What a pain in the ass it is to work on a print all class only to have a piece of lint show up on the final one right as class ends. Grrr.
The class will end soon and I need to pick another class or decide how to otherwise proceed with photography as a hobby / possible part time business. The thing is, as usual, I am betwixt and between what to choose. More black and white? Go for color? Go for digital? Take a portrait class? Everything interests me.
Hell, for the past few days I've flipped through the SVA Continuing Ed. course catalogue and found that the classes in advertising, in film editing and yes, even voice over announcing appeal to me as well. I can make a case for any of them. It frustrates me. I always feel that the one true calling is out there and that I'm missing it while I spin my wheels with whatever my current interest is. Right now it's photography and because I'm not Ansel Adams, Annie Leibowitz or Helmut Newton yet, my mind races.
The sensible thing to do would be to just sign up for the next class in B&W, see how it goes and in the meantime go out and actually get a good 35mm SLR, a digital SLR, a new PC with Photoshop and some other basic equipment like lenses and filters and such and just shoot my ass off , keep learning and give myself some credit.
As coincidence would have it, my cousin Dina, a long time photo-retouch artist, has started a side business of her own doing candid baby, toddler and kid photography. I'm not sure what kind of portent that is, but she's really talented and I'm sure she'll do well with it. Right now the name of her website escapes me -- I'll post it later. Another buddy, Joel Kraft is the proud owner and principal photographer of Catskill Stills (www.catskillstills.com). The good thing is at least I have some people doing it that I can talk shop with.
If I'm not a voice over announcer. :-)
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
A Thanksgiving Catch Up
Man, what a week.
I caught a cold, got blamed for 20K in ad revenue being lost, prepared for and cooked Thanksgiving Dinner for the Kitcher side of The Family, saw the new Harry Potter flick in IMAX, shot three rolls of color film for a black and white photography class (and even got stopped by the police while doing it) and again found the deep and primal satisfaction of triangle choking someone. Lastly I shit fire all last night.
As far as work goes, generally things tend to shake out like this -- something goes wrong that I have no idea about and is someone else's fault or mistake and then get blamed for it. For a while I think I am about to get canned for it and then the powers that be seem to realize that there are larger issues at play and the issue, while not forgotten, gets dropped. Until the next thing happens. My hope is that I can get some enterprise level monitoring tools going that will help alleviate this type of crapola from hitting multiple fans and be a nice feather in my technical cap. Of course, this is something I want to do, but is at odds with the part of me that wants out of technology and into something more creative like...well like photography.
Speaking of which, my B&W class has me shooting color film for an assignment. The assignment is to take shots "looking down". We then bring in the shots and the Prof. and the rest of the class cull through the roll or two to arrive at 3 to 5 keepers. The idea is to get exposed to editing your work and to experience the freedom of operating within a constraint. I shot one roll earlier in the week and two rolls yesterday. I thought of driving around but settled on a walk down the rail trail right near my condo. On the way to the trail I stopped where Rt. 119 crosses the Saw Mill River to take a couple of shots looking down from the bridge. About two minutes into me setting up I hear the whoop whoop whoop of a cop car right behind me but don't pay any attention, figuring it must be them pulling someone over. Then I hear "Hi there." over the loudspeaker and this gets my attention. There is indeed a cop right there behind me and she kindly and curiously asks me -- "Uh whatcha doing there?" I explain its for an assignment at school and she asked what school and I just gave her my license. Of course, these days the police get a little antsy when they see some guy taking pictures of a water way, bridge, and transcontinental AT&T cable all at once. In a way I was glad she stopped me and asked all the right questions. Nice to know people are out there paying attention.
Of course, I had to be spotted when all this went down. It turns out Clarisa and my cousin Jody drove by as I was being questioned / detained. We joked later about just how great it would have been if they would have stopped and said something like, "Oh man are we glad you stopped this guy-- he's been creeping us out for the past few weeks. He's been at every bridge."
