Once is a movie about a vacuum-repairman-by-day-busker-by-night dude and an odd-jobs-immigrant gal. She approaches him playing the streets one evening, and they form a fast friendship. We follow them through the events of a week in which they grow, learn, and make life-altering decisions. They both learn to look a little outside themselves which, in turn, gives them the confidence and courage to do what needs to be done in each’s own life.

The characters are human and real, playful and serious, sinners and saints. The protagonists are played by Glen Hansard (from The Frames) and Markéta Irglová (a Czech musician/actress) (the album), who performed all the music and wrote their own original songs for the movie. Once plays as it is billed--a modern-day musical--and it is wonderful.

It’s a feel good movie that incorporates some fell-good clichés, but I’m a sucker for ‘em anyway. And I would have hated it if these scenes weren't there: 1) the reaction of the sound engineer to the first recorded song in the recording sessions; 2) the father listening to the recorded tape; 3) the final gift.

Once is an independent film written and directed by John Carney. Rated R for lots of F-bombs.

Two weeks ago, a few us left work Thursday evening to get a burger.

At In-N-Out Burger in Redding, CA.

That was one fine burger. The camping was fun, too.

More pictoral evidence is here.

Road trip stats:

• cars rented: 1
• miles: 1773
• tents: 3
• times someone left a tent to sleep in the car: 2
• trips to In-N-Out: 2
• burger purchased: 3X3, Animal Style
• highest recorded temp: 102 degrees F
• minutes spent at Powell's: 30
• F-bombs dropped by the mother (to her family) from the adjacent campsite at Oak Bottom: uncountable
• circumference of largest redwood: heckuva big
• number of girls Ben waved to: 3
• number of girls who waved back: 2

In lieu of too much useful content, let me provide you with too many more pictures from my recent travels.

Filling the gaps from before, we have:

• Hawaii Day 3
• Hawaii Day 4
• Hawaii Day 7 (some pics added)
• Hawaii Day 8
• Hawaii Day 9

(All albums are publicly accessible from here.)

There are no pics from Day 5 (except for the cruise ship from the previous post). I spent most of that day napping and losing my sunglasses.

Do not let the left hand know that your right hand dropped some serious coin on Flash Seared Ahi. While the left hand will be saying “I could make that myself,” the right hand will be drooling as he says, “Mmm... Sashimi Grade Yellowfin Tuna in Sriracha Mango Butter Sauce...”

I just returned from an extended weekend road trip. Trip highlights: camping, In-N-Out Burger (twice!), and 102-degree California weather. I’ll post some details and pictures from that another day.

But for now, I hope a few pictures from my Hawaii trip(!) 2 weeks ago will suffice.

Me? In Hawaii?

Uh-huh.

My roommate was invited to go on a cruise to demonstrate Logos Bible Software to a crowd of Coral Ridge Ministries supporters. He told me I could get in for cheap, so I did.

It was my first trip to Hawaii, and Hawaii did not disappoint. Once I figured out that renting a car was often cheaper than the cruise line’s Shore Excursions, I was off the ship at each port exploring each island as much as I could.

The cruise departed from Honolulu, and we visited the big island (Hilo, Kona), Maui (overnight), and Kaua’i (overnight). My favorite was Kaua’i: the Na Pali coastline, Waimea Canyon, water falls, beaches, driving a Crossfire...

You really do have to go someday. Hawaii is often like how you see it in pictures: The water is green; the sky is blue in between puffy white clouds; the surf is up. Yep, you need to go.

If it were just me in my party, I’m not sure I’d do the cruise again. But the cruise had its benefits: the food was great. And, um... they had a few entertaining entertainers. And um... OK, so that was two things. I found that I was better off on my own schedule than I was on theirs. Different stokes for different folks, I guess.

On to the pics: Pretend this is like that time you went over to Uncle Rupert’s for what you thought was just dinner, but it turned out to be a 3 hour long slideshow of Rupert next to the pretty flowers... Mavis next to the pretty flowers... Rupert and Mavis next to the pretty flowers... Just smile and nod, and it’ll all be over soon.

• Hawaii Day 1
• Hawaii Day 2
• Hawaii Day 6
• Hawaii Day 7

Gaps in days are directly related to me not processing those days’ pictures.

This is a true story for long-lost friend Grant:

This morning, as I was getting dressed to go out and ride my bicycle in our (finally!) summer-like weather, I put on some shorts I hadn't worn in at least a year, reached in to the left, front pocket...

... and then I found ten bucks.

I remember a Christmas meal with my family about 8 years ago. Someone made a comment about a restaurant and their "beer-battered fries." I was so startled at the mentioning of beer at the table that I just had to try to make a joke, so I made some crack like "yeah, it's good, but I could do without the battering or the fries."

Crickets.

Followed by Awkward Silence.

So I wonder what that group would say about my most recent Sihouette article.

Today I was totally digging on jazz singer Sara Gazarek and her three albums (2 studio, 1 live) because of Paste Magazine (who provided a track on sampler #33) via Rhapsody (who provided the streaming music).

Sara is not as breathy as Diana Krall and not as “old timey” as Madeleine Peyroux; her voice is clear and wonderful and perfectly emotive. Do give her a listen. Her backing band is pretty sweet, too.

For those who are convinced as I am that she and her band are that great, you can see them play here in a few days in Seattle. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it. Go and make me jealous.