15 Years Ago Today …
… and so it began …
Ending Sentences with Ellipses …
An Attempt to Demonstrate That My Existence is Far More Uninteresting Than YoursSitting in My Room for 25 Years
Today is the 29th of June, affectionately known by those of us who remember such things as CRC Day. I wrote an exhaustive analysis of CRC Day in an entry two years ago to this day and what I said then is still relevant today, so there’ s not much more that I can add to my original commentary.
Except for this: 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the first time the “29th of June” is mentioned in the song “Sitting in My Room,” the song that inspired us to call this particular date “CRC Day.” That song was actually recorded sometime during the summer of 1985. The exact date eludes me because I was not a part of that recording, but I remember that me and Shay and Kurt went to a farewell dance party at the end of the summer for Heather H., a classmate who was leaving town, and the two fellows were telling me about this new song that they had just recorded, and they somehow managed to convince the DJ to play the song. This would have been either late July or early August of 1985.
With the song being recorded almost a month after the 29th of June, I had often wondered why that particular date appeared in the song? Shay told me, years ago, that it just so happened to rhyme: “It’s the 29th of June/I’m sitting in my room” Coincidentally, when we were filming the music video for this song in February of 1986, the opening scenes were set in Shay’s garage … and on the wall was a tear-off calendar, the date set to June 29th (seen on the right) …
If you really want to be technical about it, 2011 will be the 25th anniversary of the first (and only) CRC Day Concert, when Central Rock Company performed in Shay’s backyard much to the amusement and ire of the audience and neighbors alike. I’ll see you here, next year, for that exhaustive analysis.
Here’s the song: “Sitting in My Room”
KY2010.02 - June 4, 2010
The first full day in the Bluegrass State. And what the first thing that I do? Why, travel to my hometown, Richmond. And where is the first place that I go? Why, my old elementary/middle/high school, Model Lab (if you had to guess more than once, then you obviously have not been paying much attention to these blogposts). And why would I go back to the old school? Why, to capture important photographs of Model’s Market, the boy’s bathroom in the high school wing, The Bench That Has Its Own Facebook Page, “The Pit” and, uhm, The Broken Handrail in the Stairwell …
(More photos and detailed descriptions from this photo expedition to the old school can be found in the Model Now! 2010 Addendum set as well as in this post.)
Walking around the back side of the elementary wing, I come across Mattox Hall, a looming four-story monstrosity that once struck terror in the hearts of young Model elementary students, as they would attend school in its shadow (literally; the building, which once served as a men’s dormitory, is located on a hill right next to the school). The building does have a bit of a notorious history, as it sat deserted and abandoned for many years while I was in middle and high school, and many tales circulated of how it was a hangout for drug dealers, homeless people and all kinds of snakes. Now, it serves as the home of the EKU Police Department and the Training Resource Center. It is at the TRC that we find Kristi, my former co-worker of 13 years ago when we were at Copy Cat in the M.I. King Library at the University of Kentucky, as I ambush her as part of my “Prizes or Punches in the Face” surprise visitation routine that I undertake every year (she got a prize).
Odd coincidence: Kristi introduces me to one of her co-workers, who graduated from Madison Central in 1990, and so I quipped, “Ah, as a Model Lab graduate, I guess I am predispositioned to not like you.” She had been a member of the band, and so tales were exchanged about Mr. Epperson and Mr. Stephens and that good ol’ Central-Model rivalry. Ergh.
Onward, then, to the Wallace Building on the EKU campus, a building that I spent many hours in my childhood roaming the halls, as my father had an office on the third floor in the Political Science department. That department moved to another building in the late 1980s, and now that floor houses the Mathematics Department, and it is here that we find Cindy: the departmental secretary, younger sister of classmate Tracy G., an MHS graduate (class of 1990), and someone that I haven’t really seen or talked to (in person) since … uhm … 1987? Really? 23 years? Wow, that’s a little bit frightening there … anyway, she opts for the prize as well. Talking with Cindy for 20 minutes and it feels like we are back on The Bench Outside The Band Room, with the crazy world in front of us and pointing at people and things as they walk by.
