Four guys from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, went to the SD badlands for an early spring adventure. The guys were Dave Parker, Bob Martin and Barry Moore.
On our way out to the Bad land sof South Dakota Barry convinced us to stop off at Okaton, SD which is a ghost town.
Barry did the reasearch ahead of time to see where the ghost towns will be in a 50 mile radius of our planned destinations.
Barry enjoyed this place a ton. I must say It was fascinating..
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Joe Beam, founder of Love Path International, is a world-renown marriage expert who has been featured on The Montel Williams Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Mike and Juliet Show and Focus on the Family Radio.
Obviously the reason he's been invited on those shows is because he knows what he's talking about and he has a record of saving marriages that appear hopeless. About 60 percent of the marriages he's saved through his intensive seminar have been couples who have been hurt by affairs. And yet according to third party research, Joe's seminar is saving 3 out of 4 marriages in that kind of crisis!
Your problem might be that your spouse is having an affair. Or it might be another issue. Joe Beam's seminar can help. It can save your marriage! Please give this seminar serious consideration if your marriage is in trouble. You can get more information by visiting http://www.marriagehelper.com.
If your marriage is NOT in trouble, please link to the http://www.MarriageHelper.com site to help more couples learn that there is hope.
Many people with kind compassionate hearts are appalled at the concept of capital punishment. The idea that we as a government would take the life of someone that has committed a heinous crime is in conceivable to then and they think it is against God’s law or against the will of God somehow. I often hear the arguments like • as the person is alive, they have an opportunity to repent • It is not our place to kill a person. The is to be left to God • The ten commandments say “Thou shall not kill”
These are common thoughts and common misconceptions so let’s try to sort these issues out.
First, let’s talk a look at what God has said about the topic in the Bible. If you do not believe that the Bible is God’s word and authoritative, then we have all kinds of other issues to discuss…
Ok, Way back in the book of Genesis before the Ten Commandments were written, after Noah and his family get off the ark, we read that God was already aware of the corruption of “MAN” and the need to manage that corruption.
4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.
6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
So this is pretty clear, very early in the history of God’s interaction with man… Life if important, we were made in the Image of God and if you murder someone, your life must be taken (by those in authority).
Remember, this is way before God outlined the Law in the Ten Commandments.
God was not concerned with the murderer repenting, of course he wants people to repent but the crime is so serious, there must be a swift consequence.
Many will argue that this is Old Testament time when the people were almost animals so the rules of the game are different. I assure you, the nature of man is the same now as it was in the Old Testament time. Man has not changed and God has not changed. I point you to the bloody history of the 20th century, Stalin and the gulags in Russian, Hitler and the death camps in Germany, Pol Pot and the killing fields of Cambodia, Saddam Hussein in Bagdad, the Japanese as the Raped and murdered in Nan King China it goes on and on. The nature of man is the same, we are VERY fallen.
But I thought the Ten Commandments says though shall not kill???
Yes, many people think that, but they are in error. Let’s go do some research to see what in really says… First of all, where in the Bible do we find the Ten Commandments??
In Exodus 20 We see the first list of the Ten Commandments.
And very 13 we read “You shall not murder”
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh it says you shall not murder. Is there a difference between kill and murder? Of curse there is. If a burglar breaks into your house and steals stuff in your house then goes from room to room ending the life of everyone in the house, then that is murder. If the home owner would wrestle the weapon away from the burglar and the burglar gets injured and dies, that is not murder. That would be killing the burglar. If a solider is in a battle, shooting at the enemy, that is not murder, that is killing. There is a huge difference… And yes, God condoned killing all over in the Bible. I recommend that you do a research project on the life of King David.
Ok so in Exodus 20 God says do not Murder, I get it…
Also, it is important to remember, that these Ten Commandments are commandments for personal behavior and morality. They are not commandants for how a government is supposed to run to keep order in a society. Those rules are different and God sets those up in a different place.
Ok, in Deuteronomy 5 we see the same commandments again.
