A Little Rock n' Roll

Wednesday night rocked!!!

I took a couple of friends and my young nephew to see a few bands at the Loveland theater in Portland. On the docket was Mourning September, Number One Gun, Spoken, and Project 86. The venue was small and the crowd was smaller than I would have thought. But who cares, we were there and that is all that matters.

We missed Mourning September... If they were like Number One Gun we didn't miss much. I hate to be negative on the guys, I know they were trying hard, but they (No.1Gun) need to loose the ties and get a drummer that knows more that one beat. I'll check out Mourning on the web later.

Spoken was great, as expected. My nephew got a poster and had all the guys sign it. That is one thing that is great about these shows; the band comes out at the end of their set and hangs out to talk with the fans.

Project 86 did not disappoint. They blew the roof off. It was obvious by the crowds response who they were there to see. My friend Ben started the onslaught of stage dives that continued through the concert - go Ben! Sadly, the old man (me) was enjoying the view from the back. Andrew (the lead singer/songwriter) knows how to please the crowd. His intensity is captivating. Thanks fella's for the great show, I look forward to the next.

*** Not sure how to get the best photo's on my digital in the dark ***

Due to budget & time contraints I had to by pass the Chevelle show tonight at the Roseland. Maybe next time.

I need to find a career in the music biz...

So Much Music, So Little Time

Today was the release date for Project 86's latest, "...And The Rest Will Follow". Just in time for tomorrow nights show at the Loveland Theater in SE Porland. Yes, I'll be there. Yes, I know I'm old. Yes, I still love the rock and roll. I am taking my young nephew and a couple of my friends from church. We will have a blast and I'll post about it Thursday.

I've listened through the album twice and love it. You read it right, I wrote "album" not cd. An album is "A set of musical recordings stored together...". So when I call it an album, don't correct me.

I am glad for my half hour commute to work. It allows me the freedom to play the music my wife can't tolerate. It also affords me the right to sing along at full volume without the worry of offending sensitive ears, or any ear for that matter. A side note: Cell phones have made it easier for us wanna-be rock stars to sing in our cars without looking like fools, now we just look like we are having an animated conversation on our wireless cell.

Rock On!

New Link

OneTrueGod.com

I came across this website that is moderated by Hugh Hewitt. It is a great read.

The format: Mr. Hewitt, as a layman, asks a theological question and the contributors answer it. Simple enough. Currently the contributors are: Albert Mohler, John Mark Reynolds, Mark D. Roberts, Amy Welborn, and David Allen White.

These links will provide plenty of great reading material. Enjoy. I do.

Celebrity Cindy

Please look at the picture in this link.

Does this look like the face of mother who is grieving the loss of her son? Or, does it look like the face of a lady enjoying her 15 minutes.

What she is able to do now is what people in the Middle East are dying to be able to do. Freedom is a powerful thing that most of us take for granted each day.

Pray for those in the Middle East on both sides of the battle.

Babs Need Work

Maybe Barbara should reconsider her retirement from the stage and give up her second career as a meteorologist or her hobby as a climatologist. Drudge has an interesting blip on Babs' ranting.

Calvin & Hobbes

I had a brief moment of excitement this weekend that quickly dissipated. The Oregonian has Calvin & Hobbes in it's comic section in this Sunday's paper. At first I thought Bill Watterson was pulling a Berkley Breathed and making a come back with his famous six year old and his stuffed tiger. Not so. The copyright on the comic is from 1993. Oh well, I'll still enjoy reading the classics.

If anyone knows of Mr. Watterson's where abouts or if by some God breathed miracle he happens to read this let him know his professional come back would be very welcomed and celebrated around the world.

~Personal note to Mr. Watterson - BRING BACK CALVIN, PLEASE!!!

On occasion I reach back into my collections of his work for entertainment, inspiration, and a nice laugh. That boy and his tiger always has a way to pick me up.

There are many people that just don't work enough these days. One in particular is Mike Myers. Not the scary guy from the Halloween movies, but the one of Wayne's World fame.

I know his last work wasn't the best (Cat in the Hat), so what we want back is the Mike Myers from "So I Married An Axe Murderer" fame. Word is Shrek 3 is in production so at least will get a small taste.

The other is Steve Guttenberg...

