iGene Awards, 114th Carnival Of Genealogy, Reflection's Awards Go To

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Jasia at Creative Gene is hosting this years iGene Awards.  As always, mega thanks to Jasia.

The parameters of the iGene COG:

"We'll announce our best blog posts from the previous year (in this case, 2011) in the following 5 categories: Best Picture (that would be a photograph), Best Screen Play (story you would make into a movie including the cast), Best Documentary (investigative research), Best Biography, Best Comedy."

With the first category I am in a huge bit of trouble.  Best Picture, aka, photo.  Snicker, snicker, snicker.  I don't know how many photos I posted in 2011, but, it was the year of THE Trip, so there were hundreds of photos.  Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Zion, Capital Reef, Bryce, Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, Sedona, and that is just some of what I photographed and shared here.  So, here is the deal, I have chosen some of my favorites.  They will appear in this post.

Above:  Monument Valley, Utah

Above:  Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park

Best Screen Play, a story of drama, which required an adult beverage and darkness to falsely proclaim victory over fear.  I nominate and the winner is: my experience on the Palm Springs Tram, which left me changed forever, and not necessarily in the best way, eh??  THE Trip, Tramming WAYYYYY Out of My Comfort Zone, followed by two additional posts on the experience, THE Trip, Palm Springs Tram Ride, Palm Springs, California, Up, Up And Away and THE Trip, Palm Springs Tram Ride, Palm Springs, California, At the Top, And Back Down Again.  (I am so disconnected with the current crop of actors that I think I'll skip by this part of the challenge, but, if someone could figure out how to get Johnny Depp in here, preferably in that d*a*r*l*i*n*g  pirate costume, and eye makeup, well, that would work for me!  Ehh??)

Apache Lake, near Roosevelt, Arizona as the sun begins to set.

Sunset at Gila Bend, Arizona

Best Documentary, I am stepping away from the definition that Jasia gave us, that this should be about investigative research.  Instead I am substituting a series of posts that impacted me tremendously, and that is what I feel a good documentary should do, impact you and your way of thinking.  It should stop you in your tracks and make you go, WHOAAAA.  That is exactly what happened when Man and I visited Salvation Mountain.  THE Trip, Salvation Mountain, The Tools of Love, introduces you to the tools used in the creation.  THE Trip, Salvation Mountain, near Niland California, shows you the folk art based on love.  The third post from March 1, 2011 was THE Trip, Leonard Knight, Salvation Mountain, A Photo Tribute.  I have been extremely honored, as one of those photos has been chosen to further Leonard's cause.

Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky District

Above:  Sedona, Arizona

Best Biography, the story of Alfred Darden, Civil War era, which was my contribution to  "THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR GENEALOGY BLOG CHALLENGE"  hosted by Bill West of West In New England.  My contribution became a 4 part series and eventually resulted in several more posts and a lot of learning too.  Part 1 is, Alfred Darden, Civil War Solider Mystery, His Family.  This was followed by, Alfred Darden, Civil War Solider Mystery, His War Record and Alfred Darden, Civil War Solider Mystery, As Best I Can Figure, The Last Chapter. My fourth post about Alfred was Alfred Darden, Civil War Solider Mystery, Sometimes Ya Just Cannot Let it Go, New Discoveries.

This post was eventually "found" by some Civil War buffs and a fabulous amount of conversation and information was posted to the blog post and to me privately in email.  Yes, indeedy, this series was a total WIN.  This series also receives an honorable mention in the Best Screen Play category.

Above: Man experiences carrying a World War II pack, as his father did.  The experience was very moving and left a lasting impression. Photo taken at Camp Verde Arizona.

Monument Valley, Utah

Best Comedy, my sick, dark humor at it's best, err, worst, A Different Kind of Holiday Story, Having to do With Peppermints, a Horny Mouse, and a VERY Tiny Reindeer.  I do so love peppermint, but, not mice or rodents, except for that photo way up there ^ .

Above:  Wolfe Ranch, Arches National Park, Moab, Arizona. Photo artistically enhanced.

Technically, I suppose the following photo should not be nominated as it actually appeared on my other blog, Reflection's Flora and Fauna, but, since I felt it was so special, I am bending the rules once more.

Above:  Signal Mountain Road, Grand Tetons, National Park.

