Monthly Archives: December 2010

9000

Posted on by
Reply

It seems like it’s been a slow year for photography, but somehow I have managed to run just over 9,000 shots through the Canon 7D I bought this Spring. This is number 9,000. I decided to give it an aged feel in Photoshop when I saw it, blowing out the highlights and adding some artifacts to make it look somewhat like an antique print.

Happy New Year!

Our favorite Bismarck-Mandan Christmas display

Posted on by
Reply

If you like Christmas celebrations, certainly you’ve passed by this house near the intersection of Kennedy Avenue and N 23rd Street. If you haven’t, you only have a couple more days in which to check it out! It’s worth your time.

This display gets better every year, with familiar characters placed strategically around the yard. I like to think that this version of the Grinch is the one after his heart grew three sizes that day!

Of course, the stars of the show have to be the abominable snowmen…not one, but two! The original big guy now has a little Mini Me monster to keep him company.

Some of you may recall that some chowderhead(s) stole the head off the big snow monster a year or two ago. Not only has the big guy been repaired, but I’m told that security measures are in place. Hopefully nobody tries it again, but if they do I hope they get a beatin’!

Let’s not forget the real reason for Christmas, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. No Christmas display, no matter how elaborate, would be complete without a nativity scene.

A sign out front invites passers-by to get out and walk around, taking in the sights. The weather was pretty decent so I accepted the invitation to take my little boys out for a walk. They loved the whole display (and the free candy).

It’s nice to see the display still going strong for a few more days after Christmas. I’ve always liked continuing past Christmas Day until the New Year’s holiday has passed before taking down Christmas decorations and getting set for another eleven months of waiting. If you need one mroe little shot of Christmas cheer, don’t hesitate to take it all in before the displays get stowed away!

The True Meaning of Christmas 2010

Posted on by
Reply

Despite all the efforts to combat it, Christmas is here. What was once a celebration of Christ’s birth has become artfully hijacked. In some ways it’s been converted into a time of commercialism. In others it’s become simply a time of tradition; family, food, fun. I’m not saying the exchange of gifts is bad and, quite frankly, this world needs more tradition and family time. Whether good or bad, these things are a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas.

One thing I first realized when I became a Christian is that there’s way more to the Christmas story than I’d ever known. Jesus didn’t suddenly spring up and change the way God dealt with man forever; his birth was foretold. Around the time of his conception, you didn’t have to explain to an Israelite who the Messiah was. He was foretold by the prophets. His lineage was known and predicted, as well as his birthplace of Bethlehem. They were literally waiting for him to arrive. Check out Isaiah 53 and you’ll see how important Christ’s arrival is, and what was foretold.

Another thing I realized is that we Gentiles are not God’s chosen people; Israel is. We, however, through the faith in Jesus that his nation didn’t have, are grafted in. In both the old and new testaments, Jesus is referred to as a light to the Gentiles. As Paul points out in Romans, the grace God shows the Gentiles is intended to provoke Israel to jealousy. He made a covenant with them that he will not break, and his wish is that they’d come around.

The Christmas story as told in Luke is simply beautiful. I love to try to picture that starry night (because I’m a starry night kind of guy) and the magnitude of the events that unfolded around Jesus’ birth. People were waiting for his birth. This night was prophecy fulfilled, the opportunity for God’s chosen people to be redeemed. Later on, because he wasn’t the type of Messiah they wanted, they rejected him. When Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 7, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He was ready to redeem his people, but again they rejected him and killed the messenger, Stephen. Thus we are now in the church age, the time of the Gentiles.

Christmas 2010 has been such a blessing. For one month between November and December we had two three-year-old boys. We’ve got a White Christmas, and PJ loves to help Daddy shovel snow. My wife and I, although busy beyond belief, occasionally get time to stop and remark how thankful we are for the blessings we’ve been given. The Lord gave me an amazing woman, and gave us the two most precious little boys ever.

While out and about doing some gag-gift shopping for our Christmas party at work, I found myself distracted by gifts for my little boys. We’d already finished shopping for them, but I couldn’t resist. It occurred to me that it was the joy of being able to buy something to light up their little blue and green eyes that had me hooked. It’s just one more joy of being Daddy.

I drove around town the other night looking at Christmas lights, a live nativity scene at Zion Lutheran, and just generally enjoying the town while my wife and the boys were visiting cousins. I had sneaked home and done all the dishes and stuff to surprise my lovely wife and then hopped in the truck with my gear. I actually recorded a potential podcast with my MP3 recorder as I drove around, but I don’t know if I’ll post it here. I love our town(s) during Christmas time, even though there seem to be fewer homes decorating for the holidays every year.


