Tag Archives: BigShotsNow

1000th Post Published !!! Thousands Cheered

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BigShotsNow the Blog publishes its 1000th post!

Back on March 19 2013 The blog “BigShotsNow.com” published its first ever post titled http://www.bigshotsnow.com/how-this-is-going-to-work/  .  In it I explained how all this was going to work and with it I posted a smoke filled image of a Canada goose standing on a rock. It was the beginning of a love/hate relationship with the keyboard, the monitor, and my creative side. Now, approximately six years later here is the 1000th post, the result of fulfilling a long time goal of posting my favorite images with accompanying stories to amaze you, excite you, or stupefy you depending on how you received each post.

Prior to beginning the blog I had never written anything remotely readable (and some argue I still haven’t) and as it was painfully obvious, it showed. But did I let that bother me? Or even Stop me? Uhmm No, It Didn’t. I thought in my ignorance that my photography would carry me until I learned how to put more than three words together in a recognizable sentence. I’ve been a photographer for over sixty plus years, I have learned a few things about that side of the mix. And after all who was going to see the thing anyway. The internet was just a vague concept with so much in it no one would ever find my tiny literary attempt. But to my amazement some did and as of last count there are now readers regularly visiting the blog from over 200 countries. Thank you readers. Your support has enabled me to keep this up when many times I had given up hope.

One of the questions I get is “How do you come up with all the different stories you tell?” Well Virginia, the answer is I have many, many photographs in my portfolio, over a million. And when I get ready to write a post I go through them until one stands out and if a title appears in my mind I have the story already created and I simply type it out. I know, it’s weird but that’s how it works. No title, no story. That’s why so many of the stories have strange and crazy names. Poke around in the archives and you’ll see what I mean.

The stories have ranged from animal encounters, people encounters, and my incredible good fortune in being able to work with and photograph many of the Plains tribes in the West, has produced an amazing journey. Travel adventures are another subject explored at length, but my favorite all around subject ever, has been my association with the extraordinary, shadowy, surreal and not quite real connection with The Institute.

The Institute. It’s hard to say the name of that august body without my chest swelling up with pride and getting a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. The more you personally learn about the workings of The Institute the more your stomach may swell up and you’ll get a funny feeling in your chest too. I could literally write a book about the effects The Institute has had on Science, the Government, The Director, that shadowy hidden figure whose name can never be mentioned but whose initials are Dwight Lutsey. Their good deeds could fill a small spiral bound notebook, even maybe another half of one and still you wouldn’t know the entire story. I don’t either and I’m the one making it up. If you must know more about The Institute, and you know you do, simply click on this link, http://www.bigshotsnow.com/the-institute/ . Or go to the home page and click on the Tab labeled The Institute. Then be prepared to be amazed, astounded and did I mention amazed, because I’m running out of descriptive words here, so just do it. You’ll be glad you did.

This is just a small effort on my part to try and express my genuine thanks to those of you who continue to read my blog, and as I have noticed that some of you have fallen asleep I will cut this short and simply say Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Three thanks you’s in some cultures means roughly three times the thanks so you know, thanks again. Rest assured that BigShotsNow the blog will continue to produce and post less than stellar attempts with occasional moments of grandeur for as long as I can see the keyboard and remember what I’m supposed to write about. Until then, Seeya in the Funny papers and oh yeah, Thank you.

Dwight Lutsey

Re-Subscribe to the Blog !!!

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ANNOUNCEMENT ! ! !

The last time I updated my site BigShotsNow there was a problem with the updating process and my entire subscriber list was deleted and can not be restored using the usual methods available to human beings on Planet Earth.

So if you were and or are a subscriber and have wondered why you haven’t been notified of any new posts lately that’s why. Your email address we had on our subscribers list was disappeared by some quirk of technological evil. Let me reassure you that your email or any information we had from you or about you was never revealed or hacked it was just deleted.

