Saturday, September 24, 2011

Sept. 11 Memorial. Beverly Hills

unveiled on sept. 11, 2011. 

(notice replica of pennsylvania field on left.)




lots of spectators.




rexford and santa monica blvd.



in memoriam.





original architect of twin towers was japanese.


beverly hills police department.






taps.





captain.






for captain charlie burlingame (pilot of plane which hit pengtagon). he was a former navy pilot. fifty-one years old. 

navy hymn etched onto the base. a few weeks ago, mr. burlingame's brother, brad, spoke at the commemoration. 



you won't be forgotten, charlie.



In 1831, Samuel Francis Smith wrote the former national anthem.

another etching on the foundation. 






it seems like someone left a new york fire department baseball cap at the base of the monument.


a nice touch.











day of commemoration.





 


2,977 lives were lost on sept. 11, 2001.

a four-year-old boy checks out the inscriptions.




a korean-american name (fifth from bottom).









worm's eye view of twin towers.







piece of world trade center. pentagon-shaped foundation.

 




national anthem: 8 year old girl


Monday, September 19, 2011

Arroyo Vista Hoops (Brea, Calif.). Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011

alex: got to learn to make these freewthrows, or else i won't get pt in the league. 








shawn, alex, getting some practice time in.







shawn: one-handed is my style. 









mini-hook shot. 












drew: better make it, stefan.
stefan: about time i get the ball. 








an open thirteen footer. these are like gold coins in pick-up ball. 









stefan: you can't stop me.
mike: time to be humbled, buddy.





benny sam convereted a reverse layup on this play. people complemented him afterward.






a. brewer: a true point guard.







harry k.: get your hand out of my face, stefan.







mike: time to take over.
ryan: you're not getting anything on me.





peter launches a money ball.










robeks harry: at last, i get to play the point.
ben: get me the ball, i'm a scoring machine.








taking it to the rack. offensive aggression is key to winning games.






miniature effect - a photographic feature on my camera.
andrew b. with the jumpshot.







alex: last one up the court, again. i'm getting too old for this.









the floor general: let's move the ball around. 






nineteen footer.




the lob pass. when executed by an adept passer and good finisher, it's an exciting, quick bucket.






harry: i got this rebound. ryan: i dare you to shoot it over me.








harry k. on the drive.





break away, all alone.







some r&r after a game. in the military, r&r means "rest and relaxation."







 a dunk captured in six frames
 ryan: that's the way it's done, ben. ben: whatever, man. i can do a three-sixty off two feet.









will it go in?






alex: my turn to play point guard. i'll make sure to walk it up the court.








andrew b. on the break.







mike: it's hard work looking this ripped. ryan: hurry up and pass it.





a. brewer: ben, play some "d." benny sams: that word is not in my vocabulary.









jumpshot. notice alex's all-out defensive hustle.








dialing long distance.









mike: okay, now it's time to dominate. ryan: oh, please.










brewer with the fadeaway.







harry taking it the hole. screens enable a dribbler to shake off a defender and attempt a high percentage shot.









quick thinking
ben sam: i'm open. mike: do i drive, or risk the pass in traffic?  

a perfect situation for a bounce pass (it's easy for me to say this being a bystander; the credit goes to the boys on the court). i don't remember what happened.  








battle of the giants.






alex: finally got myself a layup. 





from downtown.



peter gets a layup. ryan did his best to swat it; didn't succeed this time.









mike with a hard-fought drive to the hoop.



in the post.

olajuwon was the post-master. let's have a moment of silence to acknowledge that.


















mike doing the new monkey dance.







alex: i'm going to score on this one. a. brewer: you're going to have to earn it.


















ben sam going hard to the hole.
















jordan evolution 85. next time, i'm going to wear triple socks and two band-aids (instead of one sock and one band-aid).












some weirdo was practicing layups between games with a bare foot.






michigan shorts: i was a fan of the fab five. basketball revolutionaries.

i'm giving a demonstration of the james worthy statue-of-liberty shot in this photo.






DEE-fense.













harry: i'm ready to go home.
andrew: basketball is a team sport. like john wooden said: pass the ball five times before shooting.
stefan: whatever, man. i'm just out here for the exercise.











riff-raf from three-point country.









my camera has a panoramic feature. the photos are taken one by one, then stitched together on my computer.












harry's done for the day. andrew finally gets up off his butt after giving a well-needed lecture on the virtues of distributing the ball.










wide shot. i like the foilage.





look closely and you'll see dopplegangers of alex, stefan, and drew from an alternate universe.








raph-man: you all know i'm the best here.
peter (in his head): should've made that three.
arnold: this guy needs to get a life.
benny sams: dude, i'm the best man. what've you been smoking?







a dunk in super slow motion (music: Swing Out Sister)