Extreme Skiing (and wrecking)

So me and family spent two days hitting the slopes at Terry Peak near Deadwood, South Dakota. I acted upon an impulse the first day and decided I'd learn to snowboard. Prior to this trip, I'd only been on skis.

Right now, two days after the fun, I still hurt in places I didn't even know I had. The greatest pain resides in my tailbone, the effect of numerous spills and wipeouts.

Me, Teresa, my sister Kim and stepsister Sabra ride the lift. I took a fashion tip from the numerous teenage snowboarders on the slopes. I don't think I was pulling it off quite like they were. Anyone who watched me would agree that I'm a snowboarding fraud. See video below.




My nephew Travis and his Aunt Kim ride the lift. It was Travis' first attempt at snowboarding too. Aunt Kim served as an excellent instructor to us all.

My nephew Trevor tried out the snowboard as well. There's no disputing he's got the look down.

Tristen learns the first rule of skiing: Doesn't matter if you can't steer or stop, just as long as you look good doing it.

Tristen, Aunt Teresa and my dad (who turns 71 in two weeks) sport their slope styles. My ski-less brother Craig (far right) was too busy chasing kids around.

Here's a lifestyle scene I could get used to. A truck bed full of snowboards.

The boys in the hot tub at the end of the day.

You Can't Pull The Wool Over His Eyes

Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been gone for a week and have been without internet access since Christmas morning.

Long story short: My family rented a cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota near the Terry Peak ski resort. I was supposed to work on Christmas Day and was going to be the only one not present. I pulled some strings (and did some begging) and Teresa and I were able to spring a little surprise on my 70-year-old father. As you'll see from the video, he clearly didn't fall over from a heart attack. Good thing he didn't choke, either.



We spent a total of three nights and two days in the snow-covered splendor of the hills. It was beautiful and even this Scrooge can admit that it was a pretty great holiday.

At Least Snow Is Good For Something

Most notably... it's good for makin' pictures. Snow makes everything look a little nicer.

Senior Citizen Rock

It appears that maybe Ozzy Osbourne has some MAJOR prostate issues here. Actually, it's foam coming from a fire hose.

I was dispatched by the paper to write a review of the Ozzy Osbourne concert that rolled into Wichita Saturday night. You can read it here.

The man is 59. He can't sing. He can't even remember the words without the help of a teleprompter in front of him. Oddly, more than 8000 gullible fans sold out the venue.

I shouldn't be so harsh. I don't mind a little Ozzy or Sabbath every now and again. But c'mon... is the man helping or hurting his legacy here?

Somewhere in the Middle of America

My buddy Jeff presented his big documentary project on his hometown of Red Cloud, Nebraska on Sunday. There was a beautiful exhibit of the photos and Jeff gave a presentation about his work. He had a full house on hand to listen and he did an awesome job. I was sure proud of him. Click here to see some of the work . Even better... click here for a multimedia piece that Jeff did of the work for his masters degree at Ohio University.

He looks smarter in this shot than he really is.

Jeff captivates the crowd.

My mother-in-law checks out some of Jeff's photos.

Jeff gets congrats from his new bride Meggan.

One of the highlights of the day was the appearance of George Tuck. He's the guy next to me. George was our photojournalism professor at the University of Nebraska and was a huge influence on all of our lives. Former Daily Nebraskan photographers Hickenbottom, Haller and Heying get a Binger snapped with their old master.

We looked like adults... until Lane wanted me to pull his finger.

We ended the night at Valentino's Pizza in Hastings. Good Times.

There's a 12-year-old in all of us

My in-laws got Jeff and Meggan a wedding gift. A crystal bowl.
A few beers and Jeff and I found a new use for it.

You should have seen the view from the inside.

Maybe he should lay off the Pasta

I've covered a number of Kansas football games this fall, and it's obvious that KU fans have really come to love their coach, Mark Mangino. "Mangenius" is what they're calling him now that they're 11-0.

What's strange though is the fascination they have with Mangino's, well... how should we say it.. weight issue.

It's hard to tell in this photo, black being the slimming color that it is.


Mangino signs and t-shirts are everywhere now. They almost always make reference to his weight. Here's one I saw on campus yesterday. I'm thinking Mangino himself would not approve. I wonder if you can get this in the KU bookstore?

Another Day at the Office

I've spent the last 3 days at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas. Lots of deer, lots of ducks and and lots of time to just take deep breaths and enjoy being outside. My job sure doesn't suck.


I was enjoying the light and the vibe so much I decided it was time for a self portrait. Our outdoor writer, Mike Pearce, was driving down the road while I snapped this one from the back of my truck. Good thing he decided not to step on it. The second shot is me coming out of a bunch of cattails after photographing bald eagles.





Mike has a friend who owns a farmhouse he uses as a hunting lodge just a half mile from the refuge. We got to crash there. Sure beat sleepin' outside.


Wouldn't be right if I didn't share a couple of favorites from the trip.

This photo is actually about 12 vertical photos... Stitched together using a Photoshop tool called Photomerge. I did a few of these but I think I like this one the most.

Step aside, Butch.

I think it was Marsellus Wallace talking to Kansas State coach Ron Prince through his headset on Saturday.

"Hear me talkin' Hillbilly Boy?! I ain't through with you by a damn sight! I'm gonna git Medieval on your a$$"

He wasn't kidding either. The Cornhuskers, enduring their worst season in 50 years, put up 21 more on Kansas State.

Nebraska 73, Kansas State 31.

I say every year.... I don't care if Nebraska only wins one game, as long as it's the one against Kansas State.

Matt Miller, sporting a beard only a caveman could love, checks out English soccer scores from his laptop during halftime. Since they weren't serving tea in the press box, he just decided to stay on the field during the half. Poor Matt.

