Watermelon cake and cheeseburger and fries cake

Anthony and I stopped at Albertson's tonight, and in the bakery they had a display of goodies themed for Labor Day weekend barbecues.

They had a cake that looked like watermelon, and a cake that looked like a cheeseburger and French fries.  They were pretty awesome!

The cake decorators at Albertson's are pretty darned clever.

Watermelon cake and cheeseburger cake at Albertson's
Now all they need to make is potato salad cake.

Animals are soooo cute!

This week on the TV show we devoted half of each show to the Humane Society for the Speak for Animals Telethon.

I personally have love for the Humane Society because that's where we got Lucky and he's been a wonderful addition to our home.

The Humane Society was successful in reaching their $25,000 goal.  And, they brought kittens, puppies, and even a rat on the set this week.  Wonderful animals that were enjoyed by those of us who work on the show and many of my other co-workers as well.

My camera was working overtime to capture the cuteness.

A kitten finds these eyeglasses fascinating

A cute little rat being held by a show host

Triscuit the puppy

Paprika, a Shepherd mix puppy

This Chihuahua mix goes for an ear lick

April has made a new canine friend

Puppies spark a lot of joy

Puppy, meet J.P.

Down on the floor

All the attention wore these puppies out.
They fell asleep before their time on camera.

Even the Humane Society mascots are cute!

Cake at work (again)

I have a deep appreciation for birthdays at my job.  Because quite often they are celebrated with cake.

Veronica's birthday cake (apparently from Costco)

Veronica cuts her cake after blowing out the candles

A big piece please!

Why chocolate should not be shipped in the summer

I received a package at work today.  A recent show guest sent me a box of Godiva chocolates as a thank you gift.

I opened the package and discovered that prior to delivery they apparently had been in a warm location (probably the cargo area of a UPS or FedEx truck) all day.  The package shipper was FTD.

My first thought was, "I wonder if this is the first time that FTD has shipped anything in the six months we have 100 degree weather in Arizona?"  Based on what kind of shape the contents of this box arrived in, I'm relatively certain they haven't.  FTD primarily ships flowers, so maybe they don't know what to do with something that can actually melt when it's warm.

I took pictures to show you what it looked like.  And, after the little photo shoot, I ate the chocolate in the box with a spoon.  It was the consistency of liquid hot fudge that you pour over ice cream, but it was pretty good

A box of 8 Godiva Belgian chocolates arrives as a gift

I opened the box but had trouble peeling back the dark colored
paper you see lying on top of the chocolates.

One of the 8 pieces of chocolate kind of kept it's cube shape.
The other seven pieces melted.
I had no choice.  I ate them with a spoon.

A visit to the Tucson Airport 2013

I haven't been to the Tucson International Airport in a year.  The last time I went, it was to drop off a woman who interviewed for a job at the TV station.  I rarely travel.

I picked Anthony up from the airport on Sunday and brought along a camera.  Because, that's what I do... and it was exciting to be there.  Actually, it's exciting to be anywhere.

Tucson International Airport
As seen at 9 p.m. on a Sunday night from the hourly parking lot

The little lounge-like area where the waiting for passengers getting off planes occurs

These two little guys were looking up the escalator
hoping whoever they were waiting for would come down

Anthony's back from Los Angeles!
(partially obscured by the giant woman who wouldn't move out of my camera shot)

Anthony was happy to see me... as soon as I stopped taking his picture.

The fun of waiting for luggage

"What kind of bag are we looking for?"
"Well, it's brown, and I know it when I see it."

Tucson is sooooo progressive.
Those are solar panels over the daily parking lots.
Provides shade for those cars, and electricity for the airport.

This is blog post 1001

This is blog post number 1001!  And, it's coincided with passing 100,000 page views on HelloKen.com.

In the grand scheme of the internet, it's a fart in the wind.  But, it's a big deal to me.

