well, i’m still alive… i haven’t gotten to sleep before 2 AM in a while now, but i’m still kicking and making it through each day… and i can see the light of a possible three-day weekend off in the distance… unfortunately, i can’t talk about what’s been keeping me up at night as i’m contractually obligated not to, but for those of you that i spoke with privately, thanks for the prayers and everything else… i find it interesting that the word of the day, which i have emailed to me, is “tartuffe”… the good news is that i’ve written my first book… the bad news is that it’s a training manual for a proprietary software that is for internal use… so, i’ve become something of a technical writer… perhaps i should add that to my resume…

Anyway, there are plenty of things to talk about but since i’m exhausted and i’ve been in and out of meetings all day, i’ll be in and out of this as well… who knows what we’ll get to…

EDIT: okay, that didn’t work… it’s now Monday, let’s try again… I’m currently watching a silly movie called NEXT… which stars Nicholas Cage as a magician who can see a few minutes into the future… and the FBI recruits him to help them stop the transportation of a nuclear weapon… yeah… it’s like that… anyway… what else is on my radar…

NOW WE’RE COOKING

to the tune of Dream Big -David Cook

So they picked David Cook… and by now, you should realize that i could really care less… it became clear to me that i wouldn’t be interested in buying any of the finalists’ albums since none of them really did anything for me… as far as David Cook goes, i suppose he’ll have a decent career as far as music careers go these days, but i think in a year or so, most people with discerning tastes will be thinking to themselves and perhaps asking out loud, who in the world told this guy that he could sing and why do they hate the rest of them so very much… just my opinion…

BACK IN 3D!

to the tune of Call My Name – Third Day

So, i’ve been killing this new Third Day album…. i mean, it just flat out rocks… it’s like everything you ever wanted Third Day to do with an album all comes together now… (get it, Come Together?)… Let me just say that Revelation is easily the best Third Day album and it’s likely going to rank in the top albums of the year list for 2008… i’m just saying is all… expect a Walk TRu of this sometime later this week, but for now, you can check out their EPK online…

MOVING ON

Foolish Things have disbanded… I’m a little slow on this since their final show was 11 May, but the band has cited this as “the last season” for Foolish Things via their MySpace page… MySpace, by the way, seems to be the medium of choice for announcing a band’s breakup… Anyway, more from the announcement:

“Although we are grieving, and semi-anxious about what lies ahead we are excited that a new chapter is beginning. Babies are on the way, different job opportunities are opening, and ministry opportunities are in each of our futures.”

What really bothers me about this announcement is that i interviewed them a few months ago and they didn’t mention this at all… (yes, that’s sarcastic, no, i don’t think the world revolves around me)…

ANTS!!!

yeah, i’m SICK OF ANTS!… they’re all over my kitchen and the ant trap thingies that i’ve been setting out seem to work for a while, and then i get a resurgence of the little critters…it’s driving me NUTS… i even see them out of the corner of my eye when they aren’t even there… apparently i need some sleep… speaking of bugs though, isn’t this the most strangely appealing and appalling site you’ve ever seen? maybe it’s just me… some of those bugs though, literally scare the heck out of me…

PLENTY TO PEEP…

despite my crazy schedule, i’ve managed to drop some splendid content on the front page… this includes part three of my GMA Reflections and interviews with Salvador and Stephanie Smith… As i mentioned, i’m planning a Third Day Walk TRu, another chapter of the GMA Reflections, a few more interviews, and i’m hoping to pick up the album reviews gauntlet again… i’ve got some thoughts brewing about Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, The Myriad and more…

peace… love… bdg…

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i promised myself that i’d write again before it was time to do the whole American Idol thing and yet, here it is again… Tuesday staring me square in the face laughing at my lack of discipline… mocking me with my own voice… well… anyway… it is Tuesday but it’s not time for Idol… not just yet anyway… and i’ve not been idle in the meanwhile… in fact, i’ve been so busy that i’m ready to burst…

in the past week (though it feels like one long day), i worked on building out a new site for my brother and sister in law, i transcribed a lengthy interview, i wrote two feature articles, i wrote a couple reviews, i did a walk TRu, and i sketched out some work on a few other projects i have whirling around in my head… all this on top of my day job, the duties of which have exploded over the last five days or so… this is going to be one hectic week, i’ll tell you that much… so much so that i missed out on having a sabbath this past weekend and i’m a little discombobulated… anyway… my time is probably short, so let’s go ahead and dig in…

MOVIE MONDAY

to the tune of Assets and Targets – John Powell (from The Bourne Ultimatum)

