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Posts in category Rant

%$#@in’ Spam!!

May8th
2013 1 Comment Written by Mark

We all have to deal with spam and junk mail and robo-calls and all sorts of assorted BS in our lives. Junk mail we can just toss out. Spam we can delete, and the robo-calls just hang up on. The first one doesn’t bug much, the latter irritate because spam keeps coming and the calls you have to get up to answer. The spam this post is about is what I get on my blog, that the filter prevents from being posted for everyone to see.

Most are barely coherent “compliments” like this:

It is difficult to acquire knowledgeable folks on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks

and this:

This truly answered my issue, thank you!

REALLY?? My photos answered your issue? Get the heck out.

or this:

Have you ever thought about creating an ebook or guest authoring on other websites?
I have a blog based on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you
share some stories/information. I know my readers would appreciate your work.

“the same subjects you discuss”? No friggin’ way, I’d have you on my bloglist.

But THIS?!

The next time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as considerably as this 1. I mean, I know it was my option to read, but I basically thought youd have some thing fascinating to say. All I hear is really a bunch of whining about something that you simply could fix if you werent too busy searching for attention.

Now I want to beat someone’s ass. Don’t come on my blog, and give me this kind of bullspit. Don’t. Even.

I got something like this almost exactly a year ago. I emailed the owner of the site that was listed with the comment. Big mistake. He had nothing to do with it. Nothing, as an IP check on the hit showed it originated in Poland, not Los Angeles, where he’s located.

So, if anyone out there can educate my ignorant self, what does the spammer gain by sending out crap like this? I don’t get it.

Anyway, I’ll get some pics up in a day or so. I was going to do that now, but this just pissed me off. Thanks for being patient.

Opinion, TIBT, WTF?

I’m Still Here….

Feb13th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Mark

However, my laptop has come down with a horrible case of Black Screen of Death. Apparently, Microsoft denies its existence, and I’ve tried more remedies than a hypochondriac to fix it. None of them work. I’m trying to get all my vital documents and photos off my laptop before I reset it back to its factory settings, but USB drivers don’t work in Safe Mode, which means emailing dozens of Word docs to myself, and uploading hundreds of photos of my St. Nicholas project to my Flickr. I promise I’ll have lots of stuff when I get things back to normal.

A Call for Help, WTF?

Spinnin’ My Wheels

Dec11th
2012 5 Comments Written by Mark

Back in October, I was on my way downtown to the library to pick up some music for my kids, and to stop by Fligner’s for stuff for dinner. I’m on Oberlin Avenue, and I get stopped for the light at Meister. I’m the second car back in the outside lane. While I’m waiting, a bus stops next to me, also waiting for the light to change. Its front end is even with my door. ‘Please don’t let me get stuck behind this bus’, I’m thinking. Light turns green and the first two cars get rolling. I hit the gas and I’m watching the bus in my side mirror. Going through the intersection, I’m ahead of it, but not by much. Traffic’s not moving any faster than the posted limit of 25, partly because the guy in front of me is talking, very animatedly, on his cell phone.

I’m now coming up on the “Merge” sign in front of Sunoco, and I’m looking at the bus in my side mirror, 75% of my truck is ahead of it, with its nose even with my rear wheel well. And she’s inching closer. ‘All you gotta do is tap your breaks, or be the least bit courteous’, I’m thinking, ‘and all is well and good.’ If I stop, the way she’s driving, she’s going to take off my front end. The guy in front of me is still jawing on his cell phone, waving his arms and looking like he’s trying to fly. WTH?

Suddenly, the back end of my truck is lifted up and bounced. I look at my side mirror and that damn driver decided she was going to be a -itch. I pull over on W. 29th St to call the police and inspect the damage. My left rear wheel well is peeled back like a can opener went at it. The officer arrives, takes some pics, passes out paperwork for everyone to fill out, and informs me he’ll be in touch.

Almost a week later, I stop by City Hall to pick up a copy of the accident report, and find I’m cited for a moving violation: failure to use caution when changing lanes. What a crock. I ask for the officer and we talk. He says it was difficult for the prosecutor to come to a decision because the vehicles were moved (I couldn’t sit there and block traffic waiting for a cop, I mean, come on! Oberlin Avenue northbound blocked just north of Meister Road? That’s a disaster waiting to happen.)

