In his portfolio slideshow he actually used a song from the Dropkick Murphy’s (an Irish punk rock band) and it really fits, which is awesome!

Anyway, he recently released what everyone says is an amazing book of photography stories and lessons called “The Moment it Clicks“. It’s on my amazon wish list if anyone feels like being super nice to me.

He also has a really great blog with great stories and photos. His recent post called “The long and winding road“, goes back in time a bit but then leads up to a special moment he has with his wife, Annie. While in Santa Fe I also met Annie who is equally awesome and they are both so nice and great to be around and as is obvious from the pictures in that post, they have a special relationship.

I highly recommend taking his classes or buying his book or at the very least, reading his blog.

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Joe McNally is pretty awesome

Another possibility for my overprotecting of my feet goes back to when I was 13. My first year at Boy Scout Camp, I wore some brand new hiking boots my mother had just bought me, and on the first night we went and did the big hike up the mountain. I got blisters. Bad ones. So for the next couple of days I had to keep my boots off so my blisters could heel. Well, I got chigger bites, mosquito bites, and poison Ivy on my feet. So then I stopped wearing my sandals so much and went to wearing the boots untied and without socks, so my feet could breath but still be somewhat protected. It was crazy because each night I had to soak my feet in a bath of water and baking soda (not sure what that does). Well, one morning I went to put my boot on and got bit on the bottom of my foot by a huge ass spider. The spider bite hurt, itched, turned my foot purple, and made it so I couldn’t walk much at all. This was all in the span of 7 days. When I finally stumbled home I had to go through weeks and weeks of healing before I could really walk correctly again.

There were also two other dumb things I did that week. This was quite some time ago, they had just released these giant jawbreaker balls called dinosaur eggs and basically you just lick them for awhile and put them back in the case til you need another sugar rush. They were about the size of a tennis ball. My friend and I each bought one and tried to race to see who could finish theirs first. I licked the hell out of that thing and eventually my tongue started bleeding. I had to rest my tongue but my friend somehow kept going. I didn’t give up though, I kept taking it out of the little plastic bubble and licking for as long as my tongue could take it. Eventually I conceded the victory and threw that stupid thing away. The other dumb thing I did was immediately buy a Therm-A-Rest pad to lay under my sleeping bag. I spent the entire amount my parents had given me for the week on those two items. The problem was that I could only afford the cheapest model of Therm-A-Rest and it turned out to be about 2 feet to short for me and really not comfortable at all. It was a total bust. Those 7 days make up the most miserable week of my life.

Anyway here is the link to the book on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898155258/ref=nosim/kkorg-20

Here is a link to the whole book online for free:
http://hometown.aol.com/bhthom/hikertxt.htm

Here are some short excerpts:

Once properly conditioned, your bare feet will give you a great deal of pleasure, but only if you care for them. Bathe them and remove any small thorns after each hike, rub them each day with oil, lotion, or lanolin – especially in winter. Take the time to keep them in the very best condition and take pride in them.

Take a walk in the woods on one of those delicious days when Autumn deigns to step aside for a late Indian Summer and the leaves are several inches deep on the forest floor and let your bare feet feel them — sometimes crackling with all the crispness of the Autumn air — sometimes whispering sensuously back to your bare soles with what seems a slightly soapy softness.

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The Barefoot Hiker: NOT ME!

On December 5, 2005, the 9/11 Commission issued its final report card on the government’s fulfillment of the recommendations issued in July 2004: one A, twelve Bs, nine Cs, twelve Ds, three Fs, and four incompletes. Here is stunning evidence that Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, with more than sixty years of experience in the comic-book industry between them, were right: far, far too few Americans have read, grasped, and demanded action on the Commission’s investigation into the events of that tragic day and the lessons America must learn.

Using every skill and storytelling method Jacobson and Colón have learned over the decades, they have produced the most accessible version of the 9/11 Report. Jacobson’s text frequently follows word for word the original report, faithfully captures its investigative thoroughness, and covers its entire scope, even including the Commission’s final report card. Colón’s stunning artwork powerfully conveys the facts, insights, and urgency of the original. Published on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, an event that has left no aspect of American foreign or domestic policy untouched, The 9/11 Report puts at every American’s fingertips the most defining event of the century.
—From Amazon.com

Why? you might ask!

“There are going to be a whole bunch of kids, teenagers and adults that will not read the report,” says Ernie Colon, adding that “comics might offer an alternative… You have captions, you have balloons with text, you have sound effects. Doing without any of that would make it not readable.”

Well, I’m interested in taking a look at it, but I can’t imagine that it’s going to make the 9/11 report that much more interesting to read. Perhaps I’m wrong.

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The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74

http://www.wunderground.com/education/stateoffear.asp

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=316580&page=1

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State of Fear Review