On the road means PLAYLIST!

Tomorrow I leave for Spokane for a couple days to shoot a story about these three young adults who make up the youngest delegation at the Washington state GOP convention. From here the drive is about 7 hours give or take, so I put together a playlist for the trip this afternoon. Of course, this is kinda like putting together a great mix tape, much thought was involved in getting the mix just right.

So, to save me and you the time and space of listing the whole thing (over three hours long) here's some of the highlights from the first hour:

Kamera - Wilco
What Would You Say - Dave Matthews & Tim reynolds Live At Luther College
Girl On The Wing - The Shins
Ride, Sally Ride (Bonus Track) - Al Green
Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead
Delicate -Damien Rice
I'm Wondering - Stevie Wonder
Everybody Knows - Ryan Adams
This Time It Will - Jeff Hanson
Blue - The Jayhawks
Second Guessing - R.E.M. Reckoning Rock
Old School Rules - Dangerdoom Feat. Talib Kweli
Here Comes Your Man - Pixies
Commando - The Ramones
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
Fu-Gee-La - The Fugees
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - The Arcade Fire

-DKM

To Honor Them

Last Friday I spent the morning with a small group of volunteers from the local VFW as they placed flags on the graves of Peninsula vets in honor of Memorial Day. You can watch the Soundslides of I did for the story HERE
I think this is the first time that I actually did multiple versions of an audio slideshow, finally settling on this version about 1 pm last night. I felt that going with just the one guy essentially narrating it was strong as his quotes were heart-felt. It was touching to her this guy talk like this, seeing as how not long before this he was detailing for me his experience as a combat vet in Vietnam and remembering it with what sounded like a near fondness for it.

Here's what I did with the front page this week that features the story. The actual story is on a photo page that was on the back of the A section.


-DKM

Odds and ends

Here's a mix bag of pix from the last two weeks. Some made the paper, some didn't, but I like them for different reasons.

This was from this Monday. At about 2 pm I was reminded that the governor's husband was visiting Long Beach School and that I should go get a pic. He was there to read to the kids in one of the classes and there was an obvious limit to the interest on both sides in my opinion. I liked this pic but it didn't work for the paper.

These two are from the sub-district track meet held at Ilwaco two weeks ago. The one above is Matt Kaino coming across the finish line as the final leg of the boys 4x400 relay. The Ilwaco team was in fourth place and back by a good 40 yards going into that final lap but Kaino was able to make up the differnce and win by almost the same margin.
Below is I believe the Stevenson 4x100 relay practicing their hand-off skills prior to their race. I thought it was kinda funny how they would jog in place with their arms flipping back to front to pass the baton.


This is one from a piece we did last week on Audrey Wirkkala who is taking photos of elders in the Naselle Valley as part of a historical archive project. This one did not make the edit in the paper but was part of the audio slideshow I did for the story, which you can watch HERE I really like how it came out.

And finally, these are some pix I found while down at the port photographing the tall ships. Above is a bike, that I don't think will be going anywhere soon. I found it in the grass in front of where I parked.
Below is just a pic of seagulls as I was leaving to go home after a VERY LONG DAY.


-DKM

Victoria trippin'

This last weekend we took a little trip to Victoria BC for a little getaway. Below you'll find a slideshow of some pix I liked from the trip, mostly the fam, but also some things I saw on the ferry ride or at the Highland Games we went to.
The player goes pretty fast so I would suggest that you pause it and go through one by one if you really want to see them all.



-DKM

Heck of a show

This picture is an example of why I love my job.
This assignment was completely wrong when described to me. I thought it was a senior project, as in high school senior. Instead it was a trio of senior ladies doing a comical burlesque type show as the finale of their fashion show at a tea party in a retirement home. What's even better, we ran it five columns lead on the front page this week.

I was going to post a few more tonight, but Blogger is being a tad finicky and taking forever, so, oh well, perhaps tomorrow...

-DKM

Loyalty parade pix

This last week was Loyalty Days week here, which is a holiday that celebrates the flag and other "all-American" sort of things. You can read about the history of the holiday HERE Basically, it was started in the '20s as a counterbalance to Labor Day, which was perceived as communist. Apparently Long Beach has the longest continually recognized celebration in the US.
There is a variety of events that take place, but the big ones are the kids parade in Ilwaco on Saturday and the big parade through Long Beach on Sunday.
You can see a gallery of pix from the two HERE
Here are some pix I liked from over the weekend:

This is by far my favorite shot from the weekend, and the funny thing is I didn't even realize all the elements as they were taking place. I saw the mother and two kids with the matching flag jackets and kinda hung out beside and behind them for a few minutes. As the tractor guys were coming through I started shooting like this but didn't see what the guy on the tractor was doing until my edit. I love surprises like this. Click on the pic to get a better look.

At one point during the big parade I went up in the Long Beach Fire Dept. bucket truck to get some aerial-type shots and saw this kid sleeping on the grass in one of the little downtown park areas just off the parade route. I call this one "Parade Malaise."

The Astoria Clowns at the Kid's Parade Saturday.

I also shot a feature on the IHS marching band — you can watch an audio slideshow from the story HERE

Here are some of the pix I liked from the story:






While practicing on Friday the band marched out to the highway to get some practice time on a real street


As we got to the end of the route it was discovered that trumpeter Andy Schott had been carrying on with a bum heel after his shoe rubbed it raw early in the route, so Jason Huntley carried him briefly as his other bandmates give him a round of applause. Check out the Curt Schilling-esque bloody sock!

-DKM