So he explains a couple things to me, and I complain about the HUGE LIE the bus driver, Ms. T. Nelson, wrote on her report: “truck came and tried to beat us at the merge and he side swiped us.” He smiles and explains how I can fight the citation.

I wait weeks for the envelope in the mail, and find my court date falls in the middle of a set of night shifts. Great. I come home that morning from work, sleep a little more than 2 hours, and get up and go to court. Pleading ‘not guilty’, I get ANOTHER court date. What the hell? Really? I have to come back? Asking for a date as soon as possible, I leave and try to go back to sleep. What a pain.

Monday, December 10th, I show up at 9am, for a 9:30 bench trial with Judge Mihok. At 10:15, I’m still waiting when an INTERN comes and asks to speak to me outside the courtroom. He offers a $75 fine in lieu of a trial. Excuse me, but are you telling me I don’t have a chance? $75 now, or I run the risk of a $150 fine if the judge finds me guilty and, in a roundabout way, informs me that the judge tends to lean towards buses with kids on them in cases like these. (What a crock of $hit!) So, my choice is to pay $75 OR roll a set of dice where the only outcome is snake eyes, and pay $150. (For two weeks, I’ve been going over in my head what I would say in court, and suddenly find that I’d have a better chance of winning if I talked to the fish in Lake Erie.) Screw it. Christmas is coming, bills to pay, $75 beats $150 for a fine any day of the week.

A few minutes later, a woman comes to take me to the Clerk’s office to pay my fine. $75 plus court costs. Whoa!!! Court costs? What are court costs? (I didn’t get to say Jack Squat in court except ‘not guilty’ and “as soon as possible” and I have to pay COURT COSTS???) She says she doesn’t know and that I can set up a payment plan, if necessary.

To say that I’m steamed right now would be a disservice to clams and oysters everywhere. $125 in court costs. And I didn’t even get a chance to defend myself. What a crock of crap. Asking for a receipt (after I found out there would be an extra $25? $50? per payment if I couldn’t pay in full right now), I look at the listing for “court costs”.

Court costs are $43.50. Miscellaneous costs are $76.50. Here’s the breakdown, and if anyone knows what any of these abbreviations are, please feel free to fill me in.

Local cost – 6.50
Legal Res – 3.00
Comp Fund -10.00
Comp Imp – 5.00
Victim Cr – 9.00
JA – 5.00
SEC -17.75
PRLC -13.75
DEFC – 3.50
IATC – 1.50
IDFC -25.00
.SPE -10.00

So, thanks, City of Lorain and its related court system, for my due process. Get screwed, or get screwed harder. Wow, what a choice!

I’d also like to thank Ms. T. Nelson, driver for First Student Charters, for lying because you were too damn rude, lacking in courtesy, and too irresponsible to admit fault, or to even avoid this whole mess by TAPPING YOUR BRAKES so I could go on my way. And thank whomever you brought with you on the 10th to “vouch for” you, or to ‘bear witness” for you. Don’t know if it was Megan, Claude, Charity, Sarah, Victor, Kenneth, Yesenia, Cory, Mark, Teauna, Marrella or Kevin (all aged 26+), but it’s pretty pathetic (though why should I expect otherwise?) to bring in your friends to lie for you, too. In time, I’ll forgive you for being that kind of person, but it won’t be right now. Not until long after I lay out a few more hundred bucks to fix my truck.

And for the record, I drove a bus for 4 years for the University of Toledo, and for another 3-4 months for Elyria City Schools. I KNOW what it’s like, I’ve seen the way drivers cut in front of buses, and what it takes to stop a bus, how easy it is to be courteous and everything else that’s involved with being behind the wheel of one.

I also know how to drive responsibly, since in my almost 30 years of driving, this is the FIRST ACCIDENT I’VE HAD.

I also know how to tell the truth. My sincerest condolences on your lack of a conscience.

