If you are like me and only see gymnastics every four years during the Olympics, you can do yourself a favor and get to your local university and catch up on what you are missing.  The athletes are incredible and spend half of their time in the air doing various flips and turns.  I see in each of them someone who my daughter can look up to as well.  The kids in the audience were a sight to behold as they were mesmerized by the skills displayed in front of them.  It has been ten years for me since the last time I saw NC State gymnastics, and know I will be checking it out again soon.

Even if ballet is not your favorite type of entertainment, you have to respect the hard work that goes into being able to perform on a daily basis, and make it look easy.  Some of these performers work up to ten hours a day getting ready for shows.  Click HERE to visit the Carolina Ballet site for tickets and information.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure to shoot the wedding of Gretchen and Jason.  The venue was a family friend's home, on a perfect evening where the rain held off, as well as the mosquitoes.  Family came in from Wisconsin (where they thanked me for the gift of Russell Wilson) to enjoy the festivities and take in a little southern hospitality.  My wife assisted and was able to shoot across the water to capture some images that would normally not be possible (thanks Honey!).  After a quick ceremony and photos, Coopers BBQ served up some delicious food and the night was in full swing.

Day two is in the books.  Wow.  What another amazing day of music and people.  One interesting thing I find is that most people I have met have not been from Raleigh, and that they all had that one band that pushed them over the edge that they had to make the 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, hour drive to hear them in a fewstival setting.  I was able to make it to the hoopscotch basketball game, as well as listen to a few day parties.  This evening, I made it out to the Raleigh City Plaza to hear the Dodos, Drive By Truckers, and Guided by Voices (supposedly their final show).  After that, a trip to the Lincoln Theatre was rewarded by great perfomances by Carlitta Durand and The Annuals.  I then headed over to watch Liturgy blow the doors off of Kings, and followed that up by a great performance by Disappear at the Pour House.

Great day, one more left.

Hopscotch Day One is in the books, and this is just a small sampling of some photos.  You really have to decide what you want to see or there is a chance you won't be able to get in - I felt pretty lucky in that regard.  I was able to make it to Kings Baracade, Lincoln Theatre, White Collar Crime, Deep South, and The Berkley Cafe.  The amazing bands I saw were Dinosaur Feathers, Last Year's Men, Spider Bags, Apache Dropout, and Oxbow.  My feet hurt, but it was a great experience.  Day two starts soon, and I hope to see double the bands tomorrow.

 Season 10 of American Idol rolled into Raleigh - with Garner's own, Scotty McCreery, as the headliner.  See more images at WRAL.com.