There has been controversy over the years about the translation of the word Kill or Murder in these commandments.. Wiki has a great discussion of it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Killing_or_murder and I think it is summed up best here The Old Testament's examples of killings sanctioned by God are often cited in defense of the view that "murder" is a more accurate translation. Additionally, the Hebrew word for "kill" is הרג (harog), while the Hebrew word for "murder" is רצח (retzach), which is found in the Ten Commandments לא תרצח (lo tirtzach). In the fullness of the Old Testament Exodus 20:13 is abundantly evidenced as prohibiting unjust killing, rather than a universal injunction against all killing, as retzach is never used in reference to the slaying of animals, nor the taking of life in war, while its most frequent use is in reference to involuntary manslaughter and secondarily for murderers. But the more important point I think is that the Bible goes on to tell us what we are to do (again as a government) with a murderer.
In Exodos 21 we read 12 "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death. This is pretty clear…
17 “If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death.”
Again this is pretty clear…
God sets up these rules as a way to set up a just society that honors Him. So it is indeed the place of government to but to death a murder.
But what about the concept of as along as a person is alive he could repent of his sin and come to God.. While of course that may be true and God can do all things, there is nothing like knowing you will be dying tomorrow to focus the mind on the things of eternity and to help you make the decision to repent or not. You must make the decision at that point. It is very clear. So actually it is God’s grace to have this option to help people do decide. If they do not get right with their God at that point, there is not reason to expect that they will ever do it.
So clearly it is obvious God has set up capital punishment for a just sociality to use. The only remaining question is should we still be using capital punishment today?
So we need to ask has God said anything to change the rules for capital punishment? The answer is no there is no place in scripture that says were should not longer do that. Also, Jesus did not make any comments about capital punishment for the criminals on his right and left. And he was willing to take the punishment on himself also, with no comment about society’s use of the punishment. I think God’s silence on the topic speaks volumes. The punishment is still valid and still in force today.
Of course there can be questions on the valid use of it. Are the people really guilty of the crime? I would say that in order to use capital punishment there can be no doubt of the guilt. That is an issue of how do you actually work out the justice system, but the correct way to do it is not to ban capital punishment, it is to put safeguards in place…
I think the arguments are pretty convincing, God commanded us to use capital punishment to run a just society and nothing has change that would cause us to stop using it.
Check out these two must read resources on the topic.
If you are anything like me, you like high tech stuff, you are very connected to the internet, and you love to read all that great online content and resources. But you also like to be able to physically carry your book around that you are reading. And, you also want to have a huge library available at your fingertips. Oh and you also want news resources to be instantly available to you and access to your favorite blogs all done without wires.
Well, your time has come, your ship has come in, and you have hit the jackpot. Let me introduce you to Amazon’s new Kindle 2 electronic reading device. It is the pinnacle of electronic reading devices or electronic books. It is not some tiny thing that no one over 25 can read because the font is so small to enable it to have more than three words to the line… This thing is the perfect size to feel like a real book… Not too big like a college Biology text book and not matchbook size, but just right at 10.2 oz.
The screen is clear and bright and easy to read just like you would expect a book to be.
The text to speech functionality allows you to have Kindle read to you while you are driving or in a boring meeting.
You can email important documents to your Kindle so you can peruse them at your leisure.
Can you image, free wireless access to Wiki everywhere.
With 230,000 titles available for download you know have then entire library in your hand!!!
This is the reader you have been looking for… The must have item for this spring and for summer at the beach.
If you are looking for that perfect resource for figuring out how to use that spiffy new Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, you have come to the right place…
Scott Kelby in his book The Digital Photography Book covers it all in his expert teaching style that will get you up and running capturing images in no time that look totally professional. His style is not heavy theory, but instead his style is much more down to earth with great step by step examples… Whether you want to shot family events, sports photography, flowers, landscapes, weddings architecture, cityscapes and night life, Scott shows you how to do it.
This book has become known as “The Resource” to use for beginners, intermediate and advanced shooters. They all can learn from Scott. Every page will show you “another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints.” His Shooting wildlife section was the most helpful for me.