UPDATE: I just received a phone call from my insurance company informing me that some scumbag SOB on the bus has retained an attorney, claiming they were injured. Are you flipping KIDDING ME?! MY truck was LIFTED off the ground by the bus, and someone on the BUS was injured? I hope the judge slaps the snot out of this person. Lorain, you have achieved a whole new low.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Received a follow-up call from my agent. She assured me that this happens all the time, and not to sweat it. She informed me that at the time of the accident, the passengers on the bus, as well as the driver, told the police officer that no one was injured. Hope this person gets -itch-slapped by the court. Someone tell me how much impact my 4200# truck would have made by being sideswiped by a 24,000# bus?  Traveling at 25 mph??

Lorain, Opinion, TIBT, WTF?

Is It REALLY So Difficult To Just ASK???

Jan8th
2012 11 Comments Written by Mark

I’ve always known there are some less than desirable folks out there. Lack of morals, indifference to other people, et cetera and so on and all that jazz. Some individuals just wouldn’t think twice about taking something without asking or paying for it, just for the mere wanting of it. I’ve written before about not getting credit for something (never did hear again from Tim Alcorn, btw), suggesting that all you have to do is “ask”, but since these I’ve about had enough.

The “ask” post was in regards to a photo of Lorain High that I took:

Someone that I used to trade emails with and that I did some photo favors for is currently associated with Lorain Growth. This individual used the above photo for a LHS alumni event. When I called said person on the carpet about it, I never got another email or even the courtesy of a reply or apology. Way to burn THAT bridge.

I made the mistake a while ago of getting on Facebook. Ok, I’ve connected with some folks that I really enjoy being in touch with again. So, I’m on the Lorain Port Authority page, and I see the avatar/pics of other fans. And this one particular photo looks strangely familiar.

So I clicked on the link and was taken to the person’s page. And she has the above pic as her profile photo. So I wrote her and asked where she got the photo. Nothing. I sent the message again. Still nothing. Fine. I wrote Facebook and explained the situation and they removed the photo, notified her, thanked me, and asked me to let them know should something like this happen again.

Next thing I know, this person posts to her wall that she doesn’t know what happened, that Facebook “took” her picture and said she couldn’t use it anymore. She couldn’t understand because it was a “wallpaper” that “came with her new computer”.

The instance that pushed me over the edge just happened a few weeks ago. Someone on Facebook (told you I made a mistake) posted some pics, and this was one of them:

So there was some discussion about Mary’s, and I came back here to find some details about when it closed. I looked at the pic, and thought “Wow, what a coinky-dink.” And three seconds later thought, “Wait a friggin’…” I start flipping back and forth between the pics and Guess What?? It’s MINE.

So I ask where he got it, because the photo hasn’t had ANY hits in the last month, and the photo disappears. Wait, what photo? Did I share it? Was it in this folder? I finally gave up.

I recognize my pics like parents recognize their kid’s voice on a crowded playground. And I’m pretty generous with giving them out, especially when I’m asked. One person and one person only has access to any and everything I have for photos, and that person is Loraine Ritchey. She’s given me credit always, and sent some really interesting tips and photo ops my way, for which I am eternally grateful.

 All of this has prompted me to start putting a watermark on my photos. Makes it difficult to dispute if my name is already on the product. But the bottom line is, I’m an easy guy to get along with, and very generous when it comes down to it.

All you really have to do is just ask.

Find Your Passion, Opinion, WTF?

Saving Downtown: Bardstown, Kentucky

Oct26th
2011 4 Comments Written by Mark

As time passes, and we all get greyer, Lorain’s downtown misses out on more opportunities to do something with itself. More and more money gets wasted on surveys that will gather dust in a corner or on the shelf at the local library, rather than time and money being spent to resurrect this town from the grave it continues to dig itself into. While people argue whether downtown or infrastructure should come first, so that the other will follow, absolutely nothing gets done, making the entire argument moot. Our Design Review Board merely gums itself on the statutes they’ve lain out years ago, because none of the guidelines are really adhered to or, dare I say, even evident to anyone today.

