Pictures from my last show

Last Saturday afternoon, I, along with my son, Dale, performed at Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington, MN. We were there as part of their "We Love Kids Winter Beach Party".  It was a HUGE event.


Here are some pictures that were sent to me from the event:

The Egg Bag

"Mickeeeeeeyyyyyyy"

Ring Juggling

This weekend I am heading out to Gurnee, Illinois, then flying down to Mineral Wells, Texas.

On the road again...

DonB!

The Letter to Don

On Monday evenings, in our home, we hold a Bible study & fellowship time.  Each week we listen to a 25-40 minute podcast of a message, then talk about it.  We finish up the evening by laughing and joking as we talk about how our week prior has gone.  It is a great time together with people who simply want to grow in our faith as Christians.


Last night, the message was titled "A Change of Direction", talking about God's grace toward each one of us, and that no matter where we choose to go in life, God allows, and even ASKS us to turn around and follow Him again.  It was a neat thought, especially when we talked about our own times in life that we have had to STOP, and turn around from the stupid and sometimes painful decisions we have made.


The speaker on the podcast used Revelation 2-3 in his message, regarding what Christ said to the various churches that claimed to be His followers.  This really got me thinking...


What would the letter say if written to my own church, Emmanuel Baptist Church, or Mora, Minnesota?  In each of the Revelation letters, Christ pointed out the good & bad that each church demonstrated.  He praised them for the things they were doing correctly, but rebuked them for the ways that they had turned their backs on God.


I can think of many things that my own church has done well over the almost 18 years I have been attending.  Sadly, I can think of other times when our church chose to go a route that was self-serving, and not within God's will.


Then, this took me even further into this idea: 

What would Christ say if He wrote a letter directly to ME?

What would he commend me for doing that was within His will for me?  Followed closely by the rebuke for my failures as a believer, I'm sure.  Which half of the letter would be longer? Would He point out things that I am already aware of, or would I be surprised by what He lists, both good and bad?


Given, I'm not looking for answers from any of you, but it made me really stop and attempt to evaluate where I am at. What have I done in the way of sharing the Gospel around my town, my state, my country, and beyond?  Could someone look at me and see that I am a Christian, or would they only see a "nice guy"? What about the people that I have hurt throughout my life?  Will I ever be able to repair those hurts?


There will come a time when each of stands before God and makes an account for what we did with the time we were given. Am I ready for that time?  Are you? 

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Life's not fair, but God is. 

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I leave you with this verse from the book of Matthew, but don't let it scare you.  Let it encourage you to do as much as possible with your time here on earth. Put aside the petty things that divide us. Forgive each other over and over and over again. Make that "YouTurn" that the speaker talked about. Share the Good News, in our words and actions.

    “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23 (New International Version, ©2010)

DonB!

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One hobby of mine

What do I do on some days without shows?  I experiment.  On what you ask?  Well, here are some of the projects that I have been playing around with:

I have been experimenting with various knot tying projects lately, and wanted to post just a few of them here.

Finger rings have been another experiment

Turk's Head Finger Ring

2-Color Turk's Head Ring, Single Strand Ring

 Keychains are another

2-Color Cobra Weave Keychain

1-Color Cobra Weave Keychain 

Necklaces of various designs

24 Facet Globe Knot Necklace

40 Facet tri-color Globe Knot over a single Dice

As well as ceiling fan chain pulls

176 Facet Ceiling Fan Pull

 

44 facet ceiling fan pull

Any other knottyers out there?

DonB!

DonB! just back from K-Love Cruise 2011

Just today I found a clip of one of my performances on the K-Love Friends & Family Cruise 2011.

You can see the clip HERE or go to the K-Love Blog and scroll down to the 6th video highlight from the cruise HERE.

I will write more about the cruise, but for now, let me simply say that it was another amazing time with hundreds of friends and family.

Maybe you want to sign up for the 2012 cruise?  Go HERE and look forward to an incredibly great time in 2012.

DonB!

DonB! has many hobbies

As if I needed other things to fill my spare time, I do have a hobby. Actually, I have too many hobbies.

How do I define a "hobby"?  Well, according to Sports & Leisure, it is

A specialized pursuit (as stamp collecting, painting) that is outside one's regular occupation and that one finds particularly interesting as a source of leisure-time relaxation.

