Part two of this ever-so-exciting entry begins with my commentary from the DVR replay of last night’s American Idol program…

THE FINAL TWELVE

Sayesha: singing Gotta Get You Into My Life… oh that’s a cute hairdo… kind of a Claire Huxtable look going on… i’m not so much big on the song… i guess this is more Earth Wind and Fire than Beatles, and she’s doing fine, but i guess i just don’t like the song very much myself… nice horns from the band… overall not bad… Randy says, Earth Wind and Fire, right?… pitchy, but alright… Paula says she’s a good singer, and she found her zone somewhere in the middle… Simon says it was better than alright, but she looked nervous…

Chikezie (like Sunday morning): lives outside of LA, looks like a Celtics fan… that’s odd… singing “She’s a Woman” with his own little funk… funk apparently means fiddle… oh dear… that’s something special… i didn’t think he was the rocker, but he’s got it going on right now… oh yeah, buddy… i like this… little bit of Prince, little bit country, little bit rock and roll… yeah… that’s a hot one… Randy says, Dawg, I was thoroughly entertained… you SMASHED it… Paula said… O Brother reward paid I knew it, brother, something something something… Simon says terrific… Ryan fires everyone up…

Ramiele (ratatouille): she’s singing “In My Life” and dedicating it to her close friends who are already cut from the show… she’s facing the wrong way… she’s FACING THE WRONG WAY… SOMEBODY TELL HER TO TURN AROUND!… okay… phew… now she’s off the stairs and on the stage and she’s the other side of Chikezie’s magnet… the slow, boring, uninspired side… no wonder she was facing the wrong way… she’s got a killer voice, but this is very slow and boring… i said that already… this is showtunesy… Randy says… pretty…. BORING… Paula says “my darling, you look wonderful tonight”… pretty? try pretty, safe… see what we hear… Simon clarifies that seeing and hearing are two different senses… and reminds us that she was very boring… MORE LIKE BORE-APHYL!…

Jason (Fidel) Castro: he seems a little slow when he talks… he’s singing “If I Fell“… you know, if Ramiele fell down the stairs, it wouldn’t have been so boring… Jason’s got himself a little geetar… i think he’s making eyes at me… i’m not a fan of that thankyouverymuch… this is kind of slow too, actually… i guess it’s a little less boring because it’s a better song and he’s got a guitar… eh, though, it’s alright… nice tone… Randy says… liked it, didn’t love it… Paula says… ohmy GAWSH you’re so SPECIAL and UNIQUE… can I FEEL YOUR HEART?… now he’s rethinking the whole goo goo eyes thing… Simon says… you sounded like a student in a bedroom at midnight clipping toenails chewing stale twizzlers drinking flat coca cola… okay i made some of that up…

random thoughts: i like the new stage and i think i want to see that new movie, 21… Carly and Amanda screaming at each other… interesting… hmm… just realized that the results show isn’t recording… better fix that…

Carly (Harley) Smithson: singing “Come Together“… oh, a Third Day song… oh, no… i’m kidding again… that’s a pretty odd top there… clearly she wanted to make sure everyone saw her uniqueness in that scary looking tatoo-ed arm… points to her for mentioning Coca-Cola in a song… here’s some sponsor dollars… she’s got a really good voice… and this is an interesting arrangement… i liked it, but maybe it’s largely because the last two were so boring… Randy says that felt amazing, right? it was stellar… Paula says she already looks like a star… Simon says she finally picked the right song… and she reminds him of Kelly Clarkson…

David Cook: i don’t particularly like this guy… but here goes… he’s singing “Eleanor Rigby“… and he’s giving me more reason not to like him… what a genaric drunk-rocker vocal… sounds a bit like he had some dental work done earlier today and the novacaine hasn’t worn off yet… he’s turned it into a rock song for sure, but it’s so not a rock song… yeah… not feeling that one, dawg… Randy says… check it out… you can rock out… it was rocking… you got this… Paula reminds him of his name and then goes off on some stange horse rambling… frontman, front frontman something… Simon said it was brilliant… i don’t know why SImon is so in the tank for this guy…

Brooke White: man, i’m only halfway done?… this is a lot… i like Brooke, but i think she looks at least ten years older than she is… good grief, she’s only 24??… she’s singing “Let It Be” which was released 14 years before she was born… okay… anyway… she’s at the piano and i like that… she has a great quality to her vocal… i do like this song… the camera is making me dizzy, but she’s doing a fabulous job… just a straight up, no frills version which works… and i think she’s crying… she IS… she IS crying… Randy says it was heartfelt and he’s a fan… Paula says this is her niche and she started talking about emotional heart feeling connections again… Simon says it was one of the best of the night… brilliant choice of song…

