The Royce Files

I skipped reviews for the very special Ace Schonrock Intramural Glory episodes since I think the show might jump the shark. I was wrong. Ace showed the team some class and brought a tear into my root beer. Best moment was Owen's comment on the block- simple yet effective. Nevertheless, I've got another episode to review. So let's dig in. There's nearly 10 minutes of footage to episode 8 which features some decent game shots. I think this is the first episode where the flow of game shots aren't just slugs to fill space but actually get more of the story across. However, the Cougar flipped part is a bit confusing. My assumption is he threw up but there is nothing backing that up. All we see is angry, riled Cougar fuming. Besides gameplay, we also get a string of vignettes one in particular returns Kyle to the show. The Boima and Kyle knee scenes are great and for some reason Kyle looks like he just came from filming another show. Old Guy and The Ledge also was a good ...

One day I rode around town. Just look at the sight I had found. A big yellow bear on the side of the road Fallen over, for sale This big yellow bear Nary a passerby would care

I n its earlier days, Pontiac featured a Native American on its logo. It may have just been a representation of the famous chief himself, Pontiac although no authentic images of him are known to exist. In the center background you may be able to see a Pontiac Chieftain under a large tree. Pontiac ceased production of the car sometime in the late 1950s. In 1956 they also changed their trademark from the Indian head dress to something more akin to an arrowhead.

I went to the TCs to take part in a huge car show at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds- Back to the 50s . My family brought their vintage car out to the show and did one of 2 things - sat around or walked around. The car in the picture is not the family car although you would think a Rolls Royce should be. Our classic car is a 1951 Pontiac Chieftain. Apparently Jack Benny owned one so I'm glad. However, I saw about a half dozen Rolls Royces at the show that featured about 11,000 pre-1965 cars and hot rods dispersed across the grounds. There was even 1 Rolls Royce that was manufactured for the English Royal Family. I think I only saw a dozen so Pontiacs. Half of those were Chieftains. Chevys and Fords were everywhere. Other cars I enjoyed looking for were the VW Type 1 (commonly called a beetle) and the Packard. The Back to the 50s event is pretty low key. No huge cash awards were offered to my knowledge just a lot of cars and people milling about enjoying looking at some fine cars. ...

20 June 1957 - a day etched into the history of Fargo which will not be forgotten. In the early evening a devasting tornado struck the north side of Fargo killing 10 , most of which were of a single family. (note: Death tolls have been listed as 10, 12 and 13 from various sources, I will go with a conservative count here.) More were injuried and there was upwards of $20 million in damage. T oday marks the 50th anniversary of this natural disaster. Indeed, the pictures and rememberances of it are not much different from recent tornados that have decimated areas in the United States, however the loss of life, injuries, and level of damage certainly give a more grave portrait. On learning about this storm Ted Fujita collected the storm data and photographs. His published findings in 1960 spawned further study of tornado prediction and advanced the forecasting of such storms. Eventually this information along with other tornadic data lead to the creation of the Fujita Scale in 1971 to rat...

An episode of This American Life (Notes on Camp) reminded me of the my days as camp counselor. In fact the episode was produced and recorded in 1998, my second year as a counselor. The show inspired me to be camp nostalgic . I don't have much from those days just these memories and a few pictures (the one at left is not one of them). The middle of June this year marks 10 years since I began camp counseling at Clearwater Forest (or more formally Presbyterian Clearwater Forest). I spent portions of 4 summers there literally growing up as I faced the challenges of dealing with kids. I went there mostly because of a girl I liked. It seems this theme has followed me around a bit (see How I Started Running ). I am collecting camp memories so maybe you can tell me yours. Now onto what I entitle "My Campy Clearwater Days" I did not want to go back to landscaping grunt crew so what better thing to do than work at a camp where there was free room and board and all I needed to...

I admit, I like putting on make up. Ever since my early days in the theatre I have enjoyed painting the face to make a character. I did a really mean old age application a number of times. I am not sure I am ready to go pro yet but there always is the yearning.

I hold a role in 2 churches that is usually recognized as "worship leader." The job typically involves leading the congregation a few songs at each meeting. Yet how come this does not get defined at music leader or chief musician. Sure, singing a few songs reflecting on the attributes of God and us expressing how much we love Him is an act of worship. Yet, I am perplexed why it seems it, worship, ends there. God doesn't just leave the room after we break the silence that typically occurs at the end of the music. Nor am I required to lead individuals in sacrificing their lives to God as Romans 12 speaks of worship. Historically, worship required sacrifice. In the Old Testament portion of Bible, to worship God involved sacrificing some pure animal and placing it on an altar. Singing, prayers, recitation of God's decrees were also involved. In addition the Old Testament speaks that obedience is better than sacrifice - alluding to what God really desires- that we do hi...

Phil basked in his fatherhood again and took numerous photos of his progeny. Picture of Ivan John are here .

This one goes out to David. Keeping making those happy trees.

J une 12th marks a happy event for the ever quotable Phil. Early on this day ( 5:11 AM ) Phil was bequeathed with a solemn duty- fatherhood . Congratulations Phil! Phil now steps into a new level of responsibility and "joy" while his arch nemesis James returned from Mexico with tales of cheap beer which I will not discuss here. I spoke with Phil on Memorial Day and these are some of things I think we discussed. On baby names: "If it's a boy-Miller Lyte or maybe Bud. If it's a girl I call her St. Pauli Gerl or Amber Bach." Phil and Katie named their almost nine pound lad Iven John (I am unsure of the spelling so took a bold stab at it). Check here to see when the pictures go up. Concerning his arch nemesis James, Phil appeared rather upset although he was confused about the identity of James (the guy who did a smashing job researching buttloads ). Phil took offense with the Royce Files having another quotable guy. I alleviated his gall by purchasing beer to...