Big thanks goes to my buddy Shibu for assisting on this one! And another big thanks to Maryam for coming out and shooting these behind the scenes photos!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Jay at Park

check it out at http://mainemedia.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/MMW/MMW_2010_WinterSpringBrochure.pdf!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

2010 Maine Media Workshops Brochure

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Portrait for Quest Magazine

When photographer Paul Mobley set out to capture the soul of our country’s farm communities, he encountered an enduring rural culture that remains rooted in the principles of tradition, family, integrity and hard work. Traveling across the country from Tennessee to Montana, Mobley and his camera were welcomed time and again into the homes of over two hundred farm families, who graciously shared their personal histories and private thoughts, along with the fruits of their labor. Visit after visit, Mobley came to know the independent farmer’s spirit from both behind the lens and across the dinner table.

You should definitely click on his name above to check out his website! His work is awesome!

Click here if you don’t see a gallery below.

 

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Paul Mobley Portraits

Click here if you don’t see a gallery below.

 

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

76 Monte Carlo

Well he just sent me the video below and I thought it might be interesting for you to learn a little more about the artist and his work! If you need some metalwork done, check out http://www.smithworksiron.com

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Jason Smith of Smithworks Iron

Visiting Burn Photo, a digital capture and retouching studio

Fernando Decillis (left) stops by Portfolio Center to chat with us

Capture Integration stopped by Portfolio Center to show us some cool gear, this is John playing with some kinda contraption that is basically just a digital back attached to a lens. I didn’t catch the name of it, because I was geeking out on Capture One software…

Chris plays with a Hasselblad with a digital back

Morgan shows what a lunchbox is when we visited Morel Studio Support

A large selection of nice Profoto gear, available for rent from Morel Studio Support

Morgan showing us how to use a Crankstand at Morel Studio Support

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Some recent snapshots from school

I didn’t do much photoshop to these, just a few little color adjustments.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

One Light, Six Looks

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Not Dead, just busy!

Author Portrait: create a black and white portrait, at twilight, of an author for use in promo materials

Artist Portrait: create a portrait of an artisan in their workspace for an ad

CEO: create a portrait of a young hip CEO for a magazine article

Kitchen Composite: Shoot a kitchen then shoot a studio portrait and composite them together for an ad

Country Music Singer: create a composite of a country music star with a beautiful background for promo purposes

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Deliverables for Environmental Portraiture

1- White on White
This was my favorite image of the quarter and also the first one I shot.

2- Something Shiny

3- Mixed Lighting (mine is strobes mixed with sunlight)

4- Three Light Portrait

This one is my roommate Shaun. He kissed a moving car while riding his bike a few days before this picture was taken.

My critique panel seemed to like these images and the head of the photography department sent me an email saying

“Great critique! You’ve made some long strides this quarter. The panel was impressed with your lighting for 2nd quarter. You have a good sense of what’s good and what’s not. You didn’t try to sell us something that wasn’t good and we appreciate that. I loved the white on white!”

I’ll post the pics from my Environmental Portraiture class tomorrow!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Deliverables for Intermediate Lighting

Oh, which reminds me, I’ve been spending A LOT of time in photoshop lately. I’m learning some really great techniques for tweaking my images and making them look the absolute best. My standards are getting higher, which is exactly why I needed school. I’m actually having a good time retouching my work. I never liked the tedious process of professional retouching but now I’m enjoying it. I’m looking forward to what my panel has to say about it.

I’ve also learned a lot about lighting. The first few weeks of this quarter were pretty rough as I fiddled with the power packs and lights and various modifiers and light stands and backdrops etc… It’s a lot to take in and my images were coming out pretty bad. However, I was able to get better and with a modest amount of reshooting I was able to nail my assignments and I had fun doing it.

Photoshop and Lighting are both really important elements, but the thing I’ve really gotten from this quarter is that now, I can pick up a magazine, flip to a picture, and I understand what it takes to get that shot. I may not know every trick of lighting or styling, but I have a good understanding of how to approach it like a pro. The idea that nothing is luck, it’s all planned out and executed with control and precision.

I’ve also been shooting some stuff for some of the design and art direction students. I hope to post up some of the finished work in the coming weeks. It should be cool to see my photos in the ad campaigns!

One thing I noticed about this quarter though is that I’ve barely shot anything that wasn’t related to school work. I wanted to drop in a photo or two on this post, but couldn’t even find anything good enough that wasn’t something for school. I’m ok with that for now, but I hope that isn’t a sign of things to come. I want to keep photography as a hobby too!

Anyway, I gotta get to bed, as I have a meeting in about 6 hours. I can’t wait to post my photos next week!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

2nd Quarter Studio Week

Here’s what the entrance looks like:

The Elvis Burger consists of a juicy half pound burger, fried bananas, bacon, and a large slathering of creamy peanut butter. Yep, Peanut Butter on a burger… interesting… I’m a big fan of a peanut butter so I knew I had to try this epic burger. So last night was the big night.

First of all this thing was huge! Probably at least 6 inches tall. As I ate it, I got lots of peanut butter and hamburger juice all over my face and hands… I liked the combo of sweet fried bananas mixed with the peanut butter but paired with the bacon and burger just didn’t seem to fit together that well. There was definitely a flavor fight happening in my mouth. I don’t think I would order it again but I’m really glad they make this thing and I’m really glad I tried it. I do want to sample the other burgers on the list, like the Double Coronary Bypass Burger! yummy!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

The Elvis Burger from The Vortex

The one below is some of my friends from school, (LtoR: Stewart, Sam, Missy) working on a poster project many many weeks ago. You can see my laptop in the background with a pretty picture on it. Yeah I did that on purpose!

The next three are from Lighting Class. The first one is in our studio at school, and the second and third are at a studio here in Atlanta where we sometimes have class!

This one is just a random shot of one of my studio setups for a photo I took. I’ll eventually post it online, but for now, just know that I had somebody sitting in that chair and I got a great portrait of them!

The one below is from my illustration class called Perspective. It’s pretty interesting!

