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RAGBRAI – LUTHER

February 14, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Today is a rare double holiday. It is both Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. As always, if you are not out romancing it up tonight, I invite you to come to the Boone First United Methodist Church for our Ash Wednesday service. Full disclosure, I won’t be there. I am neither out romancing it up or going to get my ashes on in some stray church. I’ll be in Hilton Coliseum (AKA The Cathedral) watching an Iowa State women’s basketball game with the rest of the real ones.

Since I won’t be getting ashes this year, enjoy this picture of me on Ash Wednesday from a couple of years ago:

I always like to share a devotional type thing on these holidays. So today I’m going to share one from Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church. This one by Reverend Doctor Mary Lautzenhiser Bellon to be exact:

We Are Ashes – Abiding in Hope
by Rev. Dr. Mary Lautzenhiser Bellon (Senior Pastor Collegiate Methodist in Ames)

As we lean into Lent, I wrote this poem for Ash Wednesday. If you are into interactive reading, you can look up the passages in Daniel and John that I reference in the poem. I was working with the idea that ash is a transformed remnant of something: a piece of wood, the remains of a meadow, a life, and in that transformation, it always carries the memory of what it was before, just now it is changed. I apply the idea of God’s unquenchable fire (such as displayed in the burning bush and maybe Biblically remembered in the story of Daniel) that changes and transforms us. As the ashes we use on Ash Wednesday come from the burnt palms of the previous Palm Sunday, that image, too makes its way into the poem.

We Are Ashes

What is born from the flame is ash, life transformed,
black and silvered memories of being held
in fire — maybe like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
who walked in the heat, the flames licking their hands
that were folded in prayer even as they were almost scorched
with a knowledge of God too great for them,
even as they became living ashes:
ones who did not forget but were sent as testimonies,
touched but not burnt, maybe with a sign on their foreheads. [i]

The alchemy of loving means we die and no longer die.
What is here is ash from firelight, also dark and essential,
the ashes we become in grief and in forgiveness and in mercy.

Our pretenses have been burnt away.
We are gathered up in dimly lit certainty,
we are the remnant, you and me
and those who kneel who might be far from us
whose heads are also smudged:
“remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” —
the ash is everywhere – –

hopefully faithful, hopefully able to feel
the webbing root buried in the earth that nurtures us,
and the branch we graft to that stretches
out our lives and then the love,
and then the smoldering embers
of all that is the first and the last;
all that is in each moment.

We are secretly the palms that were spread on the road
where Jesus came to collect us on his way to Jerusalem [ii]
and now we are ashes, smeared
with the oil of His hands,
we are the remnant
from the fire of His resurrection
we are the ashes that mark the way to Him.

Let us be spread again, let us be smudged,
let us be carried from the fire into the world
our bodies some sacred event born in ashes and returned,
the name of love written on our foreheads
the sound of hope sung from our prayers
the burden of care held firmly in our hands
and knowing home in the One who heals us,
in the flame that is never quenched, Alpha and Omega, amen.

[i] Daniel 3: 13-30 (the image I draw is poetic license)

[ii] John 12: 12-17

If you are curious:

Daniel 3: 13-30 – Amplified Version

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in a furious rage gave a command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; and these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, very good. But if you do not worship, you shall be thrown at once into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can rescue you out of my hands?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to answer you on this point. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up!”

Daniel’s Friends Protected
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and his facial expression changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then he gave a command that the furnace was to be heated seven [a]times hotter than usual. 20 He commanded certain strong men in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. 21 Then these [three] men were tied up in their trousers, their coats, their turbans, and their other clothes, and were thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. 22 Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace was extremely hot, the flame of the fire killed the men who carried up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 23 But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire still tied up.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king [looked and] was astounded, and he jumped up and said to his counselors, “Did we not throw three men who were tied up into the midst of the fire?” They replied to the king, “Certainly, O king.” 25 He answered, “Look! I see four men untied, walking around in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the appearance of the fourth is like [b]a son of the gods!” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing furnace and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, servants of the Most High God, come out [of there]! Come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the midst of the fire. 27 The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.

28 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and rescued His servants who believed in, trusted in, and relied on Him! They violated the king’s command and surrendered their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be cut into pieces and their houses be made a heap of rubbish, for there is no other god who is able to save in this way!” 30 Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.

And John 12:12-17 – Amplified

12 The next day, when the large crowd who had come to the Passover feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took branches of palm trees [in homage to Him as King] and went out to meet Him, and they began shouting and kept shouting “Hosanna! Blessed (celebrated, praised) is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; just as it is written [in Scripture], 15 “Do not fear, Daughter of Zion; Behold, Your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 His disciples did not understand [the meaning of] these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified and exalted, they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him. 17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to tell others about Him.

If you are looking for a place to get your ashes, our service is at 6:30.

While Ash Wednesday is meant to remind us of our own mortality, it doesn’t have to be all gloomy because Ash Wednesday also means the Catholics are going to start having Fish Fry Fridays! WooHoo! Bingpot!