This past weekend, I was in Bardstown, Kentucky for the wedding of my cousin Kris and his fiancee, Julia. The ceremony was in the evening, so we had Saturday afternoon to check out the downtown.  I was both thrilled and saddened because I could shoot another downtown, and only dream about what could be back home. According to a friend in the know, some of the stores downtown remain vacant because the owners are looking for $1500 per month rent. That’s JUST rent. A prospective businessperson would still need to shell out for utilities and insurance and everything else. And since there’s so many empty shops along Broadway, there’s less and less draw to the area. (Maybe the City could cut some of these store owners a break on their taxes IF they dropped rent to something that a prospective new business could afford so they could actually try to improve Downtown’s chances again?)

Dreaming aside, as you can see from the photos below, not only was Bardstown a beautiful area, it was also very busy, with numerous restaurants and even a soda counter in a drugstore!! Remember those? Sundaes and sodas and malts and shakes, sandwiches and snacks. Parking was a little scarce, but a drive or two through would find a space just recently vacated.  Very hospitable shopkeepers, friendly faces, and polite people were everywhere. If only…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Development, Downtown, Find Your Passion, Future, History, Hope-To-Bring-To-Lorain, Lorain, Mainstreet

Mystery Hill + Prehistoric Forest=Overpriced Hoo-ha

Jul13th
2010 8 Comments Written by Mark

Didja ever find yourself in a situation where time had blurred your perception of something? I don’t mean a month or two or last year, but I mean YEARS. When I was a young’un, I remember my folks taking my brothers and myself to a list of places around northern Ohio. The Blue Hole, Seneca Caverns, Put-in-Bay and Marblehead. Recently, two attractions in Marblehead were in the news because this is the last summer they’ll be open. The owners of Mystery Hill and Prehistoric Forest are closing the joint site so they can enjoy their retirement.

When I saw the article, I remembered going to Mystery Hill and being really intrigued by the place. I wanted to go back and see it before it was gone, and thought it’d be cool to take the kids. They seemed interested and we added two of their friends to the group. As we pulled into the parking lot after an hour’s drive, my scam alert went into hyperactive drive. The view from the parking lot was one of high density cheese. A large, funky-looking dinosaur stood in front of a large, man-made hill with a waterfall. Mike got out of the truck with a ‘what the heck’ look on his face. I did panic-mode, thinking I drove four teenagers an hour away from home, to see something that was gonna earn me the “L” mark on my forehead.

I had checked the place out on their website, and had been fairly interested in the Mystery Hill part, not-so-much in the Prehistoric Forest, but they were a package deal, and some of the dino pics looked pretty good. Mystery Hill’s attraction is that gravity has gone awry here, water and tennis balls roll uphill, and it’s really weird.  So, I thought the almost $9 per head admission might almost be worth it.

So, we go in, I pay the bill for all five of us, and we head up the hill. We stop for a very rehearsed presentation on something that may or may not have been valid, and then we’re directed up the hill to the building at the top. Up the gravel path we climb, past a putt-putt course, and then the path is bordered on both sides by a fence. As we come to the top of the hill, the area opens up and we are standing in front of a building that leans a bit to the right. Immediately, my head feels weird, as if there’s pressure on the right side of my brain, and I’m thinkin’, “Ok, this is weird!”

As you can see, the building tilts to the right, against the gravel-covered path, that seems to be level. I don’t know if the skewed structure is contributing to the off-kilter feeling, but I’m not the only one, as Mike seems a bit off-balance in the photo above. Also, the water seems to be moving UP the PVC piping attached to the side of the shack. But yet, it flows down as well as up. So, um…..huh??

In we go, teens first, me following as I take pics of everything and check out the water thing. There’s no pump, except the one that takes the water from the barrel and pours it into the half-pipe at the top. Very odd.

So, as I approach the doorway, I’m treated to this view:

Wait, what the..?   and then this:

Michael has one leg bent behind the other and is leaning on the air. Yes, you read that right, and that’s the same thing Alainey is leaning on. Absolutely nothing.

Granted, you can see in these photos that the floor is slanted, but I’ve walked up ramps steeper than this, and haven’t felt pulled backwards. We actually felt PULLED toward the lower area. Kristen got me here, too.