David (yeah, THAT guy) Hernandez: pizza bistro, eh? is that what they’re calling it these days?… he’s singing “I Saw Her Standing There“… he’s working the crowd… i don’t like the outfit… no, i’m not implying that he should take it off… maybe he should just get off the stage… he doesn’t have the vocal for this… seems like all the guys got together and decided to all try and rock out… this guy just fell flat in my opinion… Randy says it was too overdone… Paula says he kind of overdid it… wait, i heard that before… Simon says (Paula go to rehab, she said) no no no… corny, verging on desperate… david is fast talking and he’s clearly holding back tears… or something…

Amanda: Oh, i definitely want to see Leatherheads… JIM! Yes! the office comes back next week!… oh dear… what is that look, Amanda… “You Can’t Do That“… she’d never heard this song before this week… Amanda-spin = tye-dye to death… holy smokes… this is terrible… these lyrics are all incoherant… seriously, dear… take a cue from the lyrics… you CAN’T DO THAT… man… i know she’s gonna be around for a while too… how annoying… Randy says the true mark of a great song is apparently that you can butcher it and it still is a great song… Paula avoids the question and says it’s the most talented year ever… Simon says it wasn’t as good as last year and he couldn’t understand the lyrics… three more to go…

Michael (Porta) Johns: singing “Across the Universe“… you know… The Beatles aren’t available on iTunes… i bet they’d have sold a lot last night if they were… the Across the Universe soundtrack is #2 on Amazon… i’m not really a big fan of this song actually… but he’s doing a pretty good job with it… very safe, very subdued, but very good… Randy says it was a little sleepy… and Paula says nah, he’s brave and brilliant… Simon says nah, it was boring, don’t listen to the crazy love-struck chick next to me…

Kristy Lee Cook: “Eight Days a Week” in the style of country… what is with the shoulders?… um… oh dear… i don’t think this is country per se… i think it’s just a little bit hyper… okay, maybe a lot a bit hyper?… what has she done to this song… that run wasn’t too bad, but this song is way off… way way off… boo… oh, that close wasn’t good… Randy says it’s a half and halfer… Paula didn’t enjoy it and i think she’s about to cry… she didn’t get it… Simon says it was horrendous… Dolly Parton on helium… HA!…

more random comments the last performer is coming up but first, some more Amazon numbers… The White album is #23, Sgt. Pepper is # 25, 1 is #64, Abbey Road is #67, Rubber Soul #79, Love #82, Revolver #87, and Let It Be is #91 that’s not too bad i guess… 9% of the top 100 sellers… also worth noting is Jeff Buckley is at 69 and Dolly Parton (minus the helium) is at 83

David Archuleta: is his mom a gypsy?… anyway… “We Can Work It Out,” the Stevie Wonder version?… bad choice to cover Stevie… i’m just saying… again with the stairs?… um… what were those words? is this American Idol or Don’t Forget the Lyrics?… where’s Wayne Brady?… aw… poor little kid… it’s not even that great of a version… his voice is breathy and he’s not really hitting his notes… it’s probably not the worst, but it’s certainly not good… and yet, they’re all cheering like mad… Randy says it was not on point… you can’t do stevie better than stevie… Paula says i love you… remember the lyrics next time… Simon says that was a mess… and that’s that…

Chikezie was my favorite from the night… scary, right?… for the record, i had blindly picked Remie to go with Syesha and David Hernandez rounding out the bottom three… i think i’d pick it a little different now, but it’s all good…