And then it’s back to the car and a quick drive out of the EKU campus and over to the EKU bypass, so I can take the shot. Yes, THE SHOT. Over ten years ago, I had found a photo in The Archives of my father and I with the EKU bypass in the background, circa 1972. I had long since wanted to attempt to re-create that photo in modern times, trying to find the exact same spot that my mother had stood when she took the original photo. I had attempted this in 2002, but I do not seem to be able to find those photos. So I planned to attempt to take the photo once again, in 2010. Armed with three cameras — the digital, the 35mm, and the iPhone, I stomped onto the bypass, compared the horizon with the original photo (that I had saved to the iPhone) and took no less than 35 shots at this location, in the hopes that at least one of them would both contain the correct angle and be in focus. The result was featured in the Image of the Week for June 14, 2010.
Back to the car (parked in the Video Productions parking lot and I’m sure they were wondering what the hell I was doing) and then a quick drive back up to Lexington to see my comic bookie, Tony, and his almost-one year old daughter, Sadie. How awesome must it be to grow up in a comic bo0k shop? I hope, years from now, she can appreciate her upbringing … on the other hand, as a result of this particular childhood, she will probably grow up to be completely normal.
And then it is off to Ramsey’s off Tate’s Creek Road for Hot Brown and Cherry Almond Crisp, joined by Valerie …
But there’s no time to waste! We got more places to go and stuff to do! Important stuff, such as … visit Good Foods Co-Op on Southland Drive and dispose of the 30+ empty Ale8-1 bottles that we transported over 800 miles just for the purpose of recycling them (since the nearest glass recycling facility that we know about is in Richardson, Texas, and we weren’t headed in that direction).
And now it’s back up South Limestone Street in the general direction of the UK campus and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? (cue John Williams’ “Imperial March”) …
Egads, that UK Medical Center is on its way to eating the entire area around the UK campus! On the left is the intersection of South Limestone with Conn Terrace … behind that was where the legendary Comic Connection stood (at one time, Lexington’s greatest comic book stop), along with the Dutch Mill Restaurant, a barber shop and a liquor store. Gone, all gone. I expect that by this time next year, all of the apartments along this stretch of South Limestone up to Waller Avenue, including a house that I lived in for almost three years, will no longer exist.
Slowing things down for a stop at Starbuck’s, where Devyn and Sean ham it up for the camera …
Decades ago, Karen had made a bet with Gail that Spider-Man earrings would never be made … and we’re not just talking about jewelry with the face of the character on them, we’re talking about full figures of her favorite comic book character … and Karen had proclaimed that if they ever came out with Spider-Man earrings, then she would not only wear them, but if they were pierced earrings, then she would get her ears pierced. Or something to that effect. At any rate, a bet was made. And largely forgotten by the person who made the proclamation. And now, in our modern 21st century, the earrings exist. And Gail gave them to Karen. And now the time has come for Karen to honor her side of the bargain (in the photo to the left, Devyn is very concerned about the state of her ears) …
There’s barely enough time for the blood to dry on Karen’s lobes before we are off to Joe B’s for dinner with Miranda, Sadie and Tony. Nothing like a bunch of nerds getting together over pasta and those big giant breadsticks … oh yes, those BIG GIANT BREADSTICKS that I had completely forgotten about. Hey, it’s been almost 13 years since the last time I went to Joe B’s, and before that, it was probably six years. Always great, but not a regular hangout. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we go back … and maybe one of these days I will actually have one of their pizzas.
Back to the home base for some hanging out on the porch, lecturing Devyn on the proper way for a lady to sit and still look like a badass, and the first Ale8-1 of the visit. Wow, that was a lot of stuff to cram into one day. Things can only slow down after this, right? RIGHT?
NEXT: Harrodsburg! Paperweights! Lunchboxes! BCOR! And a dragon in the sky!