Here’s some video I shot there:

So, we spent about 20 minutes and change inside the shifted shack. We had fun, and the plan was to next get some pics by the dinosaurs (mind you, the website pics looked pretty good) as if the dino’s were chasing them.

Down the path, directed through a small building (CHEESE ALERT!!!!) with plastic displays, and then out onto the path into the “Forest.”

A giant praying mantis? Ok, this is not going to play out like I wanted, is it?

No, I’m thinkin’ not.

Hell no. Definitely not.

This T-Rex was pretty impressive and would’ve been moreso if his lower half wasn’t hidden behind a plywood wall, to keep us from seeing the machinery that made him turn slightly to the left and right.

I think there were about 14 dinosaurs, give or take, and the most serious pictures are the ones above. Forty-five bucks for 20-odd minutes in the House on the Hill, and a walk through the “Forest.”

I’d been had. Hard.

We agreed that a couple bucks a head would’ve been worth it, but not $9 per. Could have done without the lizards. But hey, we made up for it by heading over to the Marblehead Lighthouse.

All in all, a good day spent with my kids, and my adopted kids, and we all shared some laughs. And I hope I remember with some semblance of clarity the places I’ve taken (and will take) my kids, so that when they ask me in years to come about taking their kids somewhere, I can help them avoid the not-so-worth it spots. This will be closed by then, and I won’t have to worry about it.

Ohio, Opinion, WTF?

Customer Service is Disappearing…

May16th
2010 10 Comments Written by Mark

…but it’s definitely gone at a number of places.

In my opinion, every teen should work in some sort of customer service position in order to learn how to politely deal with the public. Wait tables, work in retail, someplace where interaction with the buying public has to happen, where being personable, agreeable, cooperative and RESPECTFUL are necessary in order to keep your job. Knowing that your job hangs on how you treat and talk to people will make a person very patient and cooperative. Getting back to using “Sir”, “Ma’am”, and “Miss” are also necessary. This is one trait everyone needs to get anywhere in life. Just be polite. Too bad some folks get jobs in customer service and completely LACK this skill.

Tonight was my breaking point. This post has been brewing for a few weeks, and I’ve been trying NOT to have to write it, but I came face to face with the employee that pushed me over the edge. I was coming home from work when my Mrs. called, and asked if I’d pick up some Taco Bell for everyone for dinner. I pulled over, took the order and drove to the Taco Bell in Amherst. When I got there the drive-thru was backed up, so I went inside. When my turn came I stepped up to the register to be glared at by Katharine. And I do mean glared.  As if she would rather be anywhere than where she was at that moment in time. I stared back at her, solemn face, waiting for “Hi, welcome to Taco Bell, may I take your order?”, but it never came. I met her gaze for about 5 seconds, and then smiled and said “Hi!”

Nothing. If she’d have smiled, her face would have shattered into 1000 pieces. I gave my order and paid, and stepped back to wait. She did the ‘glare’ thing with the next 4 sets of customers that came in. Not once did she say Hi, or Welcome, or anything. She stood at the register and glared at each customer as they stepped up and began to giving their orders.

Customer Service? Gone.

A month ago, I picked up my kids from baseball and softball practice. I’d been busy all day and didn’t have a chance to cook. Not wanting to do fast food, I offered KFC’s Fire Grilled Chicken. It was a plan and there we drove. I ordered a bucket of the chicken, and was told that it would be 17 minutes before it would be ready. This was at 5:10pm, and there was two other couples in the restaurant. Thanks, but I’m not waiting that long.  We went to Subway. (Very good service at Subway, by the way. All the time.)

