Category Archives: Music

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I Wanna Have Control

January 14, 2025 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Here we are. Time to share all the pictures I considered for the 2025 Calendar but did not make the cut for one reason or another. Could be that I decided it wasn’t good enough. Or because a similar picture was chosen over it to be placed in the calendar. Or it just didn’t seem to fit.

Here are the rejects:

I did get a few last minute calendar favorites and I better show those:

Jeanette

Joe

Andree

And that closes the book on Photography 139 Calendars for another year! But before I know it, I’ll have to start working on next year’s calendar.

Architecture, Art, Bridge, Calendar, Christianity, History, Jim, Lowell, Monica, Music, Nature, Railroad, Sign, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa, Travel, Willy

New Orleans Day 2: French Quarter Walkabout

January 3, 2025 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Time to reveal the February image for the 2025 Photography 139 Calendar:

FEBRUARY

TECHICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony 7M4
LENS: Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 68mm
APERTURE: f/4.5
EXPOSURE: 1/200
ISO: 100

The February image was taken in New Orleans. It was taken on my second day in New Orleans and I had a few hours of free time to walk around and I found this small bit of fence along the river walk that was covered with love locks. It isn’t on a bridge and it isn’t exactly a dock. It is a fence that prevents people from going out onto what is an industrial thing. I don’t even know how to describe it. Maybe a small pier. Best guess. Final answer. I framed the picture so all of that is cropped out and the incredible cluster of love locks frames the “Love Wins” sign is all this is visible. I think that lends an air of mystery to the image. Almost everybody has assume this picture was taken on a bridge. I’ve never seen such a dense collection of love locks. I chose this picture to represent February since this picture represents “love” and the only appropriate day to show somebody you love them is Valentine’s Day.

Here is the group of people that chose February as their favorite calendar image:

Jim

Monica

Teresa

Willy

Lowell

I look forward to revealing the March image tomorrow!

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Coincidentally, today’s collection of images is taken from the beginning of the day when I took the February image. The second day on this work trip is basically waiting around to be told to go to the Convention Center to start working. Before I got that call I decided to take a little walk up by the Saint Louis Cathedral.

Here is the first collection of those images:

Still 2 more collections of images to share from Day 2 of my trip to New Orleans!

9 Emotions Project, Alisa, Animals, Art, Becca, Bethany, Black & White, Blogging, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Calendar, Candid Portrait, Cousin Amy, Dad, Dae Hee, Dawn, Derrick, Drone, Elizabeth, Evie, Flowers, Football, Formal Portrait, Fran, History, Iowa State, Jay, Jen, Jesse, Jill, Joe Duff, Kalista, Layla, Logan, Lowell, Mission Trip, Mom, Movies, Music, Nader, Naima, Nate, Nathanial, Nature, Railroad, Road Trip, Sara, Saydie, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Shorty, Sign, State Fair, Street Photography, Taylan, Tenderloining, Teresa, Tim, Travel, Willy, Yin

Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes

January 1, 2025 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

All of the 2025 Photography 139 Calendars have been distributed or mailed except for one. It is fair game now to start sharing the calendar images. This is the front cover image:

2025 Photography 139 Calendar Front Cover

FRONT COVER – 2025

Technical Details:

CAMERA: SONY 7M4
LENS: SIGMA 14-24 f/2.8 DG DN ART
FOCAL LENGTH: 20mm
APERTURE: f/8
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/500
DATE TAKEN: April 27, 2024

The subject of this picture is the statue of John Wayne in front of the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset, Iowa. I visited this museum with Nader on a road trip that is as close to a birthday road trip as I took in 2024. This trip was a bit of what I would call “unfinished business”. My Mom was a big fan of John Wayne movies. As are/were many members of her family. One of the last places we went to on the final road trip I took with my Mom was to Winterset and walking around the John Wayne Birthplace Museum. However, it was during the pandemic, so we never went inside. It was important to me to finally go inside and see the museum.

A few notes about the calendar.

1. I switched to a different printer. For the last several years I have had the calendar printed at VistaPrint. This year I switched to Snapfish. The movie saved me over $200. I’m very pleased with the quality. In fact, I think the quality is actually slightly higher as far as image quality and paper quality. However, the proof is usually in the pudding and what that means for the calendar is we will have to see how it holds up for 365 days. The other part of that equation is that I’m not a master of the Snapfish editing software, so there were a few mistakes made. Next year, those mistakes we hopefully be corrected, if Snapfish manages to maintain the Photography 139 account next year I look forward to correcting those. I can’t predict the future. After all, as the source of much of my Christian wisdom (Christian Mingle: The Movie) tells us. “The Heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”*

2. The calendars that are mailed were mailed on December 18th. Not a single one has arrived (as far as I know) a full 2 weeks later. And most of them weren’t going all that far. 2 to Minnesota. 2 to Kansas. 1 to Nebraska. 1 to Arizona. 1 package of 2 to Texas. Very frustrating. Unfortunately I don’t have any tracking info, so either they are just completely lost, will show up sometime in mid April, will show back up on my front porch in a month, are completely lost and will never show up, or maybe they were stolen. It is a mystery that hopefully is solved soon. Very soon!