ROCK IT…. YEAH

This weekend, they announced a new batch of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and they included Madonna, John Mellencamp (the “Cougar” has a few more years before it’s eligible), Leonard Cohen, The Dave Clark Five and The Ventures… everyone has been covering Madonna and Mellencamp, but for me the big deal here is Cohen… he’s good and he wrote some phenomenal songs… anyway, what on EARTH was Justin Timberlake doing there introducing Madonna?… wack, yo… let’s DANCE…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 6: 15-21Joshua 6: 15-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
15 On the seventh day, the army got up at daybreak. They marched slowly around Jericho the same as they had done for the past six days, except on this day they went around seven times. ¹⁶ Then the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua yelled: Get ready to shout! The Lord will let you capture this town. ¹⁷ But you must destroy it and everything in it, to show that it now belongs to the Lord. d destroy ... now belongs to the Lord: Destroying a city and everything in it, including its people and animals, showed that it belonged to the Lord and could no longer be used by humans. The woman Rahab helped the spies we sent, e sent: See . so protect her and the others who are inside her house. But kill everyone else in the town. ¹⁸-¹⁹ The silver and gold and everything made of bronze and iron belong to the Lord and must be put in his treasury. Be careful to follow these instructions, because if you see something you want and take it, the Lord will destroy Israel. And it will be all your fault. f Be careful ... fault: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Don't keep any of it for yourself. If you do, the Lord will destroy both you and Israel.” ²⁰ . The priests blew their trumpets again, and the soldiers shouted as loud as they could. The walls of Jericho fell flat. Then the soldiers rushed up the hill, went straight into the town, and captured it. ²¹-²⁵ . They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Rahab and the others in her house. They even killed every cow, sheep, and donkey. Joshua said to the two men who had been spies, “Rahab kept you safe when I sent you to Jericho. We promised to protect her and her family, and we will keep that promise. Now go into her house and bring them out.” The two men went into Rahab's house and brought her out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and her other relatives. Rahab and her family had to stay in a place just outside the Israelite army camp. g camp: Rahab and her family were Canaanites and were considered unclean. If they stayed in the Israelite army camp, the Lord would not help the Israelite army in battle . However, Rahab and her family later became part of Israel. But later they were allowed to live among the Israelites, and her descendants still do. The Israelites took the silver and gold and the things made of bronze and iron and put them with the rest of the treasure that was kept at the Lord's house. h the Lord's house: A name for the place of worship, which at that time was the sacred tent. Finally, they set fire to Jericho and everything in it.

The Payoff

It’s day seven… they get up early and start marching around Jericho seven times in one day… then a trumpet blast, which is quite symbolic and some shouting because The LORD has given them the city… and in turn they are to devote it entirely to Him… there’s a warning here in verse 18 about taking things that you shouldn’t take, they’re defined more clearly in verse 19, but the warning is pretty severe… destruction and trouble…

and here’s the payoff… the trumpets sound, the people shout, the wall falls down and they all charge in, destroying pretty much everything in sight… so, this land of promise is now in ruins… but wait.. .there’s more… oh yes… there is more…

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK

i know that i skipped some things, but time is short… and my list is long… hoping to get some more things done soon… ’til then…

peace… love… bdg…

I’m happy to report that i’m feeling better… the last two and a half days actually, have shown steady improvement in my congestion and other ailments… i’m entirely done with coughing up phlegm (yes, that IS how you spell it) and blowing my nose until all the skin comes off… to balance things out, however, my email has been pretty screwy as of late… long story short, the client that i normally use has been compromised and as such, disabled for use, leaving me with a back-up program that is really lacking in a lot of ways… so if you’ve sent me an email since, say Friday and i’ve ignored it… i might not have gotten it… or i might have ignored it…

normally, i’d have a write up about last night’s American Idol performance, but in fact, i didn’t watch it last night… i’ll be watching it tonight and i’m sure that i’ll briefly comment on it, but maybe no one will care since it’s a day late… and by no one, i mean moreso than normal… so that’s that on that… i need a haircut, so i’m going to try to get through this in time to go get one before the day ends… so let’s move on, shall we?

THROUGH THE WORMHOLE

This weekend included Daylight Spending Day and we were supposed to lose an hour, but i’m gonna tell you a secret… i think i managed to come off of the island in tact and in fact, i may have gained an hour’s sleep… see, i woke up late, thinking that i had slept in until eight… however, i quickly learned that i had actually slept in until nine… by my math, i’ve beaten the system and gained an hour, but i still feel a little tired which doesn’t make sense…

THE EIGHT DEPRESSION???

so, our economy is really in some rough shape right now… and there are a lot of folks saying that we may be in a recession or that we may be headed towards recession, but not too many people have mentioned the “d-word”… well, i’m going to… i mean, we’ve recently gone through a pretty booming, one might say “roaring” time period where all of our industries and businesses were booming… it wasn’t that long ago that i was hearing reports of the stock market reaching record, previously unfathomable highs… yeah, it was just about a year ago…

and now… well, now the housing market stinks… gas prices are outrageous… inflation is out of control… and it simply doesn’t look good… this nation of credit is, as far as i can tell, on the verge of going bust… i realize that the Fed just pulled the stock market up yesterday and i’m certainly not a financial guru, but it seems to me that all they’ve done is throw a bucket of water at the gaping hole in the side of the ship… i could be wrong, and i hope that i am, but i think we’re in for some tough times…

