It’s coming fast…
…That first rainout is just three weeks away. Wouldn’t that be something if the day was actually nice? We can always wish.
Just when you thought we were done messing with the website, we made even more changes this week. We combined some topics to address your input on how to find what you need a little faster. We tested it on some dude in Fresno who was just minding his own business, and even he could click the right stuff, so we think we’re good.
Did you know that people come to this site from over 100 different countries each season? I picture border guards in some foreign land wondering if they should make special rules involving rubber gloves for Fresnans with no clue who they are. I’m sure they think it’s a country by now.
Of Jason by Jason Tang!
Since we began, much of our photography, and now most of it, comes from just one guy, Jason Tang. For those of you who don’t know Jason, he’s not just an exotic owner, but he’s also a great photographer. He does all the mall poster photos these days.
We’ve had other outstanding photographers contribute, and some 35 in all, but nobody has been as prolific or as consistent as Jason. In addition to most of the photography here, Jason also loads up our Instagram page with his work every time he comes out. He’s also taken my very favorite photo with me and my car. It’s one of the few framed photos I have.
Vic and I met Jason on Old Main when we were attending that show back in the summer of 2008. Jason was there from our initial day taking pictures of cars as they arrived, and he’s been with us ever since, so he has pictures covering all fifteen years of E@RTC. If anyone can show you just how fat you’ve become over the years and how ungracefully you’ve aged like a melon on a hot summer patio, dig no further than Jason. He’s the only one who can line them all up and pinpoint exactly when you started sucking down those donuts with the precision of a top-rated radiologist.
We regard Jason as our senior photographer, but we still encourage other photographers to send us their stuff. Jason is also the one guy we trust when the press needs us to send them some event pics. He knows the event well enough to capture what they need. You can also find Jason’s work here. Thank you, Jason, for your massive contribution to E@RTC! Thank him when you see him out shooting.
We’re going to start profiling our volunteers on this blog so they all get the recognition they deserve. We’re going to start with the OGs - (Oh, you thought I meant “Old Gangsters?” No-no, I meant old guys) - those that have been with us for all fifteen years and then work down to those who are new. About a third of our volunteers have been with us for over ten years, and just about all the original volunteers still attend E@RTC and help us keep an eye on things. Once a Thug, always a Thug, and everyone is still a part of the family. We’re all still close, but it’s not like we all have lower back tramp stamps or anything.
In total, we’ve had about 60 Thugs in our history. Bringing them into one room would be too much ugly in one place, so we have to kind of spread out if they ever do all come back. Just a photo of all of us together would get us banned on every social media platform worldwide. None of us could ever get into China again, and if we all stood for a photo, priests would take one look and immediately start praying.