All of my hobbies are exactly that: things to do when I want to relax.

Well, what are my hobbies then?  Let me see if I can remember them all...

Stamp Collecting.  But not just any stamps.  I collect postage stamps with themes that relate to my own work interests, such as CIRCUS, JUGGLING, UNICYCLES, STILT WALKING, CLOWNING and MAGIC & MAGICIANS.  I have about 300 various stamps and stamp sets that fit into the above categories.  Ask me to see them sometime.  I'd love to show you.

Cross Necklace making.  About 4 years ago, while working one of the music cruises, I met a comedian, Lanny Moody.  He showed me how he makes cross necklaces and either gives them away as gifts, or sells them to raise money for his ministry work.  With his permission, I began making them, and now have made and sold over 1000 of them in the last 4 years.  If you would like a handmade cross, made by me, please feel free to go HERE and order one.  Or two.  Or more.  Every dollar spent goes right back into our ministry work.

Origami.  I have always been interested in origami, but even more so once I started working the cruise ships.  There are many times each day that a financial tip can be given to someone.  My choice is to either hand them a bill, just as it comes, or to give them one that I have made into something interesting, such as a dog, an elephant, a swan, a Minnesota loon, a shirt & pants set, or about 15 other designs that I have taken the time to learn.

I also have chosen to concentrate on various sorts of origami boxes and containers, of all shapes and sizes. 

Decorative Knotting.  Because of my off-center interest in almost all things math related, knot tying caught my eye about 3 months ago.  I was merely looking for a way to embellish the lanyard part of my cross necklaces, and came across some information on the internet.  Well, now I'm hooked on it.  The things I've made are nothing too special at this point, but it sure has been fun learning it all.

Playing the Cello.  I never really knew what the term "bucket list" meant, until I looked into cello lessons.  The guy that leased me the cello asked if I was learning in order to cross something off of my "bucket list", so I asked him what that meant.  He explained that we all desire to do things during our life, such as sky-diving, swimming with stingrays, bungy jumping, or even just traveling to a particular foreign land.  It is as if we have many things stored up in our "bucket", and hope to accomplish each of them before we die someday.  For me, I have always loved the sound of the cello, and figured, "I'm not getting any younger,", so let me give it a try.

Right here in Mora, we have a new music teacher at the elementary school, and on a whim, we bumped into her in the grocery store and asked her if she had ever taught cello.  She said, "Yes", and we hired her on the spot.  In exchange for giving me lessons for one year, I paid for the rental of her cello.

Am I any good at it?  Not really.  Have I enjoyed the learning process?  Absolutely!  I still love the sound of the cello, but it really does take a lot of practice to bring out the mellow sound it is known for.

Photoshop.  May times I have paid good money for pieces of ministry advertising that wasn't as good as I had hoped for.  Well, having a friend, Romulus Portwood, that worked for Adobe at one time, he was able to hook me up with an older version of Photoshop.  Once again, I am hooked.  The program is capable of doing so many things that I sit down to work on something, and it ends up (usually) looking even better than I had hoped for.  I've done two of my own posters now, as well as postcard design for other performers, as well as some posters for my brother's band, Juan Roberto & the Bubble Bakery Orchestra.  I love the creativity that Photoshop has opened up in me.  I love seeing the final product, and thinking, "Wow, I created that myself."

Bass Guitar.  When my friend, Mike, suggested I learn to play bass guitar so that he could utilize all of his other instruments at church, I figured "why not"?  With some beginning help from him, and a lot of time on my own, I have now been playing with our church's worship team for almost a year.  And I love it!  Am I ready for a concert?  Probably not.  But it sure is fun playing with other musicians at church.

 A Cajon Drum

Percussion.  When I was a kid, I was labeled "hyperactive".  One of the signs that brought that title upon me was how I was always beating on my legs, or my desk at school, imagining I was in some famous band, and of course I was the drummer.  Well, as more and more times I saw that our worship team could use percussion instruments to enhance some of the songs, I decided to give it a try.  

I first played the congas about 8 years ago.  The added shakers and a few other percussive items.  Now, I own a cajon box drum that I am hoping to begin using again at church sometime soon.

