Love heals. Cheese helps too.

Annie, the beautiful Golden Retriever shown above, doesn't like peanut butter. Or, more likely, she didn't like me. I could clearly see she would have much rather been anywhere else then sitting on top a small table with big lights pointing at her. Peanut butter is an indispensable tool used to create an enticing target on an accommodating pet owner's face. Usually their dog will happily lick away while I madly snap photograph after photograph. I presented Annie with a small cup of the delectable stuff, expecting her immediate approval. Surprisingly, she disdainfully sniffed it, turned her head away and refused to look at me. (Dogs usually do that when they are mad or irritated.) Momentarily stumped, David and I decided that cheese might be a better choice. Luckily, the shoot was at the Wilde Roast Cafe and the kitchen staff was very accommodating. But Annie was ho-hum about this tasty snack too, unless she had it safely between her teeth. As you can see in David luvs Annie (who also luvs cheese), Annie deigned to look my way as long as David held a piece of cheese in front of my lens. In this shot, our team timing was off and I accidentally captured the cheese in the shot as well. Bingo! A happy accident. I now had another humor image to add to The Smooch! Project Archive.

But there is another story here, a much darker tale. David had mentioned something while we worked together that made me think a little internet research was due. Turns out this beautiful dog is the much-publicized Orphan Annie, found in December 2008 lying on a snowbank along a Western Minnesota road. She had been callously shot twice and left for dead. With the help of the members of the non-profit RAGOM (Retrieve A Golden Of Minnesota) and lots of surgeries at the U of MN Veterinary Hospital, Annie now thrives in David's care. She has undoubtedly seen far too much of the inside of a veterinary hospital in her short life. Many dogs (including Annie, I believe) feel they are at the vet's during a Smooch! shoot. Most dogs lose their anxieties when food is presented. Not Annie. She was clearly not going to be her happy self until she was off that little table and on her way out the door. I told David that Annie was a lucky dog to have ended up with him. He paused, looked quietly at her and said, "I'm the lucky one." I feel lucky too, to have a photo of Annie and David in The Smooch! Project Archive. What a beautiful representation of the well-known adage, 'Love Heals.' Thank you, David, for sharing Orphan Annie with The Smooch! Project.

And what else is happening in The Smooch! Project?

Far too much to state here. It's almost Thanksgiving. Time for everyone to wind down for a bit. Look for lots of details in my next post. Good holidays, everyone!

Endings + New Beginnings

November 2009 may be recalled in the history of The Smooch! Project as the month of endings as well as new beginnings. For example, the Smooch! Ellen gallery has now been removed from public view on the project website (No worries! There are several ideas being reviewed as to their future display.) My Flat Ellen cutout is officially retired. The silly thing sits on my desk, propped up against the wall behind my laptop, peeking over the top of it as I type these words. The photo I chose to include in this post is significant in relationship to Smooch! Ellen. Terry luvs Eric, from the Smooch! Archive category Together: Old Marrieds (21+ years) was collected during the last shoot that included Flat Ellen. It was near the end of the shoot. Like most people who decide to participate in The Smooch! Project, Terry and Eric stumbled over the shoot as they were exploring the Midtown Global Market, where we were located. Obviously, I succeeded in talking them into participating in the project. Terry also decided to smooch my silly Ellen cutout. As we discussed the Smooch! Ellen effort, Terry made an interesting comment. "You mean I might be the last person to smooch Ellen?" she asked, laughing. Since no one else did so after Terry and Eric left, this turned out to be true.

I am now working behind the scenes to interest the Ellen team in supporting The Smooch! Project in some way. Some significant progress has been made but it is important for me to continually remind myself that nothing is ever certain. Even though I and several of my close comrades have great optimism about this effort, there is nothing confirmed to report here. Be certain: Once we have a final answer, it will be posted here and elsewhere. Stay tuned!

Only one more Minnesota Smooch! shoot to go

As another example of endings and beginnings, the last Minnesota Smooch! shoot is coming up on Saturday, Nov 21. Check the calendar at the right for the details. As I've stated several times over the last few months, the entire archive is filled with the beautiful faces of my friends, neighbors, and fellow Twin Citians. We are blessed with an overabundance of Minnesotans in the archive! The time has come to focus our entire attention on getting the project 'out of town' to collect beautiful images elsewhere. (More to come on this in later posts.) If you have a hankering to be included in The Smooch! Project and have not done so already, next Saturday will be your final opportunity. I hope to see you and your loved ones there!

The Smooch! Ellen shoots are over . . . and now the fun begins!

The wild toboggan ride to collect images of silly people smooching a goofy cutout of Ellen Degeneres is almost over: Three solid weeks of M-F, 7am-3pm Smooch! Ellen shoots plus a few weekend shoots through the month of October have been completed. The cutout of Ellen is officially retired. There is still work to be done to prepare the latest collection of photos. The last set of official Smooch! Ellen certificates (each one displaying one of the Ellen photos, the names of the participants and including a personal handwritten message to the star, if provided) are being prepared for shipment to Warner Bros. Studios this week. A final tally will be included in the next post to this blog.

