The Fall and Rise of Summer...

What's Due is Due...Yeah, Bogut was out of Game 7, and yeah, the Green Machine should not have had to miss Game 5. But last weeks historic collapse by our beloved Dubs was due to the following...on offense, too many of our boys couldn't hit water if they'd fallen out of a boat; Harrison Barnes was allowed on the floor, but mostly, because the Cavs came to take the title, and did so, playing some of the most inspired Finals ball since the Lakers/Celtics battles of the 80's. I think too many Dubbies became so used to one of them stepping up and producing, they collectively were waiting for that to happen. But it was a fabulous season, they should be immensely proud. Bay Area Sports Rock!!!...




Did I miss something...I wake up this morning, and with my first cup, I scan the news (?) shows for the latest from the Center Ring of the Circus. Everyone seems to be losing their respective minds over the fact the Cheetoh Jesus Campaign is out of money and the Big Donors are not interested in donating to his sinking ship. But wasn't his big boast during the primaries that he was the only candidate who was self funding, and therefore,if elected, would be beholden to no special interests? Or does that just get tossed into the ever expanding file of bogus comments by the Lying Donald?...

The Human MOMA?...Last night brought the first sunset of the summer and the skies were emblazoned in red and pinks and oranges from the left coast to the Rockies. Held to duty in front of the laptop, I felt compelled to share this magnificent display of the creativity and resources of the Higher Power of your choice. No folks, ya just can't make this stuff up. If you can look at these and really think this just...happens, you are in my prayers...

                                                 Photos courtesy of Instagram/SFGate

Going Global...Beginning in July, DJP will be teaching a live, on-line course, Building Your Business, geared toward photographers just starting their on-line or brick & mortar studios. As of this morning, this interactive, affordable summer class which starts July 15th, has gone global, with students signing up from as far away as Stellenbosch, South Africa. Who'da thunk?...On a Related Note: DJP's "seniors" arm, Sacramento Senior Portraits, yesterday began their annual Summer Seniors Program. Seniors who book and have their personal Senior Portraits photographed before Labor Day, receive an automatic 20% discount on any of the very reasonably priced packages available. If you have or know of a Class of 2017 student who is looking for their Senior Photographer, pop into www.sacseniorpics.com and have a peek. You'll be glad you did, and so will we...





Dress Rehearsal...Next year marks the 50th anni of the "Summer of Love". And while the hanging-on hippies have been making a huge fuss over it for a year already, I am thinking now is as good a time as any for everyone to use this pseudo-social event to all act a little nicer, be a little kinder, and make an effort to share a little of that iconic love. Would it really be that much of a sacrifice to smile a little more? Hold a door open, or help a senior with his/her groceries to their car? Would it be a huge inconvenience to put just one flower in someone's hair?

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to share our blog with friends and family. Seeeeeeeee ya!...

Alas, Poor King James...

Today is the day...when all the planets align, Draymond returns to the starting line-up, and the best possible gift to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Warriors winning their first NBA title in forty years, on the floor of the Cleveland Cavaliers; the boys in blue will repeat the feat! There was so much unnecessary bitching and whining about the horribly wrong and incredibly unjust, suspect suspension of the Dub wing man. Everything happens for a reason, and had NBA hierarchy not wanted to prolong the Finals one more game to grab onto a little more ad/ticket/swag revenue, the series would already be over. But thanks to the greed of the suits sitting up in the deluxe suites high above the hardwood, the Cavs get to take yet another series-ending butt whoopin' on their home floor, from the guys they said last year, were a fluke. Savor the moment folks. It may not happen again for another year...

Thinking back...Depsite the constant, growing irritation to many, myself included, of the societal-interuptus internet platform Facebook, it turns out that is does have a worthwhile purpose. Quite by accident, I am certain, I have been reminded over the past few days of the following...

The last time the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, Ronald Reagan was President, and the Windows platform, the cell phone, smart phone, iPod, iPad, Facebook, MySpace, Hip-hop, contemporary country music, Direct TV and the Marvel movie series has yet to be conceived, much less created. Only one of the top ten offensive players in Major League Baseball had been born, and twenty three of MLB stadiums in operation at the time are no longer existing structures. Donald Trump has only filed for bankruptcy once.

