot of..

5 . Paris (Not Texas)

Have a good evening people..

See you tomorrow

( I did not take these shots..Just borrowing)

Random Pics

These are some random shots from the past year:

Old Store outside Lanett, Alabama

Dunwoody Ga. UMC Old Chapel



Old First National Bank Building Oxford Alabama



Oxford (AL) High School Building 1950-2011

Piedmont Park

Atlantic Station



Bullock Hall Roswell Ga.



Sunday Morning

Overslept this morning so we missed church..Again! ..Anyway, me and Kate walked the Great Pipponie (Pippin) I took shots along the way..

Plan to get outside more today..So blasted hot in The ATL

Saturday

Today was a most active day.. Wimbledon on the tv always makes us get out and knock the ball around. Went to the library, store and dropped off some items at Goodwill. Need more photography work..Need to get out tomorrow and shoot something LOL

Well where the heck have I been?

Shame on me that I haven't contributed to the blogoshpere in months..It has been hectic..Too much to go into so lets start Summer fresh..

Sample of some of the things that I have shot in the last few months..I will do better

Mahalo

Friday Finally

Finally, Friday is here.. Yay!! We are going to break down and by another computer this weekend.. the tower is two years old but I don't know how long it will last.. It gets one heck of a workout each day. Great weather this weekend to here in the ATL!! Lets get out and do something!!

My grandfather General Oscar Ponds..World War 1 vet. He died two days after I was born.

Bienvenue

Shame on Me

I'm sorry. It's been a week and I haven't posted..A lot has been going on. We were all under the weather and the weather itself has been fantastic. Found out late last week I will be transferred again.. If I only knew where it would put my mind at ease. I am going to try putting up a random photo of the day. It will be either something I took, something lifted from my wife's photos(LOL), or from another famous or not yet discovered photographer.

 Sometime in 1941, 9:00pm Franklin County, Georgia service station.(Library Of Congress photo)

Good Day Folks

Ten Years Later

Ten years ago at Daytona, the racing world loss one of their greatest drivers. I was not a Earnhardt fan, but sometimes I found myself rooting for him. I was working at the time at a ladder factory outside Annsiton, Al. was unable to watch or listen to the race. I managed to get the last lap by calling Roxanne on a break when she said Dale Earnhardt had crashed..We didn't know at the time but is was fatal. We all found out about it two hours later.

Go back twenty years to May 1980..My dad did sub-contract work for Alabama Intl. Motor Speedway in Talladega, Al. Since then it has been renamed Talladega Super Speedway. My dad, my brother Mark and myself got to go in garage area during practice prior to The Winston 500 that was held that following Sunday. Going to the garage was a big deal just as it would be now..At that time the big money wasn't in Nascar like it is now.. So the drivers were more grateful and friendly except Buddy baker, he was always wound up about the race.  I was a Richard Petty/ Bobby Allison fan.. I was excited to get to see them..when you are ten year old boy in Talladgea and loves racing at that time it was a big deal.  We got autographs and we had our Polaroid camera to take pictures.. It was that time I met Dale Earnhardt. It wasn't a big deal to me because I was not a fan of his, but liked him. He was a nice guy and would talk to you..  We got our picture taken with him.. He was talking to me while the pic was taken, I don't remember what it was about.. We told him good luck on Sunday.. He finished second to Buddy Baker.

Jump forward to 1998.. It was March 1998, race week at Atlanta. I'm married now to Roxanne, we are living the Atlanta area. Dale Earnhardt is signing autographs at The International Car Show at the World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.. Roxanne and I waited in line for over three hours to get his signature..I brought a Wheaties diecast car and that Polaroid pic that we had taken together.  That's what I wanted to get signed if I had ever had the chance to meet him again. This time racing it was totally different than was in 1980..More corporate, drivers are not as accessable than they were then. We finally made it to the table, there were handlers there to handle the items before Dale would sign. If it wasn't official..forget it he wouldn't sign it. Roxanne got the car signed and he was very gracious to her. He got the picture and he was floored. I told him when it was and told him who I was.. He took the pic and showed it to his yougest daughter Taylor Nicole who was there with him.. He really appreciated it and thanked me for bringing it. I thanked him just because.

February 2001.. Dale Earnhardt was gone..he was killed in the last turn on the last lap of the 500.. The two cars he owned finished one-two in the race. Where there would be a huge celebration turned into sadness when it was revealed that he did not survive. Racing we know it changed forever.. I took the picture that he signed back in 1998 and two pictures of him signing the picture and had it framed.. It marked the only times I met Dale Earnhardt..

Now ten years later the racing world looks back on the loss of Dale Earnhardt. This is my way paying homage to him on this day.

Good Evening

Bricks

I have a admiration for brick walls..This wall is part of the old Vickery Creek Mill in Roswell, Ga. It dates back to the 1850's. Why the admiration? It has a story to tell, it has seen a lot in the last 150 plus years..It survived the demolition by Union forces, reconstruction, the 20th Century and the most important thing..Time. 
I have five bricks that once belonged to our former high school in Oxford, Alabama.. They are 61 years old...They have contained so many memories that I did not understand until we watched the gradual demolition of our old school so there could be a new parking area for the $19 Million new high school the opened prior to this school year..
The truth is, time marches on but for these bricks they hold time to what it once was..

Good Evening

First Post

Good Morning Blogland,

 After years of procrastination and nudging by my better half.. I have started a blog.. She asked me what it will be about, I don't know.. It will be about anything from photography, Alabama Football, kids, marriage, racing, etc... Thank you for being in on the start of this journey and I hope I won't disappoint.

Bienvenue