This one of me in New Orleans by the Mississippi River was taken by Jessie in summer 2002. It was easily the hottest day of the year and I still don't know what possessed us to go down there that day. I could hardly play the practice goose, let alone my pipes. In this photo I am pretending to be a piper - only playing drones for the bums sleeping in the park.
My cousin Hannah from Tasmania took this photo in the winter of 2003 on the West Side Pier in Gulfport Mississippi. The pier was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, as was a great deal of the port of Gulfport and the Long Beach Harbor which can be seen in the background. The house where I grew up in Long Beach was also completely destroyed.
This was taken by my friend Mike in Astoria, Oregon, where my favorite movie Short Circuit was made. The Astoria bridge above me was a major backdrop in the movie. Number Five the robot even jumped off this bridge at one point in the story. The body of water you see is the mouth of the Columbia River.
My brother Paden took this cool shot at the Texas Scottish Festival in 2004. Probably only a piper could tell that I'm not really playing.
In the fall of 2004 I went to New Mexico to visit my mom and we went down to see the Very Large Array at the National Radio Astornomy Observatory. This network of radio telescope dishes was used in a couple of my favorite sci-fi flicks - 2010 and Contact. I had been waiting to see it since I was 12 years old!
A competition shot from the Arkansas Scottish Festival in April 2005. Despite my squeaky reed troubles, it was a beautiful day that made for some nice pictures. I had a great weekend and actually left with a couple of prizes.
This is me and Jessie (my first teacher) being cool right before the Hattiesburg Christmas parade in 2005. Eventually this photo would be the album cover for our first virtual piping album - The Covenanters, "Pipe till ya' Puke!" Someday we'll make a real CD.