Overall though, the class is going very well. Of course, I tend to think my shots are kind of inferior but that's just me being insecure and competitive. Honestly, my shots are not the best in the class, but then again, the guy I am comparing myself to seems to have a lot more time on his hands and more experience and better access to things to shoot. Me, I'm older, I'm working, and I'm inexperienced. The only way I'll ever get better is to keep shooting and keep learning, especially from the people that are more experienced. The course catalogue for next semester arrived - I think I'll take another class, if not two.
As for Thanksgiving - it really went off without a hitch. Well, there was the part where the roasted garlic paste I made for the roasted garlic mashed potatoes turned into a bit of a garlic cement but that was no big deal deal - I just made plain 'ol perfect mashed potatoes instead. The turkey was brined over night for 8 hours in a nice mix of salt and brown sugar and cinnamon sticks and then stuffed with some lemon halves, rosemary, thyme and cinnamon sticks. No basting. No stuffing inside the bird. Instead I fired that bird of at 500 degrees for 30 minutes to brown it and then took it out, covered the breast with a triangle of tinfoil, stuck a meat thermometer in it and then put it back in at 350 degrees until the breast temperature hit 161. Man, it all worked just like Alton Brown said it would.
Later on that night I chatted with my cousin Will for a bit about BJJ. He's a big pro wrestling fan but I really thought he should see what BJJ is about. So we went into the bedroom and I showed him a few basics of keeping someone in guard and how to triangle them. Of course the lesson turned into a little bit of a match and family started rolling in to see what was going on. My dad laughed his ass off and my aunts joked that sort of activity between family members was illegal. And lets face it, wrapping your legs around another guy takes a ton of confidence. BJJ is not something for those who shy away from close physical contact. Its fun as hell though and it was fun to triangle young Will and show him a kimura and americana and a guillotine. Fun fun fun.
Not everything is fun though.
I caught a cold, got blamed for 20K in ad revenue being lost, prepared for and cooked Thanksgiving Dinner for the Kitcher side of The Family, saw the new Harry Potter flick in IMAX, shot three rolls of color film for a black and white photography class (and even got stopped by the police while doing it) and again found the deep and primal satisfaction of triangle choking someone. Lastly I shit fire all last night.
As far as work goes, generally things tend to shake out like this -- something goes wrong that I have no idea about and is someone else's fault or mistake and then get blamed for it. For a while I think I am about to get canned for it and then the powers that be seem to realize that there are larger issues at play and the issue, while not forgotten, gets dropped. Until the next thing happens. My hope is that I can get some enterprise level monitoring tools going that will help alleviate this type of crapola from hitting multiple fans and be a nice feather in my technical cap. Of course, this is something I want to do, but is at odds with the part of me that wants out of technology and into something more creative like...well like photography.
Speaking of which, my B&W class has me shooting color film for an assignment. The assignment is to take shots "looking down". We then bring in the shots and the Prof. and the rest of the class cull through the roll or two to arrive at 3 to 5 keepers. The idea is to get exposed to editing your work and to experience the freedom of operating within a constraint. I shot one roll earlier in the week and two rolls yesterday. I thought of driving around but settled on a walk down the rail trail right near my condo. On the way to the trail I stopped where Rt. 119 crosses the Saw Mill River to take a couple of shots looking down from the bridge. About two minutes into me setting up I hear the whoop whoop whoop of a cop car right behind me but don't pay any attention, figuring it must be them pulling someone over. Then I hear "Hi there." over the loudspeaker and this gets my attention. There is indeed a cop right there behind me and she kindly and curiously asks me -- "Uh whatcha doing there?" I explain its for an assignment at school and she asked what school and I just gave her my license. Of course, these days the police get a little antsy when they see some guy taking pictures of a water way, bridge, and transcontinental AT&T cable all at once. In a way I was glad she stopped me and asked all the right questions. Nice to know people are out there paying attention.
Of course, I had to be spotted when all this went down. It turns out Clarisa and my cousin Jody drove by as I was being questioned / detained. We joked later about just how great it would have been if they would have stopped and said something like, "Oh man are we glad you stopped this guy-- he's been creeping us out for the past few weeks. He's been at every bridge."
