Well, it’s official. We need a new slide

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I hope this means we’re getting a new waterpark! I know this is going to be sad news for those who grew up with the water slide at Hillside Park, but it is no longer there. It had aged beyond repair and the kids had figured out how to launch over the side, so it was time for it to go. I guess the pool is staying, though.

This is all that’s left. I have heard talk about people wanting to get an aquatic center like Dickinson has, and that’d be a welcome addition to our list of recreational facilities in this town. For now I guess we’ll have to go to a hotel or the Mandan Community Center and ride the indoor slides, which are much smaller but still fun.

Mandan Art Association 50th Anniversary Spring Show recap

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I forgot to mention that I had a pleasant result from the MAA show at the Community Center. Last year I won the People’s Choice in photography with a large metallic print of the bridge photo you see above in this blog’s header. I also won a gift certificate from a frame shop, for which photo I have already forgotten. Of course I was hoping to repeat this year. This year’s results didn’t equal last year’s, but I didn’t walk away empty handed.

The photo you see above won the Governor’s Selection award, which was awarded by a representative of the Governor’s office. Who that ended up being, I don’t know…maybe it was in the program. It was still a cool distinction, especially for such a novice. I realized early on when I picked up this hobby in 2005 that being in the right place at the right time is a requirement of any good photo, and this photo is the result of such timing. I’m just blessed in that I happen to end up at the right place at the right time a LOT these days, and never go anywhere without my camera!

Identify that facade…just don’t drive while looking up, please

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I sometimes bemoan the fact that many of Bismarck-Mandan’s historic buildings are falling to the wrecking ball and bulldozer (and, in some cases, a skidsteer on the second floor!). That’s why it’s important to appreciate them while we’ve got ’em. I haven’t posted many of the photos I have taken of unique local building features, but perhaps I’ll do more of that in the future. This could be akin to my “identify the statue” posts that I have done until I started running out of statues.

I left the building name intact on this one, so it should be pretty easy to find. Can you identify this building?

North Dakota “Earth Day” Festival hands out mercury bombs, otherwise gets it right

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I had a little extra time tonight despite working late, so I thought I’d stroll through the Earth Day festival at the National Guard armory in northeast Bismarck. I drove my gas guzzling truck up there, of course…I’ve been meaning to ride to work on one of my motorcycles that gets 50 miles per gallon, but so far haven’t done so.

As you can see from the photo above, the event was well attended. I was dreading whether this would be some sort of ridiculous global warming convention, and I was pleasantly surprised to say that it was not. Instead I found lots of folks who want to be good stewards of North Dakota’s resources. There were a few mentions of climate change, but these days I think it’s hard to get funding without pandering to the lunatics a bit. For the most part this festival was all about displays from folks who, in true North Dakota fashion, like to take a sensible approach to safeguarding North Dakota’s treasure of clean land, water, and air.

I will cry foul on one thing before I go on praising this event: they were handing out compact flourescent light bulbs at the front. I didn’t take any pictures of the folks handing them out, and I didn’t walk up and challenge them on handing out those stupid, expensive mercury bombs. These bulbs are an environmental hazard, made in China by factories that couldn’t care less about their impact on the environment. My GE light bulbs in the cupboard say “Assembled in the USA” on the box, by the way. But if you think you’re having a positive impact on the environment by having these weak, headache-inducing compact flourescent bulbs in your house, you’re fooling yourself. Their manufacture is putting mercury into the environment, either by their Chinese manufacturing or when one of them breaks. No thanks, I’ll stay incandescent. Whew…glad I got that off my chest!

Back to the good parts of the festival. There were booths from agencies whose missions are to take care of North Dakota’s natural resources, such as the USDA, Game and Fish, NRCS, Fish & Wildlife Service, and others. I’ve worked with some of these agencies so I can attest to the good that they’re doing.

There was plenty of information on hand, and some demonstrations were given at certain booths. The Dakota Zoo had snakes and bugs on hand, and there were other opportunities for the kids.

This kid did NOT want to get his picture taken with a weed or three. Awwwwww!

This booth came complete with a fiddler. I wonder if it’s a bluegrass thing…get it? *nudge* *nudge* Okay, maybe my wife’s right…I’m not funny.

The Proclamation. It was covered with signatures. Although I had a good time at the festival, I don’t subscribe to the Earth Day thing. I think being responsible is a personal decision, one that is made every day. For instance, I recycle things like batteries, but not every piece of trash that comes from our household. I like to conserve water, buy half-sized paper towels, and turn off unnecessary lights. I do these things because they make sense, not because I’m “saving the planet.” It’s that type of rational sensibility that North Dakotans display in their care for the environment in our state, and I think this festival celebrated that nicely.