KY2010.01 - June 3, 2010
And here we go, with the annual summertime Journey to Kentucky. You’d think we would choose a more exciting vacation destination. But heck no, we gots places to go, people to see, and food to consume … ergh, lots of food. We’ll get to that. But first, there’s the 15 hour car trip from Louisiana to Kentucky, the portion of the vacation that’s always less than half as fun as everything else … so much fun this time that I pretty much chose not to photograph any of it, because I’ve pretty much captured every aspect of the trip at one time or another. So if you need to experience the journey, look back at these exciting travel photos from 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006 … the way we take is the same every time, from Texarkana to Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville to Bowling Green to the Bluegrass Parkway to Lexington.
Oh, very well, here’s a photo of rush hour congestion in Nashville (the outbound lane is ALWAYS backed up whenever we pass through):
And here’s some video when we crossed the border from Tennessee into Kentucky on I-65, stopping off at the Welcome Center:
And here’s the intersection of Maxwell Street and South Broadway in Lexington as we came into town. But that’s it.
And I guess I should mention that the one thing that we did differently this year was that we stopped and geocached on the way up, utilizing the spiffy iPhone app from geocaching.com. And we went two for two, finding regular-sized caches at a rest stop in Arkansas off of Interstate 30 and one at the Kentucky Welcome Center.
A week before this trip, I had mentioned on FB that “There will be pancakes,” in reference to our annual tradition of eating at Perkin’s Restaurant after arriving in Lexington. And every time, I have taken on the Tremendous Twelve. And every time, it was defeated me. I can come up with a number of reasons why I have been defeated by the TT: Because I am lame, because of the level of grease, because my stomach is not quite stretched out as it will be by the end of the week, because the pancakes somehow end up being eaten last, because I am not quite as young as I used to be (I once did finish off a TT sometime in the previous century). Last year, I attempted the TT twice, and ended up being quite ill as a result. This year, I wasn’t even going to try the TT, but I wanted to have something with those fantastic pancakes. They only serve the Magnificent Seven as a special in the morning, so I would either have to get the pancakes by themselves or as part of something else. And I didn’t really want more than three pancakes, because if I attempted to eat more than that, then I would not enjoy them. I opted to get an omelette, which came with hash browns and three pancakes, and therefore I could have all of the components of the TT but just not as much. And so, THERE WERE PANCAKES.
And yes, Chad, there was syrup with the pancakes.
NEXT: Richmond! Model! Bench! Kristi! Cindy! Bypass! Lexington! Sadie! Ramsey’s! Starbucks! Sean! Devyn! Breadstick! And Karen gets her ears pierced!
Tri-X Files #8: 84_03 (The Scholastic Roll)
If memory serves me correctly, Model High School first formed an “Academic Competition Team” in the 1982-83 school year (I do not know this for sure, however, since a group photo never appeared in the yearbook). In addition to competing directly with other schools, they appeared on the two local televised Academic Competition quiz shows (all based on the “High Q” “quiz bowl” “quick recall” format): “Scholastic Challenge,” on KET (the PBS affiliate), which filmed in a big studio with a live audience and schools brought along their pep band and cheerleaders who performed in between the rounds; and “In the Know,” on WLEX Channel 18 (the NBC affiliate in Lexington), which had very low production values and filmed the show in a small studio with no audience and hardly enough room for the two teams to fit in.
The team from Model High participated on both shows in their first year; in the second year, they chose to only participate on the no-frills “In the Know” program, as educators around the state were not impressed with the glossiness of “Scholastic Challenge” which lead to its ultimate demise a few years later; “In the Know” continued to run for at least several more years. While the team didn’t have a formal name, unofficially they were known as the “In the Know Team.”
My eighth roll of Tri-X film (conveniently designated with an “8″ on the original proof sheet) starts off with 11 shots from Monday, January 9, 1984, in which the “In the Know Team” hosted a local match with the Academic Competition teams of Madison Central High School and Madison High School. This would be my first, and only, freelance assignment for The Observer, the school newspaper. Apparently they did not have anyone available to cover this exciting event, and so I was asked if I could take some photos of the academic team in action. Eager to impress and desperate for recognition, I agreed to the assignment.