I am also reminded, there are still many intelligent questions that need to be answered...

MANY questions...

and sometimes it's not a question, but simply a sad shakingof the head and wondering when will the stupid end?..

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Five days left...of Spring, and all told, it's been a great one. The G-men lead the West, have the third best record in the Majors (most of that time without a starting pitcher and two of their starting day outfielders), the Dubs will close out their second consecutive NBA title tonight, the kids finished up another fab year at CMP (thanks, as always, to the amazing (and to all) teachers there, and a sad but eternally grateful farewell to the stellar ones who are moving on to other opportunities. Never has there been a more accurate example of the fish stinking from the head down, and never will the heart and soul of this particular big fish, be so deeply missed. Looking forward to a busy, exciting summer...

Four!...years ago today, the 2012 US Open at Olympic in San Francisco began. It was five days (one day of practice rounds) inside the ropes at the history-making course with the world's best golfers,and those soon to be, that I will never forget. Truly gave me a reinvigorated appreciation for the game, the way these men play it. Bobby Jones once said, after watching Jack Nicklaus win the '65 Open, "He plays a game with which I am not familiar". As I drove home after the first day of play, four years ago this day, I knew exactly how he felt. I spent the following day tracking Jordan Speith, a young kid just out of U of Texas at the time, he was kind and engaging and stopped to talk a few times during the round and a couple years later, I look up and he's the best player in the world. Who knew? So here's wishing good rounds and a few magical shots from the linksters, and some great watching from those of you watching from home. Tee 'em high and let 'em fly...Oh, I still have a few images from that Open up in the Retail Prints section of my website. Pop in and take a look. http://www.dennisjonesphotography.com/#!blank-4/w233f  USGA Executive Director and golf course guru Mike Davis really did a wonderful job with the course that year. The old gal had never looked more beautiful...

  

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And just when you think...you've heard enough from any politician, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy pulls a fast one and does the right, or at least a good, thing. Going old-school when no one was looking, he stands up, is recognized to speak on the floor of the Senate, and begins an old fashioned filibuster. The reason...he wants an up or down vote on a bill making it illegal for anyone on the FBI's "No fly" terrorist watch list, from buying a weapon of any kind, in these United States. Yes, this is the same bill the House voted down just weeks ago, in a straight party vote. I don't need to tell you which party voted to allow suspected terrorists to keep buying more guns. Do I?  The filibuster ended after fourteen hours and there will be a vote on the bill, today, and not a few up-for-re-election Republicans are now all being very vocal in their support for the bill...that they unanimously rejected just weeks ago. It's all about motivation. Hang in there folks, there is hope...And on a related note: For those of you who truly, honestly, and respectfully believe that having a gun in your home, or on your person will make you a "good guy with a gun" keep you safe from "the bad guys with a gun", remember this...on the day Ronald Reagan was shot, by a first-time gun user with absolutely zero training or experience owning, handling, or shooting his revolver that he bought at a gun show not long before the incident, he (the President) was completely surrounded by 28 of the most heavily armed, well trained security professionals --- on the planet...

'Till next time...

Cheers!
Dennis

Goodbye, Champ...

I cried yesterday.

We all lose people. Family. Friends. People in the public eye that we admire. But when I heard several days ago that Muhammad Ali had passed, it was something more. The loss was tangible. It was real. And like him or not, care that he is no longer living or not, his passing is a true and real loss for every inhabitant of this planet.

When I was a kid and boxing was still a revered and respected sport, with champions of the recently passed and present like Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Schmelling, Rocky Grazianno; Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, etc., Ali stood tall above them all. I remember walking through the Weinstock's department store with my parents the night of the first Ali/Frazier fight, sneaking over to the stereo/tv department every chance I got, because they were playing the fight on the radio. But I remember more, the interview just a few weeks prior, with Howard Cosell on ABC's Wide World of Sports, and at the end, being in awe of this twenty-something young man who had stood before the world and said what so many at the time felt, "This war was wrong, and I will not go across the world to kill other people who were poor like me, people I have no quarrel with." At the time, I was eleven, and it was the first time a hero-athlete of mine had ever taken a stand for anything more important than whether lite beer tasted great or was less filling.

