It’s Friday already?… well, here’s the headline of the week for me… “Bernanke: Financial crisis taking toll on economy”… you think? that guy is just BRILLIANT… i wonder how he came to that comclusion…

anyway… it’s been a busy week and i’ve frittered away way too much of my time, but alas, i’m here and i have a few minutes to talk about a few things… today, i’m going to talk about the recent presidential showdown at the Saddleback Corral, the emergency hunger crisis, and two books that i’ve finished, but not yet reviewed… i’m told that summer is almost over and thus, the Mark Lee hosted summer reading club is on its last legs… i’ll also tell you about some new stuff from the front page… let’s get it on…

HIGH NOON

to the tune of Rodeo - Manafest

Rick Warren invited both presidential candidates into his church for a faith forum… two discussions of policies and faith followed, each about an hour in length with the candidates taking turns on the “hotseat”… i didn’t get to see it live, but it’s currently available to watch on CNN.com… i can’t obviously comment on each point that was brought up, but i will talk about a little bit that stood out…

First off, i thought both Obama and McCain started off shaky, Obama fumbling for his words (which actually lasted the entire interview) and misinterpreting the first question (”I wouldn’t limit myself to three” - no one asked you to) and McCain falling into stump mode, but they both also relaxed a bit, McCain, in my opinion proving to be more comfortable on the stage, in the church and within his own identity…. in fact, identity came up as an issue for me as well, and i think that will be obvious as we go along…

The second question, “What is your greatest moral failure?” really hit the mark and, for me, exposed something important about the character of these two men… i’ll take them out of order and praise McCain for his response… “I’m not a perfect man, but the failure of my first marriage was my greatest moral failure”… this response was met with silence and really struck my own heart’s chord, stirring within me empathy for McCain… Obama’s response on the other hand, seemed to be fine, but the more i let it sink in, the more i found myself a little bit disgusted by it…

“I had a difficult youth.”… “My father wasn’t in the house.”… “I experimented with drugs and I drank”… “[there's] a certain selfishness on my part”… fine… here’s the thing that bothers me… selfishness is fine as an answer at face value… selfishness is common to us all and certainly qualifies as a moral condition… however, i had two problems with this response… first, he prefaces it with excuses… three excuses that pass the blame on to people (or substances) other than himself… it’s as if he’s saying, because i was preconditioned to fail morally, i became selfish and made selfish choices…

the second thing that bothered me was that it’s a very genaric answer… it’s like saying “i have ten fingers… and because of that i had to learn how to use them all”… well, we all have ten fingers (well, ideally) and we all had to learn to use them… it doesn’t tell me anything specifically about you… it seems rather disingenuous and more of a tactic to avoid revealing anything personal than an actual answer… it’s the equivalent of “my greatest weakness is that I try too hard” answer at a job interview…

Next up is a biggie… and even though it’s a question about a specific issue - in this case abortion - but the responses again reveal far more about character and identity… again, i’ll do this in out of order… Question: “At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?”… McCain, without hesistation responses, “From the moment of conception.”… simple as that… he then states that he’s always been pro-life and he’ll always be pro-life… very clear cut and straight forward…

Obama’s answer, on the other hand, was full of stammering and revealed yet again, a lack of character and substance within this presidential hopeful… “To answer this question theologically or scientifically with any specificity is something that’s above my pay grade”… excuse me? above your pay grade? are you not running for the position of the most powerful person in the country and at times, the world?… nothing is above your pay grade…

but more generally speaking… “One thing that I’m conviced of is that there is a moral and an ethical question to this issue”… um, thanks, Captain Obvious… “I am pro-choice… not because I’m pro-abortion, but because I don’t think that women make these decisions casually”… i’m sorry, but… SO WHAT?… if i choose to rob a bank, it’s a decision that i’m sure to wrestle with and struggle with and not something that i would do “casually” but it’s STILL WRONG OF ME TO DO…

He then goes on to explain that the real concern is how to reduce the number of abortions, which makes sense and i agree with him on that, there do need to be programs in place to help expectant mothers and parents who don’t know how they’ll raise their children once they arrive… support systems and all that… but education? i think everybody knows that having sex may result in pregnancy even if you’re not married or not out of high school… we don’t need more education, we need less escape clauses…

More brief things that stood out to me throughout the interview, besides the constant struggling to put words together, was what seems like an inconsistancy between preventative actions for abortions and later for orphans (”We need to reduce the number of orphans in the world”)… but a hesitation for preventative actions in defense of the nation militarily…