I’m going to break down some area fish fries for you, my people, but I will wait until Friday to do that. Don’t worry, I’ll feed you baby birds!

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It is also Valentine’s Day. So I need to wish you all happy Valentine’s Day in my way:

LOVE STINKS!

So first things first. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Second. You might be wondering why this picture is called “Love Stinks”. This was at the insistence of my photo assistant for this project. She complained that this heart shaped sparkler absolutely wreaked! She backed this up by claiming that the sparkler gave her a sore throat for like 5 days. Because she suffered for my art, I have granted her request that the name of this photo is “Love Stinks”.

On holidays like Valentine’s Day I do like to do power rankings. Last year I did romantic comedy power rankings. However, I know many people who absolutely despise Valentine’s Day. So I thought rather than doing something positive about the concept of love, I would do a power rankings based on the negatives of love. My power rankings this year are the 5 Worst Couples! This is a personal list. No apologies if you think, “wait I’m in that couple or throuple” (no judgment). The couples that personally annoy me. Cause love stinks! It often has lots of sulphur and gives you a sore throat for several days. Metaphorically speaking of course!

5 WORST COUPLES POWER RANKING

5. EXCESSIVE PUBLIC AFFECTION COUPLE
I don’t run into this couple that much any more. Mostly because I don’t run with a lot of teenagers or college students and most of the couples I know have been married for years, so the concept of public affection went out the door years ago. But you know the couples. They can’t stop touching each other, right in front of you. All you are trying to do is eat a bowl of soup and they are treating you to the opening scene of BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR*. There is also a variant of this couple that wants to go into great details about their sex life. I didn’t sign on for any of this. Put it in your diary. The phrase “get a room” exists for a reason.

A sidenote on this couple. It doesn’t have to be physical. This can also be the couple that has the just too precious nicknames for each other. PUKE! And couples that call each other “mom” and “dad”… GROSS!

4. THE CONSTANTLY BREAKING UP COUPLE

You know this couple. They’ve broken up 7 or 8 or 9 times, at the very least. And every time, you have to hear about it. You listen to all of the terrible things that one of the people in the couple did. You hear about all of their inadequacies and flaws. Then 24 hours later, the same friend that was dumping all of this stuff on you, they are back with this deeply flawed person that does all of the terrible things. In a couple weeks you will be hearing all the same things again and you stopped caring somewhere around the 3rd breakup.

3. THE SIT ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE TABLE WHEN DINING ALONE COUPLE

This couple probably seems harmless to you. Maybe I can’t defend how I feel about this couple, but I find them SUPER creepy. Sit on opposite sides of the table! At least then you can stare into each other’s eyes lovingly, while eating the Super Nachos Deluxe you ordered for an appetizer. It is well documented that nachos are the most romantic appetizer, but that is a power ranking for a future Valentine’s Day.

2. THE PUBLIC FIGHTING COUPLE

All couples fight. Not all couples have to fight in front of you, all the time. They might argue that fighting is just an example of their passion. They might even argue that fighting is their love language. My love language is handing you a card for a therapist. Go to counseling!

1. THE HOSTAGE COUPLE

This couple can’t do anything alone. Donna is going out for margaritas with her high school girlfriends. But Donna insists on bringing Bob along, cause Donna can’t do anything without Bob. Or Donna does finally join her friends without Bob, but the entire time she is having to check in with Bob. And Bob is having to check in with Donna. This same couple probably has shared social media accounts. The worst! If they don’t have a shared social media account, these are the ones that post super flowery tomes about the greatness of the significant other. They have to know that everybody is reading this is thinking, “oh, they about to get divorced.” And I’m not saying I’m rooting for divorce when I stumble across these… but I’m not saying that I’m not NOT rooting for divorce. Even if it is fleeting.

This list is definitive and is beyond contestation. No interviews at this time.

When I decided to do an anti-love post for Valentine’s Day, I checked in with some of the most ardent haters of Valentine’s Day I know. I simply asked them what couples they think are the worst. Almost without exception, I instead got a long diatribe about why they hate Valentine’s Day. Which wasn’t what I asked, but I did find hilarious. I confess I didn’t really read that part of those messages, cause it was a lot of blah, blah, blah, same things I’ve heard for years. I assume.

Interestingly, only Scottie D. asked me what I think about Valentine’s Day. And I might just tell you someday.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate! Happy Valentine’s Day to all the people who bah humbug it! Happy Valentine’s Day to all the people who dread it because it makes them feel all alone! I can save all of you a seat at the Iowa State women’s basketball game!

If you don’t do the Juicy Wiggle, was it really even a holiday?

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After we left Jefferson, Logan and I parted ways. I went home for a bit and then decided to go check out RAGBRAI in Ames. As a lark, I decided to head up to Luther since it was one of the towns that RAGBRAI was passing through. I really thought that by the time I got there, it was going to be too late to see much of anything going on. But Luther was packed! I bet Whatcha Smokin’ made a mint that day!

