Friday Shout-Outs, Vuvuzela Salutes, and Long-Winded GOAL Yells.

With the World Cup coming to a conclusion on Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to start this week’s shout-outs with some fun (and potentially tasty) World Cup predictions. I’m also shouting about ticks, stuff made in China, a bunch of PhotoShelter events and opportunities and – saving the best for last – a little venture into the world of Japanese Love Dolls.

Shout-Outs happen every single Friday, of every single week, of ever single month. You are invited to send us suggestions, too. If we think it’s worth shouting about, it will show up here in the blog on a Friday. To submit something, scroll to the bottom to see how.

ORACLE OCTOPUS
My wife, Scarlet, who usually hates any kind of sporting event, has become a complete soccer freak because of the World Cup. She’s been keeping me in the loop with stats and predictions, so of course the conversation turned to Paul the Octopus.

Wife: “Paul the Octopus has successfully picked ALL of the winners in Germany’s games during World Cup so far.”

Me: “Weird!”

Wife: “He predicted that Spain will win over the Netherlands on Sunday.”

Me: “Cool!”

Wife: “He also predicted that Germany will win over Uraguay on Saturday.”

Me: “Oh, that’s an easy one!”

Wife: “Yeah, but he didn’t exactly think it through — he’s an octopus.”

Photographer Roland Weihrauch has a few images of Paul the Octopus in the Arcuri Image Agency archive.

“Octopus Paul, soccer oracle of the Sea Life in Oberhausen, Germany, swims in his aquarium on 26 June 2010. Paul has become a star for the media, because he correctly predicted all matches of the German national soccer team during the FIFA World Cup 2010. He has two plexi-glass boxes filled with a shell in his tank, out of which he can take a treat. A team wins, when Paul takes a treat out of a box that has the respective national flag plastered to it.”

SMALLER THAN A FRECKLE
Every once in a while, someone supplies me with information that I know I’ll never have a use for, but really wish I could.

Steve Apps, a photojournalist for the Wisconsin State Journal wrote a blog post about “How To photograph a Deer Tick,” complete with detailed descriptions and pictures of the lighting setup.

“As most people know, the biggest problem in photographing a deer tick is the size — smaller than a freckle,” he writes. “These ticks are smaller than the more common wood ticks that are found throughout Wisconsin, but they can carry Lyme Disease.”

The image went with a story about how hard it is to diagnose and treat Lyme Disease.

MADE IN CHINA: EVERYTHING
Natalie Behring, a freelance photojournalist based in New York City, has a really cool gallery of images titled “Made in China – Commodities,” that includes pictures from China’s Yiwu Small Commodity Market.

The market is “the world’s largest wholesalers market selling more than 17 million kinds of commodities that are exported all over the globe,” she writes.

Made in China – Commodities – Images by Natalie Behring

Here you’ll see a walls entirely filled with objects like: hair dryers; batteries; sewing supplies; power strips; razors; cabinet knobs; electrical cords; plastic doll toys; sunglasses; and bracelets.

Behring, who speaks Chinese, has spent more than a decade documenting the modernization of China.

HEADS-UP!
This week, I am including a few special PhotoShelter-related Shout Outs that you should be aware of.

FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
I wanted to post this sooner, but didn’t have a nice cool clean URL to use – but that’s all changed now that we officially secured “PhotoShelter” as our Facebook username.

If you haven’t done so already, visit the PhotoShelter page on Facebook and proclaim to the rest of the world that you “like” us!

COOL IN-PERSON EVENT / KANSAS CITY
Photography & The Art of Promotion

July 14 & 15 2010, 6-9pm Kansas City, MO

Digital Labrador kicks off the festivities in Kansas City with the opening of their Focus on Your Passion Exhibit today (7/9.)

We’ll be heading that way next week for our two-day workshop (July 14-15) with Canon Explorer of Light Nick Vedros and local pro shooter Austin Walsh on how shooting the personal photo projects that matter most can pay off professionally. Stay tuned for updates after the event!

INSPIRATIONAL PHOTO WEBINAR
Focus on Your Passion: Finding Yourself in Photography with Tim Mantoani
Tuesday 7/9/2010, 7-8:15pm

Tim Mantoani joins us for a special guest webinar. Learn great tips on shooting stunning portraits, get a behind the scenes look at working with the 20×24 Polaroid, and find out how to take a personal project and turn it into a career win. Register today.

WE ARE HIRING
Are you an ass kicking, jedi master senior software engineer? If so, come join the PhotoShelter team. We’re hiring!

LOVE DOLLS (POTENTIALLY NSFW)
Hitoshi Yamada has 100 photos that document a factory that makes Japanese love dolls, a store that sells them, and someone’s 3-bedroom apartment “home” maintained just for them.

“Exploring the Japanese Love Doll Universe” is on the Nippon News photo archive.

Ta-Bo, a 50-year-old Japanese engineer, rents a special three-bedroom apartment in Tokyo for his Love Dolls. He says he owns more than one hundred, which is, to his mind, the world’s largest collection of its kind.

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I am always looking for things to include here in our Friday Shout-Outs – so if you have anything you think is worthy, let me know.

Or, better yet, post a note to Twitter with my name in it (@heygrover) or “friend me” on Facebook, and that way I won’t forget it later.