Also, it seems inconsistent to me that Obama keeps driving home “Whatever you do to the least of these”… as an important concept for America to embrace… providing for the least of these… but ignoring the unborn children… and another minor thing that i caught that raised my eyebrow is that Obama mentioned that his faith in God meant that “hopefully” his sins will be washed away…

McCain dabbled a little in the stump speeches, but he also told a lot of stories which resonate very well and, i think he further defined himself as a man and a candidate which is something that Obama continually shifts away from… in trying to be all things for everyone, i think he’s making himself a tin man with no heart or substance…

MY TIME IS UP

so that took longer than i expected and now i must go… you can check out the Brandon Heath Interview and this week’s album reviews in 25 Words or Less on the main page and i’ll be back with more later…

peace… love… bdg….

What’s up world… what is up?… well, i’m trying to get the ball rolling here and over on the front page andit’s no small task… i’ve been thinking through a lot of how i do things and what things i should focus on and what dreams and goals i should pursue and which should be left flopping on the floorboards of the fishing boat or tossed back into the lake…

today, though, there’s some new content on the front page, a conversation in the making, some movie thoughts, book thoughts, and… are you ready for some football?… and more… so let’s get going…

FAVRE AND AWAY
to the tune of Trade Winds - Frank Sinatra

Stop me if you’ve heard this before… an athelete retires after one of his best seasons ever and then… wait a minute nope… heeeeee’s BACK…. okay, this time it’s football and this time it’s Brett Favre… after much speculation immediately following his retirement at the end of last season, Favre is back, ready to suit up in the familiar green jersey… as excited teammate Donald Driver said, “He’s back in business”

but wait… something’s different… there’s more to the story… in fact, that green looks like it’s a different shade… oh… Favre’s a Jet… didn’t see that coming…

THE FATE OF THE DANCEFLOOR
to the tune of Dance or Die - Family Force 5)

i meant to do a quick look at this album earlier, but now that it’s only a couple weeks away from releasing, time is even more of the essence… well, i’ve been listening to this one for a while now and the most obvious thing to say about it is that it’s totally different from their last album… different label, different style, different everything…

Well, that’s the easy button… and i’ll pass on that… remember that time that Family Force 5 kept saying over and over how they wanted to bring the party back into the music scene?… well, their last album really rocked out and gave plenty of people fits as they tried to categorize the group and this time around… well, it’s just a non-stop party… you’ve got much less classic, southern rock, much more synth, much more euro-pop, much more volume and they’ve cranked the crunk way past eleven… it’s certainly a fun ride, but i’m sure that it’s not for everyone…

THE PEARL
to the tune of Love’s Done Something - Casting Pearls

So we watched a rather odd movie last night called Girl With a Pearl Earring… i did not pick the movie, it picked me… well, enough of that… but here’s the thing… Colin Firth of Pride and Prejudice fame stars as Johannes Vermeer, the famous Dutch artist and Scarlett Johansson stars as one of his house maids, Griet… as the story unfolds, it was interesting to see how the two interacted with each other… Scarlett is obviously an attractive gal and has gained the notice of some nefarious characters in the film and Vermeer takes her in and allows her to assist him with painting… it seems that he’s actually protected her from rape by agreeing to paint her and then, by the end, Vermeer’s wife who has a rather creepy countenance about her finds out about the painting and throws Griet out of the house…

Afterwards, we were talking about the movie, because it wasn’t perhaps the best film we’d seen, but a question about the relationship between Vermeer and Griet came up… whether or not he liked her inappropriately or not… and there’s a scene when the wife is yelling at Vermeer, asking why he would paint Griet and not her which is pivotal to the movie… his response was that she understood… and in that moment, i got a picture of Jesus responding to the guests at a certain banquet who were pretty ticked off about Mary washing His feet with expensive perfume…

“Why would you let her do this Master? It’s seems like such a waste!”

