Gregg Zivney and the competitive athlete... What do they have in common?

Absolutely nothing.

Steve Larsen, 39, accomplished endurance athlete - a world-class mountain biker, road cyclist and triathlete - died suddenly during a training session in the presence of 40 other runners on Wednesday.

"I don't know a fitter human being," fellow triathlete Matt Lieto told the Bend Bulletin.

Larsen's cycling career began in the 1980s. He ran the Ironman World Championships triathlon in Hawaii in October and finished sixth in the Lowe’s XTERRA West Cup at Lake Las Vegas on May 2nd.

Other top ranked athletes who have died suddenly while training: marathon runner Jim Fixx (1984), Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman (1986), former basketball star Pete Maravich (1988), college basketball star Hank Gathers (1990), professional basketball All-Star Reggie Lewis (1993), and Olympic figure skating champion Sergei Grinkov (1995).

Larsen leaves behind his wife, Carrie, of 16 years. He had five children.

Donations to the Steve Larsen Memorial Fund may be made at any Umpqua Bank branch or online at www.worldtri.com.

On the otherhand...

Gregg Zivney, 52, dedicated smoker, very social drinker - who has never exercised a day in his life – is still alive and awoke happily in the presence of a previously enjoyed companion on Wednesday.

“He continues to thrive, despite his bad habits”, says his physician Dr Paul Johnson.

Zivney's smoking habit began in the late 1960s. He was the 1^st arrival at the liquor store on Saturday, May 2^nd.

Other top ranked athletes who have died suddenly while enjoying a smoke and single malt scotch: None.

Zivney has no survivors. He is still alive.

Donations to the Gregg Zivney Bach-nal and Beerfest Fund may be made at any Bend Liquor & Smokes branch.

VOTE!!!

It doesn't help to have a political opinion if you don't express it. If you haven't dropped off your ballot, DO IT NOW.

I know this should be obvious, but, do not mail your ballot... way too late for that. A list of drop-off points are here.

Family Passing...

As I get older, it is inevitable that the velocity of family loss will increase but it doesn't make reality any easier. In the last few weeks and months I have lost 3 members of the family. Each lived their lives on their own terms, for better or worse.

Jim – Uncle. My father's brother. Sailor. Pilot. Engineer. Father of four daughters. Patriarch of this Zivney Clan. He was the center on which our orbit wobbled. A life well spent.

Tabitha - 2^nd cousin. Grand-daughter of Jim. Young. Beautiful. Talented. A collision of promise and excess. A life interrupted.

Howard – Uncle. My mother's brother. Childless. Reclusive. Alone. His doorstep was the outer edge of his universe. A life not lived, at all.

Oh. Jim, on this trip, you're not gonna need that sweater ..

Oh, no... the Olive Garden of photography.

If there is one thing I enjoy more than photography, it's photographers. Regardless of their level of experience, different styles or photographic POV; they share an excitement and passion in what they do.

This morning I ran across an article in the on-line version of the Bend Bulletin. “Franchising family photos. Bend couple is expanding on their boutique portraiture business“ I thought, “cool, a couple of young photographers have dialed-in the process and now they want to offer a franchise”.

Reading farther I realized neither of the owners were photographers . She has experience in marketing. He was a “paper planner” at the Bulletin. OK, well, maybe they are talented hobbyists that made the jump to Pro.

Nope. He is quoted in the article, “We’re not photographers or passionate about photography, but we are passionate about a family-run business”. That's a shocking statement. Suppose a restaurant owner is being interviewed and he states he has no interest in food or wine but always wanted to be a Restaurateur. That tells me the table will look pretty but what about the food?

I'm scrambling here, trying to find a silver lining, Let's try this: Good photographers are notoriously bad business people. Perhaps this couple are great on the business end and they looked long and hard for a good photographer to partner and leverage their strengths. This could work.

Nope, again. Reading the Franchise FAQ. the couple addresses the silly concern franchisees may have about studio experience. And I quote:
“But, I'm not a photographer...
Not to worry, neither is our founder! Remember that with a franchise, you are buying a system. And, our model works quite well for business people with strong marketing, networking and/or sales skills. We'll teach you how to hire, train, and manage photographers (believe it or not, that's the easiest position in the studio to fill).”

That's scary, but in a pinch you could hire part timers that have experience at the DMV...those folks take hundreds of portraits a day and you have the benefit of their advanced people skills. Filling the photographer position will be a piece of cake.

So if you don't have a passion for photography, but you do want to be in the business, here is your opportunity to be the Olive Garden of Studio Photography. Best of luck. No... really.

The article is here.

The franchise FAQ is here.

Karma Kredits tumble..

By most measures I lead a very trouble free existance. House is paid for. No credit card debt. I run my life in a way that is fair to others and myself. I may have earned a few Karma Kredits along the way ...or not.

In the last 2 weeks:
My car was broken into and a couple of expensive items were stolen.

The stock photography company that licenses my pictures notified me that they will be closing their doors Oct 10th.

MER stock decided to take a dip, or rather, plunge into the financial toilet. This hurt. Alot.

And, on the subject of toilets, mine overflowed this morning flooding the bathroom and creeping under the hardwood floor in the hallway.

Did I mention that a seal on the spa heater failed and emptied the tub?

Except for the MER fiasco, all of these are small things. Fixable. Recoverable. An expensive inconvenience, not a life changing tragedy. The lesson here is the danger of comfort and failure to parse the details. Every one of the events could have been avoided weeks, no, months ago if I had been paying attention to the details.

Karma Kredits only work for those events out of your control. Lets hope.

R.I.P. PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter announced today that they will be closing down their PhotoShelter Collection on October 10th. Very sad news. These were great folks with a great idea to support stock photography. Detail here.

Rachel Hulin will continue to blog here.

Reduced prices on the mountain...

Having lived and skied in Bend for the last 14 years, I developed a sore spot for Mt. Bachelor. Poor service and an attitude of disdain for locals has kept me off the mountain for the last 2 years.


from KOHD News:
"For the 08-09 season, unrestricted Adult season passes have been reduced from $929 to $799, while Adult Non-holiday passes, designed for the local rider, have been reduced from $749 to $669 making it the lowest priced adult pass, valid weekends, in 15 years. Most notably, Young Adult (ages 19-23) season passes have been reduced by 50 percent, from $699 to $349. For families, Teen passes are reduced from $399 to $249, and Youth (ages 6-12) reduced from $219 to $149. This pricing replaces and improves upon the previous multi-purchase family discount program, giving every family the opportunity to purchase exactly what they need at the lowest possible price. "

I'm still up in the air about tossing them my dollars. We've heard promises before, but I might.. just might.. give them the benefit of the doubt this season.