The Royce Files

Segue and I made our way to the 11 o'clock meeting at Woodland Hills Church after an extraordinary night in the club part of Minneapolis. Woodland Hills is one of those massive community reach churches. It's big. It's modern. It's multi-cultural. It's slick. It works hand in hand with other expressions of the body of Christ. It mixes suburban tastes with urban values. This morning we were treated to some R&B gospel flavored music to worship God. The place was jumping. We even saw one of the wedding party from the previous day. Reminded me a bit like the Cincy Vineyard . Preaching duties fall to Greg Boyd. He finished a series on parenting that morn. Mr. Boyd is an incredible speaker. He even show us a picture of himself when he had an afro back in the Sixties. Here's three points that I found important: The wouded wound others That which you despise clings to you Let children inherit your faith To clarify the 3rd point- he meant that our faith should not ...

Found a decent website that has a bit of a nationalistic slant that contains Irish Gaelic lessons, Irish news, and some history. My two bits on the North- The British appear to have built this political state as a pawn between them and the Republic (Eire) Peace will come through forgiveness and not continued anger manifesting.

So if Rick Rickert was behind me and he refused to play miniature golf should I have gave him a round house like K.G? An intriguing story concerning this unheard of event of 2004 featuring K.G. and Rickert.

Hit the Twin Towns this weekend with Mark a.ka. Segue. First we did a gig but once it got done we hit to the streets. It was an ideal night to be out on the streets in Minneapolis. With the Target Center hovering over us we hit Club Three Degrees . Although there were huge crowds at the other clubs in the area, such as The Quest, 3 degrees was very empty. On Main was DJ Smoove spinning some hip-hop. Downstairs Mark and I met DJ Free-T and had a long chat. Later I got to shake DJ Smoove's hand. He was a happening kind of guy- cheery and encouraging. After we cleared out of the 3 degrees we walked around. We noticed an outdoor party at some place that started with Bella. Nearly everyone one there (all behind a fence of course) was wearing white. And we saw Sam Cassell of the Timberwolves. In fact we were roughly 5 feet from him while he was talking to some woman on the other side of the fence. Also at the part was Quincy Lewis, formerly of Gopher's basketball fame. His hair was h...

DJ Wazitz Naim in action in the Saintly City. Could it be heaven? 

It sort of frustrates me why celebrities break it off. Why? Because I am a fiercely loyal guy. (I am also picky I guess because I am not hitched yet.) So when Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise go find new flames it it upsets me. How can they be successful actors when relationships are not successful with the ones to whom they were supposed to be faithful. Maybe what gets my goat is this Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise thing. Perhaps it is my subconscious desire for Katie Holmes. For one I did not want her to get hooked into whatever that system of thought Cruise adheres. She's too sweet to go down that path. Or maybe she just appears too sweet. Don't eat the camel, Katie!

A Pontiac from 1951 appears mysteriously. I drive it to the Boondocks with my friend Mark. It is classy. 

I have returned from some of the hottest and most explosive work that any person can attempt to do. No, it's not putting out wildfires in Montana. Nor is it playing hurly with some beautiful models. It was setting up TNT Fireworks super stores (a.k.a circus tents) in various locales around the state. It was a long sweaty, dirty, nearly sleepless 3 days. My journey started in Morris and weaved around from Rochester to Alexandria to Bemidji. I am still exhausted. Driving when one is exhausted to the degree I was should be illegal. I kept blanking out and losing my concentration on the road. Plus I had 2 kids sleeping in the car. Nothing seemed to keep me awake. Not coffee. Nor that Mountain Dew Amp energy drink. Only thing that seemed to work was cold water on my face. My kudos go out to the team that helped assemble to Bemidji tent. Ross, Mark, and Bobbi-Jo were excellent as was Jon. We had that tent looking real good in about 10 hours despite wind and heat. Usually it takes upward...

The TNT Fireworks tent at Bemidji, MN 2005 

Next few days I will be doing a limited engagement with TNT Fireworks in Minnesota. I will be setting up fireworks super stores in parking lots of 4 retailers. This year I get to work in Rochester. No word on any new fireworks but" the plan this year is to use the phrase "Could I interest you in a multi-stage grand finale piece?"

Lord have mercy on us when we find ourselves out at the Boondocks. Reminds me of the Boar's Nest of Dukes of Hazard Fame

Red River of the North overtakes the bike paths at Lindenwood Park. These two riders wonder how they will get across. 

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance Psalm 16:5,6. I think that a Christian life should not stink, but hey at points it does. I get restless, harbor jealousy toward others' glory, and often despise myself for not attaining some remarkable standing in this world. I ask myself- "What am I doing here?!" It is a question that goes unanswered. I keep up doing what I am doing and see others prosper. It is a difficult byway I tread. Why you may ask? Well, it concerns favor and particularly God's favor. I wonder if I have it. It becomes a great comparison game- "That person has it and so and so but why not me?" The question then should be asked- what is God's favor and how does God bestow it? As far as I know the the spine of a Christian's life is that God loves, accepts, and forgives him/her. There is no ands or ifs or b...

Being a rather lean day, I took in the recap of the football season from around the world. Here is my brief rendition of the important events surrounding football- particularly focusing on Europe. Man U snatches English teenage phenom Wayne Rooney from Everton for big ching at start of season. Chelsea exihibit dominance in the English Premiere League. It's probably a "told you so" kind of event but Chelsea final kicked it in gear and won the silverware. John Terry is proving his worth and grabs a spot on the national squad. Kevin Keegan quits. Being a Man City fan of sorts I read a bit about this development. It's not out of the ordinary for him so why bother. Well, City finished in the top 10 this term. Goodbye to Fowler, Macca, and bunch of other older "wiser" guys. Wright-Phillips arises to the occasion. So does Joey Barton in some unusual way. Liverpool outduals the Italian s for the European Champions Cup in one of the greatest finals of all tim...

It's been about a few months since I left the byways of County Mayo but I finally discovered the name of the castle ruins I visted near Kiltimagh. It was not Rathroe as I thought but instead Ballylahan Castle. It dates back from the 12th century and was occupied by the MacJordans. Much thanks to this discovery goes out to castlebar.ie for the extraordinary collection of images of County Mayo, Ireland. The site has some fantastic pictures of places I was near or at but had no opportunity to snap a photo. Slan.

A few days ago the potato based flaky, thin, tortilla-like, food known as lefse made front page news in the Go! It appears that the sale of Lefse was prohibited (quite mistakenly) at local art fairs. This is not a contentious issue because black market lefse abounds in these parts. I assume the authorities who had enforced the lefse ban were swayed by the swell in public opinion. Who would want to go the art fair or bazaar and be denied the right to eat lefse? Not I. As it was it seems the ban was enforced by misinterpretation of some Department of Food and Health documents. Now we are free to sell the stuff anywhere. I, however, prefer boxty .