No! Not Dick Cheney!

And he's mad!


















I got this idea from the cover of the recent edition of the New Yorker.
What do you think is more surprising... my pumpkin-carving abilities, or the fact that I subscribe to the New Yorker?

...Lookin' For A Moonbeam... And Our Youth

My brother Craig and I headed up to Kansas City on Friday for some old-school Van Halen. Craig, being the old man that he is, saw Van Halen with David Lee Roth in 1980 when he was in the 6th grade. Someone decided that a Van Halen concert was no place for a first-grader so I had to sit that one out. By the time I finally got to see the band, it was 1986 and Dave was long gone. Curiosity got the best of me despite my insisting I wasn't going to go


Was it the best Van Halen show I've ever seen? No. Not even close. But I'm still glad we went.

I'll say this: Going to concerts is a whole lot more fun when you have the cash to spend on some good tickets and take a comfy seat. I've seen plenty of Van Halen shows where me and the rest of the fans were merely sweat-covered sardines trying to squeeze our way to the front. Don't miss those days.


Here's the band burnin' through a classic from the first album. I tried to show some enthusiasm at the end, but Craig just wasn't playing along.


Guitar Face!

















Extreme Guitar Face!

















"Running With the Devil"
You'll see how close we were.


It was a pretty good time. Do we look like we're having fun? We're not even drunk. Not even a little bit.

Here's some more video. I got a little nervous when I walked up to the metal detector at the new Sprint Center. I kept my camera in my jacket pocket and walked on through with my jacket in my hand. The detector went off of course, so I had to step over to the "other" line. They decided it was the change in my pocket that must have set it off. I rule.

In the middle, you'll see Dave do something really... odd. All I could think while he was doing it: "If he lets go of that thing, someone's going to lose an eye."

A Milestone... Times 10

"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down. I had the radio on, I was drivin. The trees went by, me and del were singin Little runaway, I was flyin."

When Tom Petty's soothing voice came through my ipod just before the 8 mile mark, I knew I was going to make it.

The above map shows my running route today. You can find a more detailed version, along with discovering the awesomeness of Google Map's Pedometer, by clicking here.

Those of you that know me well are aware that I took up jogging about a year and half ago. Today marked the first time I ran 10 miles. Previously, 8 miles was my best.

Some observations about running 10 miles:
1. It takes a damn long time (1 hour, 29 minutes, 44 seconds in this case)
2. It hurts like hell.

At about 8 and a half miles, my feet and knees decided to have a little talk with me. It went something like this:
Feet and Knees: "Uh.. hello up there? What the hell is this? Our contract specifies that we're finished at 8 miles."
Me: "Shut it! This is a great AC/DC song."

I feel great about finally getting to this point. I've been telling myself I was going to try for 10 for a long time now.

But here's a humbling thought: Today was also the day of the Wichita Marathon. So while I'm busy patting myself on the back over 10 miles, a whole lot of people ran 26 miles in Wichita today. I think my feet and knees would file an official complaint with the union if I tried that.

Training Day

There is a disaster training exercise going on in Wichita this week.
They knocked over a building, started some things on fire, put fake blood on fake victims and let me stand on a roof across the street to shoot video of it all.

It was good training for me too.

Family Day At The Game

Somehow, Teresa and I both ended up in Lawrence this weekend. I was there to shoot the Jayhawks taking the stick to Baylor. Teresa, (she's the chronically happy one on the left) along with the little sister Laura, were there to take part in a KU Alumni volunteer function. Honestly, I'm not really sure why they were there. She and Laura are a part of too many groups and organizations for me to ever keep track of.

They received free tickets to the game. Don't let the top picture fool you into thinking they were into it. Neither of them care a lick about sports. I think they just went there to people-watch.

Why am I not smiling? Teresa just informed me that 200 miles to our north, my Nebraska Cornhuskers were getting taken to the woodshed in a way they hadn't in nearly 50 years.

Done raining. 'Bout damn time. I hate the dorky KU vests, too.

Slow College Football News Day

Your team must really be playing pretty bad when all the mascot has to do is bother hard working photographers. Poor Larry Smith.

Maybe if Willie the Wildcat had worked a little harder, he might have rallied his team to a win. Instead, Kansas beat Kansas State in Manhattan for the first time since 1989. Bout time.

Big 'Ol Jet Airliner...

Airbus buzzed the tower today at the Wichita Airport with their A380 Super-Jumbo. Quite a site for this old Boeing town.

Here I am guiding it up to the gate.

Seriously... I was out there shooting some video and I'm just trying to get the attention of one of our reporters. This assignment, one airplane flying over Wichita without ever landing, required the following: Three photographers, two reporters and an editor. You woulda thought the space shuttle was about to launch.

Here's a link to a video I did.

Only One Thing In Common

Here are the things I DON'T have in common with those pictured above:

I still have my original liver.
I've never gotten a DUI in Scandanavia.
Alanis Morissette has never written a mean song about me.
I never said I was better than the Beatles.
I hate country music.
I've eaten this week.
I've never been run over by a van while out for a walk.
I don't watch "American Justice."
My crazy brother didn't try and whack himself last month.

But I do share a September 21st birthday with these folks, whether I like it or not.
Click here for a full list.

34 today. Can't say I really like the way that rolls off the tongue. Sounds a tad bit old.

Roughing It

But not so rough that I don't have internet access. Ah, technology.

I'm covering an endurance horse race (in name only) that's stopped over in Council Grove. They take off at 7 a.m. and I want to be there for that sweet light.

Any photo assignment that requires my throwing the tent in the car is a good photo assignment.