I quickly found out that there was a reason why nobody else wanted to take these photos: Because it was the Academic Competition Team. Why waste film on this bunch of nerds when there were far more interesting subjects to shoot around the school, such as the principal getting hit in the face with a pie? Nonetheless, I did my best to capture printable shots of these smart kids. Many of my shots were taken from further away than they should have been, as I was still a little shy about taking photos of people who were not my immediate friends, and was still planning on enlarging the photos in the darkroom.
The match started off with a competition between the “B” team from Model, the backups, which consisted of John O. (senior), George T. (sophomore), and Scott C. (freshman); and then there was a round featuring the “A” team, the primary trio, consisting of Shay Q. (”freshman”), David B. (senior) and Tassi C. (junior) — who had just appeared on television two days ago, defeating the team from Bourbon County High School. Note that I put Shay’s grade designation in quotes; technically he was an eighth grader, and the “In the Know” program was supposed to only feature high schoolers, and so, for the purposes of the television broadcast, he was bumped up a grade. Shay was, of course, the school’s secret weapon, and steps had to be taken to ensure that he would be on the team.
Out of the three photos submitted to the newspaper, the one in the right is ultimately the one that they used, albeit enlarged and cropped. I could have easily sat in the first or second row (there wasn’t much of a crowd) and taken closer photos, but my overwhelming shyness and inability to assert myself was a major factor in most of these shots being taken from a distance. I am pretty sure that The Observer had been expecting an actual photo of the team, perhaps taken onstage, with everyone’s faces in focus and filling up most of the frame, instead of a semi-blurry enlargement of a shot taken from over ten feet away. But hey, that had to go with what they got. And so, my photo of the “In the Know” Team landed on the front page of the January 27, 1984 issue of The Observer, accompanying an article about the competition written by some senior named Jeff Holland:
If you look at the proof sheet for this roll, you will note a number of white splotches and holes and washed-out areas. These were the result of problems during the developing process of the film (which we saw in the previous roll). I was still getting the hand of loading the film into the developing reels in the “black bag” as well as properly measuring the chemicals in the developing canister. The white areas at the bottom of the negatives are portions which did not receive adequate amounts of developer fluid (indicating that this portion of the negative was at the top of the canister) and therefore did not develop. There are also a couple of areas where the negative itself obviously covered up or made direct contact with another portion of the negative, resulting in the film perforations appearing on the negative itself, and ruining what might otherwise have been some memorable shots … the one on the left, a shot of Peggy walking past the front counter in the Biology classroom, is probably not a photo worth remembering, but the one on the right, featuring Keith, Stephen and Aaron in the percussion section, is a photo that I did not even realize I had taken until I scanned in the original negative and adjusted the backlighting:
The final nine shots on the roll were taken over the span of the next couple of days after January 9th, as I was probably trying to finish out the roll so that I could develop and print the photos from the Scholastic Competition (plus, there was a pep band performance on Friday, January 13th, and I would want to have a fresh roll for that). There are some memorable images among those shots:
Obligatory Peggy Photo! One of two (technically, three) on this roll, this one taken after fifth period Health Science class, as Peggy hoists her 50-pound book/totebag onto her shoulder.
This remarkably sharp capture of the brass and flute section in band class, and Sarah W. looking as if she is pouting about something (I know that’s not the case, but this was one of those rare shots that don’t come along very often).
Keith and his boombox in the cab of his father’s truck, as snow began to fall. I recall that a small snowstorm hit right when school was letting out for the day, leading many to forecast that school would be canceled the next day. Obviously, they had forgotten that this was Model.
Kevin and Tanya in the snow, appearing to be posing for a movie poster, gazing off to the side and into the distance, Tanya with her windswept hair billowing behind her, the lens just a little bit fuzzy …
The Ceiling in Dr. Birdd’s classroom (the Earth Science/Biology room). I may have taken this photo by accident, as the camera appears to be on its back and I may have inadvertently pressed the shutter, but I had absolutely no idea that this photo existed on this roll (it is indistinguishable on the proof sheet) until I scanned in the negative and began processing. This perspective is unique because this is part of the past that no one ever considers photographing, and really, why would anyone want to take a photo of the ceiling? But there’s some interesting stuff up there, including some origami insects and some group drawings from the Biology class trip to Maywoods. The things you find when you aren’t looking for them …
IN THE NEXT EPISODE (July 2nd): A Missing Month of January!
There were 21 photos on this roll. You can see all of them at the Flickr set for the roll, which contains a lot more information about every single photo than what was described in this entry, including more exciting enlargements from the Scholastic Competition! Plus, all of the sets so far can now be found in one collection.
NOTE: You can click on any of the images above to get a larger view.
Facebook readers: Click on “View Original Post” to see the images formatted the way they were meant to be.
Tri-X Files #7: 84_02 (The Homecoming Roll)
The first 16 photos on this roll were taken on Friday, January 6, 1984: Homecoming Pep Rally and Basketball Game at Model Laboratory School in Richmond, KY.
As a (mostly) unofficial photographer for the school newspaper, The Observer, I was always constantly on the lookout for things to shoot that might make it into the pages of the monthly publication. I had been lucky being at the right place at the right time to take the photo of Todd J. that was used to accompany the letter that he wrote to the school (covered in greater detail in Tri-X Files #4). I was about to get lucky again. At the Homecoming Pep Rally held during sixth period on Friday, January 6, 1984, one of the events was that Principal Dr. Henderson was to get a pie thrown into his face. And the person tossing the pie? None other than Sophomore Class President Rodney R. … who also happened to be the primary photographer for The Observer. There was no way that he could capture this moment in history and perform the act at the same time … but there I was, in my position in the stands in the balcony of the gymnasium, with a nice overhead view of everything that was going on, with my camera …
This was not necessarily the best shot that could have been taken of the moment. If you look at the original photo, before it is cropped and enlarged, you can see exactly how far away I am from the action. Why were there no other Observer staff members present to get a better photo, perhaps even a close-up? Surely they knew that this was going to happen, as one of their own staffers was doing the deed. Nonetheless, I was the only one that day who captured the moment.
The Observer wanted the photo to go with their Homecoming article. I developed the negative but I had problems with the enlargement, my limitation being the equipment that I was using (also, recall that the original shot is quite small and it wasn’t getting any clearer the bigger it got). After a number of failed enlargements, I loaned the original negative to The Observer and let them print the photo with their slightly more modern equipment — unfortunately, when they printed the photo, they inadvertently inverted the image. Nonetheless, I landed on page 7 of the January 26 issue of The Observer:
(My photos also appeared on page 1 of the same issue, which will be covered in the next episode)
In addition to learning about the limitations of enlarging subjects that were taken from a great distance, this roll also taught me the harsh reality of developing film, in that anything could go wrong during the development process. Note the white splotches on the second row of the proof sheet (it should be noted that the second and third rows of negatives in the proof sheet are in the wrong order and should be switched) — they are from where the negatives actually stuck to each other while rolled on the reel in the developing canister. As a result, the images on these negatives were never developed, and when the strip of film was unrolled from the reel, the emulsion on the front of the negative was physically torn off from the plastic film, resulting in two lost images (and one which did not develop at all). This was completely my fault, because when film was loaded onto the reel for developing, it had to be on there evenly, and straight, with no overlap — you can see from the white splotches along the bottom of the negatives that this was not the case with this roll of film. This would not be the last time this would happen.
I took some photos during the game and at halftime during the crowning of the Homecoming Queen (Kathy L., for those keeping score), in spite of the fact that I was “trapped” in the balcony in the Pep Band section, as there were really no other seats in the packed house that evening. In the back of my mind, I knew that these photos were either going to be too far away or would be no good because they were only of the backs of people’s heads, but I took them anyway …
When scanning and enlarging some of these long shots, taken on the infinity setting, details in the crowd begin to emerge. In the shot to the right, on the lefthand side, I can spot Tracy P., Jill T., Carol R., Laura M., Jim K. and Edie W., all classmates of mine. I am sure that other people who look at these shots will spot people that they know and remember. It is always important to check the backgrounds.