Well, i finally got around to watching the third installation of the Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and all i have to say is woah… not like a Keanu Reaves, Matrix, “woah”… a serious, have i taken a single breath this entire movie, woah… i normally try to do some work or whatever on my laptop while the movies are playing, but not while Jason Bourne was on… i had a tough time taking my eyes off the screen the entire time and that’s how an action movie should be… if i’m watching an action flick, i want to be completely taken in by it… i want the little boy in me to be acting out the fight scenes for the next few days after watching it… bottom line, The Bourne Ultimatum gets a 4.5 out of 5 from me…

RETURN OF THE TALK

to the tune of Jesus is Just Alright -dc Talk

So i’ve realized that i don’t talk music enough here on the old blog, which is genuinely odd since this is primarily a music website… if i made any bread and butter, you could say that music is where i’ve made it… and since i enjoy the older stuff too, when i saw this headline… dc Talk Reunites. . . i naturally had to check it out and share it with you all… i knew we’d all be excited together… (note: yes, i realize that it is what it is)…

WHERE IS THE LOVE

to the tune of Love Is Here – Tenth Avenue North

And now for perhaps some more serious musical news… hot new band Tenth Avenue North who’s debut record is set to release next week has released a video for their lead single… the video for Love Is Here seems to pay a bit of tribute to The Beatles and U2… or maybe i’m reading into it too much… anyway, the song’s really good….

IN OTHER WORDS

to the tune of Violet Hill – Coldplay

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg… Well, i’ve moved onto the final section of this book, which means it’s time for me to talk about Hazards (the second to last section)… the first chapter in this section jumped off the pages to me… “BEWARE, THE SHADOW MISSION” discusses what i’m far too familiar with… distractions… distractions keep you from accomplishing your mission… shadow missions seem like worthy causes sometimes… like, hey, can i really beat my previous high score in that game?… but they occupy your time and prevent you from making progress on what actually matters in the long term… it’s somthing that i can honestly admit to struggling with just about every day…

the rest of the section is good, too, reminding us that competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing… more stuff will never make us more of an actual success… and what’s really important in terms of our physical existence is how we react to, cohabitate with and most importanty love those around us… all in all, a number of good lessons in this book so far… and as i’ve rounded the last bend as they say (i have about 20 pages to go), it’s earning my recommendation more and more with each page turned… stay tuned for the finale sometime (most likely) next week…

PEEP INSTEAD OF SLEEP

okay and there are a few things to check out over on the main page… first, a Walk TRu of WOW Hits [1]… part two of my GMA Reflections and Responses… and an album review of Meredith Andrew’s debut album, The Invitation… right around the corner, you can expect some more reviews, 2 interviews (Salvador and Stephanie Smith), an iTRunes playlist and a handful of other things…

peace… love… bdg…

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So, it’s another Idol night already and that means i’ve not updated in a week… what a jerk… anyway… i’ve been trying to readjust to life and a bunch of other excuses that you don’t care about, i’m sure… and man, have my allergies been driving me nuts lately… my eye has been twitching for about a month and my nose has been twitching on and off as well… the littles are starting to struggle with the pollen counts, too, which really makes like fun… anyway… lots to get to, so let’s get getting…

MOVIE MONDAY

i meant to go post this yesterday, but i didn’t post anything so, here it is now… i finally, (read: FINALLY), saw Oceans Thirteen… and for me, it was goooood… i really like the series and i thought this one fit very nicely into the mix… you gotta love crooks who steal to make other people happy… and they’re all just the epitome of cool… a couple odds and ends notes… as expected there were a number of twists and turns in the plot line… i say expected because it seems like every movie now has to have these crazy twists at the end nowadays… i think that eventually, we’ll get to the point where a straightforward movie – one where what you expect to happen actually happens – is going to be the new suspense thriller… just a thought… Also, and i’m not one to force spiritual meanings into things, but at the end of the movie, all i could think about was that verse in the Bible about man making all the plans that he wants, but it’s only God’s plans that actually matter in the long run… yeah… i should figure out where that’s from exactly… i’m guessing Proverbs…

FOUR MORE (A.K.A. THE AI COMMENTARY)

to the tune of Roll over Beethoven -Chuck Berry

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame night… i… wanna rock and roll all night…. and party every day… okay… so i’m not going to guess the songs this week, but anyone wanna bet that Brooke tries to crash the stage and sing Piano Man or something… anyone? anyone?… okay… the show’s underway after Ryan specifies when the judges are allowed to speak…

David (Daughtry the 2nd) Cook: Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran… i remember the video for this song more than anything else about it… i think some dude was wandering around the woods trying to catch a girl dressed up like Little Red Riding Hood and he’s wearing a wolf skin… i remember that video more then i expect to remember this performance actually… Randy says it was just okay… Paula says she’s hungry for some David Cook and then she rambles on about something odd… Simon says it’s probably good enough, but nothing special…