Anyway we want you back. I mean what’s the point of writing this stuff if you’re not going to see it, right? So if you’ve been missing the excitement and joy of all those fun-filled posts that make you want to wiggle in place when you read them, RE-SUBSCRIBE. Don’t delay. Don’t prevaricate. Don’t wait for your young and no doubt more technological than you, kid to do it for you. Just do it. It’s easy. There’s more goodies coming up, Images and stories of Powwows, Rendezvous, Reenactments, Rodeos, along with other neat photography of peoples, places and things, some of which will make you say “Holy Moley” or whatever phrase you use when you are really astounded.

To re-subscribe simply go to the BIgShotsNow home page and enter your email address into the Subscription box on the right hand-side of the page and then click on the subscribe button right below it. As quick as you can say “This is really a pain in the…” you will receive a follow-up email asking you to confirm your email and when you click on the link in the body of the message you will be re-subscribed to the Worlds Best and Only blog that features excellent photography, strange and sometimes true stories to accompany them and best of all you will be doing something really great for the environment. I’m not sure what but its got to be good. There is a very small chance it may reduce Global Warming. Not scientifically proven but it might, its worth a shot.

Some of you will be receiving emails from us (those that I can remember who were actual subscribers and not one of those phony almost subscribers that lurk around the edges looking shady) that basically restate what I just said. If so now you know why.

Again Please, as in Hey I mean it, Please re-subscribe. Life is too short to miss BigShotsNow the blog. Be good to yourself.

Dancing With The Bulls

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A lot of folks who live on either coast think that entertainment and the civilization to appreciate it only exists on either coast. Of course they live on either coast and tend to forget or not even realize that there is an entire country between those two coasts. A big country filled with people who occupy that entire space here in the middle of America and are just as sophisticated and worldly as any stuck-up but arrogant, think they’re cooler than us, coastie.

Take TV for instance. Sure most of the shows we see here in the hinterland are produced on one coast or another but did you ever stop to think where the ideas for those shows come from. Like “Dancing With The Stars” for example, that’s the show where famous couples perform various dances in front of America ,whether either of them knows how to dance or not, and are judged by a panel of people who decide just how good or bad those dancers are because we’re not smart enough to figure it out for ourselves, and we’re supposed to like it. They wear fancy clothes you’d  never go to Wal-Mart in, and prance around doing dances we never even heard of. If you danced like that down at Tony’s Ball room and Beer Bonanza you’d get asked to leave pretty damn quick.

Now smart as those tv show producers want us to think they are we have it on good authority that they don’t think up those shows their ownselves. Nope they get ideas from us out here in the flyover zone and want us to believe it is original thought on their part.

What you see in the photo above is a prime example of what we mean. It’s a show put on by us locals here in the western part of the US and it features a talented bunch of individuals that really know how to dance. The show is called “Dancing With The Bulls” and has been in production for a long time, way before TV was even invented in fact. We’re the real deal here, no kidding around. This dancing couple was just introduced during the show’s performance. Never having met before this show, they didn’t have weeks of rehearsals and practice. They simply walked out on the dance floor and got it on, so to speak. All of the choreography and costuming is done by the contestants themselves and their routines include a lot of free form interpretation of the music. The more spirited the performance the higher the marks.

The bull, named “GonnaKillYa” out of Hereford Texas, wearing a fashionable number 8 hand-twisted hemp belly rope, and the Rodeo Clown who wants to remain anonymous as he has some outstanding warrants, so we’ll just call him “Hey! Look Out!” are performing a never before seen performance to “Can’t Get No” by the Stones. The bull is pulling down some high numbers with his ability to twist and turn and shake it up baby with all 2000 lbs. of his tightly packed unground round in motion, and his ability to put his cloven hoof down exactly where he wants it usually pretty close to the Rodeo Clown’s head. The Rodeo Clown is no slouch either throwing in his version of The Twist made popular by Chubby Checker and The Fat Boys. This couple shows promise and is in the running to win this weeks contest so they can appear again next week and win big prizes. Buckles for the cowboy, new feed bag for the bull, a lifetime supply of frybread. We’re talking big money here.

