Chelsea softball faced Saline.
This first-inning swing turned into a home run for Saline.
Though Saline started strong, Chelsea eventually took over the game and won 7-3.
Author Archives
Photo of the Baseball Now: 1 May 2012
Chelsea baseball faced Saline.
Photo of the Wayward Roots Now: 28 April 2012 (with video!)
On Friday I went to Trinity House Theatre to see Wayward Roots.
If you’ve never been to Trinity House, you’re missing out: it’s an outstanding little venue hidden in the midst of the hotels and restaurants along I-275 in Livonia. If you didn’t know it was there you might never notice it, but trust me, it’s well worth a visit.
The opener was Adam Plomaritas, a songwriter from Ypsilanti.
Trinity House sets a great mood with stained glass and candles.
Plomaritas brought a bassist with him, and a member of the Wayward Roots joined them on stage for a song or two.
See what I mean about a great mood? It’s such a fantastic little room.
When Plomaritas was done, Wayward Roots took the stage.
There was a candle on my table. This happened:
This is Jason Dennie on the mandolin:
Todd Lang is on the guitar:
Todd’s shirt was a topic of on-stage banter all evening.
Alan Barnosky plays the bass:
Tip: if you want me to like your band, include an upright bass. The world doesn’t have enough upright bass.
And finally, Tony Pace plays the dobro. If you know what that is, I salute you. I’d probably seen one before, but I didn’t know it by name until Friday night.
Hey, look! It’s Todd’s shirt again!
Are you wondering how they sound? Yes? Good, because I shot video of three songs. Here, check out Wayward Roots:
Photo of the Softball Now: 21 April 2012
On a cold, windy, cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny Saturday, Chelsea hosted a full day of softball. The day concluded with a game against Manchester, Chelsea’s neighbor to the south.
It’s always nice to see former CHS athletes coming back to cheer on the Bulldogs. One such athlete showed up to cheer on her former teammates on Saturday.
Remember how I said it was a cloudysunnycloudysunnycloudysunny day? Those days are a nuisance for photography because the light is changing significantly and frequently. Take a look at the next two photos from one inning. One is cloudy, the other sunny. The light shifted back and forth like this all day.
The game was close for a while, but Chelsea eventually pulled away for a 15-5 win.
Let there be fluorescent light
More adventures in old photos.
A few years back I had a group of friends who enjoyed meeting at the Barnes & Noble on the east side of Ann Arbor. Once I was sitting upstairs at the front of the store when I looked out the window and saw this combination of the sky and the reflection of the store’s interior:
That’s a hasty film negative scan on a home scanner, but you get the idea. It’s one of my favorite old photos of mine.
This post is no longer available due to a copyright claim
Hey, look! More shirts!
If you’ve spent much time on the internet, you’ve probably seen a message like that at some point. Content is always getting pulled due to copyright violations. This shirt avoids the rigmarole of having a design removed and simply skips straight to the removal’s aftermath. Some will laugh at this shirt; others will be confused. Either way…you win.
If you remember the ad campaign surrounding the launch of the Neon, this shirt is a fun reference to the American auto industry of the mid 1990s. If you don’t, it’s just a friendly state waving hi.
Relationships are complicated, man. Okay, so you’re getting together with somebody. But are you just hanging out, or are you on a date? If you don’t know, it can be so awkward to find out. Make that process easier by wearing this shirt.
You can find these and the rest of my shirts at the Buy Stuff From Burrill store. After all, if you’re going to buy stuff, it might as well be from someone you like, right? Buy stuff from me!
This, that, and the other
You may have noticed a paucity of photography on this blog as of late. There’s one very good reason for that: I haven’t been taking many photos. Believe me, it’s a vacation I didn’t plan.
I could write countless paragraphs about this situation, but that wouldn’t necessarily be productive, and you’d get bored. So, stong shory lort, when it comes to the newspaper right now I have the choice of either working for free or working almost not at all. (I may get bits and pieces of work.) Since I can’t buy/fix/replace camera gear and pay bills with photo credits and hearty compliments, I’ve elected for the latter in the hopes that the ideal third choice — getting paid for work — will return at some point. (PLUG: you can hire me to take pictures of stuff.) In the meantime…
…well, you might get an odd hodgepodge of content here, or you might not get much of anything. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen with the blog while I’m not getting much work. Keep an eye out. This could be fun.