CHARACTER FLAWS

speaking of tough times… and ironically enough, Van Morrison’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart” just came on in my iTunes… Governor Spitzer of New York, well, former Governor, is in the midst of a pretty rough scandal right now… apparently, he’s spent something close to a hundred thousand dollars on prostitutes over the last couple years… this, from a guy who’s made a living chasing down the bad guys and breaking up prostitution rings… they say that most of the time, you suffer from the same character traits that bother you most in other people… they also say that whoever exalts himself will be humbled…

this is obviously a sad story to watch play out as this man has all but ruined his life… (and for what?)… but interestingly enough, three books that i’ve recently begun reading or/listening to in audiobook format deal directly with character… they are:

- Deadly Viper Character Assassins by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite

- Character Makes a Difference by Mike Huckabee

- Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

It’s always so interesting to note the timing of things…

AND THEN….

okay, i’m cutting this short… i’ve got more to talk about, including the Ortberg book, Joshua and the battle of Jericho, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and probably American Idol, but i really need a haircut… i’m going to see TobyMac, Jeremy Camp and Matthew Wests tomorrow and i simply can’t have them laughing at my hair… back later…

peace… love… bdg…

okay, so i know that i said i would write more in the morning, but things happen… things like work and just being tired and other distractions… today was Wacky Wednesday for littler boy today and he was pretty excited about his “yucky” hair and outfit as he headed to preschool… the whole week has been a celebration of Suess, actually, so i really wowed the boys with the picture i took last year with The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2… anyway, let’s see what i can get to, today…

WHAT’S ON(LINE)?

So, i started thinking about this a while back and i’m finally putting it together… but it doesn’t really bode well for CCM Magazine, in my opinion…

Here’s the thing… i’m online for well over half the day that i’m awake… i do lots of things online including shopping, paying bills, perusing headlines, playing games (way too much), blogging, writing, etc… i mean… i really do a lot online… my job (the one that pays) involves a lot of being online and being familiar with the latest technologies and what’s going on, online… bottom line… i’m online a lot and i do a lot online…

one thing that i do NOT do online, however, is read magazines… i really don’t think it’s just me, but i for one will not read articles online… if i do happen to read something posted online, it either ends up taking me days or weeks to get through it or it’s something that i’ve printed out and read offline despite it being online only… CCM isn’t the first magazine that i’ve subscribed to that has gone to an online only format and i’m sure it’s not the last… but each and every one before it has all but fallen off of my radar… the magazines that i once greatly enjoyed thumbing through and reading each article are now websites that i never visit posting articles that i can’t even muster up the interest to read… i think that CCM is going to suffer the same fate and that bothers me…

i know this sounds odd coming from me, a guy who tries to get everyone to read interviews, articles, album reviews and long blog entries that i post exclusively online, but there is a difference between originating from the web and matriculating to the web… i could be crazy, but it’s just gonna be a very difficult transition and it’s not one that i really see working out for them… i hope i’m wrong…

EIGHT (WO)MEN OUT…

and now, my equal opportunity blogging of the final eight girls…

ASIA’H (HEAT OF THE MOMENT) EPPERSON: she’s got the terrible 80s outfit on, right?… oh, it’s real?… if any Whitney song is safe to perform, i suppose it’s this one, but still… i heard this in a store not too long ago and i remembered it word for word as well as the first time i heard it… anyway, the performance is really working well, but the vocal is a tad behind the ball i think… Paula is dancing with her… she copped out at the end… Randy said it was HOT… Paula said she was great… Simon says, hey, you are second rate and you can’t hit that big note at the end…

KADY (SHOULD”VE GONE HOME LAST WEEK) MALLOY: : well, i’ll be honest, i don’t think anyone thinks back to the hits of the 80s and thinks of slow songs like this… certainly not oooh, ouch… that’s a sour, sour note… actually, most of them… oh, she’s GOTSTA go this week, dawg… that was painful… Randy says that it’s a hard song to sing, but it was okay… Paula says it was her best performance to date… Simon says it was better than last week, but she’s a Stepford singer…

AMANDA (A-MAN, DUH) OVER… OVER MY DEAD BODY: okay, really, how drunk do you have to be to think that she’s a good singer?… of COURSE she picks this song… i hate myself for letting you through… that may be the vote for the worst theme song this year… she just has absolutely no range and Simon looks pretty disgusted by it too… to the chairs… Randy says that’s who she is… well done… Paula says that she’s beautiful and she loves her… Simon says that it was fantastic… really?…

CARLY (HARLEY) SMITHSON: i don’t get those pants… that’s weird… but she’s got a great voice… she seems to be over-annunciating on the verses, though… and perhaps she’s too professional for the show… she’s clearly pretty well seasoned in the industry… great job though… Randy says that she smashed it… Paula says, dude, you’re like a dependable dog… Simon says it was the wrong song, but she made the most out of it…

