Many of you know my cousin, Michael Patrick Bailey. He has a lifetime of picture framing and hanging experience. He came over last night and hung seventeen photographs, my 1955 calendar and one small poster! They had been in storage since I moved out of my house in 2011!
He did a yeoman's job in only two hours time! He hung photographs in several different places and I only had to supervise on a few occasions!
Mike hung a collage centered on a photograph that is one of Tom Wallace's favorite photographs of a high school basketball game between Luverne and Jasper in the District 8 tournament in 1973 in Worthington! Tom as been shooting since high school and has shot me on many occasions. He is now on staff at the Minneapolis StarTribune newspaper. The fun thing about Tom is he was the first person I met when I started school in Worthington partway through my eighth grade year. We have remained friends ever sense, and he has recently told me he wants to upgrade my profile photograph.
Jim Brandenburg mentored Tom when they worked for the Worthington Daily Globe. Yes, that Jim Brandenburg! It does not get any better than Jim for a photography mentor!
The irony in this picture is it features one of my favorite people and Mike Bailey's brother-in-law, Tom Brakke, boxing out his opponent and waiting to grab one of his many rebounds! His photograph is surrounded by smaller photographs of me as a baby on my first New Year's Eve and my second birthday photograph. The next photograph up the left side is a unique photograph my aunt, Dorothy Fish took of a picture of George Washington's profile on Mount Rushmore! Moving around is a photograph I took of a woman many years ago after she had been at a professional modeling studio that day, so she was all made up and it remains one of my favorite photographs.
Along the top are pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, which was taken by a friend of mine from way back in the dorm when I attended the University of California at Berkeley, Mike Ross. Next to that is a time-lapse shot I took of downtown Chicago that is rather unique. Moving down the right side are pictures of two little boys that had some inquisitive looks on their face when I shot them one day many years ago out at Valley Fair. Moving down the right side of the collage are two pictures of my favorite building to shoot, the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis. I must confess, Mike Ross took one of those as well.
Mike also put three concept photos on the other wall I took of the IDS Center.
In my bedroom, he hung three photographs from when I went downhill skiing in Winter Park, Colorado in 1980. He also hung my calendar from April 1955! It was a rather racy photograph at the time as the seductress on the calendar has a quote that reads, "Tell me more!"
It is often said, "The time to buy an antique is when you see it." That was the case with my calendar girl. When I saw it in an antique mall and it had January, February and March torn off, showing April. I had to buy it!
Mike was operating a framing shop at the time and I asked him to put my calendar in a period frame. He hit it perfectly!
There was one more sign Mike put up for me last night. He hung it by my front door where I will read it once again like I did in my house for many years. It reads, "HELP WANTED" on the first line and underneath it in slightly smaller letters it reads, "NO IRISH NEED APPLY"!
The irony in that simple sign is it was made by the Boston Sign Company on September 11, 1915! I had that hanging in my house by my door and have not been able to get most of these pieces hanging on the walls because there just was no room in an eight hundred square foot apartment!
I hang it by my door to remind me how my Irish immigrants were treated in the late 19th century and the early 20th century! It seems timelier today when we are discussing the immigrants and the situation about letting them continue to build our workforce! There was a time when Boston did not embrace the Celtics like they do today! It seems every minority group has taken its fair share of lack of being welcome in this country that is built on immigrants! I believe everyone should read the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty!
I still have more pieces I want to hang and Mike will be back to do that after the Thanksgiving holiday trip to be with his extended family. He has assured me he will not wait as long to hang the next batch of photographs as he did in this one!
I apologize for not getting any of the pictures up on this post. However, if you were ever at my house and saw photographs by my friends listed above and me, you know what his photographs I am talking about.
I promise I will post another photograph once Mike gets some of my other pieces up and show you what my apartment is starting to look like! We simply did not have a phone or camera to take photographs of Mike's work.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Showing posts with label Jim Brandenburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Brandenburg. Show all posts
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Friday, September 21, 2012
My Trip Last Week
I went home twice last week
and had many memorable moments. I saw lots of former classmates, teammates,
teachers and coaches. I met new friends, had so many great conversations I
cannot begin to count them all, relived experiences back to 1963, spoke a
couple times and even rode in a parade for the first time since 1966!
