Tweets of the Week, Part II

I use the Roman numerals in homage to Super Bowl XXXLVIdon'thaveanyideaanymore.

Yes, TotW is back for a second week. Thanks to all who commented about it this week and made it a goal to be included. You both are very kind and clearly need to set your goals MUCH higher.

Before I get into this week's list, which is chronological (although I'm still not committed enough to throw dates and time stamps on the posts) I'll ask a favor. I'm kinda stuck on who I want to follow. Do you follow someone who is sometimes (or better yet consistently) funny, or ribald or perhaps pithy. (They are real words people, look them up!) Please leave their Twitter names in the comment section or shoot me an email.

Ok, I know, enough with the chitter-chatter.

Here's Week two of the OTS Tweets of the Week (did I mention I didn't invent this? I was STUNNED to do a Google search and see others have been doing this for a while - I HONESTLY thought I invented this. God, I'm a dork. OK, I'm done digressin - I promise!).

RIP Jack LaLanne. Well, so much for that ridiculous myth that exercise is GOOD for you. @alyankovic

(Yeah - the guy only lived to 138)

If I could have one super-power, I would select Paula Dean's ability to add ingredients without measuring.
@DennisDMZ

(Mine would be to turn water into hollandaise sauce)

Just got done talking to the kids at Brubaker Elementary...first question asked " Are you rich?"
@MBlakely2211

(Compared to them, yeah you probably are - but you now live in Iowa ... ewww!)

One day after Jets clean out lockers, universe is restored to order on NY's three tabloid back pages: Jeter. Jeter. Jeter.
@sportswatch

(It's going to be a long year for Jeets I fear. Or is that hope?)

Just got back from the Lakers-Jazz game. I might have to shower to get Utah's stink off me. They are a bad body language quagmire.
@sportsguy33

(Nobody turns a phrase like Bill Simmons - I'm stealing that one for sure)

I suspect these next four unfortunate posts - all made within about 5 minutes - are what happens when a 50-year-old is forced to Tweet by upper management.

@AdamSchefter yo adam, this is your colleague steve levy and i'm new to twitter and yur the 1st person i'm following, congratulations 2 u!

yes i'll be the guy watching the nhl's mock all-star draft on the nhl network at 8pm eastern...who's with me ?

van pelt, add me 2 your followers.rediculous since i'm sitting next 2 u for next 5 hrs but whatever. yeah i'm on twitter. B afraid & B Easy

@MattBarnabyESPN barnaby, its levy and yeah i'm on twitter and yeah i'm following you...and not to raleigh either, enjoy sullivans every nt

(On the up side, I don't think Steve Levy has Twitted - and yes I'm coining that term for dumb Tweets - since)

ok baby room, it's me and you tonight. how many think i can put a crib together?
@Pink

(Yes, I follow Pink - I'm not proud and that's not really that funny, I but I like her profile pic)

(These next few of posts are shamelessly self-promoting in so many ways - and therefore positively Twitterific! I mean what else is the point in this exercise, right?)

My goal for next week: Get mentioned in@scorrow's Tweets of the Week blog post.
@aabrami5

I think you did it!
@scorrow

Thanks for the rewteets lately-Now I just have to come up withthe killer tweet to complete w/ Alex on the Tweets of the week.
@vtscoreboard

I'd suggest the Alex Abrami sucking up approach!
@scorrow

(Anyone else want a piece of this Tweety goodness? C'mon, it's free. @jfantino, I'm talking to you!)

Did Egypt shut down Twitter and Facebook, too? How did people follow the Kardashians and ignore updates of dopes you knew in HS?
@PeteAbe

(My favorite - clean - TotW. If you are Sawx fan don't follow Pete then what's the fricken point of having an account.)

I feel pretty good that Vermont lost to BYU early in season. Jimmer Fredette is pretty much the best shooter in the world!
@VermontSports

(Good call there - Jimmer is going to be a verb in the tournament - i.e., Duke just got Jimmered out of the second round.)

Is it wrong to scream “You got pwned” in your son’s face after beating him at Hungry Hungry Hippos?
@ConanOBrien

(Why is Conan so much funnier in 140 words than on TV?)

Based on extensive field research, I can safely say TI's "Bring Em Out" may (still) be the most popular hoops warm-up song in the northeast.
@banner_sports

(But that doesn't make it good - I pray I see the day someone goes old school Motown for a smooth 20-min. of pregame tunage, but then again I'm really old.)

Pit boss great show shorty bad ass lol
@OzzieGuillen

(I know English is his second langauge, but is Ozzie even speaking English here?)

Watching curling before I head out to be a model tonight... I love Canadian TV. And curling. Best sport in the world after hockey.
@CarolineBright

(We might have to revoke her Miss Vt. title over this post.)