KRISTY LEE COOK: she had pet rats? and thought she was a dog? great… oooh Journey… i love this song… takes me back to long, late night bus trips to and from competitions… anyway… she kind of has the look of an early LeAnn Rimes… i’m not sure that i like what she’s done to this song and particularly not that last little run there, but it was alright… way better than Kady… Randy fawns over the choice of Journey and her thinking she was a “dawg,” but he liked the country vibe… Paula says that it’s all positivity… Simon says that country is good, but she’s not so much…

RAMIELE (RATATOUILLE) MALUBAY: you’re the only one… that opening line… i’m sorry, but i’m a stickler for opening lines, and that opening line really pops in the original and even though it was good here, it didn’t quite pop, so for me, the song’s off on the wrong foot, but she’s got a superb vocal and she’s doing really well with it overall… yeah, i’ll give you that much… could’ve been a bit better though… Randy says it was a good vocal, but she’s not confident enough… Paula says her face is beautiful and … something about mutts and colors and peanuts and well, never mind… Simon says it was old fashioned and predictable, but it’s okay because she’s so little and cute…

BROOKE (CARLY SIMON) WHITE: ah… Pat Benatar… Love is a Battlefield… yeah… i generally like Brooke because she’s one of the only blonde girls left that i can tell apart from the others… this is an interesting arrangement for this song, but hey, let’s hear you take it out for a spin, right?… it’s like test driving a car and only going 25 MPH… she should’ve taken it up a notch i think… Randy says that he liked her voice and it was interesting… Paula admits that she doesn’t understand what’s going on, but it was pure… Simon says it was an original take on the song and it was great…

SYESHA MERCADO: I’m gonna guess she goes with Whitney… and… oh, yep, of course she does… i like this song though… and i think she’s got a voice that can handle it… and, hey, she made it through that chorus… oh, yeah, she’s terring it up in that… woah, that’s a crazy looking outfit to me… almost like lederhosen… anyway, great vocal… Randy says, good, good… Paula says sophisticated and Simon says predictable, but good… clearly they were told that they were out of time…

picking Kady and ASIA’H to go with Amanda on the hook…

peace… love… bdg…

Well, it doesn’t look too good for a national Mike Huckabee campaign… i think i’ll sort that out in the morning, but from what i can tell, he’s pulled the plug… i didn’t really watch the results coming in tonight, but what i did watch is American Idol, and i decided to blog the show…

EIGHT MEN OUT…

(JOHN)-LUKE MENARD: i don’t like this guy’s voice at all… it just doesn’t even sound real… and not in a good way… it just sounds so plastic and fake and like a little girl is up there singing it… and i think he’s in danger of a-go-go-ing home… Randy says his timing was off and it was a little corny, but a-ight… Paula was so surprised that she can’t put her words together… she actually sounds like that political commentary guy on SNL last week… Simon didn’t like it either and thought it was “girlie”…

DAVID ARCHELETTA: thirsty AND he has to go potty… i hate when that happens… aw, now he has a new most embarrassing moment… it should disappear quickly, ’cause this kid’s the BOMB, right?… i know this song… i like that he’s playing the piano… Phil Collins?… yeah… that’s it… much slower arrangement… it works pretty nicely… now he’s standing and finishing up nicely… his voice is a little girlie, too, but he’s so young it’s alright… Randy thinks it was like a concert… Paula wants to shrink his head again?… perfectly imperfectly perfect for this competition?… Simon says it wasn’t as good as last week and it was a little gloomy…

DAN-UEL NOREAGA: TMTH? please… i can’t stand it when people actually talk like that… Tainted Love?… UGH… tainted love… well, the judges may like it because it’s up beat, but his vocal is very shaky… i’m not quite impressed… more showmanship than substance for me, dawg… Randy says, there’s good and bad - pitchy and shy? Rhianna did this song?… Paula says the he’s a bright light, sensitive and spicy… and he looks fabulous… SImon says what the heck?… it was horrible and “absolutely useless”… HATED IT… yeah, dawg…

DAVID (no comment) HERNANDEZ: i’m going to try to ignore the news stories that were flooding the web today… he sang really well last week… and his voice has a nice tone to it today… so these are 80s songs… isn’t this a girl song?… yeah… Celine, right?… what the… i mean, he did alright, but, jeesh, sing something manly, dawg… Randy says he overshot some of the notes… Paula says he has the best vocal of the group… Simon says that he should’ve had more soul, but he’s safe…