Overall though, the class is going very well. Of course, I tend to think my shots are kind of inferior but that's just me being insecure and competitive. Honestly, my shots are not the best in the class, but then again, the guy I am comparing myself to seems to have a lot more time on his hands and more experience and better access to things to shoot. Me, I'm older, I'm working, and I'm inexperienced. The only way I'll ever get better is to keep shooting and keep learning, especially from the people that are more experienced. The course catalogue for next semester arrived - I think I'll take another class, if not two.
As for Thanksgiving - it really went off without a hitch. Well, there was the part where the roasted garlic paste I made for the roasted garlic mashed potatoes turned into a bit of a garlic cement but that was no big deal deal - I just made plain 'ol perfect mashed potatoes instead. The turkey was brined over night for 8 hours in a nice mix of salt and brown sugar and cinnamon sticks and then stuffed with some lemon halves, rosemary, thyme and cinnamon sticks. No basting. No stuffing inside the bird. Instead I fired that bird of at 500 degrees for 30 minutes to brown it and then took it out, covered the breast with a triangle of tinfoil, stuck a meat thermometer in it and then put it back in at 350 degrees until the breast temperature hit 161. Man, it all worked just like Alton Brown said it would.
Later on that night I chatted with my cousin Will for a bit about BJJ. He's a big pro wrestling fan but I really thought he should see what BJJ is about. So we went into the bedroom and I showed him a few basics of keeping someone in guard and how to triangle them. Of course the lesson turned into a little bit of a match and family started rolling in to see what was going on. My dad laughed his ass off and my aunts joked that sort of activity between family members was illegal. And lets face it, wrapping your legs around another guy takes a ton of confidence. BJJ is not something for those who shy away from close physical contact. Its fun as hell though and it was fun to triangle young Will and show him a kimura and americana and a guillotine. Fun fun fun.
Not everything is fun though.
In a little while I'll get ready to go to Madeline Rizzo's wake. I'll shower, shave, press my shirt and put my suit and tie on and drive down to New Jersey to pay my respects and show my support for the Rizzo's. It's what we do. It's what we must do.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
This past weekend I was down in Brooklyn for my 2nd cousin's baptism. It was at St. Anselms (at 82nd and 4th I think) - the same church I have been to for at least one funeral. Since I am not a very lapsed Catholic and a semi quasi Buddhist secularist, I generally do not go to church unless I have to. As of late, its been for funerals and for memorial masses. So, to say the least it's a lot more fun to go to a Baptism.
When and where I grew up it was a singular affair - just one family and the priest. Like for my sister's baptism, I remember the majority of the family hanging out back at the house at Van Siclen Drive and partying while the immediate family and god-parents went to the church. These days it seems that the baptisms are always held en masse. At some point the church must have decided on a Wal Mart type discount for volume head-dip pricing plan. It's efficient, but man, it sure ain't personal at all. I am not a fan.
So there I am at St. Anselms with my family gathered in one pew, waiting for things to get started and quietly talking over the sounds of crying babies and screaming kids when all of a sudden, the priest in charge, or POC, starts yelling:
Man, what drama. I guess I am spoiled though. One of our Fordham crew, Russ Murray is now Father Russel Murray, OFM; aka Father Russ and soon to be Dr. Father Russ as his PhD is about complete. Russ can give a mass. Now he's not a parish guy so he's not dealing with people all the time and getting more and more irritated as, evidently, this St. Anselms guy had. Even if he was, I don't see him ever behaving like that. I certainly hope not! Anyhow, the bottom line is that Russ is a pleasure to listen to and the type of guy that people just warm to. He really truly and undoubtedly in love with God and it shows. This other guy -- he seemed more like a pissed off teacher or principal.
