Various (but not sundry) updates

cat in doorway, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

This is from a new set from 1998. Kind of the finale to my first photography class.

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I started this post as I sat watching the Longhorns basketball team play terribly against the Aggies. It wass a couple seconds before halftime and the Aggies had 16 teeam fouls. Their coach was wearing a smug-ass grin on his face all game when he complained about the calls, as if he knows the refs know he told his team to "make them blow the whistle."

Then a back-up forward for the Aggies fouled out ... before the half. And they still managed to win. Bah.

But in a strange coincidence, I found myself only an hour or two later at midnight basketball, where I was matched up against, of all people, Ramonce Taylor, also known as the kick returner for the Texas Longhorns. He's from Temple.

Let me tell you, when you see a true athlete in person, it is evident. Ramonce was barely scraping 5'11", yet this Division I football player dropped a three on me from NBA range, threw down soaring one-handed alley-oops effortlessly, and once stole the ball from me, ran down court, and windmilled it home — and by that point, I wasn't even surprised. (I did manage to break up and alley-oop, grab a couple steals, and hit a three of my own, so some of my dignity remained.) Seemed like a nice guy, too. Plus he had a pretty sweet gold grill.

In other news, I called the woman from the Boston Globe. She did not, unfortunately, beg me to be their next summer intern. That would have been a little too perfect. Instead, she recommended some Web sites to look at and offered to help me put together a portfolio. Then she'd introduce me to a contact she has at the Dallas Morning-News.

So now I need your help. The next time you need to procrastinate, please visit Flickr and tell me which of my photos really stand out to you. If you've already signed up for a free membership, this is really easy. Next to every photo is a little button that says "Add to Favorites." Just give it a click. If you don't have an account, they take about 30 seconds to set up. Or you can leave comments here or e-mail me. I would greatly appreciate it, as I need to whittle my stuff down to a top 40 by next week, and I've probably got plenty of sentimental attachments to certain images.

Well, seems like I had more stuff to update you on, but I can only remember three things.

First, my friend Chris's band, Golden Bear, for whom I've done some photography, released self-recorded CD back in November. You should go to their site and download all 11 songs. They've been burning up my iTunes lately, even though I understand this is only a semi-polished cut — sounds good to me. But if you only download one song, get the title track, "Golden Bear," for realz.

Second, more details became available about the Marine from Temple who was killed in Iraq. If you're interested, I'm posting the story at the end of the post since I don't think blogger can put things below folds.

Thirdly, if you've ever wondered what there is to do on a weekend in Temple, Danny pretty much nails it. There's some funny art that accompanies that link.

Oh, one thing I just remembered: Justin pointed out to me that Sydmil Harris, long-distance shooter and Norwegian, has a blog. It's actually pretty damn funny. He writes poems and professes his love for Quantum Leap and Star Trek: The Next Generation, so you know Kriston just followed that link.

Okay, late too bed, as always, forever and ever.

By MATT WRIGHT
Lance Cpl. Louis Qualls, the 20-year-old Marine from Temple who was
killed in Iraq in November, died risking his life to save his convoy,
according to an after-action report released by his company.

The report is based on eyewit-ness accounts of the events leading to
Qualls's death and recommends him for posthu-mous awards for valor in
the protection of his convoy.

According to the report, on Nov. 16 of last year, Qualls was assigned
as one of three drivers of seven-ton trucks accompanying a convoy in
support of Operation Phantom Fury, which rooted out insurgents in the
city of Fallujah.

Qualls's platoon consisted of 22 Marines and 37 members of the Iraqi
National Guard and was twice pinned down by insurgent fire after
dismounting at staging points. The insurgents directed their attacks
toward the vehicles, shooting out tires and causing other damage
trying to dismantle the convoy.

The report says that during the second attack, Qualls recog-nized the
need to clear an enemy position and risked his life to cross the
street to engage the insurgents.

Louis's father Gary Qualls, who spoke to members of his son's company,
said that Louis saw two insurgents loading a rocket-propelled grenade
as they entered a house on the opposite side of the road.

Qualls risked his life to cross the street and enter the home, where
he killed one insurgent and flushed the other out, his father said.

"(Louis) had gotten up (from under cover) and run across the road, and
went into one of the buildings and took 'em on," his father said.

As the enemy fighter fled the house with Qualls in pursuit, the report
says the insurgent fired his weapon over his shoulder, striking Qualls
in the head and killing him instantly.

"The guy was trying to get away," Gary Qualls added.

According to the report, Ma-rines and Iraqi National Guardsmen in the
convoy then opened fire, killing the insurgent after he had been
flushed out into the open street.

From a proximity of less than 20 meters, the enemy fighter's RPG would
have cause "devastation and mass casualties to the convoy," the
report says. "Without a doubt, Lance Corporal Louis W. Qualls's brave
actions, initiative and disregard for his personal safety saved the
lives of many Marines and ING soldiers."

Qualls's father has placed a copy of the report and a photo-graph of
his son in a display case at the Temple Post Office, 401 North Main
St.

Gary Qualls has also set up the Qualls Memorial Award, which will help
Marines and soldiers who have just completed basic training get on
their feet by providing modest financial assistance. The program is
run through the Temple High School ROTC program and donations may be
made addressed to: Temple High School, Qualls Memorial Award, 415 N.
31st St., Temple, Tx., 76504.

The report gives the single father some solace, even though he was
already proud of his son's service.

"He didn't just catch a stray bullet. He gave his life to save his
friends," he said.

If you've read this far, I'm in your debt.