This last one is my friend and classmate Monica. We were out shooting on location and I was standing in as a model while she set up the shot, I just shot this one from the hip without looking through the viewfinder and was pleased that I actually got a halfway decent shot!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Random recent photos from March and April

It was moderately interesting, but my favorite part was definitely tasting all the variety of drinks that the Coke company manufactures. They have over 60 options available and you just walk around and try as many as you like. I tasted about 12-15 and that was plenty.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

World of Coke

That’s definitely one of the best things ever, but this post has so much more to offer: check out this video!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Pretty much the best thing ever!

So anyway, I snapped a few pics when I was in town last month.

You can look at the whole gallery by clicking here.

Or you can find more pictures and a lot more information, including available kittens and prices by checking out her cattery site: www.hopescircle.com!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Naked Cats!

The above photo is Leigh Anna, my classmate in our Location Portraits class. The photo below is my class (taught by Joel Silverman- center, red shirt, big camera) in Wynn Park learning a little about natural light portraits. I like this class a lot and look forward to really getting some good portrait practice.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Leigh Anna and Location Portraits

Luckily she only had minor injuries to one knee, but the car couldn’t be driven. I was close by so I went to give moral support while she waited for the tow truck. Now she’s dealing with insurance companies and doing that whole routine. No Fun!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Diana’s Car Accident

Luckily no one I know was hurt, although there were some fatalities and serious injuries associated with this storm. Hopefully that was the last of the spring storms and we can start enjoying the sunshine!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Atlanta Storms

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Asleep at the Bus Stop

She convinced me to stop and try to get a picture of it. So, as soon it saw us approaching it ran away and we chased it through the neighborhood, finally catching up to it in this scary yard.

The couple who lived there gave me permission to roam around in their yard to try to get a shot of the peacock. I was able to get a few shots but he was pretty camera shy!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

The Wild Peacock Chase

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Rolling clouds gather no moss

The one above is actually one that I submitted for the assignment. The assignment was to explore motion using natural light.

The one above is another one shot for an assignment called “Shaft of Light”. I ended up taking another shaft of light picture because I didn’t want to have two images from the aquarium in my critique portfolio.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Georgia Aquarium

Here’s the announcement of the workshops on their website: http://www.sevenartscenter.com/news.html

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Teaching Basic Photography workshop Tomorrow

Each session lasts for 20 minutes with interactive dialogue about each photo. The panelists may or may not know much about your assignment so we have to present each work as if they have no knowledge about why we are presenting it. I felt really good about my photography going into the panel but no so good about my other artwork. I’m no illustrator. I got the hint from one of the staff members running the critique panel schedule to present and talk about my photography first since I’m a photography major. So I ended up taking the entire 20 minutes on photos. Then when the staff member walked in and said “Time’s up”, that’s when I whipped out my artwork, showed it off really fast, and then thanked the panel for their time. The whole thing zipped by faster than I could have imagined and then I was done.

They seemed to enjoy my work and most of my concepts, but they did have a few quibbles with each picture. I agreed with most of their thoughts, but not all. One picture, my favorite from the bunch, they said was the best they had seen for that particular assignment. Thinking back on it now, I don’t really remember a bunch of what they said. But fortunately they make notes and once I go back for the second quarter I will get lots of written feedback from each panelist.

So now that it’s done what are my thoughts? I feel like I did good work. I feel like I fulfilled the goals of each assignment. I did not feel particularly challenged by the assignments and felt my workload was rather light. I’ve heard that the workload really picks up around the third quarter of school. I feel that I really gained some confidence in my ability to execute the shot. I felt that my instructors could have done the courses differently so that we could have learned more. That last sentence has a careful phrasing, because I’m not intending to criticize my instructors, I just feel that there were several times along the way that we could have gotten a lot more education under out belt if their approach were different. But also this school is really about giving the students a direction and it’s up to each student to figure out how fast and how far they want to go.

On another note, I spent lots of my time helping out other students with assignments and I even taught a digital work flow seminar for my fellow photography students. Many of the design students at the school need various photos for their projects so I was often called upon for that. For example, my roommate just asked me to shoot a product shot showcasing the labeling he created for a brand of vitamins. Another student had me shoot a series of shots of tubing that she was going to use on a series of book covers. I enjoy doing it because it’s very real world commercial work. I have to figure out what the client wants, then give them something that hopefully exceeds their expectations, usually with a very quick turnaround and an extremely limited budget.

So, overall, I feel like I learned a great deal about what it’s like to be a commercial photographer and I had an excellent quarter.

My first quarter portfolio is on my website at http://www.kendrickdisch.com/blog/photos/portfolio-center/. Comments welcome.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

First Quarter critique at Portfolio Center

I read these two blogs, which seem to present logical arguments and have been doing so for several years (predicting this mess we are now in).

Chris Martenson
Clusterfuck Nation (don’t let the name deter you)

I’d suggest watching the Crash Course (from the first link). It’s very educational and explains the problems we face in a way we can all understand.

I want my friends and family who read my blog to at least be aware of some of the ideas that exist outside of CNN and MSNBC. I am not trying to spread ideas of doom and gloom, but I do think it’s a very real possibility that things are worse than the government is willing to admit. I really don’t know how bad it will get, but I do fear we are facing a very different future than what we grew up in.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

The Downfall of the US

This one reminds me of how I feel when it snows!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

More from Snow Day

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

it’s okay to peel grapes

What amazed me about the pigs was how muscular they were. I guess it makes perfect sense, but I always thought of pigs as fat. These pigs were ripped!

I liked their ears!

My favorite shot from the day! This pig got a bath before his judging!

And this cow got a haircut before being judged!

This cow wasn’t happy with his score and went on a rampage!

I don’t know if this sign is for the animals or the owners…

What a fun day!!!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Livestock show in Perry, GA

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Jake’s first snow!

Inside the building were all these old canisters labeled Civil Defense Carbohydrate Supplement. Some were rusted out and empty.

Some were still sealed up and not rusted. So I was pretty curious about what a Carbohydrate Supplement was, so I busted one open to take a look.