Syesha (a.k.a. Cry-esha): Syesha’s dress has been designed by Kristy Lee Cook… or something… oh, i like the hat… Tina… i thought she might sing some Tina or Aretha, but i don’t know who’s in the HOF… wow… she’s trying to look like Tina… she’s definitely working it… she has the clear advantage of being the only official girl left in the competition… and this song is alright… her vocal isn’t that great, but the performance is very strong indeed… she knows how to use the stage… Randy says she was in the zone… (no, i didn’t just copy that from last week)… Paula says she looks like a star… Simon says he has to put a slight damper on it… shrieky, bad impersonation of Tina Turner… the song was Proud Mary, by the way…

Jason (Castor Oil) Castro: i think Carley’s drunk… so, go figure, Jason Castro is singing a Bob Marley tune… I Shot the Sheriff… props right off the bat to the band… they’re fantastic… he’s alright… well… i mean, this really… well… um… he looks the part at least… he needs to take into account the dynamics and meaning of the song… Randy plays the karaoke card… Paula says he played to the crowd… Simon says it was utterly atrocious and he has no idea what Jason was thinking…

{Little) David Archuleta: singing Stand By Me… and he actually looks like the kids walking on the train tracks during this movie… i remember singing this song in like fifth grade or something… i think i sounded about the same… well, i didn’t sing it solo or anything… but come on… if anyone deserves the karoake card, it’s him right here… that’s just… bah… Randy says he broght the hot man vocals… or hot mad vocals… or something like that… Paula says she admires that he kept his eyes open… Simon says whistling would’ve been better than Jason’s song, that he struggled a little bit, but it was the best performance so far…

REALLY? YOU WANT MORE?

to the tune of A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke

So far i’m not really impressed with any of them (surprise), but as of halfway through, Archy and Jason seem to be battling for the boot…

David (Daughtry the 2nd) Cook: singing something from The Who… Baba O’Riley?… i never listened much to The Who… it seemed really short, which isn’t a baad thing… i’ve decided that he sounds like Todd Agnew… slow build and now he’s screaming up the end of the tune… whatever… it’s alright… Randy says it was really good, the David Cook they like… Paula says she wants a happy meal with a David Cook toy to hug and squeeze and hang from her rear view mirror… Simon says welcome back…

Syesha (a.k.a. Cry-esha): oh no she isn’t… she’s singing my boy Sam Cooke… Change is Gonna Come… look, if you can’t mess with a Bob Marley song, i’m not sure you can mess with Sam… well, this is an entirely new arrangement… and she’s belting out the words here and there… that’s a strong finish, but i’m not sure that the whole thing was that great… not as much soul to it as the original… Randy says he didn’t like the arrangement and you shouldn’t mess with Sam… Paula says she did a great thing with her vocals… Cry-esha is still reeling from Randy’s harsh comments… Simon takes pity and sides with Paula, noting that Randy got it entirely wrong…

Jason (Castor Oil) Castro: oh gosh… Jason didn’t shoot the sheriff, he shot himself in the foot, head and heart… BOB DYLAN???? and we don’t know the lyrics… somebody call Wayne Brady up on stage… i don’t even know what to say… sort of like Jason… wah wah waaaah wah wah waaaaah…. well, needless to say, it was terrible and he’s going to get trashed… he might not get voted off though… Randy just kind of giggles… Paula is smelling her feet… Simon tells him to pack his suitcase…

{Little) David Archuleta: oh… good grief… he really IS trying to beat Jason for the lamest performance… Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley… and he’s, well, he’s saving himself quite nicely actually… the vocal is pretty solid… why does the dude who can sing really well have to be so annoying?… Randy says he was carressing the lyrics… Paula says he’s so sweet… Simon says he CRUSHED all those who oppose…

Well, i’ll say that the Davids are safe and Jason will go home despite the possibility of pretending to forget the lyrics for the sake of getting sympathy… Syesha will probably be left on stage with Jason, but should be safe…

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

So, lots of new stuff to peep over on the main page… first up, a Walk TRu of the Jars of Clay Greatest Hits project… part one of my GMA Reflections and Responses… an interview with Poems (formerly Sharlok Poems, Sharlok P, etc from LA Symphony)… and an album review of Salvador’s latest, Aware… and there’s plenty more to come…

peace… love… bdg…

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i’m interrupting this blog-cast to remind you all that there’s some fresh content on the front page…

and by fresh, i mean an InTRuview with Braille that i think you’ll all like, even if you don’t like hip-hop… and a brand new Left to Write that somehow managed to take me two months to write…

enjoy.

peace… love… bdg…

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I’m a finger down… playing hurt… fighting through it… yeah… here’s the deal… i was rationing off a chocolate bunny on Saturday… by the way, i didn’t get a chocolate bunny this year – very disappointing – i’m going to have to raid the clearance aisle or something… anyway, i’m rationing off this bunny, which is a nicer way of saying that i’m lopping off the ears to help manage the resultant sugar high… and i also managed to lop off a chunk of my left index finger… since then, i’ve been bandaged and i feel rather gimpy… you wouldn’t think that the left index finger is all that important to a right-hander, but yeah… you do notice…