We drove to Worthington on Wednesday and had a 5:00 am wake-up call to get to Edgerton where I had two classroom visits and an assembly for middle and high school students from four schools, Edgerton Public Middle and High School, Southwest Christian Middle and High School and several adults from the tiny town where I went to third, fourth and fifth grades. Included in the audience were my second cousin, Darlene Bailey and her husband, Bob, and Annabelle, Ernie and Trudy Schellhaas. Annabelle was the other den mother with my mom for the three years I was a Cub Scout.
I had to drive by our old house to see how much the trees had grown my dad planted. I was pleased to see the service door and handle were the original items from when our garage was built almost fifty years ago! They were proudly made in America. I spent about an hour with a former neighbor, Rick Vanderstoep, at his furniture store, which he co-owns with his brother, Curt, who played basketball, baseball and football for my dad. I drove around town and thoroughly enjoyed seeing houses, stores and points of interest I remembered as a young boy.
It was almost two hours after the school day had ended before I finally left Edgerton. I took a different route back to Worthington and found another quaint little town, Kenneth, population 67. There was a cute little antique store with a ramp. It is called The Backyard Antiques and More. I cannot pass an accessible antique store and not stop!
I found out from the owner the building was the former post office so it was newly remodeled, complete with a nice ramp and full of things I could not live without! Did I buy anything, you ask. Of course, I did, Silly. So did my attendant, Kelly. She had never seen anything like Kenneth and The Backyard Antiques and More. An hour later, we were back on the road to Worthington. It took us four hours to get forty-five miles from Edgerton back to our hotel in Worthington! I was in no hurry and this post will probably be the basis for a chapter in my next book!
Friday was a marketing day, so I spent it at a pep fest at the high school, sold a couple books to the media center, and made a couple other stops before going to Center Sports to make sure we were set for my book signing the next day. Then, the fun started!
I stopped at The Cow's Outside which is a little leather goods store located in a cool, old 1901 bank building to see Bill and Lori Keitel who had played a key role in getting my book signing arranged in Worthington. Bill had already left the store to go home and prepare for friends coming over for dinner.
Since their house was only two blocks away, I drove down there to thank him, leave and get a quick meal before going to the high school football game. It did not happen like that! Bill was in the house working, saw me arrive, so we went into this well-sculpted back yard that was obviously built and maintained by two artists!
They were preparing for their good friends, Jim and Judy Brandenburg to come by. Yes, THAT Jim Brandenburg! I was privileged enough to spend the next two hours swapping stories with one of the greatest nature photographers of all time! He had great stories about his trips all over the world.
Brian Korthals was also there and he is a successful photographer in his own right. Jim is also one of his mentors. He is the third person in this picture:
Brian now has Jim's old job at the Worthington Daily Globe and has a history of taking my picture at Turkey Day. He also shot me the next day while I gave my speech. Jim insisted I hold my book, which has one of his photos in the background, and Tom Wallace, who is now a very successful photographer for the Minneapolis StarTribune, who was mentored by Jim Brandenburg, took the color photo.
Click on the image to make it larger:
Those two hours were the highlight of many highlights on my trip to two of my past lives. Turkey Day was a whole other story!
Saturday started out with a quick speech at Mayor Alan Oberloh's Turkey Day brunch, then Kelly and I rushed to set-up for my book signing at Center Sports from 10:00 am to noon. We grabbed a quick bite and it was time to get me on to the stage with a front-end loader. That was a first!
I rode in the parade tied down by the red straps you can see in this photo by Doug Jenkins:
Again, click on this image to make it larger:
After the parade, they set-up a booth for me to sell books and take orders since my publisher did not get my book order to Worthington until Monday. That was frustrating!
I spent several hours there, then moved out to the Nobles County Fairgrounds and got more orders there. I had very few times during the afternoon and evening that I went more than five minutes when someone came up and introduced themselves.
I recognized many of the people, which surprised some folks who thought I would not remember them. I was having a great time! It was the fortieth reunion for the Class of 1972, so there were many friends I got to spend time with people like Lynn, Alan, Pete and Peg, Dale and June, Denny and Margaret, to name just a few.
By 9:00 pm I was exhausted and it was off to the hotel. I had a great time and I would like to thank everyone who helped make my trip a success.
As always, I welcome your comments.