I was impressed with the job that Luther did with RAGBRAI. I hung around and took a few pictures:

I’d never heard them before, but they were a pretty solid classic rock cover band.

Oh man, I haven’t had wheat grass since Sara got over it.

I’m not a badmouth the younger generation guy. But in my day, when we climbed on a roof, it wasn’t to stare at our phone. We were probably breaking stuff. Okay, maybe the younger generation is better.

Still one more collection of RAGBRAI pictures from this day to share.

* I actually haven’t seen BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR, so I have no clue what the transpires in its first scene. It could be very boring. I understand the historical and cultural significance of the movie, but pornography just isn’t my bag.

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Happy Halloween – Late

November 7, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

Because last week was so messed up, I didn’t get my planned Halloween post put together, so here it goes.

I hope everybody had a good Halloween. I had 51 trick-or-treaters, which was less than last year, but about average.

Now time for my annual Halloween Candy Bar Power Rankings

CANDY BAR POWER RANKINGS

10. PayDay
9. Snickers Almond
8. Skor
7. Pretzel M & M’s
6. Twix Caramel
5. Snickers
4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
3. Peanut M & M’s
2. Take 5
1. Whatchamacallit

Please respect my decision. There will be no interviews at this time.

About a week or so before Halloween I made a trip to the Reiman Gardens annual Jack O’Lantern thing with the Gorshes.

Here are some pictures of my favorite pumpkins.

It was a great event! I definitely go back.

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5 Star Bridge

April 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Wow! Iowa did it! The Iowa women’s team ended South Carolina’s 42 game win streak and shocked the world by a score of 77-73. Caitlin Clark scored 41 points. She is the first player in history to score 40 points in back to back tournament games. On Sunday at 2:30 they will play Louisiana State for the National Championship.

Louisiana State is coached by Satan, I mean Kim Mulkey. Some people, who don’t know me well, find it shocking when they find out the sports person I root against the most vehemently is Kim Mulkey. “A women’s basketball coach?” They say with a fair amount of incredulousness.

“Yes, and there isn’t even a close second.”

Not Duke basketball. Not Notre Dame football. Not Nebraska football. Not North Dakota State football. Not Baylor football. Not Kansas basketball. Not Texas football. Not Texas basketball. Not the New York Yankees. Not the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not whatever NBA team Kyrie Irving plays for this week. Not Iowa in any sports.

But if I had to pick a second, it would be Texas in all sports.

Trust me, if you watch the game on Sunday, and endure her antics on the sideline, you will get it. That is without me telling you about how she covered for Baylor during their rape scandal. Or her infamous “people in the know” comment.

However, I clearly admit that if she is not the best coach in women’s basketball, she is one of the best. The only other coaches I would put on her level are Geno Auriemma at UCONN, Dawn Staley at South Carolina (although I have to say she was very clearly outcoached by Lisa Bluder last night), and Tara VanDerveer at Stanford.

For example, Mulkey left Baylor two seasons ago. In her final season at Baylor, they went 28-3 and made it to the Elite Eight. The year before that, the tournament was cancelled, but they were a favorite to win the Championship. The year before that they did win the National Championship. When she left, Baylor had won 11 straight Regular Season Big 12 Championships. Baylor had won 9 of the last 10 Big 12 Tournament Championships.

The year before Kim Mulkey moved to Louisiana State they had a 9-16 record. LSU hadn’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since the 2016-17 season. They hadn’t made it out of the first round since the 2013-14 season.

Two years later, LSU is 32-2 and about to play for the National Championship.

Meanwhile, Baylor slipped to 5th in the Big 12 this season and they have lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament both years since Kim Mulkey left. They are still good, but they aren’t cutting down any nets any more. (This year they lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament to Iowa State.)

After the Hawks bested the Cocks last night, I texted a couple people that the only mystery left now is whether or not Iowa will repeat as National Champions next year. I know that is pretty dismissive of Louisiana State. But I am pretty confident that Iowa will beat Louisiana State. They are a good team with good players, including Angel Reese, one of the best in the country. Kim Mulkey will be going for her 4th National Championship. I still think Iowa has a team of destiny feel to them. And while Caitlin Clark will be back next season (and possibly the season after that)*, Czinano will be gone. Warnock will be gone. To use a metaphor from the NBA, Czinano is definitely Clark’s Pippen to her Jordan. And remember who got that rebound with 20 seconds to go essentially sealing the win over South Carolina, that was Warnock. Iowa has 2 freshman coming in, but the one that is highly regarded (Ava Jones) was in an accident where a car ran over her family and killed her dad. It is still to be determined if she will ever be able to play basketball again. That doesn’t leave the cupboard bare. Marshall, Davis, and Martin can all use the Covid year and come back. Iowa State transfer Kylie Feuerbach should be back from injury. Iowa will certainly be an attractive landing spot for any transfers looking to play in a packed arena and to record television ratings.

My prediction is Iowa will win the game, but I expect it to be a very exciting game. The game is at 2:30 tomorrow and will be televised on ABC.

