Published Photo #3 and more than you'll care to read

The book containing my third published photo came in the mail this week. It wasn't my most exciting picture, but it was apparently just what they were looking for.



The top half shows the front cover of the book and the bottom half shows how my picture was used. Here's my original photo:



The name of the book is Nashville: Amplified by Fiona Soltes and the Cherbo Publishing Group. If you wanted a copy, you can get one off Amazon for $60. They must have used the vast wealth of quality photographers on Flickr for many of their photos as seen here as an example. I got my book a couple of months late, but I got it and that's what counts. I'm not sure I would have paid $60 for this book if I wasn't in it, but it's a lovely book. While it's going to be used as a coffee table book of Nashville photos at my house, the purpose of the book seems to be to attract business to Nashville.

My photo appears on page 19, in a section discussing parks in Nashville. To the left of my photo is a nice sunset view of Radnor Lake. The Metro board of Parks is developing Greenways throughout Nashville, many of which are along the Cumberland river, such as at MetroCenter, Shelby Bottoms, and eventually near Opry Mills. Obviously, the sign I photographed is near downtown, along a walkway that connects Bicentennial Mall to Riverfront Park.

I still have three more books that will use my photos yet to be released. While I am talking about how great I am, I am going to show some other ways my photos have been used lately.

I suppose you could call this a published photo, but I will not have a book to show for it. The people at the Philadelphia Zoo liked my photo of a Dwarf Caiman:

and used it as their display sign:


Thanks to the people at BigHugeLabs.com, and specifically this link:

It's a whole lot easier for me to egosurf and see who else has used my photos. What I often find most amazing is the strange context some of my photos are used in. Here's the latest:

Warning: Unsafe Ice! was used by a marriage counseling blog.

This Washington DC sight (which includes a statue I don't know the name of, and the flag on top of the Executive Office Building) was included in the Washington DC Schmap travel guide.

This crested Guinea Pig is now on Wikipedia.

This rabbit picture was used pretty much for the heck of it here. By the way, this picture was taken at the Wilson County Fair in 2006. We bought the other rabbit in the cage behind it. In other words, this pic was taken about five minutes before we bought Houdini.

This goofy picture of an Airliner Casket at the Smithsonian was discussed at Upgrade:Travel Better.com. They stumbled across this photo when they found:

This shelf of Baltimore Crab souvenirs was used at Upgrade: Travel Better.com's post about the Airline Passengers bill of Rights.

I've photographed over 70 advertising barns, and someone wanted to use the worst one. This Ruby Falls barn was used by an IBM Programmer in his blog about the Ruby programming language.

this picture of Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was used by a Toronto Blue Jays fan blog.

This odd handicapped sign was linked to by someone on Livejournal.

This statue sits atop the U.S. Capitol building and was used in a blog post about Tax Freedom Day.

. Finally, someone who did want to talk about Rock City barns over Here. Albeit, it's still a Progressives in the south politics website.

This old rusty neon sign was used in a blog post about how to get more traffic to your company's website using Google. Beats me.

Remember the Animated Donut Den? It turned out to be quite popular. JaysonKnight liked it. So did Dave Burke.

This motel sign was used in a blog about how to stay fit while traveling.

and were mentioned on NashvilleisTalking.com Here and Here. The barn was also mentioned here.

The miniature golf snake at Goony Golf in Chattanooga was blogged by the miniature golf enthusiast.

The large power plant at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore was converted to a Barnes and Nobles. The picture was used talking about boring stuff Here, here and here.

The dign at Higgins Drive-In theater was used to talk about how to make your own back-yard theater.

Finally, the Rangers blogger at the Most Valuable Network website (MVN.com) used my pictures of baseball transactions of Wes Littleton, Victor Diaz and John Rheinecker.

I promise, in my next post, I'll talk more about you and less about me. :)

2853

The Creature of Sugar Flat Rd.

