Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Jingle.

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A dark border makes any slightly out of focus picture look better.

Clancy showing off his bling. Ladies, he’s caught up on his rabies shots.

The Secret Garden.

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My wife’s cousin, Hailey M., plays Mary Lenox in the Muni’s production of The Secret Garden. The cast was performing pieces from the musical on the mall by the old state capitol yesterday.

This is her first year in the Muni and she has the lead in the musical. She’s got a beautiful voice and we’re all very proud of her.I believe this is the last weekend for it, so if you have a free night go and check it out.

Blogger night with the Sliders.

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Lessons learned when planning a night out at the ballpark.

1. Pick a designated section to meet up at - especially if you never seen these people in real life.

2. A roster of people to look for.

3. A big sign “Spfldbloggers” and free tickets from Country Market.

It wasn’t a bad turnout considering that the people from Humzoo didn’t show up because of a mishap with a bounce house. Picture above: gotshoo, Unpainted Huffhines, Johann Drops a Blog, (back row) angry commenters from sj-r.com. Missing from the photo, Dan from BFS and family, and top commenter Nancy.

Self-portrait.

Took a 28 mile ride today. Beautiful weather, a little headwind, but not a bad day at all.

Paws.

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She’s going to be a big dog.

Shoobie-doo.

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and wrote a post. The last few months after a few weddings, family gatherings, and running into random people I’ve discovered that gotshoo.com gets quite a bit more that traffic than I thought from old friends and family. It’s really cool to think that people I might not otherwise talk to, point their browser here to get an update on not only myself, but Mrs. Shoo, Buddy and Clancy.

To make things even better this week, I was featured in the Spotlight in the A-E section of the paper. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was extremely proud and carried the article with me everywhere on Thursday. Thanks again to Mr. Unpainted Huffhines.

In retrospect, I hope the article brings more attention to other Springfield bloggers, and of course spfldbloggers.com, out there because all of you are exteremely talented and interesting. Which it does, because today I got an email from Lincoln Studies as request to be added to spfldbloggers.com.

Reminder: Sunday is the unofficial meetup at the Sliders game.

While I’m discussing spfldbloggers.com, I am still working on 2.0 version of the site that would allow everyone to create their own version of the site. So if you wanted a list of blogs that were all about shoes, then you could put your own list together. There are already some sites that you kinda create your own list, but I don’t think they’re that good.

I am also working on a site that brings together the online world of Springfield Illinois and its business sites. It seems like every mom+pop - corporation has a site, but you never know where to look for it or it’s buried in a Google search. That site is coming along pretty well, so expect to see something in the near future.

Katy Perry.

I knew for some strange reason that I had heard of Katy Perry before. Right now she’s plastered all over top 40 with her song ‘I Kissed A Girl.’

Pretty in pink.

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Just like a girl, Maddy starts barking if I don’t notice her, say hi, compliment her on her collar, give a little scratch behind the ear.

Autographs at the game.

http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x223005345/In-the-Spotlight

I am featured in today’s A-E section in the Sj-R. Who knew I was artisitc or entertaining? I thought I had been punching keys and posting photos for the last four years for my mom. Hi Mom! Well if you consider my canvas to be wood floors, dogs, or Mrs. Shoo, then I have to consider myself a pretty good artist.

Also featured in the A-E section is my wife’s cousin Hailey McNamara, the lead in the Secret Garden put on by the Muni.

http://www.sj-r.com/entertainment/x518434731/-The-Secret-Garden-is-hauntingly-beautiful

And BTW, in every interview I’ve had about this lil’ old blog I have always said that I am an ‘IT guy’ and every time co-worker Laurie says ‘Why don’t mention who you work for, we could use the free advertising?’

Free Advertising: MSF&W

Trains.

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As I kid I was intrigued by trains, my grandpa had a huge layout built in his basement which was always an evolving project. At one point the train made a circle around the tv. I don’t know how much time I spent at his house playing with them but I remember it vividly. My grandparents were the ones that took me on my first train ride to Lincoln.

Even now I am still intigue. Here’s this multi-ton carriage rolling on steel and not falling over. I spent over a half hour the other day watching YouTube videos of snow plow trains. Very memorizing mesmerizing.

With the rising cost of gasoline trains are becoming more economical. Even trying to catch a ride from Springfield to Chicago, you have to get your ticket early to get a seat. Who knows, maybe someday trains might be as popular as in they were in their hay-day when big black steam locomotives use to cross the country.

Unofficial Spfldblogger night with the Sliders!

Yes, that’s right bloggers, commentators, lurkers of the internet, July 13th (this Sunday) has been designated as the meet-up date. The game begins at 6:05. Check out the Sliders page for more info or Johann’s blog post.

And just for a roll call so we know who to look out for, can those attending leave a comment? I think the plan is to show up early and get seats all in the same section. Unless you want to be creepy and sit by yourselves. And since everyone hasn’t posted their mug for the world, just look for me.

Again, everyone is welcome to join us.

If anyone has questions - gotshoo -=at=- gmail -=dot=- com

One last bang.



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I thought I’d post one more firework related photo before calling it done till next year. I took this at Phil & Katherine’s wedding. Pretty cool portrait using the sparkler as the only light source.

Fireworks 08

The fireworks downtown may have not been the greatest, but the Motor Boat Club had a great show. Above are some of very first shots of fireworks with my SLR.

It took some practice, but I dialed into 800ISO, 3.5 sec exposure with a f/11. Of course I also used a tripod or everything would have been scribble lines.

Fireworks on the lake.

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We just got home from fireworks on Lake Springfield. It was a beautiful night for fireworks and taking photos of fireworks.

American Bulldog

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I was incorrect in a previous post calling Maddy a boxer. She’s actually an American Bulldog.