The Royce Files

Once again made an appearance at Back to the Fifties at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. This behemoth of a show just keeps going. Over 11,000 cars from '63 and before cram into the grounds. Many are hot rods but still more are classics such as the one my family owns, The Green Hornet, a 1951 Pontiac Chieftain. The Pontiacs are quite a rare breed at this show. Mercurys are too as are Rolls Royces. Chevys and Fords dominate. In particular the Chevy Bell Air. Its literally on every block. That should be my movie for next year. Do a sampling of a block of cars and determine what percentage are Chevy Bell Airs. It was a full weekend. On Sunday we finally got to Sonic in St. Paul. It wasn't quite what we expected in a drive in. I guess we were spoiled to have been in on the tail end of A&Ws twilight growing up. The menu seemed sparce. There were no tray holder things. But the food was good. No complaints here. A&W still exists but not in the Drive In fashion. No I take th...

One of my other jobs I lead the music at a local church. Perhaps you know which one, but that is irrelevant. Well a multitude of things could go wrong on a Sunday morning. Things that went wrong for me include- broken projector, dead sound system, broken strings, children bum rushing the stage, and one concerning a song which I need to explain. I decided to do a particular song. It was about a cross. I pulled the music for the musicians. Come time to perform it I soon discover the group does not have the same music as I do. I wade through it aimlessly with sporadic mismatching accompaniment. Fortunately, attendance was small enough and I didn't get the boot. In fact I am surprised no one even realized but myself and the other musicians. The following are some worship leader nightmares. I entitle the first one "Open the Door, Worship is Falling." I've had a few people suspect that the above was staged. The following was not staged. What do you think? It gives reason to...

I was downright ashamed of my team tonight. And we actually technically played very well. Unfortunately in the heat of battle some got bent out of shape and fair play slipped. We started the match without an official which got things a bit heated by half. We were actually playing a fairly free flowing game without one. I think we may even have been leading at one time. Second half begins and we obtain an official because the 1st half ended with some complaints. Then somewhere into the half the dissent begins to fly from my team (i.e. complaining and arguing calls.) Not really a good idea since the official was FIFA registered (a rarity in these parts) and FIFA had been proactive in the last few years in clamping down on dissent from the professional leagues down to the rec league. One of my teammates was ejected from the game and the field after using a slide tackle (not allowed in this league.) I didn't even stepped foot on the pitch in the 2nd half. It was a nuclear meltdown and...

T here has been plenty to blog about in the last 3 weeks but haven't had the time to write about it so I'll put stuff in a digest form. The topics in this digest include Marathon Post Mortem , Memorial Day Adventures, 48 Hour Film Project Concluding Remarks, Return to the Cache. Marathon Post Mortem I wrote a bit about it last month. Sondag provided additional commentary in the comments. After reflecting on the post marathon press and commentary it appears even great events face growing pains. The loop idea had mixed reviews although at first it seemed there was a lot of good comments. Traffic control and start line stuff could see some considerable improvements to benefit the swelling participants. There has been some debate concerning the 5k race- having it on Friday being one option bandied about. Apparently some 5k runners were unaware that their race started after the half and whole marathon began. An improvement in the food or a return to what has been offered in the past...

This week's bargain's cost absolutely nothing thanks to clean up week here in town. All of these items were found on the side of the road awaiting to be lugged away to a dump until I snatched them up. Here's what is pictured- a green Samonsite shoulder bag that could be used as a carry on but had been put into service as a gig bag. I used it last weekend for the surprise Cornerstone appearance. 2 16mm Disney Films (Bear Trouble and The Tortoise and the Hare.) These are rare these days. I could have taken a 16mm projector but passed it up. My father has a projector that can show these. The board game Risk . This is the mid 70s version of the world domination game(aka cold war checkers.) It seems to have all the pieces and is in good condition. Other stuff I found but not featured here: flower pots, a push shovel.

O f all the places you would expect to see Sven, Fargo is the least likely. However the former England, Manchester City, Mexico, Lazio, Benfica boss made an appearance at the downtown movie house during the 48 Hour Film Project. I am not sure why, but maybe it was the best way to avoid being hounded over his sad departure from the Mexico job a few months ago. Sven is the fellow on the right hand side in the yellow jacket. I have included another images for comparison. Sven has quite a reputation- some good and some bad. He did all right with the England squad and managed to get the Manchester City side to win both matches with rival Manchester United but he has never ascended to the success he had in Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. Today is jobless but perhaps heard of the good job forecast in the Dakotas and decided to pay a visit. Actually it may be a good move if he joins up with a MLS side to avoid the squabbles of the press. Perhaps these backwaters would do him good. On another note...