“She gets it. She understands what’s going on while the rest of you - even my closest companions - are clueless.”

i don’t know, it was just an interesting picture of an artist preserving beauty and innocence and rewarding someone who honestly tried to follow and understand art… i don’t know that i’d recommend the movie, but it was interesting in that way at least…

PRINCE CHARMING
to the tune of The Kings and Queens of Old - Harry Gregson-Williams (from Prince Caspian)

Prince Caspian
by CS Lewis

Okay, it’s about time that i start catching up on these reviews, right?… first up is Prince Caspian, which continues the Narnian saga… and it’s easy to see why they chose this book to continue the big screen adventures of these zany kids and their wild escapades… seriously though, it was better than i remember from the days of my youth and it’s got all kinds of intrigue and adventure… tweaks the farthest reaches of your imagination and finds the right moments to poke you back to reality…

The standout jab for me came from Lucy, i believe, as she was talking with Susan as they trudged through the thick woods… she asks a rather poignant question about what might happen if humankind resolved themselves to the basest of existence over time as the animals of Narnia had given up talking and acting appropriately… it’s a stark glimpse at what the world might look like as our collective conscience continues to erode… great book though… i wish i had gone to see the film while it was in theaters, but now i can’t wait for the DVD to come out…

THE READING ROOM
to the tune of Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog) - Iron & Wine

Updated list for Mark Lee’s Summer Reading Club…

Okay, so i still have two more reviews to go to catch up… well, scratch that… i just finished another book today… that’s right… i’m on FIRE… Searching for God Knows What has officially been added to the completed pile… i have so many thoughts about that book that i’m going to let it stew for a bit before i offer any formalized thoughts on it… anyway, this is the updated list… i fully expect to be finished with House of Wolves this weekend as i can’t hardly bear to put it down…

On a somewhat related note… Mark Lee recently celebrated the birth of his new daughter, Katherine Marlow Lee, so between that and touring the new Third Day album, he’s been a bit tied up… Congrats to him and his family…

Completed…

Working through…
- Jesus Wants to Save Christians (Bell / Golden) [about 130 pages left]
- The Parent You Want to Be (Parrott) [about 150 pages left]
- House of Wolves (Bronleewe) [about 150 pages left]
- New Way to Be Human (Peacock) [about 200 pages left]
- At the Crossroads (Peacock)
- Deliver Us from Evelyn (Wells)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien)
- Quiet Strength (Dungy)
- UnChristian (Kinnaman & Lyons)
- My Name Is Russell Fink (Snyder)

FULL LIST HERE…

DON’T GO AWAY MAD
to the tune of Moving On - Needtobreathe

Oh, jeepers… i just realized i forgot something… one second… ah, never mind, i’ll do it here… on the front page… we have a pretty interesting interview with Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic and author of such books as, Wide Awake, which is on my completed pile… we talked largely about the book and dreams and things of such nature, but we also had a few laughs and veered off topic now and again… i felt like it was one of my better interviews though, so, you can say yay or nay after you’ve read it…

Also littering the front page is a brand new Walk TRu… but it’s unlike any other walk TRu i’ve ever done… i think… it’s based on this new album that Starsong put out this week that names what they considered to be the thirteen CCM songs that most changed the church… now, i know “change” is vague and “church” is vague and “CCM” is kind of vague, for that matter… but i’m asking you to get involved… tell me what 13 CCM songs YOU think have had the biggest impact on the Church… hopefully that rewording has made it clearer… but, yeah, tell me why you agree or disagree with their choices and tell me what should’ve made it… you can leave your thoughts here in the comments or email them to TRuMoments [at] GMail.com…

my thoughts are coming soon… let the discussion begin…

peace… love… bdg….

Well, it’s Sunday and i’ve managed to complete another wonderful training / instructional manual… i’m turning into quite the technical writer while still maintaining the normal duties of my actual job title… i’m still pretty tired and all, but i’m glad to have those both behind me for now… i’m sure there’s more coming and all, but right now there’s something of a lull… a break in the action… a chance to catch my breath… and, since it looks like i’ll be completely offline for the next three days while we frolic and play at the all-staff retreat (really sit around and listen to an endless string of presentations only to retire to a shared room assignment with none of the comforts of home), i’m imagining that my day job will be pretty slow at the beginning of the week…

So what on earth will i do with myself if i have no access to the grand old internet and no television and no privacy?… well, hopefully, i’ll manage to get a number of interviews transcribed, get a number of other things written, get a little bit of reading done and, hey, maybe even sleep… i’m actually trying not to think about it too much, since it begins early tomorrow with a four-hour car ride with three coworkers…

Anyway, it’s Sunday and, since i’ll be out-of-pocket the next few days, i figured that i should get a few things written down to have something to show for myself in my absence… playing behind me at the moment is an episode of Mrs. Columbo which is a bonus feature of the Complete Third Season of Columbo… pretty fun… i love me some Columbo… but now let’s move on…