As years passed after the Champ had retired, we all saw Ali, now involved in civil rights and humanitarian causes; here in the States and all around the world. From feeding and sheltering the homeless, visiting schools to encourage children to read and obey their parents, and Senior Centers to let the elderly know they were appreciated, to small, war torn villages in long-forgotten lands, where he brought hope, and food, and medicine, to the halls of kings and despots, where he stood tall and eye-to-eye with them, convincing them their actions were inhumane, and in many cases, shaming them into releasing hostages, ending slaughter, and helping those without hope to live again.

Listening to the many speakers, known and not, during yesterday's service, people who knew and whose life's were a part of Ali's, one could not escape the conclusion that, aside from his incredible physical talents and stellar achievements, without his humorous, infectious personality, without the world-wide fame and acclaim, Cassius Marcelleas Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, was, quite simply, a very, very, very good, decent, and caring man. But as he was with virtually everything he did in his life, Ali was not just a good man, and his purpose of this Earth was for far more than pummeling his opponents into submission.

As I listened to President Clinton offer the final eulogy, all the words spoken previously, all the actions and speeches and writings of the Champ's I had heard and read over the years, everything that he did and believed and was throughout the decades; the purpose of all of it became calmly and abundantly clear; like that empowering instant you gain control of a bicycle for the first time, balance and speed and progress, the concepts all come together into one immense understanding, and you wonder why you hadn't been able to do this your entire life. The purpose of the life of Muhammad Ali now made perfect, reasonable, give-yourself-a-V8 forehead slap-sense.

The Champ was our example. He was our model. Muhammad Ali was what the very best us of could be.

In fact, early on in the service, Rabbi Michael Lerner said it most succinctly, asking those in attendance, "Did you ever hear him speak maliciously toward anyone? Even those in the government who took away everything he had for standing in prescription to his spiritual and religious principles, did he once speak angrily to or of them? Did any of you who knew Muhammad personally, ever see him turn away from a difficult situation, ignore someone in need or distress? Did anyone, ever, know this man to even once, look upon any man, woman or child as someone who was less deserving or important than himself?"

The rabbi went on to suggest that, in the final analysis, while Ali may have physically left this Earth, his spirit, the truest, best essence of who and what Muhammad Ali was will never completely leave humanity; because, in each of us is Ali. "We are Ali. I am Ali", he stated, matter of factly.

And the rabbi was right. So long as even one of us remembers one of the Champ's favorite sayings..."Service to others is what we pay, for our time here on Earth."... Muhammad Ali will live on and serve humanity and the world, as he always has.

And that was what made him, The Greatest of All Time.  Thanks, Champ. You rest easy, now.

We got this...

THE CHAOS AND THE CALM...

AND THEY'RE OFF...as long expected to be the participants, the field is now set for this nation's GEC (General Election Circus), and it'll be HRC vs. The Hair. I am not particularly looking forward to it, however, if the next month follow in the footsteps of the last two weeks, talk-show-host-turned-racist-whackjob, Donald J Trump won't last until the trading deadline. I'd suggest the Goofy Old Party look at Panda as a mid-campaign replacement, but he'd never sit still for a strictly rubber-chicken dinner at the numerous fund raising dinners he'd have to attend...

SING IT ALICE...as of 12:01PM yesterday, for the kids, school IS out for summer (Jenn still has five weeks of ESY). They're growing up so fast, and from the looks of things, this summer will accelerate their respective processes, exponentially. I've tried to fight it, but have come to the conclusion that, indeed, resistance is futile. Batten down the hatches, folks...the summer of hormoneageddon has begun...On a related note, let me express my annual and continuous gratitude and admiration for everyone in the teaching profession. You are the last, best defense for this world's future, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise...