But the important thing here is the fact that its us out here in middle America, the real folks that make up the bulk of our great country, we are the ones who are the creative bunch, who have the ideas and skill to bring entertainment to everyone. We’re the ones out here Dancing With The Bulls. The ones getting our ideas ripped off. And don’t even get me started on how they robbed us of our epic saga of older women in nursing homes called Game of Crones….

A Screech In The Dark

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Deep in a grove of ancient massive cottonwood trees the sun has gone down turning what was earlier a bright sun filled space into one now filled with shadows and looming arboreal giants standing quietly, their enormous branches arching overhead like giant arms covered with the newly minted leaves of spring.

There was a slight breeze earlier but now all is still. Silence has settled over the grove and the slightest sound, from the rustling of a vole in the leaf strewn floor, to the footsteps of those who have come here to observe one of natures small miracles are magnified. The miracle everyone wants to see is a small puff of feathers slightly larger than a softball called an Eastern Screech owl and she and her mate have chosen a small opening in one of the cottonwoods to nest and raise her four owlets.

The owlets are now large enough that they seem to fill the cavity within the tree to its maximum allowance of owls. They spend most of their time peering out of the opening in the massive tree limb, small little heads still covered with the light downy feathers of the very young, bobbing up and down, side to side, rotating in a circle, trying to make sense of what they see outside of the confines of the only home they’ve known.

Suddenly there is a call, a small sound that has been likened to a soft tremolo and a whinny, not the grating fingernails on the blackboard sound that comes to mind hearing it described as a screech. It is a beautiful, delicate sound that hangs in the air for a heartbeat after being uttered. Then another and another, the female perched on a nearby branch calling and coaxing, trying to get the remaining owlets to leave the nest.

Of the four owlets, two are much larger than their siblings due to something called asynchronous hatching which roughly means the eggs are laid a day or so apart maybe longer, causing the first born to have more food, grow bigger and leave the nest sooner, which is what the first two owlets have done. They haven’t gone far however as the they still need to be fed by the parents until they can fly. They are perched huddled together on a nearby branch still very much a part of the family.

The adults are now spending most of their time outside the nest on nearby branches, calling to the remaining youngsters inside, bringing them the occasional mouse or vole whichever is unlucky enough to be spotted by these silent hunters, coaxing them to leave the nest and venture forth out into the wide new world they’ve come into.

Soon full darkness has overcome the grove and those that have come here to see and enjoy this connection with nature have left, leaving these beautiful creatures to their solitude, their gentle calls still gracing the night.

End of Year Stats For 2017

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Map of the World showing where our Visitors To BigShotsNow – the Blog are

If you’re reading this it is safe to believe you are somewhere in 2018. Congratulations! You too have made it through another year. This is the time of year when we revisit everything, or everything you’re willing to talk about, and consider all that’s befallen you, good, bad, or indifferent over the past year. For many of you that has probably been really good things. Like suddenly becoming ungodly rich, or you got your first puppy, or you’ve been deliriously happy the entire year.

For the rest of us the past year may have been a little more spotty. The year contained a lot more ups and downs. Maybe you found out you were a co-joined twin, or you noticed the license plates on your car have been expired for two and a half years. Not all good luck stuff like the people in the paragraph above. That’s kind of like the experiences we here at The Institute have had.

There have been some colossal swings in our fortunes. As you know if you’re a friend and loyal reader we have gone from owning a small country where we had our world headquarters of The Institute to relocating our entire operation to a small but well kept refrigerator box under the North College St. Bridge, here in Fort Collins, Colorado. This has taken some adjustment and rethinking on our part as to what our future and goals may be. So far that future is still somewhat cloudy but it’s clear that The Institute still has a major role to play in the world’s future and we shan’t back away from our responsibility.

One of the things we have been surprised and delighted in has been the incredible increase in visitors from around the globe. We have had folks from 108 countries visit us, most of them of their own free will, and what’s even more astonishing is that they have returned for more. Some of them time and time again. It just shows you what a brave place this world we live in is. Being appreciative of their efforts we have attempted to extend to them our gratitude and thanks by saying Happy New Year in their very own language.

