On the Sunday before Labor Day I hosted a little Bennett Family Reunion. Although none of the Fort Dodge Bennetts attended, I think it was a rousing success. It was the first reunion of its kind in at least 20 years. I hope that we can have another one next year.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Just a couple notes. This was Naima’s first family function and she handled herself wonderfully for only having been in her new home for 5 days. Amazingly, she had yet to discover human food. That turned out to be a short lived nirvana though.

Also, I only wore that horrible Chiefs shirt to honor my cousin Jordan who is the most realistic Chiefs fan I know. So thanks for giving me that shirts Mr. Baier. It was a hit.

As you may recall, I like to check in on some statistics every 100 posts or so to see how things are doing in popularity. However, this statistical check-in will mark the end of an era. I am officially retiring the Snapshots Gallery and the Artistic Gallery.

The advent of the store has made them obsolete and why bother with galleries where you can’t buy anything, right Andree Jauhari, Marla Gorshe, and Jennifer Wohlgemuth of Minnesota! Right. Right?

Therefore, the only gallery that will remain is the Store. Check it out:

So here are the final rankings of the 10 most popular pictures in the Artistic Gallery. For the record, these are heavily skewed by spammers:

1. 669 Views


2. 497 Views


3. 410 Views


4. 375 Views


5. 352 Views


5. 352 Views


7. 351 Views


8. 350 Views


8. 350 Views


8. 350 Views

Here are the 10 most popular pictures from the Snapshots Gallery. Data heavily skewed by spammers.

1. 2010 Labor Day – 915 Views


2. Jesse & I Netting My Trees – 643 Views


3. Derrick & a Gunderburger – 245 Views


4. Tailgating Games – 229 Views


5. Baier & I at Chiefs Game – 169 Views


6. Shannon & I at an Inebriated Saints Show – 89 Views


7. Shannon in Backbone – 54 Views


8. Holding the White Trash Elixir – 49 Views


9. Brandon Tailgating – 45 Views


10. Gunderburger! – 43 Views

Here is the list of the ten people that have contributed (in some way shape or form) to this blog the most in the first 1199 entries. Plus how many entries they have been in since we last looked at these numbers. Plus where they were the last time we looked at these numbers.

1. Jesse – 174 – +9 – 1
2. Jay - 165 – +13 – 2
3. Shannon – 153 – +6 – 3
4. Derrick – 138 – +14 – 4
5. Jen – 124 – +16 – 6
6. Teresa – 118 – +9 – 5
7. Sara – 112 – +15 – 8
8. Willy – 110 – +8 – 7
9. Vest – 95 – +14 – 9
10. Carla – 84 – +10 – NR
10. Mom – 84 – +17 – NR

Who are the 3 greatest movers outside of the Top Ten?

1. Dad – +16
2. Jill – +14
3. Evie – +6

Thanks to this group of friends and family for their consistent efforts in aiding me in my photographic pursuits, either through assisting, modeling, inspiring, listening, or just being around a whole lot. I couldn’t do what I do with out them. And so many other people too!

“In the end, everything is a gag.”

- Charlie Chaplin

When it comes to college basketball prognostication, 2011 will be remembered as the Year of the Woman.

Not only did the Roundball Oracles crown our first ever champion from the fairer of the two sexes, three out of the top four finishers were also members of the female persuasion.

It was certainly a chaotic NCAA Tournament this year.  Consider these facts:

• Before the Final Four was even played, our championship was already secured.
• Only two people (Jesse and I) even got a single Final Four team right. We both got Connecticut right.
• Our eventual champion’s national champion lost in the 1st Round.
• 6 people picked Kansas as their champ, 4 picked Duke, 2 people picked Ohio State, 1 person picked Syracuse, 1 person picked UCLA, 1 person picked Michigan State, and 1 person picked BYU. None of those teams even made it to the Final Four.
• Our eventual champion finished in last place last year.
• Our 3 time defending champ finished in 2nd to last place this year.
• Only Jesse got 1 of the teams in the championship game (Connecticut) right.