Anyway… i’m trying some new things starting today… we’ll see how they work… let me know what you think…

EASTER

to the tune of Mighty to Save – Hillsong

So our Easter went pretty well… i mentioned earlier that we went over the Easter story a few times with the littles and they seemed pretty taken by it… so that went well and we did the church thing… the littles and i all wore full-out suits and they totally showed me up as they were supremely handsome… Before church, though we did a treasure hunt which involved eight treasure maps that led one to another until the big payoffs which were the Easter baskets… they LOVED it, but apparently, i could’ve drawn the maps a little better… shows what happens when you scrawl things out at 1 in the morning…

We had hoped to bring our neighbors to church as well, but that didn’t work out for a variety of reasons that i’m not completely aware of and some that i am… so, after church, we had a laid-back lunch, sent the littles to their rooms for some down time and i watched a movie which i’ll talk about later… and then, when they came back down, we did the egg hunt thing and shared a splendid lamb dinner… all in all, a very nice Easter Sunday and i think we covered all the traditional bases…

THE OTHER MARCH MADNESS

to the tune of CrushCrushCrush – Paramore

So there’s also this little business of the NCAA Tournament going on in the background… and i performed my duties as a guy and filled out a bracket and joined a challenge group… and on Thursday, i watched a couple games via the online video players… and caught some games on Friday and Saturday as well… and it didn’t take too long into the process to remember why i never put money on these things… outside of the NFL, i’m so disconnected from the sports world these days… i enjoy occassional games from pretty much every sport, but i don’t follow it nearly like i used to… so, despite a strong early showing on Thursday, my picks all died away rather quickly and i’ll be lucky to finish in the top 7 of the 7-person pick ‘em group i joined…

It is sad for me to see Georgetown, UCONN, Duke and George Mason get booted so early, despite my bracket, but that’s life… from what i’ve seen of the tourney so far, it seems to me that UNC is going to run over everyone the rest of the way through and probably win in the championship game by 15 or 20 points… then again, what do i know…

MOVIE MONDAY

to the tune of Ratatouille (score) – Michael Giacchino

So one of the first things i want to do to change things up is to get on a better schedule… so, depending on the day of the week, there will be some regular “features” to look forward to… the first that i’m unveiling is Movie Monday… since i happily subscribe to Netflix, it seems that i always have a movie to talk about, and this week, i’ll talk about two…

first up is Horton Hears a Who, which we took the littles to see on Friday… yes, it’s in theaters and no, it’s probably not worth seeing before it’s available on DVD through, say, Netflix, perhaps?… anyway… most everyone is familiar with the gist of this story, an elephant discovers a speck of dust that contains an entire civilization and he vows to keep it safe… Horton faces a number of challenges, in this case Carol Burnett’s mean-spirited kangaroo… on the flipside, the mayor of Whoville has to convince a world of people that are so caught up in their own comforts that they need to take action or see their world destroyed…

There’s a number of themes that can take you in a myriad of directions… on Horton’s side you see the importance of imagination, loyalty, and faith as well as facing persecution and defeating “the man”… and in Whoville, you see the question of God’s existence as well as the intentional disregard of the world around you… common themes betweeen the two worlds seem to be faith, character, ridicule, and being brave…

And all these themes can relate to something in everyone’s life, however, the movie doesn’t completely develop any of them which is somewhat annoying, though the humor and entertainment level for children is pretty great… my main problem with the movie is the name-calling… there’s lot’s of “idiots,” “morons,” and “boobs” thrown around – in fact, i think they said “boob” about 10 times in a minute… and it’s not that these are terrible words, but i really don’t want the littles running around calling people boobs and idiots because they heard it in a movie and don’t understand that it’s not nice or appropriate… Overall, i give Horton a B/B-…

The second movie, i want to talk about is called The Final Inquiry which was apparently first released in Spain, but tells of a Roman soldier commissined to investigate the rumors of about the resurrection of a man named Jesus… there’s mystery, intrigue, some fight scenes, romance, Dolph Lundgren, cover-ups and a lot to like about the film…

It’s actually a pretty compelling movie – even with Dolph – and it’s an interesting perspective as you see the current Caesar conducting a secret investigation and you get to follow all the evidence as it comes to light… There are some conflicts of timing and such, but nothing terribly distracting from the main thrust of the film and certainly not fom the conclusion… it was particularly interesting to watch around Easter time and i enjoyed it in lieu of reading The Murder of Jesus by John MacArthur which i appear to have misplaced… Bottom line, i give The Final Inquiry a solid B+