Turns out, it’s hard candy. I ate one to see what it tasted like and it tasted the same as any other candy I’ve ever eaten.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Carbohydrate Supplement Circa 1963

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Ernie and Jess

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Charlie bit me! (youtube video)

This isn’t a great picture, but I couldn’t risk trying to get a better one because I might not have been able to resist his cuteness. I refused even to pick him up. He’s a mix between Golden Retriever and Collie. I love the black nose!

I guess what this really means is that I need to hurry up and bring Charlee to Atlanta!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Super handsome/cute puppy!

The Steak & Shake franchise is celebrating 75 years in business and in a clever marketing ploy (or desperate?), they got nostalgic and decided the best way to draw attention to the long history of the restaurant was to lower the price of a burger to the original 1934 price of 15 cents.

Well they certainly got my attention. So I grabbed my roommate and we headed to the location on Northside Parkway NW to check it out.

Doors open at 8:00am and we pulled up at 7:45am to find a line of about 60 people.

A group Georgia Tech students even had sleeping bags and lawn chairs and obviously had been camped out for quite a while. Shaun Byun had been waiting since 2:00am. “Yeah it was cold but it was totally worth it. It’s very gratifying.”

As it turns out, the first 75 people through the door got a membership to the VIP club which allows for one free meal per month for a year. When we walk in there is a good vibe floating around the room and everyone is really excited about the occasion.

Most of the tables are already full but we manage to grab a booth and our server Dominique Haynes is prompt to take our orders. Of course it doesn’t take long for us to decide what we want because we are working off a special event menu with the special pricing.

We both order two burgers at 15 cents each but I add cheese to my burgers for an extra 39 cents each. We also get coffee for $1.49 each. Dominique brings our food and he seems genuinely surprised about how excited the customers are. “When I pulled in and saw the long line, I thought maybe I shouldn’t come to work today. It’s going to be a crazy day!”

I could talk about the taste and quality of the food, but to be honest, does it really matter since I’m only paying 15 cents for the burgers? It could be the worst meal of my life and I would still be getting a great deal.

Our combined tab is $4.71, but here’s the thing, even though we are getting burgers at 1934 prices, Dominique and the rest of the staff still have 2009 bills to pay. So this is one of those rare times when the tip is higher than the tab!

As for eating burgers for breakfast… I think I’m okay with another 75 years before I do it again.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

15 Cent Burgers

The Santa Fe Workshops is celebrating 20 years in business and they have released a 20 month calender featuring images made by students and staff over the years. I’m honored that they selected one of my pictures from Mexico to include in the calendar. They chose to use it for March 2010, which is nice because my birthday is in March.

The calendars are available for sale for $20 at the website (http://www.santafeworkshops.com) with some of the proceeds going for the Workshops Scholarships Fund.
They’ve also released the Winter/Spring 2009 course catalog and they used 2 of my images in that. You can download the catalog or be put on the mailing by clicking here. Spring courses start soon, so get on it!

Also, if you are very astute, you might have noticed that the beautiful cover photograph of the flowers was shot by one of my consulting clients, Joyce Tenneson!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

My photography used in Santa Fe Workshops Calendar and Catalog

So anyway, I’m supposed to tag the people who’ve tagged me and the people that I want to know more about… OK. I can do that. But you’re going to have to go to facebook for that part…

I’m not going to number them because I don’t want to…

I have a dog named Charlee and she is awesome! Here is a picture: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/2380910969_5dd40c5bb4.jpg

I recently moved to Atlanta. I love it so far! (unfortunately, Charlee is vacationing at my parents house for a little while)

I moved here to study photography at The Portfolio Center. It’s a small visual communications program and it’s one of the best in the country.

I switched from PC to Mac about a year ago, after being a staunch supporter of Windows for over 10 years. I haven’t even glanced back!

I don’t lose things very often, so when I do, I know it’s probably gone for good.

Except for lens caps for my camera lenses. I lose those all the time. It’s absurd.

My taste in music hasn’t changed since I was 15. I like my pop-punk. So sue me.

When I was 13 I developed a crush on a girl. When I was 18 we finally started dating. It lasted three and half years.

I’m a patient person and work hard to get what I want, even against some scary odds.

I am generally a very calm and easy going guy. But every once in a while my temper gets the better of me and I kick in some poor schmuck’s face.

The above sentence is a pretty good example of my sense of humor.

Sometimes I have to apologize for saying something so utterly retarded that I can’t even believe I said it.

Actually, one time I did break a girl’s face. Here’s the story: http://www.kendrickdisch.com/blog/2008/ill-break-your-face/

I sing loud and proud when I’m driving. I seriously don’t care if you’re looking at me funny at stop lights. Usually I air drum too.

In high school I played guitar and sang in a ska band. I wasn’t very good at it. Here’s a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6avaaAfUGs

If given a choice, I prefer to have shoes on. I hate being barefooted. Here’s some background: http://www.kendrickdisch.com/blog/2006/the-barefoot-hiker-not-me/

You might have noticed all these links to my blog, I’ve been blogging for quite some time. I started blogging after the breakup with the girl mentioned above as a sort of therapy. Since then my blog has changed location several times but for the foreseeable future is at http://www.kendrickdisch.com/blog .

The most popular post on my blog is one about my eye color. They’re a sexy shade of blue. http://www.kendrickdisch.com/blog/2008/blue-eyes-we-are-related-and-sensitive/

I know my purpose in life. I found it when I definitely wasn’t looking for it, but I’m so glad I stumbled across it.

Honesty is the most important characteristic I seek out in friendship. I’d rather not be your friend at all if you are going to lie to me.

I have a birthday coming up soon. I’ll be 27. I don’t really want anything except a new cell phone. This one.

I’m confined to a wheelchair while writing this. I would explain why but I’m getting tired and I need to go to sleep.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

25 things about me that you might want to know.

I was doing some research for possible locations for photoshoots in Atlanta and I read about this old abandoned prison in Southeast Atlanta. So I grabbed a couple of classmates and we had a great time poking our cameras around in these old buildings!

