The Skipper and Gilligan

SkipperAndGilligan
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

The key to taking a spastic lab on his first boat ride is to make him play river-fetch for an hour beforehand.

I'm sailing

Crew
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

This photo just goes to show you...no matter how many years you have been taking photos for a living (almost 10 in my case) it is extremely hard to take a self portrait in which you don't look like a total putz.

Best question of the weekend

After ordering a chicken strip combo at the drive-thru at Wendy's....the lady at the window said, "It will be about three minutes on your strips...do you want to wait?" Uh...well yeah.

Raise the Roof

raisetheroof
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

From this day forward I would like to take the following things off the table...

Phrases such as:

"Party Hearty" (...or any other variation such as "Are you ready to par-taay?")

"It's all good" (I think it is safe to say that we all have had enough of that.)

"Ain't no thang"

"Don't take my picture...I'll break your camera" (Serious business...please stop saying this to me...and all other photographers)

"Now that's what I'm talking about."

"Show me the money!" (You had me at hello...now shut-up already)

"You go girl!"

There are also a few gestures I would suggest be retired...

Raising the roof - 1993 is on the phone...they want their dance back.

High fives - Ok...off of the athletic field...I don't want to high five you after someone cracks a funny joke. As Seinfeld put it, "Slapping hands is the lowest form of male primate ritual. In fact, even some of them have moved on - they're doing sign language now. "

The peace sign - I don't know why this bugs me so bad...but it just does. If you feel so compelled to do something with your hands when having your candid photo made...simply put them in your pockets.

Other than that....I'm not bothered by much.

The Princess

I just realized that one of the main reason I started this blog was to post some of my recent work...as you can see...I've gotten a little side tracked.

This is an image that I shot for a fundraising event for The Princess Theatre via The Marquee Club. The photo was framed and given away as a door prize.

In all the years that I have shot this marquee...I have never shot a photo like this in the daytime...it's waaay better than I expected it to be...of course...sunset light and a pretty sky doesn't hurt anything either.

creepy

The similarity between the images shown with my last two posts (although unintentional) is more frightening than I anticipated.

"O" the humanity

"O" the humanity
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

I would just like to call attention to something. Oprah Winfrey's magazine "O". Is anyone else bothered by the fact that she has her picture on the cover of every month's issue? Now I know that I shouldn't speak out against "The Oprah"...but it's just so pathetic. Having your picture on the cover of your magazine every stinkin' month speaks volumes about your personality. I bet she gives herself nicknames too.

Chewbacca

chewbacca
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

You know at first I was trying to think of something clever and witty to say in reference to Chewy...but honestly...this picture and this sound are quite enough.

To all of you who camped out for weeks and weeks to be the first in your area to see the new Star Wars movie...I offer you my most sincere and heartfelt "Get a job".

Anybody got a kleenex?

TV BEHINDSCENES 123004
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

When is it okay for a grown man to cry? When Old Yeller dies and that's it? This is a question that most guys don't touch...yet we all wonder about the answer.

There have been some times in my life when I cried and felt like a man doing so. For instance...when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' single season homerun record in 1998...I guess those were tears of joy...but tears nonetheless. I feel like any tear shed over a sporting event is a tear filled with testosterone.

But excluding the passing of loved ones...everything else is really a gray area when it comes to getting a pass for shedding man tears. Now let me share with you my problem...

Every Sunday night Anna and I watch ABC's Extreme Home Makeover. As a man you can't help but be impressed with the fact that a contractor can actually get his sub-contractors to show up and get the work done in 7 days. But here is the problem...the stories that these families have get increasingly more heart wrenching with every week. I find myself choking back a come-apart every Sunday night about 7:45. But since there are air compressors and pneumatic tools involved...do I get a pass on this one?

I feel great!!!!

That's what I thought to myself this morning as the alarm clock went off. "This whole working out thing is going to be a breeze"...this of course was until I moved to turn off the alarm. Wow...my body is mad at me this morning. Apparently "raising my arms" has been taken off the table today.

I did come up with a new idea to help my finances while dealing with skyrocketing gas prices. All I have to do is come up with an engine that will run off of dog hair. I would call it the Labradorian.

I'm training to be a cage fighter

Kip1
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

Okay...so not exactly. But I am going to join a gym this afternoon. My history with paying for gym membership is less than impressive. But...as in everytime previous...I have convinced myself that I will stay motivated and go to the gym regularly. If nothing else it will give me something to write on this site about.

I'll let you know how my first visit goes...I'm sure I'll feel excellent tomorrow.