Forget the Wilson County Courthouse, the Neddy Jacobs Cabin or the monument to Confederate General Robert Hatton, this is what visitors to Lebanon's town square want to see. In a town with about 30 antique stores within a few blocks of the town square, the creature head in the window of Cuz's antique store is what people want to see.

The sign says:
Is this an Alien?
Ran over by car on Sugar
Flat Rd. in Lebanon, TN
Jan 5th 1989 - Never
Identified

Antique stores often have trouble making money, but I think Cuz is doing alright. Cuz's Antique Center is in the center, Cuz's Antique Store No. 2 is on the left and Cuz Jr.'s Antique's [sic] & Gallery is on the right. The creature's head is in a glass display case behind the main store's window.



When you go in the store, you can pick up a brochure that tells the whole story.





Here is the entire text of the brochure:

THE LEGEND OF SUGAR FLAT ROAD

The mysterious is all around us....
Incidents occur that should never happen...things that aren't meant to take place in the real world where the sun is shining brightly. And in 1987, on a cold, crisp moonlit January night, one of those things that don't happen happened in the hills of Lebanon, Tennessee.

On that particular night, a lover's tryst led two people closer to the unknown than they had ever wanted to get and when the night was over they'd relive it a thousand times.

The two had come to Sugar Flat Road (or Lover's Lane as it was often called) to meet discreetly. And since one of the parties was married discretion seemed like a good idea. As usually happens in meetings such as this, time seemed to stand still for the amorous couple. Before they knew it, it was well past the hour when they should have gone to their separate homes.

Excited (for apparent reasons) and anxious over the possibility of being caught at their illicit games they sped away from their place on the side of the road.

As the couple rounded a curve on the bumpy, old road two figures burst directly into the path of the truck from the line of small scrub trees and bushes that lined their route.

The brakes and the battered old truck did little to slow the vehicle and in the midst of crunching metal, breaking glass, and skidding tires the couple heard a horrible groan. Thinking he had hit a deer or a small bear, the driver swung his door wide and leaped out of the truck.

The thing (that's what we'll call it for the time being) lay toward the rear of the truck. The driver could barely make it out despite the full moon and the glare of his taillight. He took a flashlight from his lady friend inside the truck and went back to get another look at the lifeless form lying in the road. As he approached the thing, he heard an animal-type cry from the other figure standing just outside his field of vision. Frightened by this cry, he was also fascinated at the thing in the road. As the beam of his flashlight settled on the thing, he forgot all about its partner in the bushes.

Whatever he had run over looked for all practical purposes like a medium-sized man with one exception. It was covered with what looked to be hair or fur. It was also definitely dead. As he stood over the creature, his girlfriend's voice trickled in from the darknessand he realized that the most important thing he could do right now was get her home before they both had too much explaining to do.

He pulled the creature to the side of the road, disguised it as well as he could and got back into the truck. Despite her questions, he did little talking during the trip. After dropping her off he went home and drank the better part of a bottle of whiskey hoping it would calm him and put him to sleep quickly after the harrowing experience. But try as he might, sleep evaded him. The solution to his restlessness seemed to be to return to Sugar Flat Road and find out exactly what it was he hit.

He dressed quickly and drove off into the late night early morning sky. As he neared the site of the accident he drove by slowly looking for the body he'd moved to the side of the road earlier. He backed his truck into the tree line in front of a small building that for many years had been used as a voting place.

Now, in the quiet of the dawn he inspected the creature again. It wasn't a man. Of that he was sure. But what was it? With a shudder he took a shovel from the back of his truck intent on burying the thing deep in the ground and forgetting this night had ever happened. But as he dug into the soft earth, he began to reason that since the creature wasn't a man it was obviously an animal. And he should have a trophy. When the hole had been dug he deftly severed the creature's head with the point of the shovel, scooped it up and tossed it into the bed of the pickup. He kicked the thing's body into the hole, covered it with dirt and drove into town to a taxidermist's shop. The taxidermist shook his head in disbelief when he saw the creature's head, but despite never having seen anything like it before he agreed to preserve it.