I encourage you to click here to watch a full screen slideshow of the images on my flickr page. They look better big! Or just click here to look at the whole set which is 28 pics.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Atlanta Prison Farm

I did a quick count and it seems they used about 13 of my pictures throughout! Awesome!

On a sidenote: there are a few of the “Book Arts Studio” pictures that were shot in a collaboration with Damn Rabbit Studios and because I didn’t label them correctly when I turned them in, I was the only photographer to receive credit. Sarah over at Damn Rabbit Studios in Rockport, Maine is an amazing interiors photographer and I definitely needed her help on those images! Thanks Sarah!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

2009 Maine Media Workshops Catalog (my pictures used throughout!)

I’m loving it so far!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

My New Home- Atlanta

Need somebody to scan all your old receipts or business cards?

Super cool travel internship!

Did you misplace your kitty?

Some horribly disturbing images of the effects of Agent Orange

Find more videos like this on AdGabber
The above hilarious video making it’s way around the web (available here if it didn’t show up) was conceived and brought to fruition by the Art Direction Department Head at my school…

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

random links for January

Last week was big item stuff like a bed and desk. This week I bought a bunch of little things I needed like lamps and shower curtain rings. Also last week I bought a new camera and lens. I bought the Canon 50d and the Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L lens. More on that in another post…

I think during the month of January I’ve single-handedly kept the economy going. Now I need to plug up the hole in my bank account.

School is going well. I love my assignments and am working sort of hard on my homework. I’m in an Intro to Photography class and I’m kind of slacking in there because I know everything that’s being taught. However, I am paying attention to the way my teacher is teaching it, so that I can become a better teacher of photography. He does some stuff well and other stuff not so well.

I must confess I haven’t been getting up at the sunrise lately. It’s been pretty cold in Atlanta and it’s very hard to wake up. So, in return I have been putting in extra effort for my sunset shooting. I feel like I’ve gotten a few really good images lately. I would share them, but… well… I just don’t feel like it.

I’m in a photoshop class too. I’m learning a lot and getting comfortable with some stuff that I definitely should have already known. Photoshop is one of those things I knew I needed to get some training in. I knew a lot, but wasn’t professional level yet. With this class and then the next photoshop class, I feel like I will be a true photoshop ninja. However, I still don’t really like working in photoshop, so I’m going to keep trying to get it right while I’m shooting.

My Illustration class is going well. I’m learning to paint and my teacher makes me feel good about my efforts even though I can tell I’m even worse at painting than I am at math. I might never share my painting efforts with the world. I don’t want to lose my few readers.

I’m getting around Atlanta without having to consult a map now. I pretty much know the major roads and have figured out when not to be driving, although sometimes it can’t be avoided, because most of the time rush hour coincides with the rising and setting of the sun.

I signed up for Netflix. I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile, but haven’t had a stable address. However, now that I’ve got an apartment, I’m all about watching some dvd’s. Before you bust my chops for watching movies while I’m supposed to be doing school work, let me point out that I’m in a visual communications school. My teachers are constantly assigning us to watch specific movies or a certain style of movie. I’ve already watched two movies about painters with a third on the way, and two films about the Vietnam war (for my first big photoshoot). Watching movies is a big part of being a visual artist.

And because I like to post photos with each post, here is a shot from the official New Student Welcome party a few weeks ago. The theme was “Hollywood”. I present to you the Spice Girls:

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

School Week 3

Here he is teaching us something.

I have to shoot everyday as the sun comes and as the sun goes down. Subject isn’t that important but the lighting is very important.

Here is me walking around in Atlanta looking for good light.

Here’s another one of me taken by me classmate Lauren.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Natural Light Class

It is a good fit and I can tell I’m going to learn a lot. I spent a few minutes today looking over the work from the last quarter photography students and am just very impressed with the caliber of content being created. I’m excited!

I like Atlanta too. I haven’t explored much yet but I’m finding my way around.

I’m not going to post my photography work here yet because everything I’ve shot so far is terrible. Yes, I said it. Terrible. And that’s okay. I’m trying new things. I imagine my photos are going to suck for awhile, but then later on the new techniques, the new ideas, the new vision will all click with the shutter of my camera and beautiful, amazing photos will appear on the blog! Ha! That’s what I’ve been told anyway.

The picture above is part of an assignment we had on the first day of class. It started with a scavenger hunt around campus to help us get familiar with a few things, then we took the items we gathered, had just a few moments to arrange them into a design (”good” was the only criteria for the design). Then the teacher went around the room and interpreted our designs and matched it to the way we think and work. It was actually very interesting. My design was praised by my instructor and respected by my peers. Maybe I’ll do OK with this art thing after all!

Like I said before, there isn’t much time for blogging, so don’t expect many updates for awhile!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Week 1 in Atlanta

This is my good friend Jeremy. He is a very interesting guy with an incredible personal story. I don’t have time to go into it all now, but he is writing a religious book called ‘Rockstar Devotionals: Lifestyles of the Sinners and Saints’. He shaved the cross into his chest as an every day reminder to stick to the plan God has laid out for him.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Jeremy and his cross

My parents bought a little fixer upper house in the Historic District of Fort Smith last year and have been fixing it up. The plan is for my mom to have her office in the house and my dad will have a little photo studio in the house as well. The picture above shows the fresh paint job, while the picture below shows how much work is left on the inside!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

The Cottage

But the advice I decided to follow went something like this: “If you’re going to invest a lot of money in something, what is going to get you the highest return on your investment? The answer is Education.” In this souring economy, I can’t think of a better place to invest my money. Not that I actually have any money to invest. I’m funding this with student loans. It kills me to think about the debt, but I’m confident in myself and know that I will be successful and shouldn’t have a problem paying loans back as long as I can get a halfway decent job out of school.

The school I chose is called Portfolio Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s a small unique school geared much more towards corporate communications than fine art. It’s not a degree-granting program. They offer a professional certificate in one of six majors, photography, design, art direction, illustration, writing, and media architecture. The program takes two years to complete and when finished I should have a portfolio of images that stand up to even the harshest of critiques and will show off my ability to create unique and effective images under almost any circumstance. I should also have the knowledge to be a professional in the field of digital imaging technology.

