So the general consensus I’m getting from my Kansas City friends on Facebook is that the “No Reservations” episode featuring our fair city was not an impressive show. In fact, many are saying it flat out stunk.
I’ll confess, my wife and I are pretty steady admirers of Bourdain’s rejection of the celebrity template for chefs. Of course, he has ridden this rejection of the Food Network fluffiness to his own brand of celebrity chef status.
Maybe it is my former journalism skepticism and my wife’s years in a professional kitchen, but no one can be as megawatt cheery as Giada, Rachel, Guy and Paula would have us believe. Bourdain was never trying to be someone he wasn’t. This is why his show has held such appeal to the Cummins household.
Yes, after such a long run with “No Reservations” Tony’s gruff, jaded New York City personality and take on the world has finally begun to wear on us. But he has had a very long run as far as his kind of show goes. Do you think “Man vs. Food” will do so well for so long? I doubt it.
Finally after his many years of featuring the world, “No Reservations” makes its visit to my fair hometown of Kansas City. Was it as awful as my Facebook friends are saying? No. Hardly a top episode, but in a world that deems “Bad Girls Club” an acceptable form of entertainment, I’ll take it.
We don’t have a massage parlor to bend Tony into a human pretzel or have a foreign culture like El Riyadh to create the fish out of water theme that was so entertaining in past episodes. Although Tony did bring his Russian friend Zamir to help us. But Zamir is more court jester than reflective writer, traveler, television-travel guide. While several moments were funny with Zamir, it just didn’t work nearly as well as watching Tony hang out with Ted Nugent and shoot guns.
Why the rejection from my KC friends I wonder? Perhaps it did stink by most viewpoints. What do I know? It’s not the first time I have been out of step with the hot trends. According to the Facebook peanut gallery, the consensus is it was endless footage of them eating barbecue and drinking.
Maybe someday Charlie Parker’s recordings will be relevant to more than a handful of enthusiasts. Robert Altman, Walt Disney and Walter Cronkite were excellent contributors to our nation. I guess Kansas City did make a pretty kick ass president, even though nearby Independence can take most of the credit.
I hate to say it folks, to the rest of the world, this is what Kansas City is: kick ass barbecue. It is our lasting accomplishment and perhaps greatest contribution. We should embrace it and embrace those that swallow it greedily.
What is so bad about that? Our claim to fame could be joyless square pizza, fried ravioli and a once-proud American brewery now owned by the Belgians. Is it shocking that city is still waiting for a “No Reservations” about them? Holding your breath is dangerous to your health, St. Louis.
Be proud Kansas City. Being singular at something so singularly American as barbecue deserves this kind of treatment.
Yes… we have tremendous chefs who don’t smother everything in molasses, ketchup spicy goop. Chefs doing really creative, daring things while using local food and participating in the organic, back to basics food movement. Tony did give these folks a brief nod. But it is 2012 folks, that kind of stuff is going on everywhere. It doesn’t make us special.
The Awesome:
1. Bourdain corrected his Russian friends (and 90 percent of America) for believing that our city is located in Kansas. What was nice was that Bourdain seemed to feel the need to correct his friend not because he wanted to exhibit his knowledge, but because he felt the fact was important. The 90 percent of America that doesn’t know that Kansas City is mostly in Missouri, doesn’t know because… frankly they don’t need to know. It’s not important to them. Because of what Bourdain cares about, he has to care about which Kansas City is in Missouri and which is in Kansas. Good for him and better for his viewers. He even used the hyper-local, old school pronunciation of “Missour-UH.” That was just hamming it up.
2. There was no convention and visitors bureau-approved tour of our ghost-town 18th and Vine Jazz District. Footage of their empty parking lots and unattended museums just wasn’t going to cut it. “No Reservations” must be doing lots of scouting and fact finding. It makes me trust the show more to give me the straight story when it goes to Dubai, New Orleans or Northeast China.
3. Show what we do best and what we contributed to the nation’s appreciation of food: barbecue. Yes, they ate a lot of it during this episode.
4. I will always like a show that expects a certain knowledge level among its viewers. This episode assumed you knew about Arthur Bryant’s and Gates and deliberately passed those location up to go to more unknown locations. My guess is most people don’t know those two as the major institutions of barbecue, but telling them they do know is a neat little trick to encourage them to learn more about them. It also establishes the show’s credibility. This is how the cool kids appear to be “in the know.” Am I over thinking this? Of course.