For several years after the incident the head rested on the mantel. The reactions varied: Monster, Bigfoot, Alien, genetic freak...no one knew. The only person who had a definite opinion on the creature was the man's wife. And that opinion was "Either it goes or I go!" So it went.

But there continue to be spottings of the creature's mate up and down Sugar Flat Road.

Residents of the area have complained that chickens, ducks and turkeys often come up missing and the rumor is that if a dog barks at night it will probably never be seen again.

The creature's head now resides at Cuz's Antique Center on the Square in Lebanon, Tennessee. It's been there for several years now. And despite the national television and radio exposure, no one to this day can attest to the origin of this unusual creature.

2816

Brent answers his fan mail!

Dear The World as seen by Brent Moore,
I would like to erect a statue of Brent at a nearby park, but I have yet to find a public park willing to have this statue. Any suggestions?
--Sculptor in Sevierville

Wow! What an honor. If you are unable to find public space to erect such a statue, I suggest you take the money you would have spent on me and write me a check. Then for free, you can work on developing a Wikipedia page about me.

Dear Winner!
We wish to inform you that your entry number 3144294030720 was selected the winner of the U.K. National Lottery and you have won a sum of £ 20,000,00.00 (GBP). Please write us back at this alternate email address so that we can transfer the funds into your checking account. UKLotteryWinner2007@Hotmail.co.uk

Woohoo! I've won! I'm rich! I'll quit my job! I'll pay off my mortgage! I'll buy every family member a Bentley!
Wait.
I didn't play the U.K. Lottery this week.
or ever.
or any lottery.
ever.

Dear Brent,
Have you decided yet if you will run for President? If so, when will you announce it to the American public?
--Conrad at DraftBrent.Org

As you know, I have formed an exploratory committee to determine the level of support within the American people for my candidacy. I have made a decision but I cannot tell you what that decision is at this point. I have already told the producers of Law & Order that I will not be back for next season, and I have other commitments I have to settle first.

Dear Kind Person,
My name is Ms. Mary-ann Swanson. I am a dying woman who have decided to donate what I have to you. I was diagnosed for cancer for 2 years ago. I have none children right now and after finding you on the internet, I know that you will help the less privilege and widows. I have been abundantly blessed and wish to donate a sum of 5 million dollars to you. I cannot take telephone calls due to my health status. Please contact my lawyer at jameswallacepeterlawfirm@yahoo.ng to make financial arrangements.

Wow. That's unfortunate. Sucks to be you.

Dear The World as Seen by Brent Moore,
Can I have an Autographed Photo?
--Scruffy Beard Lover in Pegram

Yes. Send me a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope large enough to hold an 8x10. Then, in a few years when I'm famous enough to have autographed 8x10s, you'll be first in line to have it returned.

Now, on to other minutiae:
*********
While I was writing the above, I searched Wikipedia for Brent Moore and this is what came up.
********
I went to a nearby Chinese restaurant today and ordered the Pu-Pu Platter. Sometimes I think that those who move here and open up restaurants with funny named food items know exactly what they mean. They just want to see what they can get gullible Americans to say. I am going to stop typing for about 5 minutes to eat a chicken-on-a-stick. Mmmm, Tasty!
********
I found out this week that one of my co-workers used to live near lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg which was renamed to Lake Webster.
********
Thanks to Eric for finding this: The City of Carter Lake, Iowa. is in an odd place. Specifically, it's in the middle of Omaha, Nebraska. Here's the reason why.

2807

Even more dining and shopping choices

New MinitBurger to open in Student Center

James K. Polk University is pleased to announce the opening of a new MinitBurger location in the student center to complement the existing Thatza Pizza and Sub Dock. MinitBurger Corporate spokesman Julian DaPorta had this to say:

"This is definitely a case of us selling only the Franchise naming rights to the University. Being run by students, the average MinitBurger customer will notice substandard food quality and cleanliness compared to the norms at our other mall locations and storefronts. We hope that this does not impact our customers decisions to patronize our other finer locations."