So who is the new Queen of College Basketball Divination?

The Final Standings

Name – Bracket Name – Points – Correct Games – Last Year

1. Carrie Baier – Izzo – 100 points -41/63 – 21st
2. Jesse Howard – MeatThermometer – 94 points  – 39/63 – 13th
3. Linda Toot – LittleSister – 74 points – 38/63 – 9th
4. Dawn Krause – Duh Winning – 73 points – 34/63 – 3rd
5. Jason Baier – Duke the Fifth – 72 points – 35/63 – 7th
6. Corey Faust – Always Go Top Shelf – 69 points – 34/63 – 4th
7. Christopher D. Bennett – They Call Me Mr. Bennett – 63 points – 31/63 – 18th
8. Robert Henning – Losing Bracket – 59 points – 32/63 – 8th
9. Russell Kennerly – StackinWinsLikeJustinBeiber – 59 points – 31/63 – 17th
10. Andree Jauhari – Floccinaucinihilipilification- 58 points – 31/63 – DNP
11. Nate Buckingham – White Magic – 57 points – 33/63 – 9th
12. Tim Peterson – Dominate Monkey – 57 points – 32/63 – 9th
13. Lowell Davis – Golden voiced hobo lover – 53 points – 34/63 – DNP
14. Nader Parsaei – Oscar – 51 points – 29/63 – 2nd
15. Mark Wolfram – Taiwan Hawkeye – 26/63 – 1st
16. Shaun Kirsch – Lil_Dog – 45 points – 29/63 – DNP
17. Frank Meiners – Master Picks – 0 points – 0/63 -4th

If I were giving an award for the best bracket name, it would clearly go to Andree, but I am not. Perhaps next year.

Carrie’s name now sits in the Hall of Champions with the past greats:

Past Champions

2011 – Carrie Baier

2010 – Mark Wolfram

2009 – Mark Wolfram

2008 – Mark Wolfram

2007 – Tim Peterson

2006 – William McAlpine

2005 – William McAlpine

I already can’t wait for the next college basketball season to start and not only because I expect the Cyclones to return to greatness next year. At least I have the Spring Game to look forward to in a couple of weeks. It is football, but it is something.

There weren’t many submissions for STILL LIFE, but at least Julie joined us again! Here are the submissions for STILL LIFE:

Mike Vest of Waxen Media


Christopher D. Bennett


Julie Johnson of The Joy Is In The Journey

I went over to talk to the Random Theme Generator and it immediately spit out a theme for this week:

A great and easy subject for me as I am considered one of the world’s foremost masters of communication. I just hope this theme comes as easy for others as it does for me.

A look back at 2010′s submissions for COMMUNICATION:

HOUSEKEEPING

It is March Madness again, that means that it is time once again for the Roundball Oracles annual NCAA tournament pool. I have already sent out quite a few emails with directions on how to join the pool, but if I missed you or haven’t gotten to you yet, drop me an email at bennett@photography139.com and I will get the information to you forthwith.

As always, this isn’t a boy’s club. Women, small children and the elderly are welcome to sit at my feet and be taught lessons by my extensive basketball knowledge and basketball prognostication skills.

As always, the only fee to enter is pride. The only prize given out to the losers is humility. However, I do provide a trophy to the winner. That trophy is going to look nice sitting on my desk this year.

As always, I hope the winner isn’t Mark Wolfram.

Past Champions

2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine

Last year we had a record number of participants. Basketball knowledge is not a prerequisite for participation. Just ask Carrie Baier from last year!

Movie – Country Strong

Director: Shana Feste (The Greatest)

Writer: Shana Feste (The Greatest)

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow (Se7en, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums), Tim McGraw (The Blind Side, Flicka), Garrett Hedlund (Troy, Four Brothers, Tron: Legacy), and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl, Date Night, The Roommate)

Theater – Cinemark Movies 12 – Ames, Iowa

Companion – Nader

Food - King Buffet

Intellectual Honesty

I like Gwyneth Paltrow. All things considered, I thought she would have had a slightly better career.

