http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html en-us Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:34:46 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=51


first and foremost, there has been rumor spreading that we all, and i quote, "perish(ed) in 4th of July celebrations"

if i may put an and to that notion immediately as it is simply ridiculous, if ever we were to perish at Chop Point, im sure it would be by way of Kennebecian Turbo Whales...

although it is charming to think that we might parish as a result of too much fun, seeing as how at times it seems plausible.

To follow up with that inquiry into our apparent absence, i assure you that the lack of activity online has an inverse relationship with the activity at camp.

therefore the lack of activity here on the blog defines the exceptional amount of fun that we're having here at camp, simply too much to keep track of sometimes.


now if you REALLY want to know what's been holding things up here, then i must be honest and come out about a certain relationship i have recently formed that has inadvertently eaten up more time than i ever thought possible...



her name is Penelope, and with a 50mm nikkor F.1.4 focused on a oscillating 25 micron ground glass, shot through a plano convex lens in uncompressed hi-def...

she is beautiful.


in other words, the majority of time around here has been used shooting and editing the camp video, and im sure once your kids bring home the DVD you'll understand.


not to shrug off any of the other inquiries into the comings and goings of the editor and his impromptu sabbatical, but rather than bore you with the details of color correction, overnight renders, batch capturing, de-interlacing, down-sampling, missing meals, crashing hard drives, RAW captures, and consecutive all nighters...

notice i said "rather than bore you" and then proceeded to bore you?


case in point: prep yourself. sit down, buckle up. get ready, hang on.




we have a lot of catching up to do.


rewind back to the 4th of July where we last left off.

The epic journey of Chop Point Camp continued with an early morning arousal for some, as we embarked on the treacherous and perilous marathon-inspired 1-mile fun run, and 5-mile road race at the Bath Heritage Days.

Safely navigating the twists and turns, and tedious hills of mid-town Bath, Maine we returned to camp where we held a 4th of July celebration like no other. We started the day off with a glorious display of creativity and arts-and-crafts splendor as each cabin contributed to a canoe parade through the kennebec. This was followed by an immaculate carnival held here at camp, where kids were able to end the caustic and abrasive smack talk emanating from the dunk tank, eat pie at a record pace, help themselves to endless cotton candy and candy apples, and engage in a variety of activities.

Then we ended the night with a bold expedition onto the mullet infested streets of downtown Bath, Maine for the annual Heritage Days Carnival and evening fireworks.

Pictures available here:

4th of July

We followed that amazing spectacle with another heavy hitter on Luau night. There were MuMu-clad baristas serving the finest virgin-mojitos, daiquiris, and pina coladas, limbo contests, hula hooping galore, and even a roast pig.

you can see THAT here:

Luau

The session ended with a resounding BANG, the final nights composed of capture the flag goodness, awards, late night roller skating, a voyage to Freeport for outlet shopping and Ben and Jerrys ice cream, and our final banquet.

and yes, i totally DID say late night roller skating:

Roller Skating

And what could be more interesting than late night roller skating?

thats right: late night video editing! I was lucky enough to have company on my second consecutive all nighter, when at some point we said "hey... when does the sun rise?"

only to look out the window to see the horizon light up...

it looked something like this:

Sunrise

And with that, came the end of First Session 2008.

It was sad to see the kids go, i dont think theres a single one of us who doesnt wish we could keep the kids all summer long..

that would be viably construed as a hint to any parents wondering what to do with their kids in '09 wink wink

anyway, the staff took the afternoon after the kids left to regroup, enjoy a lovely bbq, and stock up on toiletries at Wal-Mart.

i think i've gone through ten-bajillion things of deodorant already...

Shortly after, a new group of kids started trickling in and so began Second Session.

We started things off with some Get To Know You Games:

2nd Session - Get to Know You Games

but as usual, i couldn't seem to keep my eyes off the horizon, Chop Point is simply a magnificent location and i don't think i'd ever grow tired of watching sunsets off of Meditation Rock.

