A Little Comedy from David Hyde Pierce

I found this video on YouTube and wanted to share it. It features one of my favorites: David Hyde Pierce. Pierce played Niles Crane on that classic sit-com Frasier.

"Hit the couch!!!"

The Matchmaker

Tonight, as I convalesced with a painful migraine, I stumbled across one of my favorite episodes of Fraiser, "The Matchmaker." At least once a season, there was an episode in which the Brothers Crane were mistaken as being gay. In this particular episode, Fraiser has a new boss who assumes that he is gay and that they are dating. Fraiser, clueless, thinks the guy is perfect for his father's PT, Daphne. This pleases Daphne but doesn't please Fraiser's brother, Niles. Although Niles is married and committed to his wife, he's been in love with Daphne since they met. Hilarity ensues.

Even though I felt obligated to embed the first part of the episode, it starts getting really good in the second part.

“Uh, Niles, can I speak with you a moment? I was wondering. Did I do anything that offended you?”
“No.” [throws dishes in the sink]
“Oh, it must be all in my head. But I sensed that you had a problem with me dating Fraiser.”
“Well, if you must know‒ [pause of recognition] I’m sorry, what was the question?”
“Do you have some problem with me dating your brother?”
“No.”

It's Never Too Old

For those of you who think that starting a new career is for the young, meet Patricia Lay-Dorsey.

She started out as a social worker in 1966, moved on to art in 1978, became an art therapist in 1991, developed MS and started a blog in Feb. 2000, and since 2008 has been publishing photo essays on the NY Times' Lens blog, and in LensWork, New Mobility, and Burn magazines.

As a way of feeling comfortable in her own skin, and comfortable with her MS, Lay-Dorsey set out on a self-portrait project. She photographed herself nude, up-close, and set about photographing her daily life. In the process, she "began to feel more beautiful."

More Helpful Hints from Writers

Somehow, I came across this when surfing the web, from The Guardian website.

Ten Rules for Writing Fiction (Part One)
Ten Rules for Writing Fiction (Part Two)

It's tips on fiction writing, but as I was reading it, I kept thinking about how it applied to photography. Things like:

1. If you're serious, get an accountant.
2. If it's a good idea, don't limit your thinking if it's not working: be flexible.
3. Make something that you would like (write a book you'd like to read). 
4. Record moments, fleeting impressions, overheard dialogue, your own sadnesses and bewilderments and joys.
5. Bounce ideas off of someone else.
6. Decide when in the day (or night) it best suits you to write, and organise your life accordingly. 
7. Think with your senses as well as your brain. 
8. Honor the miraculousness of the ordinary.
9. Remember there is no such thing as nonsense.
10. Learn what criticism to accept.
11. Be persistent. // Don't give up.
12. Have a story worth telling.
13. Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceeding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in the edit.
14. You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished.
15. Live life and write about life. Of the making of many books there is ­indeed no end, but there are more than enough books about books. 
16. Oh, and not forgetting the occasional beating administered by the sadistic guards of the imagination.
17. Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
18. Don't confuse honors with achievement.
19. Do not place a photograph of your ­favorite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.
20. Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct. This is the most important rule of all and, naturally, I don't follow it.

It's That Time of Year

It's that time of year. Picture of the Year International. I've been lucky enough to be scheduled as a volunteer on Monday and Wednesday for the next 3 weeks.

Today, I sat through a review of the outs for the Feature category. I say 'sat through' because it was almost an hour of going back through 2,150 images and it was dead quiet in there, save for the typing laptops. I was tempted to nap more than a few times... (My lack of sleep didn't help when it's dark except for the images on the screen.)

Here's the Second Place winner:

"Displaced"

Caption: A Pakistani displaced boy from Swat valley sleeps under a mosquito net outside his tent at the Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar, Pakistan, Tuesday, May 26, 2009.

I liked it better than the gold winner which dealt with Mexican migration to cities within Mexico. Both pictures involved sleeping children, the second one spoke to me more.

POYi is one of two photo contests hosted by MU each year and I love sitting in on the judging. I get to see some amazing photography and hear the logic of the judges as to why they chose the winners they did. It always gives me plenty to think about.

Spot News winner (I really liked this picture, even if it was morbid subject matter):

"Brazil-Violence"

Caption: Residents look at a body found inside a supermarket cart in the Morro dos Macacos slum in Rio de Janeiro October 20, 2009. The man is suspected to have been killed by rival drug gangs, residents say. Brazil's president offered on Monday nearly $60 million in federal money to help Rio de Janeiro police combat drug gangs after 17 people were killed in weekend violence that raised questions over the city's ability to safely host the 2016 Olympics.

So far, I've gleaned these nuggets:

• Technical aesthetics are essential. if it's not technically well-done, it won't (typically) be considered. And those breath-taking pictures get rewarded.
• For things like Spot News, relevance can influence the judging. The judges often commented, "That was a big story last year..."
• Good captions are important. Sometimes that meant the difference between being in or out. In the Spot News category, the silver medal winner became the silver medal winner because it was taken in the moment of an IED going off (as to the typical picture of an IED being exploded) and not the similar photo that has been taken but isn't in the moment. Another couple of pictures lost out because there wasn't enough information to explain why this picture is significant.
• It truly is a subjective process. It seems like there's always at least 1 picture that I disagree with the judges on, wondering what they see in it. Tonight there was at least 2 pictures that I still don't get the accolades.
• I need to be aware of what's going on (in the world). Many times I would hear a judge mention 'that was a significant thing that happened.' And at least one of them was a freelance photographer who didn't 'need' to keep on top of what's going on in the world, but was anyway.

I have to confess. I felt some jealousy over the First Place winner of the Sports Picture Story category. His essay followed Lance Armstrong's return to professional cycling.

"Untitled"

Caption: Seven time Tour de France Champion, Lance Armstrong reflects on his crash and broken collarbone as he recuperates at his home in Austin, Texas March 28, 2009.

I have watched and loved the Tour de France ever since Greg Lemond was racing. And I cheered for Armstrong since his first win. So the jealousy comes in from the fact that the photographer got this type of access to this guy. And the pictures are *really* good.

As soon as I find out the photographer information, I will include it in this post.

Front of the Class

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I just have to study with background noise. Sometimes it's music, other times it's the television. Today, while studying, I watched Front of the Class which told the story of Brad Cohen, an award-winning teacher who overcame Tourette Syndrome.

The movie was pretty cool/encouraging (I loved his attitude), and it lead me to investigate Cohen further. I found his blog and wanted to publish some of his words of encouragement in the face of adversity. And with the state of photojournalism today, you might just call it adverse...

Like Bird by Bird, even though it's not for photographers, it all still applies. Enjoy.

From Brad Cohen's blog:

So with that, I remind everyone what has helped me overcome the challenges of living with Tourette syndrome. I hope these ideas help others move forward to follow their dreams.

1. Keep that positive attitude.
2. Focus on your strengths… Show the world what makes you shine.
3. Never give up… Every time someone tells you that you can’t do something, prove them wrong! Show them not only can you do it, but you can do it better than others.
4. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.
5. Don’t make excuses, because the first excuse will lead to another, after another, after another.
6. Find your passion in life and go for it.
7. Last but not least… Don’t let [your obstacle] win! Don’t allow any of your weaknesses in life get the best of you!