Watch as the photog stalks his prey (faux Aussie accent optional)

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There I lay, all stealthy in the grass, waiting for an opportunity to snare the great beast. I hunkered down amidst the prairie grass, armed only with my trusty camera, my 10mm ultra-wide lens, and a keen jungle sense. Opportunity was ready to knock; the sun was rising behind me…all I needed to do was wait.

Almost in an instant, the sun arrived in just the right spot…a sort of aesthetic apogee, if you will. I leaped into action; my shutter finger had not grown weary from the wait. In a fraction of a second I had captured the behemoth, seemingly unaware as it basked in the fleeting morning sun. Ah, sweet success.

My conquest secure, I retreated to my nice warm truck and cold Mountain Dew. It was time to move on; there was still a precious window of morning sun available, and who knows what adventure might wait just down the road? I was determined to find out.

Good morning sunshine

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I have looked forward to these nice Saturday sunrises for a long time. This morning I woke up early and headed out with my camera to see what I could see. Actually, I had a couple of targets in mind. We passed this fencepost last night on a way to a potluck dinner at a friend’s place, and I made a mental note of it.

My boys and I decided to go back during the afternoon light to try to get a sharper version, with some more direct light, but there’s nothing like that early morning sun. The warmth on one side of the hat and truck in the top photo can’t be duplicated when the spring sun is directly overhead. I continue to be amazed at how many cool photos are sitting by the side of the road, many within city limits!

The new should be less wavy than the old

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Here’s a shot from betwixt the two Liberty Memorial Bridges. The bridge on the right is straight as an arrow. Solid. Strong. Holding way more concrete on its deck than was ever intended when it was designed. You’ve got to admire that old world craftsmanship. The bridge on the left is designed to arc across the Missouri River. But was it designed to look so wavy and uneven?

I threw this shot of the north side of the new bridge into Photoshop and put it to the test. The red line follows the edge of the bridge’s beam and its curves. The green line follows a smooth arc over the same relative path. I used the path pen tool in Photoshop, so I know my curves are accurate.

Here’s the same story on the bridge’s southern side. Certainly they were capable of putting together a better bridge than this? The thing looks like it’s going to be the highway equivalent of a kiddie coaster! The wavy ups and downs of the beams are not worthy of a bridge of this importance to our community. Call me old fashioned, but I expected a smoothly arcing bridge across the Missouri, as the original drawings portrayed. Maybe once they tighten all the screws, everything will fall into line. Ya think?

Edit: First off, I replaced the word “wobbly” with “wavy” because I thought wobbly indicated a structural instability. I don’t mean to imply that.

Secondly, a friend whose opinion I trust in matters of engineering told me that it looks intentional. It’s true, when you look at the spans closely you’ll see that the upward bow of the beams forms a pattern. Perhaps it’s just unflattering from this angle. That was the point I was trying to make in this post, that it looks pretty weird from below. Once the old bridge is removed, we’ll see how it looks on its own.

Brother Mike returns to Bismarck-Mandan

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Last week our church held our annual Missions Conference. Featured were three visiting missionaries, each one remarkable in his own way. One of them, Mike Saunders had been here before…and I was eagerly awaiting his return.

“Brother Mike” lived a hard-knock life before he accepted Christ, and is now a missionary to the prisons in his home state of Texas. He had a remarkable testimony the last time he was here, but had another equally remarkable one this time around. Mike’s lucky to be alive.

Mike was t-boned on his motorcycle by a woman who ran a red light on her SUV. She fled the scene but was caught, and was actually hopping mad about the damage to the front of her truck. Mike wasn’t so lucky. He lost a portion of one leg and now has a prosthesis. He also lost his sight in one eye for a while, had numerous life-threatening internal injuries, and for a while the word we received was that he would no longer be able to play the guitar. Our prayers were answered, however; Mike survived his ordeal, has recovered from his injuries and regained his sight, and can still play the guitar in the prisons.

Missionaries visit our church from time to time, and naturally certain people take to certain missionaries for whatever reason. In my case I suppose a lot of it is as a motorcyclist…I’ve ridden the “flashy-bus” a few times in my years of riding and roadracing. Thankfully my injuries were never as severe as those of Brother Mike.