*******

But seriously, The worst pizza I think I have ever had (excluding that generic store brand pizza that costs under a dollar at the local grocery store) was at a place called Itza Pizza. (Doing a quick google search, there appear to be several Itza Pizzas around the country that are all independant of each other. I'm not going to tell you where it was.)
How Bad Was It?
The Pizza was so bad, They store's name had to remind you what you were supposed to be eating.

*******

I have wondered if the heirs to the Roebuck family fortune are annoyed that they aren't as well known as the Sears family.

A few years back, my dad was driving me through downtown Dallas, and we passed the Neiman Marcus main store. He asked me, "are you familiar with that store?" "Yeah, I've heard of them, but don't know much about them." "That's where people shop who have more money than brains"

Common Mistake: If you're in Chicago and want to watch the Bears play, don't go to Marshall Field.

********

I'm traumatized by Pancakes.

No, really.

I love my parents. I really do. They ruined pancakes for me.

Instead of making pancakes light and fluffy, they wanted to make pancakes healthy and full of Bran. In addition to pancake batter, the main ingredient was Raisin Bran cereal. Mom would meticulously dig all of the raisins out first. (well, she'd usually find them all.) As a youngster, I didn't like eating this. Once they discovered I was a little less resistant to the idea if they topped it with Organic Peanut Butter (which is dryer than Peter pan, Skippy, etc.)

This was my breakfast every Saturday for 10 years.

Runner up in the Ruined good food category: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. My parents most of the time would add one of the following ingredients: Corn, Peas, Onions, tuna.

Honorable Mention: homemade fuzzy peach milkshakes.

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

2773

The official motto of the 2023 All-star game

The official motto of the 2023 all-star game will be:

This time it counts!

They have been using this motto for 5 years now. It's counted for five years now. This time counts just as much as it did last time, and the three times before that. Should they change it to "It still counts just as much?"

By the way, I predict the 2023 all-star game will be held at the brand new Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park #3.

Photos of Cheerleaders!

I figure with a blog title like that, I'll get plenty of blog hits. It's all about ratings. Apparently the Cincinnati Reds think so also.

This year, the Reds are toying with what is perhaps an ill-conceived idea of having cheerleaders at their home games. There's a reason that there aren't Cheerleaders at baseball games and I'm sure the Reds will remember those reasons while the season drags on. They'd probably trade them for a good bullpen lefty.

The rest of this post will be some pictures I've taken over the past month that have gotten my attention for being a little oddball. (Your level of oddballness may vary. There is no guarantee on your level of interestedness.)

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While we're talking baseball, the two Reds with my favorite names, Bronson Arroyo and Jon Coutlangus, have about the most varied leg kicks that pitchers could have.



Arroyo's got his leg strait out in the air, while Coutlangus looks like he could rest his chin on his knee.

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A 110 year old home near historic downtown franklin had this in the front yard:



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While driving north of Nashville on I-65, you see lots of billboards for two competing fireworks stores: Sad Sam's and Nervous Charlie's



My question for you is, would you rather buy fireworks from someone who is clinically depressed or a spastic basket case? Traveling south of town on I-24, you spend less time worrying about the psychosis of the seller and more about if the inflatable dinosaur will eat you.



There are also dinosaurs on I-65. This one is near the exit for Mammoth Cave.


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It makes you wonder how "Yum Yum" the rusty vanilla tastes. MariLynn and I stopped here. Instead of ice cream, we ordered smoothies. The one person who could operate the smoothie was off duty and they had to wake her up. She lived across the street.

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"Stay at Greenwood Motel. We serve Mountain Dew"



"Come to Royal Inn! Sleep where the Royalty Sleeps"



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Are you a FedUp customer?
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2739

Country Father & Son time

Nothing says good clean safe family fun like shooting off discount fireworks from the train tracks.

I hope you had good 4th of July however you chose to spend it.