Since the NCAA Tournament is like a holiday for me. It is the end of the sports season, until college football season begins in September. A time of year where I cancel my television package and save a few bucks over the summer. Kind of like a Lent for this sports fan. Lasting from the end of the men’s National Championship Game until the kickoff of the first college football game. Probably some people out there that won’t like that analogy.

But bear with me, since I consider the NCAA Tournament to be a holiday and on holidays I like to release power rankings, I’m going to release my power rankings of the college coaches at Iowa’s 4 “major” universities in the 3 main sports I care about. Yes, Boomer Saia (Iowa State Tennis) and I’m sure whomever coaches wrestling at Iowa are pretty impressive, but they definitely aren’t in the top 3 sports I care about. While Andy has worked on me for years now, I’m still not sure I even consider wrestling a sport.

IOWA UNIVERISITY COACH POWER RANKINGS

12. Todd Stepsis – Drake Football Coach
11. Tanya Warren – Northern Iowa Women’s Basketball Coach
10. Mark Farley – Northern Iowa Football Coach
9. Fran McCaffery – Iowa Men’s Basketball Coach
8. Ben Jacobson – Northern Iowa Men’s Basketball Coach
7. Allison Pohlman – Drake Women’s Basketball Coach
6. Bill Fennelly – Iowa State Women’s Basketball Coach
5. Kirk Ferentz – Iowa Football Coach
4. T.J. Otzelberger – Iowa State Men’s Basketball Coach
3. Matt Campbell – Iowa State Football Coach
2. Darian DeVries – Drake Men’s Basketball Coach
1. Lisa Bluder – Iowa Women’s Basketball Coach

This list was harder for me to put together than I thought. The bottom and the top was pretty easy. But I feel the middle could be very fluid. If Allison Pohlman has another great season, she could definitely climb. If Fennelly has another distavorous offseason, he could fall. 2 weeks ago he would have been higher. FIVE players transferring later, he is lucky to be above Allison Pohlman. If McCaffery ever wins a couple games in a tourney, he could climb. What does Otzelberger do with the highest ranked recruiting class in school history? What transfers does he bring in? Does Campbell rebound from a bad season last year? Does Ferentz ever fire his worthless son? Does Jacobson ever return to the form he showed at the beginning of his career? Or should he have jumped ship seconds after Ali Farokhmanesh hit that 3 against Kansas all those years ago.

My decisions are final. No interviews at this time.

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Seems like a good day to share some pictures I took of the Iowa State Pedestrian Bridge I took a couple months ago. Some day when I release my bridge power rankings, it will be #1. Something like: 3. Brooklyn Bridge. 2. Golden Gate Bridge 1. Iowa State Pedestrian Bridge.

I took these pictures with Nader after going to a movie. If you are ever looking for somebody to just wander into your shot over and over and over and over and over and over again, I can recommend Nader for the job.

This bridge is phenomenal it has it’s own Twitter account and strikes fear into the hearts of Big 12 fans from Lubbock to Morgantown to Lawrence to Stillwater. You can check it out by clicking the link below:

Iowa State 5 Star Bridge – Twitter

If you haven’t had a chance to walk this bridge on an Iowa State Gameday you need to put it on your bucket list.

* If Iowa is smart,(I know technically the university can’t be involved) they will line up all the sponsors they can find and make Caitlin Clark a multi-millionaire by tomorrow. Do whatever they can to get her to come back for the extra Covid year. If Olivia Dunne and the Cavinder twins (I’m not blind, I know why they make so much money) can make a million dollars, Caitlin Clark should be making several million dollars. I know Caitlin Clark is a polarizing figure. There are people that don’t like all of her playing to the crowd and all of her trash talking and all of her flopping and her arguing with refs. To be honest, I don’t like the flopping. I don’t like the constant arguing with the refs, but she is the best thing that has happened to women’s basketball, probably ever. Tickets to the Women’s Final Four are more expensive than tickets to the Men’s Final Four. Trust me, those ticket prices are not skyrocketing because people want to see what incredibly stupid outfit Kim Mulkey is going to wear.

As for the trash talking and playing to the crowd. I love both of those aspects of her game. For example, in the South Carolina game she refused to guard Raven Johnson because she is a bad 3 point shooter. At one point “guarding” her from 10 feet away and then waving her off, basically begging her to shoot. In the Louisville game she told a Louisville player that was running her mouth to “Shut up. You’re down by 15.” I love me some good trash talk. My absolute favorite moment of Iowa State’s men’s season (and I know he was a big part of why our season tanked at the end) was when Caleb Grill hit a big 3 against Texas than ran over to their bench and told Texas’ coach that he needed to call a timeout.

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Rodan139: Lower Ledges

February 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Need to start this post by wishing a Happy Valentine’s Day to all who celebrate. It is the one true holiday, that has yet to be adulterated by crass commercialism.