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 6: 22-27

Promises Fulfilled and then…

God fulfilled His promise and delivered Jericho to the Israelites in an odd fashioin so Joshua, in turn fulfills some of his promises… He spares Rahab and her family and allows them to live with them as a reward for her faithfulness… and then they burned the entire city to the ground, keepinng all the silver, gold, bronze and iron into the treasury of The LORD – which i think, constitutes one of the earliest “Building Funds” in church history…

And then there’s a curse… Joshua pronounces a curse on anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho… he says that whoever does so will lose his firstborn son and his youngest son… they destory the place and hope to wipe it off of the face of the earth forever… now, i think this will lead to some interesting things… in fact, someone named Heil DID rebuild Jericho, during the reign of King Ahab and guess what? his first born son died as did his youngest son… should’ve seen that coming… i’m going to rethink signing that petitiion to save Jericho (the TV show)…

IN OTHER WORDS

to the tune of The Motions – Matthew West

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg… Prevent Regret… This is a chapter that closes out the “Setup” section of the book… it deals with the general notion that if you don’t figure out what’s important in life and act on it, then you’re going to experience a lot of regret… the opening story is touching and sad and reminds us that relationships have a lot to do with our priorities… the chapter talks about four common regrets that people face at the end of life and reminds us that life doesn’t slow down until it stops and then it’s too late to change anything… we have this point in time right now to make the most of and that’s it… Next section: HOW TO PLAY…

MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE -dAT CAVE

to the tune of The Batman Theme – Danny Elfman

a few nice pieces up at theTRu… posted my 2oo7 Year in Re:TRu piece last week as well as a long, lost interview with Shawn McDonald… plenty more to come your way… as long as i can stay awake…

MOVING ON

hope you enjoyed this slightly new format and will check back to see the rest of the new “schedule”…

peace… love… bdg…

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… 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…

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so this is supposed to be my day off from the old blog, but i didn’t write yesterday and i’ve been so inconsistant that i figured, hey, why not?… in fact, this is going to be a SUPER entry (hopefully not in length, but in quality and topically)… i actually just got finished watching the Superbowl again… i’m sure that i’ll end up watching it at least once or twice more this week because that’s the kind of guy i am… and it was one of the greatest Superbowls of all time (within the realm of my memory)… i haven’t decided quite yet where it ranks, but i’ll talk a bit about some of the others in a bit… i also plan to talk about what most people care most about when it comes to the Superbowl… the commercials…

Of course, i’d be remiss if i ignored the fact that this is SUPER TUESDAY or, as i’ve heard it called elsewhere SUPER DUPER TUESDAY… i don’t know, that just seems a little much… if it’s not SUPA DUPA FLY, it’s just excess… so, i’ll continue my political talk as well… as well as continuing with the Book and the other book and drudging up some peeps for theTRu…

and now, in between darts and rounds of Zuma, let’s dig in…

SUPER BOWL XLII (THAT’S 42)…

What a great game… a truly GREAT game… i watched some of the pregame stuff while i was doing a little bit of work and the littles were doing a little bit of resting… we then headed over to our home fellowship group party at about 4, settled in, ate wings and played some Wii before the kickoff… this was my first time playing Wii and i managed to win once at baseball, and go 1-1 on bowling… pretty fun, but i don’t see myself clamoring all over people trying to track down my own Wii anytime soon… i’m just not that kind of guy…

Then the players tromped out onto the field and Jordin Sparks, with whom i was largely unimpressed with in the past, belted out an absolutely beautiful version of the National Anthem… a version that may have been up for sale on iTunes before the game actually… (it was featured on the front page DURING the game)… and the kickoff ensued…

The Giants opened up with a spectacular TEN MINUTE DRIVE that only put three points on the board, but totally set the tone for the game… The Pats drive back calmly as the teams feel each other out and, with the help of a pass interference call in the end zone, the Pats open the 2nd quarter with a touchdown… 7-3 and it stays that way for a while as both teams zero down on their opponent…

Spectacular defense marks the bulk of the remaining minutes capped at the end of the half with a sack, fumble and turnover from Brady… 12 men on the field, a crucial decision to go for it on 4th and 13 instead of attempting a field goal and defense remains the big story through the third quarter… why did they go for it on 4th and 13? well, they have a huge ego and because three plays before that, facing 3rd and 13, they got 14 on a pretty simple little screen play… also, the field goal would’ve been about 49 yards, matching the longest that their kicker had made all year…

And then there was the FOURTH… amazing quarter that generated three touchdowns and all the nail-biting drama of an epic gridiron chessmatch.. all the way down to the wire and, in the end, we learned again that it is defense that wins championships, a fact that should be no surprise to the Patriots, who in 2002, marched into the Superdome with the task of shutting down “The Greatest Show on Turf”…

AND NOW A WORD FROM SOME SUPER SPONSORS

Lots of commercials from the game and many of them were quite forgettable… some of them, we all wish that we could forget, but here’s my short list of favorites…

CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE

okay, i’m going to have to come back to ranking the games another time… i’m running out of time and space… and i want to touch on Super Tuesday… first, i want to roll back the clocks and take a look at what i posted in the old blog back on November 13th, 2006…

05. Change
Change seems to be the vehicle that all the democrats campaigned on… that and some very bitter acts of name calling and mud slinging… and this approach to campaigning clearly worked as the government has changed hands… but here’s the thing about change… it’s great in theory and it’s a perfect platform on which to run… hey, no one is really content in life today, so why not promise change? . . .
[however] the “change” that was promise is unlikely to flesh out into anything substantial… “

And what do we hear touted left and right in the campaigns and debates so far? Change!