I've worked hard on getting to be a better photographer, writer, and creating content.  I've had visitors from the other side of the globe that have found my blog.  It's been a companion to the content I've created for Facebook and Twitter.  And, it's given me purpose outside of my job to learn new things.  I started at zero four years ago.  Now, this site has over 3,000 page views per month and growing.  That's a lot of people who read what I write and look at my photos.

The primary reason I created this website was to display the photos that I take.  That is still it's primary purpose, but it also has been telling a little bit of my life story.  In the process, I've gotten better at photography and better at writing.

Thank you for visiting, reading, and looking.  Here's hoping that by blog post #2000 I'm twice as good at this as I am now.

Since I usually include some sort of photo with most blog posts, here's a photo of a co-worker's vehicle at work with the back window broken.  It has nothing to do with the subject of this post, I just thought it needed a photo.

Reminds me of the Annie Lennox song "Walking On Broken Glass"

Kenparazzi: Tucson Police arrest at Pima and Alamo

I was walking Lucky today so he could take his usual afternoon poop, and I heard sirens near Ridgepointe Apartments where I live.

Fortunately, as the sirens started blaring he was done with his business so I could take him back inside and grab a camera.

It turned out that Tucson Police arrested four guys up the street at Pima Street and Alamo Avenue.  I grabbed my Canon SX50 that has a 1200mm zoom lens.  I shot these photos from a block away.  The SX50 has arguably one of the most ridiculously awesome zoom lenses ever.

I don't know what these guys were busted for.  But, it was fun getting the photos!

Tucson Police arrest four suspects at Pima Street and Alamo Avenue

Three officers were involved stopping the vehicle which contained the suspects

Four people were in the Hyundai that was stopped

A close up shot of three of the suspects.
The guy on the right doesn't seem appreciative of the Kenparazzi!

Behind the scenes at the Humane Society

I went to a video shoot for the TV show at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona a few days ago.

I love the Humane Society.  That's where we adopted Lucky.  The people who work there are wonderful and they are also weekly guests on the show.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I love taking pictures.  I create an excuse to bring a camera along most everywhere.  It's the best way to continue to learn and get better at photography.  Some people have a natural talent for such things, the rest of us have to endlessly practice and experiment just to avoid totally sucking.

Here's a behind the scenes look at the video shoot and the good work they do at the Humane Society.

Scott shooting b-roll of animals recovering from surgery

A Humane Society vet tech checking on an animal

Wearing the cone of shame and recovering from surgery

Shooting video of a dog getting surgery

A dog getting shaved before surgery

The dog on the table is about to lose his "low hanging fruit"

These folks work in some cramped quarters at the Humane Society clinic

Shooting video in a hallway

I think this little guy would like to lose the headgear

Amanda reviews a script while Scott shoots video

This vet tech is sterilizing medical instruments

An art piece on the grounds at the Humane Society

Walking over to the adoption center

Changing a lighting gel in the lobby of the adoption center

Amanda interviews a Humane Society employee

Shhhhh. Kitties asleep.

A couple of doggie buddies sharing quarters while waiting for adoption

A cutie waiting for adoption

Waiting for a forever home

Hello!

A couple of dogs hanging out on a warm Tucson afternoon

Sticking his head through the plastic curtain to see who is out there

All ears

Keeping a lookout

Kennel mates

Who's out there?

This dog has a beautiful coat

Big feet, warm heart

Please take me home

Shooting video outside in a meeting yard with Amanda and a dog

The Humane Society Thrift store at Speedway and Beverly

Getting ready for the next video shoot at the thrift store

The employees at the thrift store had a name for this mannequin.
I can't remember what it was though.

A hat and boots that would make any man look good

Sally interviews one of the thrift store staff

Outside of the Humane Society thrift store

The Humane Society Pawsh store at Park Place Mall

Checking out the folks walking up to the Pawsh store

This is Barney

They were waiting to get their water bowl refilled

All smiles!

This bunny is waiting to be adopted at Pawsh

Sally interviews one of the Pawsh store staff

Sally loves kittens, and these two wanted a playmate

These two kittens found the shutter noise of my camera fascinating.
They stared at me when I started taking pictures, which made this shot surprisingly easy to get.