Sideline shot from last night in Oxford, Mississippi

Les Miles singlehandedly screwed up what could’ve been one of the best college football games in history.  Go back to the Big 12, Les.  If anyone will have you.

Jack Nicklaus and Carlton Wade

Most of you thought you’d see those two names right next to each other, high up on a yellow British leaderboard.  Gotta go, Jack’s jet arrives at ABIA any minute.  He’s flying me down to play an exhibition at Lost Tree.

Heiferdite found alive and well

If you’re wondering what happened to Heiferdite, the friendly, fit, female bovine creation of Goddess Fit there on Burnet Road, we’ve found her.  She’s still fit, fun and happy, but she now grazes the fertile pastures of Johnson Ranch near Bulverde, deep in the Texas Hill Country.

I suck at golf

But this guy does not.  In fact, Jhonattan Vegas will be one of the best golfers to ever play the game.  I’ve played with great golfers (Brian Bateman, Bill Rogers, Joe Ogilvie, Wes Short, Brian Gay, Omar Uresti, Bob Estes, Tony Jacklin, Steve Stricker and a bunch of great players you’ve never heard of), but I’m not sure any of them have or had the potential this guy has.  I know Coach Royal said something like, “potential just means you ain’t done it yet,” and he’s right.  JV here ain’t won the US Open or the Masters yet or a whole bunch of majors, but he will.  Why?  Because he has a rare combination of power, finesse, desire, intellect and attitude. He’s extremely likable.  He’s kind, funny, smart, authentic and plays golf on a completely different level than 99% of everyone else.  I’m not sure what he shot yesterday out at UT Golf Club, where we played in their 2009 Pro-Pro-Scratch-Scratch with UTGC’s Corey Lundberg and Longhorn golf team junior Bobby Hudson (who’s also a terrific player, genuinely kind man and UTGC course record holder), but JV played the game with confidence, power, talent and intellect.  And he played like a kid, having fun the whole time.  I could write a good-size book about the few hours I spent with this guy.  He finished 63rd on the Nationwide Tour money list, which means he’ll be back there playing the 2011 season, unless he makes it through Q-School.  He’s playing in China in a couple of weeks for his home country (Venezuela) in the World Cup. (This shot of him was taken four years ago at the 2005 Austin Men’s City Championship at Morris Williams GC.)

You suck at golf

You heard me.  So go see this handsome fella here.  Yep, that’s Chuck Cook, and he has joined the instruction team out at UT Golf Club.  I watched him give some tips to the boys there on how to use all that technology they have out there, and it was a sublime combination of technology, experience, hard work, intelligence and simplicity.  I wanted to put down the Nikon and get strapped in.  But I prefer to play the game instead of study the nuances of my golf swing.  At least right now.  The minute I make a bunch of putts and shoot 80 is when I head out Quinlan Park Road and hang on to Chuck’s pantsleg until he agrees to diagnose me.

Monumental

My six year old lost his first pet today.  A fish he originally named “Repto-Slicer” but later renamed as “Chip.”  Personally, I thought Repto-Slicer was a better name, but Chip seemed to stick in his later days.  Chip died while his owner was at school today, and I buried him in the back yard.  When he got home, Chip’s owner and his little sister made a headstone and complete shrine around Chip’s grave, complete with a popsicle stick cross and some toys and leaves and a fake pumpkin because it’s almost Halloween.  The genuine sincerity and sadness of it all was very poignant.

Texas Golf Professional

I’m not sure if he was ever in the PGA of America, but the late Larry Trader managed Willie’s golf course for years, doing all the stuff that golf pros do.  I ran across this shot of him I got back in 2004, a few years before he died, and it remains my favorite portrait. Probably because I knew Larry, and we’d spent a couple of hours together on this day talking about Willie and Evel Knievel and Ray Benson and Ear Campbell and Coach Royal and all the things that happened out there at Pedernales and on the road.  And because I know that he bummed that very cigarette there off my friend Mopar, who today will give a few golf lessons at Ascarate Park in El Paso.  I never asked Larry what happened to that finger.

Allen Shamblin, Texas Songwriter

If you listen to country music, you’ll soon hear Miranda Lambert singing this.  It was written by Texas Songwriter Hall of Famer Allen Shamblin.  Here he is singing it at a pickin’ party in his current home of Franklin, Tennessee.

Another day in Austin, Texas

Better Than Ezra

This shot here shows what kind of concert-goer I am.  My old pals from Better Than Ezra were in town for a show at La Zona Rosa last night, and all I could manage was a stop in at the 4:00pm soundcheck and dinner with them at Ranch 616.  Hell, their show started at 11:00pm, and while I’m sure there were plenty of drunk happy Longhorns and drunk pissed Red Raiders there, I’d been asleep for two hours when they cranked up.  Big thanks to Kevin, Jim, Tom, Michael and Brian for the beer on the bus.  Next stop for them:  El Paso, Albuquerque and on out to the West Coast.  A little-known fact I learned last night:  BTE frontman Kevin Griffin writes all their songs and is a very, very talented songwriter.  He wrote this.