3. When I reveal each calendar image I will reveal the people that picked it as it their favorite image from the calendar. Not a single person picked the front cover. So nothing to reveal here for this image.

Hopefully you enjoy the reveal of the calendar images for this year.

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It is a new year, but I like to look back at 2024 and reveal statistics that mostly me and Joe Duff find interesting.

Every post has categories. While I’m in the process of redoing how I do the categories, here are where the categories currently rank.

TOP 20 CATEGORIES – ALL-TIME

1.Black & White – 1,298
2.Flowers – 1,044
3. Art – 913
4. Animals-850
5. Jesse – 795
6.Teresa – 712
7. Road Trip – 696
8. Macro – 688
9. Formal Portrait – 669
10. Carla – 665
11. Shannon – 644
12. Nature – 595
13. WPC – Submissions – 589
14. Still Life – 560
15. Candid Portrait – 533
16. Mom – 479
17. Logan – 474
18. Kim – 469
19. Photoshop – 437
20. Micky – 425

TOP 20 HUMAN CATEGORIES – ALL TIME

1. Jesse – 795
2. Teresa – 712
3. Carla – 665
4. Shannon – 644
5. Mom – 479
6. Logan – 474
7. Kim – 469
8. Micky – 425
9. Vest – 417
10. Willy – 414
11. Andy – 404
12. Sara – 378
13. Jay – 376
14. Jen – 373
15. Dawn – 367
16. Derrick – 355
17. Cathie – 352
18. Tamara – 343
19. Angie – 337
20. Michelle – 330

TOP 20 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES

1. Black & White – 1,298
2. Flowers – 1,044
3. Art – 913
4. Animals-850
5. Road Trip – 696
6. Macro – 688
7. Formal Portrait – 669
8. Nature – 595
9. WPC – Submissions – 589
10. Still Life – 560
11. Candid Portrait – 533
12. Photoshop – 437
13. Street Photography – 410
14. History – 407
15. Self-Portrait – 405
16. Naima – 404
17. Christianity – 390
18. Iowa State – 346
19. WPC – Reminder – 322
20. Night – 281

Now to look at what were the most used categories of just 2024.

TOP 20 CATEGORIES – 2024

1. Art – 146
2. Still Life – 144
3. Street Photography – 143
4. Teresa – 104
5. Jesse – 95
6. Logan – 83
7. Black & White – 77
8. Flowers – 74
9. Carla – 72
10. Road Trip – 71
11. Elizabeth – 68
12. Andy – 66
12. Sabas – 66
14. Brandon – 65
15. Kim – 63
15. Scottie D. – 63
17. Willy – 62
18. Nathanial – 61
19. Dawn – 60
19. Aunt Linda – 60

TOP 20 HUMAN CATEGORIES – 2024

1. Teresa – 104
2. Jesse – 95
3. Logan – 83
4. Carla – 72
5. Elizabeth – 68
6. Andy – 66
6. Sabas – 66
8. Brandon – 65
9. Kim – 63
9. Scottie D. – 63
11. Willy – 62
12. Nathanial – 61
13. Dawn – 60
13. Aunt Linda – 60
14. Shannon – 59
15. Vest – 58
15. Angie – 58
15. Lowell – 58
18. Cathie – 57
19. Bill – 56
20. Micky – 55
20. Mindi – 55

TOP 20 NONHUMAN CATEGORIES – 2024

1. Art – 146
2. Still Life – 144
3. Street Photography – 143
4. Black & White – 77
5. Flowers – 74
6. Road Trip – 71
7. Tenderloining – 54
8. Nature – 53
8. WPC – Submissions – 53
10. Macro – 52
11. Animals – 51
12. Christianity – 47
13. Candid Portrait – 45
14. Birthdays – 43
15. Self-Portrait – 42
16. Travel – 35
17. History – 33
17. WPC – Alternate – 33
19. Music – 32
20. Railroad – 29

If you have spent any time on this website you realize the 100 most used categories are listed on the left side. When I’m looking at these stats, I also like to look at the bottom 10 of the top 100.

Bottom 10 of the Top 100

91. Nathanial – 117 (+61)
92. Russell – 114 (+3)
93. Pufferbilly Days – 105 (+14)
94. Mindi – 98 (+55)
95. Faust – 97 (+5)
96. Becca – 96 (+6)
97. Pastor Sarah – 94 (+3)
98. Writing – 93 (+1)
99. Sheri – 91 (+54)
99. House – 91 (0)
99. Layla – 91 (+2)

The categories that are most likely to fall into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 in 2025 are:

+ Bethany
+ Blogging
+ Tenderloining
+ Jill
+ Nate

I’m sure Tenderloining is pretty safe. I need to get out of my house and visit Nate and Bethany this year. I hermitted pretty hard this year. As we will see later.