Ten nominations for Best Picture, I cannot pick just one.  Maybe you can, if so, please leave a comment.

And, thus ends the 2012 iGene Awards, brought to you by Reflections, Sony, THE Trip, and a bit of family research.  The awards will come to you live from lovely Gulf Shores Alabama, where we wear shorts and jeans, not formal attire.

At the after party Man and I will feast on seafood, deep fried chicken, gumbo, cheesy grits, home made biscuits and sausage gravy, baked sweet potatoes, deep fried okra,  macaroni and cheese (thick and guaranteed gooey!), banana pudding with sliced bananas and vanilla wafers, apple or peach cobbler, all washed down with some sweet tea (not sweetened tea, real sweet tea).

The red carpet will be a bit gritty, as our presentation and the after party will be taking place down at the world famous Gulf Shore beaches of soft white sand.  The evening will conclude with a beautiful sunset and a LONG LONG walk down the beach (will have to be long to walk off all that great food we pigged out on, eh?)

Congratulations to the winners, now, party down!  Bring on the grits (both the sandy ones and the cheesy ones)!

* Even though I have not shown links to the photos, all have appeared on Reflections during the calendar year of 2011, with the one noted exception.
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90th Carnival of Genealogy--Third Annual iGene Awards

Its time for The Third Annual iGene Awards, The Best of The Best!

It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog posts of 2009 in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2009. Tell us which you liked best and why.

Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2009 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?

Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2009?

Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2009?

Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2009?

The rest of the challenge reads in part: Start digging back into your archives and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding achievement. There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy.

I have only been blogging since April of 2009, not even a full year and I found this COG to be a REAL challenge. I spent several hours of delightful review of my past posts. I have posts about RVing and Genealogy, but for this challenge I will only consider posts that have to do with family research.

And the awards go to - - -

Best Picture: The Trumbo Foundry. Winner because of the new horizons I visited before this blog was posted. I learned so much and I got permission to use this photo in my blog and my family history. It is a photo that shows history and “a sign of the times”, and it is my grandfather! And, the place is a place I know!

Honorary Mention (not in the challenge, but I gotta go there):  The Darden sibs. Deserves mention because of the strong emotions this photo gets from me every time I see it, it tugs at my heart in so many different ways.  This is a family that loves deep and have no qualms of sharing that love.

Best Screen Play: They Worked Hard, Bowen version.   The movie will have drama (hurricanes and fire), and characters (my grandmother and the other locals of the Outer Banks, you just HAVE to be a character to live there year round and that is a compliment!).  Actors to play the parts, to be determined (which is my cop out way of saying - I have no clue - I don’t follow movies, or actors much these days.)

Honorary mention: The Series, My Best Vacations, by the entire clan.  Gosh I had fun with this. Would  not be a serious heart tugging movie, nor would it be akin to the movie RV, just some great family fare.  My three favorite summer vacations, by Son # 1 and family.   My three favorite summer vacations, by Son # 2 and finacee’.  And, My three favorite summer vacations, by Man and Moi. 

Best Documentary: Ancestor Military Battles, Solomon B. Eley, my award winner, partly because of the emotional attachment I feel to this ancestor, but also because of the documents I have found, documents of a different kind, that surrender document is among my most exciting genie-finds.

Honorary mention: Citizenship vs love, deserving of mention because it discusses a part of citizenship that is not commonly known or understood.

Another Honorary mention:  Richard Bowen, my Thanksgiving ancestor.  Discoveries while researching this direct lineage ancestor gave me a new appreciation of Thanksgiving, and keep on giving.

Best Biography: Pat Lombardini, my Orphan.  There are other biographies I have done that I love, but this one, beyond a doubt, was a heart string tugger. 

Best Comedy: The Switch.   Winner, because it is one of our favorite family funny stories. It may not be that funny to my readers, but since I am the judge and jury here, it wins!

Honorary mentions: Don’t trust your brother, brothers are special, aren’t they?  They even provide a humorous family story now and then.  And, I had the photos to prove it!

Another Honorary mention goes to:  Did he or did he not drink the hydraulic fluid?  Who can explain why something tickles your black humor fancy?  I can't, but I did giggle a lot over this newspaper find.

Well, there they are, my iGene Awards.  Congratulations to the winners and the honorary mentions too.

* Thank you to Creative Gene for sponsoring this carnival and to footnoteMaven for the poster.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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