We’ve got plans to just stick close to home and enjoy our precious little family this year. Our property is blanketed by a thick blanket of nice white snow, our little boys are finally old enough to partake fully in Christmas festivities, and the Lord has continued to show himself faithful (even when I’m not) throughout another year. I hope your Christmas is as memorable as mine. If you’ve got anything you’d like to share about your Christmas, please enter it as a comment. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from your friendly neighborhood Imperial Stormtrooper

Posted on by
Reply

Thanks to my friend Sandy for the heads-up on this geektastic sight: the most eye-catching Salvation Army bell-ringer I’ve ever seen! Jeff told me he dons this suit annually to do his part to raise money during Christmas. I can’t think of a cooler way to do it!

Naturally, I wanted to grab a quick photo with my little towheads right away. Having recently posed for photos with Miss North Dakota and the Governor and First Lady of North Dakota, they’re getting pretty good at posing and waiting for Daddy to fiddle with the camera settings and draining flash batteries.

They’ve never seen Star Wars, but that doesn’t mean my boys didn’t think that the Stormtrooper was cool. They were quite impressed, and enjoyed the sight as much as I. I forgot to ask that nagging question in the back of my mind, though: just what is an Aluminum Falcon?

Get your favorite Christmas display “on the map”

Posted on by
Reply


View 2010 Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Lights in a larger map

I’ve recently started a Google Map of my favorite Christmas displays in order to share them with anyone else who loves taking ’em all in. Enjoy, and check back for updates.

If you know of a display that you feel should be on this map, send me the location either with a comment on this post or by using the “Contact Me” link on the upper right of this page.

If you are reading this on one of the website that syndicates my blog, you’re going to have to come directly to bismarck-mandan.com to do it.

Merry Christmas!

A few local attractions I miss this Christmas

Posted on by
Reply

If you’ve traveled up or down Northview Lane this Christmas season, you’ve likely noticed that the giant pine tree isn’t decorated from top to bottom and that the lit menagerie is conspicuously absent from the yard in which it stands. I’m told Dr. Hamar sold this house, which has some worried because he was known as the organizer of Northview’s decorations. Let’s chip in and rent a lift or bucket truck for the new owners, eh?

This tree along north 4th Street was one of my favorites but I haven’t seen it lit or decorated this year.

When I was at Fort Lincoln tonight I didn’t see any decorated blockhouses. This display was lit by a generator running inside the blockhouse. What a cold hike that was…but photographically worth it!

Of course, who can forget the Schaff house, south of Mandan? Sadly, Paul Schaff announced a couple of years ago that he was done with his amazing display, one which could be seen from the Seven Seas and a good stretch of Interstate 94.

I don’t think I ever photographed the Anderson building on west Main Avenue when it was decorated, but I’ve come to expect the Christmas decorates to be lit around the top of the building. Tonight it was dark.

While driving around with my best friend tonight we were pondering that the number of decorated homes has declined steadily each Christmas. On a limo ride earlier this week I noticed that we really didn’t have many Christmas lights to see, other than at Sertoma Park and the Northview area. Hopefully this trend reverses.

As we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, don’t let the lack of lights get you down…I sure won’t. Sure, it’s fun to get into the spirit of the season by means of festive decorations, but they pale next to the true meaning of Christmas.

When you’re turning 3 and you love Bismarck-Mandan like your daddy

Posted on by
Reply

One of my little boys turned three recently. For weeks he’s been saying that he wants to have his birthday at the Capitol. My boys love the Heritage Center and the Capitol as well, and I take them for a visit at every opportunity. So when my youngest turned 3, he got to eat a Kawasaki Green cupcake on the 18th floor. Then we looked out the windows and counted Slugbugs for a bit.

Of course, no birthday would be complete without a trip to the zoo! Yes, it is still open to some degree over the winter. In our case we enjoyed the indoor exhibits. The boys did puzzles and watched the fish and turtles. Much fun was had by all.

I have to laugh when I hear older kids bemoan the idea that “there’s nothing to do.” Wrong. There’s plenty to do in Bismarck-Mandan, all you need is a little initiative. Thankfully that’s something my toddlers have in ample supply.

I can’t even stack bowls in the cupboard correctly…

Posted on by
Reply

At a recent Wizards game the halftime entertainment was Krystal Liu of the Red Panda Acrobats. While balancing on a unicycle she would stack a bunch of bowls (top-to-top, bottom-to-bottom, mind you) on the top of her foot. She would then proceed to kick the whole stack of ’em up in the air, catching them perfectly on top of her head. Quite cool. She kept adding to the stack atop her head, which made things even more demanding each time she did it.

