Category Archives: Music

Youth Group Mission Trip – Minneapolis

I might have said last week that this random Wednesday collection was going to feature Maddux. Next week’s collection will feature Maddux.

A couple weeks ago I had the great pleasure of helping chaperone the youth group from my church on a mission trip to Minneapolis.

As you have undoubtedly heard, my point and shoot went kaput on this trip, so I didn’t get as many photos as I wanted. However, with the pictures I had taken and pictures contributed by Sarah and Maddie I was able to put together this video of the trip to show during the church service on Sunday.



Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via email or RSS feed, you will have to go to the website to watch it.

One note on the video. I do think it ended up being the perfect song for the video and I really struggled with the song until I ultimately settled on this acoustic version of Live Like That by The Street Prophets.

I think this song and this version of the song worked perfectly for the video. I played with the original radio release, but I decided it was too hard of a song for our congregation. But I found an acoustic version of it on YouTube performed by The Street Prophets for KLove radio.

While searching for the perfect song I listened a lot of the Matt Maher station on Pandora while walking Naima.

Originally, I was going to go with Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

Then I changed to Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes.

Then I changed to Jason Gray’s Remind Me Who I Am.

Then I changed back to Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

But once I found the acoustic version of Live Like That, the choice was obvious, even though I love all those other songs.

Even though, you’ll see these pictures in the video, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:



Bible Study on a Hill


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like Before We Got There


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like When We Are Done with It!


Maddie Boxing Rice


Kiley and Sarah getting their hair done at Mary’s Place


Emily During Bible Study


Paige, Kiley, Grace and Erica Ready at Feed My Starving Children


Finishing Up at Feed My Starving Children


Blessing the Food Packs at Feed My Starving Children


Sarah, Grace, and Alan Making Boxes at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Jacob and Marshall Boxing Meat at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Gabe, and CJ – the end of the frozen meat line at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Bagging Noodles at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Maddie, Amber, and Kiley Sorting Clothes at ARC


Brenton, CJ, and Jacob Sorting Clothes at ARC


Gabe and Jake Organizing Clothes at ARC


Marshall, Jake, Alec, and Alan Working the Back of ARC


Sarah Styling in ARC


Minnehaha Falls


Breakfast!


Andrew During Bible Study


Alec and Grace Draining the 1 Ton Bag of Rice


Emily and Amber Weighing Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Sarah Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Paige Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Steph and Ryan Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Erica, Amber, Sarah, Emily, Maddie, and Grace at the Global Market


Ammie and Paige Playing Sorry at Mary’s Place


Jake and Kids Showing Off their Creation at Mary’s Place


Brenton, Sarah, Grace, Emily, Amber, Erica, Jacob, Paige, Steph, Jake, Ammie, Allan, Ryan, Yours Truly, Gabe, Jake, Alec, Maddie, Kiley, Sarah, Andrew, CJ, and Marshall at the Sculptue Garden

It was an amazing trip and I hope I asked back for next year’s mission trip.

The Archives: Edition Fifty-Eight

The images below come from the following folder:

Backup/My Pictures/New Folder

The majority of these pictures come from a concert my friend Mike’s band (Lesser Known Saint) had at the M Shop.










































I remember telling Mike after the show how much I loved watching him “dance” on stage. He got mad and told me he wasn’t “dancing”, he was “thrashing”.

Lesser Known Saint was still patrolling the Twin Cities area until recently. I understand that they have broken up now and are pursuing separate projects.

Next week’s folder will be:

Backup/My Pictures/People/Display Pictures

Random New York City Images

Even though I only recently started the tradition of posting movie reviews on Wednesdays, I’m already walking away from that tradition. I want to keep this website about photography as much as possible, so I’m going to start posting my movie reviews on my collective blog:

Robot Monster Bros.

If you were to follow that link, you would not find any movie reviews. You will find an explanation of why I do my movie reviews the way I do. You will also find a posting the 10 Things I Learned in NYC. In the near future, I should have a review of Cedar Rapids up.

Wednesdays now will be more of a random photography day. This way I get more photography on the photography website and more writing on the writing website.

Here are some random pictures from my trip to New York City:


Random New York City Images
The Carnegie Deli, our first stop after the hotel.

Random New York City Images
The Melo – That is what I am talking about!

Random New York City Images
Maybe the best cheesecake of my life.

Random New York City Images
Central Park

Random New York City Images
Central Park

Random New York City Images
Central Park Horse

Random New York City Images
Manhattan Skyline from Central Park

Random New York City Images
Broadway

Random New York City Images
David Letterman does not amuse me, but this was still kind of cool.

Random New York City Images
“Don’t want to be an American Idiot. Don’t want a nation under the new media. And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mind (fudge) America….”

Random New York City Images
Want to know what 72 dollars worth of alcohol looks like in NYC? Sarah and Tim are showing it off.

