The phone rang Thursday morning at 7:15am. Luckily, for the caller, I had been awake for some time and was almost done with my coffee. When I answer, my sister asks, “can you have a family emergency this afternoon, at about 1ish?”. I am intrigued and check my work schedule – seems there might be some wiggle room for whatever the sister has in mind. Turns out there is a long-overdue hair appointment scheduled and a very strong need for a babysitter for the little ones. Auntie Keri has been called and, like the Wonder Woman I am, I make it work. After arriving at my source of income, the bossman quickly agrees that the best place for me to be that afternoon is presiding over the care of the girls while their momma get pampered. Yeah!

I arrive at about 1pm, lunch in hand ready for the latest bits of info the sister has in store for me. The sleeping beauty should be out for a while (which means that as soon as she leaves for her appointment, sleeping beauty will wake up, ready to play with Auntie). The first born has already begun reciting the itinerary of activities planned for the afternoon; all of which are contingent upon the sleeper continuing to sleep.

The door closes behind the beauty-seeker, and the fun begins with a tour of the playroom and a detailed introduction to all of the 187 ponies and dolls that live in the playroom.

Luckily, I was not given a test on the names.

Approximately 12 minutes later, noise begins upstairs and it is decided that nap-time is over. Covered in sweat and sporting some awesome hair, the child is ready to play.

The decision is made, unanimously, to head to the park.

Although it was not in the original plan, I think they had fun.

Then, back to the house to tackle the fruit that need to be sliced…and eaten.

MMM…watermelon

and some toe inspection.

Then, off to watch a video…

(the best blurry picture in my collection!)

and some bubbles.

It was an afternoon of fun…and momma’s hair looks great!

I have been trying to make the links between my sites a little better. After posting some pictures of the Bramble Fam, I spent some time re-tooling my Gallery pages on Shutterfly. Have a looksie

My Photos

My amazing friend Aimee asked me to take some pictures of her kids as a gift for Father’s Day. Of course, I was more than happy to oblige. Aimee & her husband, Chris have two beautiful children; Bailey and Greyson.

Aimee invited me over one Saturday afternoon and we all hung out for a few hours. Here are a few shots of the adorable kiddos.

Can you believe that hair??

I love the shadow on this one.

Having fun in the backyard.

Beautiful Bailey!

Thanks for letting me have the time with the family, Aimee! Can’t wait to do it again.

There are more at Shutterfly

A few new trailers that have caught my eye, and will help to keep me entertained through the summer. **There are hundreds of reviews of all of these movies all over the Internet. I have no interest in becoming #101. These movies are on my list of movies to choose from for the next few months.

The title of the first film is a great beginning of the summer film season.

500 Days of Summer

I like the tag for the movie: Boy meets Girl—Boy falls in love—Girl doesn’t. What else can you say about a postmodern love story? – not to mention the best use of a Hall & Oats song…um…ever…and possibly the greatest soundtrack of any of the summer flicks which, for me, is huge (uh, Garden State, hello)

Next up is the one (so far) from this list that I have seen:

Great cast, over-the-top characters, great scenery…loved it.

Next on the list is Moon – looking almost a little too creepy for my taste, but Sam Rockwell & Kevin Spacey…um..OK.

On a lighter note:

Gotta have a bromance, or it wouldn’t be summer, right? No trailer link for this one, but it will be easy to find, I’m sure.

So, there are plenty other films that I haven’t posted (Inglorious Basterds, Humpday, the latest Potter, The Informant) – but this is a good start for me for the summer.

More photographs from the Boston Globe’s amazing News Stories in Photographs section.

President Obama’s first 167 days

U.S. President Barack Obama has now been in office for 167 days, and it’s time for a look back. Why 167 days? Why not – it’s just as arbitrary a number as the usual “100 days”. In that time, President Obama has contended with stimulating the U.S. economy, reshaping U.S. policy abroad, and starting work on domestic issues such as health care reform. As he and his family arrive in Moscow today for an official visit, find here a look back at some of the first 167 days of the Obama administration. (38 photos total)

 

Juvinated!

From 37′ Productions Weblog

Sean is keeping himself busy (as usual). His latest adventures in music and live shows are summed up here…copied straight from his (underused) blog, with some extra links added (by me) to the great MySpace pages of the local Boston artists that Sean has been working with.

On another note…his sister just gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl! Congrats on the ever-expanding family.