MORE CHANGE?… when the 110th Congress took office, it was the first time in 12 years that the Democrats (a.k.a. the Change touters) controlled both branches… at that time, a poll showed that 68% of Americans were optimistic about the changes and about 50% were confident that Congress would accomplish a lot of those changes… right now, well, at the time of last week’s State of the Union Address, the approval rating for the 110th Congress was 18%… that’s almost half of the President’s 32% rating… how’s that change working out for you? i’d guess not so well…

VOTE VOTE VOTE…

21 states are up for grabs today and that’s enough to make or break a campaign… i’m kind of sitting on the sidelines right now waiting and hoping that Huckabee is still on the ballot and in good shape come next week when i get to vote… but this morning, as i was praying, i had impressed upon my heart the reminder that no kings or authority is given except that which is within God’s will… and part of His plan… UPDATE: Mike Huckabee has won West Virginia, Romney cries foul play (of course)…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 6: 1-2

Fear, Trembling and a Reminder…

Jericho was so terrified of the Israelites that they sealed themselves off from the world altogether… verse one says that no one was allowed to come in or go out… that’s pretty extreme… and apparently not the best defense mechanism… i don’t want to stray too far from the main point, but this strategy seems to be the on adopted by many Christians… many of us seem so terrified of the world around us that we try our darndest to shut everything else out… but we’re not given a spirit of fear…

Anyway, then God points to the status of Jericho as a reminder of His promise to deliver Jericho to Joshua… but how?…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

Chapter 5: Untie Your Ropes (continued)…

The rest of the chapter talks about some of the things that some of our Bible Heroes had to untie and let go of in order to fulfill their calling… Moses had to shed his need for security, David had to overcome the nay-sayers (including his own brothers)… Ortberg also talks about the concept of detachment, which simply means living like there is nothing more important than our relationship with God and shedding all encumbrances that would hinder the development of that relationship and he reminds us that sometimes we have to untie these “ropes” every day…

AND WITH THAT, YOU GET EGGROLL?

here’s a few new things from theTRu… An interview with Foolish Things and a new Left to Write… plenty more coming…

peace… love… bdg…

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Have you missed me?… i’ve been pretty tied up with work and errands… and i’ll tell you what, i love holidays and all, but it really screws up your sense of schedule… anyway, with all the illness going around, it’s added to it all to of that and made me perform at like half speed… in fact, it looks like i have a writer’s strike beard going on and i think i’m going to have to get shaving soon because it’s all itchy and stuff… eh, don’t mind me, it’s the congestion talking…

So the big news during my absence has been that Fred Thompson dropped out of the presidential race and i guess some people are now reporting that he was only really testing out the waters so that he might be picked as a running mate… sounds like a career underachiever to me… why would you brag about that?… anyway, the other big news is that Heath Ledger is dead… no joke, or recurring joker character in the new Batman movies… the questions surrounding his death include whether or not it was a drug overdose and how Mary-Kate Olson ties into the whole thing…

yeah, i’m doing no good here, so why don’t we move on…where did i leave off last time… that’s right disillusionment…

RON-PAUL-UTION…?

so it seems like everywhere i go these days, there are Ron Paul banners strewn about on the side of the road or banner ads everywhere or even worse, the moronic online militia posting negative comments about every other candidate, talking conspiracy theories and basically being a nuisance… now, keep in mind, i don’t think that everyone who supports Mr. Paul is a moron, it’s just those who refuse to accept the strengths of other candidates and the weaknesses of their own…

In fact, Ron Paul has a lot of good things to say and it’s no wonder that he’s been able to amass such a following… when it comes to the economy, he certainly seems to know his stuff… and with the recent shift in focus at the debates to key in on economic matters, it looks to favor Paul for as long as they let him talk…

However, Paul seems to be one-dimensional in that regard and is more like Bill “It’s the economy, stupid” Clinton than the Ronald Reagan persona he tries so hard to embrace… if it is just about the economy, then Ron Paul is probably a great choice… but it’s not just the economy… people listen to you when you talk about the economy and people like it when you promise to fix the economy because the average person becomes short-sighted when it comes to money… we, as a nation, are so willing to sacrifice ethics, safety, moral responsibilities, our family, and just about anything on the promise of prosperity…