The priest not withstanding, Christopher Blaze got baptized and we all went back to my aunt Eileen's for a post baptismal bash. We had Christopher's father there and his family, the Kitcher clan and a host of Carberry's that always seem familiar but that I've never really gotten to know. And of course, there was Gregory. Ah Gregory who brought a bathtub's worth of vodka jello shots. Gregory who fired up the twenty somethings and turned on the music and generally got things grooving. If you have a party and you need to get it going right, Greg is always going to be your man.
I was a bit sick with a sinus cold so I shied away from drinking too much and chose to hang out with my cousin Kerry and get to know one of my other little second cousins - Dennis. I even managed to get a couple nice B&W shots of them outside the apartment. The negatives are developed and I should be printing them next week. My relationship with Kerry is one where we go a long time without seeing each other or hearing from each other but we always seem to be able to pick it up again like we never missed a beat. I dig that. I had that with my sister. Hopefully she comes over for Thanksgiving with Jose and her kids - Dylan, Devon and Dennis. Sure the cats will be traumatized but what the hell.
Work continues to be a bit of a drag. The general thing of it is this - things go wrong and I get blamed because my title says I am the QA guy. Somehow I guess that means everyone else can abdicate responsibility for their work. It's not a lot of fun especially when I'm doing as much as I can with what I've got, which is not a lot. Tomrrow I will be speaking with some upper managent types about recent errors and I imagine I will have to defend myself and recommend some changes.
We shall see.
When and where I grew up it was a singular affair - just one family and the priest. Like for my sister's baptism, I remember the majority of the family hanging out back at the house at Van Siclen Drive and partying while the immediate family and god-parents went to the church. These days it seems that the baptisms are always held en masse. At some point the church must have decided on a Wal Mart type discount for volume head-dip pricing plan. It's efficient, but man, it sure ain't personal at all. I am not a fan.
So there I am at St. Anselms with my family gathered in one pew, waiting for things to get started and quietly talking over the sounds of crying babies and screaming kids when all of a sudden, the priest in charge, or POC, starts yelling:
I am starting to lose my patience with you! You are in a house of GOD! You are NOT in your living room!Well, I thought, that's an interesting way to start things off. The guy went on a bit more and basically came off as a dick. He went on to insult Mets fans - nothing I disagree with generally, but a baptism hardly seems like the ideal venue. I don't even recall the context because I was too busy thinking, "This guy is a diiiiiiick." He barked some orders about how everything was going to go down and how we better listen or else.
Man, what drama. I guess I am spoiled though. One of our Fordham crew, Russ Murray is now Father Russel Murray, OFM; aka Father Russ and soon to be Dr. Father Russ as his PhD is about complete. Russ can give a mass. Now he's not a parish guy so he's not dealing with people all the time and getting more and more irritated as, evidently, this St. Anselms guy had. Even if he was, I don't see him ever behaving like that. I certainly hope not! Anyhow, the bottom line is that Russ is a pleasure to listen to and the type of guy that people just warm to. He really truly and undoubtedly in love with God and it shows. This other guy -- he seemed more like a pissed off teacher or principal.
The priest not withstanding, Christopher Blaze got baptized and we all went back to my aunt Eileen's for a post baptismal bash. We had Christopher's father there and his family, the Kitcher clan and a host of Carberry's that always seem familiar but that I've never really gotten to know. And of course, there was Gregory. Ah Gregory who brought a bathtub's worth of vodka jello shots. Gregory who fired up the twenty somethings and turned on the music and generally got things grooving. If you have a party and you need to get it going right, Greg is always going to be your man.
I was a bit sick with a sinus cold so I shied away from drinking too much and chose to hang out with my cousin Kerry and get to know one of my other little second cousins - Dennis. I even managed to get a couple nice B&W shots of them outside the apartment. The negatives are developed and I should be printing them next week. My relationship with Kerry is one where we go a long time without seeing each other or hearing from each other but we always seem to be able to pick it up again like we never missed a beat. I dig that. I had that with my sister. Hopefully she comes over for Thanksgiving with Jose and her kids - Dylan, Devon and Dennis. Sure the cats will be traumatized but what the hell.