A little over two weeks ago, I got Kristen from practice, and offered KFC again. I’d get her the 2-piece meal this time. I order, pay the $5.12, and step back and wait for the grilled chicken breast and wing, and the rest of the meal. After 5 minutes, one of the employees comes to the counter and says they don’t have any breasts, would I like a leg or thigh? I said, ‘Forget it. I want my money back. How can you advertise grilled chicken yet never have any ready?!’ So the manager (Lanisha? Latisha?) comes out with this bent-out-of-shape look and I’m asking how you can have Fire Grilled Chicken on the menu, yet never have enough to fill an order. She ignores me and starts digging through the drawer to count out $5.12. I told her, No, here’s the $14.88, I want my 20-dollar bill back. I lean over the counter as far as I can and, since she won’t take the money from my hand, drop it on the counter. NOW, she’s gonna talk and she starts getting loud about how I don’t have to ‘throw the money.’ (Now it’s all about the money.) And we go back and forth until I tell her if I’d thrown it, it’d be on the floor. ‘Well, you don’t have to be rude and throw your money and…etc.’ I told her if you’d run this restaurant the way it’s supposed to be run, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. ‘I know how to run a restaurant, blah-blah-blah.’ I told her if she did, I’d have my chicken. ‘Have a nice day, sir!!’  She turns around and walks away. (I filled out the online survey that’s listed on the receipt, and the next day a manager called, and my Mrs. asked him to call back in 15 minutes, I’d be back then. Never called back again.)

Customer service? Is there an antonym or opposite of customer service?? This was it.

Then there’s Marc’s at the Sheffield Center. I try to go in there as little as possible because the cashiers are slower than molasses in January. On two different occasions, I was in the mood for popcorn. First time, I went to the counter while the general manager was there. I waited while he opened and shut a number of drawers, grabbed some papers, he turned around and looked at me, and then stepped out of the booth and walked away. What? Fine, I’m gone.

The next time I was there, I bought my few things, and thought, Now I’ll get my popcorn. This older woman was leaning on the counter, watching everyone walk by, nobody to wait on. I stepped up, asked ‘Could I have a large popcorn, please?’ She looked me right in the eye, and said, “No.” I said, “Ok, fine,” and turned and walked away. She started calling “Sir? Sir?” I kept going. Keep your flippin’ popcorn.

Saturday, my Mrs. is there buying bottled soda and Powerade. The Powerade is on sale, ‘Buy 10, Get 5 Free, coupon at checkout’. So she stocks up and goes to the checkout. The cashier says she doesn’t have any coupons. My wife says, So I can’t get it? The cashier says (politely), ‘I can’t give you the five free without the coupon to scan.’ The manager is at the next register, and says (rather sharply), ‘If there’s no coupons, we can’t give you the discount.’ My wife replies, ‘You’ve got signs around the store that are advertising this price.’ The manager replies,’So?’ Mary replies, ‘You have to honor the advertisement and give me the Powerade at that price.’ To which the manager says, ‘I don’t have to give you anything.’ This goes back and forth again until another cashier says, ‘I’ve got a coupon here.’ The manager turns around and says (sarcastically), ‘Well, I guess you’ll get your Powerade.’ Mary asks, ‘That’s fine for me, but what about the next person that sees the signs and wants that price?’ ‘Don’t you worry about them, you’ll get yours and that’s all you have to worry about.’ When Mary tried to reply, the manager told her to ‘Have a nice day!!’ and wouldn’t say anything else.

Customer service? LMAO Are you kidding??

When I was managing with Chi-Chi’s many years ago, we’d tell the employees, Guests will leave here, and if they’ve had a good experience, they’ll (on average) tell about five people. If they’ve had a bad experience, they will tell TEN. So be sure to make your guests happy before they leave, or get me so that I can make things right.

I did my job then, but it seems no one is doing their’s these days.

A Call for Help, Opinion, TIBT, WTF?

Ask, And Ye Probably Will Receive….

Nov30th
2009 Leave a Comment Written by Mark

I enjoy photography. A lot. I wouldn’t spend the time and money that I do if I didn’t. And though I don’t get many comments on here (I don’t expect anyone to keep coming here and saying “Nice shot!” day in and day out), my pats on the back come via the info I get on my sitemeter reports. I see the same IP addresses regularly, and multiple page views, and lots of time spent paging through the posts I’ve made. Added smiles come when I see referrals by way of emails. The referring link shows as a gmail or hotmail account, which tells me someone said, “Hey! Check this out!” So, to those of you that like what I’ve done enough to spread it around, to those that keep coming back, and to those that post to forums with a link to here, I say

“Thank you very much.” 