Just kidding, I actually mean Steve Martin. What is up funny man. Let's see something more, even if it is a "Three Amigos, part duex". Trains, Planes, and Automobiles was on the other night and I had to stop for a bit. He's magic on screen.

Strange how fickle our society and who we want to see or who we allow to entertain us. Hollywood probably works way harder that they need to to find new faces. There is nothing wrong with the old standby's. Note to Hollywood; allow your actors to reinvent themselves, to branch out and try new things. Maybe this will help keep them out of trouble, politics, or keep them from boating through flooded neighborhoods acting as if they are doing good a la Mr. Penn. Don't get me wrong, I love Sean Penn's work, but what an @$$ he looked like during the Katrina disaster. Leave the rescuing and reporting to the professionals.

Time to shut down and go watch the rest of "Sahara". I fell asleep during it last night. Partly because I was tired and partly because it was a little boring. I've been told the book is better, it always is. My personality demands that I watch the rest so a least I know what happens. This personality trait has cost me some hours in my life... "Napoleon Dynamite" (sorry Mo) "XXX, State of the Union" of recent.

It's A Dog Thing

I want to first state for the record that I am allergic to dogs, thus cannot own a dog. I know that there are dogs out there that are okay for people that are allergic, but there is a second reason I don't own a dog and that is that I am cheap, and dogs are expensive. The day that dogs can pay their own bills I get one. I do however appreciate the fact that people own dogs, love their dogs, etc.

That brings me to my question; why, oh why, do people bring their dogs to Home Depot?

Today I was in the mood to do a little work on the house. My garage is a killer mess and I (and my wife) felt it was time to do a little organization and clean up the garage. You must know that we have a one car garage that really could barely fit a Mini Cooper in it even if the garage was totally empty. To gain as much space as possible things must come up off the floor. In order to do what I wanted I needed some shelving. As any red blooded American would do, I set off to Home Depot to look at the massive selection of shelving options for my garage.

For the record this was not my first visit the the big orange box, nor my first observation of the topic of discussion. Today I , without a dog, was in the minority at Home Depot. There were all shapes, sizes, breeds, and colors of canines out for a stroll down the home repair isles. Today, more so than past visits, I was particularly irritated by the presence of our four footed friends. I couldn't even go down an isle without wonder if this was going to be the dog that challenged my pacifist tendancies on this topic. One happened to weigh more than I do and showed more teeth than my comb when he yawned. This gave my cause for pause. The owner noticed my hesitation and then said, "He doesn't bite. It's okay." So not wanting to look like I doubted him or was afraid I passed by the pooch.

I just don't see the point in bringing your dog into the store while you shop. Is Fido giving advice on the correct plumbing fixture for the job, or helping pick the right shade of brown for the kitchen? What risk does the dog owner and Home Depot put themselves in by letting dogs in the store? What would happen if a dog got a wild hair and lashed out and bit somebody? Heaven forbid it end up being one of my kids. The heavenly wrath of the father would be upon that dog and its owner.

The Home Depot website has nothing on the dog in the store policy as far as I could see. I'd be curious to know if there has ever been a serious incedent in one of the stores or if all of the stores allow dogs in them.

Kudos to all the dog people today... the dogs were all on leashes.

Theater of the Mind

A few nights ago the strangest thing happened to me. As far back as I can remember I have always experienced very vivid dreams that I remember long after I have awakened. For example, there was a time in high school when I was Magnum P.I. protecting a house from some bad guys and a time when I was riding a friend's motorcycle but I had to push it along like Fred Flintstone and the list goes on. Dreams of old that I remember to this day. But this one a few nights ago was quite different.

The dream went like this: I was aboard a military submarine and a giant metalic worm (very sci-fi) was eating the sub from the inside out. At one point it breached the hull and we started to take on water. At first I was able to see everything the worm was doing, as if I was a ghost following it around. Then the dream shifted to me standing in an office looking out the window of the sub at the air bubbles escaping and rushing to the surface. I know most large submarines don't have windows, but this is my dream. Up to this point it is the standard dream full of improbable events and impossible settings.