HUMMM BABY...once again, the dreaded "June Swoon", the hardball harbinger from my prolonged youth spent at the venerable Candlestick Park, is no longer in effect during another summer of my much content. As a life-long fans of the Gints, this is the best time of my life, but not solely because we own the world every other (and even) year. From the guys at the top (President/CEO Larry Baer), head of BB Ops, Brian Sabean, and GM Bobby "The Kid" Evans, to Skip and his dugout louies (Rags, and Bam-Bam, Wotus and Billy and Roberto and Gards and all the rest, to the boys in the field who go to battle every day, and the men and women up in the press box (Kruk, Kuip, Dave, Jon,and Amy G) who describe it to us every day, my Giants are "the" organization, the staff and the team, every ten year old dreams about. No drugs, no wife beaters, no divas whining about money (at least that aren't traded or let go). There is loyalty, and respect, and reverence to the history of this great game. The San Francisco Giants are everything that professional baseball should be about. The front office signs players of talent AND character, and have created unique and inventive ways to make it financially possible for a family to actually afford to attend a game and experience Giants' baseball at The Yard (Dynamic pricing @$8 a tix and the ability to bring your own food/snacks to the game are strokes of genius and have, over the last couple of years, been picked up by more than half of the other MLB franchises). I am reminded every day that none of us are getting any younger, and that puts front and center my level of appreciation for the wondrous blessings that are afforded me. And so, my eternal thanks to the men and women of San Francisco Giants Baseball, Inc. That bright and warm orange that fills my every sunset, is all about you, And every morning when I raise out of bed, from Valentine's Day through Halloween, the first thing I ask is, to paraphrase the Reverend Hunter Pence, "that I get one more day with you". Truly, a wonderful part of the very best days of my life. Thanks, fellahs...

HUMMM MAYBE...Ok, so the Dubs took a night off in Cleveland. Not worried at all, except maybe that Steph's "issue(s)", whatever they may be, are more than Coach K is letting on. But, we're nothing if not deep, and our heart has been proven on more than on occasion, and truth be told, I wouldn't mind seeing it go seven. I love watching these boys play. #dubnation...The once hot Sharks however, are playing more like frozen tuna, and as I am not a follower of the sport, I can only hope the pride of the faithful having their team reach the SCF will suffice until they lace 'em up again next October...

MOSCOW ON THE AMERICAN...last Friday, I received a phone call from a member of my Client Family, asking if I was available the next day. A friend of hers was getting married and their photographer backed out. I had a morning Senior Session, but was able to fill in for the 1:30PM ceremony. I share this because the blessed event was of the Russian Orthodox variety and took place in the most amazing church. Slightly larger than the living room area here at the Northern Fortress, the fresco-like canvas ceilings and ornate appointments were simply breathtaking, and the ceremony, done entirely in what I refer to as "speed Russian", was a monumental experience. My thanks to Svetlana for the referral and to Yrena and Pavel for allowing me to experience their moving, momentous day. And the blessings continue...

REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR ONE-A-DAY...as the heat rises, the days get longer (for two more weeks anyway), and our schedules move ones of recreation and leisure, let us not forget the many who are struggling. Parents hard pressed for affordable day care now that school is on vaca, seniors deciding which to spend their few dollars on - medicine or food, or the far too many families wondering which park or parking lot they will live in tonight? Which trash bin behind the local Mickey D's will provide their children's next meal? So, here's just a quick suggestion. If you're in a snit because you don't think you'll get to join your friends in Tahoe, or you just can't afford tix to Outside Lands or Aftershock and you think life is just not treating you fair, try this -- the next time you see an unkempt woman sitting outside a grocery store with her children, holding a sign, begging for scraps or change, walk inside, forego that half-cap, half-non-fat, latte with no foam and a hint of cinnamon, and buy them a few sandwiches. Maybe a bag or two of chips and a quart of milk. It'll cost you $10, maybe even a whole fifteen bucks.  But it will make you feel real, and human and a good, productive, worthwhile part of this little community we call Planet Earth in a way you haven't felt in a really, really long time. Maybe ever. And that, you simply can't put a price on.

Here's begging pardon for the typos, and wishing everyone a fine, fine day. And may God bless us all, every one...