The blind guy

I was up covering freestyle skiing the other day and standing a few yards away from me was a blind guy, I suppose he was visually impared just to sound politically correct for a moment. I wondered to myself, what he was thinking.......he couldn't see the action, there wasn't anyone talking about what was going on........well apart from the announcer who was making stuff up........."and on the hill doing a front flippy- two and half- tail grab-with a full chubby"

It then struck me, he was working on his tan.

Photography glamour on the road

In the middle of my 18 days and I just did some laundry, underware and t-shirts hanging all over the bathroom of my 4 star hotel..........yep it's all about the glamour.

I heard it yesterday from an amateur photographer/judo coach who was using $11,000 worth of borrowed gear from Nikon........"you have my dream job"

Ya tell that to my underware.

Outdoor concerts

So here I am at the Canada Winter Games enjoying what I do best, photograph sports, but as part of the contract I have I am suppose to be covering all the cultural events as well, not always possible, in reality, not possible. The toughest part is that I am suppose to cover the outdoor concerts, however these concerts all happen at the same time as the sports I'm trying to cover, so guess what doesn't get covered?

There is another side to all this, it's the 3 song rule, if I want to shoot at the front of the stage, I have to show up early and join all the amateur camera owners that were handed passes like rice to a starving kid. I have no doubt that I would be the only professional photographer in this mass of digital retards that have decided they want to be "concert photographers" Here is the interesting thing, if I show up early and get a spot close to the front of the stage as a spectator, these are free concerts, I could shoot the whole concert. Professional 3 songs-spectator all the songs. So here in lies the problem, as a professional I am restricted as to what I can cover, but anyone with a digital camera is not. If someone could explain the reasoning behind this I would be open to listening.

So tonight I will wander to the concert, find a place a little further back and shoot some pretty pictures, it will be interesting to see if security drops by and says I can't, I will raise the point that it would mean going through the entire crowd and telling everyone, no pictures.

Pig Flu update..WHO are you, WHO, WHO.

Where did the pig flu go? Wasn't it suppose to be the end of mankind as we know it? Wasn't it suppose to kill millions worldwide? Wasn't it suppose to make the drug companies billions of dollars fabricating this whole farce when the economy was in the fabricated nose dive.......Oh sorry that part was all right.

How much money did the drug companies make over producing pig flu vaccine?

But where did the pig flu go? I suppose someone has to take credit for wiping it out, maybe the World Health Organization can take credit for that, afterall it was them that started the whole process. So on behalf of WHO I'd like to accept this award for stopping the pig flu. I don't have the time to thank everyone that supported this cause but would like to give a big thanks to my stock broker WHO pointed me to the right drug companies that were producing the vaccine I made a killing........

Wheelchair basketball

I shot a couple of Wheelchair basketball games yesterday and the one thing that really struck me wasn't so much the games but the athletes that compete in the games, sounds a little odd as without the athletes there is no game. Now the thing about wheelchair basketball is that you don't have to be disabled to compete, you can be an able body athlete to compete, but once you are strapped into the wheelchair you in affect become disabled. There is an amazing skill level involved in just moving a wheelchair in a straight line, I've tried it, it's not easy, but these athletes bang and crash, turn on dime and stop on the same dime, all the time dribbling a basketball and shooting. It is a great sport to watch, like every sport full of characters, laughing, crying and competitive. One of the team Ontario athletes plays with one hand, no legs and a heart as big all outdoors, he inspires those around him, is the soul of the team, and as tough a kid as I've ever seen. Shayne Smith won't ever be a household name, never be a Crosby or Gretzky, but in the world of just being a human being, his attitude on the floor is heads above so many.

Well I'm back

I was reminded yesterday by a friend that I hadn't been posting. It has been a while and it's not because I didn't have anything to say, I didn't know anyone was reading this stuff, well apart from family, and I tell them pretty much everything anyway. I was going by the followers list and as I only have a few figured it was rather pointless. Well now I know that there are other people out there following the ramblings of a sometimes slightly disturbed photographer that trys to find humour in something every day, it's really not difficult. So today I will get back to posting.

Thanks Clive Doucet

You have made a lot of people very happy, choosing to run for mayor is like a rat trying to cross a river with Piranha, there is a slight chance he may make it to the other side, but the odds of him getting eaten alive are far greater. By choosing the cross the river Clive the citizens of Ottawa will be rid of another useless rat.

Thanks Clive you're the best.