I also like it when the writer and the director are the same person. It helps me buy into the auteur theory and I really like that theory.

Baggage

I really can’t stand new country music. I grew up listening to old country music and enjoy the works of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Sr. and Tom T. Hall (the first person I ever mention that name to and they instantly know the song Sneaky Snake – well there aren’t words for how I feel about that person). I can’t stand the warbling of any of the current country “musicians”.

I also thought that Tim McGraw was terrible in The Blind Side.

Synopsis from IMDB

A drama centered on a rising country-music songwriter (Hedlund) who sparks with a fallen star (Paltrow). Together, they mount his ascent and her comeback, which leads to romantic complications involving her husband/manager (McGraw) and a beauty queen-turned-singer (Meester).

Review

I’m not into cleverly changing the name of the movie to reflect how I feel about it. I leave that to Nader, but considering the inevitable resolution to this movie, I think the title is a misnomer. Cliche Strong would be a good name.

Cliche Strong because this movie piles one country music cliche on top of another on top of another. I understand that this happens because country music (the current incarnation) is the least interesting and least creative form of music being created today. If you write a song about your dog and a beatup pickup truck I guarantee you that it will be “rocking” karaoke nights all across Boone County, but it is as about as intellectually stimulating as paying your water bill.

It seems like this movie is meant to be the girl power version of Crazy Heart, only in the end the girl isn’t overly empowered. It follows the story of an alcoholic country musician, the only difference being the location along the career arc for the musicians. Bridges’ Bad Blake was washed up. Paltrow’s Kanter is still a big star capable of selling out arenas. Despite the fact that she fell off a stage drunk, 5 months pregnant and lost her baby.

Crazy Heart is much deeper and the music is better. Country Strong paints its emotions with a wide brush and it feels like it would be right at home on the Hallmark Channel. For you middle aged women out there, that wasn’t a compliment.

Despite Crazy Heart having better music, Country Strong is at its best when you don’t have to listen to the cliche characters struggle through cliche dialogue. It is best when they are on stage performing. I particularly enjoy the songs by Hedlund’s Hutton. The title song is kind of week, but the climatic Coming Home isn’t bad and is the best of Paltrow’s songs.

Tim McGraw doesn’t sing once in the movie, but he gives the best performance. As milquetoast as his performance is in The Blind Side, he is really good at playing a multi-layered douchebag here. He isn’t all bad, but in the end, he is a douchebag that takes his wife out of rehab too early and forces her out on a tour that her sobriety isn’t able to sustain. When she gets drunk before the first stop on the tour, he doesn’t see this as a sign that she needs to go back to rehab. He just forces the tour on, hoping to cash a bigger check in the future. Rather than spending more time with her, he spends it with Meester’s Stanton. McGraw is really good as a nonsupportive-semisupportive husband.

Nothing else really stands out in this movie, except that you’ve seen it all before. Done better.

Rating
2.5/5.0 Caramels

Buy on DVD
I won’t, but I considered buying the soundtrack until I realized they had replaced some of the songs performed by the actors in the movie with Faith Hill and Sara Evans. Not digging it record execs.

2010 Ranking
One of the most mediocre of 2010. Like Star Wars, made bearable by good music.

Bonus Information
While at True Grit the trailer for Country Strong played. Baier leaned over and proclaimed that he would seize the Man Card of anybody that attended this movie. I told him exactly when and where I would be watching this movie. He must have decided he wasn’t man enough to try to seize my Man Card, because I am still in full possession of it.

This review officially catches me up on movie reviews. In the future, I plan to use Tuesdays as a look back at my personal archives of photos. I’m going to go through every folder on my hard drive (before Photography 139) and start publishing a few out of a different folder every week. If I can stay disciplined, then I will use Wednesdays for movie reviews. Then I can officially get most of my private life out of the blog and turn to the creation of a collective blog. It is there that I hope to start a collection of fictional short stories. It is a goal any way.