By 37ft

It’s been quite the month everyone! Another 37′ Live! show went off and was a smashing success. Thanks to Bone Dry System, Totem, Petrina Foley and Seventh Room for making the night a great one. We’re looking to do another one in early autumn, around September or October, and it could very well be another CD release party (more on that as the date approaches).

Just a little news: Tim Mahoney’s as-yet-untitled 7-song EP is now finished. Jason Nute and Dave Leitch of BDS played wonderfully on this one. This is a very cool guitar driven pop record, so check it out!

Vary Lumar was in last week starting their first in a series of 4 5-song EP’s to be released over a 16 month span. This is a slight departure musically for them, although I prefer to think of it as a natural growth. I seriously love this band! Keep your ears open. You can check out photos from the week, as well as from other thing 37′,here.

That’s all for now. ~Sean

For many, many years I have been a huge fan of photography. From the greats like Dorothea Lange and Henri Cartier-Bresson to Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts, I have always been a fan. For a few years (more than a decade ago) I was blessed to be educated at Orange Coast College (OCC), a school that is ranked in the Top 5 in the country in Photographic Studies. After struggling through the transition from film to digital, about a year ago I saved up and purchased a Nikon D40 DSLR – and my world changed. I now have more images than I know what to do with.

I have dabbled in color and black & white, portraiture, nature, and architecture, but have always drawn the biggest joy from just hanging out with friends and shooting events, moments, and people as they occur in everyday life. As much as I love and admire wedding photography, I prefer the spontaneous moments as they happen.

Something I have never done before is enter a photo into a contest. This year, as I researched and contemplated my future in photography, I thought that I should look into exhibits and competitions…just to see how my work compares to the work of others  One of the first events I thought of was the photo contest at the OC Fair. After looking into it, I found that the deadline had passed. Next was the Huntington Beach Art Center. Funny enough, the deadline was just a few short weeks away.

This showing was open to anyone – work had to be done within the last two years, and it would be a non-juried exhibit…no competition, no pressure. I looked over my portfolio and settled on a few images. With a little discipline, I narrowed it down to one and filled out the paperwork. I did the work, showed up and turned in the photo, sent out the emails and waited. On Friday, June 26th the show opened.

That smile was plastered across my face all night long. Nothing beats the feeling of looking up on a wall to see my framed picture (the one of the building, street sign and sky is mine). I was nervous, but it was a great night. The show runs until July 29th, 2009 and there are tons and tons of great art. I was very happy to be a part of it!

With the blink of an eye, June is gone. The calendar turns another page, the sun is shining and I am looking forward to the holiday weekend. June was a HUGE month, not just in my family life and my photographic life but in the entertainment world as well.

I turned the page on many calendars, the first was my Nana’s, which read: God is always with me. God bestows blessings of life, light and love on me and ALL his children. A great way to start the month – and wonderful, true & simple thought to start the day and the summer with.

In our family we have had many celebrations: a birth (welcome Oliver!) a few birthdays (Dad, Stepdad, Sister & Niece #2), many Fathers (Happy Father’s Day!), a big move, and an anniversary. We all came together, when we could, to help out, pour love on each other and certainly give thanks for the blessings that we are all grateful to be part of.

Several friends have also been experiencing change in their lives. A birth here, a new job there, vacations, re-connecting with old friends, and taking on new adventures. We have experienced never-before seen challenges: job loss, re-locating, and some unpredicted medical challenges that are giving way to awesome personal strength.

Through all of this, we are served and we serve. God is always with me.

I am going to make an attempt to catch up my blog in the next few days…stay tuned.

This collection of pictures is incredible. Hard to believe they are from so long ago. The technique is very interesting.

From SUNFiltered blog

The blog Socyberty has collected a bunch of amazingly vibrant century-old photos by a Russian photographer named Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky. “With the blessing — and funding — of the Tsar, Nicholas II,” Socyberty writes, “[Prokudin-Gorsky] embarked on an extraordinary journey to capture the essence of Russia in full color photographs. Many of these pictures look as if they could have been taken yesterday, with only the costumes worn by the people captured in their moment of time betraying the age of the work.”

See more of Prokudin-Gorsky’s photos here.

Student hoaxes world’s media on Wikipedia

DUBLIN – When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.

His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.

Such a sad commentary on the state of media & journalism today.