ChimpersCage

Tomorrow is the Friday before Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally created to pay tribute to and remember those who put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States of America. Let's all stop to remember that on Monday. Memorial Day in the last generation or two has become more of the unoffical start of summer - 3 weeks shy of the summer solstice which really makes that beginning. The Friday before, brings lots of people out after the long winter and dreary wet spring to begin that early start to summer even earlier. The beginning of summer also marks the start of camping, hiking, climbing, barbque, vacation and a host of other "seasons" we hold precious in the times of good and warm weather. Many of those activities take us to the many state and national parks for picnics and day activities with family and friend - in addition to those listed above. Starved Rock State Park in Illinois is about an hour to the north of my r...

As much as I love to be out taking pictures, it is always more special when you are shooting something you care about or believe in. Today was one of those times. I was blessed with an invitation to another Troop 3 Eagle Court of Honor. This time around it was for #144 of Troop 3 - Wesley Humphrey. I've been fortunate to have been hanging around Troop 3 since my son joined the troop in 2003 (or so). He is #142. Troop 3 has been Chartered since 1919 and is one of the longest running troops in Central Illinois. The first time I remember meeting Wesley was in the parking lot getting ready to go on a camping trip. Wesley was still a Webelos scout and was attending the campout as a visitor. Troop 3 holds one of these campouts every year so that Webelos and their parents can attend and see if they would like to join Troop 3 after crossover. Wesley and his dad - Chuck - both attended. I think we went cabin camping (it was December) at an old scout camp on the outskirts of Peoria....

Baseball in the spring seem tenuous at best. It's been raining all spring. Between my day job and all the weather, it has been pretty hard to get out to any baseball or softball games. Well, I finally made one on Saturday morning. The rain came early dumping about a quarter of an inch on the Twin Cities. The games originally scheduled for 10 am, got started around 11. I knew they would be late so I didn't even arrive at the field until about 10 minutes till 11. The games were at Normal Community West (NCWHS), a double header between the Green Wave of Mattoon and the Wildcats of Normal West. It was a bit of a treat in seeing a pitcher from West that normally doesn't pitch a lot. Blake Brown, a Missouri recruit was on the mound and pitched a wonderful 5 and 2/3's innings. He walked away with the win with some great hitting and base running of his own and a lot of team support. Now, the rain - I'm really glad we had that 1.4 inch. It wet the field down and with a 40 mi...

It's not a very pretty device, but it does get the light where you need it when taking a macro shot. For less than $40, a mere 1/10th of what you would spend on any type of macro light from a large manufacture, you could have this one. It's to simple a 5th grader could make one. Be sure to check it out if you like to make your own accessories and take macro shots. It's at http://www.alanlook.com/gear along with the other contraptions I've concocted. They aren't all pretty, but the do work and cost less than manufactured units. I don't generally talk about my dreams. I'm not a person that really takes a lot of stock in them. The other night I had a dream that ended up with me at a Taylor Swift concert. (Get your mind out of the gutter). Funny the evening started out with me at the Shirk Center shooting some kind of event. As I was leaving, I saw the Tri-Valley roller derby team on the track in Wilder Field. Strange, roller derby isn't a high school sport....

I'm speechless. the AP this morning reported that Football Hall of Famer John Madden is retiring from the broadcast booth. Sunday night football won't be the same. John is 73 and has a list of credentials too long to mention. Needless to say, he was one of the few broadcasters last season to really respect and listen to. John, we'll miss you but remember the chalk drawings and lessons you taught.

This morning I wast thumbing through the ever decreasing pages in the weekly newspaper I get and found an article about the Masters Golf Tournament that plays this weekend. It seems that all the players are complaining the course is too tough. Too tough? That should make it more challenging for them No more expecting to break par on every hole. I kind of like it. I occasionally take a heavy bag of 14 clubs to the manicured grass at some of the local places. What I do isn't considered golf, but it entertaining and does one good to get out in the open air away from the office and relax. It would really do wonders for those of us who shoot in the 90's or 100's to see the pro's look a little more human, have to reconsider their strategy from each tee, and really have to work for 4 rounds to take home that chump change. (yes, I expect many who read this figure I just don't know what I'm talking about. Let's compare to baseball. The long ball used to be...

In the past week, I've had the pleasure of covering the Illinois State Lady Redbirds play 2 home games in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Redbirds were honored to host both on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena. The first, a sweet 16 game against Marquette came down to the wire with Kristi Cirone sinking 2 free throws with 9 seconds left to put the Redbirds ahead by one point. A buzzer launched shot from the baseline missed, rimming out the game and season for the Golden Eagles. Following that Thursday night game was a Sunday 2:05 game against none other than the Hoosiers of Indiana. Wow, is about all I can say for that game. The 3600+ in attendance were rowdy and made as much noise as a crowd 3 times the size. Why didn't I put in my ear plugs, I'll never know. On the floor, the passion from each team to continue on to the final 4 was evident. It was a pretty bang up game with girls hitting the floor on almost every up and down. The officiating...