weezer weezer

So, I met and photographed the bassist from Weezer today. Good start to the week. Mikey Welsh played on the Green Album that topped the charts and brought hits like "Hash Pipe" and "Island in the Sun" to instant stardom. He didn't, however, play on my favorite album, the Blue album, that I've been listening to since I was nine-years-old. Pretty amazing that a single CD could withstand 16 years of listening, abuse and love. My tastes have changed considerably but that album still makes me happy. So, I'm working on collecting some multimedia for this piece and will post the completed project later. But, I'll leave you with this single image to whet your palette. I know you check my site every day.

...and thank you.

six voices, six votes.

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

I have spent the last two weeks traveling the state with Free Press reporter Sam Hemingway (whom I worked on the OxyContin series with) collecting interviews and photos from six Vermonters who are headed to DC next week for Obama's Presidential Inauguration.

Sam has a real gift for delving into people's lives and finding the heart behind a story. I try to pick up interview tricks from him as he is a true veteran of the field and I'm a lowly greenhorn, so maybe someday...someday...I'll be able to draw such poignant and meaningful responses from my interview candidates. For now I'll focus on producing top notch multimedia content which is an enormous task within itself. Hundreds of photos and hours of recorded interviews later, I had all of the components to make an in-depth multiple-perspective multimedia piece on why each of these six Vermonters are driven to attend the Inauguration. Each person has their own, unique and touching story that gives them a slightly different lens from which to experience the event. I wrapped my project earlier this evening after several grueling days of sitting inside editing. I picked a good week to plunk down with the computer though (for all you non-VTers) as temperatures dipped below zero for most of the week. Please take a few minutes of your time to sit down and enjoy the audio slideshow (link below). It's a bit longer than the rest, but for such a historic moment as this, I think it rightly deserves the attention.

SIX VOICES, SIX VOTES.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(Gannett News Service, Rob Curtis/Army Times)

gazacrazy

I'm a little behind with this post, but a couple weeks ago I covered a protest in downtown Burlington in opposition to the recent air strikes by Israeli forces against the Gaza strip. The "usual crew" of local activists appeared as they marched from Rep. Peter Welch's office to Sen. Leahy's to Sen. Bernie Sanders offices asking for their reaction and plan regarding the recent air strikes. The crowd swelled and grew with every stop and the weather got colder...and colder. I couldn't believe the wind whipping off the lake that night - it was unbearable. But, people showed and even a dude on crutches hobbled across Main St. to get in on the action. It's hard to pull unique images from a protest unless something unexpected happens, especially in Burlington where we all seem to know each other and the faces are very familiar. I thought the setting sun worked to my advantage as I liked the light in some of these shots. Enjoy.

DairyDays

I had an early morning the other day. I needed to be up for a morning milking out in Morrisville just outside of Stowe nestled in our great, Green Mountains. I began my career at the Free Press with a slightly traumatic milking experience up in Hardwick. You can read about that: here. Let's just say this milking trip involved much less pitch black snowshoeing, flash popping and nervous encounters with a strange, woodsy, sugar tapping man. I met up with life-long dairy farmer, Ted Keith, and his 60 Jersey heifers. Ted milks twice a day and carries out hours of farm chores in between. As I told Keith, I truly admire any individual who works in a tangible profession. Good hard work and manual labor is so often overlooked, so I admire those that have the gusto and willpower to take on these jobs. So much of our days is consumed with iphones, computers, cell phones, digital everything, ipods and now, now, now devices. I use most of these things everyday for work, but I justify it by getting outside and taking pictures. Keeps me sane. I spent just a couple hours with Ted that morning, but I managed a peek into his world and well, all of the smells that go with it, too. Several loads of laundry later I think I've managed to eliminate that dairy cow barn smell, but I'm not sure how the aroma managed to settle into my cameras. Shooting portraits two days later I had to apologize because the stench was so strong. Turns out I was the only one that noticed. Oh well.

Watch the audio slideshow I produced right here: DairyDays

white, wintery Vermont

Here are some snowy Vermont scenes I've collected on my travels while on assignment at the Free Press. I went up to Sugarbush Ski Resort a couple of times with my good friend and reporter, Lauren, to take some rides up the lift lines and even caught a few trail runs along the way, too! We've had a pretty white winter so far, let's hope it stays that way! Enjoy.

sledfunrun

Came across this little guy on my way to work the other morning speeding down the hill at our neighborhood park, Landry Park. He flipped his sled every time he got to the bottom of the hill and would start screaming and wailing. I eventually learned that's what his laughter sounded like, terrible but true. He was having awesome time. And I was a little late to work that day.

polar express

Back in December I took a ride on the Polar Express! It's a tradition around here in Burlington to set up the Champlain Flyer train service to look like the Polar Express from the famous Christmas book. Hundreds of volunteers dress as elves and await the arrival of the train from the North Pole. When the children and their families arrive at the station they're greeted with cheers and hugs and are shuttled inside for hot cocoa and a fireside storytelling of the book. When the story wraps up Santa arrives and of course all of the children run screaming to hug him. It was quite a scene and very, very cute. I am really behind in my blog posts as the holidays seemed to consume every free moment and quite honestly, I didn't feel like sitting on the computer after logging long hours of photo editing and multimedia production at work. Hope your holidays were great and you managed a few hours of relaxation. Onto the next post!

Happy New Year!

11:23pm. We had an eventful evening.