Craig Maas

Cloudbusting

CraigMaas — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:37:51 +0000

Ray Maas would have been 74 today. In honor of his birthday, Paul and Suzanne made a banana cream pie, one of dad’s favorites. I went over to share a piece and think about what else we’re missing.Earlier I was listening to Kate Bush and her song Cloudbusting…

Every time it rains
You’re here in my head
Like the sun coming out
Ooh. I just know that something good is going to happen
And I don’t know when
But just saying it could even make it happen.

Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

CraigMaas — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:25:32 +0000

Ray Maas had a write up in the NDSU Ag Engineering Department newsletter.
It’s found on page 2 in the “Obituaries- Department Alumni” section. Nothing new but it was nice to see him honored again by the Ag Eng. Department. Ray had a strong relationship with the department and they awarded him an honorary Alpha Epsilon membership in 2008.

Books Read In 2010

CraigMaas — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:21:19 +0000

In 2010 I managed to read 63 books in 2010 for a total of 20,229 pages. Here is the list.

By comparison my sister Suzanne read 47 books for a total of 18,248 pages. As you can see we’re a bookish family. So much so, Suzanne asked me to set up a book review blog. Check out Cold Read- it gets updated at least once a week; usually more.

2011 News-CraigMaas.net

CraigMaas — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 07:01:21 +0000

I’ve cut back on my on-line activities. I’ve replace my homepage with this blog. I hope to post more entries this year. I’m still enthusiastic about photography so those links (Zenfolio, Flickr, and Picasa) are still getting updated all the time. If you ask, I’ll send you access to the Private Photos and not just the boring Public Photos.

2010 Christmas Playlist

CraigMaas — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 23:18:33 +0000

I put this play list together from my i-tunes library. My goal was some good performances that I haven’t listen to much. I rotated a number of obvious choices out for some new holiday music. I also included two track that aren’t Christmas songs but could be. “Holy Lamb” by Yes and “Holy Holly” by Neil Diamond. Diamond’s lyrics are vague and if you image the Holy Ghost singing to the Shepherds it makes as much sense as anything else.

Title	Artist	Year
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas	America	2002
Sleigh Ride	America	2002
Three Ships	Anderson, Jon	1985
The Christmas Waltz	Carpenters, The	1978
Merry Christmas Darling	Carpenters, The	1978
Jolly Old St. Nicholas	Chicago	1998
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen	Chicago	1998
Midnight Clear-O Holy Night	Crow, Sheryl	2008
There Is A Star That Shines Tonight	Crow, Sheryl	2008
All Through The Night	Crow, Sheryl	2008
Holly Holy	Diamond, Neil	1996
Der Trommelmann (Little Drummer Boy)	Dietrich, Marlene	1964
Please Come Home For Christmas	Eagles, The	2000
Joy To The World-Please Please Me	Fab Four, The	2002
Good King Wenceslas-Tell Me What You See	Fab Four, The	2002
Rock’n Roll Santa	Farr, Little Joey	1960
Children Go Where I Send Thee	Hall & Oates	2006
The Christmas Song	Hall & Oates	2006
Christmas Time Is Here	Haslam, Annie	2000
O Come, O Come, Immanuel	Haslam, Annie	2000
O Holy Night	Hill, Faith	2004
The Night Before Christmas	Hoops & Yoyo	2005
Jingle, Jingle, Wiggle!	Hoops & Yoyo	2005
Mid-CD Break	Hoops & Yoyo	2005
Ninety-Nine Cartons of Eggnog In The Fridge	Hoops & Yoyo	2005
Peace Is Here	Jars of Clay	2007
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen	Jars of Clay	2007
Holly Herald (Instrumental)	Jethro Tull	2003
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Instrumental)	Jethro Tull	2003
Silent Night	Jewel	1999
Ave Maria	Jewel	1999
Gloria	Jewel	1999
The Holly And The Ivy	Lennox, Annie	2010
As Joseph Was A Walking	Lennox, Annie	2010
Riu Chiu	Monkees, The	1967
In The Quiet Of Christmas Morning (Bach 147)	Moody Blues, The	2003
Silent Night	O’Connor, Sinead	2004
Christmas All Over Again	Petty, Tom	1989
Midnight Clear	Phillips, Sam	1993
2000 Miles	Pretenders	1995
The Christmas Song	Raveonettes, The	2003
Deck The Halls	REO Speedwagon	2009
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen	REO Speedwagon	2009
Comfort And Joy	Simon & Garfunkel	1967
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer	Smithereens	1995
Don’t Believe in Christmas	Sonics, The	1966
Auld Lang Syne	Springsteen, Bruce	1980
Interlude	Springsteen, Bruce	1978
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	Springsteen, Bruce	1978
Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You	Squier, Billy	1982
Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On	Starr, Ringo	1999
The Christmas Dance	Starr, Ringo	1999
White Christmas	Starr, Ringo	1999
Cherry Tree Carol	Sting	2009
Santa’s Beard	They Might Be Giants	1993
The Rocking Tree	Trina, Marguerite	1960
Away In A Manger	Westerberg, Paul	2009
Holy Lamb	Yes	1987

V1

CraigMaas — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:39:15 +0000

My friends and I (from Dilworth) are starting a new band.
We’re calling ourselves V1 *
I’ve already written enough songs for a dozen albums or so.
This is a list of the album titles. (In order) The list also includes some EPs and Singles.