The weather has been spectacular, ranging from spectacular clouds on a daily basis, beautiful sunshine, torrential downpours, and vibrant rainbows to follow...

take a look:

Weather

I managed to miss a fair sized chunk of Second Session by way of days off and a 3 day trip to Quebec. Did i just mention a 3 day trip to Quebec?

what's that, you're at the edge of your seat with excitement and anticipation for details?!

ideally i would have used an interrobang to punctuate that sentence, but i don't think anyone would care.

moving on: The Quebec trip was sensational, photos can be seen here:

Quebec Trip

Cabin Theme night was a treat. Every cabin was given the liberty to transform their cabin into whatever they could think of, from airplanes, discotheques, salons, beaches, mini golf courses and even a beehive...

see it to believe it:

Cabin Theme Night

The summer is charging along wonderfully, even the Dove Award winning artist Mark Harris couldn't resist the Chop Point aura, and we were treated to a wonderful performance, as well as his participation in some camp activities.




Last night we had a spectacular Lip-Sync, which i dare say was the most entertaining production ever to grace camp, save possibly, for tonights round of cabin skits...


speaking of which, they start right now!


i totally just missed dinner didn't i?



you are now officially up to date as of 19:36 Thursday, July 31, 2008]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:34:46 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=41


note: we've had great clouds this week.



tonight was water night, and it was quite spectacular. I won't lie in saying that it was a little out of control, but honestly when you have two massive coolers full of water balloons at large,

what are you gunna do?



Somewhere in the middle of the madness of tonights activity the jet fueled glow of a sunset peeked through the trees, and seizing the opportunity for escape i ran towards it with a couple cameras in my hand.

now, the cameras were unnecessary, as they were both loaded with super wide angle lenses making them useless trinkets when trying to capture the far off sunset...

moving on:


I sat on the rocks for a few minutes as the sun slipped behind a patch of well articulated clouds and it occurred to me:


i have the greatest job in the world.


It is far too easy at times to get comfortable, to be familiar, and feel casual, letting the most obvious and important things slip out of perspective. This place is amazing, and it boggles my mind sometimes just thinking about what an opportunity it really is to spend the summer here.


Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

- Psalm 145:3


29 minutes later...

did i mention we had a mach 3 waterslide?

Water Night

]]> Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:44:36 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=38
Yesterday was phenomenal, gorgeous sunshine, crisp breeze + steady wind, perfectly shaped clouds manufactured for the loveliest backdrops on the river, and one of the best evening activities ever.


"If you can dodge a dirty diaper, you can dodge a dodgeball!"


If you're reading that out of context, it might sound like we're not the kind of camp you might enjoy.

if fact, even in context that may be debatable.

I assure you though, that last nights Extreme Dodgeball was a heaps epic activity.

one might even say it was:

off the hook

kickin

rock your socks off fantastic

really really swell

spectacular

gnar boots

some kind of wonderful

sick-nasty

over the top awesome



Case in point: much fun was had.

To be honest though, i think it had much more to do with the music, and volume thereof than the activity itself

"this one goes to 11"

One might argue that the music itself was the activity, and dodgeball was simple what tied it together. Irrigardless* the night was a spectacle, various matches including boys vs. girls, campers vs. staff, european vs. american, and intercabin matches.

I spent most of the evening in a wheelchair. Not because of yet another staff injury, rather a clever mix of my Patches O Hulihan character, and the convenience of shooting video on wheels.

i think i ran over my toes like 53 times though

really should have had the foresight not to take off the footrests...


Upon looking at the video footage though, it occurred to me that most of the night was a dance party, i mean, generally when you get out in a game, it stinks, but in our game of dodgeball, getting out was like ascension in to a posh european club.

again with that "we're all winners" thing


in summary:

dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge

Dodgeball!

*i had a lecturer in college whos favorite two words [unintentionally] were "symbology" and "irrigardless"

seriously.