The final full week of Smooch! Ellen shoots were held at a new North Minneapolis coffee shop called 42nd Avenue Station. Of the three Twin Cities locations for weeklong Smooch! Ellen shoots, the one at this small cafe was the most well attended. Sixty people were photographed and a total of 34 Smooch! Ellen pics were gathered, including the one shown above: Crazy Looking Connie luvs Ellen. Connie Beckers normally does not look crazy. Actually, a longtime North Minneapolis artist activist and the Executive Director of the Northside Arts Collective, she was the driving force behind the astonishing number of people who agreed to do a wacky thing: Smooch a cardboard cutout of a television on camera. Remarkable. You'll find out more about Connie soon, as she is going to be the next featured Smooch! Hero in the email to go out in a week. If you are not yet on the mailing list, be sure to sign up via the form at the right so you can keep up with all things Smooch!

No word from the Ellen camp -- yet!

By the end of this week, the fourth and final shipment of official Smooch! Ellen certificates will be on their way to the television star. Not a peep from anyone in California at the moment but we are FAR from done knocking on that door. Plans are afoot. Stay tuned for further developments.

Only two more Minnesota Smooch! shoots remain!

We are winding down the effort to collect any more photographs within our beautiful state of Minnesota. As you'll note in the statistics to the right, we have photographed almost 2,500 people -- all of them Minnesotans! Our focus now turns toward getting the project 'out of town.' Two more public shoots remain, both on Saturdays in November. If you live here in Minnesota, wish to become a part of a historic art effort and haven't yet participated, you and your loved ones have only two more opportunities.

A huge THANK YOU! to all the people who have participated so far. Literally, you have made The Smooch! Project what it is today. Including the latest tally, the archive now includes more than 1,000 images. Still a long way to go in the effort to collect 10,000 images but we have made an incredible start. Your continuing support has been very much appreciated.

The Smooch! Ellen effort: Week 2

We're on a roll! Week two of the Smooch! Ellen photo shoots, held at Maria's Cafe in South Minneapolis, was a resounding success -- despite the fact that I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED (Argghhh!) the photos of my fabulous friends, Jerry and Viva Beck. Luckily, this gracious couple was kind enough to return for a re-take shoot so I could include them in the Smooch! Ellen effort, as evidenced in the photo above: Jerry & Viva luv Ellen. Not only are they FAMOUS much-loved celebrities, they are stalwart and supportive FRIENDS, which counts for so much more in my book. Viva and Jerry been entertaining people with their television antics for more than 18 years via their weekly cable television variety show, Viva & Jerry's Country Music Videos. Online, get a sample of their work by visiting the Minneapolis Television Network website MTN.blip.tv. Be sure to watch them locally on MCN (Metro Cable Network, Channel 6) at 6pm Friday and 11pm Saturday. These two do not know it yet but they are now official Smooch! Project Heroes as a result of all their efforts on behalf of the project. This means you'll be hearing more about them very soon.

Other than accidentally erasing the first set of Viva & Jerry pics, the second week of Smooch! Ellen shoots went very well. There were 56 participants. I am working to complete 28 new official Smooch! Ellen Photo Shoot Certificates to ship off to Warner Bros. Studios. The set should ship this coming Wed. morning. When Ellen gets them, she'll have received 74 of them total, representing 105 stalwart fans (plus a dog who loves peanut butter). For your viewing pleasure, the latest pics have been uploaded to the Smooch! Ellen gallery on the project website.

While at Maria's Cafe, 11 new photos for The Smooch! Project Archive were also collected. They've been uploaded to the project website, where the archive now holds 489 beautiful photos. Click this link to go to the spot within the archive where the latest archive images begin.

Even More Photos Yet To Review

Last Saturday, The Smooch! Project was busy collecting photos at Midtown Global Market. I have not yet had an opp to review, edit, or draw stats from this group, but I can tell you there are several beautiful new Smooch! Archive photos in addition to a whole new set of Smooch! Ellen pics. Her fans are everywhere! More details to come on this collection of images soon.