Later,
Mike
We drove to Worthington on Wednesday and had a 5:00 am wake-up call to get to Edgerton where I had two classroom visits and an assembly for middle and high school students from four schools, Edgerton Public Middle and High School, Southwest Christian Middle and High School and several adults from the tiny town where I went to third, fourth and fifth grades. Included in the audience were my second cousin, Darlene Bailey and her husband, Bob, and Annabelle, Ernie and Trudy Schellhaas. Annabelle was the other den mother with my mom for the three years I was a Cub Scout.
I had to drive by our old house to see how much the trees had grown my dad planted. I was pleased to see the service door and handle were the original items from when our garage was built almost fifty years ago! They were proudly made in America. I spent about an hour with a former neighbor, Rick Vanderstoep, at his furniture store, which he co-owns with his brother, Curt, who played basketball, baseball and football for my dad. I drove around town and thoroughly enjoyed seeing houses, stores and points of interest I remembered as a young boy.
It was almost two hours after the school day had ended before I finally left Edgerton. I took a different route back to Worthington and found another quaint little town, Kenneth, population 67. There was a cute little antique store with a ramp. It is called The Backyard Antiques and More. I cannot pass an accessible antique store and not stop!
I found out from the owner the building was the former post office so it was newly remodeled, complete with a nice ramp and full of things I could not live without! Did I buy anything, you ask. Of course, I did, Silly. So did my attendant, Kelly. She had never seen anything like Kenneth and The Backyard Antiques and More. An hour later, we were back on the road to Worthington. It took us four hours to get forty-five miles from Edgerton back to our hotel in Worthington! I was in no hurry and this post will probably be the basis for a chapter in my next book!
Friday was a marketing day, so I spent it at a pep fest at the high school, sold a couple books to the media center, and made a couple other stops before going to Center Sports to make sure we were set for my book signing the next day. Then, the fun started!
I stopped at The Cow's Outside which is a little leather goods store located in a cool, old 1901 bank building to see Bill and Lori Keitel who had played a key role in getting my book signing arranged in Worthington. Bill had already left the store to go home and prepare for friends coming over for dinner.
Since their house was only two blocks away, I drove down there to thank him, leave and get a quick meal before going to the high school football game. It did not happen like that! Bill was in the house working, saw me arrive, so we went into this well-sculpted back yard that was obviously built and maintained by two artists!
They were preparing for their good friends, Jim and Judy Brandenburg to come by. Yes, THAT Jim Brandenburg! I was privileged enough to spend the next two hours swapping stories with one of the greatest nature photographers of all time! He had great stories about his trips all over the world.
Brian Korthals was also there and he is a successful photographer in his own right. Jim is also one of his mentors. He is the third person in this picture:
Brian now has Jim's old job at the Worthington Daily Globe and has a history of taking my picture at Turkey Day. He also shot me the next day while I gave my speech. Jim insisted I hold my book, which has one of his photos in the background, and Tom Wallace, who is now a very successful photographer for the Minneapolis StarTribune, who was mentored by Jim Brandenburg, took the color photo.
Click on the image to make it larger:
Those two hours were the highlight of many highlights on my trip to two of my past lives. Turkey Day was a whole other story!
Saturday started out with a quick speech at Mayor Alan Oberloh's Turkey Day brunch, then Kelly and I rushed to set-up for my book signing at Center Sports from 10:00 am to noon. We grabbed a quick bite and it was time to get me on to the stage with a front-end loader. That was a first!
I rode in the parade tied down by the red straps you can see in this photo by Doug Jenkins:
Again, click on this image to make it larger:
After the parade, they set-up a booth for me to sell books and take orders since my publisher did not get my book order to Worthington until Monday. That was frustrating!
I spent several hours there, then moved out to the Nobles County Fairgrounds and got more orders there. I had very few times during the afternoon and evening that I went more than five minutes when someone came up and introduced themselves.
I recognized many of the people, which surprised some folks who thought I would not remember them. I was having a great time! It was the fortieth reunion for the Class of 1972, so there were many friends I got to spend time with people like Lynn, Alan, Pete and Peg, Dale and June, Denny and Margaret, to name just a few.
By 9:00 pm I was exhausted and it was off to the hotel. I had a great time and I would like to thank everyone who helped make my trip a success.