The categories that are most likely to climb into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 in 2025 are:

+ Mary
+ Commercial
+ Andree
+ Photo Journal
+ Flat Earth Joe

Although there are probably some categories that aren’t as close to the Top 100 currently that have a better chance to break in. Like Bokeh, for example.

On to the most popular Photography 139 Galleries in 2024:

20. Drone – 54,022 Views

19. Daisies – 55,109 Views

18. South Dakota Trip – 2017 – 55,869 Views

17. Iowa State Fair – 2023 – 57,439 Views

16. Naima – 57,919 Views

15. Photo Journal Rejects – 59,548 Views

14. Phonetos – 61,145 Views

13. New Orleans – 2024 – 69,224 Views

12. Home Improvement – 72,195 Views

11. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 10 – 83,769 Views

10. 365 Day Photo Project – 2012 – 94,307 Views

9. 9 Emotions Project – 116,852 Views

8. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 125,685 Views

7. Town Sign Project – 137,773 Views

6. Life – 147,856 Views

5. 365 Day Photo Project – 2013 – 148,808 Views

4. Tenderloining – 151,436 Views

3. Weekly Photo Challenge Year 3 – 193,931 Views

2. WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – YEAR 11 – 398,026 Views

1. Instagram – 496,850

To look at any of the galleries, you can just click on the picture and voila, you will be there. And yes, I purposely picked pictures that had people that are no long with us to represent some of the galleries.

In 2024, the gallery had 6,616,054 views.

There were the most popular days for the gallery in 2024:

1. 2024/09/21 – 72551
2. 2024/07/19 – 72168
3. 2024/04/05 – 70007
4. 2024/07/20 – 64376
5. 2024/07/21 – 56076
6. 2024/07/29 – 54710
7. 2024/08/01 – 53564
8. 2024/07/18 – 51727
9. 2024/07/22 – 51004
10. 2024/07/26 – 50839

But what about my 2024 that isn’t related to this website? I know, it is hard to believe that I exist outside of this website. But I do, I really exist in the physical world. But first, the social media world:

I had a goal to post on Instagram once a day in 2024 and failed miserably. I posted 99 times. But of those 99, these were my Top 9:

As for Snapchat?

I have no real Snapchat goals, except to not be the one who breaks the streaks. I ended the year with the following streaks:

+ Logan – 1,091
+ Brandon – 848
+ Nathanial – 681
+ Lowell – 235
+ Elizabeth – 232
+ Fran – 119
+ Dawn – 4

I don’t listen to much music on Spotify. It is almost exclusively a podcast vessel for me, but here are the highlights from my wrapped:

If you are wondering, 127,186 minutes is 2,119.8 hours. 88 days. I mostly put up that monster number because I listen to podcasts when I go to bed at night and they play all night.

But we talked about the physical world. I have to freely confess, my travels this year were pathetic!

7 States… That’s it?!!?

I never even made it to Minnesota or Kansas this year! I never saw Bethany or Nate once! The only reason I saw Becca is because she came to Iowa! I’ll have to address this in my 2025 goals.

In 2024 I attended 29 sporting events. Every single one of them was related to Iowa State. This was my favorite:

Iowa State 29 Kansas State 21

This game put Iowa State (as long as BYU beat Houston later that night) into the Big 12 Championship Game. And next to Iowa, Kansas State is the team I enjoy beating the most in football. To be honest, maybe more than beating Iowa. Farmageddon needs a trophy so freaking bad!

Honorable Mention goes to:
+ Iowa State 66 #4 Baylor 63 (Women’s Basketball)
+ Iowa State 96 #7 Kansas State 93 (Women’s Basketball)
+ Iowa State 69 #1 Houston 41 (Men’s Basketball – Big 12 Championship Game)
+ Iowa State 67 #25 Washington State 56 (Men’s Basketball – NCAA Tournament 2nd Round)
+ Iowa State 38 Central Florida 35 (Football)

I only saw 5 movies in the theater. A long cry from when I used to go about every week. But by far, the best movie I saw in the theater in 2024 was:

I didn’t track the concerts I went to, but it was also a pathetic number. I didn’t go to a single concert where I had to buy a ticket. A few Boone City Band concerts and some musical acts at some town festivals. The Step Show before Iowa State football games. So picking out my favorite concert was pretty easy.

Shannon Curfman

I also didn’t track how many television shows I watched this year, because the number would probably be terrifying. But the best television show I watched this year was pretty obvious:

Shrinking – Season 2

Honorable Mentions:
+ Hacks (Season 3)
+ Somebody Somewhere (Season 3)
+ Only Murders in the Building (Season 4)
+ Nobody Wants This (Season 1)
+ We Are Lady Parts (Season 2)

And finally a couple of random stats.
+ Christmas cards received – 10
+ Trick-or-Treaters – 48

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But enough about 2024. What are my goals in 2025.

In general, I want to freshen up this website. It has had the same look for years now. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing great about it either. I want to continue to add and delete and modify the way posts are categories. A fairly drastic reorganization of the Photography 139 Gallery is also underway. I hope to have a new logo in 2025, but my graphic designer has been working on it for like 3 years now. So we will see.