Work continues to be a bit of a drag. The general thing of it is this - things go wrong and I get blamed because my title says I am the QA guy. Somehow I guess that means everyone else can abdicate responsibility for their work. It's not a lot of fun especially when I'm doing as much as I can with what I've got, which is not a lot. Tomrrow I will be speaking with some upper managent types about recent errors and I imagine I will have to defend myself and recommend some changes.
We shall see.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Spider-Man
When I was a kid, back when Santa Claus was still around and the World was unknown, back when Pop-Pop used to set me up in my little kids chair with a back that folded down into a tray. Back when I used to sit there and on a Saturday morning and eat PB&J and guzzle Pepsi while Abbott and Costello movies played on the T.V. Back then. Back then I used to look for Spider-Man swinging through the streets of Manhattan. I never saw him.
In a small way, I'm still disappointed about that.
In a small way, I'm still disappointed about that.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
For Sfumato
Last Monday I got out of my photography class at SVA late and made it to a train. I finally checked my calls and messages and saw that Sfumato had called but not left a message.
I was happy to see he tried to call me. Maybe he wanted to get together? Maybe chat about the Ultimate Fighter II matches? Go for a run? A hike? With those happy thoughts in mind I called him back.
When he answered he asked if I had talked to anyone and I told him no. Then he told me the reason he called - to tell me he was having the type of day I had just over a year ago. That was all he had to say for me to know that this was not the conversation I wanted to have and that my good friend was inconsolable. My first thought was that something had happened to one, some or all of the triplets or Debbie or her and the triplets. The news was not about them though.
Joe's parents were in a car accident in Virginia on Monday of last week. They were on their way to Florida for a vacation. Joe's father was severely injured but is recovering and has and will, from what I understand, undergo reconstructive surgery.
Joe's mom died in the crash.
I don't know the details of it. That's up to Joe to tell me if he wants to, and even then I won't post it here. What's important is that Joe lost his mother suddenly and tragically and that his father is alive and that they all have family and friends praying and pulling for them.
I just looked back at his blog and re-read his posts when Jenn died. I hate the fact that he had to write it at all but am heartened by his compassion, his support and it stirring him to live a better life. It's a lesson I'm still learning and here it is again. In recent times I've been a wreck even without having to deal with the loss of my sister, Jenn. It's been hard for me. Really hard. I don't wish it on anyone, least of all my friend. More than anything while I know we've both experienced sudden and tragic loss, I know that what he's going through is entirely unique and that there is little for me to do or say to make things better. But what the hell...
I was happy to see he tried to call me. Maybe he wanted to get together? Maybe chat about the Ultimate Fighter II matches? Go for a run? A hike? With those happy thoughts in mind I called him back.
When he answered he asked if I had talked to anyone and I told him no. Then he told me the reason he called - to tell me he was having the type of day I had just over a year ago. That was all he had to say for me to know that this was not the conversation I wanted to have and that my good friend was inconsolable. My first thought was that something had happened to one, some or all of the triplets or Debbie or her and the triplets. The news was not about them though.
Joe's parents were in a car accident in Virginia on Monday of last week. They were on their way to Florida for a vacation. Joe's father was severely injured but is recovering and has and will, from what I understand, undergo reconstructive surgery.
Joe's mom died in the crash.
I don't know the details of it. That's up to Joe to tell me if he wants to, and even then I won't post it here. What's important is that Joe lost his mother suddenly and tragically and that his father is alive and that they all have family and friends praying and pulling for them.
I just looked back at his blog and re-read his posts when Jenn died. I hate the fact that he had to write it at all but am heartened by his compassion, his support and it stirring him to live a better life. It's a lesson I'm still learning and here it is again. In recent times I've been a wreck even without having to deal with the loss of my sister, Jenn. It's been hard for me. Really hard. I don't wish it on anyone, least of all my friend. More than anything while I know we've both experienced sudden and tragic loss, I know that what he's going through is entirely unique and that there is little for me to do or say to make things better. But what the hell...
