Wordless Wednesday - Triumph

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

My Own Wordless Wednesday

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Meditation 101

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Life is short. Shortly after my little Pony 135 camera recorded this moment, this young man was killed by a bar patron, angry about being ejected from a strip club. He had a hand gun. It was late in the day. Was it on the east coast of the US? In DC? Yesterday? This week? It was 1968, Haysville, Kansas. 40 years ago. This has been going on too long.

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Motorcycle Headband

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

It was Melanie’s headband, and she was keeping it. It was given to her on that romantic ride with “Standback” and his motorcycle gang out along the city drainage canal. Melanie’s mother had advised her from childhood to save herself and not fall for the first man that came along; to look around; to play the field; to look deep. Now, at 42 she was very glad she honored her mother’s advice. “Standback” was the perfect match for her. She had thought Eldon Shrough was the perfect match too but he disappeared after only 8 years. And there was Tudie Fence before that and…well that’s another story. Sebert “Standback” Spang, gang leader, was a janitor at a dry cleaning plant by day and by night a watchman for a pet groomer. He barely had time between jobs to change uniforms. There was no rest for the wicked he knew, and boy was he wicked. He had to learn to sleep standing up and he really disliked his uniforms because they covered his BPP* tats. But on Sundays, (and alternate Tuesdays) he and his gang, Pete and Jergen Pheltz, went out along the drainage canal to stir up whatever mischief they could muster. Of course there was never anyone else there and so rolling small stones into the canal was always the worst they could come up with. Once Jergen fell in the canal but was able to get back on the bank without help. No one would have helped him anyway because of the smell. At the end of each frenetic “rave” out on the canal banks the gang vowed to get real motorcycles so they could discontinue renting golf carts every Sunday (and alternate Tuesdays). Melanie met “Standback” at the pet shop one morning just as the night job shift ended. Melanie rattled the door and woke him. That following Sunday (and alternate Tuesday) they rode together along the canal and “Standback” gave her the head band. Of course, it was really a just dog collar unintentionally left at the pet shop by a forgetful St. Bernard. The engraved name “Wrecks” was cleverly hidden with a strip of duct tape. Melanie didn’t care. She was not ever going to take it off. It was hers and she was keeping it. Besides, her hair was caught in the buckle. *Ball Point Pen

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Burton Gravley takes a bow.

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Taking another bow before the standing ovation, Burton thought, "I've fooled them again."

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The Story Behind The Photograph - Fanny advanced the film. Daubert advanced.

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

If Daubert didn’t keep his distance, Fannie planned to break his nose with her 612 film camera. Daubert learned several things that afternoon. Kenworth stayed in behind the screen door because he knew what was coming. Meanwhile, Dad slept with his feet up, completely unaware that the soles of his shoes were being scrutinized by the FBI.

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The Story Behind the photograph - Galveston Beach Swim and Clam Choking Team

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

The mates gathered at the Breakers Beach House to commemorate the second anniversary of the team’s all out effort and defeat twelve years ago to the Simmons City, Iowa, Flute club. It was all Whitley’s idea; at least they blamed him afterward. Whitley (far right) who had been in an herbal tea drinking contest earlier that day, wanted dearly for the photo session to be over. Toodie, (back row, center) whose real name is unknown, is standing on a box. His height is not regarded as a subject for conversation. Beldon (seated, left) had forgotten his bathing trunks and so they cleverly positioned Harmon (front) to disguise that fact. And no one ever mentioned it again. Harmon is related by marriage to Mr. Tobler’s half-sister, Morris. Sam (short for Ezekiel, far left) did not vote in the last election and was usually omitted from these social gatherings and photographs. Although it was only a painted backdrop, Sam (short for Ezekiel, far left) became sea-sick and threw up (far left, far right and center). Also, it was discovered later that he had taken a slash from a bottle of Mr. Tobler’s photo fix bath, mistaking it for Buck-Eye’s Afternoon-Vintage, Blended Sauterne. Easy mistake. Gatley, (seated, right) who was not really part of the team at all, was instead recruited from a nearby pub where he had been engaged in a scavenger hunt. He was quite reluctant to participate until Whitley assured him that he would have to shave only one leg for the photo. Then he was carefully positioned to give Whitley a place to lean. Dismissed after the session, he was seen much later buying a ticket and a box of Milk-Duds at the Vogue Art Theater in Toledo. Mr. Tobler spent his entire fee that day on a new backdrop.

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The Story Behind The Photograph - Vonda the Giant

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Even though Vonda was over eight feet tall she still had no resistance to a winter wind..

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Sign Painter

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

It was a long time ago. I was about 25. In my way, still a teen. I carried my Pony 135 loaded with tri-x pan film wherever I went. I stopped to chat with this gentleman while he painted a banner sign on the side of a delivery truck. He was a customer of the paint store where I worked. And a friend. Looking back now, I realize I learned two things from him. He was an artist, a cartoonist and made a living as a sign painter. He had the undeniable penchant for seeing humor in everything. It wasn’t he didn’t take things seriously, he did. But the events around him always reminded him of an old joke or a cartoon or some material for a new joke or a cartoon. There was no sadness anywhere around him. His cataracts were taking his sight. I learned two important lessons from this man. And I don’t remember his name.

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Crassily Gross from Vostok

Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

It's my post and I'm keeping it.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies