Rugby!

There's some news, aside from there being more rugby photos. Last weekend, we were invited to photograph the All Star Sevens Tournament ("Sevens" refers to the size of each side in the match--about half the usual size, it makes for a quicker match). On an adjacent field was the Liberty Cup, a small tournament that included teams from the NYPD and FDNY, as well as military teams from Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune (yes, Marines playing rugby!).

But before we get into the photos, let me share the news. For years, Marc has been encouraging me to make a side business out of my photos. I got more encouragement last weekend from a rugby friend. Having finally gotten the message, I am happy to introduce you to Brown Hound Photography. It's more than rugby photos. We also offer landscape/seascape photos and photos of some structures from our travels in other parts of the world. The site will grow as more photos are added in the weeks, months and years ahead. Marc is working on the design and marketing side of things, as well as being my assistant, pack mule and all-around helper when I'm doing my thing.

Okay, so here are some photos (and I strongly encourage you to click on these for a better view):


The Marines play against the NYPD






See the blond Marine on the left side of the photo? He looked even better up close (sorry, no "up close" photo). *drool*


Oh, yeah. There were some women playing, too.

Okay, okay. I'll try to behave. The truth of the matter is that these ladies had some serious skills! They could have kicked the asses of a lot of male ruggers. I said to Marc that I really had to admire how well they played!








How about that for a jump?













By the way, if you go to the homepage of USA Rugby, the first photo you'll see is that last one (at least for now... and for the past 3 or 4 days). The second photo also is mine. (It was a good week!) :)





Okay, I think that's enough for a blog post! If you want to see more, go to the gallery. There are 193 photos, and some nice ones, if I do say so myself. (Actually, since it was nasty, gray weather, I'm quite pleased with the results. Low light isn't good for rugby photography.)

And remember Brown Hound Photography for your photo shopping needs! :)

Labradog blogging

Tonight, I decided to remove the lens from my camera, lock the mirror in the up position and clean the sensor using air blown from a Giotto Rocket. After doing that, I wanted to test the camera--you know, to make sure I didn't do something wonderful like damage the sensor. (This is an accepted way to clean the sensor, so I didn't think I was taking a big risk, but I needed to check after I was done to be sure.)

Needing a subject to photograph, I was happy to see Mandy come over and volunteer. Not that she's a cooperative subject, but I had to make do! ;)






I love this one

Yeah, that's all I've got, but keep your crosses fingered... there's rugby this weekend! Unfortunately, there's also some very nasty weather in our area, so we may not get there. Still, if there's enough of a break in the rain, we may try to get to the tournament and get a few photos.

Very cool stuff: building block of life found in a comet

Yes, if you're an amateur science geek like me, this is very exciting! Can a visit from the Vulcans be far behind?

Seriously, finding one of life's building blocks in a comet is more evidence that life can, and probably does, exist in lots of places in the universe, not just here. I'm sure this is more reason for the Jeebus nuts to hate people like me (you know, there's nothing about this in that book they love), but I can't help but be fascinated by the universe. Thinking... a dangerous thing! ;)

Read more here: Astronomy.com - Life's building block discovered in comet

Sunflower photos

In our travels with Pua and her daughters, Averie and Caris, we stopped at Pindar Vineyards. Next to the parking lot was a field of sunflowers (interestingly, the Pindar website says they're having a sunflower photo contest).

Averie and Caris loved the sunflowers and decided they needed photos among the flowers. Since the girls are so pretty, I just have to share a few of the shots.


Averie among the flowers


I'm not sure what this one was about, but the girls wanted it. I'm sure I'm missing some reference.


Aren't they beautiful? Too bad I like boys. ;)

It was a fun day to cap off a fun visit. I hope they come back soon!

Pua's visit

Wow, did we have fun! Now, if we had a hot male blogger and his two hot sons visit, you'd read that and say, "I'm sure you did!" Perhaps you'd even roll your eyes. ;) However, we were visited by three lovely women, and we had tons of fun all the same! Yes, the lovely Pua and her gorgeous* daughters, Averie and Caris, came to stay with us, and we really did have a wonderful time! (*Pua, if I weren't so completely gay, I'd do my best to see if either of those girls likes older men! Wow, they're hot--and so polite, too!)