The other day I dug up some rolls of film from the days I was shooting film. Here, go ahead and enjoy some never-before-blogged photos from my film era.
Okay, so I didn’t take that one. Whatever. It was my camera. That’s me in Switzerland back in 2003.
I suspect I took that photo shortly after the Switzerland photo, mostly because I bought that chess set on that trip. No, I don’t play chess. Why did I buy the set? Who knows. Probably the same reason I took the photo: because it looks cool. Don’t judge me.
I took a trip to St. Louis with a couple friends. We decided to go up in the arch in the evening. The arch in the evening: a very good idea.
This is a blog post
The t in t-shirt stands for tremendous
The post title provides a clue, but let me give you fair warning: today’s post will feature exactly zero photographs. If you’d like to storm off in a huff, you may do so now.
Those of you who see me on a regular basis know I like t-shirts. (Those of you who know me only on the internet but ask strange personal questions might also know this, but that’s another topic for another day.) How much do I like t-shirts? I like them so much that I’ve even made a few of my own. Not the t-shirts themselves, I mean — I’m no clothier — but the designs on them. And I like all of you so much that I’ve made them available so you can impress your family and friends by wearing these shirts.
All these designs are available on a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts in a variety of colors. You can see that for yourself by visiting the store.
For those of you unfamiliar with the state of Michigan, “peninsulam amoenam” is part of the motto of the state of Michigan: “Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice,” or “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” If you’re wondering why you can’t figure out how this shirt is funny…well, it’s because it’s not funny. I made this shirt because I like the Mitten. If you like the Mitten, you should wear this shirt. If you don’t wear this shirt, Ohio wins. And when Ohio wins, the whole country loses.
I don’t know what the criteria are for being professionally certified as an introvert, but I like to consider myself one. (I’m happy to be an amateur introvert because I assume the certification process involves lots of unnecessary human interaction.) I made this shirt in an effort to identify other introverts without having to interact with them. If you’re an introvert, please wear this shirt. That way when we see each other in public we can exchange awkward nods of introverted brotherhood without having to TALK.
There is one possible downside to this shirt: it could encourage cruel extroverts to hit you over the head with their baseball bats of words. But all good things involve risk. This shirt is a good thing.
I tweeted this silly joke a while back. Later it was suggested to me that the silly joke could make a good shirt. That suggestion seems to have been correct. So…hey, here it is. Also, you should check out the shirts from the gentleman who made the suggestion to me.
And again, go ahead and visit the store. I’ll add more shirts to the store as I have ideas.
Photo of the Faculty & Friends Show Now: 10 March 2012
Each year the Chelsea School District holds its Faculty and Friends Show to raise money for the Chelsea Music Boosters. The show is always entertaining. Always.
This year’s show started with the Swager boys.
Next was Rob Knopper. Mr Knopper is a CHS graduate who went on to study at Juilliard and is now a member of the MET Orchestra. Here’s an understatement: the man knows what he’s doing.
Next was a performance of “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by three…not-girls. This performance brought the house down.
The one in the middle is a county commissioner. You may remember him from last year, when he showed up dressed as a lion. Do we have some very likable public officials here in Washtenaw County? You bet we do.
Next was a clarinet performance.
The ever-popular North Creek Fiddlers then took the stage.
A performance from the musical Wicked followed.
Next, two of Chelsea’s excellent music teachers played a duet.
Until someone proves otherwise, I will continue to believe that the gentleman on the left, known locally as Jim Otto, is actually noted actor Hector Elizondo.
Next up was John Zainea.
If you’re curious about the music of Mr. Zainea, you can hear him here.
The Chelsea Chamber Players followed.
The Brian Brill Trio next confused the audience by being a trio of four people, bringing to mind Douglas Adams’ famed trilogy of five books.
That’s Mr. Brill on the piano. He’s an accomplished composer.
Concluding the show was The Quill, a group featuring CHS students.