STORYLINE

Philadelphia socialites Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven married impulsively; their marriage and subsequent divorce are equally passionate. They broke up when Dexter’s drinking, a mechanism to cope with Tracy’s unforgiving manner toward Dexter’s imperfections, became excessive. Two years after their break-up, Tracy is about to remarry in a ceremony at her family’s mansion. Her new bridegroom is nouveau-riche businessman and aspiring politician George Kittredge, who is otherwise an ordinary man who idolizes Tracy. The day before the wedding, three unexpected guests show up at the Lord mansion: Macaulay Connor (Mike to his friends) and Elizabeth Imbrie–both friends of Tracy’s absent brother Junius–and Dexter. He works for the tabloid Spy magazine and made a deal with its publisher and editor Sidney Kidd to get a story on Tracy’s wedding–the wedding of the year–in return for Kidd not publishing a salacious story with accompanying photographs of Tracy’s father, Seth Lord, with New York showgirl Tina Marra. In reality, Mike and Liz are the reporter and photographer for Spy. Mike and Liz don’t particularly like this assignment or working for Kidd, but their chosen other fields as serious writer and painter don’t pay the bills. A suspicious Tracy is onto them, and when Dexter admits the truth, she decides to turn the tables on Mike and Liz. But hours before the wedding, as the more self-assured Dexter and Liz get to work on how to get the Lords out from under Spy’s threats, Tracy and Mike, both inebriated, go on a journey of self-discovery with Tracy ultimately coming to her realizations a little faster than Mike.

FAVORITE QUOTE

The time to make up your mind about people is never.

The storylines were taken from the Internet Movie Database.

Anyways, Happy Valentine’s Day.

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Now we got that Valentine’s Day stuff behind us, time to share a collection of drone pictures I took of Lower Ledges back in October.

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live so close to such a beautiful little slice of nature in Ledges State Park.

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Westhaven Christmas

December 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 7 Comments

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas. This little picture is my way of saying Merry Christmas to all of you:

Merry Christmas!

I would like to share a Christmas Devotional with you:

Merry Christmas
By Rev. Ronald Carlson Jr.
Dean of the Cabinet and District Superintendent of Riverview Park District
“Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them.”
– Luke 2:18 (CEB)
In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. 3 Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. 4 Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. 5 He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom. 8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” 15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. 18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. 20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told. Luke 2:1-20 (CEB)
Luke says it all… perfectly.

Let us pray.

O almighty God, by the birth of your holy child Jesus, you gave us a great light to dawn on our darkness. Grant that in his light we may see light. Bestow on us that most excellent Christmas gift of love to all people, so that the likeness of your Son may be formed in us, and that we may have the ever brightening hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen (The Book of Worship 1965, ALT.)

On certain holidays, I like to share some power rankings. I’m not going to go in depth on this as I originally intended. When I made some plans for this, I didn’t realize a new season of JACK RYAN and EMILY IN PARIS were both being released this weekend!

But without further adieu, here is my Christmas Movie Power Rankings.

CHRISTMAS MOVIE POWER RANKINGS
10. Meet John Doe (1941)
9. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
8. Gremlins (1984)
7. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
6. Die Hard (1988)
5. Elf (2003)
4. A Christmas Story (1983)
3. Scrooged (1988)
2. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
1. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Please respect my decision. There will be no interviews at this time. Maybe next Christmas I will go in depth on this list.

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Time to reveal the June image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar:

June

This image was my submission for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme SLICE OF LIFE. That theme is named in honor of my Dad’s postcard company. This image is my interpretation of his style of postcard designs. However, you can look at this and know it wasn’t that hard for me to put this together in Photoshop, but try to think of how hard a similar design would have been to make in a darkroom.

You might have noticed that usually the June image in the Photography 139 Calendar is Black & White. That is because I affiliate my Dad mostly with black & white photography because he had a black & white darkroom in our house at 415 Greene. The 38th anniversary of his death was on Friday. He was born in June and that is why this homage is the June picture for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

There are no technical details for this image since it is a composite image.

Tomorrow I will unveil the July image for the 2023 Photography 139 Calendar.

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Once again I am going to skip Formal Portrait Sunday. Instead I’m going to share some pictures from when I got together with some of Olivia’s family for Christmas at Westhaven a couple weeks ago. Not everybody could make it because of illness, but sometimes in life you have to be happy for who is there and not be sad about who isn’t there.

Here are a few pictures from the celebration:

Triplets man… So much energy!

Lists, Town Sign Project

Iowa Worst Courthouse Power Rankings

December 13, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I learned something over the weekend. The architect that build the courthouse in Delaware County, the courthouse I proclaimed to be the most beautiful courthouse in Iowa, was the same architect that built the Boone First United Methodist Church. No wonder I love it!

Pastor Dave dropped that knowledge bomb on me.

But now I’m going to rank the 10 ugliest courthouse in Iowa.

IOWA UGLIEST COURTHOUSE POWER RANKINGS

#10. Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon

#9. Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City

#8. Emmet County Courthouse located in Estherville

#7. Butler County Courthouse located in Allison

#6. Clarke County Courthouse located in Osceola

#5. Guthrie County Courthouse in Guthrie Center

#4. Cerro Gordo County Courthouse located in Mason City

#3. Cedar County Courthouse located in Tipton

#2. Pottawattamie County Courthouse located in Council Bluffs

#1. Story County Courthouse located in Nevada

If you would like to peruse all 100 Iowa courthouses, click on the link below:

Iowa Courthouses

If you are wondering if I’m going to rank the Freedom Rocks next week, the answer is that I am not. I would really struggle on that one. For reasons I best not disclose.