Joe,
I told you this before, and you told it to me - It will get better in time. I promise.
You've got the triplets and your family and Deb. You know this. I'm sure it's amazingly apparent to you how much you have them at this point. I'm sure there are wonderful pictures of your parents with the triplets. That means something. Right now it might not seem like a lot and at times like these not a lot does.
The Fordham crew is here for you, too.
You hit the longest non-wind aided wiffle ball home run in the history of Van Siclen Drive wiffle ball. Hell, probably the longest home run ever in wiffle ball history. [Folks, that shot went from one end of my yard, threaded the branches of no less than three maple trees, flew over my parent's driveway, over the first part of my neighbor yard and landed one quarter of the way onto their roof.] It was a moon shot and you did it lefty and whilst doing a impersonation of Darryl Strawberry. A bazillion years later and lbs for the both of us you wrote about it. I love that. You can write, brother. Keep it up.
More than anything I just love you and Deb and the kids and the rest of the Rizzo clan. My heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
A long day
All too often "a long day" is a shitty crappy hard one where you just want to collapse at the end of it or punch someone. Or cry. Or cry and punch some and then collapse. Whatever.
Today though, has been a long day but not in the bad sense. Its been a day where I could do anything I wanted to do and had plenty of time. Absolutely nothing has been rushed and if anything, time slowed down for me today. There was time to linger, time to observe, time to enjoy and time to relax. Hell, I even managed to eat right, save for a tiny Halloween sized pack of M&M Minis.
The day started off on a good note with Diego Sanchez beating Nick Diaz in a great UFC fight that featured sweet BJJ technique and a goodly amount of ground and pound. While it did not match up to Griffith vs Bonnar it was damn close. It makes me want to head back over to the Santos school but then I really don't need another injury.
As for my day...
I managed to sleep in a bit and woke up around 9:30 A.M., made some coffee, poured a bowl of Kashi Go Lean and watched some T.V. for a bit while I thought about where I would like to go today to shoot some film. Disinterested in the various talking heads I flipped on my PS2 and screwed around a bit with Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. It's a good game. I left off with a little teleporting hottie called Femme Fatale (The Wink?) that just kept kicking Wolverine's ass. My skillz have left me it would seem.
I took a ride over to Tarrytown to the waterfront to shoot the Tappan Zee Bridge and the surrounding marina and park area. It was foggy out and the bridge was just a black silhouette in the mist. My first low key black and white photography! Then, a nice treat happened and the mist burned off a bit. Same place, completely different look so I loaded more film and kept shooting until I felt I had exhausted the area. I drove around a bit, took some more pics near the Fordham Tarrytown campus and headed back home. It was only 2PM.
The whole day has been like this - just slow and relaxed and nothing seems to take a lot of time. Right now the clock says 7:26 P.M. - just about the time I usually get home from work. Usually I get there about the time I woke up today. I imagine myself down there in the City today instead of kicking it around here today. Holy Fuck that IS a long day. Yet there never seems to be enough time - not down there.
Here though, there is plenty of time.
Today though, has been a long day but not in the bad sense. Its been a day where I could do anything I wanted to do and had plenty of time. Absolutely nothing has been rushed and if anything, time slowed down for me today. There was time to linger, time to observe, time to enjoy and time to relax. Hell, I even managed to eat right, save for a tiny Halloween sized pack of M&M Minis.
The day started off on a good note with Diego Sanchez beating Nick Diaz in a great UFC fight that featured sweet BJJ technique and a goodly amount of ground and pound. While it did not match up to Griffith vs Bonnar it was damn close. It makes me want to head back over to the Santos school but then I really don't need another injury.
As for my day...
I managed to sleep in a bit and woke up around 9:30 A.M., made some coffee, poured a bowl of Kashi Go Lean and watched some T.V. for a bit while I thought about where I would like to go today to shoot some film. Disinterested in the various talking heads I flipped on my PS2 and screwed around a bit with Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. It's a good game. I left off with a little teleporting hottie called Femme Fatale (The Wink?) that just kept kicking Wolverine's ass. My skillz have left me it would seem.