]]> Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:04:47 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=37 seriously, more photos:

Horse Races

Get To Know You Games

First Day / Wacky Olympics

]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:14:57 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=35 rain rain go away, come again some other day...

seriously though... go away, its flipping humid in the computer room thanks to the ten-thousand and seven inches of precipitation we got today.

We had chapel this morning, and it seemed like the heavens opened up and dropped lake Huron on us, which consequently forced me to use a microphone which makes me terribly uncomfortable as it only magnifies the strange assortment of sounds your mouth makes as you speak.

skip to the point: it rained proverbial cats and dogs today.

not like real cats and dogs, as that would be ridiculous, and thus why inserted to word "proverbial" although in retrospect, i dont think there are any proverbs about cats and dogs used in said context.

hmm.

Despite the weather, we had much fun. We voyaged the couple hundred yards down to our relatively new Gym and played games in shelter of the torrential downpour...

though im pretty sure it was only about 10 minutes before the rain stopped and the sun came out.

then it was about another 5 minutes until it started raining again.

freaky deaky weather i say.

Then the senior staff made some of the most amazing pizza in the galaxy: margarita, bbq chicken and caramelized onions, buffalo chicken and bleu cheese, hawaiian, mega meat [as opposed to ordinary meat, which doesnt sound very exciting at all]

it was enjoyed thoroughly.


We were scheduled to have "Water Night" tonight, but in light of said freaky deaky weather that just seemed redundant, and if i may be so bold:

silly.

Instead we indulged in the very moral, and biblical im sure, practice of gambling. Indeed, tonight we bet on horses, but not horses as you and i know them to be, rather: pairs of campers dressed in ridiculous outfits and costumes in effort of getting the most attention from those betting.

If your "horse" wins, so do you.

brilliant!

what do you win? loads and loads of candy. Not really, there is actually a 2 piece limit so as to reduce communal sugar intake.

moving on: im really not sure its considered betting though, if you dont wager anything, and even if you lose every time, you'll still get candy.

We're all winners here.







p.s. more pictures coming soon...]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:34:44 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=34
really though we did prepare.

but seriously... we slept too.

Anyway, the session got off to a great start with an outrageous round of "Get to Know You Games" where we spent much time learning obscure facts about each other, as well as being altogether childish

in the good way

Then we had our traditional "Wacky Olympics", which is really just a way of keeping busy while campers sign up methodically for their daily activities and trips, though judging by their antics and uncanny enthusiasm you would never know it.

That night we continued the hilarity with "Counselor Skits"

*pause*

clarification: attempted hilarity

*play*

There was a dramatic monologue by kermit the frog, boy band feuds, ribbon dancing, loud noises, simulated space toilet voyages, southern translations, aerobics gone awry, imaginary motorcycles, broken hearts, and a fair serving of laughter.

we had fun



last night was sports night, and while i could, for the sake of a comprehensive and more articulate blogging experience, try to explain the nights activities, truth be told, i was actually sitting here: in front of my computer fixing cameras so as to further document the daily comings and goings of this Chop Point Camp [i almost wrote choomp point camp, which i contest is a brilliant name]

but for the interest of those interested, here is what i imagine last night to have been like:








sporty.]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:10:53 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=33
time seems to pass so fast here...

We opened the first night up with a dollop of counselor skits, which is essentially a collective attempt at humiliating ourselves in front of the campers in effort to break the proverbial ice, and maybe get a laugh while we're at it...

sometimes it even works.

We followed the next night with a mammoth game of capture the flag, which must have been quite epic to my understanding, as it left a large portion of our staff in the infirmary as a result of some heroic attempts on the flag im sure.

and i'm pretty sure the following days conversation throughout camp consisted primarily of glorified tales of valiant skill, brilliant strategy, and close shaves...

you know, like almost getting caught..

not like removing hair with a razor.


that would just be weird.


Then last night we completed the summer camp experience with a classic campfire, including song, s'mores, and stories that just dont seem to end...


ever.


The kids are all in their cabins right now preparing for their cabin skit night, which i anticipate to be quite a show of ingenuity and sheer wackiness, not to mention laughter...

unless of course some cabin goes awry with a gut wrenching dramatic monologue and moves all to tears..

i hope that doesnt happen.