I hope to visit more than 7 states (including Iowa). So 8 states! I already have work trips on the calendar for Texas and Pennsylvania. I hope to go to Ireland this year, but I need to get on the ball with getting the details on that worked out. So I’m part of the way their in theory.

I always make a list of places in Iowa I want to visit. It has been fairly fruitless, but I am going to make that list again this year and this time, when I think about going to on a road trip, but am lacking inspo, I’m going to go look at the list. Duh!

But rather than making a list of places, I’m going to make a list of people I want to see in 2025. There are so many people that I haven’t seen. Some I didn’t see in 2024. But some that I haven’t seen since before pandemic or maybe even before that. Heck, you might even make that list. I know some people have chosen to remove themselves from my life. I get that, but to the others, fair warning. We are breaking bread or going to an art show or a movie or a concert.

I want to see more live music in 2025. It has been missing from my life for a few years and I need to get it back.

I plan on bringing back THE SELFIE PROJECT in 2025. Fair warning for that as well.

Finally. I’m thinking of having a birthday party in 2025. In May I will officially be older than Methuselah. I should celebrate that on some level. I have a few ideas and have my eye on a couple of you as caterers. Fair warning to you.

I wish all of you the best in the impending disaster that will be 2025! Happy New Year!

*Proverbs 16:9 in case you were wondering. (ESV)

Art, Art Festival, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Christianity, Christmas, Elizabeth, Lists, Michelle, Movies, Music, Scottie D., Still Life, Street Photography

Joy to the World!

December 25, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

1. Joy to the world; the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.

2. Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns;
Our mortal songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.

One of my favorite Christmas carols! And it has an interesting backstory.

From the Wiki:

“Joy to the World” is an English hymn and Christmas carol. It was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts. It is usually sung to the American composer Lowell Mason’s 1848 arrangement of a tune attributed to George Frideric Handel. The hymn’s lyrics are a Christian reinterpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3.

Since the 20th century, “Joy to the World” has been the most-published Christmas carol in North America, even though it was not originally associated with Christmas. As of December 2009, it was published in 1,387 hymnals in North America, according to the Dictionary of North American Hymnology.

“Joy to the World” was written by English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts, based on a Christian interpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts’ collection The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian State and Worship. The paraphrase is Watts’ Christological interpretation. Consequently, he does not emphasize with equal weight the various themes of Psalm 98. In first and second stanzas, Watts writes of heaven and earth rejoicing at the coming of the King. Watts did not write this hymn as a Christmas carol, as the lyrics do not reflect the Virgin birth of Jesus, but rather Christ’s Second Coming. Stanza three, an interlude that alludes to Genesis 3:17–19 rather than to the psalm text, speaks of Christ’s blessings extending victoriously over the realm of sin. The cheerful repetition of the phrase “far as the curse is found” has caused this stanza to be omitted from some hymnals. But the line makes joyful sense when understood from the New Testament eyes through which Watts interprets the psalm. Stanza four celebrates Christ’s rule over the nations.” The nations are called to celebrate because God’s faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world.

So not actually meant to be about Christ’s birth, but about Christ’s return. That being said, once you put art into the world, it is up to interpretation. Sorry not sorry Ike, we turned “Joy to the World” into a Christmas Banger!

But speaking of Christmas. I need to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world! The Lord is come!

I hope all of you have the merriest Christmas that you possibly can!

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This is going to be a long one, so get comfortable.

I’m not a big fan of Christmas movies. I do love and will staunchly argue that the best Christmas movie ever made was IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. I always watch it on Christmas Eve before I nestle down for my sleep. This year I decided to get more into the Christmas spirit by watching a different Christmas movie, that I’ve never seen, every day of December leading up and including Christmas day.

Here are the movies I watched and some information from Rotten Tomatoes:

Our Little Secret – 2024 (Netflix) – December 1

+ Tomatometer (Critics) – 36%
+ Popcornmeter (Audience Score) – 54%
+ Bennettmeter – 45%
+ Stars: Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls), Ian Harding (Who?), Kristen Chenoweth (Hairspray), Tim Meadows (Mean Girls)
+ IMDB Synopsis: Avery and Logan haven’t spoken in the 10 years since they broke up. As Christmas approaches, they discover that their new partners are siblings, and both of them have been invited to stay with the family for the holidays. Avery proposes that they keep their past a secret to avoid any awkward confrontations, but hiding the truth turns out to be more difficult than it seems–and spending time together reignites old sparks.
+ Bennett Synopsis: Linsday Lohan’s boyfriend’s sister is dating her old boyfriend. For no apparent reason they decide to pretend that they have never met. Oh, I know why. Cause otherwise there is no movie. Maybe the most interesting thing in the movie is when the pastor at the church calls them “Fairweather Christians” cause they only show up to church at Easter and Christmas. Maybe the term Chreaster was too offensive?