I took a ride over to Tarrytown to the waterfront to shoot the Tappan Zee Bridge and the surrounding marina and park area. It was foggy out and the bridge was just a black silhouette in the mist. My first low key black and white photography! Then, a nice treat happened and the mist burned off a bit. Same place, completely different look so I loaded more film and kept shooting until I felt I had exhausted the area. I drove around a bit, took some more pics near the Fordham Tarrytown campus and headed back home. It was only 2PM.
The whole day has been like this - just slow and relaxed and nothing seems to take a lot of time. Right now the clock says 7:26 P.M. - just about the time I usually get home from work. Usually I get there about the time I woke up today. I imagine myself down there in the City today instead of kicking it around here today. Holy Fuck that IS a long day. Yet there never seems to be enough time - not down there.
Here though, there is plenty of time.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Ultimate Fighter II
Kenny Florian dominated Kit Cope and submitted the muay thai kickboxing champion with a an arm-bar after a flurry of punches from the mount -- but Cope's tapout came just fractions of a second after the horn signaled the end of the first round. Cope was game and came out for the second round, but his right arm was clearly hurt. Florian easily took him down at the start of the second round and then submitted Cope a second time with a rear naked choke.
Looking at the two combatants you would think that Cope would dominate just on the strength of his tattoos and chiseled frame. Florian looks like your basic everyman. Bottom line is that on the ground, BJJ will kick your ass if you are not versed in at least defending yourself in the ground game. I'm not sure of Cope's background, but the show touted him as a muay thai champion and I have no doubt that if take downs did not come into play he'd beat Florian around the ring. He could not stop Florian on the ground and got beat.
In the second fight, Stevenson and Cummo had a slug-fest on the ground. Stevenson dominated most of the fight and was able to take Cummo down in each round. The underdog from New Hyde Park, Luke Cummo had his moments though, especially when he managed to hurt Stevenson a few times when Stevenson shot in for a single leg and was game on the ground but could never really gain an upper hand and lost a three round decision.
As I write the third fight of Ultimate Fight Night II is still being pimped. It's Brad Imes vs Rashad Evans. To me, Imes (6'7" and 250+) is a lesser version of Bob Sapp with a bit of knowledge about ground fighting. I really want to see that guy get his ass kicked. I think he really benefited from a trend earlier in the season where the best guy from one team called out the best guy from the other team. The result was a loss of talent. Imes has been boring to watch and Evans favors a greco roman clinch style so I'm not really sure what type of fight to expect. We'll see. Evans has the skill and experience and Imes is a big ass wall o' country beef. If I had to guess, Imes is going to try and wear Evans down. Likewise, Evans just needs to be patient and work over Imes and coax him into a mistake.
The fight introductions are on now and you can just see how freaking BIG Imes is. What a retarded ring name though -- The Hillbilly Heart Throb? Come on!!
Lets go for a play by play.
Ok - Brad seems to have a good jab working, but holy shit he looks stupid throwing any sort of kick.
Rashad is kicking Ime's ass now with 1:10 left in the first but Imes is back up on his feet around 30 seconds. Evan's could not keep the big man down but he clearly demonstrated his ability to tag Imes with a big ass left hand and a right. Imes, to his credit went to a butterfly guard and managed to stop Rashad's momentum.
The second round has just started. A few jabs by both combatants and a half ass kick or two by Imes. But here come Big Country with a flurry of punches but Evans manages to weather it. With two minutes Imes comes at Evans again but Evans counters. He looks tired as hell though.
With 25 seconds left in round two just sent Imes mouthpiece flying but could not finish him before the horn sounded.
Correction, it was not a mouthpiece, but a big slob of snot and blood that went flying. Argh.
Oh shit - Evans just knocked Imes right on his ass and now finds himself mounted but he gets out of it and to his feet. What a big strong son of bitch Imes is. Evans looks really tired now with 2:25 left in the third and is under the slab of Iowa beef.