This is when it started to get weird. While standing in the office gazing at a scene of doom I began to think of my pending demise. The thoughts of being crushed alive or drowning frightened me. The strange thing was I knew I was dreaming. I began to fear what would happen if I died in my dream. Would I die in real life, would I feel everything as real, and so on. My thoughts, as far as dreams go, were very lucid. I began to think since this is a dream can I just wake myself up. I had pondered the repercussions of taking this course of action then my sense of mortality took over and I wanted to ensure my future in my real world. So I willed myself awake. The next thing I knew I found myself in my room, awake and unharmed.

As far back as I can remember I don't recall having a dream where I knew that I was in a dream with the ability to leave the dream.

New Music

With all of the serious events happening in the world I hate to be so trivial but...

I recieved my seven free cd's from my latest invitation to rejoin BMG's music club. The list of seven is...

Jars of Clay - Redemption Songs
Bleach - Farewell Old Friends
Green Day - Dookie
The OC Supertones - Faith Of A Child
Houses of Heroes - Self Titled
Kids in the Way - Apparitions Of Melody
Seventh Day Slumber - Once Upon A Shattered Life

As I move through the cd's I'll post some random reviews. But until I get Kids in the Way out of the player you'll have to wait. That is a great listen. Go to there website for a sample. This one's for the Rockers out there.

Self Serving Plug to follow... If you are jealous of my new cd's and want to get your own, join BMG through the link "Help Me Win a Free IPod" here or to the right. You would be helping a worthy cause.

SYATP Part II

It was an early morning today that started at 4:40 when my daughter was up moving around.
She couldn't sleep, so she was reading. I am so proud, yet tired so I made her turn off her light at 5:15 when it was time for me to leave.

Then it was off to breakfast at 5:30 and SYATP at Aloha High by 7:00. We were the first ones there at 6:50. It wasn't long until we had a small crowd of about 40 (as seen below). By the time I left at 7:30 there was almost 100 students surrounding the pole. It was a great thing to see. Students and faculty putting aside everything to stand united in prayer for their school.



I did the unthinkable and stood in prayer with my eyes open. Really. I did so watching, praying, and thinking of those that walked by us with a variety of looks on their faces. Many didn't even seem to notice. Some looked and giggled, some smiled, and some had that look on their faces... you know the one... the "what the..." look. I was proud to stand amongst the students and listen to the prayers of hope and of honest concern for their generation.

I am looking forward to hearing stories from other schools in our area tonight at the rally being held at our church.

SYATP

Tomorrow is the annual "See You At The Pole" rally for the nation's high schools.

Please pray for our nation's youth. Encourage those you know to participate in the rally.

I will be attending a rally at Aloha High bright and early at 7am after my even earlier breakfast at Shari's that starts at 5:30. I am encouraged by the students who take their faith seriously and pray for their fellow students and teachers. My prayer is that it happens more than once a year.

Our church is holding a post rally tomorrow night for about six local churches and covers about 8 or 9 high schools. I will post tomorrow on the days events.

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”--Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

Sunday 9/19/05

Sitting, sipping and listening to random music from my collection all the while ripping all my Dream Theater cd's onto my pc. I still don't have their latest... what a shame. The kids are down the street hangin' at the neighbors house so I am taking a moment to myself for myself.

Kathi and I watched the movie "Crash" this weekend. Suprisingly enjoyable for a movie I had not heard of. Kathi read a review of it in World magazine which prompted her to pick it up amongst the tripe at the video mall. The movie deals with a number of different characters and how their actions and their lives intersect. The characters are a collection from the American melting pot. If you want to know what happens, rent it. If you want a synopsis of the plot go here. I just want to say that it is a movie that gives to thought. A word of caution to those sensitive in the ear, the F-bomb is heavily used.

This movie came along at an interesting time. I am reading a book by Don Miller called "Searching For God Knows What" where he delves into thoughts on the nature of man after the Fall (Genesis 3). It is an interesting and thought provoking read. It has me rethinking my reason for a lot of the things I do and hold as important in life. It has reminded me of a line from the movie "A Man On Fire" with Denzel Washington where his character, who is a body guard for a young American girl in a South American country, is asked by a nun at the girls school if he sees God in what he does.

Do I see God in what I do?

Do I seek God in what I do?

Life is interesting...

The smell of Kathi's chili is making me drool so I am going to go and clean up for dinner.