5. Quote of the night came from the Oklahoma Joe’s owner, stating that Kansas City has the sophistication to handle and excel with more than one kind of meat.
6. Tony calling Jack Stack Barbecue “too neat.” That is exactly how I feel. I need a little roadhouse feel to a good barbecue joint.
7. The History Lesson: why didn’t anyone every tell me about the 1930s Chesterfield waitresses’ and their work uniforms? I did not know this and I am a history guy.
The Not-So Awesome:
1. Oklahomas Joe’s. I’m sorry Tony and the many Kansas Citians, it’s good… it’s not that good. Listening to others rave about that place is kind of like listening to people rave about “Mad Men” or the movie “The Artist”… very quickly I wear down and have to say, “no, I don’t share your enthusiasm over this.” Yeah, I just said that.
2. The Chiefs tailgating. Yes, it’s a boozefest. I do love the Chiefs and love watching them win. But around 1994 I started to get really tired of this town offering up to the wider world as a major source of civic pride an NFL franchise that hasn’t been to the Superbowl since Nixon was president. Meanwhile, just about every other NFL city has at least been to the big game.
It would be interesting to sample the reaction from the people in living in the location this show covers. I wonder if anyone is that happy with the more gritty, boozy picture Anthony Bourdain and his show always describe a location. It’s not the chamber of commerce portrait of any of the places. But, like I said, sometimes I just don’t see thing the same way as others.
So Spring has sprung and all around us is one of the earliest blooming seasons in recent memory. It reminds me of my years in North Carolina. There by mid March the bloom was in full swing.
After reading about a cool trick to turn my existing lenses into macro lenses I decided to take a closer look at Spring’s wonders and beauty. Plus, sometimes as a photographer you just have to put down the Facebook, blogs, emails and Photoshop actions to do the thing you love to do the most: photography. Enjoy!
As many weddings as we have photographed, we notice a few trends. Some are not so obvious and some are universal. One of these is the eternal fondness of children for cake (not to mention the eternal fondness for cake from non-children!) Add in some festivities, caffeine and a number of kids and what you get is some kind of fun. Note: the two do pose hazards to one another. Enjoy these images! We did!
The bride's daughter took a swipe at the cake prior to the reception on this one. Still tasted delicious though!
"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." Samuel Johnson
It’s another afternoon, I’m clicking away at my desk on any one of a variety projects I have going on at any given time. My dachshund Buster, is snoring in the chair next to me. We keep the office pretty dim throughout the day, often the only light of any significance is the soft light of my dual monitors spills across my keyboard and desk as the only light.. I just ate lunch and that groggy food coma is just starting to set in.
The silence is interrupted by the ringing of our office phone. I reach for the rattling device which is dancing across the desk flashing lots of lights and numbers.
The caller ID number is one I’m not familiar with. I answer. It’s a local number…
My post-lunch sleepy affects are shaken off. There’s instant anticipation. You see, it’s a lonely job being a wedding and portrait photographer especially when you love people. My excitement to speak with yet another potential client is half excitement of possibly beginning a new relationship and the other half just being able to chat with someone and learn a little about their story.
As the conversation starts, my heart sinks… she’s a bride, but her voice is small and you can hear the pain in her voice as she begins to tell her story. “Oh no…. it’s another,” I say to myself.
She’s already had her wedding. The dress is dry cleaned and gently stored in the attic. The flowers - once so beautiful - are wilted. The top of the cake is in the deepest corner of the freezer to be thawed in a matter of weeks for the first anniversary. “I do” is now “we did.”
Sadly, sometimes a grandparent that stood with the bride and her husband at the altar, for some joyous family portraits is now gone. At least she has professional photography to remember this romantic, joyous day….
But that is just it. The photography is a disaster…
She shares her story with me. The calls are all so similar. She hired a family member or friend to do the photography. He or she had a nice camera and some decent shots in their portfolio and the photographer’s price was going to help her and her groom save some dough. Little did she know what she saved in money in the end would cost her so many tears.
She explains that her photographer took six, seven or nine months to even deliver the images. When he or she finally did see the photographs they were so poorly lit, badly composed, unflattering and out-of-focus the bride was crushed.
Her one chance to beautifully record the romance, emotions, personalities, family generations and amazing details of her and her husband’s big day is gone forever. My heart breaks. I’m not a told you so person. I didn’t want this to happen to her or anyone else for that matter.