One humorous story to share about this shoot. I was unloading the equipment at the market. It was 7:30am and it was still dark. I had parked in the Midtown Global Market loading dock, near the dumpster and by some bushes. I was reaching into the side passenger door to get some gear. When I shut the door, I found a raccoon at my feet, less than 12-inches away, quietly looking up at me with expectant beady eyes. Yikes! I had 50 pounds of equipment hanging from my shoulders. No way I was going to suddenly leap backwards, even if the wish had occurred to me. Instead, I did a silly thing that I always do when I get suddenly frightened. I say in loud accusatory tone, "You scared me!" Yes, weird, I know, but it is a reflexive response and it will likely be a long, long time before I am mindfully skilled enough to change it. Anyways, that's what I said and the raccoon (which was thankfully not one of those great big ones, just the size of a large cat) simply blinked at me in disappointment, wiggled its sharp little nose and crawled back under the car on its way (hopefully) back to where it came from. It was not frightened by me or my reaction. I got the impression the animal was wondering if I had a gift of food to offer. Market grocery vendors unload their produce at the dock and I imagine some of them probably toss food to any raccoon bold enough to step into view. The dumpster, I am sure, also holds plenty of food attractive to these animals. As I clearly did not have what it was looking for, I was no longer of interest. Totally fine by me!

Smooch! Ellen: Now in North Minneapolis

This morning, the next week-long Smooch! Ellen shoot was installed in the new 42nd Avenue Station, a coffee and deli operated by two "locals" born and raised in North Minneapolis. Eat in or take out, you'll find delectable soups, sandwiches, desserts, gourmet coffees, tea and smoothies. Park on the street or in the lot behind the restaurant. Check the calendar at the right for address details. The first day went very well. I expect to collect many new photos for both the Smooch! Ellen collection, as well as the classic Smooch! Archive.

We're Goin' to the Dogs on Saturday!

Got a pet you'd like to smooch? All well-behaved pets and their humans are welcome at the Wilde Roast Cafe this coming Saturday, Oct 24. The shoot will run from 11am to 7pm. Address details can be found in the calendar at the right. Hope to see you there!

The Smooch! Ellen effort: Week 1

Wow! We just completed the first week in the four-week run of back-to-back Smooch! Ellen photo shoots. (For more info on what the Smooch! Ellen photo shoots are and why I am doing them, please see the Sept.30 entry below.) It was completely hilarious. Fifty people walked into the shoot at Day by Day Cafe and happily demonstrated their affection for Ellen. Among them was young superstar (in my humble opinion) mom Leah with three (count 'em!) two-year-old sons, shown above. The title of this photo is Leah (with Cole, Tanner and Parker) luvs Ellen. Leah was also accompanied by her sister-in-law Katie, who brought her own daughter, 16-month-old Myah.

This group of six people were majorly-committed Ellen fans. They told me they had driven in from Wisconsin just to participate in the Smooch! Ellen photo shoot. Even the kids were pumped. One of them spied my silly flat Ellen cutout lying on a table, grabbed it, threw it on the carpeted floor and then threw himself on top of it to smooch its face over and over. Within seconds, all three triplets were on the floor on top of the cutout, smooching away. It took some effort to get it away from them.

This particular shoot was challenging for obvious reasons. But the situation was compounded by the fact that another young mother shortly arrived with HER twin two-year-olds. It was Wednesday. I was halfway through the week-long shoot. Until that moment, I had not yet photographed any children and here, suddenly, there were six toddlers in the room! We completed the shoots for Leah & Katie and the moms dutifully completed the paperwork I gave them. After a moment of confusion, I made a disconcerting discovery. Turns out the paperwork I had printed for the children was actually another copy of the doc used for the adults. Arghh! A frustrating moment for all involved: tired kids, tired moms, discombobulated photographer. I regret that my admin error added to the confusion -- lesson learned! But we got past that speedbump and managed to capture some extraordinary photos of the two moms with their beautiful children. I think Ellen will be very pleased when she sees them.

What Happens Next with the Smooch! Ellen Effort?

I will be spending the weekend selecting the final Smooch! Ellen photos from each shoot. While at Day by Day Cafe, I collected 32 of them! I'll be creating the official Smooch! Ellen Photo Shoot Certificates, which includes the photo, name and personal message to Ellen from each fan. These will be shipped off to Ellen at Warner Brothers studio on Sunday, for arrival on Tuesday afternoon.

This weekend, I also hope to get The Smooch Project website altered to include the growing collection of Smooch! Ellen photos too. I am not as geeky as I should be to easily take on that task but I'll give it my best shot! Wish me luck and more to come on that.

Next Up: Smooch! Ellen at Maria's Cafe

Everyone who has not yet participated is welcome to come to the weeklong Smooch! Ellen shoot being held at Maria's Cafe in South Minneapolis. A popular Columbian cafe located in the Ancient Trader's Market, this restaurant offers a remarkable fusion of North and South American cuisines. Come for breakfast (most folks rave about the corn pancakes) or lunch. Parking on the street or in the market lot next to the restaurant. See the calendar at the right for location info. The Smooch! Ellen shoot will run from 7am to 3pm Monday through Friday. Please note: On Monday, there will be a two-hour delay as we set up and on Friday, the shoot will end one hour early to break it down again. Hope to see your smiling faces there!