Look back at Bill Clinton’s time as president and you can see what happens when you just focus on the economy… by the end of his term, we as a nation had experienced the most publicized and morally bankrupt trial of a man’s infidelity… our military was depleated and, despite rolling with the good times throughout his presidency, the country was in a recession… the point is not that we shouldn’t focus on the economy – because i think that we’ve overlooked basic, common sense business practices as a nation for far too long – but the tunnel vision can only last for so long before everything collapses…

Ron Paul’s statements about foreign policies and other practical issues really show a lack of depth and understanding that’s necessary to be in such a high position of authority which outweighs his positive statements about the economy… bottom line, it’s more than just the economy, stupid…

FOOTBALL

Another set of good to great games last weekend… the Patriots managed to shut down the Chargers pretty well… even with Darth Vader trying to manipulate the force from the sidelines… and the rootin’ tootin’ Green Bay Packers, led by Yosemite Brett Favre couldn’t overcome the elements and knock off the Giants, who are apparently sponsored by Franks Red Hot, hot sauce… of course i’m disappointed that the Pack didn’t pull it off, but they were totally outplayed for the whole game and it’s only fair that they win…

this means of course that the Patriots and the Giants will be in the Superbowl down in Arizona and it’s going to be…. eh, an okay game at least… i’ll talk more about it later on…

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

Monday was Martin Luther King Day and i have a few things to say about it… first is that there was apparently an MLK patio sale at a local store… i know this because The Tony Kornheiser Show is back on the air and Tony was ranting about how inappropriate it was to advertise a patio furniture sale and attach the name of someone who assassinated to it… His argument was that of all the things that Martin Luther King Jr stood for in his life, patio furniture sales shouldn’t be his legacy in pop culture… which is fine, except he continued to say that it would be okay to have President’s Day sales, Christmas sales, etc… if i’m not mistaken, Lincoln was assassinated and that guy they named Christmas after, too…

Anyway, little boy, who is in Kindergarten, learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. in school… now, i’m not sure all that was said during the lesson or lessons, but he told me that King was a good man, who told people to love everyone and that he had a dream before he was “killed by the bad white man”… interesting to say the least…

i guess my problem overall is that he’s in Kindergarten… he doesn’t have any concept of race… and he shouldn’t… he’s innocent in that regard… as he should be… i see this as a subtle attack on innocence and maybe i’m just being a little overprotective – again, i don’t know what the lesson was about – but i have a dream where kids aren’t taught from an early age that race is an issue only to be taught later on that race isn’t supposed to be an issue… it’s already not an issue… just let us all be neighbors… i’m probably rambling…

GHOST IN THE MACHINE (part eleven)

Long time readers will appreciate this… this time, it’s my laptop… my trusty, faithful, german shepherd of a laptop… except that it’s been acting up in most every way imaginable… first it started acting slow… i figured that it was because i hadn’t shut down in quite a while… well then i got it all rebooted and such and my browser kept freezing… and freezing… and freezing… so i ended up having to uninstall, reinstall, shop around and now i’m splitting time between different browsers… in the meantime, i’ve gotten my email migrated and lost my filters and address book… so i’m still in the process or rebuilding all that… my other computer is actually acting worse, but i’ll save that for another day…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 5: 1-12

This is a difficult subject to talk about… but it’s part of the covenant… they’re across the Jordan, God’s been faithful and they’re all in good spirits, preparing to start battle against all the countries that lay ahead… and at the big pep rally, Joshua says, it’s time to get circumcised… then it explains that this was the next generation and that they hadn’t been circumcised in the desert because of all the disorganization and disobedience… now they’re all caught up with their end of the bargain, recovering from the surgery during the time that is afforded by the fear of the Amorite kings… and, having been cleansed, they can celebrate passover and enjoy the food of the land…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

Chapter 4: Master the Inner Game…

This chapter talks about the two distinct games that we are playing… an inner game and an outer game… the outer game is what we get credit for, but it is simply an outpouring of the inner game… Ortberg says that the possibility of mastering the inner game is the biggest reason that we even play the outer game… everything external is wasting away despite our efforts to stave off the effects of aging, but i think we need to recognize and embrace the relationship between external and internal, physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal… doing that isn’t easy, especially in a world that likes to compartmentalize everything… props to Ortberg for the Dorian Gray reference… great book there…

BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART

Here’s the stuff from last time… a concert review, an interview with Chris Rice and aWalk TRu for Night Owls 4…

Newer postings include an interview with Ronnie Freeman and a new iTRu-nes Playlist…