I have a copy of his CD, “Brother Mike Sings”, which I have ripped to my iPod. He sells them himself to support his ministry, and our church bookstore also keeps some on hand. I believe they cost six or seven dollars, and I may be able to hook you up with one if you’re interested. Just use the “Contact Me” link at the top of the page if you’d like more information. I encoded some samples for you.

This is an excerpt from “The Deacons Ain’t Voted On It Yet”, one of my personal favorites. His music is often quite funny, and this is one of the more hilarious ones:

One of my other favorites is “Where Have All the Real Men Gone?” so I put a portion of it below:


Missionaries such as Mike Saunders are quite a treat. Like I said, some folks tend to take a liking to certain missionaries and/or their families for whatever reason. We look forward to having Mike Saunders back in the future and to getting him a chance to minister to guys in local prisons here. He’s assured me he won’t be trying to borrow one of my motorcycles while he’s here!

If you’re going to make a typo, do it in a spelling bee article

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My mom saved a recent issue of the Mandan News for me because of this article. It features a certain little blond-haired boy who won the city & county spelling bee. I thought it would be cool for my scrapbook, but then my “typo reflex” kicked in.

I have this thing where I catch misspellings even in my peripheral vision…it’s almost spooky. In this case, a capital N was screaming at me. Now I suppose people will start asking if my mom is a nurse or something! The irony of a typo in a spelling bee article isn’t lost on me. My mom asked me if the article makes me feel old. Of course not.

As far as the full version of “F” goes, I am one of those privacy types. Sure, it’s pretty easy to figure out my last name from other miscellaneous details over the past two years…but I’m not going to just broadcast it. I’m not hiding, just trying to be a little cautious.

Nice save

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No, this guy didn’t crash. Even if he would, this bike is set up with crash bars ( the Harley guys call them “whiskey bars” ) and other equipment to protect vital parts when dropped. This photo is from Cycle Hutt’s monthly Stunt Night. But when I decided to title this post “Nice save” I wasn’t talking about this stunter; I was talking about my Saturday.

After plugging a few targets at the handgun range I decided to stop in on the Freedom Riders motorcycle show at the Ramkota. Sadly, alcohol is mostly what there was to see. After I braved the nasty cigarette smoke to get into the Ramkota, it seemed like everyone had a beer or whiskey in their hand. Beer sponsors, beer logos, and a beer in every hand. Boy, that sure does a great job of presenting motorcycling’s image to the community, doesn’t it?

Back in the 90s I was part of trying to help sportbike riders get involved in the show, so it wasn’t 100% Harleys. After a couple of years of working hard on a display only to have some biker’s old Z-1 with candy apple paint take the Sport/Street category, I gave up. In recent years a few sportbike riders have entered their bikes, so I wanted to see what there was to see.

There wasn’t a sportbike to be found. I’d heard rumblings and grumblings at a parts counter or two about the same issues I’d experienced, and apparently the sportbike guys had thrown their hands up on the Freedom Riders show. There was seven bucks (!) and twenty minutes of my life I wasn’t going to get back. I decided to make the most of it and eyeball some cool antique entries, such as this one, and then make my hasty exit back through the wall of smoke.

This was the one bright spot of the show, aside from seeing a couple of friends from local dealerships. This was a petition signing point for Americans for Prosperity, which is a grassroots organization pushing for tax cuts. I signed the petition, chatted with the folks involved, and took off. Note the beer sign on the wall and the beer on the table, which didn’t belong to the AFP folks.

I meant to visit the 50th annual Mandan Art Show, but by the time I got to the Mandan Community Center, the doors were locked! Argh. I was feeling pretty down about the nosedive my Saturday was taking, until I drove past Cycle Hutt.

Quite a few sportbike riders were gathered for this event, and there were a few guys performing wheelies and other assorted stunts. Redemption! I pulled in to enjoy the atmosphere for a little while and take some pictures as well.

This was a great opportunity to play with my ultra-wide lens, because the distortion effects it gives are pretty cool. The only trick is getting close enough. I don’t want to distract the riders, and I also don’t want to get hit if a stunt goes wrong. Everything worked out okay, however. I got a ton of photos, some of them even turned out! I don’t do much action photography, so it was a good exercise.

So the rubber stamp on my hand cost me $7 and got me a look at a bunch of people drinking and a bunch of bikes with skulls and other garbage airbrushed on them. The best one I heard it called was a “Costume party” because of all the folks throwing on leather and playing “bad biker” for the weekend. It was like walking into a bar that happens to have a bunch of Harleys parked on the floor. The band on my wrist was free, I got to see a bunch of sober people having a good time, and take some wild photos to boot. Nice save.