Austin doesn't set well with the Hogs

Well, my first travel football game didn't go so well for the Hogs. The Razorbacks lost 52-10 to the Longhorns of Texas. The steer stampeded the piggies for all they were worth.

But I had a decent day shooting, so I can't complain too much. And I really enjoyed my trip. But I'm ready to be back home already (despite the fact the beds and pillows in this hotel, the Marriott North in Round Rock, are the BEST I've ever slept on).

Apparently, Bill Murray was at the game as well, but I never saw him. Neither did I see Matthew McConaughey who I think is at pretty much every damned Texas game.

Also, I just like to add that the chaps are the BEST. CHEERLEADING. OUTFIT. EVER.

Bikes, Blues & BBQ

Well today was my first and only day with Bikes, Blues & BBQ as I leave for Austin tomorrow morning to follow the Hogs football team.

Although the ordeal started out as a total cluster f*&# in multiple communication inconsistencies, I finally came away with a frame (last one posted) that pleased not only myself, but, more importantly, my editors.

I wish I had the free time to get out to the festivities to live it up while not on the clock. Maybe next year.

Now it's time to pack and head out for an early flight tomorrow morning. And what I know will be a VERY one-sided football game on Saturday. But, hey, the Wolfpack pulled one off last week, right? Right? OK, we'll see.

I'll try to be blogging from Austin.

Bikers are coming

Started off the day at a health fair at the Jones Center in Springdale. Unfortunately, there was a LOT of stuff there, but not a lot of interesting things to shoot. So I made what I could.

Today is the first day of the annual Bikes, Blues & BBQ. So hundreds of thousands of bikers are ascending on Northwest Arkansas. This event was happening when I moved here last year, so this will be my first real taste of the craziness. So today I had to shoot a portrait of a local attorney with his customized bike, "Blade."

And finally I did some enterprise shooting by finding some kids on the playground at Murphy Park in Springdale.

What a great day

Today was an awesome day. I had a pretty good shooting day with the football game. The Hogs got absolutely demoralized by the Tide in a 49-14 waxing but that's not my fault.

And the Wolfpack beat the EZU Pirates in Raleigh. But our wonderful AD, Lee Fowler had the best setup quote before the game: "I think, truthfully, we expect to beat East Carolina on a year-in year-out basis," said Fowler. "To us, it wouldn't be that big an upset."

And the day culminated with a wonderful evening. I'll leave that at that.
(that's what she said)

Thursday update

Today was pretty much dedicated to enterprise art. I've still got an advance assignment to shoot tonight, but I don't wanna give anything away to the competition. :) Sorry, TMN guys and gal.

Went down Dickson Street and found these guys painting the front of an art studio and just liked the balance of the painter and the stuffed gorilla in the window. Nothing special, I know. But, hey, it fills a hole, right?

And then I went over the VA in Fayetteville where they held a POW/MIA ceremony.

Ike blows through

Well, Hurricane Ike (technically Tropical Storm Ike) passed through Arkansas over night. So today was mostly dedicated to finding any sort of damage. A little hint, there wasn't much.

And after that, I went to the Rogers Skate Park just to get something not weather-related.

Hurricane Ike alters the weekend

Before a decision came down on Thursday night, I would be in Austin, Texas right now covering the Ark. vs. Texas football game. But Hurricane Ike decided to roll in on the Gulf Coast of Texas and those in the know decided to postpone the game for two weeks. So, now there is no bye-week for Arkansas.

And I could keep whining about the gas prices, but I've found it doesn't get me anywhere. So I'll just leave that alone as it's a HUGE issue.

So here's a sampling of things I've shot the past few days.

Silly monkeys

A couple things to post for the day back from the weekend.

First off is a three-bear statue that was unveiled at the Compton Gardens as part of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

And then I went to the Benton County Fair where I found these great monkeys that were frickin' hilarious. Kiwi, the white-bellied spider monkey, crawled on this one guy's head and took the cigarette from behind his ear. Had to post that on here if for no other reason, the scene kinda reminded me of Stripe from "Gremlins."

Going back home

Only had one assignment today but it was one that takes a little longer than the average assignment.

Went down to Fort Chaffee to cover the Hurricane Gustav evacuees being loaded onto buses to take them to the airport to make their return flights back to New Orleans.

While I felt comfortable with what I got from the take and there were a few good stories found, I feel like I missed the real stories. Along with Adam Wallworth, the reporter that was with me, I felt this really would've been given its due by being down there for a day earlier in the week on the base and spent some time with some families while they're living there. And, on a side note, while we had the expected escort around the base, this was a LOT easier to work with than most corporate escorts I'm given. The person wasn't sitting on my shoulder the entire time and gave me plenty of room to work and find the shots I wanted.

Oh, and Zac, you don't wanna do the Tyson tie-breaker as there was actually something to shoot after you left.

Showdown at the old corral

Zac Lehr from the Morning News and I showed up at Parsons Stadium at similar times to shoot some wild art of the Monster Truck show setup. So we decided to have a good ole' fashioned shoot-out. You may have gotten me this time, Mr. Lehr, but I'll be back.

Later that evening, it was time for some high school football in Springdale. The Jays from Jefferson City, Mo., came down to play the Bulldogs of Springdale.

No assignments....again

Well, today was another no-assignment day. At least the rain stopped.

So I had to do some more enterprise shooting. Otherwise known as wild-art hunting. Otherwise known as "find something to shoot." Otherwise known as "find something else to shoot."

I went first to Riordan Hall and hung out with the Bella Vista Fly Tyers Club. These guys are a trip to hang out with. Real good people.

And then I went to downtown Bentonville and found this guy installing traffic signals above one of the intersections near the square. No, it's not a great photo, but I just liked the lines that formed and the body English of the guy working on it.

"Who'll stop the rain?"

So Gustav has moved through Louisiana and is now dropping a copious amount of rain upon Arkansas. So after hearing that my fellow staffers had already gotten rain shots for the paper and with no assignments, I went to find people finding indoor things to do.

I went to the Rogers Public Library and following pre-school story time, the kids had craft time with a little help from their parents.

Busy week

Well the past several days have been pretty busy and I didn't get home at a decent hour a couple nights. So I just really haven't made time to post to the blog. So this is just a random selection of stuff from Thursday through Sunday. :)