MICHAEL JOHNS (JACOBJINGLEHIMERSCHMIT):everyone knows that the kangaroo is supposed to win the fight… i feel like running down a school hallway… could you describe the ruckus?… okay… so he’s singing Don’t You Forget About Me, the theme song to The Breakfast Club… and HEY HEY HEY HEY… oooooooh… he’s alright… he’s not as good as he’s been… and now he’s pretty much just yelling… at least it’s pretty close to singing, but it’s still yelling… he should be self, but i don’t know that it was my favorite… Randy said he loved it dude, Paula said that she’s glad he’s defining who he is… Simon liked it, didn’t love it, thought it needed more soul…

DAVID COOK: hello? wow… it’s so far removed from Lionel… this is such a creepy song… well, the video was creepy and it has tainted the song for live… i get that he wants to be the “real” rockstar, but i really don’t get this arrangement… and i don’t think that his vocal is all that good to be honest… and if he talks trash to Simon again, he should be gone… Randy thought it was brilliant, Paula thinks that he’s a shining star and Simon thinks he’s brave and he loved it… oh well… maybe i missed something…

JASON (FIDEL) CASTRO: okay, his voice is weird when he talks… oh no… not Hallelujah… isn’t there a rule against that?… well… you know, i love this song and i’ve only really heard it sung well by three people… Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and Kevin Max… but i have to say that, despite the breathiness, this is really, really good… very safe though, he didn’t go for any big notes on it… maybe he would’ve fallen apart… Randy says that it’s a high level of difficulty, but he worked it out… Paula says… i don’t know what she’s saying… something about being unique… Simon says that it was absolutely brilliant…

CICKA-CHICKA-CHIKEZIE: i’ve pretty much wanted this dude to go home since week one… since then, he’s done pretty well though… and this is starting out pretty well for him… it’s a pretty boring song for me though… oh dear… when he starts going off, he’s like way off… right?… ouch… i didn’t like it… Randy said it was a tough song choice… Paula said he switched it up and that his vocals were really good… Simon says why the heck are you singing a Whitney Houston song?… not a smart move…

tough call to see who goes home this week… i’m gonna go with Jacuzzi and Luke…

MORE IN THE MORNING

I’m about done for now… i’ll be back with more tomorrow… if you want you can check out my latest interview posted over at theTRu… this time with Othello…

peace… love… bdg…

… ouch!… yeah, that was the joke of the weekend because i actually did walk into a bar or, more accurately a pole… hard…. which is what happens when you go to bed too late on Friday, get up too early on Saturday and care more about keeping your little boy out of the road than where you are walking… and, of course if you don’t look where you’re going… so i plowed face first into a signpost that was very well cemented into the ground and very solid… my head’s still pretty sore and i have bruises on my elbow and knee both of which also managed to hit the post directly, but i’m recovering pretty well… laughter is the best medicine and trust me, i’ve laughed at myself a lot over the past few days…

DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN?

so things look kind of dark for my boy Mike and his chances after the Wisconsin primary the other night… but that’s nothing… all you need is a candle, right?… that candle, that spark may be Texas… i just finished watching a video of Mike addressing a crowd in Plano Texas and he was very serious about continuing in the race, knowing that Texas is a big big deal and reminding everyone that they shouldn’t let the media or the other states tell them how it’s going to be, for example, who’s going to be their Republican candidate for president…

It does seem pretty silly the way these nominations are set up… and it’s clear to me that i’ve never paid much attention to the process in the past because it’s just complete nonsense… primaries, caucuses (caucii?), different ways of dividing them up based on state, county, party, etc… i mean, who thought of this anyway?… and it’s true, some states who haven’t held a vote yet really end up disenfranchised because their choices are pretty much taken away from them before they get to cast their ballots… there’s gotta be a better way…

Anyway, i think i’m talking too much politics these days… this is probably why i have kept a tradition of not getting into it in the past… time for a break…

E AMPERSAND P

apparently, belated congratulations are in order for Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken… the husband/wife duo delivered a healthy baby boy into this world back on July 4th - not sure how i missed that… but that is not all… oh, no… that is not all… Derek and Sandra have also put together a nice little six-song EP called the Ampersand EP… i think later on, i’ll put together a nice little write up about it, but right now, you can and should go buy your own copy…

THE NEW 24

season seven of American Idol is well underway and they’re down to the top 24 singers… you’ll notice i didn’t do any blogging from this week’s episodes like i’ve done in the past… maybe in time i’ll do that again, but man, i’m just so not into the show this year… i’m not sure why, but i don’t think it matters who wins this year’s contest… it seems to me that we’re all losers for keeping the show going… maybe it’s because everyone keeps saying that it’s the most talented group ever, but i think that that’s just another example of the media forcing its opinion on the general public… i’m tired of that and maybe that’s why i’m tired of the show already… that new Paula Abdul song is HOT though, right?