The Story – 2011

This is more of a year long photo project, but I’ll file it under here any way.

I have this window in my entryway/dining room that I don’t really like. During the Christmas season I use it to display Christmas cards. I’ve decided to use it to display pictures of me and my friends and family on my adventures in 2011.

One of my favorite musicians is Brandi Carlile. I saw her in concert 3 times last year. One of my favorite songs by her is The Story. That song was the inspiration for this project.

The Story

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you
I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do
I was made for you
You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what
I’ve been through like you do
And I was made for you…
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true…I was made for you

These are the first pictures to be displayed in The Story Project:

Baier and I Before the Raiders Crushed the Chiefs


Baier and I Before the Raiders Humiliated the Chiefs


Sara and I Before The Tourist

I have set up a separate album in The Snapshots Gallery for The Story Project:

I hope to see many of you on my window this year!

It is hard to believe that this journal has reached entry 1,000.

Since I enjoy rather meaningless statistics, I’m going to go over a few right now.

According to how many times they have been viewed, these are the 10 Most Popular Pictures in the Artistic Gallery:

1. Gazing Ball Self-Portrait


2. Outburst of the Soul


3. Jen Between UnHingd Sets


3. UnHingd Publicity Still


5. US30 East of Ogden


6. 1900


6. Abandoned Piano – McCallsburg


6. Becca Senior Picture


9. Grizzly McAlpine


10. Obama Political Rally


10. Campanile Self-Portrait

These are the 10 Most Popular Snapshots Gallery Pictures:

1. Jesse and I with the World’s Largest Cheeto


2. Jesse and I Backstage at the Surf Ballroom


3. Jesse Eating a Bob’s Dog


4. Shannon Reading a Map at Backbone State Park


5. Jesse and I at Eagle Point Park


5. Cousin Amy, Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert


5. Jesse Kissing the Blarney Stone in Emmetsburg


8. Jesse Onstage at the Surf Ballroom


8. Jesse and I Resting at the Sargent Floyd Monument


10. Some Kind of Deal Going Down at a Bonne Finken Concert


10. Sara and Jen at Bonne Finken Concert

The Top Ten People I Write About, Photograph or Contribute in Some Way (Tagged in Journal Entries):

1. Jay (144)
2. Jesse (143)
3. Shannon (140)
4. Derrick (117)
5. Jen (101)
6. Teresa (96)
7. Willy (93)
8. Sara (88)
9. Baier (65)
10. Dawn (64)

Of course, we will revisit these numbers and pictures in about 100 or so journal entries. Of course, it will be interesting to see what has changed!

Director: Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy, In Good Company)

Writers: John Hamburg (Meet the Parents, Zoolander, I Love You, Man) & Larry Stuckey

Starring: Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Greenberg), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, Heat) & Teri Polo (Meet the Parents, Beyond Borders, Meet the Fockers)

Theater – Cinemark Movies 12 – Ames, Iowa

Companion – Nader

Food – Probably, can’t remember.

Intellectual Honesty

Meet the Parents is one of my favorite comedies ever. Meet the Fockers was an incredible disappointment. Ben Stiller is usually hilarious, but he does make some bad movies. Robert De Niro is one of my all-time favorites, but admittedly, not for comedies.

Baggage

I can’t stand Barbara Streisand.

Synopsis from IMDB

It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get “in” with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam’s entire clan-including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson)-descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch…or will the circle of trust be broken for good?

Review

This isn’t really the type of movie that is easy to write about. It is a big improvement on Meet the Fockers, but it is nowhere near as good as Meet the Parents. All the usuals are back and are great in their roles. Owen Wilson’s Kevin character seems a little more forced than before and his part could have been trimmed considerably.

The movie is enjoyable enough, but it just isn’t terribly funny. It feels like we’ve seen all these jokes before, because we have. I don’t mind so much because I love the characters and the dynamics between Greg (Stiller) and Jack (De Niro) are lots of fun, but at the end of the day you feel like something funnier could have been made.

