From the Mind of MandoRon

I saw this guy on the news recently.  His name is Nathan Sawaya, and he’s a lego artist.  He’s my new hero.

Some of his sculptures are absolutely incredible.  He has dozens of photos on his website www.brickartist.com.

Here’s a few examples of his work:

Yellow

Big Bear

Rebirth of New Orleans

Once again, it was not your typical Sunday at GracePoint. 

For one thing, I played in the band for the first time in two months.  For another thing, I played snare drum on one song, Whip It.

But even better, we played Whip It in costume.  Why?, you may ask.  Because we can.

Thanks to Kelly Martin for posting the video.  (I would like to suggest that next time she find a camera angle where I’m not hidden behind Gil…) 

I spent about 90 minutes this morning at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  This is one of the coolest places on earth.  Or at least one of the coolest places that I’ve ever visited. (I’ve been there twice.)

When it was time to jump in the car and drive to Denver, I didn’t want to leave.  It took some serious willpower.

I thought I’d share some pictures.  I was also inspired with an idea for a song about the majesty of God.  If it ever comes to fruition, I’ll share that someday too…

This first photo was stitched together from four pictures.  (Pike’s Peak is in the background.)

Another panaromic from three photos.

Me taking in the view…

Cool picture showing three of the formations.

Random climber (lower right)

Another random climber.

Link-love for August 23…

- Interesting short film about a man with a huge vinyl record collection. He doesn’t understand why people don’t listen to records anymore.

- Interesting statistical analysis of Olympian Usain Bolt’s world record 200m sprint courtesy of Freakonomics.

- In honor of all of the Obama excitement today, today’s Candorville comic strip. I had never seen this strip before today.  It was in the Colorado Springs newspaper.

Good afternoon!  I am sitting here in Denver International Airport waiting for boarding to start so I can fly home.  The return trip is going much smoother than the flight out yesterday.

Because I think I can teach you something, I’d like to present “MandoRon’s Guide to Missing a Flight but Still Getting on the Plane”.

Step 1 - Show up to the ticket counter 26 minutes before the flight and try to check-in.  Turns out they won’t let you check-in under 30 minutes.  It’s especially important to try and cram in as many things as possible before heading to the airport.  Don’t concern yourself that it is a 7:00 a.m. flight.  There is a plethora of things you can do before the sun comes up… just look at the army.

Step 2 - Here you have an option… you can either say “I’m feeling exceptionally lucky” and reserve a standby spot on the next flight or you can pay a $75 transfer fee to confirm a seat on the next flight.  I went for option 2, so I can’t guarantee that standby will get you there.  Proceed at your own risk.

Step 3 - Continue to proceed through security.

Step 4 - Rush to the gate and ask the nice man at the counter if there are any seats left on the flight.  Show him your boarding pass and tell him that you’re on the next flight in two and a half hours.  Don’t forget to thank him profusely when he lets you on board.  This step is best executed with approximately 8 minutes until the plane leaves the gate.

If you’re wanting extra excitement, also leave your suitcase on the Hertz shuttle.  It’s guaranteed to increase your heart rate and burn an extra 50 calories in a 10-minute period.

Bonus points are awarded for any OJ Simpson manuevers in the airport!

Needless to say, I arrived at the Denver two hours before my flight today…