ROCK WHAT YA GOT

to the tune of Hey Hey - Superchic[k]

So, we’ll start with some music… i got the new Superchic[k] album the other day and have listened to it a few times… my boys actually enjoy it quite a bit too… they’ve even informed me that the song “Hey Hey” sounds very much like the modern version of “Cruella De Vil“ from the 101 Dalmations DVD… could be… anyway, it’s a pretty fun album and everything you’d expect from the group, but part of me thinks it could’ve been better…

THE BIGGER PICTURE

to the tune of Ignition (live) - TobyMac

so, i wrote this heading in the other day and had no idea what i was supposed to write about… but now i remember… TobyMac is taking a cue from U2 and hitting the big screen… apparently, tomorrow, the Alive and Transported video will be playing limited engagements in theaters… around here, there’s one showing at 7:30 PM… but check your local listings if you’re into that sort of thing… it’s probably a cool idea… my boys enjoy the DVD a lot and it’s better for their ears than a live show…

AND LOVING IT…

to the tune of Get Smart - Bob Crane & His Drums And Orchestra

i for one am really excited about the upcoming movie version of Get Smart… i think that Steve Carell is a great choice for Agent 86 and i always enjoy a good dose of The Rock… not so sure about Anne Hatheway or the lack of the 70s era, but i think it’s going to be great… until it’s ready though, i’m going to sit back and enjoy one of my latest silly acquisitions… the entire original series on DVD, complete with a collector’s box that opens in three different directions like the command center of Control…

ONLY ONE

to the tune of Sirius - Alan Parsons Project

So, the NBA Finals are on and man, can they draw games out or what?…. i finally ended up watching game one between the Lakers and the Celtics the other night and i’m pretty tired of hearing about what a storied rivalry it is… great, i get it… i saw some of it growing up… and none of those guys are playing in this series… now, THAT might be something interesting… anyway, it looks to be a good series and i say that as someone who rarely watches the NBA anymore because it’s just, i don’t know, off… as i see it, it had it’s hey day and that’s now in the past… doesn’t seem to be reviving itself anytime soon… i’ll watch these games - all on a DVR delay - and i’ll probably enjoy it… and i’m picking the Lakers in seven… (tonight they’ll win by about 17)…

IT’S POTTY TIME…

Mute Math is working on a new album (cheers all around)… and they seem to be recording a lot of it in the bathroom… i guess we all potty break the same… (har-har)… anyway check out this preview video…

IN OTHER WORDS
to the tune of The End - Derek Webb

When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg… Well, i finally finished this book… actually i finished it maybe a week and a half ago, but i’m finally wrapping up this coverage… the final section of the book tells us how to win… it reminds us that we need to focus on collecting the right types of trophies and then, in the last chapter it tells a story about a painting… the painting is called “Check Mate” and the story tells of a chess expert perturbed by the painting’s title because, “the King has one more move”… (of course, there’s a typo in the chapter title as it’s printed on the page headers - “the kind has one more move”)…

this really stood out to me because i was playing a game of chess at work and i was informed with a great deal of pride and boasting that i was in check mate… now, i hadn’t paid much attention to the game up to that point because there’s been a lot of things going on at work and chess wasn’t exactly the most important thing to worry about much less strategize for… but, something about the snideness of this guy’s voice… “check mate, but you must’ve known that was coming”… all of a sudden, something within me wanted to win… i had been resolved to lose and chalk it up to distraction… but now… oh, i wanted to win… suddenly the game mattered… and fortunately, when i went to check out the board, i discovered that he was wrong… there was another move… in fact, five moves later, i had taken his rook, bishop, knight and queen… and two moves after that, he conceded to defeat… check mate… that was music to my ears…

it doesn’t really relate to the book, but it made me happy… anyway, i thought the book ended rather abruptly, but it’s not like the ending was a surprise or anything… it was a good book overall…

NEXT UP

to the tune of You Make It Look So Easy - Stavesacre

Simplicity by Mark Salomon…

so, i’ve already begun the next book and i’m not sure how much opportunity i’ll have to blog about it, because methinks that i’ll be done with it rather quickly… i’m about 50 pages in already and i’m totally hooked… and what, with my downtime coming up this week, i may just plow through the whole thing… also worth noting, it’s available at the Relevant Book Store for FOUR DOLLARS… normally, i’d be using an affiliate link to try and poach a few pennies from anyone kind enough to buy it, but it’s such a good deal and Relevant is such a good place to support that it’s the link i chose…