The bride has called me trying to rekindle and salvage what she can from the sorry set of images, “can you fix these for us? Can you make them right?” she asks choking back the tears, pausing to collect herself. “Can you make an album for us from the ones you fix?”
“I’m sorry…. we can’t,” I gently tell her, “it’s just too hard.”
We can’t make good photography out of bad original images… the time and effort required to make something passable would destroy our ability to serve our clients with their own amazing images that they will love forever.
The problem is these calls keep happening more and more.
Technology is rapidly changing our world, my industry of wedding and portrait photography is no exception. My industry has seen all barriers to entry into the professional ranks wiped out with affordable, high quality cameras, YouTube tutorials and being able to see the images instantly on the back of the camera.
Putting together a nice, memorable wedding is hard… so it is seductive to entrust your memories to a photographer with only a couple of years of experience who is offering heavily discounted prices and “sweetheart deals.” But like a lot of things, what saves us a little money is often the most costly.
But here’s what too many folks are learning in the most heartbreaking ways… the cameras don’t make the artist no more than a good knife makes for a good surgeon. Wedding photography is hard. It takes practice, passion and personality to walk into someone’s wedding day, record beautiful images while making it fun and adding to the enjoyment of the entire wedding experience for you, your groom and everyone. There’s no reason someone should wait more than month to see her wedding’s images.
It’s a terrible price to pay to learn this lesson. Please don’t wait until after the wedding to realize how important your wedding photography is to you.
All the best,
Chris Cummins, chief photographic artist/owner Glow Imagery
You found the love of your life. She’s the one and now it’s time to make it official. All you have to do is find the ring that will melt her heart. Don’t worry. This quest doesn’t have to be as baffling as it sounds. Have fun, get excited and take deep breathes. There are few moments as exciting as unveiling the ring and springing the question of all questions.
First things first, educate yourself on five of the most popular ring designs. A woman’s personality and lifestyle will tend to dictate which ring she will prefer. Fret not, dear groom-to-be! She loves you and you love her, and when you find the perfect ring for her, you’ll just know it.
The Most Popular Rings For 2012
As daunting the task of shopping for an engagement ring can be, It may help to narrow your search to five of the most popular ring styles for 2012. These are the Solitaire, Pave, Halo, Colored Stones and Tension Set rings. Before you begin your pursuit, you may wish to familiarize yourself with these latest trends and styles.
Solitaire
The most popular and the most traditional style is the Diamond Solitaire. First introduced in 1886 by Tiffany & Co , the diamond solitaire is as it sounds, a simple band with one perfect diamond. This style is soaked in symbolism. The ring is the unbroken bond between two lovers, and the single stone signifies the one life that the two will share. The single gemstone is also a symbol of one love existing between two people. The Solitaire never goes out of style for the simple fact that it is both elegant and traditional. Women with a classic and timeless approach to fashion find that this ring best matches their tastes.
Pave
Second in popularity only to the diamond solitaire, the Pave (pronounced pah-vay) appeals to a woman who desires a little more sparkle to her ring. The Pave style has many small diamonds encrusted on the band with a large centerpiece diamond. Contrary to popular belief, the extra diamonds don’t always add up to a higher price tag. The added bling of the Pave diamonds lets the jeweler use a slightly smaller center stone to balance out the cost. A Pave ring has more gemstones, therefore it will sparkle more than a Solitaire. This ring will be preferred by women who look towards the vintage and Victorian styles.
Halo
Imagine giving your perfect angel her much-deserved halo. The Halo setting showcases a single diamond surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds or gemstones. This is a rather new style and one that is quickly catching attention. Similar to the Pave, this is a very glittery and flashy ring. However, the halo causes the eye to be drawn to the single stone and less to the ring’s band. A halo of small diamonds around the large diamond causes the center diamond to look twice as big with three times the sparkle. This style is made for the woman who prefers sparkle as well as timeless elegance. It is the perfect blend of elegant simplicity and storybook treasure.
Colored Gemstones
With the royal wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William, the demand for colored gemstone engagement rings has soared. The most common choices for colored stones are rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Many women say they feel like a colored gemstone gives a ring more caliber and magnetism. In addition, if you know your sweetheart has a special affinity for a particular stone, this is a perfect chance to show her how cherished she is and how you know her heart’s wishes. With some designs the colored gemstone is the centerpiece of the ring with small diamonds surrounding it. Other designs have the diamond as the main attraction and the colored gemstones play back up.