Random New York City Images
Steph and I after American Idiot

Random New York City Images
Jesse and I after American Idiot

Random New York City Images
Amy’s Bread’s Red Velvet Cake. Tim said this would be the best red velvet cake of my life. Shhh…. My Mom’s is better!

Random New York City Images
Sarah and I outside of Amy’s Bread

More random New York City images will be coming your way next Wednesday and don’t forget to check out the other website for my list of 10 things I learned in NYC.

Personal Photo Project of the Week #55



Valentine’s Day 2011

Last year I believe I republished the love letters that they were covering on Writer’s Almanac. This year I’ve decided just to quote my favorite line in my favorite love songs by my favorite musicians. The one notable exception being what I always consider to be the greatest love song ever written, Goofy’s Concern by the Butthole Surfers.

“Everything means nothing, if I ain’t got you.”

“’cause I’ve been in love before; And I found that love was more; than just holding hands.”

“I was born when I met you; Now I’m dying to forget you; And that is what I know.”

“Just like an angel off the page; You have appeared to my life; Feel like I’ll never be the same.”

“Ev’ry time that you’re near; All my cares disappear; Darling, you’re all that I’m living for.”

“Lately I’ve been running on faith; What else can a poor boy do? But my world will be right; When love comes over you.”

“He said, ‘Son why you got to sing that tune? Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon? Let an angel swing and make you swoon; Then you will see, you will see.'”

“Breathe out; So I could breathe you in; Hold you in.”

“She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted; She is everything that I want that I never knew I needed.”

“With every breath that I am worth; Here on Earth; I’m sending all my love to you.”

“I can’t direct the universe; I can’t pull off the road and take a rest; I can’t go on for evermore; I can’t refuse the weight of intellect; I can’t avoid the hands of time; I wish her touch was of a softer kind; and if the world decides to melt; there’s nothing I can do to change her mind.”

“We’ve all got our funny moods; I’ve got mine, woman you’ve got yours too; Just trust me like I trust in you.”

“I go out on a party; And look for a little fun; But I find a darkened corner; ‘Cause I still miss someone.”

“Tap on my window; knock on my door; I want to make you feel beautiful; I know I tend to get so insecure; It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I’ve been a lot of places all around the way; I’ve seen a lot of joy, and I’ve seen a lot of pain; But I don’t want to write a love song for the world; I just want to write a song about a boy and a girl.”

“When I saw the break of day; I wished that I could fly away; Instead of kneeling in the sand; Catching teardrops in my hand.”

“These arms of mine; They are lonely; Lonely and blue; These arms of mine; They are yearning; Yearning from wanting you.”

“I seem to recognize your face; Haunting, familiar, yet I can’t seem to place it; Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name.”

“Though your hurt is gone, mines hanging on, inside; And I know it’s eating me through every night and day; I’m just waiting on your sign.”

“I don’t know how to make lots of money; I don’t know all the right things to do; I can’t say where we’ll go, but the one thing I know; Is how to be a good man to you; Until I die that’s what I’ll do.”

“I hear in my mind all these voices; I hear in my mind all these words; I hear in my mind all this music; And it breaks my heart.”

“And now if I should see you; Or call you on the phone; I wonder who’s that person; I could never call my own; Although I kind of like you; I’ll never understand; Why I got so excited; Each time we held hands.”

“A fish was made to swim in the ocean; A boat was made to sail on the sea; As sure as there are stars above; I know, I know you were made for me.”

“Red letter day and I’m in a blue mood; Wishing that blue would just carry me away; I’ve been talking to God; Don’t know if it’s helping or not; But surely something has got to got to give; Cause I can’t keep waiting to live.”

“Orpheus melted the heart of Persephone, but I never had yours; I followed you back to the end of the path, but I never found the door.”

“People talk and people stare; Tell me I won’t really care; This is the place I should be; And if they think its really strange; For a girl like you to be in love with someone like me; I want to tell them all to go to hell; That we’re doing very well.”

“And if a double-decker bus crashes into us; To die by your side, is such a heavenly way to die; And if a ten-ton truck kills the both of us; To die by your side; Well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine.”

“I’m scratching at the surface now; And I’m trying hard to work it out; So much has gone misunderstood; This mystery only leads to doubt; And I didn’t understand; When you reached out to take my hand; And if you have something to say; You’d better say it now.”

“I wanna sit you down and talk; I wanna pull back the veils and find out what it is I’ve done wrong; I wanna tear these curtains down; I want you to meet me somewhere; Tonight in this old tourist town.”

“I don’t know you, but I want you; All the more for that; Words fall through me and always fool me; And I can’t react.”

“Hello; I’ve had you on my mind; For hours there’s no doubt; And there’s no use wasting time.”

“You have gone and made me such a fool; I’m so lost in you’re love; And oh, we belong together; Won’t you believe in my song.”

Feel free to leave some of your favorite lyrics in the comments section of this Journal entry.