COMING SOON

the weekend… man, writing in the blog really winds the clock down… but yeah… i’ll shave, i’ll get better and i’ll talk about more stuff… on theTRu, i’ve got a WalkTRu, Left to Write, and more in the works…

peace… love… bdg…

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well, this is going to be a quick one because it’s been a long week filled with ups and downs… pretty draining and hard to keep the right end up… but since the football games are now tomorrow… i wanted to weigh in on that and a couple other things… i will say that this three-day weekend has some great timing… amen and amen…

GOING GOING GONE (PART TWO)

Also while i was gone… (i got so carried away that i forgot)… the Procussions have decided to call it a day… Mr. J and Stro will continue to do some solo projects and what not, but, having cited a number of reasons in a MySpace Bulletin, Mr. J said that the group was pretty much through… i’m trying to set up an interview with Mr. J, but nothing’s come of it yet… i’ll let you know…

IT’S PLAYOFFS, BABY

Four teams remain… two BIG games tomorrow… here’s how it will play out… SPOILER ALERT…

Patriots host the Chargers… Randy Moss is in a world of anxiety and confusion because of all these allegations… but it doesn’t matter… Moss doesn’t even matter, really… there are so many weapons on the field that it’s just too easy for the Patriots… i think the Chargers will actually put up something of a fight, but will end up losing by 20 points or so…

Off to the tundra… where the red hot streaking Giants march in to face the calm and amazingly veteran Packers… expect snow, wind, freezing temperatures and a Packers win, baby… yeee ha!

AND I’M OUT

i posted up a concert review, an interview and a new Walk TRu and boy am i tired… more details later, but for now, peep theTRu.

COMING SOON

interviews, walkTRus, Ron Paul… more…

peace… love… bdg…

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HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS

well, yesterday was a whirlwind of activity that included an “all-staff gathering” for work, which i was able to attend via an online webcast… going into it, the tension was pretty high around the office and moreso at the headquarters, but there were no lay-offs… at least not yet… what i really took away from the meeting was that people will spend a lot of money paying consultants exorbitant fees to tell them what is pretty obvious… it’s kind of annoying actually, but in theory, i’ll finally get my raise next month…

after the meeting and after shoo-ing out the cleaning lady, i raced over to littler boy’s preschool to watch him star as Joseph in the Christmas program… and… man… is … he… CUTE!…

SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK…

or two, or three, or more… so my uncle and my former pastor both had serious heart attacks recently… my uncle apparently had four attacks in total, dating back to Thanksgiving and building up to a severe one that landed him in the hospital, and he’s now stable, but still in the hospital after several surgeries… my former pastor had a heart attack while he was delivering his sermon and is now back in at home on strict bedrest for the next two months… craziness…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 3:5… only one verse? yep… and it’s a big one… at least i think so… it’s a two-part verse… the first part is a command… “Sanctify yourselves”… (some translations say “consecrate”)… this is a common theme in the New Testament, but it’s also a big deal even back here in Joshua… Israel isn’t even a nation yet, but God’s called them His people and he’s now telling them to live up to the hype, so to speak… Sanctify yourselves… remove sin from your lives… set yourselves apart… be holy…

the second part is a promise… “Tomorrow, God will do wonders among you”… i’m not entirely certain whether or not this is a conditional action… whether the knowledge of God’s plan is intended to inspire sanctification or whether the sanctification permits God’s action… i imagine that God’s gonna do what He’s gonna do whether we’re ready or not… God uses non-holy folks a lot and works wonders through them, so who’s to say that He wouldn’t have done these wonders regardless… however, being consecrated makes us more connected to God’s will and makes His actions take on greater meaning in our lives…

IN OTHER WORDS

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg…

Continuing on… The object of the game is to live a life that is rich towards God… what does that mean you may ask… it means that you obey the “greatest” commandments… love God and love others… Ortberg goes into some detail about what our love really means or rather, what it translates to… and that is commitment… love is a commandment AND a commitment…

It means spending time with God, getting to know Him better… and when it comes to others and how to do better understand this, we need to get a firm grasp on what is temporary and what is eternal… this is a basis for life… it’s really a good test as to what our lives are for… what we place our value in and what we trust in… just sit down and think about whether our “points” in the game of life are temporary or eternal…

VIRTUAL BIBLE

Godtube.com launched a pretty interesting little initiative the other day… The Virtual Bible… check it out… some of the references seem like quite a stretch, but it’s a neat idea… (there doesn’t seem to be any videos for Joshua yet, though)…

FOOTBALL…

i picked the Steelers tonight, but it’s late, so if you don’t believe me, that’s fine… i won’t count it… full picks tomorrow and something about the Dolphins…

BEFORE I GO

i posted a brand new Left to Write just in time for Christmas…

COMING SOON

i’ll talk about heroes…. i’ll talk about The Clash of the Choirs… i’ll definitely talk about football… i might talk a little about politics… i’ll talk about Christmas music… and i’ll post more interviews, reviews and features at everyone’s favorite website called theTRu…

peace… love… bdg..

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