A day in the life

I started this blog on the suggestion and encouragement of the talented team at Fosforus.  In terms of ROI, it has been a homerun.  Off the charts.  The only investment has been time posting entries, and I’ve had actual cash return.  So big thanks to WordPress and to Fosforus.  That said, I think I’ll join the rest of you bloggers out there who use these things to tell people about your day (no, I’m not making fun of you…I repeat, I join you).  Today started out with trip to the dump.  1-800-Got-Junk is not effectively marketing themselves if they’re not using an image like this with a caption that reads something like, “You’ll Never Get The Smell Out of Your Nostril Hairs.”  You think Hell has fire and stuff?  Mine has six inches of foul-smelling slippery grey mud.

Then, I drove back downtown.  Probably shouldn’t be snapping photos on a 70-foot flyover at 55mph.

I saw a bad wreck at the intersection of MLK and the I-35 access road.  I hope everyone was okay, and by the look of that Prius, I bet they are.  Astounding structural resilience.

I drove past the Capitol and thought about all the people I know who’ve worked there.

Then I saw this in a parking lot in Sunset Valley.

Then I drove back downtown and noticed how far along the W Hotel is coming.

When I got up to Congress, I saw a small herd of those Segue tour people.

And one of them wiped out.  I couldn’t help laughing.  Sorry.

Then I went south on Congress to shoot some of those traliers that sell food, but got there to find that they’re not open on Mondays.  Shit.

So I went home.

Oh, and today is my birthday.

Texas Heritage Songwriters

Here’s something we’ve been working on down at Fosforus.  In March 2010, we’ll welcome Clint Black, Mac Davis and Whitey Shafer down to Austin for our Homecoming Weekend.  You certainly all know Clint, and most of you know Mac, but Whitey is an incredible songwriter, too.  A little-known fact about Mac Davis…  You may think of the melodic tune “Happiness is Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror,” when you think of Mac, but did you know: He wrote mega-hits for Elvis “In the Ghetto” and “A Little Less Conversation.”  Wow.

Ryan Young

I think I told you that Ryan Young asked me to shoot his new album cover.  It’s almost out, so here’s your sneak peek to help you know what to look for when you’re digging through the discs at Waterloo or wherever.  For a sneak listen, go here.

More later…I’m posting this from a shoot in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, and the satellite feed is a little sketchy during these big storms.

Building

The talented team at Fosforus is putting the final touches on Wilmax Construction’s new site.  Pay a visit sometime.

Beauty

There was a line in the film American Beauty where that videographer guy said something like, “There’s just so much beauty in the world, sometimes I think I can’t take it.”  I remember instantly identifying with that.  Maybe all photographers are like that.  They probably have to be.  Imagine flipping it around, and all you see through the lens is horror and negativity and pain and sadness.  Sure would make for a tough job in the visual arts.

At this point in my life, I cannot donate money to charity.  I simply don’t have enough.  And with two small children and a full-time job, I can’t be a volunteer.  But Chris Maher at Fosforus introduced me to Meals on Wheels and More a couple of years ago, and I’ve been their photographer, free of charge, ever since.  Anytime they need me, they can have me, for whatever they want.  It’s not much of an offering from me, but I am doing something that directly afftects their bottom line.  If they paid a photographer even $10/year, that’d be a couple of meals someone wouldn’t get.

The funny part is that all the people there at MOWAM are very grateful for my pro bono work, but it’s me who wins here.  The satisfaction I get from doing this for them is beyond overwhelming.  But when I was looking over the latest round of shots, I thought about the kindness of the people there.  The staff and the volunteers.  These people are helping people who need help, right now.  Their compassion is real.  They can’t hide it. I can see their soul right there on their faces.

Dan Pruett (at top left) recently gave me a tour of their new facility they’re building, and it’s incredible.  Incredible that they need that much room.  But they do.  Sarah Andrews (there at the top right of the grid) said that they’ll be delivering their 1,000,000th meal this September, and as she articulated, “it’s amazing, yes, but it’s amazing there’s that much need.”

One point I should make here is directed at the people you see there in that grid.  Almost all of them walked into my little portable studio I set up in the foyer and said something about how awful they looked or asked me about airbrushing.  For what it’s worth, I didn’t retouch these shots in any way.  Photoshop doesn’t have a tool to remove compassion.  You are all the most beautiful people I’ve ever photographed.