Below is a list of the afore mentioned countries and our attempt to say Happy New Year! in their language. If we have inadvertently screwed this up, even after our exhausted efforts to get it right, we humbly apologize in the language of your choice. Note: We don’t speak many of these languages so there is the occasional small chance of error, slight but still there. Also to put this entire thing into a more visual representation we have put up an image of the entire world as it’s known so far, with each country we have had visitors from colored in either red, yellow, or black, but not gray. The gray colored countries are ones we haven’t heard from yet. So if you know anybody in a gray country, or even know what that gray country is, send them an email with our link in it and tell them to hurry on over. We miss them.

Ok then, thanks for visiting us and come back when you get the chance. We have big plans, really, really big plans for 2018. Plans for The Institute, plans for getting a new larger refrigerator box, plans to start a cooperative tobacco farm. You’ve noticed the lack of tobacco use lately, we see that as a vacuum in the marketplace and an obvious opportunity to become really rich. Hope your new year is as filled with new experiences as we think, make that know, ours will be. So please find your country below and accept our best wishes for a Happy New Year!

United States – Hey! Happy New Year (Hey! optional)
Canada – Hey! Happy New Year Eh  (Hey!  & Eh optional)
Germany – Frohes neues Jahr
Brazil – Feliz Ano Novo
France – Bonne année
United Kingdom – Happy New Year!
Russia – С Новым Годом
Italy – Felice Anno Nuovo
Australia – Happy New Year mate (mate optional)
India – Nav varsh ka shubkamnayein
Netherlands – Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Poland – Szczęśliwego nowego roku
New Zealand – Happy New Year – Tau Hou oaoa (Maori)
Czech Republic – Šťastný nový rok
Mexico – Feliz Año Nuevo
Serbia – срећна нова година
Ireland – Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh
Austria – Ein glückliches neues Jahr!
Spain – Feliz Año Nuevo
Philippines – Maligayang bagong taon
European Union – Happy New Year !
Slovenia – Srečno Novo Leto
Norway – godt nytt år
South Korea – 행복한 새해 보내세요!  Hang- bok-han sae-hae bo-nae-se-sae-yo!
China – 新年快乐  xīn nián kuài lè
Portugal – Feliz Ano Novo
Japan – 明けましておめでとう
Hungary – Boldog Új Évet
Switzerland – A guatis noiis Joa!
Argentina – Feliz Ano Nuevo!
Malaysia – selamat tahun baru
Thailand – สุขสันต์วันปีใหม่
Belgium – Süleyman Eroglu
Greece – Ευτυχισμένος ο καινούριος χρόνος
Romania – An Nou Fericit
Denmark – Godt nytår
Turkey – Yeni Yılınız Kutlu Olsun
South Africa – Voorspoedige Nuwejaar!
Jersey the Country –  Bonne année or Happy New Year!
Chile – Feliz Año Nuevo in Spanish; glückliches neues Jahr! in German; sretna Nova godina! in Croatian
Indonesia – Selamat Tahun Baru
Nigeria – Barka Da Djiri Barey-Yan
Iceland – Hamingjusamur Nýtt Ár
Finland – Hyvää uuttavuotta !
Taiwan – 新年好 / 新年好 (Xīnnián hǎo); In Mandarin: sshin-nyen haoww; In Cantonese: sen-nin haow
Sweden – Gott Nytt År
Colombia – Feliz Año Nuevo
Uruguay – Feliz Año Nuevo
 Peru – ¡Feliz año nuevo!
Israel – shanah tovah
Croatia – sretna nova godina
Belarus – З Новым годам
Venezuela – Feliz Año Nuevo
Kenya – Nu Muhiga Musha
Singapore – Selamat Tahun Baru (Malay) 新年快乐 xīn nián kuài lè (Mandarin)