They arrived last Tuesday night and stayed until yesterday morning. Make that EARLY yesterday morning. Their flight departed at 6:10am from LaGuardia Airport, so we all got up at 3:30am to get ready and take them there.

Friday night and Saturday were the high points of the visit for Marc and me. On Friday, we had a number of mutual friends over for a dinner party, and, on Saturday, we took Pua, Averie and Caris out east for some sightseeing.

I only shot a handful of photos during their visit (bad me!). For this post, I'll stick to Friday's dinner & drinks get-together.


The always handsome Jase


More straightgirl beauty, in the form of Deidre


Three lovelies: Caris, Averie and my Bokey


Pua and Patrick D


Pua and Patrick L


Wayne, who never seems to age


Pua had to step away a few times, to make sure California keeps running in her absence!


After thoroughly inspecting and cuddling with the guests, Mandy went to guard the sofa


A certain Famous Author was in attendance. Feel free to caption this one yourselves! ;)


I love how this shot of Deidre turned out. Deidre, honey, if I were straight and we both were single...


The pups got lots of love from Pua, Averie and Caris. We've had lots of canine sulking since they left!


If this looks like one giant dog, that's because Mandy moved into the shot--probably moving in for a butt sniff while Bernice was sharing love with Pua.

This really was a great visit. Pua, Averie and Caris are wonderful and lots of fun. On top of that, they're very courteous guests! They don't leave messes behind them (if you've had many houseguests, you'll appreciate how nice that is!), and they always thought of how they could make things easier on us. Our thanks to all three of them for being so thoughtful and for all the fun we had during their visit!

I'll have a bit about Saturday in a separate post (and I'm sure Marc and Pua will have more to share on their blogs).

I really should blog more

I keep thinking of things to share here on the blog. Sometimes I take the lazy way out and put them on Facebook--it's not the same, but it's easier--and sometimes I just let the thoughts slip away.

We have lots of things going on around here. We've been getting various things done--none really exciting enough to be worth your reading time! But there is one very exciting thing that is worth sharing: Pua and her daughters will be visiting us next week!

We had a visit from Jeff this past weekend. Yes, I know, huge surprise! An old friend commented the other day that he suspected Jeff lived in our attic. Well, not quite, but we're very close to him, and he's only a LIRR train ride away, so we do see him a fair amount.

We had some nice weather this weekend, too. After Jeff headed home (not that I can't do this with him here), I even managed some time in the hammock, finishing a novel I was reading.

So things are pretty good around here. Work has been quite busy, but hey, I'm working, so, in this economy, no complaints! (Actually, I work at a great place, and I really can't complain, in any case!)

And, on that note, let's continue where we left off with the rugby photos...


















Yes, he's got something shoved up his nose--it stops the bleeding!






Guy on another team warming up...but feel free to imagine your own caption. :)

And I think we'll end it there. That does it for the tournament, but I didn't share anywhere near all of the photos. If you want to see the whole set, go here.

More Gotham Rugby?

Various things have happened recently. Some good, some not so good. I'm certainly hoping the recent spate of deaths has passed. We knew too many people who lost loved ones. So I hope that's done for quite a while!

On the plus side, we went to see Hair on Broadway. The tickets were a birthday gift from our old friend Jeff (he bought them around my birthday, but he had to buy this far out, so we could get good seats). The show was great! It's the best show I've seen in a long time. [I'm back to amend this post. Marc tells me it actually was a wedding gift. Well, that was the same day as my birthday, so I was close.]

I know I mentioned something about posting more photos from the Kansas trip. Not that there were that many, but Marc is posting them on his blog. There are some nice ones, so go check out his blog, if you haven't yet.

Since I still have rugby photos left (somewhat fog-shrouded though many of them are), I figured I'd keep going with those.


That can't be comfy!














Another effort (as you may recall from a prior post), but that shirt just won't let go!







I guess that's enough for one post. Hope you like them!

Worth reading

"Confirmed: God is slightly gay
Just ask the animals. As soon as they stop having all that homosexual sex"