As always, I welcome your comments.
Later,
Mike
Sunday, March 13, 2011
To My Worthington Friends
I have a favor to ask of people who knew me when I had my accident. You do not necessarily need to be from Worthington, I just want comments from people who knew me before my accident, and have memories of that night.
I wrote a book, and with an editor are in the process of editing it and want to include a chapter of peoples' memories of the night I got hurt. The book is nearing completion and the editing process is going very well. I already have several comments following my post where I would like you to make your comments. Please identify yourself when you post your comment.
Here is the post from my blog on September 3, 2009 I would like you to refer to if you would like to make your comments part of the book by clicking here.
My editor and I believe your comments will be a valuable addition to the book which is tentatively titled Turning This Tragedy Into Triumph and I'm Not Done Yet. I Every one of my blog posts goes to my Facebook page so for all my Facebook friends who want to comment, please open my blog and make your comment on that link from above.
The cover of the book is the picture from the Daily Globe the day after my accident. It was taken by Jim Brandenburg. He was a photographer for the Globe at the time and has several pictures you can see by going to my website at patcom.com.
Please consider subscribing to my blog if you have not already done so. The subscription process is on the top right corner of the page when you make your comment. I am trying to build up my Subscriber numbers. I appreciate your help. Please contact me if you have any questions at mike@patcom.com.
Thank you for your assistance.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
I wrote a book, and with an editor are in the process of editing it and want to include a chapter of peoples' memories of the night I got hurt. The book is nearing completion and the editing process is going very well. I already have several comments following my post where I would like you to make your comments. Please identify yourself when you post your comment.
Here is the post from my blog on September 3, 2009 I would like you to refer to if you would like to make your comments part of the book by clicking here.
My editor and I believe your comments will be a valuable addition to the book which is tentatively titled Turning This Tragedy Into Triumph and I'm Not Done Yet. I Every one of my blog posts goes to my Facebook page so for all my Facebook friends who want to comment, please open my blog and make your comment on that link from above.
The cover of the book is the picture from the Daily Globe the day after my accident. It was taken by Jim Brandenburg. He was a photographer for the Globe at the time and has several pictures you can see by going to my website at patcom.com.
Please consider subscribing to my blog if you have not already done so. The subscription process is on the top right corner of the page when you make your comment. I am trying to build up my Subscriber numbers. I appreciate your help. Please contact me if you have any questions at mike@patcom.com.
Thank you for your assistance.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Jim Brandenburg's Photography
September 3, 1971 was the night I got hurt. There was a young photographer standing in the end zone taking pictures for the Worthington Daily Globe, the local, daily newspaper. His name was Jim Brandenburg.
He took these pictures, along with several others, you can see on my website by clicking here:
He took these pictures, along with several others, you can see on my website by clicking here:
Click on the images to enlarge:
Jim has come a long way in his career since that night. Many of you may know of his phenomenal body of work. He is an award-winning nature photographer, filmmaker and environmentalist, and has become one of the most respected nature photographers in the world. I came across Jim's website, blog and Facebook page, and spent the last couple of hours checking them out.
A friend gave me this framed, autographed print several years ago and it is one of my most prized possessions. Jim signed it, "With great admiration!" Jim Brandenburg
WOW! Here's this world-famous photographer, and he's admiring me. That was pretty cool!
You can visit Jim's websites by clicking on these three words: Website, Blog, Facebook.
Take some time to peruse his work and see if you agree with me.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
P.S. Jim's office gave me permission to use this copyrighted image entitled Gray Wolf.
Jim has come a long way in his career since that night. Many of you may know of his phenomenal body of work. He is an award-winning nature photographer, filmmaker and environmentalist, and has become one of the most respected nature photographers in the world. I came across Jim's website, blog and Facebook page, and spent the last couple of hours checking them out.
A friend gave me this framed, autographed print several years ago and it is one of my most prized possessions. Jim signed it, "With great admiration!" Jim BrandenburgWOW! Here's this world-famous photographer, and he's admiring me. That was pretty cool!
You can visit Jim's websites by clicking on these three words: Website, Blog, Facebook.
Take some time to peruse his work and see if you agree with me.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
P.S. Jim's office gave me permission to use this copyrighted image entitled Gray Wolf.
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