Andy talking photography in DC on Dec 4th 2010

[njperry]

Yes, dufmanno, there were Nutters on the right side of the audience near the front.

[Schmaffy]

I hear through the grapevine that Sally has finally been delivered...can't wait to hear about this one!!!

[luddite lady]

[quote="Schmaffy"]I hear through the grapevine that Sally has finally been delivered...can't wait to hear about this one!!![/quote]

Freakin' fabulous! SQUEE and pee! I can't wait for details either, Schmaff, but I'm gonna have to "Attend" to something first.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Where the hell are those kids? Out having fun instead of home typing on the computer?! Well I never!

Guess we'll all just have to wait till tomorrow, unless someone's playing text mule and I've missed it somehow...

[conroy]

Recorded the audio on my new sansa clip and here it is: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TWL2SLVE . I found Andy to be great but found Mark Zellegar (sp?) the guy who interviewed him to be tedious. He kept talking over Andy and attempting to answer Andy's questions for him. He kept laughing at his own jokes that I thought weren't really funny and I also found his laugh annoying. There was definitely a fascist, holier-than-thou air about the event. This is solely from the National Geographic people not Andy. They were rushing us out of the building while we were waiting for folks to come out of bathroom and they also rushed off the grounds outside the building as I was trying to give bella and her awesome mom directions to the Metro. They basically herded us in and out like cattle. So, my feelings for the National Geographic folks is not very high right now and I will think twice before ever attending a function there again or even going to see any exhibits there at all.

Anyway, the best part of the evening was hanging with the nutters. And Sam is absolutely adorable.

[dufmanno]

Yeah, Mark Seliger is a great photographer but probably not the best guy to have a sit down chat with. I thought his introduction (after the first guy who got the name of Andy's book wrong) was choppy and off kilter.
Andy did a great job though.

[bella]

First of all. Sorry, Jean, about your car accident. I think I saw the oysterhead avatar and immediately thought of Betsy.

Second, what a great night. It was so good to see some nutter friends, and to meet and hold that rock star rebel of a baby, Sam.

My Mom and I had quite the adventure taking the metro into the city. Then, we had a kodak moment in front of the White House after realizing it was only a few blocks away. It was COLD out there. So, we were happy when we entered the warmth of PJ Clarks only to be instantly greeted by LTwoman and her husband's "stand-in", Susan. =) Then the gang all started filing in and it was like a family reunion (one in which you actually LIKE your family, that is.)

Conroy picked a great restaurant in PJ's. Dinner was great and then we headed back out into the cold a few blocks to the National Geographic building and the main event!

First things first. Are the nutters full of luck or what? The event was nearly full and still one of our own, Mrs Supercat, won the signed copy of Andy's newest photo book, Desirer Walks the Street. Amazing.

Aside from the misfortune of missing the majority of Andy's talk, I think NJperry should be proud that his son is starting so young being rockin' and rowdy and getting kicked out of a venue. I mean, rock stars work for years to get to that level so he's way ahead of the game and well on his way to world domination. =)

Andy was introduced by Mark Seliger who, though he might be a great photographer himself, he needs to do a run through of his intros next time. Kinda rough.

So, then the door opens at the side of the stage (of course, opposite of where we nutters were sitting, which is probably a good thing for this crowd) and Andy instantly strikes a pose in the doorway. Is there any question that this man is full of charm? He seemed completely natural up there as he went through a presentation of about 50 slides he'd put together from his book. Stewart wasn't kidding when he said "Andy Summers will be rocking when Sting and I are long rotting in our graves". He really has been everywhere and seen everything and has the amazing photos to prove it. And best of all he's still a lover of the film camera. Bless him.

After Andy's slide presentation, Mark Seliger came back out and spoke with Andy a bit and then opened the floor to questions. Hopefully someone else has a better memory of the questions asked because I don't. I had a few questions of my own, but was too chicken to raise my hand. I wanted to know if he had his own darkroom!! Because let me tell ya. I would if I were him! Luckily someone else asked if he processed his own photos and he said he used to but doesn't have the time anymore, so he works with the people that do the processing and can tell them any dodging or burning he wants. Must be nice. =)

Someone asked a rather silly question of Andy, wanting him to list his three favorite photos he'd taken while with The Police. Andy looked out with a straight face and said something to the effect of, how will anyone know which pictures I'm talking about if I just say it? They aren't here to show. And then what else did he say? Someone remind me. He started counting off on his fingers "the one with Sting, the one with Stewart and the one with me", or something like that? Needless to say, it got a big laugh.

It was funny to me that we were told no photographs during the event, yet Andy talked several times about the need of being stealth with his camera. So, taking that as my cue, I snapped off a couple pictures as the talk was coming to a close. Even Mark Seliger took a stealth picture of Andy as he (Andy) told the one official photog there not to take his picture from the angle he was sitting, which was right below Andy in the front row. =) So, when I get a chance, I'll post those stealthy pics, blurry as they are.

There was no meet and greet after the event, and we quickly got shooed out of the building and even out of the courtyard out in front of the building!