The Merry Gentlemen – 2024 (Netflix) – December 2

Tomatometer: 44%
Popcornmeter: 23%
Bennettmeter: 10%
+ Stars: Britt Robertson (Dan in Real Life), Chad MIchael Murray (Freaky Friday)
+ IMDB Synopsis: To save her parents’ small-town performing venue, a former big-city dancer decides to stage an all-male, Christmas-themed revue.
+ Bennett Synopsis: Lady that is too old to be a Broadway dancer goes home and saves the Dad from Family Ties music club that holds about 10 people by teaching a janitor how to be a stripper. No full monty. ‘

Hot Frosty – 2024 (Netflix) – December 3

Tomatometer: 76%
Popcornmeter: 54%
Bennettmeter: 60%
Stars: Lacey Chabert (Christianmingle: The Movie), Dustin Milligan (A Simple Favor)
IMDB Synopsis: Widow Kathy magically brings a snowman to life. His innocence helps her heal and find love again. They bond before the holidays, but he’s doomed to melt.
Bennett Synopsis: Widow (cause there is always one in a these movies) accidentally makes a snowman come to life by putting a magic scarf on him. But he probably isn’t hot. I’d say mid at best. Unless you seem him with a beard. Then I can see it. But I’m not expert on the beauty of men. If my girl Lacey was the snowwwoman brought to life. Hot Frosty makes sense. Craig Robinson plays one note over and over again as the Sheriff that pursues Mid Frosty for running down the street giving off the full monty.

Haul Out the Holly – 2022 (Netflix) – December 4

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 45%
Bennettmeter: 55%
Stars:Lacey Chabert (Christianmingle: The Movie, Hot Frosty), Wes Brown (Glory Road)
IMDB Synopsis: Emily arrives home hoping to visit her parents, only to find that they are going on a trip of their own. While she stays at her house for the holidays, her HOA is determined to get Emily involved in the neighborhood Christmas festivities.
Bennett Synopsis: A horror story about the evils of living with an overbearing HOA.

Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up! – 2023 (Netflix) – December 5

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 39%
Bennettmeter: 45%
Stars: Lacey Chabert (Christianmingle: The Movie, Hot Frosty, Haul Out the Holly), Wes Brown (Haul Out the Holly)
IMDB Synopsis: As the holidays approach, Emily and Jared are looking forward to celebrating the holidays together again, this time as a couple. Emily, now embracing Evergreen Lane’s uniquely festive spirit, is ready to work with Jared, Ned, Mary Louise and Pamela to make this year’s Christmas celebrations the best yet – even if being the HOA president’s girlfriend doesn’t stop those dreaded decorating citations. When a house on the block goes up for sale, it causes quite a stir with residents. When the soon-to-be neighbors turn out to be holiday royalty, it looks like this year’s competition is about to heat up. As the welcoming committee prepares for the new arrivals, only one thing is certain – this Christmas, Evergreen Lane is going to sleigh.
Bennett Synopsis: Reality television stars move in and our tormented by the overbearing HOA.

A Merry Scottish Christmas – 2023 (Netflix) – December 6

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 56%
Bennettmeter: 8%
Stars: Lacey Chabert (Christianmingle: The Movie, Hot Frosty, Haul Out the Holly, Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up), Scott Wolf (Go)
IMDB Synopsis: Follows estranged siblings Lindsay and Brad as they travel to Scotland at Christmas to reunite with their mother Jo.
Bennett Synopsis: Lacey Chabert and her boring brother go to Scotland and find out they are the product of inbreeding, I mean if they are nobility. Then they have to decide on whether or not to be the products of inherited wealth. Tough decision. Not my girl Lacey’s best film.

Miracle in Bethlehem, PA – 2023 (Netflix) – December 7

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 68%
Bennettmeter: 15%
Stars: Laura Vandervoort (Smallville), Benjamin Ayres (Who?)
IMDB Synopsis: Just before Christmas, Mary Ann adopts a baby girl to raise alone. She and the infant spend the Christmas stuck in Bethlehem, PA, due to bad weather. Her only choice when the inn is full is to stay with Joe, the brother of the innkeeper.
Bennett Synopsis: Single mom Mary and her newly adopted baby have to stay in Bethlehem with Joe, who’s house in like a barn. Get it. Look! They are so clever! Mary also seems to treat her mom like garbage for no particular reason.

The Christmas Quest – 2024 (Hallmark) – December 8

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: No score
Bennettmeter: 18%
Stars: Lacey Chabert (Christianmingle: The Movie, Hot Frosty, Haul Out the Holly, Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up, A Merry Scottish Christmas), Kristoffer Polaha (Who?)
IMDB Synopsis: An archaeologist, her ex-husband who is a Norse language expert, search for legendary treasure in Iceland during Christmas. Others join the hunt, leading to a thrilling race to secure the treasure before the wrong people obtain it.
Bennett Synopsis: Lacey Chabert as Indiana Jones? Yes please! But not in this movie where the only fun part is saying Yule Lads.