Guyana- sirito Kypoton Ra’a
Egypt – kol sana we ento taybeen
Bulgaria – Честита нова година
Guam – Magof Tinilaikan i Sakkan
Morocco – Asuggas Ambarki
Puerto Rico – Feliz Año Nuevo
Ecuador – Feliz Año Nuevo
Kuwait – Kull ‘Aam Wa-Antum Bikhayr
Cyprus – Ευτυχισμένος ο καινούριος χρόνος (greek); Yeni Yılınız Kutlu Olsun (Turkish)
United Arab Emirates –  كل عام و أنت بخير & سنة سعيدة
Costa Rica – ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Saudi Arabia – عام جديد سعيد, لتكن لك إجازة عام جديد سعيدة (تقال وقت بداية سنة جديدة)
Angola – Eteke Lio Bowano, Inilimo Ciwa
Pakistan – نیا سال مبارک Nayasal Mubarak
Ukraine – З новим роком
Malta – Is-Sena T-Tajba
Qatar – Kull ‘Aam Wa-Antum Bikhayr
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Srećna Nova godina!
Georgia – გილოცავთ ახალ წელს
Mauritius – Banane! ( Mauritian Creole)
Nicaragua –  Feliz Año Nuevo
Cambodia – sur s’dey chh’nam t’mey  Khmer: បុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី
Lithuania – su naujais metais
Albania – Gëzuar Vitin e Ri
Algeria –  كل عام و أنت بخير & سنة سعيدة
French Polynesia – Bonne année
French Guiana – Bonne année
Paraguay – Nutan Varshbhinandan (Gujrati ) ¡Feliz año nuevo!
Bolivia – ¡Feliz año nuevo!
North Korea – 새해 복 많이 받으세요
Ethiopia – Enkutatash (Amheric)
Dominican Republic – Feliz Año Nuevo
Vatican City – Felix Annus Novus (Latin); Felice Anno Nuovo (Italian); Bonne année (French)
Guinea – Bonne année
Azerbaijan – Yeni Bayramın Mubarək
Dominica – Feliz Año Nuevo
Curaçao – Bon Ana Nobo
Estonia – Hääd Uut Aastat
Tunisia – No translation, prohibited by Fatwa
Nepal – नयाँ वर्ष सँगै नयाँ र राम्रा कुरा अवश्य सिकिदै गइन्छ नै,
Honduras – Feliz Año Nuevo
Trinidad & Tobago – Bon Ane (Trinidad French Creole) Happy New Year (English)
Guadeloupe – Feliz Año Nuevo
Hong Kong SAR China – 新年快樂 /sen-nin feye-lor (Chinese); sshin-nyen kwhy-ler (Mandarin)
Kazakhstan – Kazakh Жаңа жыл құтты болсын
Lebanon – Mabrook hal sina jdeeda
Macedonia – Среќна Нова Година
Sri Lanka – අලුත් අවුරුද්ද Sinhalese
Bahrain – كل عام و أنت بخير & سنة سعيدة
Armenia – Շնորհավոր Նոր Տարի Shnorhavor Nor Tari
Syria –  عيد ميلاد مجيد وذكرى سنوية سعيد
Tanzania – Mar Higa manyien
Zimbabwe – goredzwa rakanaka Continue reading →

A New Day Dawning

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There’s big, Big, Big news coming concerning *The Institute. We mean huge enormous news. Unfortunately we cannot tell you what it is yet as it is still unfolding. But you’ll be really surprised. Some of you may be upset by it. Others may be happy. You’ll know who you are when we can disclose it.

One thing for sure is that the blog BigShotNews.com will still be alive and well and posting all the news, stories, images and advice that you have come to depend on and for the most part, cannot live without.

That’s all we can say about things right now, but stay tuned, as events unfold you’ll be the first to know. OK then gotta run. Stuff is happening and we’re like busy people right now.

* Note: For those of you unfamiliar with The Institute and what it does, please see the page labeled The Institute on the Menu Bar above. That should explain everything. You shouldn’t have one single question remaining regarding The Institute after reading it. None. For those of you favored few who already know about the Institute, Nevermind. Return to your daily activities. Thank you for your support.