I first heard about this school several years ago when I randomly stumbled across a graduates amazing final portfolio website (definitely check it out!). He writes answers to some FAQ here.

The school makes a particular effort to teach students skills beyond the technical. Students learn to become creative thinkers and problem solvers. This is an idea I really cherish and I think I will be pleasantly surprised at exactly what my own brain is capable of.

Because I know you are probably thinking it: Yes, I’m still interested in video production. Yes, I’m still interested in journalism. Yes, I’m still interested in technology training. These things all will continue to be a part of my lifestyle and career, but right now, focusing on photography is what is most appealing to me and what I want to be the foundation of my endeavors.

I have orientation on Jan. 2nd and classes start on Jan. 5th, so I’m hitting the books very soon and I can’t wait! I do plan on continuing this blog while in school, but I can’t be sure of how much time I can devote to it. I would love to say I will post all about my assignments and what I’m learning but I get the idea that I’ll be pretty busy with school (and probably work) so blogging will have to be lowered on the list of priorities. I will probably try posting once a week or so, but again, no promises!

I’ll have my hands full, but I feel strongly that this is the right step for me and I look forward to seeing what the future holds!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

I’m Going Back to School!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

A few more from the Big Apple

This is an important concept that isn’t talked about enough. I’ve felt that way about every video project I ever worked on. It just wasn’t good enough and I was disappointed in the results. I wouldn’t say that I’ve quit video production, but the last year and a half have had me exploring photography so much that I haven’t worked on video stuff. I’m still optimistic about getting some video stuff finished, but it will probably be on the later side of soon.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Quote from Ira Glass producer of “This American Life”

This was taken from the window of my friend’s apartment. She’s on the 9th floor.

This is pretty much what it feels like to drive in Manhattan. Kinda stressful and fast. But I got the hang of it pretty quick.

This is where the World Trade Center used to be. (kinda motion blurry because I was driving!)

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Street Photography in NYC; literally

My first stop was New York City. I’ve gathered up a lot of friends that reside in New York and it’s always fun to hang out in the city, so I made it a point to stop and run around for a bit. My plan was then to head to Ithaca to hang with a friend but bad weather had me grabbing a hotel in Allentown, PA for the night. I was able to make it to Ithaca the next day, but due to more storms on the way, my visit was cut short and I hit the road again for North Canton, OH to visit another friend. I saw another big storm on the horizon so I had to hit the road again for Arkansas. I was planning to stop somewhere in Missouri for the night, but ended up just plowing through the Show Me State and hit my parents house on the verge of passing out.

Worst part of the trip? I got stuck behind this truck for hours… It was horrible!

Overall it was a great trip and I’m especially grateful for all the hospitality I received along the way.

Sarah, thanks for all your help!
Claire, you are an awesome friend!
Lacy, you are gorgeous and so talented!
Maria, that was fun. We should do it again!
Rainbow, you are so sweet, I can’t wait til next time!
Nate, thanks and next time keep a closer eye on your wallet!
Dave, you’re a rock star! keep livin it!
Carolyn, sorry for causing you trouble… eh… not really! Thanks so much!

To the New York friends I didn’t get to see: Sorry I couldn’t squeeze a few more days in, but I’ll catch you next time!

To my Virginia Friends:
Alicia, I’m sorry I missed you, but next time for sure!
Rainer, sorry dude. Next time!

I love road trips because I get to hang out with friends from all over the country. Without the people, it would be miserable! Thank you so much for choosing to be my friend!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Road Trip from Maine to Arkansas

This is Allen. He worked at the Maine Media Workshops as the Digital Service Bureau Manager and we shared an office space. We also were roommates at the cabin. He’s a cool cat and possibly the best photo printing ninja I’ve met. He now assists for John Paul Caponigro. He is one of my best friends from my time in Maine and I look forward to following his blossoming career.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Allen

I was playing with a tilt-shift lens awhile back and shot these two pics of my coworker from The Maine Media Workshops, Dave. It was really tough because I had to use a shutter speed of 1.6 seconds (which is a long time!), camera balanced on my knee, adjusting focus and composition by trial and error.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Dave at Union Hall

I’ve got a big project in the works and as soon as a few more of the details fall into place, I will be able to announce it here.

I left Maine Saturday morning, Dec. 13th, and am driving back to Arkansas for the holidays. I’m stopping in several places along the way to hang out with some friends and am looking forward to being back down south for a bit. It was starting to get pretty cold in Maine!

So I probably won’t be posting much besides pictures for the rest of the year.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Leaving Maine

I took this picture in January of 2007 as I traveled around the country with Jeremy Brown as he promoted his just released book “Branding the Brand: Life Inside the Electric Rodeo“. This is part of bigger project I’m working on, but I came across this one and decided to post it!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Speaking to the Masses

I got sap all over it!

So I go to google and type in “removing tree sap from clothes” and hit “I’m feeling lucky”

Here is the result- http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf860271.tip.html

You don’t have to click that link, because basically it says how to get tree sap from your clothes and if you don’t have tree sap on your clothes you won’t enjoy that site. But, I had tree sap on my clothes and the information contained was of high value to me.

It took me less than 45 seconds to find an answer to a question that would have taken a long time to find if I didn’t have my dear friend ‘the google’!

For those curious, rubbing alcohol is the answer!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

I love the google!

But it’s different when it comes to writing and publishing. It gets much more difficult to write when I know the content will actually be read by people. For the last year and half my public writing (this blog) has definitely been censored and sometimes even cryptic as I dance around the things I really want to say. That’s because I know people read it. That is both a blessing and a curse. I love having an audience. Who wouldn’t? (I wish you all would comment more, but I read blogs a lot and rarely comment, so I know how it is.) But knowing people (certain people) are going to read it has definitely changed what I publish. Writing is therapeutic and I find it very helpful to write when I’m feeling strongly about something. I’ve got about 25 finished posts sitting on my hard drive, that I wrote and at the last second decided not to publish them. But that’s okay. I know I write for myself a lot and since it does help me, they’ve served their purpose. I’m OK with those posts just sitting there forever.