Holiday Touchdown A Chiefs Love Story – 2024 (Hallmark) – December 9

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: No Score
Bennettmeter: 65%
Stars: Joey King’s sister, Tyler Hynes (Who?)
IMDB Synopsis: Alana Higman, a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan and her family are competing to win the team’s Fan of the Year contest, in a process judged by the director of fan engagement Derrick.
Bennett Synopsis: I wanted to hate this movie, cause the Chief fanbase in pretty insufferable and their stadium is a dump, but dang it I actually liked it. Joey King’s sister is pretty charming and anybody that is a sport fan will definitely be able to relate to the story and the pay off at the end is earned. Although the green screen in the midfield scene is reminiscent of the green screen in THE ROOM. That means it is atrociously bad.

Meet Me Next Christmas – 2024 (Netflix) – December 10

Tomatometer: 69%
Popcornmeter: 53%
Bennettmeter: 55%
Stars: Christina Milian but the real star is Kalen Allen.
IMDB Synopsis: In pursuit of a fairytale romance with the man of her dreams, Layla must race through New York City to get her hands on the hottest ticket in town: the sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert.
Bennett Synopsis: Christina Milian meets a rando at the airport, but they are both attached but they agree that if they are both unattached next Christmas they will meet at a Pentatonix concert the following Christmas, but this is all just a pretense to see some absolutely terrible acting by Pentatonix. Just really bad. But the cousin character redeems the movie. But if I met some hottie at the airport that told me she would meet me at a Pentatonix concert next year at Christmas if her current boyfriend cheated on her, I’d pass. I know she is just going to hook up with the guy that tries to get her a ticket to that concert. I’ve seen that movie before. Well, I’ve seen it now.

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 56%
Bennettmeter: 38%
Stars: Rachel Skarsten
IMDB Synopsis: When a snowstorm diverts Kate’s first private flight en route to Switzerland to Christmas Island, she must team up with an air traffic controller to secure her dream job as the family’s pilot.
Bennett Synopsis: Movie that tries to push the lie that rich people aren’t terrible at their core. They just need to make a Christmas tree out of lobster cages to not suck. Not here for your right wing propaganda movie! Okay, it had its moments.

I Believe in Santa – 2022 (Netflix) – December 12

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: 28%
Bennettmeter: 9%
Stars: Christina Moore, Tom Ducey
IMDB Synopsis: Love is a gift. But when you find out the man you’ve fallen for still believes in Santa, do you accept it – or send it back?
Bennett Synopsis: Send it back.

That Christmas – 2024 (Netflix) – December 13

Tomatometer: 66%
Popcornmeter: 73%
Bennettmeter: 75%
Stars: Bill Nighy, Brian Cox
IMDB Synopsis: It’s an unforgettable Christmas for the townsfolk of Wellington-on-Sea when the worst snowstorm in history alters everyone’s plans, including Santa’s.
Bennett Synopsis: Who is more irresponsible? Adults? Kids? Both? But the storyline with the nice twin and the naughty twin is very endearing.

Last Christmas – 2019 (Max) – December 14
Tomatometer: 46%
Popcornmeter: 81%
Bennettmeter: 61%
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding
IMDB Synopsis: Kate is a young woman subscribed to bad decisions. Working as an elf in a year-round Christmas store is not good for the wannabe singer. However, she meets Tom there. Her life takes a new turn–that seems too good to be true.
Bennett Synopsis: So much great Wham! music that takes the lyrics of the literal song a little too literal. But Emilia Clarke is watchable in anything. Even as a depressed, alcoholic, heart transplant survivor that finally finds her direction while volunteering at a homeless shelter. Plus a cameo by Andrew Ridgeley!

A Sudden Case of Christmas – 2024 (Hulu) – December 15

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: No score
Bennettmeter: 5%
Stars: Danny DeVito, Andie McDowell, Wilmer Valderrama
IMDB Synopsis: An American couple bring their 10-year-old daughter to her grandfather’s hotel in Italy to tell her that they are separating. Hoping to bring them back together, she asks to celebrate one last Christmas together, even though it’s August.
Bennett Synopsis: Am I bad person for rooting for divorce? Cause I was rooting for divorce.

The Holiday List – 2024 (Peacock) – December 16

Tomatometer: No score
Popcornmeter: No score
Bennettmeter: 2%
Stars: Brittany Snow, Lucas Bravo
IMDB Synopsis: A woman sets out a well-intentioned plan of bringing her dysfunctional family together in the wake of the family’s matriarch, her mother-in-law.
Bennett Synopsis: So bleak and dreary that even Sexy Chef from “Emily in Paris” can’t even save it.

Best Christmas. Ever! – 2023 (Netflix) – December 17

Tomatometer: 40%
Popcornmeter: 19%
Bennettmeter: 40%
Stars: Heather Graham, Brandy, Jason Biggs
IMDB Synopsis: Friendships are put to the ultimate test over a boastful holiday newsletter.
Bennett Synopsis: I miss Christmas letters. I miss Christmas cards. I don’t get any, but I miss them and that may have pulled me a long ways in this movie until they get to the solar powered hot air balloon. What? Movie kinda circles the drain after that.