SUMMER READIN’

to the tune of Summer Nights - John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

I’m also using those two books as my entry into Mark Lee’s Summer Reading Club… it’s supposed to be really laid back and i don’t have much of a clue what the rules are, but since i stumbled upon it and i have a hard time saying no… i’m IN…

AND WITH THAT…

it’s time to go… but wait… there’s more… a quick glance at the front page will reveal a splendid little interview with Paul Alan… thanks for peeping that…

peace… love… bdg…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

i can’t believe it’s Wednesday or that it’s so late on Wednesday… i’m going to cover a bit and cover it quickly so let’s get getting…

THE ICE STORM COMETH…

well, last night it took me over two hours to get home and i passed by an accident count in the double digits… these silly people driving too fast in icy rain… what are you thinking? so many cars on the side of the road… i sincerely hope they’re alright and that they remember not to do that again… this morning everything seemed pretty much resolved even though it was still below freezing outside and icicles adorned pretty much everything in sight…

OVER AND OVER AND OVER

at least that was pretty… the results from last night’s voting also hung like the icicles as the pundits described the life of my boy Mike’s chances dripping away… in fact… McCain’s camp actually send a memo over to Huckabee’s camp asking them to give it up, citing mathematical impossibilities… i heard people in the media call Huckabee “a professional irritant”, “an annoyance” and many other non-flattering terms, but, as silly and unprofessional as that all is, at least they’re talking about him somewhat…

IT’S ALIVE!!!!!

Bill O’Reilly, someone i can handle in small doses (usually the 3 minute Talking Points podcast), was pleading the case of Hillary Clinton the other day… yes, that Hillary… addressing the Senator’s complaints that the media has turned against her and has been unfairly representing her and her family… she was also concerned that the media outlets had already handed over the Democratic nomination to Obama despite it continuing to be a tight race… sounds to me like the monster Dr. Frankenstein built in years past has come to life and turned on its master… and, might i add, how hypocritical of O’Reilly, not only to chime in on Hillary’s side, but also to complain about “secular” media doing to Hillary exactly what he and Fox News have done to my boy Mike for the ENTIRE CONTEST…

CHEESEHEADS, ROLL OUT

Next up for my boy Mike is Wisconsin… i think he can take the state and gain some momentum going into the big block of contests on March 4th… as far as whether or not he should give up and leave the election, i say, in the words of General Anthony McAuliffe, “Nuts!”… later this week, i’ll talk more about why i like Mike…

NUTS!

speaking of which… Jericho is back on the air and i missed the premiere yesterday… i’ll watch it online or on demand later this week… pretty bummed about missing it though…

CLEMENS…. SEE?

The Rocket testified in congress today and it’s really not looking too good for Clemens… i said before that i lean towards the side of believing him over McNamee, but there is this nagging notion of motive… and then Pettite reportedly said that Clemens had admitted it to him… i just don’t know… i did work out a scenario where McNamee has motive though… it involves years of blackmail, a bluff, and a battle of wills… regardless, now that they’ve both testified to opposing accounts under oath, one of them is pretty much screwed… and Clemens never had a very good screwball…

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 6: 6-11

Day One

I’m not sure how the conversation entirely went, or if Joshua really explained the full battle plan to his people, but he managed to convince them all to follow him… and they set out on day one of the week-long plan of attack… i’m sure that everyone was pretty antsy and i imagine that there was a lot of whispers after they got back to camp that night as they all tried to figure out what happened… and why they didn’t yell at all, why they didn’t attack at all, why they were sitting back at camp again…

IN OTHER WORDS

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

Chapter 6: Master of the Board… again

the next section of this chapter hits you like a cold wet sock across the face… or, like the reality it’s asking you to face… the reality that you’re not actually the master of the board… we’re not in control of our lives and by pretending that we are, it’s more than a lie, it’s more than disillusionment, it’s even more than sad… it’s dangerous, it’s destructive, it’s really, really depressing… this chapter is something of a downer so far… ha!

AND IT JUST DON’T STOP

Okay, here’s the links from last time… the Mr. J Interview and a walk TRu of How Great Thou Art… looking at the old calendar, i see that i have some more interviews coming up with Kevin Max, Poems, and more including some year in re:TRu stuff too… also tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and they’re announcing the Dove Nominees, so i might talk about that, too…

peace… love… bdg…