1. Ben’s Kickstarter Update

A couple weeks ago, I talked about a friend of mine, Ben Hill, and his Kickstarter campaign in an effort to produce his first EP. Here’s an update: the campaign is 15 days away from its conclusion and Ben has raised $630 of the $1,000 goal. That’s awesome! Make sure to check out his campaign and pledge if you can. I’ve known been for several years and he’s such a talented guy. Getting this EP produced for him would be incredible!

2. Help Me Choose!

It’s that time of year again. The 2016 N.C. State Fair is just a month away which means it’s time for me to select a photo for this year’s competition. If you’re new to my blog, I’ve taken part in the N.C. State Fair Photography Competition for the past eight years. Although I haven’t won the competition yet, I feel that I’ve learned a lot throughout the years and my photography skill has improved. That being said, I have a few options and I want input from YOU my awesome readers! Let me know which one (if any) you like in the comments below!

And the nominees are…

• Stagville Barn – A scene from inside a barn at Historic Stagville in Durham.

• Mysterious Hand – A re-imagining of one of my first photos as a high school photography student.

• ATC Train Car – An old train car at the historic American Tobacco Campus in Durham.

• Reflections of the Past – Color-splashed reflections caught in old warehouse buildings. There are two different options with this one: either horizontal (left) or vertical (right).

• Abandoned Red Wagon – Color-splashed photo of an abandoned red wagon at Duke Homestead State Historic Site in Durham.

• Tunnel Vision  – A view inside the Free Expression Tunnel at N.C. State University.

3. Cam Newton’s Food Truck

Cam Newton’s got a food truck. That’s right. The Carolina Panthers quarterback and reigning NFL MVP recently opened up his very own food truck, called Smokn’ Aces. The truck is set to make its big debut at the Panthers/49ers game in Charlotte on Sunday and will be located across the street from the Duke Energy Building. After that, the truck will be there Friday-Sunday each week. Cam is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the first week to a local at-risk program. I’m heading down to Charlotte in October for the Panthers/Cardinals game so I’m making it my mission to try Smokn’ Aces while I’m there. I’ll be sure to relay my thoughts about it to you. Stay tuned!

4. Restaurant Impossible

Chef Robert Irvine, of whom I’m a big fan, started a new daytime show this week, aptly titled The Robert Irvine Show, where he tries to help people work through problems in their lives. This is similar to his goal on his other show, Restaurant Impossible, on Food Network. Earlier this week, I was checking out Chef Irvine’s Facebook page to see responses from fans about his new show. That’s when I learned from the man himself that RI had apparently not been picked up for another season by Food Network after 13 successful seasons. I was pretty shocked to say the least. I’ve always loved RI not only to see chef Irvine and his team transform failing restaurants but to transform lives. I emailed Food Network to see if I could get any sort of confirmation about this but the network has not gotten back with me.

5. Social Media “Stars”

Each week, I love to browse iTunes to see what new music I can add to my library. As I was browsing, I came across an album by Vine “stars” the Dolan Twins. Thing is, the album is a playlist of the brothers’ favorite tunes. So, in other words, they took several tunes from different artists and combined them into one album all to make a quick buck – because they know they’ll get it from their fanatical supporters. What has this world come to?

Thanks for Reading