If you are going to be getting any book to learn how to use you camera, this is the difinitive one to get!!!
Minneapolis is often known as the Mill City. This name comes from the grain mills on the mighty Mississippi that helped to produce much of the wealth of the city…
Names such as Pillsbury, General Mills etc all got their start during the hay days of the grain trade in Minneapolis.
Some of the great buildings of that era are still around. This incredible Pillsbury build lies vacant but still seems to have some life to it…
My hope is that some day soon this building will be the genesis of some awesome condos for living or for small creative businesses.
If you live in the area, get down here and check this great area out.
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I had seen a painting that had Cossettas and the St Paul Cathedral in it… It was a winter scence that was just beautirful.. It inspired me to get out and try to capture the shot…
When I got there I noticed that reality looked nothing like the painting… The angles were all wrong and there were big modern buildings there. So, I had to be creative and this is the best that I captured.
I hope you like it.. ;-D
Cossettas is a fantastic Italian deli type place if that is possible.. ;-D The lines at lunch are a mile long… And then they have that great Italian market right in the shop…
Stop in if you have not been there!!! ;-DD
Oh.. btw.. it was -5F this morning when I went out to get this… I guess I really wanted to get the shot.. ;-D
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Travel writer and Minneapolis Tricia Cornell reveals the best things the Twin Cities have to offer, from the lakes, theaters, and 70-block sky walkways in Minneapolis to the farmer's market, Broadway shows, and artistic district of St. Paul.
Tricia provides travel strategies including A Frosty Day in the Twin Cities, Twin Cities for Next to Nothing and From High Brow to Low Brow: Twin Cities Arts. Packed with information on dining, transportation and accommodations, Moon Minneapolis and St. Paul has many options for a range of travel budgets. Complete with details on where to go urban spelunking, gawk at a massive ice palace during the Winter Carnival, or walk across the world's shortest suspension bridge while gazing at the Mississippi, Moon Minneapolis and St. Paul gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience.
If you are interested in ordering just go to the link below and preorder and get your discount.
The Minneapolis Stone Arch Bridge is one of the most recognizable landmarks in all up the upper Midwest. Build by the great railroad baron James J. Hill, the bridge was needed to bring grain to the mills that made Minneapolis such a prosperous river town on the mighty Mississippi. The bridge is now used as a pedestrian bridge in a park like location of Minneapolis great for tourist outings or for a romantic date.
This structure now blends the old with the new in the Minneapolis skyline making the view historic, modern and beautiful.
As you may be able to tell, I love to photograph this view…. This is the bridge and the city in winter..
This image was indeed taken with miss Finland.. ;-D some editing on this by miss Finland
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I am playing with the new Amazon.com store front capability. Now this is pretty darn cool!
It allows you to create your own store with the products that you want to make available to your readers and visitors. I just wish they could make it a little more flexible size wise. ;-D
I created a Christian Book store. A Christian Music store where you can download albums (I know no one says that anymore) and individual mp3s. Of course I created a photography store to get all the cool photography products that you need. And then finally a Photography Book store…
Take your time browsing around… Have a little coffee while you are at it… You will see more in the future.
If you are anything like me, you have been involved in photography for a few years now and your skill level has been building on a pretty steady basis and people are noticing that you are producing some pretty good work. You like what you have been able to do so far with natural light, but you have come to the point where you want to start adding artificial light to your work. You need to be able to control the light more carefully. This may be for portrait work or for other still life work, either way, the need is the same, you need to control the light.
Ok, you know you want to control the light, but you have no idea of the complexities of this new facet of photography and you certainly do not have an endless budget. Do you want an extravagant studio of huge expensive lights? What technologies are out there an available to me? How much to I have to spend to have enough? What in the world is an intrepid photographer to do you ask?
Well you have come to the right place. I was on that exact journey. I found myself asking many other photographers what they were doing for lighting. Of course this can be helpful but they are only an expert on what they have done, not on all possibilities. I have asked the people at the photography stores, and yes, they can be very helpful also, but their final answer is often times the product that they have available to sell at the moment.