But what I’m really finding odd is that even when it comes to somewhat random or silly stuff, I am now talking myself out of writing because I think about the response from my audience. “Oh they are going to think that’s dumb” or “this is a waste of their time”…

Yes, it’s true, I don’t normally care what most people think, but you who are reading this, are reading this for a reason. It’s either because you like me or you like the things that I post. Either way, I’m concerned about letting you down when it comes to writing and publishing on this blog. If you look back through the archives you will definitely find a noticeable shift in my writing/posting style about the time I left Arkansas. I picked up new audience members around that time and since then I’ve been a little gun shy.

I am with okay with that though. My life and my personality has changed a lot since then and so what if my blog personality changed too. I think it’s fine.

My life is about to have another major change (as if the last 20 months hasn’t had enough change!), and my goal is to post more pictures and write more often to keep up with the things that are going on in my life. One caveat, because this is a very public blog with some professional peers reading, I am going to refrain from writing about my personal life as much and focus more on my professional development. Of course, these two areas are definitely overlapping right now and for the foreseeable future, so we shall see what comes of it.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Audience

There is a semi-controversy surrounding the QWERTY layout and the competition which lost out. Here are two links to the history behind the controversy: http://reason.com/9606/Fe.QWERTY.shtml, http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/dissent.html.

There is an alternative called the Dvorak keyboard that you can setup on your computer and learn, although I haven’t done it and since I don’t type very much, don’t see a need. But some of you may be interested in exploring the option. Here is the layout:

Some facts and figures (bear in mind that these assume typical verbal English as the typing content):

* Finger travel distance is 8 to 20 times greater for QWERTY typing than for Dvorak.
* In typical English, 70% of letters occur in the home row in Dvorak, compared to 31% in QWERTY.
* Reaches across rows occur five times less frequently in Dvorak than in QWERTY.
* The error rate for QWERTY typists is about twice that of Dvorak typists.
* A study carried out by the US Navy indicated that they could recover the costs of retraining their typists in Dvorak in 10 days, because of their increased productivity. (one of the above articles refutes this statement)
* The average beginner typists would require 56 hours of training to attain a 40 word-per-minute speed in QWERTY; in Dvorak, the time is reduced to 18 hours. (Source)

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

The Dvorak Keyboard

I haven’t shot a show in over 6 months so I feel like I could have done better but below are a few selects from the night. You can check out the entire collection here.

I love the expression on the bass players face in this one!

One of the last songs they performed on this night was a cover song called “Waiting Room” originally by a band called Fugazi, perhaps a legend in the DIY punk rock scene. You can hear the covered version on their myspace page, which I linked above. What’s interesting to me is that it was almost exactly 10 years ago that I saw Fugazi play at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. The date was 11/24/98. I was already into live music of the rock and roll variety, but this show was one of my first big shows and it only reinforced my love of live music and the energy that comes with it. Here I am 10 years later, trotting around with a camera trying to capture the passion and energy that musicians bring to their craft.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Jimmie’s Chicken Shack concert photos

I spent Thanksgiving 2008 being sick in Maine and didn’t go anywhere or do anything special. I had some generous offers from fabulous friends to hang out with them and their families and I was planning to hang out with my friend Sarah, but I just didn’t feel up to it. I have a cold. My head is super congested and I’m sneezing and coughing on a regular basis. My body aches all over and it hurts just to walk around.

Instead of eating Turkey I had mac and cheese. I put a little tuna in it. Also some salt. Instead of eggnog, I had lots and lots of water. Been chugging the water. I’ve heard staying hydrated is helpful for the immune system.

Of course it is cold in Maine. But I wonder if there is any truth at all to cold weather contributing to catching a cold. Isn’t it germs? Isn’t a cold contagious because of germs? I don’t think people get a cold from the cold. I probably got a cold from the airplane rides on Saturday. An airplane is a great place to trade germs with people. I first started feeling bad on Tuesday night though. Is that a normal time progression?

But I don’t really feel too bad about missing turkey today. Two reasons. First, I’ve got a feeling some leftovers will be brought to my house on Friday and second, I already had a great big thanksgiving meal a few weeks ago. The staff and students still left here at the workshops, decided to have a themed potluck thanksgiving meal before everyone left called “Dranksgiving”. Well, actually there were a couple of themes and you could pick and choose your outfit accordingly. First there was the gangsta option. Then there was the pilgrim/Indian option. And finally there was the ugly sweater option. So inevitably we had pilgrims sportin bling and gangstas wearing ugly sweaters. Here’s a picture of Jeff showing his amazing costume:

photo by Kathleen Guill

So evidently there is a drink from the hood called Drank. This drink was the basis for the party being called Dranksgiving of course. The recipe that was used was cough syrup, dry gin, and sprite. A healthy pitcher was mixed up and most people were drinking it. So about 9:00pm food was finally ready and everyone got busy eating. The food was excellent and the party was rocking until the late hours of 11:30pm.

11:30pm!!!!! Yeah, turns out when they bought the cough syrup they forgot to get the non-drowsy kind. Add the tryptophan from the turkey and it’s the perfect recipe to pass out early. I didn’t have any drank, so I was one the last person to leave the party at 1:00am. We had parties during the summer that didn’t start until 1:00am!

Anyway, So even though I didn’t get turkey today, I’ll think I’ll be ok.

To everyone that I love, I am thankful for your support as I work to achieve my goals. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Thanksgiving 2008

Now I’m more likely to post a few pictures with a minimal caption than write a lengthy post with good writing. I still have the skill. I can write more creatively and more passionately than most everyone I know, but I don’t get as much joy in writing as I used to.

But nevertheless, I’m going to make an effort to write more often and actually say something with my prose rather than just rant about whatever is bothering me that day.

So in the coming months you can expect more posting on this blog in the form of writing instead of just pictures.

I also plan to bring back the random links I used to post, like the post before this one.