“@HeartbreakHeeb: What was your favorite bar in Burlington @ryenarussillo? I peg you as an Ake's place guy” Blarney Stone
@rayenarusslio

(Blarney Stone? Man, I thought Ryen was cool.)

Just when u think u've got parenthood nailed, u've got a burrito wrapped cryer laying sidewise on your lap in the dark in a rockin' chair
@BillyDemong

(This tweet from a U.S. Olympian skier could be put to music and rocket to No. 1 on the Country Top 40.)

My review of Dead Space 2 - furious dudes w/ slingblade arms kill you and eat your face ..for an hour. Then you put EA '11 back in. The end
@notthefakeSVP

(Methinks Mr. Van Pelt was not amused.)

It's none of my business, but if you're putting hot sauce on your pizza you're eating the wrong pizza.
@RobNeyer

(Obviously, Rob's dumb. Love a little hot sauce on everything except - to steal a line from SVP - cereral and ice cream).

He shoots, he scores! Martin St. Louis gives Team Lidstrom a 10-8 lead. #nhl #allstar
@WCAX_Seth

(I only hope that Seth was at work when he Tweeted this. I mean I love to Tweet, but NHL All-Star hockey tweets - with hashtags?!? You better be getting paid Bro!)

There's one more TotW I'm dying to post - made me laugh way too hard - but it's a little blue. I've debated posting it all weekend, but I decided I'll keep this a family blog given my line of work. However, if you email me - and I know you - I'll send it along.

Please send along any good Tweets you get and if you have someone I should be following, please let me know.

•••

SHAWN CORROW, when he's not dying to post just ONE more TotW - from SarahKSilverman - is owner of Cold Hollow Photography, a freelance photojournalist, a recovering sports editor, a temporary part time worker and permanent full-time smart ass.

Hard'Ack Alpine ski race photo sales info

Thanks for checking out this link that aims to explain the ordering process for these photos.

First, if are visiting this link before 11 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011 then you can still get instant 99-cent downloads or $1.99 4x6s of any image from this event.

After that time, you will only be able to purchase prints and the price of the 4x6 prints increases to $2.99 each.

Why the difference? I typically offer 99-cent downloads and $1.99 4x6s of images to school's that use me for their team and individual photos. Unfortunately, BFA-St. Albans is not one of these schools. That said, as a personal favor to a couple of the organizers of this event I agreed to bend the rules and allow a short window where those truly motivated to get their hands on these images can do so at a reduced rate.

If BFA-St. Albans ever choose to use me for their sports team and individual photos then any photo I take of any of their teams (and their opponents) will be available for 99-cent downloads.

I took over 2,000 images of this event. I don't expect you to weed through them all to find your favorite skier. And you shouldn't expect I would edit these photos individually before they are posted to the website.

That said, these images are high-quality and you can really zoom in the subject and see them clearly (unless I wasn't properly focused, which does happen). However, you can check the quality of any image by enlarging it on the screen. If it looks in focus, it will print in focus.

Here's a example.

This image - chosen at random - includes the original view as it appears on the gallery and a cropped version, equal to a 5x7. As you can tell, there's a lot of room to crop these images to make them look better.

Here's another randomly-chosen example - not all photos are taken from long range. I began shooting each skiier about 100 feet from me and continued until they were within about 25 feet. I'm guessing on average there are between 6-10 photos of each skiier on each run.

 

If you download an image, it's going to be uncropped. You will have to crop it to make it look better in most cases. If you order a print, I will crop it and it will be mailed to you. To purchase any photo from www.coldhollowphoto.com just choose and image, click buy and you have countless options for sizes, shapes, merchandise, etc ... and if I do say so myself, it's very reasonably priced.

If you have any trouble using my website, just email me: shawn@coldhollowphoto.com or click the 'email me' link at the top of page. I'll respond promptly.

Finally - to simplify the viewing of these photos - I've divided up the images into different galleries. Click here to see what they are named and how many photos are in each.

High school skiers decend upon Hard'ack

For the second year, the ski, snowboarding and sledding hill at Hard'Ack in St. Albans hosted a slalom ski race. Sure, the course is a little short - the best skiers could make the trek in about 20 seconds - but it was techincally difficult and very fan friendly.

I was stunned at how many parents were able to attend and the skiers didn't disappoint. Neither did the weather ... nor did the cheeseburgers and hot dogs. But I digress.

All in all it was a great day to spend outside photographing a sport that has never been included on my Cold Hollow Photo website. Boy did that ever change today. I have 2,150 images from today's event.

I arrived at the end of the boys first run and took 85 photos. (I missed the girls first run, but I made up for it, believe me.)

The girls second run gallery has a shade under 600 photos in it. I took photos of every skier as they came through the flush (look at me talking like a ski bum - actually I just learned that term yesterday from starter Matt Crawford.)