Other interesting bits extracted from the backgrounds of some of these shots:
Ms. Replogle, Mrs. Starks and a Janitor Guy look on with amusement as Dr. Henderson gets pie in his face.
Real photographers in attendance at the basketball game.
For the record, the Model Boys Varsity Basketball team would lose this game, 37-41. Their opponent were the Sayre Spartans of Sayre High School in Lexington, KY. Coincidentally enough, this was the high school that former Model Lab School student Lori-Lyn H. was attending at the time. Even more of a coincidence was that she was in attendance at this game, but she was sitting over on the Sayre side (the other side of the gym) and so I do not have any good shots of that crowd.
The rest of the roll is filled with shots taken mostly on Monday, January 9, 1984, as I finished up the roll in preparation for my next photographic assignment, which will be covered in the next episode.
The one Peggy shot on this roll (the first photo on the roll):
Shay not agreeing to having his photo taken:
Up until now, I have never been able to make this photo come out clear using the old methods of photography (this part of the negative was obviously developed improperly). Digital scanning comes through yet again. Damn you, technology!
IN THE NEXT EPISODE (June 25th): My front-page Observer photo … not as exciting as you might think!
There were 21 photos on this roll. You can see all of them at the Flickr set for the roll, which contains a lot more information about every single photo than what was described in this entry. There are ten shots that are enlargements of the originals, so there is definitely a lot more to see in this set. Plus, all of the sets so far can now be found in one collection.
NOTE: You can click on any of the images above to get a larger view.
Facebook readers: Click on “View Original Post” to see the images formatted the way they were meant to be.
Model Now! 2010 Addendum
I didn’t think that it was going to happen, and yet it did. The 2010 Addendum to the Model Now! series of images. 40 photos. Forty photos?! What is there to photograph that I hadn’t already shot? Oh, there are some things (and granted, many of these photos are similar shots of the same thing), but this should be it.
This year’s set contains a number of shots that have been used, or will be used, in entries of the “Then and Now” series of comparison/contrast photos. There’s also a number of photos of The Bench That Has Its Own Facebook Page, the Middle School wing, and the view of the school from the point of view of Mattox Hall.
Here are some of my favorite images, and here is the link to the complete set (as always, click on the images for a larger view):
The Bench. The one that used to be outside the Band Room door but isn’t any more, now resigned to living the rest of its existence between the Nursery and Kindergarten classrooms at the end of the Elementary Wing. While taking the 25 or so photos of this bench from various angles (thankfully, only nine are presented in this set), a school employee came down the hallway to drop some stuff off in the Kindergarten classroom — she didn’t even blink or ask why the hell was I taking all these photographs of the bench. Perhaps there are other fanatics out there that I do not know about …
Years ago, I remember that this railing in the East Stairwell of the High School Wing was broken. Years later, it has never been fixed. I don’t quite understand that … would they have to completely replace the entire railing in order to fix the one section and that is not economically feasible, or do they keep the broken corner around as a memento to simpler times?
“The Pit” … in four years of creating this series, I have never taken a photo of the legendary smoking section between the art room and the gymnasium … I wonder why …
For some reason, I have difficulty taking photos in the Middle School Wing that are in focus.
This shot of the Elementary School Wing was taken from a stairwell in Mattox Hall, the building that is right next to the school, and was once a men’s dormitory (it is now the residence of the University Police and the Training Center). From our seats in these classrooms, we had a clear view of what was going on in some of these dorm rooms (and we were pretty sure that they were leaving intentionally leaving the blinds open). However, we now know what the elementary side must have looked like from their point of view …
This should be the last addendum to the series. I think I’ve got everything I ever needed. Of course, in 2011, I can avoid this quandary by simply NOT GOING BACK TO MODEL when I visit Richmond.
But we all know that’s not going to happen. Look for the 2011 Addendum at about this time next year. Probably.
The Market of Model - Updated (Again)
My posting about the history of Model’s Market (originally posted on April 22, 2009) has been updated yet again, with some new photos of the third and final location of our middle school store, as well as some new information that was recently discovered, including the possibility that, almost 30 years later, the store still exists! Click here to see the entire entry, and here are the photos for your perusal:
