My Jodi Fair

My sweet heart with auburn curls
You make my heart swimmer swirl
When I’m with you I feel complete
Without you my heart skips a beat

Your sweeter then sugar sweet
Sunshine rays when our eyes meet
Your soft skin with a pale hue
How I got you I haven’t a clue

Please lend an ear to me
As I try to make you see
That you’re my chosen one
You’re my one sweet love

I sing and you listen to me
Even if I’m a tad out of key
Your precious smile offers so much
Almost as good as your warm, soft touch

Hand in hand almost all the time
You never let go, that’s a good sign
Your sweet lips plump and pink
Your infectious grin and your pretty wink

Please lend an ear to me
As I try to make you see
That you’re my chosen one
You’re my one sweet love

I count my lucky stars
Wondering how we got this far
With my weak words I try to show
That I never want to let you go

Please lend an ear to me
As I try to make you see
That you’re my chosen one
You’re my one sweet love

The First Noel through my ears

As an Elders Quorum we are creating a Christmas album. I selected the First Noel. I was struggling to perform and sing the song the traditional way. It has been performed so much better by so many other people. I wanted to look at the song from a different light and give it a different emotion.

It is very raw and was the first take. Bear with it....we only had one microphone. I uploaded it again...see if it works.

http://media.putfile.com/First-Noel-Take-2

Thanks for the crowns

My Dad retired over the weekend. To celebrate Dan hosted an open house in his honor. A great time was had by all. I was selected to give a brief roast. Text below.

-------------------------
From my vantage point, it appears our brother Dan has successfully muscled Dad out of the family business, but I suppose even the Corleones witnessed some change. Hopefully this change will be seamless and we won’t get Mo Green or the feds involved. Dan, or should I say, Don has asked me to spend a minute or two to offer a roast on my fathers behalf. No not the kind of Yankee pot roast that my dad faithfully prepared for his eight children for all of those years but the kind of roast that allows us to better understand and appreciate the Bruce that we all know and love.
Dad was a visionary in the field of dentistry. He came to a hamlet nestled in the Wasatch Mountains with a dream to providing a gentle touch and low cost dentistry to the cavity impaired population of Kaysville, Utah. The community flourished and their bright smiles could be seen from Roy to Salt Lake City. The Jensen name became known throughout the King Clarion community.
Now that singular vision and dream will be passed down to the first born. The old guard has been replaced by a new generation. The world Bruce Jensen entered as a young hot shot fresh from the University of Nebraska has changed dramatically. And now Bruce will step away from this world and never set his fingers in stranger’s mouth again.
- What does the future hold?
- Will Chris be able to share the house with Bruce?
- Is the yard big enough to keep my Dad occupied for 40 hours a week?
- Will the Jeff Jensen scholarship continue to exist now that its chief sponsor is no longer a contributing member to the tax base?
- Are there other realms that could benefit from a man with a gentle touch?
These are all pressing questions that will need to be answered in the weeks ahead. Dad, we will keep you in are hearts and prayers as you try to figure out what to do with yourself.

Let me take a few brief moments and devise possible activities for my Dad as he prepares to chart the course for the sunset years of his life.

1. You have always been a very meticulous and detail oriented man. We all remember the Chris Jensen Beanie Baby craze of 1997. Perhaps you could catalog the entire collection and get it appraised. You could then put these on E-Bay and use the proceeds from the sales to supplement your retirement income.
2. You have demonstrated a consistent culinary wizardry when it comes to preparing and cooking meats. Perhaps you could develop your own up scale marinade or, better yet, open Kaysville’s first BBQ restaurant.
3. Your middle son loves to explore the world. Now would be an opportune time to take him to South America, or Croatia, or Minsk.
4. Someone mentioned that you like to watch an occasional movie. Maybe you should consider using part of your basement to create a home theatre..
5. There’s always Golf. Wait....oh, never mind.
6. You have a condo at the base of Powder Mountain that hasn’t been used by anyone in like 7 years. You can go up there and see if it still exists.
7. It’s well documented that you have the “gentle touch”. There’s got to be a good way that you can use this skill in retirement. Perhaps a “Gentle Touch” massage parlor? Maybe a “Gentle Touch” line of soft fleece blankets. The possibilities are endless.
8. You can follow mom’s example and dote on the grand kids. Just remember the people who produced those grand kids.

It appears that retirement might not be such a bad thing after all. We think you might make it after all. We hope that you enjoy this well deserved respite.

LDS Feminists

One of my friends recently sent the following link, http://whatwomenknow.org, and asked for my thoughts. I suppose to better understand what it means you should read a recent General Conference talk given by Sister Julie Beck of the Relief Society and the carefully chosen words of the women who signed and issued the statement on the website.

While I agree with a lot of what was said I have to question the way in which these people issued their concerns. By going to the trouble of calling out a specific talk and then signing their names it seems like they've drawn a pretty strong and definite line in the sand. I couldn't help but think that there would have to be a better way to deal with these "slights" then to publicly call out someone like that.

I can sort of understand the motivations for these statements but I don't necessarily agree with them. It appears evident that these women feel that their chosen lifestyles have been called into question by the church. It seems like they want the church to confirm to their chosen lifestyle, not the other way around. I might be wrong but that's the way it appears. I have done this before but haven't gone to these lengths.

I don't know what is going to happen here. Maybe it will spur some debate within the church. Maybe some people will be censured. Maybe things remain the same. I doubt that. Members of the church are becoming more educated and more independent. It's almost as if the church is just one of many membership cards that we now hold.

New Song- "What I'd Say"

A fairly simple melody almost reminicent of Buddy Holly. An older piece that was almost set up as a conversation. One friend pleading with another to look past his hurt and move on.

http://media.putfile.com/What-Id-Say

It happened one night...

...well actually it was more of an early evening.

It's about time. The Jodi-Ryan courtship has gone on for too long and has been far too good without it leading to the ultimate conclusion. Love, engagement, marriage, and a long life full of happy moments.

With the aid of Heidi and Dave I set about my plan. The proposal took place at Camelback mountain at dusk. I threw enough misinformation at Jodi to successfully surprise her. Suffice to say it worked and we had an incredible evening that wont soon leave our rembrance. Enjoy a couple photos! (For more photos check the "repository" link)

No peace with the damn pigeons

One of the annual rituals that comes with living Phoenix is the fall planting of the rye grass. You see, we have the summer and the winter grass here. In the summer a hearty Bermuda grass grows. As the temperatures cool it goes dormant and people who want to preserve their yards have to plant a softer, greener rye grass.
And so like clockwork home owners spend their weekends in October and November making the transition. And as sure as the sun rises in the East their yards are pillaged by roving bands of pigeons, ready to gorge on the gluttony provided by the freshly sown seeds.
When I did this for the first time last year I decided to take a diplomatic approach. I planted my seeds but I also put an ample pile of leftover seed in my neighbors yard to serve as both a diversion and an offering of understanding. They would be fed but I would also have my yard.
That approach worked for nothing. The moment that I put down the manure to cover the seed I noticed a scout pigeon of in the distance on a neighbors roof. It almost appeared that the manure was a beacon, me turning on the neon "open" sign if you will. Within minutes about 20 pigeons landed on the house across the street and patiently waited for my departure.
I left and what ensued was a avian orgy of the worst variety. I returned home and was greeted by the sight of these pigeons gorging themselves and what was supposed to be my lawn. Bastards! They did not accept my offering. Their obesity also revealed that they weren't eating out of necessity but for pleasure.
I charged them in anger. They casually flew away and waited. I waited until they returned and then charged once again. They made a minimal effort and flew away. This act would repeat itself for the several days until what was left of the seed had sprouted.
Initially I tried to make peace with these birds. They haughtily rejected my offering. Now there is now peace between us. I have attempted to hurt them by hurling stones. They have responded by leaving turds on my car. I have cursed them in my human tongue. They have left turds in my lawn. I lost the upper hand.
They no longer bother me because there is no seed left. But this act will repeat itself next year. I have no doubt that those mongrels will get their share of my seed. But I intend to make them earn every last kernel.

Arizona on one tank of gas

Jodi and I decided that we needed to get out of Phoenix. This desire and the rental of a $1900 Canon 70-200 lens served as the proper impetus to get out and see some of Phoenix. Here is the ground that we covered in a 24 hour period. (More pictures are posted in the "my photo repository" on the right side column)

• Picacho Peak, home of the furthest west battle of the Civil War and the Nut Factory. http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/picacho.html



• The San Xavier Mission, the first and still active mission in Arizona. http://www.sanxaviermission.org/



• Bisbee, the onetime mining boomtown was once the largest city between St Louis and San Francisco. http://www.discoverbisbee.com/



• Tombstone, the legendary site of the OK Corral and now nothing more then a comercial theme park were everything has a price. http://www.cityoftombstone.com/



• Globe, another mining hamlet east of Phoenix in the famed Superstition mountains. http://www.globemiamichamber.com/

A new song

Follow the link below to another new song. I'm still not set on the title. Humor me and listen.

Click here to watch "Peace-comes-in-the-morning"

Another song

It's a bit old and speaks of another time. It's titled "I had a dream and it wouldn't end". I will be redoing the vocals but since I don't know when I will get to it I will post this.


Click here to watch 'I-had-a-dream-and-it-wouldnt-end'

Mr Jensen throws a stone at Washington

Rare is the occasion that I get involved in politics. I have a number of friends who have the "beltway" mindset but I enjoy my place on the sidelines. I have a few pet issues but the current situation in Washington has really soured me to the entire process.
I was casually watching a stump speech made by Hillary the other day. She was working a crowd up to a fever pitch with her talk of universal health care and the role that the government should play in making life better for the overlooked masses. While I agree with the sentiment that we should lift up the less fortunate through charity and assistance I have a hard time believing that it should come from the government. Then a thought came to my head..............

"I don't want the government involved in matters that I can resolve myself"

I want to keep government involvement at a minimum. I can make my own decisions regarding whether or not I will allow an abortion. I don't need the government to get overly intangled in matters that could better handled by the people alone. But I will rely on the government for matters that I can't individually impact. I will support government coverage in terms of infrastructure (highways, for example) or miltary protection. These are areas that it would make sense to rely on a larger entity to adequately bring to pass.

I just don't think that I should expect the government to provide for me in matters that I could handle myself. I think I'd do a better job. Thoughts?

What makes a road trip a ROAD TRIP?

We’ve been trying to do more road trips lately. There is much to see and we are always looking for excuses to pull out the camera. So far the results have been a mixed bag. Some trips have been spectacular while others have been spectacularly sucky. In an effort to create more of the former, I’ve compiled a list of the components necessary to making a road trip a success.

• Company- You can do a road trip alone but you can't do it with the wrong company. Good company leads to good conversation which leads to not caring that you are somewhere in a remote part of South Western New Mexico.


• Snack- You want something that can sustain you while not filling your bladder and making you more hungry. Almonds and string cheese are great candidates.


• Destination- You've got to have a nice goal at the end of the road to reward the journey; whether it be a hot tub in a nice lodge or campsite.


• Music- The right music can set the mood or get a good conversation going. Road trips are also a great place to sample some new tunes that you've been meaning to get to. But never forget the timeless standards such as "Joshua Tree".


• Comfortability- Nothing deflates an excursion quicker than a case of Monkey Bum. You don't want to be dealing with a numb butt when you should be taking in a scenic butte.


• Roadside Views- It's always nice to have the ability to pull of to the side of the road and quickly snap a few shots of a scenic vista or over look. Road side views take little effort and keep things fresh.


• Dives- You're in nowheresville, Montana and you're going to eat at a Subway? I think not. You need to try out the local establishments. It's a hit and miss affair but one that will more likely generate memorable outcomes then a combo meal.


• Local Flavor- Step off the beaten path. Visit the local market or square. If you are in Colorado City, Arizona then drive down a side street and admire the sturdy craftsmanship of the polygamist compounds. The point is, take the time to understand the people behind the place.


• Singularity of moment- Take notes, take pictures. Good moments like these are few and far between. Enjoy the ride because you will soon be back in traffic slowly pacing your way to a job that is only moderately satisfying.

Sugar Sweet Something

Here is one of my new songs for your listening pleasure. Click on the link below to sample


Click here to watch 'Sugar-Sweet-Something-Master'

self portrait

An open road and some string cheese

Arizona is a relatively diverse state and has a lot to offer in terms day trips and excursions. I’ve made it a goal to consistently explore all of the reaches of this the land of the Grand Canyon. We will often consult with local guides and recommendations from websites to ensure that we cover all of our bases.

We had an open Saturday and excitedly decided to follow a recommendation from the city of Mesa website. We embarked on the scenic loop that would take us through the Superstition Mountains to the historic Roosevelt Lake and then through Globe. This route would take us through the legendary saguaro covered foothills that define Arizona and then to the world’s largest Masonry dam and area that Teddy Roosevelt once called among the most beautiful on earth. We were excited and left fairly early.

We were absolutely captivated by the beauty of the Superstition foothills; rolling, red mountains covered with Saguaro, Cholla, and Prickly Pear. This is the vision of Arizona that I had as a kid watching and reading westerns. Things took a slight turn when we ran out of paved road 30 miles into the excursion.

The travel guide that we were following made no mention of dirt roads and weren’t expecting to take the Passat “off roading”. But your options are limited when you are in a remote desert and one direction to go. We pushed forward and covered some very remote and beautiful country. Unfortunately my camera battery died just as we were getting to the real pretty country. For being a published scenic route we encountered very few people. That was actually a good thing as the road was very narrow and we had a few dicey switch backs just south of the dam.

We eventually made it to the fabled dam and found the visitors center so that we could charge the battery. While there we learned about how cool the dam is and how Phoenix wouldn’t exist without it. We also struck up some small talk with the local park ranger. I was getting hungry and wanted to probe for a good local place that was an authentic representation of the community. We left with a charged camera, a renewed hunger, and a hearty recommendation for “Ma’s” just a few miles a way.

Eating at the local “dive” is definitely a high-risk, high reward proposition. If you don’t take the gamble on local spots you might miss out on some great experiences in dining. At the same time you might just get some bad recommendation made by some schmuck whose brother runs the kitchen of the restaurant.

Well our experience was more of the later. Jodi’s grilled cheese was akin to something a mom makes her kid on a rainy day. My chicken fried steak was heavy on the fry but light on the flavor. Not even the tub of gravy that accompanied it could help out. A few things you can always count on in these local diners.
- ¾ of the menu will consist of fried items
- The lettuce will always be iceberg
- There will be a picture of the owner holding a prize fish on the wall.
- Next to the picture will be a plethora of business cards advertising every MLM scheme available.
- You will know the first name of the waitress by the end of the stay
- Regardless of the meal you will always be glad you came. These local diners are truly the barometer of these little towns.

After our lunch we were pretty much tired. The treacherous dirt road dampened our enthusiasm. We skipped the desert museum and an archaeological site so that we could get home for a nap. Arizona is full of nice little day trips and hopefully the coming weeks will be filled with several more.

Studio Stuff

Lately I’ve been working on getting three or four of my songs recorded in a professional manner. It’s been an intriguing and very eye opening process. If things go according to plan I should have songs to post here shortly. Here are a few observations:

- Technology goes a long way these days. We are producing the songs using a program called Cubase. A solid understanding of this program is almost more valuable then a sound musical understanding. You can edit and alter effects and tracks to the smallest detail. This software really opens up possibilities to the throngs of amateur musicians, such as me, who are looking to get their stuff out.

- At the same time a great degree of precision and detail is needed to get a track to sound right. I’ve learned the hard way about the need to have a sense of rhythm and timing. When you are literally synching up the 15-20 individual tracks in a song you’ve got to get everything lined up so it sounds seamless.

- If you’re paying some dude $30/hr to help you out you need to have a clear vision of what the song should sound like. If you don’t clearly communicate the intended emotion and texture of the song you are wasting money and run the risk of getting a sound based on the producers understanding of what you wanted.

- Don’t try to add too many unnecessary layers or effects to the song. Only choose what adds the right emotion that you are going for. Don’t be enamored by all of the options, effects, and potential sounds and fall prey to the sirens song of putting too much into a song just for the sake of it. Some songs need little in the way of production others may need a lot.

Since I’m very new to this process you can take all of my observations with several grains of salt.

Solidarity on Southwest Flight 434

Flying on bargain airlines truly is a singular experience. Heck, flying in general these days is a new and ever changing experience. And no airline makes more of an impact then Southwest. Let me paint the picture...

I was due to leave SLC on the 12:30 flight. The airport is small and mid-afternoon flights are generally light. A great time to fly, no hassle. I appear on time and go through the normal obstacle course, making my way to my gate. Upon arriving I am greeted with some news. "Sorry, your flight has been cancelled due to mechanical issues." I was to be rebooked on a later flight. I saw my opportunity and asked for some kind of compensation. My demands were quickly rebuffed and my new flight was to leave an hour later.

I sat down, somewhat defeated, and sat in the appointed area. I asked around and found several over mildly annoyed passengers who had been pushed back. I would normally be competing and elbowing these people for the front of the line; now they were my allies and fellow martyrs. We banded together and went to Customer Service only to be pushed back again. And we waited.

Finally our time to board approached. As the line jockeying began we observed our plane. There was a crew outside working outside on its landing gear. Within minutes we got news that the plane had issues and that we were being pushed back again. This was the second plane with issues in less then an hour. Our mild annoyance turned into frustration.

Over the next two additional hours we followed the same routine. A poor employee would have to get on the intercom and inform us that things had been pushed back even more and that we would be getting more news in a bit. Another plane was finally rerouted and we left SLC about 3 1/2 hours later then promised.

During this waiting time I forged strong ties with the people in line. It's strange to think that during normal conditions I wouldn't make any kind of effort to strike up conversation with someone else. On the contrary, everyone seems so self involved, selfishly guarding their place and their personal space. But the minute that the passengers are wronged or the flight is delayed then we become a band of brothers fighting for our cause of fair passenger treatment. We are martyrs and fellow sufferers. We open up and before you know it I am shown pictures of some ladies grandkids. For those three hours we are family.

And the flight ends and we go about our own business. Flying truly is a strange experience. It is a great experiment in observing individual behavior and group dynamics. We can either see the best or worst in people when we watch them act around strangers.

In Search of Authenticity

Just an observation. We live in a time of virtual reality, unknown identities and disposable everything. This sense of transience has created an urge for things of authentic or vintage quality. We pay extra dollars for a set of furniture from Pottery Barn because it claims to be of the same quality of the furniture our grandparents had. We drop an extra dime on a pair of levis that has that worn and individual look. I spend $2 on a rootbeer in a bottle that looks like it came from 1955. It doesn't take an astute marketer to see that there are so many items that are sold under the "authentic" or "geniune" label. It almost seems like we are aching for authenticity in our lives. The kind of authenticity that can't come from a blackberry, myspace page, or on demand television.

Our lives are so frantic that we want to feel like we are rooted in something. The whole "authentic" or "vintage" movement that we see seems to be the response. These products or activities allow us to maybe recreate bygone memories or instill some sort of values. It's almost like we are jumping all over these nostalgic items because we want to go back to those times. This is our superficial way of kind trying to recreate a more authentic experience.


Am I the only one who sees this? Just an observation....

A saturday afternoon with the kids

So as part of the Washington Street foundation we visited the Cosanti Foundation grounds up in Paradise Valley. Cosanti and Arcosanti are both “ideally formed” communities that Italian architect Paolo Solari has been dreaming up in Arizona over the past 50 some odd years.

We were given a guided tour through the community by a middle-aged and starry eyed academic from Austin. He spoke in an incredibly esoteric manner, wore suspenders to hold up his sagging pants, and was an absolute evangelist for the building philosophies of Solari. The community itself looked like something that hobbits would have created should they have ever left the green, rolling hills of the shire for the Sonoran desert.

Evidently Solari was a prized pupil of the famed Frank Lloyd Wright. He believes that people and their building initiatives should be in harmony in nature. He is a strong opponent of the sprawl that we see in Phoenix and his Arcosanti community, 60 miles north of Phoenix, was developed to draw people closer together and drive cars out of communities. (http://www.arcosanti.org/) The word cosanti is derived from two Italian words- cosa, meaning thing; and anti, meaning before.

The community is maintained by a group of free thinking academics much like what you would have seen in the Berkeley area in the 1960’s. A lot of its operating revenue is generated by the sale of custom made bronze and ceramic bells that are made on site. They showed us how a kiln worked and walked us through the smelting process. I enjoyed myself and got wrapped in a couple of conversations regarding “arcology”, which is Soleri’s theory on how architecture and ecology should coexist.


Meanwhile the kids……wait, there are kids…….

Meanwhile the grandiose and idealized views espoused by our guide were completely lost on the 10 kids in the group. To their credit they quietly fidgeted and tried to pay attention. The guide didn’t even try to speak to the kids and help them understand the concepts. At least they got some lunch and got to swim afterwards.

More friendly visits

Since I pretty much have no friends and family in Phoenix I always welcome visits. Last week I welcomed both a cousin and a Greg to town. While both stays were briefy they did a nice job of breaking up the daily monotony.

It was a weekend full of football and interesting conversation. I'm just now realizing how much time I spend in devotion to the undisputed favorite sport of this great nation I would be more worried if I was the only one with this tendency. But it's pretty obvious that a good slice of our population is overly devoted to football. All you need to do is to take a random sample of housewives and girlfriends to ascertain the source of the strange change that most men make starting in late August. I mean between the ASU-Colorado game, BYU-UCLA game, Cowboys game, and misc. football commentary we probably spent 10 hours bowing down to the grid iron gods.