PRISON BREAK

season three just ended this week and i’m pretty sure it was cut short by about 9 episodes unless they plan on bringing those out in some random off-season run… (get it, run?)… anyway, the finale was pretty good… the show was starting to get pretty tiring actually, i mean how many times can a dude break out of prison, right? but at least it turned into a slightly different plot angle which was nice… and some of the characters (hello Bellick) got pretty irritating even until the very end… the way they’ve lined things up for next season hopefully opens the door for an interesting year… one big difference and potential problem is that Michael is no longer a sympathetic character since he’s now out to chase revenge rather than justice… not sure how that will play out, but it may make things a little crazy with no one to really root for…

WHEN DOVES CRY

since i’m clearly already behind schedule… i mean, it’s already almost Friday… so here’s the haps… got a few Dove features up, my predictions and commentary and a special iTRu-nes playlist… also, i’ve got some reviews, yes reviews up as well… Mainstay and Ronnie Freeman… more coming tomorrow…

peace… love… bdg…

Okay, so i worked from home yesterday to be with the boy as he recovered, which he has, by the way… so my online time is sparse and devoted pretty much exclusively to clocking in hours to credit to my day job and when i come back, all… everything has broken loose… or just broken… this is such a strange and somewhat saddening day for me… since there’s a lot to cover today, let’s go ahead and get things rolling…

GOING GOING GONE

So, you can’t ever complain that i hold up the big juicy headlines in front of your nose like a carrot in front of a horse’s nose… so here’s the big one… CCM Magazine is being discontinued as a print publication… this i learn early today as a concerned acquaintance IMed me to see what i thought of the whole thing… at first i was incredulous, and later as i resolved myself to this truth… i went through all the stages of grief… or maybe i just got over it… i’m really torn about this though and i’ve got a lot of thoughts…

i suppose that in some regards, it makes me something of a prophet since i was just blogging about the death of magazines the other day… that doesn’t give me much solace, however, because on some level, this marks the death of a dream for me… one of my goals as a writer was to someday score a cover story for CCM… and with the March issue already in the can and the April issue certain to be a best of celebration chock full of writers that they already like, that’s the end of that… i did get to have a few album reviews posted in the pages of the magazine, though, so, i’ll always have that…

The real concern here is first for the folks who earned an actual living working on the magazine… i can hardly call writing a source of income at all and with CCM going away, it’s not exactly a dent in my wallet (though, i was also informed that another regular feature that i was paid for is going away as well)… even though these are going away, i still have a day job and that’s where i pay the bills… there are people who were either employed directly by Salem/CCM or fortunate freelancers who contributed on a regular basis… now their income is up in the air…

the other concern that i have personally is that it’s another step backwards for quality assurance within the writing community… i’m not saying that being exclusively online will directly result in a decline in quality for the magazine, but if you take a random sampling of the writing that shows up online and compare it to what’s generally in print, there’s quite a disparity… it’s so much easier for the rules to be less stringent… and i really hope that we don’t end up with articles that read like… “NEW FF5? LIK, OMG!! IDK, MY BFF JILL?”…

no, i don’t actually think this will happen because i know a number of the people helping to shape this new business model and i know that they’ll work really hard to make it work well…

AMERICAN MODEL

Moving on… (i could probably talk about it for a while)… but this week saw the first few episode of the new American Idol season… i really don’t take much time to comment on the early rounds… it seems to be the same every year and most of the time, early impressions don’t matter at all… the editing has gotten to the point where the producers don’t let you form any reasonable opinions… really what i take away from these shows is the sad state of the the “American Dream”… thousands upon thousands of people line up for just a shot at being on camera and maybe getting a few minutes of fame… it’s a shame that people clearly refuse to accept that they can’t sing and want so desperately to be accepted… to be loved… to be famous… we are a nation of disillusioned people… which brings me to my next topic… Ron Paul… but it’s late and that will have to wait…