Tension Set
The latest cutting-edge design is the ultra cool “Floating Diamond”, or “Tension Set”, style. As it sounds, the ring holds the diamond through pure tension of two ends of the band. There are many different ways to achieve this setting-free look. Usually the band does not meet to form a circle, but wraps around either side of the diamond to hold it in place. The diamond is completely visible and appears to be floating in air. Whether it is intended or not, this style is very symbolic. The diamond appears to be free and unencumbered yet, still protected by the strength of the band. This can be likened to a love that is unchained and visible to all.
The fashion forward and lover of modern styles will deeply appreciate the Tension Set style. To her, the ring will be like a fantastic sculpture that astounds the perceived technical abilities of the artist. The Tension Set ring is truly a work of art to behold.
About the Author: Lynn Carson blogs at “Everything Princess Cut“, and writes about Blue Sapphire Engagement Rings, Princess Cut Diamonds, Wedding Rings and other fine jewelry.
Apart from the divine wedding dress and the lavish decors, flowers are a very essential part of every wedding. They adorn every corner of the venue and even serve as centerpieces for the tables. The vibrant colors and natural fragrance seem to give weddings the personality and flair that it deserves. Choosing the best flowers, though, can be a very tedious process as there is a wide array of flower varieties to pick from.
Get Help from a Professional Florist
If there is that one person who knows every kind of wedding flower imaginable, it would have to be an experienced florist. They should be aware of the flower varieties that are available on the season that your wedding will take place in. Doing all the reviewing and researching on your own, especially if you know too little about flowers, will be a time-consuming task. It would be so much convenient to hire the expertise of a florist. They are bound to give you insights on the various types and arrangements that are perfect for your wedding theme and décor.
Obtain Advice from a Specialist
Hiring a person to do everything related to flowers would be a great time-saver to give you more time to deal with the other elements of your wedding. However, if you would want to step on the challenge of handling all your wedding needs and decorations but is a little deficient with flower knowledge, you can simply get instructions from a florist. Obtain the necessary guidance in flower selection and arrangement and then you can do the rest on your own.
Acquire the Flowers a Day before the Wedding
Never leave the collection and arrangement of the flowers on the day of your wedding. If anything goes wrong, you will only be faced with so little time to get things fixed. Have the flowers ready and delivered at least a day before the big day. Two days would be even better. There are flower preservation techniques that the florists will employ on the arrangements so that they remain fresh even days after they are picked.
Consider Using Artificial Flowers
Modern methods of replication have made possible the creation of artificial flowers that are virtually indistinguishable from the real deal. These products would be a good alternative to use for less conspicuous displays. Although real flowers can be preserved to last to up to a week, it would probably best and less expensive to use them only on the wedding bouquets and garlands.
Pick the Blooms in Season
Choosing the flower varieties that are in season does not only assure an abundance of supplies; it is also a good way to slash your expenses because the flowers that are currently in season are sold in cheaper rates. Opting to have your wedding in the summer gives you the most abundant and stunning array of flower varieties to choose from. Some of the most popular ones that are used in wedding decoration are Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Calla Lilies, Jasmines, and Daisies.
Resource Box:
Amy C. is a writer and blogger who takes special interest in wedding preparations and arrangements. When she is not writing about wedding plans and schemes, she performs administrative work and blogging activities for Greyside Group, a maritime security and executive protection company. Watch out for her next post for more wedding ideas.
There are so many important things to think about when planning for your wedding day - a venue, outfits, a colour scheme, what sort of food to serve, what music to play music, table settings, decorations, flowers and so much more that it can all become totally overwhelming rather quickly. Here is a short guide to help with selecting one of the very important features of your special day - your wedding favors.
Wedding favors are one of the things that many couples often leave to the last possible moment, believing them to be not as important as many other larger elements of the wedding day. While this is essentially true there are other factors which are far more important such as the venue, it is finishing touches like your wedding favors that will add to the overall quality and yorur guests’ impression of the day and thus reflect upon you as a couple.
Wedding trivia boxes are a classic wedding favor and are shown in the photo above.
Your wedding favors should be good quality and should also match with the colour scheme which you have chosen for your wedding. UK Wedding Favors is an excellent online company which specializes in wedding favors and has done for over 15 years, making them well qualified to assist you with making choices and picking favors for your wedding day. Their website is very user friendly and allows you to personalise your wedding favors if you so desire.
