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VOGEL & THRASH, originally uploaded by jetrotz.

Update:  Doug’s obituary has been published in the Johnstown, PA Tribune Democrat, his hometown paper. Memorials to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis, 1251 Waterfront Place, Fifth Floor, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222 would be appreciated.

This is my old friend and co-worker Doug Vogel doing what he loved to do most - sitting back, wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey and watching some good hockey action circa 1999. The Thrashers mascot polishing his bald head is a nice touch I must say, and makes me recall the soft side of Doug - he could be tough as nails, but had a great sense of humor. I learned this morning that Doug passed away in his sleep suddenly last night after a few days of flu-like symptoms - he was far too young and had far too much in front of him to go at such an early age. Jon Anderson, another former CNN/SI developer, noted that he learned from Doug’s family that he had suffered from cystic fibrosis - something he never let most folks know. Doug was just a regular guy - hanging with the boys, playing stupid video games (Goldeneye, anyone?), and prowling Buckhead getting into stupid alcohol-fueled misadventures. He certainly lived life to it’s fullest, leaving CNN/SI to pursue the startup life on the West Coast, but post-bubble, heading to the midwest for a job with a government contractor in Kansas City. Doug is the second of the CNNSI.com ‘originals’ to pass away after Jon Barkan’s passing in December. Our thoughts and prayers remain with their families and friends.

Tags: cnnsi, cystic fibrosis, dougvogel, hockey, jonbarkan, obituary, penguins, thrashers

Our dear friends Emily and Warren introduced their newest familial addition to their friends and family with her brit milah ceremony on Sunday morning at the oh-so-ritzy Four Seasons (or would that be oh-so-four-seasony?). In any case, it was a wonderful morning of history - where we learned the origin of Erin’s name and namesake, and met more of her friends and family. They asked me to shoot photos for them, and here they are! Complete photo set is here, slideshow is here.

Two friends of Amy’s from her days in the Savannah Symphony before that organization’s premature demise spent some time with us this past weekend. Sam was so happy to have a new audience for his performances he was in hog heaven. Here are some of the entertaining photos of Sam and Noah with Pat (reformed oboe player from Portland) and Anne (viola player from Indianapolis). Slideshow is here.

I heard the news the way things happen in this age. Via instant messenger. That’s what makes this all the more unreal. Jon was literally, larger than life. Gregarious, warm, a bear of a guy. Seemingly invincible. We spent several years together at CNNSI.com during the height of the web bubble, and Jon always had an amazing head for sports and journalism. Great family, great kids, great philanthropist, then this. Snatched unexpectedly at 39 from his friends, his family and his community. It’s so difficult to understand. Even moreso in this digital age. His last Facebook update posted less than 24 hours before his passing says ‘Jon Barkan is surviving another day on this planet.’ One of his last Twitters said ‘ OK - this three kid thing is tiring … guess I will have time to sleep when I am dead, huh?’ And there he is on his blog, smiling back at us, holding Lord Stanley’s trophy, and posting the Peanuts mashup version of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’

Well, HEY YA to you, Jon. You will be missed by all those you touched in your too-short time with us. We all need to remember to embrace every day on this planet as if it were our last - take nothing for granted. God bless.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to:

• Davis Academy, 7901 Roberts Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350
• American Israel Education Fund, 980 Hammond Drive, ste 775, Atlanta, GA 30328

Links:

• AJC.com Obituary
• College Hockey News Remembers Jon Barkan
• U.S. College Hockey Online
• Former� Employee Jon Barkan Remembered - Atlanta Thrashers

Tags: cnnsi, hockey, jon barkan, thrashers

Oh did we have a treat last night. With the impending arrival of baby #2, it was pretty much now or sometime in 2010 before we’d be brave enough to go over to our friends Jay and Kate’s place to get a taste of their backyard brick-oven pizza. This thing is truly a marvel - handcrafted, standing probably 10+ feet tall, it takes a good hour+ to fill it with hand-chopped wood and bring it up to proper levels of incineration. With a dough recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, Jay does an amazing job. He’s got the dough-tossing schtick down, too (much to Sam’s amusement). The simplest were among the best - pepperoni and fresh mozzarella (with a dash of truffle oil, ‘natch) and the goat cheese, mushroom and onion (also with truffle oil) was perhaps even better. Great food and great hosts - a fine night was had by all. See the photos of the pizza process here.

Tags: brick oven, foodporn, pizza

So from what I can tell from his Flickr posting, my good friends Christopher and Erin Gibbons welcomed their daughter Lily into the world around 3am today in NYC. She’s a cute one, weighing in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces! Congratulations to the happy family. Click here for a slideshow of Chris’ photos.

Update below from Christopher:

We welcomed Lillian into the world this morning at 2:53am. Mom and baby are doing well. Both are a little pooped, but in good health. Lilly weighed in at 8 lbs 12 oz. and is just over 20 inches. Erin was amazing and I can’t say enough how proud I am of her. She and I are both so excited, and can’t wait to introduce Lily to everyone.

Tags: baby, friends, gibbons, lily, newborn

With Amy pulling seven gigs in three days, I was Mr. Mom, and looking for things to entertain Sammy. On Saturday, we headed out with Sam’s future wife and his parents to a ‘u-pick-’em’ strawberry farm near McDonough, GA. With flavor you just don’t get from supermarket specimens, and at $8.50 a bucket (around 5 pounds worth), it was well worth it. And Sammy and Sophie had an absolute blast. There is a great website (Atlanta-area farms here) that catalogs all these self-picking farms across the country - we plan to hit the blueberry and fig farms later this summer. And maybe then Sam will get to see Old McDonald - he kept asking for him! We finished the day with a wonderful lunch (shrimp and grits, mmm) at a cute place in McDonough called Truman’s - well worth the visit. More photos of the outing are here. (Photo at right of Sam’s hand with a strawberry by my friend Joel Silverman, photographer extraordinaire. See his site here).

Tags: Food, friends, sam

Our neighbor’s cute-as-a-button daughter celebrated her first birthday in style this weekend. The kids had an absolute blast, including beating on the most durable pinata I’ve ever seen. That monster took at least 50 hits before giving up the goods. Click here for more photos from the party.

Tags: birthday, friends, grantpark

Our friends held a joint party for their 2-year-old daughters, Shoshanah and Amelia, who welcomed all their friends for a messy party involving bubbles, fingerpaint, potting soil and play-dough. Thank goodness it was indoors - the weather turned cold and windy Sunday. As you can see, Sam threw himself into the event with gusto, turning a cupcake into a vehicle for frosting. He was a big fan of the ‘decorate your own cupcake’ table and spent much of his time there. More photos are here.

Tags: birthday, friends, sam

This sweet little girl is Heather Hutmacher, the oh-so-cute daughter of our dear friends Warren and Emily. I took a portrait of her in this outfit for Emily to give to Warren as a V-Day present. Sorry about the day-late-posting. More pics from the shoot are here.

Tags: friends, Photography