Even More Opps to Get Your Smooch! On

You are also invited for a Saturday Smooch! shoot being held at the locally famous Midtown Global Market, the Twin Cities' premier internationally-themed public market with more than 50 independent locally-owned businesses offering an amazing array of ethnic foods and goods. It's an awesome place. If you've been there before, you know what I'm talking about. If you have never visited this market, you are in for an incredibly vibrant experience. See the calendar at the right for location info. Free parking is available for up to 3 hours in the Midtown Exchange parking ramp on the East sign of the building (10th Avenue, north of Lake Street). Bring your ticket in for validation with purchase. The Smooch! shoot will run from 11am to 7pm on Saturday, Oct. 17. A note to Ellen fans: Yes, my flat Ellen cutout will be in attendance at this shoot and you'll be welcome to demonstrate your affection towards this famous talk show host and comedienne that day.

A Beautiful Day by Day Smooch! Ellen shoot

What fun I am having, holding a Smooch! Ellen photo shoot at Day by Day Cafe. A new Smooch! friend, Josie, heard about it via the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper and pedaled right over. She became the very first participant at this Saint Paul shoot. Way to go, Josie!

This hilarious effort to attract the attention of Ellen Degeneres has already garnered some great additional media coverage so far. Minnesota Public Radio Arts Writer, Marianne Combs, wrote a beautiful story about the project and the Smooch! Ellen effort for the MPR State of the Arts blog. Kathy Berdan, Arts & Entertainment Editor from The St. Paul Pioneer Press is also considering running a longer story later this week, which would be very welcome.

If you live in St. Paul and are an Ellen fan, please be sure to stop by. Tell all your friends. Bring lots of people. The more photos I collect, the better! If you're new to this project, please see the September 30 blog entry below to find out more. Several more opportunities to participate are coming up. Be sure to check the calendar at the right to find the Smooch! Ellen shoot most convenient to you.

Smoochy Pets Are Welcome at Wilde Roast Cafe

Just lined up a couple of pet-friendly Smooch! shoots at the beautiful Wilde Roast Cafe. See the calendar for details. And, yes, in case you are wondering, my funny flat Ellen cutout will be in attendance as well, ready and waiting for her smoochy fans.

Tattoos plus Ellen Degeneres: An Amazing Smooch! Project combo

There are two topics -- past and future -- to share with readers of this post, both of which are beautifully combined in the above photo, Laura Lou luvs Ellen.

The Past: A Shoot in an Interesting Setting

A few weeks ago, I held a Smooch! shoot at the Minneapolis Tattoo Arts Convention. Wow. The Smooch! Project really stuck out (no pun intended) in that crowd of decorated and pierced bodies! I was happy to have my trusty multi-shoot volunteer Elena working with me, as I had felt rather intimidated. Frankly, The Smooch! Project was likely the only thing offered at this convention that didn't hurt! But we found lots of smoochers there -- 49 of them, in fact. I also unexpectedly encountered some of the kindest, most generous strangers that I have ever the pleasure of meeting during a shoot. As Elena reminded me, one of the great lessons behind the The Smooch! Project is tolerance: learning how much we share with others, not how much we differ. It was a great lesson for me, as well as a great shoot. I am well pleased with the images I captured. Be sure to take a look. Here's the link to the spot in the archive where the images from the tattoo convention begin.

The Future: Seeking the Attention of a Very Popular Person

For the month of October, The Smooch! Project will be embarking on new terrain. The long term goal is to bring the project to communities throughout the U.S., if not the world. Achieving that will require some seriously committed sponsors. I came up with a hilarious over-the-top effort to attract the attention of someone who I think would be interested in The Smooch! Project and would make a GREAT sponsor: Talk show host and comedienne Ellen Degeneres.

To attract Ellen's attention to the project, I have decided to offer a month's worth of multi-day Smooch! Ellen photo shoots at various locations throughout the Twin Cities area. I tested the idea during the tattoo convention and found more than two dozen Ellen fans who decided to participate and support this effort. For four weeks, from 7am to 3pm, Monday through Friday, Ellen (and Smooch! Project) fans are invited to participate! The calendar is posted on this blog. Like all Smooch! shoots, everyone is welcome. There is no fee. No reservations needed. Photographs are collected on a first come, first served basis.

As the images are collected, they will be posted on the website (to be re-designed to accommodate -- soon!). In addition, there will be official certificates made that display each Smooch! Ellen shot and will include the names of the people in the photo, and a personal handwritten message from the fan. These certificates will be shipped to the popular talk show host at the end of each week.

How hilarious is that?! The more people I manage to photograph smooching this silly cardboard cutout illustration of Ellen, the better! Everyone is welcome. Bring your loved ones. Tell your friends. But please don't bring your pets, as all the Smooch! Ellen shoots will be held in restaurants. Check the calendar on this blog to find out where YOU can show up to participate. Thanks for your support!