Now this book was all that I was looking for. First of all Kirk explained the journey that his photography career had traveled through. He needed to control the light just like we do, but he came from the era of huge professional lights and huge expense so he had all that experience. But, after doing that for years and lugging all that stuff around and loosing it on flights or having to rent bigger cars or trucks to get that stuff around, he knew there had to be a better way. And it just so happened that we were experiencing a technology explosion that allowed us all to get the job done with much smaller units and at a much smaller cost. Hence the concept of Minimalist Lighting was born. Do more with less!!!
Kirk has expertise across many camera brands and types of equipment so his knowledge and recommendations are specific for your camera and for your needs. He explains both equipment and methods for getting done what you need to get done. He makes recommendations for several different configurations that will allow you to do what you need to do at a price that can much more easily fit your budget.
Kirk was exactly the resource I was looking for and I highly recommend this book to you! Now it is time to be on the hunt for my actual equipment!!
People in Minnesota do some of the strangest things. This strange thing just happens to be amazingly beautiful also. Yes these people carve blocks of ice into works of art!
This is all done as part of the annual St. Paul Winter Carnival and yes, these people are real artists…
My wife and I went out last night with some friends and they were patient while I captured a few shots.
This one captivated me!
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Wayne Moran is one of the premiere up and coming photographic artists in the Twin Cities. His specialty is Architecture and Cityscapes. His cityscapes explode with light and life!
His Exhibition Minneapolis Reflections is receiving wide acclaim.
To see the Exhibit you can go to.. Take Care Chiropractic which is located at 120 S 6th St Ste 225 Minneapolis, MN. Phone : 612-746-5555. http://www.takecarechiropractic.com
If you have been trying to learn all the ins and outs of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography but so far have not been able to pull it all together. If you have been reading all the on-line tutorials and they have not gotten you to the point were you can produce an image that you are happy with.
Well you have come to the right place!!!
Ferrell McCollough, in his book, Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography has made HDR photography accessible to the masses. His gifted style of writing and his ability to make technical issues understandable has helped to make HDR dare I say easy.
I know, I do not want to give away all the HDR secrets so that my work will just start to look like everyone else's work, but thinking like that is just plain selfish and that is not my way. I would rather get all the mysteries revealed and have more people producing incredible art using this photographic technique than to keep this technique veiled in secrets and fogginess and keep people frustrated.
In this world information is indeed power, and with this book you will be a much more powerful artist.
Get this book and become the expert you are dreaming of becoming.
To learn more about what HDR is or to find discounts on software GO Here..
Here is an example of what HDR can do for your images!!! Just scroll through some of my HDR work.
If you are looking for that perfect resource for figuring out how to use that spiffy new Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, you have come to the right place…
Scott Kelby in his book The Digital Photography Book covers it all in his expert teaching style that will get you up and running capturing images in no time that look totally professional. His style is not heavy theory, but instead his style is much more down to earth with great step by step examples… Whether you want to shot family events, sports photography, flowers, landscapes, weddings architecture, cityscapes and night life, Scott shows you how to do it.
This book has become known as “The Resource” to use for beginners, intermediate and advanced shooters. They all can learn from Scott. Every page will show you “another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints.” His Shooting wildlife section was the most helpful for me.
If you are going to be getting any book to learn how to use you camera, this is the difinitive one to get!!!
It seems that life at this time of yr just flys by….
If you can, take a moment to slow down. ;-D
Had the wonderful pleasure of getting out shooting with my friend Chris Anderson the other night… He is arguably one of the best Minneapolis photographers out there.. so the presure was on… Luckily, the bone chilling temperatures kept everything all balanced out…
Between wimperings of "Wow is it cold out here" I managed to get this shot.. ;-DDD
This is trying to capture the excitment of the Minneapolis Holidazzle Christmas season parade in downtown Minneapolis… ;-DD
Keep warm… Merry Christmas…
If you are interested in being able to take pictures like this click here
BTW this is the camera that I am shooting with these days… If you are looking for a new camera, you can't beat the quality and price point on this baby!!! Since the Canon 50D came out, the price for the Canon 40D dropped like a rock!!! Get a couple while you are out there ;-DDD. You will not be disappointed.
Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11.
Tell my father that his son Didn't run, or surrender That I bore his name with pride As I tried to remember You are judged by what you do While passing through As I rest 'neath fields of green Let him lean on your shoulder Tell him how I spent my youth So the truth could grow older Tell my father when you can I was a man Tell him we will meet again Where the angels learn to fly Tell him we will meet as men For with honor did I die Tell him how I wore the Blue Proud and true through the fire Tell my father so he'll know I love him so Tell him how we wore the blue Proud and true like he taught us Tell my father not to cry Then say goodbye
There is an interesting story on the finding of this song… My wife and I went to a concert Friday evening of a men's choir that two people from my church are in. They sang this song and it immediately hit me. Those of you that really know me know what a soft heart I have and of course I was craying like crazy while listing to this… I knew I had to find this music… and post an image that matched it.. And of course my wife reminded me that Veterans Day was coming up… ;-DDD
If you are interested in being able to take pictures like this click here
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves–goes itself; myself it speaks and spells, Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came. Í say móre: the just man justices; Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces; Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is– Chríst–for Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men's faces.
Gerard Manly Hopkins
If you are interested in being able to take pictures like this click here
Genesis 1 The Beginning 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
If you are interested in being able to take pictures like this click here
Freedom of thought and expression are two of the most basic tenants of any free society. Without those two things, you do not have a free society.
We went to a must see movie this weekend. In Ben Stein’s (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”) new documentary movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed Ben shows how little academic freedom exists in our universities if you want to discuss unpopular topics like the origins of life.
Much of the academic world thinks that the conversation should be closed because Darwinian Evolution has answered all of those questions… But, is that true????
If you do not think that is true as a professor, get ready to loose you job. Yes, that politically incorrect thought has been banned in the university… I thought the university was a place of open discussion and thought???? Think again…
At one point in the movie… (this most unbelievable point I think ) Ben is interviewing Richard Dawkins and pressing him on the point of where did that actual first cell come from for all life to begin so that everything could evolve from it. Richard actually believes that some advanced life source from outer space seeded our planet with that first cell… Can you believe this stuff???? And he is the one that gets paraded out all the time as the expert in this area…
… 
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electronic reading device. It is the pinnacle of electronic reading devices or electronic books. It is not some tiny thing that no one over 25 can read because the font is so small to enable it to have more than three words to the line… This thing is the perfect size to feel like a real book… Not too big like a college Biology text book and not matchbook size, but just right at 10.2 oz.
covers it all in his expert teaching style that will get you up and running capturing images in no time that look totally professional. His style is not heavy theory, but instead his style is much more down to earth with great step by step examples… Whether you want to shot family events, sports photography, flowers, landscapes, weddings architecture, cityscapes and night life, Scott shows you how to do it. 
is a Minneapolis and St. Paul Travel book written by a local writter.
by the long time professional photographer Kirk Tuck. 
How to save your marriage! Love Path International
Love Path International
Joe Beam, founder of Love Path International, is a world-renown marriage
expert who has been featured on The Montel Williams Show, Good Morning
America, The Today Show, The Mike and Juliet Show and Focus on the Family
Radio.
Obviously the reason he's been invited on those shows is because he knows
what he's talking about and he has a record of saving marriages that
appear hopeless. About 60 percent of the marriages he's saved through his
intensive seminar have been couples who have been hurt by affairs. And yet
according to third party research, Joe's seminar is saving 3 out of 4
marriages in that kind of crisis!
Your problem might be that your spouse is having an affair. Or it might be
another issue. Joe Beam's seminar can help. It can save your marriage!
Please give this seminar serious consideration if your marriage is in
trouble. You can get more information by visiting
http://www.marriagehelper.com.
If your marriage is NOT in trouble, please link to the http://www.MarriageHelper.com
site to help more couples learn that there is hope.
Other great resources…
His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage