The Royce Files

Those of you who don't scrounge around the far ends of the Internet galaxy are missing some great videos. I have become a fan of YouTube. It is a varitible smoragasbord of delight. (Although James would vehemently denounce it.) Well one night as I was getting a dose of some YouTube and came across a series entitled Chad Vader put out by Blame Society Films from Madison, Wisconsin. It begins with Chad Vader, Darth's brother apparently, in a job as a shift manager in a grocery store. Chad is a spitting image of his bro but occasionally has a few problems with adapting to real life. Currently 7 episodes are available and I think the season finale is in post production as I write. The production is real quality and even includes a few special effects.

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K ids are astonished at the presence of the Irish gorilla at the parade. The media, however, pay no attention to the spectacle. I never caught up with the Irish gorilla but I sense that this giant bi-ped is still lurking downtown. Perhaps behind Dempsey's Pub.

Throngs of people descended upon Downtown Fargo on Saturday afternoon to catch the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. The weather was sunny and brisk but overall pleasant. The parade seemed to lose at bit of luster from last year's parade. Absent were plenty of costumed individuals, bands, animals (other than dogs), and better candy distribution. Most units distributing candy were all out by the time they reched NP and there were plenty of children lining Broadway from there to the tracks. Could have made for a bad riot had the children risen up. The parade plodded along at points and created quite a few gaps. Entertainment was okay- there were a few dancers, a pipe and drum band and 1 guy playing the tin whistle on a truck. For ND's largest city this was a pretty mediocre showing. The spectators kept encroaching upon the parade route that you would think that someone famous was in it. This year St. Patrick didn't even show up (not in person that is) although there were ...

S ince episode 5 premieres today I need to post my review of episode 4 of the epic basketball documentry Intramural Glory . Things are looking up for Team Unglaublich although Kyle is out indefinitely. In this installment he claims he will be making a comeback but we'll have to see about that. For insurance GM Kevin brings in Matt, a former All-American Division III player. I met up with Matt a few weeks ago. He doesn't say much. Unlike Ledge, his play does the talking. Not to get down on Ledge, he brings a certain attitude that a team needs to crush the opposition before and after the game. During the game, I am not sure Ledge turns his tude into points, rebounds or assists. Probably the biggest highlight is that Team U actually wins! Has this pack of Internet chosen ballers has now broken ground to emerge as a dominant team? Perhaps. Coach McCue may liken it to directing a soap opera/circus rather than ascending the road to glory. Now for some pseudo-awards: Best Scene- Coug...

O nce again I have created a list of ideas to help individuals prayer for Ireland (Republic and North). I solicited input from the readers of Relevant Magazine Online message board and got a few response which I incorperated this year. So here it is: Irish youth to discover the real life in Christ. Grace given to Irish Christians to authentically represent Jesus. Peace that will bring healing from wrongs and injustices of the past in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Christian workers. Irish men and women to answer the call to service. For the Irish to rise up in the Holy Spirit to impact their nation and the world. Lord's prayer in Irish Gaelic: Ár n-Athair atá ar neamh, Go naofar d'ainim, Go dtagfadh do ríocht, Go ndéantar do thoil ar an talamh mar a dhéantar ar neamh. Ár n-arán laethúil tabhair dúinn inniu,agus maith dúinn ár bhfiachamar a mhaithimidne dár bhféichiúna féin Ach ná lig sinn i gcathú, ach saor sinn ó olc Legend has it that Patrick went up a hill near Westpor...

You are a young lad hoping to impress a lovely young lass. Where do you take her? A fine restaurant? A movie? A concert? The trendy coffee shop? None of those. You bring her to Wal-Mart and lolligag the evening away. In my visits to the mecca of merchandizing and materialism after 10 PM, I see gaggles of girls and boys plodding through the store together with no particular place to go. In a town still influenced by Blue Laws , there is not much amusement after 10 PM, so why not go the safest 24 hour joint in town. But Wal-Mart as a date location? Come on now, kids! Even virtual text messaging is probably better than that. And do you think you're going to make out in automotive? No way, there are cameras everywhere and you'll sure to become YouTubed by some enterprising Wal-Mart employee. What basically is lacking is any creativity. Wal-Mart does not equal a great place to spend with a lovely woman. How un-romantic!

Last night opened my return to the pitch in competitive soccer. It was not very glorious. It has been nearly 20 years since I donned a jersey. A few years ago I played pick up recreational games with some internationals. My company squad lost handily to a group of Concordia College men and women who appeared to have much more experience than us. To be honest, they were better dribblers and passers although they lacked a bit of creativity in goalscoring. Nevertheless there were positives to this match. Our goaltender impressed me by making some stunning saves albeit he allowed 10 goals. To our credit we did score 2 goals. I played about 3 minutes out of 50 in sort of a mid-fielder stopper position and had an unfortunate ball go through me for a goal. For a group of mostly 30+ year olds with little to no experience we did well. However, it looks like we will switch leagues to be with competition more fitting to our age levels. In other intramural leagues, Team Unglaublich took to hard...

Brett Winkelman (#22) turns his back on me during NDSU's victory over IPFW in men's basketball. No bison mascot at this game. Why? Did this bison not show because of me?

T his past Saturday I had the opportunity to catch the last Bison Men's Basketball game of the season. The Bison overcame the Mastadons of the abbreviated school of IPFW which is Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. NDSU won without the Mastadons putting up much a fight. I arrived at the game a 1/3 through the first half and they were up by 5. Final score was 73-57. Although they won, State did not appear sharp until later in the 2nd half. Both teams were racking up turnovers and missing some easy field goals. It was nothing like that Wisconsin game last year. Senior Andre Smith bid farewell with a slam dunk with a little over a minute to play in the game. Smith has been the poster boy of most of the Bison basketball marketing. The win gave NDSU 20 wins for a season that feature competition ranging from Mayville State to Texas Tech. The Bison held there own against the big guns and really made headlines when they defeated Marquette in December. I went to the game primarily because I had no...