Now that was UGLY!

I’ve been watching Auburn football for years and last night’s game against Mississippi State had to be the ugliest game I can remember.  That is if you’re an offensive-minded person.  If you like defense, then there was alot to love about how well Auburn’s defense played.  Folks - it’s for real and will no doubt keep us in a position to compete this year.  But our offense stunk up the joint.  I don’t EVER remember an Auburn offense playing so poorly.  11 offensive penalties w/one of those for MSU’s only 2 points?  Everytime we started moving the ball, we’d implode with a penalty or stupid play call that backed us up.  It’s clear we’ve got the athletes to compete but so far, I’ve not been impressed with the new “spread”.  I’m not ready to put a fork in it by any stretch, but to me, it just doesn’t seem to have that many weapons - at least in our incarnation of it.  We line up w/one back in the backfield and it seems if he’s to the quarterback’s right - the play is going left or vica versa.  And Todd is no running threat whatsoever.

Let’s hope that we figure it out a little bit this week or next week’s game against LSU is going to be ugly.  Again, our defense might manage to keep us in the game, but unless this offense improves and does so quickly, this will be a long, ugly season heading into the meat of the SEC competition.

Come on boys - I believe in you and know you can do it!  War Eagle!

Tom Kite Charity Golf Tournament

On the evening of Sunday, September 13th, I’ll be one of the official photographers shooting the Kids Classic Auction party - which is the kickoff event for the golf tournament.    This is the 14th year of the event which benefits the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

For more information on the event, please visit KEYE TV which is one of the co-sponsors of the event.

Never forget 9/11

This morning, I watched some of the 9/11 coverage and the commentators talked about how in the future, the memory of the event would fade.  For me, I certainly hope not.  The hair on my neck stood up as I watched the coverage and remembered exactly how I felt and how angry I was that day.  I’m still just as angry and determined not to let the extreme Islamists win.  We may not have done everything right since 9/11 as a country, but when I think about how this group murdered innocent lives - quite frankly, I don’t care.  We all need to stay focused on beating such an extreme idiology so that our kids and grand kids can live in peace.  I’ve attached a powerful memory that we should all view so that we never forget.

Personal Galleries Update

I’ve finally added vacation pictures from our Hawaii 2006 trip and last summer’s trip to Gulf Shores.  Although some of the pictures are in the “places” galleries, these galleries contain everything we took - good, bad, and ugly.  It’s even got “Sally’s” picture that Terry loved.  She knows which one I’m talking about - the one on the boat!

Everything is password protected - if you forgot what it is, please contact me.

Cincinnati Aug’08

A few weeks back, the management and leadership teams for Dell’s infrastructure consulting services group held a meeting in Cincinnati.  We managed to mix a little fun into business with a scenic riverboat ride.  I’ve captured a few of the pictures from that cruise and have them posted in my online galleries.  They’re available for downloading at no charge!

Auburn defeats So Mississippi 27-13

Auburn played Southern Mississippi today in Auburn and easily won 27-13.  Although the score showed a close game, Auburn was clearly in control most of the game with a solid performance on both sides of the ball, sans 4 turnovers.  A win is always good, but this one was gratifying as the offense finally showed up and demonstrated that it could move the ball and score.  More impressive was the defensive play which held the Golden Eagles out of the endzone until the 4th quarter.  I’m normally not a stats guy - but there was only 1 missed tackle all day by the defense.

New Website Look & Feel

Folks - I’ve completely revamped goaubie with a new look & feel, along with much better integration of my blog and photography sites.  One of the things I’ve learned about web design over the past few months - is that none of the browers are standard and that you have to tweak things with every single release to get a consistent look & feel.  Believe me, I spent hours when I launched the original site trying to get everything working.  I did, but then as the year went on, I found my photography site looked like crap and I simply didn’t have the time to tweak it everytime that one of the brower providers (mainly Microsoft) updated their software.

So I hope you enjoy this new look and feel.  Be sure to visit the “how” section off the menu to learn a bit more about how to really navigate the site to get the most from it.  Also, drop by my guestbook and let me know what you think.

Your Camera Doesn’t Matter

Alot of people see my gear and assume that I must take great pictures since it looks so expensive.  I wished it were that easy.  If I’ve learned anything over the past few years of doing more serious photography - gear matters little.  Yeah - my wife would tell you I’ve spent a small fortune on it, but the truth is that some of my best photographs were taken with simple point & shoots or were scans from old 35mm prints.  Think about it - some of the best photos ever taken in history were done with what would be considered ancient gear by today’s standards.

So here’s a link to a site that I frequent often - Ken Rockwell.  He’s entertaining and if you read enough on the net - you’ll find folks that swear by him and others who believe he’s a rank amateur.  I tend to fall somewhere more to the fan side.  I don’t take everything he says as gospel and realize his whole site is his opinion.  That being said - he challenges the status quo on thinking about what constitutes great pictures and for the average joe on the street - offers some great advice.

So without further adue - here’s a link to the article that causes me to really think about what I buy and why - Why Your Camera Doesn’t Matter.