I found one in this lion's mouth

Geocaching.  Are you aware, that right now, around the world, there are over 1,000,000 hidden containers, placed in public places, waiting to be found?  Geocaching (GEO-earth, CACHING-container) utilizes a handheld GPS to locate coordinates all over the place, that containers are hidden at.  What kind of containers?  Ranging in size from tiny (pencil eraser-sized) to very large (ammunition cans, garbage cans), each one contains at minimum a logbook for you to sign in on when you have found it.  Some of them contain prizes, or toys, that you are encouraged to exchange for something that you may have brought.  Dale, my son, has found new Hotwheels cars in them before, as well as golf balls, a Caribou Coffee gift card worth $5.00, a coin from Russia, and other weird, sometimes junky things that NOBODY would EVER want.

If you want to look into geocaching, go HERE and take a look at the site.  A basic membership is free, and you could soon be on your way into the woods to look for cammo-covered peanut butter jars filled with prizes.

The fun in geocaching is getting outside, discovering parks and areas that you would never visit otherwise, and ending with the reward of saying that you found "such and such geocache, way out in the middle of nowhere".  Now doesn't that sound like fun?!?!

Close-up magic on the ship

Close-up Magic.  If you were to walk into my office and look at my bookshelves, you would see about 400 books, mostly related to close-up magic.  Coin tricks, card tricks, rope tricks, mind reading tricks, ball tricks, silk tricks, dollar bill tricks, pencil tricks, paper tricks, napkin tricks, and on and on and on.  I hate to even think about how many tricks and routines I've learned over the years that I have forgotten.  I would guess it would number in the 1000s, if not more.  But performing magic tricks, especially when I perform them right up close, with YOU watching like a hawk, is such a fun hobby, I could not imagine me enjoying anything more.  Close-up magic is what started me performing over 30 years ago, and I still love it today.

Well, that's probably enough hobbies for one week.  Who knows what I might add to my list in the future?  Sky diving?  Demolition derby racing?  You never know!

DonB!

DonB! does graphic art? Sort of.

Wow, I'm on a roll lately: 4 postings in 5 days.  I almost broke a sweat getting there too.


Well, here is another piece of fun info for ya'll.

My brother, Bob, plays in a folk band, Juan Roberto and the Bubble Bakery Orchestra, or "JRBBO" for short.  On February 12th, down in Albert Lea, Minnesota, they will be playing a special concert.  It is called "Mission to the Balkans", a fundraiser for missions work in the Balkans (Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, & Croatia).  JRBBO will play a full set, along with two special guests.


The first is a solo singer, "Lauryn", from Maple Grove, and the other is former lead singer of "4th Man in the Fire", Pastor G., also known in real life as Pastor George Marin, of Grace Christian Church in Albert Lea.  Pastor G will be joining JRBBO onstage, performing some of the hits from the 4th Man days when John, George and Bob were a group in Albert Lea.


It should be a great time, and a freewill offering will be taken at the door for the Balkan missions.


Oh yeah, how do I tie in?  I designed the poster for the event.


DonB!

Lifepoint Church: Inspiring!

Last summer, while my wife, Debbie, and son, Dale, were working and ministering in North East, Maryland, we had the opportunity to attend church 3 times at a church that seemed buried way out in the countryside, Lifepoint Church.

Our first sunday there, Senior Pastor Joe Duke spoke a message titled, "Judge Knot", as the 3rd part in a series titled "There's an App for That", making reference to the iPhone's "app", short for "application".  It was a great message, helping to decipher when, and if, it is appropriate to judge someone on their actions, choices, etc.  It really was a great sermon.

Later in the summer we had the opportunity to attend Lifepoint again, and they were into the 7th sermon of the APP series, titled "Change4Good", referring to the proper discipline all Christians should live under.

Well, summer came to an end and we returned back to our home in Minnesota, thinking that our time with the Lifepoint sermon series was over.  Not quite.

When challenged by a friend from our home church to lead an in-home small group Bible study, I felt at a loss of what to do.  I find that I don't have a lot of discipline in arranging my schedule throughout the week to organize a lesson, and felt ready to back out of the deal. Well, not quite.

David Pribulick. He's cool!

Our Maryland friends, the Pribulicks, sent us a small gift.  It seems that at the end of the sermon series at Lifepoint Church, everyone that finished the series was given a mini iPhone look-a-like item, featuring all of the sermons and accompanying verses form the series.  My answer had arrived.

Our nifty "iPhone" Lifepoint APP souvenir

Our small group could use this exact sermon series as a jumping off point for our weekly study. An answer to prayer, in more ways than one.

So, here we are, 7 weeks into our get togethers, and we're doing well.  Each sermon deals with one part of the importance that "hearing is not the same as doing; we hear the message, understand it, and maybe even agree with it, but what do we do about it?"

I say all this to inspire you to download the free podcasts from this series.  Each message is only 28-38 minutes in length, and they all have been really good!  The most recent one, "RiskIt", challenges all of us to take what we know about our faith and get out there and do something with it: RiskIt, by telling others.

If you are interested in looking for a great, free podcast, go HERE and download some episodes to your iTunes, and listen to them.  They are inspiring.  Maybe you'll be challenged like our group has been.

And I have found out that we will be spending a little time in Maryland this summer, so we'll be attending Lifepoint once again, even if only for a short time.

Enjoy,

DonB!

Camp Lebanon Audience Photo

To celebrate my 51st show for Camp Lebanon, I remembered to grab my camera and take a picture of the audience.  They were great.  See if you can find yourself...

And, YES, they DID decorate the entire chapel to look like the inside of a circus tent!

DonB! & the L.O.L. Show in Brainerd, MN

On February 25th I will be performing in the L.O.L. Show (Laugh Out Loud) with Randy & Ben Christensen in Brainerd, Minnesota, as part of "Kids' Mission Experience".

This conference is open to anybody that would like to bring your church kids, but make sure you contact them with your reservation.

Feel free to come join us on Friday evening for a great show, for a great cause, with a whole church filled with great kids.

See you there?

DonB!

DonB! will be cruising again in 2011

Hey folks,


I am happy to report that I have been asked back as an entertainer on two music cruises in 2011. And I am excited!!!


Premier Christian Cruises has asked me back to perform on the K-Love Friends & Family Music Cruise in February...

and the Music Boat 2011 Cruise in November, onboard the Carnival Imagination Ship: 

Contact Premier Christian Cruises:

Get a tentative reservation in TODAY.  Cabins fill up fast, but I would love to have all of you join me on board some of the greatest cruise experiences you'll ever be a part of.


Let me bait your hook with these names: Newsboys, Chris Tomlin, MercyMe, Brandon Heath, KJ-52, Salvador, Sanctus Real, Sidewalk Prophets and me.  Wow, what a line-up!


If you have any questions about going on these cruises, don't hesitate to contact me or Premier directly.  I would love to have even more friends on board with me this year.  And that means YOU!


Take care,


DonB!

Dual Citizenship? Minnesota & Maryland

Hey folks,

I, along with my family, have been invited back to Sandy Cove ministries for the summer of 2011. We worked and ministered there last summer and had a great time, and look forward to doing it again this year.  Just think: 102 degrees, countryside motorcycle rides, flying trapeze...

It seems that we have begun living summers in Maryland and winters in Minnesota.  That seems so backward.

Please pray that all details can be worked out for our entire family.  It would be a lot of fun to see our East Coast friends again, as well as all of the great people that work and stay at Sandy Cove.

See you then...

Overlooking Chesapeake Bay

 Deb's sign she made for the craft shop

Typical Maryland Bug

Meeting Michael Card

Giant butterflies

Our favorite eating spot: Rita's Ice

A few of the crazy people you meet in Maryland.

DonB!

DonB! Art

While at Camp Lebanon last night, I met a young girl, Lauren, after the show, and noticed that she had a sketch book with her.  We talked for a few minutes, and I asked her if she had drawn any pictures of my show. I don't remember her exact words, but she (or someone in the group) said "You move too fast to draw."

Well, today a nice surprise arrived in my email: a sketch from Lauren.  I love it!

Lauren has been sketching for many years, and her artwork of all styles and media can be found by clicking HERE, where Lauren says, "I try to be a Christian influence to those also on the site" Please check out her artwork, in order to support and encourage her.

Lauren, you are an amazing young lady.  I hope that your artistic talents can be used to inspire many other people throughout your life.

Thank you so much for sending this.  I love it.

DonB!