The fight is over. I'm not sure who won but man it was a much better fight than I thought it would be. Both guys gave it their all and I was impressed by Imes. He's clumsy and not polished but is certainly a good athlete and knows how to use the tools he does have. So I guess that's a partial retraction?
29-28 scores from all three judges, 2-1 and Evans wins it. Boos from the crowd. That's pretty cheezy. How can you boo after a fight like that? It was close -- not a Roy Jones Olympic style rip-off and Evans' won it from what I saw. Jerks.
Next up is Diego Sanchez vs Nick Diaz but I'll have to catch it later. The missus is calling and George Carlin has a new special on right now.
Looking at the two combatants you would think that Cope would dominate just on the strength of his tattoos and chiseled frame. Florian looks like your basic everyman. Bottom line is that on the ground, BJJ will kick your ass if you are not versed in at least defending yourself in the ground game. I'm not sure of Cope's background, but the show touted him as a muay thai champion and I have no doubt that if take downs did not come into play he'd beat Florian around the ring. He could not stop Florian on the ground and got beat.
In the second fight, Stevenson and Cummo had a slug-fest on the ground. Stevenson dominated most of the fight and was able to take Cummo down in each round. The underdog from New Hyde Park, Luke Cummo had his moments though, especially when he managed to hurt Stevenson a few times when Stevenson shot in for a single leg and was game on the ground but could never really gain an upper hand and lost a three round decision.
As I write the third fight of Ultimate Fight Night II is still being pimped. It's Brad Imes vs Rashad Evans. To me, Imes (6'7" and 250+) is a lesser version of Bob Sapp with a bit of knowledge about ground fighting. I really want to see that guy get his ass kicked. I think he really benefited from a trend earlier in the season where the best guy from one team called out the best guy from the other team. The result was a loss of talent. Imes has been boring to watch and Evans favors a greco roman clinch style so I'm not really sure what type of fight to expect. We'll see. Evans has the skill and experience and Imes is a big ass wall o' country beef. If I had to guess, Imes is going to try and wear Evans down. Likewise, Evans just needs to be patient and work over Imes and coax him into a mistake.
The fight introductions are on now and you can just see how freaking BIG Imes is. What a retarded ring name though -- The Hillbilly Heart Throb? Come on!!
Lets go for a play by play.
Ok - Brad seems to have a good jab working, but holy shit he looks stupid throwing any sort of kick.
Rashad is kicking Ime's ass now with 1:10 left in the first but Imes is back up on his feet around 30 seconds. Evan's could not keep the big man down but he clearly demonstrated his ability to tag Imes with a big ass left hand and a right. Imes, to his credit went to a butterfly guard and managed to stop Rashad's momentum.
The second round has just started. A few jabs by both combatants and a half ass kick or two by Imes. But here come Big Country with a flurry of punches but Evans manages to weather it. With two minutes Imes comes at Evans again but Evans counters. He looks tired as hell though.
With 25 seconds left in round two just sent Imes mouthpiece flying but could not finish him before the horn sounded.
Correction, it was not a mouthpiece, but a big slob of snot and blood that went flying. Argh.
Oh shit - Evans just knocked Imes right on his ass and now finds himself mounted but he gets out of it and to his feet. What a big strong son of bitch Imes is. Evans looks really tired now with 2:25 left in the third and is under the slab of Iowa beef.
The fight is over. I'm not sure who won but man it was a much better fight than I thought it would be. Both guys gave it their all and I was impressed by Imes. He's clumsy and not polished but is certainly a good athlete and knows how to use the tools he does have. So I guess that's a partial retraction?
29-28 scores from all three judges, 2-1 and Evans wins it. Boos from the crowd. That's pretty cheezy. How can you boo after a fight like that? It was close -- not a Roy Jones Olympic style rip-off and Evans' won it from what I saw. Jerks.
Next up is Diego Sanchez vs Nick Diaz but I'll have to catch it later. The missus is calling and George Carlin has a new special on right now.
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