SNOW MAN, SNOW

it finally snowed!…. it’s finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas… it’s the good kind of snow, too… the snow man making kind of snow… i can’t wait to get out there with the boys and put together a fantastic sculpture out there…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 4: 10-24Joshua 4: 10-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The People of Israel Set Up Camp at Gilgal ¹⁰-¹³ The army got ready for battle and crossed the Jordan. They marched quickly past the sacred chest o the sacred chest: The Hebrew text has “the Lord.” The army was marching past the sacred chest, which was a symbol of God's throne on earth . and into the desert near Jericho. Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh p Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh: Or “There were forty thousand soldiers altogether, and those from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.” led the way, as Moses had ordered. q Moses ... ordered: See ; . The priests stayed right where they were until the army had followed the orders that the Lord had given Moses and Joshua. Then the army watched as the priests carried the chest the rest of the way across. ¹⁴-¹⁸ “Joshua,” the Lord said, “have the priests come up from the Jordan and bring the chest with them.” So Joshua went over to the priests and told them what the Lord had said. And as soon as the priests carried the chest past the highest place that the floodwaters of the Jordan had reached, the river flooded its banks again. That's how the Lord showed the Israelites that Joshua was their leader. r leader: See . For the rest of Joshua's life, they respected him as they had respected Moses. ¹⁹ It was the tenth day of the first month s first month: Abib , the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. of the year when Israel crossed the Jordan River. They set up camp at Gilgal, which was east of the land controlled by Jericho. ²⁰ The men who had carried the twelve rocks from the Jordan brought them to Joshua, and they made them into a monument. ²¹ Then Joshua told the people: Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here. ²²-²³ Tell them, “The Lord our God dried up the Jordan River so we could walk across. He did the same thing here for us that he did for our people at the Red Sea, t Red Sea: See the note at . ²⁴ because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him.”

this is just some details about the Isrealites following God’s directions… but the key verse here for me is verse 14… God exalted Joshua and all of Israel revered him like they did Moses… one more example of how God has been faithful to Joshua… the priests came up out of the water and the flood levels returned immediately… powerful… so much so that after Joshua set up the stone memorial as God had asked, he told the others that it was a reminder of how powerful God is…

AND I’M OUT

i don’t have too much else to say right now… i have a few, well, a LOT of content just about ready to burst online… and i’m still working on more… it’s good stuff, i promise… i’m pretty busy with my day job as well with a new project so no promises…

COMING SOON

interviews, walkTRus, Ron Paul, Football… more…

peace… love… bdg…

Barry Gib… ahh ahh ahh ahh… staying alive… i think next week is going to be Rev Run’s week, so, i hope Blake makes it through tonight… anyway… i like the 70’s thing, but i don’t think any of the girls will really bring out the best of the disco vibe… Blake has the best chance to shine, and other than him, i think we’re going to get buried in ballads… blah… off we go…

- Melinda (The Good Dr) Doolitle: i didn’t really hear much of the first song… | SONG TWO: she’s so funny, “I’d rather be wet than be a loser”… very well composed here… i like this song… she’s got such a great tone, but it’s a little on the boring side… oh, never mind… that’s a grand finale… i daresay she’s going to be in danger this week though…

- Bl-Bl-Blake: ooh, this is a great genre for Blake… and this is a decent song for him… that chorus is good… the break down is kind of cool, but not really right for the song… his vocals are a tad off today too… but overall a pretty good performance… | SONG TWO: this is an odd choice… a non-hit… i guess Blake’s just hoping to show the world that he’s a brilliant arranger… which is fine… he’s doing a better job, but man… why this song… and, if i’m being completely honest, why that shirt…

- Lakisha (Soul Train): you know what… she really has no range… she can hold a note and sound pretty powerful, but this really shows that she has a very, very small window within which she can operate… out of breathe, too “busy” and really not working for me… | SONG TWO: Judge Judy? and Mum… and Lil’ Kim - i mean Lakisha is coming back… ha… how ironic, he just told her that has great range… this may as well be the same exact song as the first one… why does it look like she just got out of a dentist chair when she sings?… ouch… that’s some serious screaming from a novacained Lakisha… i’m not feeling it…

- Jordin (The Firecracker): dang… she’s really grown up during this competition… she’s very calm and collected and on point… this is a nice, very controlled, performance.. strongest of the first performances i’d say (again, i missed most of Melinda’s though)… good stuff… | SONG TWO: oh, that started off on the wrong note, but she has a great recovery and she’s on and off… wait, this is the same style as the first one as well… she does a good job again, but really, does she need to prove that she can sing the same style several times a night? maybe… but it seems to safe to me… i liked those held notes, but it wasn’t as good as the first one…

Bottom Line: what do i pick here, bottom two? just the boot? honestly, i think the only one really safe is Jordin… I’m gonna go with Lakisha getting the boot though…

peace… love… bdg…

yeah yeah… i’m back again… missed another week, this time due to GMA Week, but i’m excited about Bon Jovi music week…

Bottom Line: woah… tough week to call, to be honest… i mean, i have clear thoughts about who should go home… okay… Lakisha and Chris are going home… that’s all i got…

peace… love… bdg…

looks like they finally pulled the plug… Lakisha was a very lucky lady last night… she would’ve definitely gone if it weren’t for Aunt Sanjaya and his something to talk about…

Blake was in the bottom three, too? crazy… and Melinda again, she’s just a good soul…

next week is the big shebang and i’ll be away… oh well…

peace… love… bdg…