The Grinch – 2018 (Peacock) – December 18

Tomatometer: 49%
Popcornmeter: 59%
Bennettmeter: 57%
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Pharrell Williams, Rashida Jones
IMDB Synopsis: A grumpy Grinch plots to ruin Christmas for the village of Whoville.
Bennett Synopsis: It is definitely not in the league as the Boris Karloff Grinch, but a far sight better than the wretched Jim Carrey version. The pop culture references definitely dated it pretty fast!

Krampus – 2015 (Peacock) – December 19

Tomatometer: 66%
Popcornmeter: 52%
Bennettmeter: 60%
Stars: Adam Scott, Toni Collette
IMDB Synopsis: A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.
Bennett Synopsis: The creativity of the monsters is incredible. A pretty phenomenal cast, especially for a horror movie. But the story is… mid.

Red One – 2024 (Prime) – December 20

Tomatometer: 30%
Popcornmeter: 90%
Bennettmeter: 70%
Stars: J.K. Simmons, Chris Evens, Dwayne Johnson
IMDB Synopsis: After Santa Claus is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security must team up with a notorious hacker in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.
Bennett Synopsis: The best part of this movie is the extreme attention to detail it gives to how Santa would be able to deliver presents to billions of children in a single night. The rest is kind of boiler plate action. Of course J.K. Simmons was magnificent!

Spirited – 2022 (AppleTV) – December 21

Tomatometer: 70%
Popcornmeter: 80%
Bennettmeter: 75%
Stars: Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds
IMDB Synopsis: A musical version of Charles Dickens’s story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey.
Bennett Synopsis: I’m a sucker for a good take on “A Christmas Carol”. This is particularly clever and it took me a minute to accept the ending, but I did. And now I’m at peace with it. Also, great music. And if you don’t like it, Good afternoon to you sir!

Fred Claus – 2007 (Disney+> – December 22
Tomatometer: 20%
Popcornmeter: 45%
Bennettmeter: 90%
Stars: Vince Vaugn, Paul Giamatti
IMDB Synopsis: Fred Claus, Santa’s bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole to help Santa and the elves prepare for Christmas in exchange for cash.
Bennett Synopsis: This should put to rest once and for all the very inaccurate notion that I am an elitist. My favorite Christmas movie of the 25 has an astonishingly low score on Rotten Tomatoes! Me? An elitist. Hogwash! Horse pucky! As Sabrina Carpenter might say, Nonsense! And maybe it is because this movie corrects, if I may be so bold, the flaw in the Santa Clause “character”. Fred utters this line and I think it embodies what should be the true Christmas spirit:

“Nick, there’s been one thing that’s been eating at me since I’ve been here. That Naughty-Nice List that you got? There’s no naughty kids, Nick. They’re all good kids. But some of them are scared. And some of them don’t feel listened to. Some of them had some pretty tough breaks too. But every kid deserves a present on Christmas.”

The Christmas Break – 2023 (Hulu) – December 23

Tomatometer: No Score
Popcornmeter: 22%
Bennettmeter: 26%
Stars: Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers), India Mullen
IMDB Synopsis: A married couple travels from Chicago to spend Christmas with the wife’s family in a small town in Ireland, for a holiday that will test their patience–and their marriage.
Bennett Synopsis: I was really just here cause I want to go to Ireland next year and the scenes of Gaelic football, but other than that, not much to see here.

Fatman – 2020 (Peacock) – December 24
Tomatometer: 44%
Popcornmeter: 84%
Bennettmeter: 0%
Stars: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins
IMDB Synopsis: A rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus is fighting to save his declining business. Meanwhile, Billy, a neglected and precocious 12 year old, hires a hit man to kill Santa after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.
Bennett Synopsis: While that sounds like it could be a fun movie. It isn’t. And what it neglects to mention is that Santa and his elves are building weapons for the United State military. Everything about this movie makes me want to puke from the lame action scene near the end where Santa gets stabbed and the shot in the eye and Mrs. Claus shoots the assassin in the back to the ending where Santa goes to the kids house that hired the assassin to threaten him. All of it is puke.

Mary – 2024 (Netflix) – December 25

Tomatometer: 31%
Popcornmeter: 37%
Bennettmeter: 35%
Stars: Noa Cohen, Anthony Hopkins
IMDB Synopsosis: In this timeless coming-of-age story, Mary is shunned following an otherworldly conception and forced to flee when Herod’s insatiable thirst for power ignites a murderous pursuit for the newborn.
Bennett Synopsis: This movie was created to answer the age old questions: Was Mary a hot 24 year old Israeli supermodel. Yes, yes she was. Could Mary jump off a burning building shortly after giving birth to Jesus? Yes she can. Was Joseph good with a sword? Yes. But not good enough to save Mary’s dad from being killed. Could Joseph murder somebody? He sure could! What would it be like if Hannibal Lecter and King Herod were the same person? Pretty weird.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Thanks to Elizabeth, Michelle, and Scottie D. for some of the suggestions for Christmas movies. I don’t know I will do this again next year. We will see where I’m at on the Ebeneezer Scrooge character arc next year.

