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Let me preface this entry by saying that anyone who doesn’t give thanks to and/or think about the original Matrix on a daily basis is a fool. Period. There is no excuse for not doing so. It is your mind’s right for giving you the ability to do things like, well, live and breathe.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen the aforementioned film, go out, buy — not rent — buy it and watch it seven or eight times… I’ll wait… good. Great film, huh?

Now you know the scene when you think Neo is about to smoke one of those suited fools on top of the building only to find out that the guy has the kind of agility and quickness that make Barry Sanders and Fred Astaire look like Barry Manilow and Fred Flinstone as he dodges bullets? If not, here is a picture:

Well, that’s just dandy and drool inducing. And since this is precisely the scene that kept me on the couch in my parents’ basement for the better part of a decade eating Rasin Bran and living out my prime, I decided to pay homage to it with a Prep Athlete of the week photo.

My subject, Kyle “Did he just do that?” Grott. His ability to make opposing defensive backs look like my dad on ice skates was good enough reason for me to want to make him look Matrixesque.

The above photo is the final version. To read more on how the shot was made and how my assistant’s foot speed  played a crucial role, read on by clicking “continue reading” below.

Thanks for looking.

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Why is it that the biggest cop out of conversation –weather — is always a non-cop out of conversation in Wyoming? On Thursday night, I said to a co-worker, “I hope the weather stays nice for the two days of state football I’m going to shoot.”

The next day on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie, my Jetta was tossed around like an American tourist in a Turkish prison.

Thursday was beautiful with no snow… Friday was more like the movie Alive — you know, rugby team crashes in Andes and resorts to munching on each other to survive. The only major difference was my lack of human meat. It was cold and miserable and I’m pretty sure I would’ve eaten my meaty brother had things not cleared up before Saturday’s games.

Despite bad weather, the games were actually pretty good on Friday. One upset in 2A and a success story in 1A as Southeast won their fourth title in a row.

On Saturday, the nice weather (less snow) resulted in three games with a combined difference of 115 points. That of course was skewed by 6-man dynamo Guernsey-Sunrise’s 76-16 win over Kaycee. The other two games ended in a 25-point win for Sheridan and 30-point win by Douglas.

I had fun and am glad I didn’t have to eat anyone.

Congratulations to the champions and the runner-ups for making it to Laramie.

Thanks for looking.

God, I love Grease!

The scene when Danny Zuko and Sandra D make the school carnival their own private Studio 54 is fantastic. Every night I pray to God and ask to wake up as Danny. To date, my prayers have gone unfulfilled and I am merely a half white guy with the rhythm of reinforced steel.

Unlike me, however, the K through 2 students at Jessup Elementary can, as Young MC said, bust a move…

For the 50th day of school, the three grade levels at J.E. danced and jived and mash potatoed as if it were 1950. The only major difference was the lack of corporal punishment, polio shots and lead paint. Must be nice to have such great teachers. Growing up, I was lucky not to get cigarette ash in my eyes in the classroom and these kids are partying like it’s 1959. Man-o-man, what a lifestyle.

As the events heated up in the gym (literally, it must’ve been 188 degrees), I longed to reenact the National Bandstand dance off when that minx ChaCha DeGregorio stole Danny from Sandra D… but alas, I did not want to scare the children. Imagine being 5-8 years old, enjoying a school function only to have it ruined by a “man” dancing (more so flailing) on the dance floor like a cat with no legs in a swimming pool.

Yeah, that’s not good for anyone. Real square.

See ya later alligator.

Early in October, the sun was shining, leaves were a vibrant gold and pink and I walked around without a shirt almost daily.

Then the terror struck.

Two separate snow storms resulting in the city’s most prolific snowstorm in October left us in a daze. Honestly, who rakes up trees killed by snow only to see a tree be planted later that month in sunshine with little or no visible snow?

I wasn’t so mad about the ridiculously windy and snowy days. No, they were minor… relegating me to wear a shirt, however, what a joke. Mostly, the erratic patterns were mind boggling. Shirt or no shirt, mittens or no mittens, pants or no pants.

Come on, give me a hint!

Seriously, I haven’t been this confused since my father decided to become a woman… well, he really didn’t, but it’s probably about that confusing.

If you’re like me and almost lost your mind due to the inconsistency of the past month, then join me in my quest to get government funding for weather-related anguish.

Measures are already being taken to help alleviate some of the problems created in the past month.

In a joint effort with the city, an expert (namely me) has suggested building a fireplace in my house to help combat cold days. A nominal tax would ensure that I would have plenty of wood to burn in the event that my toes became too cold and my nose too runny.

Conversely, funds are also being raised to procure a swamp cooler or Central Air for extremely warm days.

Write your local politicians to keep me up to speed with the ever-changing Wyoming climate.

Click “continue reading” below for more photos.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the Wyoming Tribune Eagle photo staff’s collection of the peculiar month of October.

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This is the third time I’ve had the chance to shoot Morgan Hartigan.

And for the third time, I struggled.

Luckily, she’s not only a good swimmer, but a patient individual, too.

The above image was among the final frames of the afternoon shoot. Morgan was home sick from school and I was on assignment sick of work. The timing for us to meet could not have come at a better time. As the kids say, it was sick.

At first, I had the idea to mimic a shot by photo chief little Mike Smith. His shot was of a spider web covered in dew. In each droplet was an image of a flower from the background. Pretty cool shot, so I thought it might be cool to experiment with that technique on a swimmer.

Not very cool execution on my part.

I got the light right, but I couldn’t get the water to form the correctly. I guess watching the Little Mermaid beforehand would have been a wise decision — you know, the scene when Ursula gets wicked crazy with the ocean.

Since my initial attempts to be awesome failed (story of my life), I moved on to a few techniques I knew might work. Do you like how I confidently knew, but there was still a doubtful might? Me too.

Morgan laughed a lot at my lame jokes and attempts to make her feel less uncomfortable. I think it was laughter intended at me, but I will interpret it as laughter with me.

In all, it was OK, but I would like to have nailed the water shot. In all likelihood, there will be another chance to shoot a swimmer in the future. Probably just none that will humor my lack of humor with compensatory laughter.

For more photos of the Morgan Hartigan shoot, click “continue reading” below.

Thanks for looking.

Editor’s note: AAron wasn’t really sick of work, it just sounded more clever written as such.

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