It is perfectly pleasant way to spend an evening, but I hoped for so much more than pleasant.

Rating
2.5/5 Caramels

Buy on DVD
Nope, but I will watch it when it is on television.

2010 Ranking
Doesn’t really deserve a ranking. I’ll have to be more proactive in my ranking system in 2011.

Bonus Information

I saw a preview for a movie starring Topher Grace and Anna Farris called Take Me Home Tonight. I am super pumped to see this movie. The fact that they lip sync to N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton is enough for me. I don’t even care what happens in the rest of the movie.

Director: Coen Brothers (Fargo, Blood Simple, The Hudsucker Proxy, No Country for Old Men)

Writers: Coen Brothers (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?)

Starring: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, Seabiscuit, King Kong), Hailee Steinfeld, & Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, The Departed, The Bourne Identity)

Theater – Springwood 9 – Ankeny, Iowa

Companions – Andree, Baier and Russell

Food – China Buffet – Ankeny, Iowa

Intellectual Honesty

I’m a big fan of Matt Damon and have been since Good Will Hunting. I like Jeff Bridges a lot as well. I have been excited for this movie since the first time I saw the trailer and not just because the trailer features a Johnny Cash song.

Baggage

I’m not really sure this is baggage or intellectual honesty, but it is probably a little of both. I love/hate the Coen Brothers. They have made some of the best and most original movies of the last couple of decades: No Country for Old Men, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy, Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple. They have made some of the worst movies as well: Burn After Reading, The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty. They have made some of the most overrated as well: The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink.

I’m not a fan of remakes, but since True Grit isn’t what I would consider a classic of the cinema, I don’t mind it being remade.

Synopsis from IMDB

Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with “true grit,” Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her “grit” tested.

Review

It is hard to really pick which version of True Grit is better. This Coen Brothers version, or the John Wayne original. They are very similar. If I was forced to pick one over the other, I would pick the original. The few changes that the Coen brothers made from the original are not improvements. Even though Jeff Bridges is a better actor than John Wayne, John Wayne is better in the role of Cogburn. The role of LaBoeuf is not a particularly good role, but Glenn Campbell is better than Matt Damon. This is one of Damon’s worst performances to date. He isn’t dreadful, but he isn’t particularly good either. Barry Pepper’s performance is enigmatic. It seems that he is actually imitating Robert Duvall’s performance from the original.

Hailee Steinfeld is a revelation however. She is wonderful and all of the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance as the 14 year old girl that hires Rooster Cogburn to track down and bring her father’s murderer to justice is well-deserved. Mattie Ross is one of the best characters for a teenage girl to play and she nails it.

Although this is a small critique for a movie that is mostly filmed beautifully, there are scenes in the movie that are so overexposed that the natural beauty of the scenery loses its contrast. While I’m certain that this was intentional, (although it is possible that this was just laziness by the lighting crew as well) I didn’t enjoy it.

It is a good movie with many good performances and 1 great performance and a couple of subpar performances.

Rating
3.5/5 Caramels

Buy on DVD
I would consider buying this movie on DVD if I got it for a good price.

2010 Ranking
It is probably in the bottom half of the Top 10 movies I’ve seen this year. Maybe #7 or #8.

Bonus Information
The Ankeny theater is perhaps the poorest designed theater I have ever watched a movie in. The door was left open for the 1st 15-20 minutes of the movie. So was the door to the theater directly across the hall. For a good portion of the film I had to listen to the movie across the hall.

Before the movie there was a trailer for Country Strong. Baier announced anybody that saw that film would lose their “man card”.

Jason Baier correctly answered the Christopher D. Bennett Trivia Question:

Q: What brand of camera does Christopher D. Bennett

A: Sony. I also would have accepted Minolta with a lengthy explanation of how Sony bought out Minolta. If anybody would have listed Sony, Minolta and Holga, well there wouldn’t be words for how I would feel about such a person.