My feelings on the situation aside, camp is running smooth as a hot knife through butter, and we all are having a great time, the only thing that could make it better is a few more days..


then again, sessions are just around the corner...


OH! HOLY MATRIMONY BATMAN!, i almost forgot, photos are starting to make their way to the world wide web:

Community Week

go go go!]]> Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:20:58 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=32
It appears that over the past year they have developed a new language, and that previous phrase roughly translates to [as far as i can tell]

"SINK THE BOAT!"

now i say [type rather] this in bold, caps, and with an exclamation point thrown in for safe measure, because without actually being there, im sure it would be near impossible to describe the plight which those campers delivered...





and it's only the first day.





all this said because:



IT'S SUMMER!



we, the collective staff, have spent the past couple weeks getting the camp back in shape and ready for campers; swim tests, skit practice, work projects, first aid, cpr, lifeguarding, training, midnight pizza runs, and goodness knows what else.

I think i can safely say on behalf of all the staff, that we could have been happy campers [no pun intended] had it just been the twenty-something of us all summer...

but then around 9.00am something happened, and the camp came alive. One could say it was the delivery of the handsome new camp t-shirts, others might argue that it was the steady breeze from the north, but i contest that it was the flood of what have to be the most excited campers in these great United States.

so after a day of swim tests, basketball, windsurfing, laughing, discovering new languages, and even championing the mighty Kennebec, i feel i can safely say:



this place is so much fun.







the great summer of 2008 is shaping up nicely, photos will be posted soon and frequent blog posts to follow so check back whenever you can and try not to be too jealous of how much fun we're having.




*tipping the boat, usually due to high wind, or a crew full of young saboteurs

]]> Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:52:08 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=29
it's so quiet.

Today we watched all the campers pack their bags, wave goodbye, and drive off down the long and arduous Chop Point road...

I still have conversations i haven't finished, rides out on the sailboat with campers, stories to tell, and hear, and not to say that this is the end of the world and I'll never see anyone again, but that liberation from the daily grind that the summer brings seems to have expired...

for now

Last night we had a wonderful banquet, followed by the session finale campfire and camp video. Walking to the campfire there was a spectacular wind blowing through the camp, you could feel the change.

This year is going to be spectacular. I feel like this summer has brought so much growth to all of us, recharged us, solidified our foundation to grow even more during the year.

With so much changing, there's this feeling... it's difficult to put into words...


God is so good.


To all the campers, i speak for all of us when i say:

thank you.

It was a truly wonderful summer, and it Chop Point Camp would be nothing without you. We loved sharing the sessions with you, and getting to be a part of your lives for this short time, and we all can't wait too see you again in 2008.

God Bless.]]> Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:09:19 GMT http://www.choppoint.org/blog/index.html?p=28

first things first:

a. you shouldn't name a town known for it's designer brands and shopping FREEport. If one were to make the mistake of taking it for it's name sake, one might end up in jail.

where's the justice in that?

b. thank you a whole lot Jonathan for dropping a keyboard on my mac and destroying the ppppppp key which as you may have noticed has taken a toll on my blogging efficiency.

so pplease pardon my spppppelling

movinng on [consciously avoiding words that include the letter ppppp]

Anyway, the last few days of cam.. session are just jam ... full of excitement. So what's the bummer? The bummer is that not only does that mean that cam... session is drawing to an end, but also because of things like video editing and ... there is no way to sppppell ppppphotograpppphy without a pppp...

ppppoint being, some of us tend to miss these activities, BUT, luckily we always manage to go Roller Skating. It's one of my favorite pppparts of campppp, stay upppp late, eat terrible fried food, listen to lousy 90's hippp hopppp and try really really hard not to fall.

This session was a first as well, being the first roller skating extravaganza to be documented by both ppppphoto and video.

stellar.

that's my new favorite adjective...

stellar]]> Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:51:45 GMT