Then, we all walked back down the street, stopped at a corner and said our goodbyes and each little group went off in their own directions. I miss you already.

I think it was a little after 9pm and Mom and I just had to walk a few blocks back to the metro station. I figured we were ahead of the game since we got out of there at a decent hour. That was until about half hour/45 minutes later while on the metro Mom noticed that the stop we were at was not one we had stopped at on our way into the city. D'OH! We were on the orange line instead of the blue line and heading west instead of south! We looked at the map on the train wall and a nice couple pointed out we only had to go two stops back to catch the correct train and we thanked then and immediately got off at the next stop. Did I mention this train was standing room only? It was full of red Capitols jerseys. We never did find out if they won. It was a quiet train, so I'm thinking that's a negative.

So, we finally made our way to the correct track, find our train and make it back to the car for the further 3 hour ride home, placing our tired noggin's on our pillows at 2:20 this morning. Not a bad day, I'd say.

Love to all!! I'll have pictures up as soon as I can. =)

[bella]

Yeah, Mark Seliger is a great photographer but probably not the best guy to have a sit down chat with. I thought his introduction (after the first guy who got the name of Andy's book wrong) was choppy and off kilter.
Andy did a great job though.

So glad you could make it!! Wish we could have met you, but hopefully there will be a next time. =)

[Maud138]

Thanks for the report, Bella. I'm glad you had a great time. It's always so Nice to meet nutters!

[bella]

Recorded the audio on my new sansa clip and here it is: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TWL2SLVE . I found Andy to be great but found Mark Zellegar (sp?) the guy who interviewed him to be tedious. He kept talking over Andy and attempting to answer Andy's questions for him. He kept laughing at his own jokes that I thought weren't really funny and I also found his laugh annoying. There was definitely a fascist, holier-than-thou air about the event. This is solely from the National Geographic people not Andy. They were rushing us out of the building while we were waiting for folks to come out of bathroom and they also rushed off the grounds outside the building as I was trying to give bella and her awesome mom directions to the Metro. They basically herded us in and out like cattle. So, my feelings for the National Geographic folks is not very high right now and I will think twice before ever attending a function there again or even going to see any exhibits there at all.

Anyway, the best part of the evening was hanging with the nutters. And Sam is absolutely adorable.

Oh wow, Conroy. You are on top of things! I'm still at my parents, but will definitely download this when I get home.

You could not be more right about Seliger. I think he should have just gone straight to facilitating audience questions as his were a bit pretentious. And for being a rock photographer, as I read on his wiki page, he seemed kind of clueless about Andy's history.

Yes, here's Conroy trying to get Mom and I to the metro and what did that guard say, "You all can get in your cars now" or something like that? ha.

Oh, and Con, you weren't kidding about getting back to 95 from the metro station. If we weren't paying attention, thanks to your direction, who knows where we'd have ended up. =)

[bella]

Thanks for the report, Bella. I'm glad you had a great time. It's always so Nice to meet nutters!

It certainly is, Maud. =)

[moonstone]

Thanks for the reports guys.

I'm glad you managed to have a good time despite the fact that the event organisers obviously need to get over themselves. What a shame they felt the need to herd people off the premises so quickly, and, that they were so mean to baby Sam and Nick.

It'll be a great story to tell him when he's bigger though. The baby that was considered too loud for a rockstar!

I'm looking forward to seeing all your pictures and hearing from Laura about the trip. I have a feeling she's off-line this weekend.

Wish I'd been there.

[smudge]

So glad you all got together and that Mr Summers was on form, even if the venue wasn't.

Really sorry to hear that the NG environment was so yucky and that you all got herded out of there. Sounds like they regard people in general as an inconvenience and small people doubly so - a poor attitude. They're numpties.

[ltwoman]

I'm looking forward to seeing all your pictures and hearing from Laura about the trip. I have a feeling she's off-line this weekend.

Wish I'd been there.

Off line is exactly where I've been since I left DC this morning: sitting on the side of the tracks outside of Sandston, Virginia while they repaired "broken" track (what does that mean?) 10 miles east. So now I know what "sidetracked" means, literally! And then we went back in queue because we were not the most behind schedule. And I was just beginning to get depressed about going home and back to the "routine" after such a fantastic weekend When that happened! Be careful what you wish for!

I want to offer a personal apology to Moonstone who sent me with an important hello to all the Nutters; I was so GAGA at the sheer SQUEEE of the moment that I completely forgot to give you her HOWDY from the IW!

And I think we will all be talking about Sam for years to come. He stole our show and I think somehow that we will all look back and say "we knew he had this in him. Do you remember when...?"

Dufmanno, I'm particulary sorry we didn't get to meet you. To all those I did meet : WWWWOOOOOOO! OMG!

I do have some pictures to download and upload later. I think they are okay.

Now, what was I doing before Stewart Copeland entered my life? Later, friends!

[bella]

Here are some pictures of yesterday. =) http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgbella/se ... 534306436/


LT, it was great to meet, you. And don't worry, I'm sure we all understand how easy it is to forget our objectives once we all get together. =)