Camp Lebanon has DonB! for the 50th Time!

I remember a time, back in 1989, when my wife, Debbie, and I decided that we were going to start utilizing our entertainment programs as outreach tools for churches and Christian organizations.  We made some phone calls, and ran straight ahead...

Well here we are 22 years later, and we've been all over the world. We've now performed in almost all of the United States, plus Canada, India, Ukraine, Amsterdam, England, Mexico and Germany.  I've also performed in the Bahamas 3 times, as well as "out on the sea" on 6 cruise ships (I've got 2 more cruise trips in 2011).

All of this to say that in 1989, we prayed that the right people would see our programs and find the value it could bring to their church or organization. Back then we were known as "Circus Unique".

"Bobber" Bill Abeler, from Camp Lebanon, in Upsala, Minnesota, called and invited us to come up for a family camp that year.  I have now performed at Camp Lebanon every year since then (with a 1 year exception), and last night I presented my 50th show there for the MEGA-Overnight Event.  

Camp Lebanon has grown so much, as well as DonB! Ministries, and Bill still calls us "Circus Unique", a name that I still love to hear.

Next Friday I will go back to Camp Lebanon and present show #51, and Bobber Bill will still laugh at my jokes and  he'll still guffaw when Homer appears. There is no better sound than laughter.

Thanks Bill, and Camp Lebanon, for so many years of ministry. God is good, all the time.

DonB!

2 New Print Pieces for DonB!

It takes a while, but with some persistence, feedback from friends who know what they are doing, and a lot of tweaking, I finally finished 2 new pieces of publicity materials for DonB!.

The first one is based on feedback over the years of my red poster. It looked great, but the photo didn't properly portray what my programs are about. So, with a simplified design, subtle color usage, and trying to remember that "empty space is good", here is my new poster:

If you have a booking coming up with DonB! Ministries, please call and request the new posters.  Unless you want a really boring show, then don't use any posters at all.  :)

The second piece I finished is the advertising for our new Dontar Machine.  Based on the machine from the Tom Hank's movie, "BIG", we have created an "interactive LIVE robotic automaton." what is an "interactive LIVE robotic automaton", you say?  It is a multi-use machine that contains a robotic living half person, designed to fit over 25 different themes, that can come to life and drop prizes to participants.

The pirate drops foil chocolate coins.  "Grandma Bea" gives away funny, comical advice, the type your Grandma probably gave you at one time.  The casino dealer can either perform mechanical card routines, or give away prizes that fit into a casino-night themed party.

Other characters include "ASYLUM S.K.P.", for halloween parties, "Dontar" the comedy fortune-teller, "Elf Magic", featuring Santa's tallest elf performing magic, and giving away real magic tricks.  Others include the "Cheeky Magician", "Wisdom of Solomon" for Christian events, and your usual "Gypsy"-styled fortune-teller, giving away comedy fortunes.

Here is that new poster, already in the hands of 4 talent agencies in the Midwest:

Our first booking with the machine is this Thursday at the University of Minnesota, as a promotion for their extracurricular programming.  I will be in the box as a goofy, malfunctioning cheerleader, giving away pom-pom and megaphone keychains.  Pictures to follow.

Have a great week everyone,

DonB!

A Week in Georgia

After leaving Maryland, Dale & I ventured down to Georgia, to perform and teach at the TnT Clown Conference.  The conference ran a week, and we stayed busy the whole time.

I taught many people, including Dean Cook, to juggle.

Dale even taught an impromptu class on bead dogs, stars and cross necklaces.

On Saturday, we all did an outreach event in downtown Toccoa, and Dale tried his hand at some strolling juggling.

Some of the 100+ clowns headed into town for a community event.

Headmover, still funny looking.

Ball Juggling, during my show

Homer, in a moment of adrenaline

A goofy moment with an audience volunteer.

Freemounting the 7-footer.  This photo is just a second before I came tipping to the ground, then off the front of the stage.  It all happened in slow motion, and I survived with only a carpet burn on my knee & elbow.  PHOTO CREDIT: All show photos by Jerry Godolphin

After the conference, Dale & I headed up to Yankton, South Dakota, to perform a show at a senior activity center for Grandparent's Day.  Another good show, and then we headed home to Minnesota.

DonB!