I don’t get paid for this. It is a labor of love, and I pay for the domain name, the server service, and the flickr account in order to have an outlet for this. The only thing I ask, is that you ask me before you use one of my photos for your personal use, or to promote something. There is one person that I can think of that has been granted carte blanche to any and all of my photos, and she knows who she is. She has helped me more by way of sending traffic and “gigs” my way than I can even begin to explain. (I did get paid from a certain “business” for services rendered, and I am always grateful for the “gigs” they provide and the interaction we have.”

That being said, if there is something of mine that you would like to use, for an ad, a feature, to help promote a cause, all you have to do is ask. 99.9% of the time, I’m gonna say, “Sure!!” I reserve that .1% for those things that go against my beliefs. I have seen my photos go out sans credit in a local newspaper, in a local organization’s emails, for get-togethers and causes, and I’ve seen local photographers duplicate my work and then get credit for it, without even so much as a reference for the inspiration.

So, before those of you that like what you see ‘borrow’ something for whatever reason, please be so kind as to ask first. It’s a pat on the back to me that you found something that will help your cause, and chances are, I’ll even post something here to help get the word out.

Thanks,

Mark J. Teleha (heneryhawk1@yahoo.com)

 

Future, TIBT

Friday Free-For-All Rant

Jun5th
2009 7 Comments Written by Mark

I’ve been mulling over whether to do one of these for a while. You go through life, little things buggin’ ya, but nothing that deserves a get-up-on-a-rock and get-it-out-of-your-system type of vent. Wednesday, my tolerance for the little stuff boiled over. So, feel free to let loose in the comments at the bottom of this, and get it off of your chest. Today’s everyone’s day to just vent. I get to go first.

No one can deny that radio is progressively getting worse. Stations are slowly getting away from DJ’s and getting into more programmed music. The Cleveland airwaves have lost numerous voices over the last few months, and the last couple of years. The music that they play is repeated over and over so many times, that it’s almost painful. One thing that bugs me is the lack of attention to new music. My wife turned me on to country music when we were first going out, 16 years ago. Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” was one of the big songs then. As I drive, I’ll scan the stations until I find something good. If I can’t, I’ll go by WGAR. Why in the world am I hearing Boot Scoot when there are so MANY other songs that could be played?! Why do I have to hear the same Led Zep songs and friggin’ Van Halen songs on such a regular rotation, you could almost set your watches by them? Why would no one play the Doobie Brothers CD that came out a few years ago? There were some good songs on there, but the Doobie’s are too old for the popular stations, and their new stuff isn’t classic enough for the old stations. And that’s just one example.

Songs end, and it’s time for them to pay the bills. I don’t mind some commercials, but there are certain things in a commercial I cannot tolerate. Do NOT put kids in your commercial and let them sing. Or talk. Matter of fact, DON’T PUT’EM IN AT ALL!! I will turn the station. Vanderschmere dealership’s commercial with the “Brady Bunch” theme with kids singing? I vow to never buy a vehicle from them EVER.

There’s a tire place, Konrad’s? They have a new ad for a BOGO special. And they have men chanting, “BOGO, BOGO.” I heard it once, and that was it. Hated it. Then it came on again 10 minutes later. Won’t be doing business with them anymore.

Any commercial that has an irritating, repetitive sound in it: alarm clocks, doorbells, telephones and cellphones? Changing the station. As soon as I hear it. Ya hear that Clear Channel?! Ads for foreclosure help with the ringing telephones, and people ringing doorbells over and over and…. I’ll stop.

Let’s hear it for EEE-Rect! The sexual performance product that’ll have you UP in no time for both of your pleasure! Tired. Oh so tired, of hearing about enhancing hers or yours or my sexual performance. My kids are old enough to know what’s up. (Sorry, that was unintentional.) But how do you explain to a 5-, 6-, or 7-year old what they’re talking about? Absolutely no business being advertised during the day. None.

Jumping back to repetitive for just a second, how about how many times they repeat telephone numbers in ads? Used to be that two times was the standard. Now it seems four times is the minimum. Sorry, changing the channel again.