Proust Quote

“Only through art can we emerge from ourselves and know what another person sees.”

Confessions Question

The military event I admire the most:

My 2009 Answer

Proust Questionnaire Number Sixteen

This answer won’t make me popular.

I’m actually quite surprised by this question being selected. I’m not really big into the military. I don’t even have much of a family history of military service. My Grandpa Bennett was too young to serve in WWI. He was too old to serve in WWII. My Grandpa Paris served in WWII. Stateside. As a cook. Even though he was entitled to a full military funeral:  The folding of the flag and the Three Volley Salute and the playing of Taps. None of these things were done at my Grandpa’s funeral. This still burns some members of my family. I bring it up not to tear old wounds, but to show how military isn’t a big part of my family’s existence.

The one member of my family that had extensive combat and military experience was my Uncle Dean. He served in Vietnam and he was exposed to toxic chemicals that slowly ravaged his health and finally extinguished his life.

I don’t even have many friends that have military experience. Even one of those few friends had a terrible experience in the military. Ending with his bunkmate committing suicide.

Even when it comes to war movies, my favorites are decidedly anti-war: Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Hotel Rwanda, Three Kings, Schindler’s List.

I’m not anti-military, but I also don’t get all jonesed up about the military.  I understand that its existence is a necessary evil, but at the same time our military is way too large. Do you realize that if you take the actual numbers, over 50 cents of every tax dollar spent goes to support the military? You’ll see figures that put it at 20 cents, but those numbers misrepresent how Social Security (among other things) is funded.

All things considered, I would rather 50 cents out of my tax dollar be spent on helping sick children. Helping sick old people. Helping sick middle-aged people.

Maybe a dime or so could go to keeping the military industrial complex welfare machine alive. Many of our technological advances have come through military research after all.

I understand that we need a military. We need it to press our (read Corporate America) economic interests in the world. It is also used on some level to protect us from the evil forces of today. Although if you told me after the Cold War ended that a few years later we would be engaged in a seemingly neverending War on Terror, I would have said, “Shut your mouth George Orwell!”

While I am very pleased with the recent retraction of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and I admire the heck out of Iowan and Medal of Honor winner Sal Guinta, the military event that occurred in 2010 that I most admire was the ending of military operations in Iraq.

The war began in March of 2003. During its peak, there were 165,000 American soldiers in Iraq. About 4,400 American soldiers died in Iraq. We will never know for sure, but it is estimated that 100,000 Iraqis were killed. Don’t just skim past that number. Where I come from (a little place I like to call Christianity), a human life isn’t less valuable because it isn’t American. Or Muslim for that matter.

I make this a separate sentence because I want to make it clear that I don’t consider the waste of life to be anywhere near on par with the waste of money, but as I write this the war on Iraq has cost this nation $747,323,475,195 and made us not even the slightest bit safer.With lack of Wall Street regulation and mind-blowing levels of corporate greed as contributing factors; our economy has been a casualty of this war.

With the ending of military operations in Iraq, there are less than 50,000 American troops left.

I know that is still a huge number and I know that we aren’t going anywhere. Just like how we are still in Germany, Japan and Korea. However it is a movement in the right direction. A movement to hopefully returning the United States back to being a nation of peace. A move back to being the “city upon a hill.” Yep, that is Jesus talk.

Christopher D. Bennett Trivia Question

Christopher D. Bennett bowls on Monday nights. What is the name of his bowling team?

Leave your answer in the “Comments” section of this journal entry.

A few people had their imaginations lit by the concept of LOVE. There were 4 submissions. The male to female ration was 3:1. Proof positive that men are the truly romantic gender.

Mike Vest


Christopher D. Bennett


Jason Baier


Julie Johnson

Only 3 weeks left. The theme for this week might be a little tricky:

I can imagine this will be a hard theme for some people. Especially with a busy holiday season, but I have hope. Maybe there are people that love restaurants more than they love love?