I maintained the same vantage point for the boys second run, the gallery from which has 587 photos - I got a little more judicious with my shots for the boys because I began to run out of memory card space (silly photo boy left his camera bag in the car, but then again I thought maybe I'd take 1,000 photos).

For the girls third run gallery (there are just over 400 photos) take from a bit higher on the course.

I moved to a lower vantage point for the boys third-run gallery (483 photos). I left before the end of the run to start the editing and uploading process - that will likely take about five hours when all is said and done. That said, I'm confident I the guys I missed in the third run are the guys I shot in the first run. Confused, don't be. Just look through each gallery (the photos are posted in the order the skiers came down the hill) and eventually you'll find the skier you are looking for.

If you are interested in ordering photos - here's a link explaining the process, some notes on cropping and a special offer that ends at 11 p.m on Saturday night.

My kind of champion

I was born in a small town.

(No this isn't going to be a John Cougar - or whatever he calls himself these days - homage.)

Nope, I only bring up that simple and prideful fact because I interviewed a young lady today who is just as proud of her small-town roots as I am.

Richford sophomore Elle Purrier is a farm girl. And not shy to admit it. And that, my friends - in the age of where some define Snooki as the queen of cool - is pretty neat.

After talking with Elle (pronounced Ellie, for those who don't know her) it's refreshing to know that while she's one New England's top cross country (and track and field) runners, that is just a part of who she is ... not a defining attribute.

Sure, her fourth-place finish in the New England cross country championships (and her Gatorade Vermont cross country runner of the year award) cemented her place in the Vermont cross country running lexicon for the next two years, but she's an oustanding student and very much a true Franklin County kinda girl.

Need more proof?

In her school's girls basketball program she lists her future goal as owning a farm.

Now that's a true Vermonter.

Introducing ... Tweets of the Week

My name is Shawn and I'm a Twitter-holic.

And I'm not alone - I only follow about 150 Twitterers or are they Twits? I forget. Anyway, as lame as some Twits or Tweets can be, there's some pithy remarks that come down the line and I've decided to create a regular (or more likely, given my proclivities, a one-and-done) blog feature called the Tweets of the Week.

As the title suggests, it's a mish-mash of things that are either funny (mostly) or apt. At some point, I might get better at putting a context or date to the Twit or Tweet, but for this go round I'm going to do both ... or neither. Hey, it's my blog and I'll do what I want to.

Without further ado (and not Freddy Adu) here are my first Tweets of the Week.

(The too-cute Tweet of the Week)
• While eating lunch at my daughter's school, a 4th grader asks how I forcast the weather. Another answers "He has a weather-teller machine."
@TomMessner

(The why I'll never fly again TotW)
• Waiting to board connecting flight. Guy next to me barking at ex-wife on the phone that HE IS stable,and that she is afraid of happiness
@Buster_ESPN

(If I could be anyone for a day it would be Scott Van Pelt)
• People campaigning to get me an ESPY invite - I would end up bombed, pilfering gift bags and being creepy to Emma Stone. It'd be hideous.
@notthefakeSVP

(This is the tamest post she had this week, but one of my faves)
• I just can't imagine there's a god, but I do believe he has a plan.
@SarahKSilverman

(One of the few people more addicted to Twitter than I, and much more enjoyable to read)
• Young TV reporter to Francona: "What are the odds of you winning the championship?" Francona: "Are you from Vegas?"
@PeteAbe

(Our reigning Miss Vermont is prolific - and timely)
• Overheard at the #VTStateHouse: "You haven't played angry birds?! Here, let me show you..." *Legislator whips out iPad*
@CarolineBright

(Nice jab considering UVM beat the Bearcats in men's hoops Sunday)
• -7 in Burlington, -4 in Binghamton. They can't even beat us at bad weather. #gocatsgo #uvm #fearthestache
@VTMotorMag

(Seth is a fellow Twit-maven and his RTs - retweets - for you newbies - and pithy insights make me smile often)
• Well done RT @noahovernight You know it's cold out when they change the name to Al's French Frozen #vermontarctica
@WCAX_Seth

(I thought of this the first time they showed the ref in the Steeler-Jet game. He's what a real-life Ken doll looks like at 53.)
• How cold is it in Pittsburgh? Ed Hochuli has the pythons covered.
@richeisen

That's all I got for this week. To paraphrase the illustriuous (and often orange) Tony Kornheiser - I'll try to do better next time.

If you are feeling lucky, try to check back next Monday sometime after midnight for another edition of TotW. Who knows? It could happen ... and it might even be typo-free. Yeah, right.

SHAWN CORROW, when he's not making promises he likely will not keep, is the owner of Cold Hollow Photography and an infrequent blogger. Got a tweet that can't be beat, email it to him at shawn@coldhollowphoto.com