I’ll be changing the categories of this blog up as well. I have way too many and I will be combining them and redoing several other things too over the next several weeks.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Writing: coming soon

Check out his photo essay on Gun Culture, it’s very good http://mattslaby.com/

What happens when states run of out money? Read this

Really great lightroom plugin for photographers: LR2Mogrify

Missing US Nukes

Game changing cameras for photographers and filmmakers Scarlet and Epic

Great article about the End of Wall Street

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

random links 11-27-08

Lou

Michael

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Every day, a little more pale

I needed to post a picture to test something I’ve been working on and this is a picture I already had sitting on flickr, so it got published!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Darkroom Dave

It will be no surprise that I choose to watch MSNBC and Keith Olbermann is a large part of that reason. I find him to be a very skilled anchor on his ideological show, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann”. He isn’t afraid of showing passion and certainly isn’t afraid of letting people know his opinion as you will see below.

So when I saw the Saturday Night Live skit with Ben Affleck impersonating Keith Olbermann, I thought it was so funny I had to share it.

(Video Link)

For those who haven’t watched the show, watch the video below to see how well Affleck took Olbermann’s mannerisms and tweaked them just enough to be hilarious but not so much it drifts away from an impersonation!

(Video Link)

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Ben Affleck does Keith Olbermann

So you can imagine my excitement about this cool software I found called TunesTEXT. It’s an OSX Dashboard Widget that works with Itunes to automatically search for song lyrics to the song you are currently listening to. Not only that, it downloads those lyrics and copies them into the song ID3 info. It also shows you any album artwork attached to the file. You can also use this widget to advance the tracks or pause the music.

So anytime I’m working on something and I want to glance at the lyrics of the song that is playing, I just hit the widget key (F12) and suddenly I can sing until my voice is raspy. Below is a screen shot of the widget in action.

I have two complaints about it though. Sometimes it has trouble finding the lyrics to certain artists or albums. I guess it needs to search through more databases or something. The other problem is that usually when it is downloading the lyrics, it causes the music to skip for half a second or so. Not a deal killer, but pretty annoying. Other than that, it’s pretty great. I’d actually like to see this feature built right into Itunes.

Download it by going here: http://www.cyanworks.net/dboardTunesTEXT.html. The website is kinda sketch, but the app works great!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Lyrics grabber: TunesTEXT

I grew up in Arkansas which has incredible fall colors, but I must admit, this fall in Maine was really quite beautiful and probably more colorful than most Autumn’s in Arkansas.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Maine colors

The tilt shift lens is very tricky to use. For the non-photographers out there: basically it gives you the ability to manipulate your plane of focus on an x, y, and z axis instead of just the normal x axis. So you can throw certain areas of the image out of focus. The problem is that the more you manipulate the plane of focus, the more bouncing around inside the lens the light has to do and therefore, the more difficult it is to accurately asses the needed exposure settings. Add to this that this is a very wide angle lens and has a tendency to distort the image at times and you get a situation where it takes a lot of practice to use this lens well.

Anyway, below is a flickr slideshow of some of the more successful images I got that night. If there is no slideshow showing up, try clicking here. Also, 3 of these shots were actually taken with my 50mm prime, but I’ll let you try to figure out which ones!

I’m interested to hear what you (the reader), think about using these slideshows on my blog versus what I usually do, which is just load up all the images one after the other down the column.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Tilt Shift Picnic

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Random Scenes from Cancun

The Executive Director, Charles Altschul welcomes the crowd to the show!

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Friday Night Shows in the Soundstage

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Fresh Coconut!

I don’t claim to excel at outdoor/nature photography, I’ll leave that to my father and brother. But this lens begs to shoot birds, so here ya go.

I approached very slowly and the duck didn’t seem to mind me getting close. I got about 6 or 7 feet away and got this shot without having to crop!

I’d love to have this lens in my bag all the time! Although it is large and cumbersome, it’s really a good one to have for a variety of shooting environments. DPreview has the following to say:

The Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM is quite simply an excellent lens, which will reward users with quality images in almost every situation.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Shooting some wild game!

Last summer while I was working for the Santa Fe Photography Workshops, I had the privilege of working with Dave. We worked closely together for the whole summer and he was a fantastic source of knowledge and humor. Anyway, he stopped into Maine for a quick visit before doing some photo printing and then heading overseas for some documentary photography work.

We hung out, tried to get into some trouble (very nearly succeeding), and shot some pictures in various places in Maine. I haven’t really had a chance to sort through most of the shots from then, but will post them eventually.

I would post a link to his website but he doesn’t have one. Eventually he will get one and I will link to it.

Here is Dave and the waitress that fell in love with him while she served us.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Dave came to visit

We used 3 canon 580EXII flashes for the lighting with 2 pointed onto the makeshift backdrop and the third attached with a 4ft cord to the camera aimed at the subject.

Each photographer got a copy of the pics and is doing their own post processing. The shots below are my ’selects’ from the shoot and I wanted to share them with!

Michael

Kalie

Bruce

Carlos

Chris

Lou

Kalie

Bruce

Lou

Me

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Photoshoot with 7 Weekers

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Ridiculously Awesome Pictures of the Sun!

Now, here’s the thing, while filming this documentary Ryan and Steve the producer of the doc, were blown up along with a couple of the special forces soldiers in Afghanistan. He was seriously injured/burned and had to be airlifted to Germany. Filming was cut short by 7 days and the entire documentary changed course. It became a much more personal film and very compelling.

(youtube video)

The video above is of the producer talking about the incident and the impact it had on the film crew. The story is very engaging and powerful. With the director/producer and director of photography both in the hospital, the sound guy picks up a backup camera and records some extra footage. It’s just very moving to me because these guys are there trying to make an honest film about what it’s like to be in a war zone as a green beret and they very nearly die in that effort.

Ryan is just a little older than me and has had a similar life, so it’s hard for me not to put myself in his shoes. In the Q&A he talked in detail about what it was like and what he experienced during and after the filming. It was riveting.

