The Royce Files

Now for the premiere of The Gumshoe or Crime Does Not Pay. p.s. I produced this short. There might be more coming.

Waters are diminishing in the Red River Valley although Sheyenne River valleyflood watching is still on alert (and perhaps James and Maple River valleys too). The National Guard and other Federal agencies had taken the front lines following the big crests. Flood clean up has begun in earnest here in the past week. Spring clean up has been postponed until June. Upcoming celebrations for volunteers here in the 'Go include a May 17th Red Hawks game and a downtown celebration that same day. At the conclusion of the Fargo Marathon (May 9th) there will be a post flood celebration organized by Mind Over Miles - Will Over Water . 32 Below and Johnny Holm will be doing a free concert and there will be free food too! I might be able to go to a bit of it although I am due to see Mystery of Edwin Drood at the high school a few blocks away from the dome. As always, all autograph requests should be directed to my agent. Slan!

I decided to head out early this morning for the Twin Towns rather than do an odd overnight adventure in Birch Lakes State Forest . The decision was mostly because I could not locate a Zune cable. I wasted tons of time looking for it rather than packing. However I went to bed prepared to leave near the strike of 6AM. Well, I left around 6:20AM instead. Finally made to Albertville Outlets with time to spare. It was a pretty ho hum experience. Adidas has nothing and so did Nike. However, I discovered the Crocs store and man the prices were dropping. You could get the real deal Crocs of numerous styles for less than a saw buck. From there I went to Maple Grove and then finally onto the hotel I am currently staying in for the conference I am attending. 2 chaps from Northern Ireland are the speakers. You might of heard of one- U2 has- Robin Mark . Robin played and Paul Reed spoke tonight (he's the other chap.) One point from Paul's message was that corporately the church needs to ...

T he last few years I have developed a taste for the Chicago Hot Dog . This is sort of like the Whopper of the hot dog world- a dog with everything on it. A few places in town serve it- Bertrossa's Chicago Cafe (one of my favorite spots to eat in the downtown) and Orange Julius. I found a place in near downtown St. Paul that also serves up the Chicago and other Chicago culinary delights. I sometimes try to make my one knock off version with ingredients I can find. I have yet to find the sport peppers and poppy seed hot dog buns. It would also be great to find the neon green relish. Needless to say I try my best. I usual grill the cheap dogs (not the Vienna one's but I should find a natural casing one.) but today I steamed them like a street vendor. They were delicious- and go good with a beer.

T his weekend's finds include a few books and a hat. Total cost $1.27 from the newest Dakota Boys Ranch . Now don't jump to conclusions about this thrift store. It's not a cover for a human trafficking scheme. It actually raises funds to help youth and families. Here's what the website says: Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch is dedicated to helping at-risk children and their families as an expression of our joy and faith in Jesus Christ, following Christ's example to serve the needs of others. I didn't realize there was a spiritual side until now. The link here will let you explore just what the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch does.

I crossed over the flooded river in 'Head to see some ice hockey at the Moorhead Sports Center. The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) U18 World Championships are being held in the area and promise I take in one game. That one game happened to be Norway versus Switzerland. Nothing really special. Across town at the new Urban Plains Center the U.S. were playing Czech Republic. But I decided I'd go for the cheap game ($6 compared to upwards of $30). No disappointments. It was a good game. I had a great seat. Norway were already losing 2-0 when I arrived at about 5 minutes into the 1st period. Switzerland were just trouncing the Norwegians although I thought Norway played a better passing game. The teams were sort of the calibre of minor league hockey although they often looked like the Wild on a bad day. It has been a rather high scoring tournament so 7-3 wasn't anything out of the norm. In researching the IIHF U18 World Championship, I discovered there is more than ...

A lbeit a bit less severe, in this town it's still called a flood. The second crest forecast of last which appeared to suggest utter doom for the region was not as high as anticipated. The weather service put out an original 2nd crest at 41' or above. Mayor Dennis Walaker wasn't buying it. By his theory the 2nd crest should be around 38'. Today the crest forecast is at 35'. Dikes and sandbags are holding. A helicopter appears to be flying around the city twice daily. Outside of the Go, there is plenty more flooding happening. A few days ago Valley City, 60 miles west of here, was partially evacuated as the Sheyenne River reached a historic crest. Lisbon was also affected by the Sheyenne's growing girth. Then up in the northern tier of the state the Magic City, Minot, has a little bit of flooding . Winnipeg has declared a flood emergency. And still blame is placed on climate change although history and geography have much more to do with these events. Although...