Keaton Tess

Tess
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

My new niece Tess was born on Monday morning around 9:10am to my brother John and his wife Melinda. Weighing in at 7 lbs 10 ounces and standing 20in tall....okay...maybe not standing.

At last...Bree has backup.

Breaking News

This just in from MSNBC.com and The Associated Press...the headline reads, "Brain responses differ in gay, straight men." This earth rattling revelation is brought to you by the same researchers who gave us, "Study shows men don't understand women" and "Report suggests O.J. Simpson guilt".

Happy Mother's Day

HappyMother'sDay
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

Back when I was living at home Mom and I did plenty of talking...but we also had this weird communication alternative. It may not be fair to call it communication because it was usually all one way. Mom would leave me notes taped to my bathroom mirror. These notes contained everything from phone messages to chore requests. On extra special occasions I would receive what I like to call "Notes from Webster". Every now and then I would use a word that mom would question the origin of. Not profane words by ANY stretch...just words that she didn't like. How did I know that Mom didn't like them? Well she would have the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary definition hand written in beautiful calligraphy...taped to my mirror when I woke up the next morning. I never threw away any of the notes that Mom left for me...I put every single one of them in the bathroom drawer.

Mom has since taken to using e-mail. This is a great thing for Mom because she has always sent her kind thoughts, sympathies, and congratulations to anyone who she felt needed them. Her notes are carefully written often times with a calligraphy pen. All we have to do now is figure out how she can send her e-mails in the same script.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thanks for everything...especially my mirror notes.

Now please stop crying.

Ducks Unlimited Poster Boy

Showdog
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

I'm not sure if it is the excellent photography...or the subject...but I smell a Ducks Unlimited contract! We did have outstanding wildlife artist Larry Chandler drive past us while we were walking Wilson around the boat harbor to dry him off. I photographed Larry a few times during my time at The Decatur Daily...I'd say a Ducks Unlimited postage stamp is a pretty fair trade for all that publicity right?

We'll wait by the phone.

Handshake

Handshake
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

I wanted to play wall ball and he wanted to play fetch in the river. We finally decided on "fetch in the river" and like any two respectable men...we shook on it.

Not just a burger place

Dubs
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

While driving through Athens on Saturday I was given some sad news. Anna had never eaten at Dub's Burgers. As Mr. Greenhaw put it, "That's almost sinful".

Dub's is a small burger restaurant owned by the Greenhaw family in Athens. I'm not sure how long it has been there....but as far as my life is concerned...it has been there forever.

Now this isn't any health food place...in fact it would make Richard Simmons scream like the little girl that he is if he saw all the fat grams and calories floating around in there. But that's what makes the place so good. If you are a granola lovin' health nut...I don't suggest you dive in headfirst unless you want to pay the consequences. It's called "The Dirty Thirty"...the thirty minutes you would have between when you ate...and the not so happy ending. For people with regular diets though...it's a breeze!

I love that place.

The greatest over-actor of all time

The greatest over-actor of all time
Originally uploaded by davejh23.

David Caruso is hands down the greatest over actor to ever appear on television. I am a huge CSI fan...the original...Las Vegas CSI...so out of curiosity I find myself watching CSI Miami more times than I am proud to admit. There isn't a line that man delivers that isn't painfully dramatic. He could be ordering a foot long at Sonic and make it sound like a line from Hamlet.

Oh and by the way....how many fair skinned,red headed guys named "Horatio" do you know?

Wow the rain

We went to the Beale Street Music Festival on Friday night and before I knew it I was gathering animals two by two. I never can remember though which ones are "clean" and which ones are "unclean". But seriously...wow the rain.

I bought Anna a rain suit and I dug one out that had been buried in my trunk since my newspaper days. Back then keeping myself dry was simply an afterthought.....making sure my gear didn't short out and leave me high and un-dry come deadline time was my top priority. So it was nice for a change just worrying about keeping myself dry. I even bought a pair of rubber/steel toed rain boots. Well we both suffered some sort of lapse when it came time to suit up. We put on the rain suits but talked ourselves out of the rain boots. This was a decision we both would soon regret. Ok...so we are in the middle of a monsoon...watching Gavin DeGraw...feet soaking wet but everything else was dry...right?

After finally deciding that we had experienced enough we headed back to the car to peel out of rain suits and head back up Union Avenue. This is the part of the evening where I learned a lesson via "the hard way". Sometimes rain suits...especially those left in hot/cold cars over the period of several years....develop weaknesses. I wasn't soaked...but I was way too damp for someone who had been covered from head to toe in water resistant material. As you can imagine....Anna was dry as a bone.

Overheard from a pothead fan to another fan up front. -- "Hey Mary Poppins! Move your stupid umbrella!"