Inmates Save Guard’s Life

via CNN:

Inmates in a Florida prison save 64 y.o. guard’s life. Read the article/watch the video.

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The Beast

cnn reports a lot on the new presidential limousine which the secret service call “the beast”. it’s an amazing vehicle, not only in aesthetics, but in design and security as well. after doing some research online, i’ve come across some info on the president’s new vehicle. check out the photos online, including one with details that come from a british website. i can’t, obviously, claim the accuracy of the info, but it’s pretty cool anyways.

As The Lights Go Out

there’s a ton of hype around obama/biden, the inauguration tomorrow, the incoming cabinet, the changing view of african- americans, and rightly so. i can’t help though, to feel for president bush and his family. a cnn story read earlier reported on the sadness of the bush family, 41 and 43, as they prepared to leave the white house. moving their possessions out of the house, saying goodbye to the white house staffers they’ve known and lived with for the past 8 years, closing shop, not only in a presidential way, but in a personal way.

so often i find that i separate the president (and many others for that matter) from the person. sure george h. bush has been the “leader of the free world” for the past 8 years, but he’s also been george h. bush. he’s developed relationships with the white house staff, he’s seen his daughters grow up in that house, he’s lived in d.c. and, at least i believe, grown to appreciate the city, grown close to members of congress, and world leaders.

he leaves all that behind tomorrow. a reporter stood outside the white house this evening around 10pm central time and i watched the lights go out in that house. i couldn’t help but imagine the sadness, the relief, all the emotions swelling up in that house on this evening, the bushes last night there.

how often we forget that those we see on tv are real people. actors, actresses, sports stars, senators, representatives, movie stars, and even the president are just people. i use “just” lightly, not as a means of demeaning their value or influence on society, but as reminding us that they are no bigger or smaller than you or i.

as the country looks forward to the presidency administration, let’s not forget for bush, obama, biden, or even cheney, that they’re still people and they deserve the utmost respect from us as fellow humans, and our appreciation for their willingness to serve.

Campbell Brown Rocks – Updated

Not many newscasters, especially on a major, international network can get away with this, but she’s figured it out…

Campbell Brown video

Embedded video from CNN Video

Happiness is Contagious in Social Networks

hmmm…so this really is true. check it out

http://tinyurl.com/65cmmk

It’s All About Networking

another great night of worship, and of photography! I found myself getting to meet a lot of great people and got some more awesome shots. as i sit at the hotel room desk typing away this morning with my cup of milk and a couple donuts, i’m about to start processing the 1,300 images i shot yesterday.

throughout the day there was an older fellow in front of me with his camera. he was clicking away, especially when the bands were on stage. not a lot to do with the speakers or guest artists (drama, comedy)…pretty much just the bands. matt wertz (

“Everything in Between” (Matt Wertz)and his band came on stage for a mini-concert at the end of last night’s session and the man with the camera went back to the shutter button clicking away. I noticed his professionalism and his unique perspective that most “amateurs” don’t have. as the band played on we found ourselves crossing paths time and time again. we finally stopped for long enough to introduce ourselves. i shared that my name is rob and that i was shooting for youth specialties. he shared that he was there shooting up-and-coming bands, and that he shoots for cnn.

my first thought was, what the heck is cnn doing at a youth workers convention, especially photographing bands?!? that thought passed quickly, and i realized this was another opportunity to share my gifts with someone who understands the profession and to network. the man had only one camera, and a small lens on that camera. not that the wide-angle lens was bad, but it is a limiting factor. he couldn’t get the same shots i could, and he certainly wasn’t moving around like i did. i gave him my card and told him to check out some of the photos online.

i don’t know what will come of it, but it was another opportunity to network. who knows, maybe some of my work from this week will make it out nationally in a manner other than in a youth specialties publication. guess we’ll wait and see.