Category Archives: Photos

Sounds & Sights: 20 June 2013

Another week of Sounds & Sights. This time I felt like I was being watched:

No need to call the police, though. That’s just one of our marvelous librarians getting photos of the happenings on the library lawn.

Hey, guess who was there again? That’s right! Kevin Kramis! Hi Kevin.

Comedian faces:

Seriously though, Kevin is great. I’m always glad to see him here.

Did you notice Kevin’s shirt? I have one of those shirts too. It’s one of my favorite shirts, even though I feel like I should have to give it back because I got it from the library and everything from the library has a due date…right? (I’M NEVER GIVING IT BACK.)

Los Dingos Del Norte was down the street.

They decided to take my picture too. WHAT IS GOING ON.

Also entertaining the crowd was Creole du Nord.

One member of the audience caught my eye.

Stroller Dog: just chillin’.

Liquid Plasma was at the Sylvan building.

The Anthony Lai Band was by the clocktower.

Do you know what’s across the street from the clocktower? Why, only another iconic Chelsea structure:

The Jiffy silos: always deliciously standing watch over Chelsea.

Under the clocktower gazebo was the Michigan Academy of Dance and Music.

Finally, Mitchell Curley was in the East Alley.

Sounds & Sights will continue this Thursday from 6:30pm-8:30pm in downtown Chelsea.

Sounds & Sights: 13 June 2013

Look! It’s more Sounds & Sights! Once again, let’s start at the library with Kevin Kramis.

I enjoy seeing the expressions comedians make while they’re working.

I’m sorry, Kevin. I couldn’t resist.

Elsewhere, The North Creek Fiddlers were hanging out by the courthouse.

This member of the audience was especially enthusiastic.

Others were enjoying the music more sedately.

And others were taking pictures.

(What, were you expecting a picture of me? Dream on.)

Up on East Middle was the Dorkestra.

When I arrived, they had a volunteer helping with percussion.

Kari Holmes was in the alley on Main.

She was singing…

…and singing…

…and then she saw my camera…

…and she was singing and smiling for the camera! #multitasking

Back at the library, Mike Green was making the crowd laugh.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I enjoy comedians’ expressions.

Sounds & Sights will continue in downtown Chelsea this Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30.

Monitor Base Ball Club: 9 June 2013

On Sunday the Monitor Base Ball Club of Chelsea, our local old-school (okay, okay, vintage) base ball team, played the Union Base Ball Club of Dexter.

The flag was historically accurate:

(And I think we can all agree those hats are marvelous. I like the hats so much.)

If you’re wondering if these sideburns are real…

…it has been confirmed that they are indeed gloriously real. That’s what I call dedication to the team.

Spectator — or “crank” — break:

Okay, back to the action.

Honest Jon was involved in a close play at third:

The throw was low and a bit late, though, so he was safe.

What is it about Honest Jon and close plays? He was involved in one at second, too.

This was one a much tougher call, but they decided he was safe. (In the vintage game, the umpire makes only fair/foul calls. Safe/out calls are made by the players.)

It was a tight match for a while, but eventually the club from Chelsea pulled away and won 21-9.

At the end of the match, the Monitor Base Ball Club gave hearty huzzahs to everyone.

If you’d like to check out one of the club’s matches — and I hope you would, because vintage base ball is a fun game to watch! — there’s a home match coming up at Timbertown on June 23. The full schedule is here.

Sounds & Sights: 6 June 2013

One of Chelsea’s popular summer events is the weekly Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights. It brings live music and other performances to downtown Chelsea every Thursday evening from June through August. Thursday marked the first Sounds & Sights of 2013, so I wandered into town to see what was happening.

My first stop was at the library because the Chelsea Library is great and I always like saying hi to the wonderful people there. In June the library hosts its Comedy Showcase on the library lawn as a part of Sounds & Sights. Here you can see Kevin Kramis looking as friendly as he really is.

I would have liked to stay at the library, but I had to hear the other sounds and see the other sights, so I moved on. Of course, before I did anything else I had to stop at the front of the library to get a photo of the banner that features a picture of mine:

If you’re keeping track, that’s two giant library banners that have featured a picture of mine. That’s two more than I ever expected!

In the alley by Vogels & Fosters I found Dave Boutette.

He might have considered playing under the name Men With Hats, except then people might have expected a cover of The Safety Dance. (If you’re reading this, Dave, I wouldn’t mind hearing you do a cover of The Safety Dance…please?)

Up the street was a group that should be very familiar to Sounds & Sights regulars: Annie & Rod Capps, with Jason Dennie. If you were reading this blog two years ago you might remember a photo of this same group playing on the library lawn. This week they were in a different spot. They always manage to put a smile on my face. In fact, I might have caught myself singing along at one point…but I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation. (They’ll be playing the library lawn later in the summer.)

Here’s a closer look at Jason:

I’ve known Jason for a while now, and I’m a huge fan of his music. You can find his solo guitar work here. I cannot recommend his work strongly enough.

Here’s Annie doing what Annie does:

The Modern Day Drifters were near the railroad tracks. That’s a good place for country music, right?

Every week there’s a place for kids to get balloon animals. Did you know kids love balloon animals? They do. There’s always a crowd in that spot, and there are plenty of smiles from the kids. Like this one:

In front of Merkel’s there was a dancer named Poppet.

I found my way back to the library, where Norm Stulz was in the middle of his set.

Norm is a very expressive comedian.

As you can see in this next photo, Norm is also a funny comedian.

My last stop of the evening was outside the courthouse.

Those folks were clapping for Cold Tone Harvest.

If you’d like to join the fun, Sounds & Sights happens every Thursday evening from 6:30pm-8:30pm in downtown Chelsea from June through mid-August.

Fisher-Priceless: 25 May 2013

Last week I bought a fancypants new lens. Before I used it on Memorial Day I wanted to make sure it worked properly, so I had a photo shoot with a few pieces of my childhood.

I think these characters need names. Feel free to provide suggestions in the comments.

Memorial Day: 27 May 2013

Chelsea held its annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony.

Ron Montagne spoke to the crowd:

As you can see, behind him are Boy Scouts holding flags. Off to one side was a Cub Scout holding a flag. He had a bit of help making sure the flag didn’t touch the ground:

Here’s a better look:

Chelsea Alehouse: 8 May 2013

Last week I stopped by the Chelsea Alehouse to get a few photos. If you were reading this blog last summer you may recall seeing the photos of the delivery of the brewing tanks. Well, the place has been up and running for a few months now, and there’s some serious tastiness going on over there.

(I ate the above-pictured creation, the pub club wrap. It was delicious. I highly recommend it.)

If you haven’t yet been to the Alehouse, stop dillydallying and go!

Cafe music: 26 April 2013

On Friday I got to enjoy a show at the Cafe at The Commons in Brighton.

First up was The Understorey.

I had to get another photo with the third member of the band:

Then Jennifer Jones took over.

And…that’s all. You might have been expecting more photos, but my lens decided to rebel by refusing to focus on anything, so I spent the evening rediscovering the art of manual focus. By the way, autofocus is probably the greatest invention in the history of the world. Just FYI.