I don’t know what will be here next Tuesday. An update on the book? Possible. Very possible that next Tuesday this post will just be one word. “None.”

Lists, Town Sign Project

Iowa Courthouse Power Rankings

December 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I stated last week that I would give some details about the book this week. Truth is I don’t have a lot of details worked out. In fact, I have virtually no details worked out.

For example I don’t know:
+ The dimensions of the book.
+ How much information will accompany the sign pictures.
+ What information will accompany the sign pictures.
+ I know virtually nothing about self-publishing, but I have a resource.
+ Will there be a forward?
+ Who would write it?
+ The name of the book.
+ I don’t know what I don’t know.

So here is what I do know. This will probably be the part that disappoints many people and drop my pre-orders from 12 to zero. I am going to pick out the 100 (number not set in stone). It is not going to include every town. It isn’t going to include every town sign. If you were to go to the THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT album by clicking on the link below:

The Town Sign Project

You would see that there currently are 1390 town sign pictures in there. 1390 pictures are not going into the book. For a wide variety of reasons.

In a way, the inspiration is “Twentysix Gasoline Stations” by Ed Ruscha. Which probably isn’t a great photo book judged against modern standards, but was heavily influential. It is simply a book of twenty-six pictures of gas station Ed Ruscha photographed between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.

If you ever see a copy of it in the wild for the cheap, pick it up. I’ve seen it for sale online for anywhere between $1,250 to $36,000 depending on the edition of the book. There are only 3 editions of the book and there are less than 4,000 total.

Don’t be tricked into buying “Twenty-Six Abandoned Gasoline Stations”. Different book. Different photographer.

But that is neither here, nor there. The point is I’m not sure what the book will be, outside of it being only 100 towns signs or so.

As one of the cappers to THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, I wanted to rank the 10 best courthouse in Iowa, by looks. There are 100 courthouses in 99 Iowa counties.

IOWA PRETTIEST COURTHOUSE POWER RANKINGS

#10. Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines

#9. Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City

#8. Montgomery County Courthouse in Red Oak

#7. Mahaska County Courthouse in Oskaloosa

#6. Dubuque County Courthouse in Dubuque

#5. Benton County Courthouse in Vinton

#4. Davis County Courthouse in Bloomfield

#3. Hardin County Courthouse in Eldora

#2. Taylor County Courthouse in Bedford

#1. Delaware County Courthouse in Manchester

Next week, I’m going to rank the 10 worst courthouses in Iowa.

Andy, Angie, Art, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Drone, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Lists, Logan, Mary, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 372 – ART

October 31, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

It is Halloween! So happy Halloween everybody. On Halloween, I like to release my Candy Power Rankings. It is a definitive list of the 10 best candy bars on the market.

So without furth adieu…

CANDY BAR POWER RANKINGS
10. Caramel M&M’s
9. Baby Ruth
8. Payday
7. Heath
6. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
5. Twix Caramel
4. Snickers
3. Peanut M&M’s
2. Take 5
1. Whatchamacallit

Please respect my decision. There will be no interviews at this time.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

The short answer is, “no”. Some people think that there is a limit of one submission per person because I only present one submission a week, personally. I have the other 6 days to post my photography. So one is more than enough image from me.

However, the longer answer is, 3 would be a good guide to limit yourself to submit. Some people refer to this as The Kio Dettman Rule. Even though it isn’t a rule, but much over 3 begins to start to overwhelm the submissions of the others in the community. Also, if you are submitting multiple submissions, think about your submissions. Are they unique? Are they of wholly different subjects? Is each submission saying something unique? The goal is NOT to take as many picture for the theme as possible. The goal is to take the best picture for the theme you can, during the week.

The three photo suggestion would better be referred to as The Kio Dettman Suggestion or The Kio Dettman Best Practice.

The long answer is, there isn’t a limit, but 3 is a good rule of thumb. If I start to average about 30 participants a week, I will consider putting a limit of 1 per participant, to help manage my workload, but we are a long ways from averaging 30 participants a week. Although we did hit 30 participants last week, so maybe a hard limit of 1 per person is on the horizon.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough to me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their largest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

I accept suggestions this Monday and next Monday, BUT only in the comments section of this post and next Monday’s post. Don’t email your suggestions to me. Don’t text them to me. Don’t Snapchat them to me. Don’t send them to me via United States Postal Service. Don’t call me with them. Don’t stop me in the grocery store with them. They can ONLY be submitted in the Comments section.