Girl
April
Peace
Over A Forest Green Ground (Live EP)
Forgettable Water
Fall: In The Name Of Hate (Single)
Narrowly Asleep In Europe (Live EP)
The Judges Pole
Shake And Sing (Live & Studio Recordings)
All You Want Is Me (Single)
Devil Of Brooklyn (Single)
Unaufmerksamkeit Adult
Aquarica
Inflate

* Thanks to Jon Bovi (SNL)

Updates:

July 28, 2010 at 8:40am
From the our first album “Girl” I’m thinking of two singles:
“In Control” and “You Will Lead”.
I’m not sure about a single from the second album “April” any thoughts?

July 29, 2010 at 8:25am
I would like to introduce the members of V1. On vocals the charismatic Nobo. On bass Eve Mudounce. On drums Harry Mullen Sr. and on guitar myself. I’m known as *The Plane and we are ‘V1′ The band has decided to only release one single from …”April” and that is the uplifting opening track “Ignomina”.
*Note: I’m known as The Plane not for my love of aircraft but for my love of Geometry.

Hiatus

CraigMaas — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:30:02 +0000

I’m cutting back on my web exposure this year. I thought about cutting back on the blog and using Facebook more, but instead I’ve decided to cut back on Facebook and put this blog on hiatus for a while. I continued writing my Journal in January. I got half way thought the month and decided to put that on hiatus too. I did pick up a Moleskine and have been writing daily notes in that. Going back to analog has been sort of relaxing. It helps that I’ve been disciplined enough to keep it updated every day.

Writing

CraigMaas — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:52:47 +0000

I thought long and hard about writing. Each year I review my work flow and decide how much I want to write, what I want to write, who I’m writing for, how much I want to share, and how I want to share it. First I decided I wanted to write more analog i.e. using pencil and paper. I needed more room for notes, so I passed on the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimwear desk calendar and got a 2010 Moleskine Pocket Diary. I’m convinced more notes mean I won’t have to write a journal. The notes will be the journal. So far it is working out.

I almost pulled the plug on this blog. Instead I’ve decided to pull the plug on Facebook. I’ve grown disillusioned with the Facebook experience. I’m not closing my account but I’m not going to actively use Facebook any longer. The blog will continue but I envision shorter entries.

I would love to post longer fiction on my other blog, but I have to force myself to complete some of the many drafts I have laying around; maybe some older work as well. It remains to be seen.

Photography With Myron

CraigMaas — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:48:50 +0000

Victor Teigen took the day off from work. He asked about lunch. I told him, “Bob and I going to Arbys.” I told him if he’d like to come along I’d pick him up, “I have to come downtown to deliver an order to CNV. I’ll be at your house in fifteen minutes.” Myron, Sara, Kira, and Vivian were still in town, and staying with Victor and Arlene. I spent a little time talking to Victor and looking at his computer.

Craig and Victor's Granddaughter

Bob, Victor and I had a cheap meal at Arbys thanks to the coupons. Sara is Victor’s daughter and also one of my web customers. Myron is an engineer with hobbies of Ham Radio and Photography. I decided to take a really long lunch. Victor and I joined Sara and Myron at the kitchen table. We talked about radio towers and photography. Myron showed me his new flash bracket. We took some photos. Myron was disillusioned by Smugmug- it doesn’t pay to have unrealistic goals for online commerce. Unless you’re really going to work hard to develop a business out of photography it is better to share everything for free and get paid up front for weddings and other events. Myron handed Vivian to me. She has striking blue eyes that were staring at me. She was also fascinated by my chin growth.

Clare Roughhousing

CraigMaas — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:45:29 +0000

Sean called to invite me over, “The Vikings are playing the Bears on ESPN tonight. Do you want to come over?” he asked. It sounded like a good idea. Sean had an ulterior motive. I had his iPod Touch. I had upgraded the OS to 3.0.1. Sean wanted it back, and bad. Once Suzanne found out I was coming over, she decided to invite Paul out on a date. They left shortly after I arrived. I heated up the leftover pizza from Old Chicago.

After supper Sean started playing with Tim, it devolved into wrestling, also known as ‘roughhousing’. I tried to break it up but neither boy was interested in taking my advice. It is certainly natural for two brothers to start wrestling or fighting. (At one point Sean and Tim were Indian Leg Wrestling.) I kept my eye on them so no one got hurt and the house stayed in one piece. Interesting that Tim is almost as aggressive as Sean. What surprised me was how quickly Clare threw herself in the mix. She may only be two years old but that doesn’t stop her from joining in the fun.