One of THE most irritating things in a radio commercial, usually for a car dealership, is when they have to have some fast talkin’ dude that speaks 1500 words per minute, reading the ‘legalese’ or contract fine print, the disclaimers that release the dealership from all the make-a-buck freaks that are looking to sue someone for something they feel was promised in a radio ad. Not only can you NOT understand what he’s saying, sometimes he speaks so softly that you can’t even HEAR him.

Cellphones. There are a lot of folks that understand that, whatever is going on around them, while they are driving, is so INFINITELY more important than the conversation they are having on the phone. And I applaud those folks. But, BUT, if you are old enough to have gone to school with Moses, and your friends have nicknamed you Methusaleh, you’ve got NO business talking on a cellphone and driving, ESPECIALLY if you can’t even SEE over the dashboard! If you drive, and talk, you should NOT have the cellphone in your left ear. You have now effectively blocked your view of anything going on along the driver’s side of your car/van, and you probably can’t see your side mirror. You also cannot SIGNAL now when you want to change lanes or turn. Not good. At all.

Which brings me to the very issue that put me over the edge. While I’m on my way to pick up my kids, and getting frustrated with the horrible commercials and crappy song selection, I get this guy

who decides on Detroit Road just west of Abbe Road, that he should be able to change lanes because I’ll know because I’m psychic. Queue the buzzer. Wrong! You can’t come over because I’m not driving into oncoming traffic just for you. So, instead of dropping back, he continues along side of me, keeping pace, until we get to the turn lane that will take him into Quaker Steak and Lube. But he’s not going there. Just as the road begins to narrow to the one lane that I’m driving in, he steps on the gas and I stand on the horn, because he’s coming over, like it or not. Just as he slides in mere inches from my bumper, he turns on his signal.

There’s a special place in hell for people like him. And they’ll put these big headphones on him and play the same music over and over, and have children singing off-key unintelligible lyrics in commercials with lots of alarm clocks and telephones ringing. And the volume is really loud.

Moo-wah-ha-ha-haaaa!

Thanks. I needed that. I’m done. Your turn.

TIBT, WTF?

Credit is Impossible to Get Nowadays

Apr2nd
2009 6 Comments Written by Mark

I’m not talking about the money kind of credit. It seems a freelance photographer can’t get diddly from anyone around here.

Not too long ago, local photog Rona Proudfoot had some photos used by the County Commissioners. Normally, that would be a wonderful thing. Except they didn’t ask her and worse, they didn’t even credit her.

Lame.

So, I’ve been covering the Avon Ballpark, now known as All-Pro Freight Stadium. The Lake Erie Crushers GM, Ryan Gates, asked for my permission to use the above photo in his talks. And he’d give me credit.

Awesome.

 So, last month, Nicolle Meyer, Director of Media/Community Relations for the Lake Erie Crushers contacts me. Can she use the picture in a print project that WEOL is putting together? I would get photo credit. She wanted to know if it was OK. My reply was, “It is (VERY) OK.”

So, in Thursday’s Elyria Chronicle, the booklet comes out. I didn’t even know. One of the guys at work brought in the Chronicle, and I saw the booklet, and I pick it up and start leafing through it. As I get to the middle of the magazine, I see this:

Hey!! That’s my pi….Wait a friggin’ minute….

I paged through,  front to back to front to back. Nothing.

Cripe.

Grabbed my cellphone and sent an email to Nicolle. She got back to me; she’d sent my name with the photo to WEOL. She did her part.

WEOL did not do their’s.

What is it that a photographer can’t get a credit around this area? What does it take? Do we need to start charging to be taken seriously? If we start asking for money, you lose opportunities when some of the organizations that really need photos, can’t pay much (if at all) for them. So, to get your foot in the door and your name out there and associated with some quality stuff, all you ask for is credit for a photo.

And then you get something like this.

It’s not like I need my name in huge letters, or that I demanded a certain font. All I wanted was my name with the shot. Put it in little white letters at the base of the pic.

I just want my name out there.

So, WEOL, how difficult would that have been?

Just give me some credit,

Fer cryin’ out loud.

Opinion, Panorama, WTF?
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© Mark J Teleha and Lorain County Photographer's Blog aka locophotogblog.com, [2007-Present]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mark J Teleha and Lorain County Photographer's Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.