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REMINDER: This is repetitive since you just read the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ, but this is one of two weeks you can suggest themes for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The one and only way to do that is to leave your suggestions in the COMMENTS section of this post. Do not email them to me or text them to me. The suggestions have to be left in the COMMENTS section of this post!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, October 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
2-Mary Green – 1 week (6)
3-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
4-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
5-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 2 weeks
7-Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
8-Sara Lockner – 5 weeks
9-Suzie Brannen – 9 weeks
10-Brandon Kahler – 10 weeks
11-Linda Bennett – 13 weeks (2)
12-Sarah Toot – 14 weeks
13-Monica Jennings – 15 weeks
14-Angie DeWaard – 18 weeks
15-Dawn Krause – 22 weeks (2)
16-Kim Barker – 28 weeks
17-Joe Duff – 30 weeks (2)
18-Logan Kahler – 31 weeks (4)
19-Teresa Kahler – 40 weeks (2)
20-Tamara Peterson – 40 weeks
21-Carla Stensland – 40 weeks (3)
22-Michelle Haupt – 41 weeks
23-Micky Augustin – 42 weeks
24-Andy Sharp – 43 weeks
25-Bill Wentworth – 44 weeks
26-Cathie Morton – 48 weeks (2)
27-Elizabeth Nordeen – 49 weeks
28-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 51 weeks
29-Kio Dettman – 54 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Joe Duff – 31 weeks

Kio Dettman – 55 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 14 weeks

Linda Bennett

Mary Green – 2 weeks

Mary Green

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 52 weeks

Sarah Toot – 15 weeks

Sarah Toot

Angie DeWaard – 19 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 45 weeks

Andy Sharp – 44 weeks

Micky Augustin – 43 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen – 50 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Logan Kahler – 32 weeks

Logan Kahler

Jesse Howard – 4 weeks

Kim Barker – 29 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 41 weeks

Teresa Kahler

Carla Stensland – 41 weeks

Carla Stensland

Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 10 weeks

Dawn Krause – 23 weeks

Dawn Krause

Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks

Cathie Morton – 49 weeks

Cathie Morton

Brandon Kahler – 11 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 42 weeks

Monica Jennings – 16 weeks

Monica Jennings

Sara Lockner – 6 weeks

26 participants! A good week, but a pretty big fall from last week. I guess not everybody has ART in their life and that makes me sad.

There were submissions this week from (mostly assumptions here) Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.

I took my picture about 1 mile from my house.

There were a couple big accomplishments this week. Suzie joined the double digit streak club! Shannon reached a year straight of submissions. Only the second person to ever do that! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Jen couldn’t extend her streak to 2 weeks. Willy and Vest’s 2 week streaks are gone. But most tragically… Tamara’s 40 week streak is over. By far the longest streak to be snapped. But I won’t be sad that it is over. I choose to be happy that it happened.

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

DECORATION

DECORATION! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a DECORATION photo? A DECORATION image is simply a picture of a DECORATION or a picture where a DECORATION plays a heavy element in the composition. Seeing how today is Halloween, there are a ton of DECORATION(s) out there for you to photograph. Just for an example.

While considering possible subjects for your DECORATION picture, mediate on the following quote:

Like a rhyme with no reason
In an unfinished song
There was no harmony, life meant nothin’ to me until you came along
And you brought out the colors
What a gentle surprise
Now I’m able to see all the things life can be, shinin’ soft in your eyes

And you decorated my life
Created a world
Where dreams are a part
And you decorated my life
By paintin’ your love
All over my heart
You decorated my life
-Kenny Rogers

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of DECORATION in this place that is filled with everything that has decorated my life next Monday.

Flowers, Lists, Still Life, WPC - Reminder

Frozen Fish Power Rankings

June 26, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

This is amongst the most important works I’ve ever done on this website. For Lent, I was going to attempt to rely as heavily as possible on fish for my protein. However, part of the way through Lent, the pandemic hit and my diet became a lot less discretionary. However, since I was doing way more cooking for myself, I did start eating more fish for my lunch.

It is not an exaggeration to say that since I started working from home, I have used my oven more than the previous nine years that I have owned it. You are thinking that is hyperbole, but I normally go months without using my oven. Now I use it at least 4 times a week. Sometimes, it is daily.

After trying a different types of fish, I decided to rank ten of them as a public service.

I followed the baking instructions to the letter. Feel free to make fun of my cruddy cooking pans. I don’t take pride in my pots and pans. It is one of the great things about being me.

Without further adieu, I present:

FROZEN FISH POWER RANKINGS

10. SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Cod

SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Cod isn’t just not good. It is terrible. It doesn’t taste like “beer battered”. It tastes like you are holding a swig of beer in your mouth and then somebody has shoved a little bit of fish in your mouth.

I don’t have any more pictures of it, because I decided to do the Power Rankings after I tried it and it is so terrible (and also crazy expensive) that I couldn’t bring myself to buy it again, just to photograph it.

9. Van de Kamp’s Crunchy Fish Fillets

Van de Kamp’s Crunchy Fish Fillets are a marked improvement over SeaPak, but still not very good. Despite claiming to be crunchy, they were a touch soggy. Which is a common theme with Van de Kamp’s products.