It is important to think of your guests when choosing wedding favors. Do you wish to have unisex gifts that both male and female guests would like or do you wish to have separate gifts for the sexes? Do you wish to have special wedding favors for the children present at your wedding?
An example of a Children’s wedding favor, featuring Disney characters.
Having special wedding favors for any children who will be attending your ceremony is a very thoughtful touch, and shows you have really thought about your guests. Special wedding favors for children could be some delicious sweets, which they are sure to love or perhaps a small toy as a gift which will keep them amused and take their mind off what is sure to be a long day for them.
Personalized wedding favors are another great idea as again this shows your attention to detail and serves to further improve the quality of your day. Personalised favors could be anything from ribbons with your married names and the date of your wedding day tied around other gifts or gifts which mean something special to you as a couple and have your names printed on them which you wish to share with your guests.
Good quality wedding favors can be that added final touch which sets off your special day, the biggest day of your life. In order to make this as easy as possible make sure you get exactly what colours, finish and quality you want. The wedding favors you choose will leave a lasting impression on your guests and you will be able to enjoy your day more fully if you know everything has been taken care of in advance.
This article was written by Emma Gray, to read more articles from Emma visit her travel blog, Emma’s Travel Tales.
We had the pleasure of chatting recently with Jamie Dickey, a bride of ours from October 2011. It was an amazing wedding with so much romance and emotions! We couldn’t help but marvel at just how much Jamie had accomplished in such a short time! She let us record some of our conversation to share with you in this video!
We look forward to each and every wedding with great excitement. But there was something about Molly and Jimmy’s wedding which we were especially excited about. Maybe it was just the couple or maybe it was their tremendous enthusiasm for working with us that had us all worked up. To paraphrase Bill Murray from “Ghostbusters”: their wedding came, it saw and it kicked butt.
The best part wasn’t the gorgeous photographs, the best part wasn’t the reveal with Molly and Jimmy, it wasn’t the all-out fun and celebration that was their reception. The best part was the joy, humor, love and friendship that was everywhere at this wedding!
Doing the premiere showing at our studio for Molly and Jimmy a couple of weeks after the wedding was as much fun as the wedding day itself. “This is the best part of the entire thing!” Molly said after seeing all of her images huge across our 106-inch viewing screen at our studio. The laughter, ooohs and ahhhs were constant as they viewing their wedding volume first draft and the more than 600 image selections for the very first time. I love how being there with the couple the first time they see their images is a wonderful look into their experience and what they were feeling during those moments of the wedding day.
“I wanted to kiss you soooo bad!” Jimmy confessed to his new wife after seeing the images of their reveal in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Kansas City, Mo.
The Elmores are good friends and neighbors of Chris Cummins’ sister. Like a lot of families these days, the Elmores have had many portraits done at a lot of places.
When we first talked with Sara, the family’s mom, about their family portraits, she expressed her anxiety over how her kids may act and tolerate having their portraits made. It’s not uncommon for moms, when first talking with us, to express to us their fears about how difficult their children may be during a portrait session. They’re convinced their kids won’t behave, they won’t sit still and will be a total test for our patience and skills. Sometimes the kids are a challenge, but much more often than not we find ways to help the kids become excited and willing participant in the photography. A little psychology and genuine fun is all that is needed. Often it is as simple as letting the kids be themselves and not feel overly managed, posed and guided. Kids know instantly if something doesn’t feel genuine and they hate it. Expecially when they are being told to not be genuine.
Above all we are patient and kind with children. This is one of our unique factors that we know separate us from the usual photography studio. In the end, Max and Sydney were angels and a dream to work with. (This is usually the case!)
It cracks me up how our clients and us develop the spontaneous nicknames for the images we are looking at during the viewing and ordering sessions. Regardless if it is a wedding, family, senior or baby portraits, certain images earn certain names. There’s an image called “marilyn monroe,” “grandma’s,” “gangsta,” etc. It really is funny! In the case of the Elmores, the youngest, Max, gave us his “blue steel” expression. You’ll see it below!
Apart from the divine wedding dress and the lavish decors, flowers are a very essential part of every wedding. They adorn every corner of the venue and even serve as centerpieces for the tables. The vibrant colors and natural fragrance seem to give weddings the personality and flair that it deserves. Choosing the best flowers, though, can be a very tedious process as there is a wide array of flower varieties to pick from.
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