Beacon burnout, and a quick Weather Beacon history lesson

Posted on by
Reply

I couldn’t help but notice that a portion of the Weather Beacon isn’t lit, at least when it displays red. Despite the title of this post, I doubt it’s actually a case of “burnout.” That’s a term used most accurately for light bulbs, and I think the Beacon is now sportin’ a whole lot of LEDs. One section of the red ones appears to be malfunctioning. Bummer.

So…that thing doesn’t really make the weather…does it?

It was fun to joke about that during my KFYR days. The TV station control operator (me, five nights a week) was in charge of changing the weather beacon to reflect the updated forecast throughout the broadcast day. On our program log in the control room, in between entries for commercials and programs, were occasional reminders to update the weather beacon.

There was a panel in the weather room with six buttons on it: red, white, green, flashing red, flashing white, and flashing green. These switches are still in a rack at the TV station, even though they are have not been connected to the Beacon for quite some time. Last I remember, the KFYR Radio control guys switched it by dialing a phone number (no, I’m not posting that here).

The poor Beacon almost faded into history in 1997. It was showing its wear, and the cost of modernizing it was prohibitive. That was, however, until KFYR Radio rode to the rescue. Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong headed an effort to Save the Beacon!

At this time, Meyer Broadcasting was still intact. While I was hard at work on the TV side of the building, I also freelanced the website for KFYR-AM Radio. As part of the campaign to save the Weather Beacon, we had a couple of pages on the website urging people to help donate.

You can click here to see the original Save the Beacon page from my archives. Yeah, the Web has come a long way.

The campaign was a success in that it raised money toward the Beacon’s restoration, increased public awareness of its plight, and served as a rallying cry to its rescue. While the entire cost of the Beacon’s renovation was not raised, its importance to the community was indisputably proven. Through a matching grant from local government and plenty of donations, the project was underway.

As part of the KFYR website, we were happy to post that the Beacon would be saved. Cliff Naylor did a report on the Beacon that aired as part of a live telecast from the roof of the Provident Building, atop which the Beacon still sits.

You can click here to see the post-campaign page from my archives and watch the video.

As I recall, and the details in my head are quite murky, the Beacon was restored but still had some gremlins. I believe it was then refitted one more time and has functioned ever since. None of it would have been possible without Phil and Mark. To this day, the controls reside with KFYR Radio instead of the television station. In fact, why don’t you call the PH Phactor on KFYR 550 AM and ask Phil about it?

Oh yeah…the t-shirt. We had t-shirts made, and I still have mine. It has caricatures of Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong on the front, and a key to understanding the Beacon on the back:


Weather Beacon white as snow, down the temperature will go.
Weather Beacon red as fire, temperature is going higher.
Weather Beacon an emerald green, no change forseen.
When colors blink in agitation, there’s going to be precipitation.

Provident Life used to sponsor TV spots featuring the Beacon and its rhymes. Since they’re no longer doing business there, the ads don’t run. That means that the weather beacon itself is somewhat obscure now, with newer Bismarck-Mandan residents unaware of its history. For those of us who have lived here a long time, it’s good to see the weather beacon standing tall. No matter what the forecast, there’s something great about seeing it red in the spring, green when things are just right, and white when Thanksgiving and Christmas approach. Thanks to everyone who helped keep it up and running!

Capitol Christmas Memories for a pair of three year olds

Posted on by
Reply

Last night my boys and I went to partake of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the North Dakota state capitol building’s Great hall. As I’ve posted before, this isn’t their first time to witness this event. Even though they were only two years old last year, they remember it well. They think the Great Hall should have a Christmas tree every day. Who can argue with that?

This year my little fellas got to meet some people afterwards and work their charms. I have such polite little men, I’m overflowing with pride at how well they behave and conduct themselves at events like this. They got to introduce themselves to the Hoevens.

The bright lights shining on the tree from above were bothering their eyes, but they still did their best to politely pose with Brandi Schoenberg, Miss North Dakota for 2010-2011. They told her how Daddy was taking them out for cheeseburgers after they were done.

The star of the evening: a glorious Christmas Tree with decorations made and donated by North Dakotans. It will be on display in the Great Hall, so come take a look! It’s best viewed at the end of the day when it gets dark outside.

The display is also visible from outside as you drive by or, if you’re crazy, hike up the snow-covered steps to get a closer look.

Yes, the window display is in full effect. The North and South faces of the capitol tower are sporting their familiar red and green Christmas Tree shape.

The ceremony was grand, with a brass quartet from the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony playing as well as pianist Joel Gilbertson and a brief performance by Dakota Stage. My favorite part was that the entire assembly sang Silent Night and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, two songs that are very clear in mentioning the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Okay, folks…we’re in full swing. We have approximately two and a half weeks of Christmas season remaining. Let’s enjoy this time to its fullest and cherish our Christmas memories!