8. Trident Pubhouse Battered Alaskan Cod

I picked this fish up because I wanted an even 10 fish in The Frozen Fish Power Rankings. I had high hopes for it because the fish lacked any form of uniformity. Looks like it was made by the hardworking indigenous people of wherever. Like the well-established champion breakfast pastry, Toast ‘Ems. However, they just aren’t good. I still have a bag of these in the freezer weeks later.

7. Hy-Vee Crunchy Fish Fillets

One thing I liked about the Hy-Vee Crunchy Fish Fillets is that they were inside a plastic bag, inside the cardboard box. I’m normally not a fan of excessive packaging, but that plastic bag allowed me to store leftover fish safer. Unlike Van de Kamp’s that when you open the box, those leftover fish are on their own. The Hy-Vee Crunchy Fish Fillets are the first one on the list that I would buy again. Although, I’ve seemed to discover that I’m just not that big of a fan of “Crunchy” fish.

6. Van de Kamp’s Beer Battered Fillets

Finally, a beer batter fish where the beer taste isn’t overwhelming. Still perhaps a little too strong, but manageable. A good frozen fish product here.

5. Gorton’s Crunchy Breaded Fish Fillet

As you will find, Gorton’s dominates the list. They are a good 45% more expensive than Van de Kamp’s, but they are worth the premium. Maybe it is because they use pollock and Van de Kamp’s isn’t all that forthcoming about what type of fish they use. Maybe it is the superior resealable bag packaging. Maybe it is because the Gorton’s fisherman definitely knows what you did last summer. Whatever it is, they are the best fish brand and Crunchy Breaded Fish is their worst offering.

4. Gorton’s Beer Battered Fish Fillet

As a general rule, frozen beer battered fish didn’t score great on this list. This is the highest ranking achieved by a beer battered fish. But of all the beer battered frozen fish, this was by far the best. The batter was on point and you can taste the lack of mincing. Nice job Gorton’s!

3. Van de Kamp’s Crispy Fish Fillet

This is by far Van de Kamp’s best offering. It also turns out I’m a bit of a sucker for crispy fish. Van de Kamp’s isn’t very forthcoming with what kind of fish they us, other than it is wild caught. But I can says that their crispy batter is solid.

2. Gorton’s Crispy Battered Fish Fillet

This is where Gorton’s really nailed it. It is really a coin flip between this and the top ranked fish on this list. Once again, pollock. Battered. Crispy. A little slice of fish heaven.

1. Gorton’s Potato Crunch Fish Fillet

Breaded. Not battered. Gorton’s isn’t real forthcoming about the type of fish. Don’t care. It is 100% whole fillet and 100% delicious. Trust me. Next time I see that Gorton’s is on sale, I will be packing my freezer!

A word about tartar sauce.

I tried to use the same tartar sauce for every fish that I tried. I am a big fan of the Hy-Vee tartar sauce. It is reminiscent of Long John Silver’s tartar sauce. I was going to use the Bennett Family Tartar Sauce recipe, but that involves the Bennett Family pickle relish. It is delicious, however, you wouldn’t be able to duplicate it at your homestead. So I decided to go with the Hy-Vee brand tartar sauce.

Only a funny thing happened…

I wasn’t paying attention and when I bought tartar sauce and I accidentally picked up Kraft. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but turns out it was a big deal. Kraft Tartar Sauce is wretched. It requires spitting it in a garbage can and then scrubbing your tongue down with boiling water.

I quickly changed to Hy-Vee Tartar Sauce. I haven’t looked back.

I think I might do a power ranking of frozen sausage pizzas next.

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A reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ABSTRACT:

ABSTRACT

Remember an ABSTRACT picture is a picture that breaks the subject down into shapes and colors. It does not look like the subject.

The easiest way to do this is to take an out of focus picture of a subject.

You can also take a picture of an existing piece of ABSTRACT art.

Happy photo harvesting!

Black & White, Formal Portrait, Jay, Lists

2009-07-29

December 21, 2019 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

The pictures in the folder are from a series of pictures I made that are mostly playing with in-camera special effects and also an homage to what is probably my favorite television show of all time THE OUTER LIMITS.

In fact, this seems like a good time to give you my official TELEVISION SHOW POWER RANKINGS.

These are the greatest 10 Shows of All-Time in order. (Confession, I didn’t really watch television from the end of KNIGHT RIDER until DEXTER. If a show was on then, I haven’t seen it, but it probably wasn’t all that good anyways.)

10 GREATEST SHOWS OF ALL-TIME

1. THE OUTER LIMITS
2. FARGO
3. MR. SHOW
4. DOWNTON ABBEY
5. THE TWILIGHT ZONE
6. STRANGER THINGS
7. THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
8. GAME OF THRONES
9. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
10. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

This list comes from me, therefore, is beyond contestation. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Shows like THE DAILY SHOW or the COLBERT report were not considered.

By adding these pictures to The Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Outer Limits

Next Sautrday’s walk down memory lane will involve the last Ames Jaycees event I ever attended.