The Royce Files

Some of you would suspect that the blog is on hiatus. And you would be partially right although in an accidental kind of way. Numerous blog-worthy items have occurred since that last post . But on hiatus I am not. I just moved someplace where I do not have a regular internet connection. So I digress and will compress the items of note from previous weeks. Item 1: Return of the bike trip In August my Mostly Finnish Bride and I took a bicycling adventure which took us through the central part of Minnesota. It was mostly on rail to trail but was a scenic trip that took us through miles of landscape which perhaps inspired Garrison Keillor. You know I have yet to read anything from him that does not take its setting from that idyllic community someplace near St. Cloud or related to his life. It would be interesting if he could right a series of science fiction stories or maybe a treatise on deep sea exploration. I suspect it would either begin...

I decided to go to the performance of Dakota Air this weekend. This monthly radio show is recorded live someplace in North Dakota each month. Today it was a few blocks away from where I currently reside. An acquaintance at work is the music director for the show and since it seemed pretty similar to the show I do at Christmas I decided to check it out. I was not disappointed. The show was chalk full of musical performances intermixed with historical and local flavor in the form of skits and monologues. Steve Stark anchors that side of the show flawlessly. The host, Merill Piepkorn, kept the show flowing and often sang and played superbly on the harmonica. Now the show is definitely a step-child to Prairie Home Companion minus fake sponsorships and a fake town which a monologue is delivered about. In fact, the show is a lot less fictionally based than Keillor's gig. Dakota Air is also missing the big name acts which often appear on Prairie Home. Instead, they utilize local talent...

In the evening of my state fair visit, I was entertained by Garrison Keillor and his Prairie Home Companion show. My father bought tickets for all of us and we had great seats on the infield. Garrison was at his best that evening. The show was superb. It featured some New Orleans tributes and 2 groups. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a stranded New Orleans jazz group that also sang harmony. They were a blast. Then there was a Candian trio of ladies called the Wailing Jennings (a play on the musician, God rest his soul, Waylon Jennings). These ladies were fabulous as well. One played an accordian. The all sang heavenly harmonies reminiscient of the Indigo Girls. At the break Garrison lead the audience in a sing along. We sang "Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies", all the verses of "Amazing Grace" and the Elvis tune "I Can't Help Falling in Love." During the sing a long Garrison was about 20 feet from us. I did not ask for his autograph. The second half of...