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I said this would be a long one. Go ahead and pour yourself another cup of nog. Time to share the rest of the pictures I took on my brief solo trip to the Des Moines Arts Festival:

Still my favorite!

I don’t necessarily hate winter, but I’m ready for it to warm back up so festivals and farmer’s markets come back! I miss you so much! Soon, though, soon enough.

Adam, Boone FUMC, Christmas, Music

The Story of Christmas

December 21, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Last Sunday was the kid’s Christmas Pageant at Boone First United Methodist Church. As always, they did a wonderful job and I snapped a few pictures.

Here are some of my favorites:

Everybody involved did a fantastic job! It brightened what ended up being a pretty terrific day!

Art, Music, Street Photography

DM Arts Festival – I

December 18, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

This year I went to the Des Moines Arts Festival solo. Cause all my friends either hate art or have terrible taste in art like Shannon. I guess she does like my art, so maybe she doesn’t have terrible taste in art. Or maybe my art is terrible? That clearly can’t be the case.

Anyways, I took some pictures. Mostly of the drag show.

Here is the first collection:

There is one more collection of pictures from my solo trip to the Des Moines Arts Festival left to share. Once again it will be heavy on pictures from the drag show!

Art, Black & White, Cathie, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jesse, Michelle, Micky, Music, Street Photography, Work

Witch Hunt Banquet Street Photography

December 14, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I “run” this sports prognostication game at work known colloquially as “The Witch Hunt”. I would explain why it is called the Witch Hunt and the mythology of the game, but that would involve a fair amount of work and if you aren’t in the Witch Hunt, you don’t deserve to know.

I bring it up because at the end of the Witch Hunt we have a banquet where we tell tall tales of the battles past and coronate that year’s Witch and present them with the travelling trophy. This banquet is always at Zeno’s in Marshalltown. This year the banquet was a little light. Many of the witch hunters are sociopaths* and never show up. But this year many of the regulars came up with weak ass excuses. Elizabeth was “sick”. Likely story. Micky went to see a hillbilly in concert. Just kidding a hillbilly would be worth seeing in concert. He went to see a pretend cowboy in concert. The Clevengers ghosted. Jesse claimed he loved his family more than pizza. All of the a collection of hooligans and bad people. However I showed up. And the good people showed up. The Haupts. Cathie. Jordan and Jonah. Hopefully those that made the sin of shaft-ation (The second greatest sin after pride.) will make amends for their biggest failing of 2024.

I got to Marshalltown a bit early so I could go to their records store and do some light street photography. These are those pictures:

Ready for the next tornado to hit it.

This place has since closed and it makes me very sad!

Raindrops on roses and rock snakes of all sizes…

Some of the best street art I’ve ever seen!

I’m putting some of you on notice! Time to take your fashion up a notch.

A pig with sunglasses! A goat with a bowtie! I do believe the impossible is possible!

Don’t even try it junior.

I love van Gogh so much I even love his imitators!

Miss you. Will see you again soon!

I need to make this place into a future food adventure. Allegedly the best Maid-Rites in the world.

It was a great banquet and I’m looking forward to it again already. Hopefully only the real ones show up again.

*I define sociopath my the medical definition, which is “doesn’t love pizza”.

Iowa State, Music, Street Photography

Steps Concert

October 26, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I have yet to take my camera into an Iowa State game this year. This might be why they are currently 7-0. However, last Saturday I did take some pictures of the Steps Concert before the Central Florida game. Thought I would share a few:

Hopefully I get to watch a few more of these concerts this year. Maybe some time I will get there early enough that I actually secure a decent spot to take some picture! Go State!

Art, Black & White, Contests, Formal Portrait, History, Jesse, Monica, Music, Pufferbilly Days, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel

Home of the Blues – Day 2 – Sun Records II

September 20, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

A reminder that this weekend is Pufferbilly Days and with that comes the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Here is a map of where to find all the entries:

Here is the flyer on how to vote for the People’s Choice Award:

Or you can click on this link:

People’s Choice Award Voting

To see all the submissions, click on this link:

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Entries

Big thanks to Monica for designing the flyers!

There were 162 entries this year! And this contest couldn’t have happened without so many wonder volunteers, but I’ll get into all that stuff in a future post.

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Now I proudly present the rest of the pictures from Jesse and I’s trip to Sun Records:

Liberty Bowl Road Trip - Day 2 - Sun Records

Still one more collection of images from Day 2 of the Memphis Trip left to share!

Art, Christianity, Music, Street Photography

Highland Park

September 18, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in March, when I went to a sketchy mall to get my TSA Pre-Check, I stopped in the Highland Park neighborhood in Des Moines to do a small bit of street photography.

Check it out:

A pretty cool little neighborhood!