Afterward all I could think about was the idea of sacrifice and what drives certain people to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Would I be willing to go shoot a documentary in Afghanistan or Iraq? I think since I am not married I’d be willing to risk my life and use my skills to bring back stories of the conflicts of the war on Islamic Extremists. But If I were married and/or had kids… i don’t know… Maybe I’d be more inclined to do it to try and make the world safer… or maybe I wouldn’t be willing to put myself in harms way and leave the people that depend on me for safety behind and alone. It’s a very tough moral decision and obviously one I don’t look forward to ever having to face.

The film is available on Amazon and also on youtube (divided into 6 parts, click ‘more from saif316′)

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Inside the Green Berets; a viewing with the DP

One casualty so far in the process is my photoblog. I used it for awhile just to post photos but I never really knew exactly how to utilize it. It didn’t fit in with my style, so I axed it. I still plan on posting photos on the blog in a similar fashion, but now what I’m going to have is the ability to subscribe by category to my blog feeds. That way if you only want the photos you can just subscribe to that specific category RSS feed. I’ll explain more later. If you look back through the blog posts, you will actually see all the content and comments from my photoblog are actually already merged with the content from deepdisch.net.

I’m going to redesign my photo galleries and also install a new password protected client area for my photowork. A new section I’ll be adding is my section called ‘consulting’ or perhaps ‘digital tech’. A lot of what I do is helping with computer problems and consulting with photographers and filmmakers on digital asset management and associated topics. I’ve been doing this for over 8 years now, I figure it’s about time to make it officially part of my site.

All of this stuff takes lots of time to develop and design, so please be patient with me as I work to make this happen. I’m only able to work on this site a few hours per day if I’m lucky, so progress is slow, but things are definitely progressing and I’m pleased with the results so far.

Anyway, keep checking back for updates. Thanks.

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

Site Consolidation Update 10-15-08

Let’s go back a bit in history, all the way back to when Clinton left office, there was a surplus in our budget which hadn’t happened under either of the previous republican presidents. It took a liberal “tax and spend” democrat from the lowly state of Arkansas to actually put this country on the right path. Sure things weren’t perfect but they were pretty good and getting better.

In 2000 Bush ran against Gore as a “compassionate conservative”. He didn’t turn out to be either of those things. The United States quickly dove into that surplus and then started spending massive amounts of money all while cutting taxes. It’s the opposite of a “tax and spend” liberal. It’s a “borrow and spend” conservative. In fact, the US debt has doubled since Bush took office. (source)

Due to the complete and utter greed of Bush’s friends in business and coworkers in the government, every possible avenue of making money was exploited. Gambles were made with reckless abandon and the people in position to make important decisions about financial matters, made all the wrong decisions. I’ve actually been concerned for quite some time and in fact made a post right here on this blog back at the beginning of 2007 concerning this very topic. I quoted an article talking about the need to solve the problem now, not when the economy goes south. Here’s what I quoted:

The good news is that because the problem only grows more intractable with every passing day, our dithering politicians will have fewer options to chose from when the crisis hits thereby making their jobs that much easier. The bad news is that the more time we spend in denial, the less time remains for us to get busy and do something about it. There is even the danger that if we wait too long, we will face a potentially unfixable problem on the scale of what the Soviet Union experienced – catastrophic economic failure.(source)

So, this situation was easy enough to see years ago by experts and those experts were able to relay that information to the public that cared, including me. So how can the government not have known? The answer is they did and they didn’t care.

I don’t trust this government at all and I do not want to give them any more money. This government has screwed up the lives of so many people already that I’m not willing to let them touch any more of the taxpayers money. If I had a say in the matter, most of the executive branch of government would be impeached and perhaps jailed and members of the do nothing congress we have, would be relieved of duty. This goes for both democrats and republicans. I’m particularly disappointed that Barack Obama supports a bill like the one the Senate passed yesterday and the House will be voting on tomorrow.

Secretary Paulson actually has stated that he will be leaving his post in 4 months. We don’t know who will replace him. This proposed bill gives the person who will replace him an incredible amount of power. If you listen to some people talking about this “crisis” they seem to suggest that if this money isn’t handed over to the Secretary of the Treasury immediately, then the entire global economy will collapse and the world as we know it will be over. That’s a pretty significant level of trust we are putting on somebody who already has one foot out the door and then on the unknown individual who will replace him.

I suggest both presidential campaigns name the person they would choose to appoint to the position and let them start taking questions as to how they would handle things. It just makes sense that we should have this knowledge when our congressmen are voting for this bill and we as voters need to know before cast our ballot for president.

But back to the point, obviously $700,000,000,000 is a lot of money. A lot.
To put it into perspective, the Iraq war has cost this country : ###
(source)

My immediate reaction to the idea of spending $700,000,000,000 is “woah… is buying up bad debt really the best way to spend that much money?” I don’t know the answer to that question but neither does Congress. The fact that the Bush Administration is trying to hammer this legislation through without giving people time to think about it, makes me super suspicious about their motives. Bush has gone on TV a few times now and given ominous sounding warnings about the urgency of this crisis:

(youtube video)

The problem is, we’ve heard this before from the Bush administration… Colin Powell trotting out to the UN with a powerpoint slideshow talking about the urgency and need to invade Iraq and the hastily passed Patriot Act. Two examples of this routine leading us down a path that in hindsight we should not have followed.

They claimed last week that if the bill didn’t pass by tuesday of this week, the world would end. Or at least the economy would be beyond saving. In reality we are still fine. And we will be fine for quite some time. I hope congress will do some small things that will help the economy now, then once a new administration is able to come in, they can work on some plans that will actually significantly help the situation in the right way, with proper deliberation and some actual thought about the future.

I think about what a $700,000,000,000 investment in alternative energy research and development would do for our nation in the long term. I think about ways that money could be spent on a national health care plan and a real investment in education. These are things that will actually help our economy by creating wealth, not just taking good money and sending it after bad money.

I have several more thoughts on the topic, but it is getting late, and I’ve already said plenty.

To end, here is a short video of Eisenhower warning against the dangers of the military/industrial complex, and it’s scary accurate!

(youtube video)

Thanks for subscribing to Kendrick Disch's Blog.

My thoughts on the “Bailout”