Frank Caliendo

My brother showed me this impressionist, and I've always been a fan of people that can do good impressions, and this guy is great. Check it out for some great impressions of John Madden, Al Michaels, Pat Summerall, George W., Jeff Goldblum, and even Letterman and Paul from the band. It's great stuff. In addition, I put in my favorite song from my best album from this past year in the player. Check that out as well. I hope that everyone's had a great Christmas, as mine was fantastic. There have been some excellent developments on the job front, so I'll put up a little about that in a couple days. In the meantime...brainificate on this.

Music Year In Review Pt. 2

We now move on to the conclusion of the two-part music series. As before, a brief description with a few download-worthy tracks, all for your future listening pleasure.

Honorable Mentions (Part 2):
Rush of Fools - Rush of Fools
Another debut CD (I think I got a number of these this year apparently...), with a lot of potential. It's hard to appreciate how quickly things moved for the guys in this band, and they are all still quite young, from what I know. But seeing the results gives them a solid stepping-stone for future work. Mostly worship-oriented, the guys do a solid, if not spectacular, job, with a couple gems thrown in the middle of everything. Another group to keep an eye on in the future.
Download: Undo; When Our Hearts Sing; Already

Fuel - Angels & Devils
They've been out of the picture for a while, and after their lead singer quit the band, they went on a long hunt of finding a replacement, with a well-known decline from American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry. In the end, they finally found a singer, and with the songs already written, went right in to the studio. I liked this album better than the previous releases, if only because the production seemed to be cleaner, giving a better feel for the melody. Again, many of the lyrics are throw-aways...but what do you expect these days? For some solid rock sound, though, it's works fairly well.
Download: Gone; Wasted Time; Scars In The Making

Relient K - Five Score And Seven Years Ago
For a band that's been around for a long time, I hadn't ever really heard of anything until this album was set to come out. It makes for an enjoyable listen, with a number of catchy tunes, and a fair amount of wit within some of the lyrics. Even so, you can still see the message that they are trying to convey. This is a band that I can see growing on me, and maybe one day I'll pick up some of their previous albums.
Download: Must Have Done Something Right; Come Right Out And Say It; Devastation And Reform

5) 12 Stones - Anthem For The Underdog
When Mandi first put in one of their albums one of our caravaning trips back home from Harding, I basically had the same thoughts that she did. They can write some good stuff, but there's too much screaming and pointless overly heavy stuff in there. Fast forward about 5 years, and you've got their latest release, which has effectively eliminated the screaming, and replaced it with some solid songwriting and hooks. This album hardly bears any resemblance to their debut effort, and is the better for it. It's hard to find a weak spot in this album, as each song is performed well.
Download: Lie To Me; Broken Road; This Dark Day

4) Matchbox Twenty - Exile On Mainstream
This is probably more from personal bias than anything, because who would think that a compilation album would be a top album of the year? At any rate, this was one of my most anticipated releases for this past year as they are a band that I've always liked since I first heard them. Many will remember their singles Push and 3 AM from the late 90's, and from that fame, they held a high degree of popularity for the years to come. Even after 5 years, and no subsequent releases, this greatest hits package still came out at #3 on the Billboard best-sellers the week of it's release. For anyone that's been a fan, the main draw is the 6 new songs, while anyone that hasn't gotten any of their previous albums can get all 11 of the radio hits that this band put out over the past 10 years. If the 6 new songs are any indication, the next full length album they put out will be some of their best work yet.
Download: How Far We've Come; These Hard Times; All Your Reasons; Push; 3AM; Unwell

3) Mainstay - Become Who You Are
This band was an exceptionally pleasant surprise when their debut CD came out last year, so it was somewhat unexpected when I learned that they were going to be putting out their sophomore disc this year. When it did come out, I ran out and got it practically the next day. This album differs quite a bit from the first in terms of the material used in the writing process. This one is a much more personal album from the perspective of the writer and lead singer. There are songs about his family, his thoughts, and his personal beliefs, praises and struggles. It's mellow for the most part, and just an all-around good listen for a bit of praise and encouragement.
Download: Become Who You Are; Where Your Heart Belongs; Island; When You Come Down

2) Dizmas - Tension
Their debut was a disc that I personally could have cared less for. It was all screaming, not very melodic in my opinion, and just didn't seem like the type of band that I would come to appreciate. With their second release, however, I was surprised (as were many others, no doubt) by the change in their direction, and the level of musicianship that immediately became noticeable; what had been obscured by the screaming in their first release came to the front. What came out of it was 12 songs with infectious hooks and strong melodies. While some of the lyrical content can be vague, and sometimes plain silly (Dance, Shake It Off), there are just as many that have excellent meaning with a little thought. Again, for those long trips at night, or the late-night study/work session, you can't go wrong with Dizmas' Tension.
Download: Play It Safe; This Is A Warning; Sun

1) Anberlin - Cities/Lost Songs
I'm cheating here and including 2 CD's that were not released at the same time, but they make a solid double-album impression, and given their overall stellar quality, I felt they both merited an inclusion. When I first heard Anberlin earlier this year, I had no idea about them. They were simply a band name that I had seen, looked at the back of the CD, and read some of the names and saw that they were associated with a number of bands that I am a fan of. I went back, and listened to the most recent album they had put out (Never Take Friendship Personal), and was immediately hooked. Here is a band consisting of Christians that is able to make music that is open for everyone, without completely bashing the listener with theology. They have toured extensively with a number of well known mainstream bands including Fall Out Boy, which allowed them to share the message of Jesus over the course of the tour with them.

Back to the music, though. Cities is an impressive 12 songs, ranging from infectious (A Whisper & A Clamor) to epic (*Fin - which runs almost 8 minutes in length). It's a solid rock record, and while some of the lyrics will make you wonder, there are just as many that will make you think. This has constantly been in my player since I got it back in February, and it's one that I have yet to tire of. Lost Songs, on the other hand, is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks that have been compiled to finish contractual obligations before they move on to a major label this coming year. There are a number of B-sides from each of their CD's, acoustic cuts that are probably the most impressive, some fun covers off of bands that I don't really know, and a couple demos that don't really vary that much from the album cuts. Even with these demos, the album is surprisingly strong for a compilation CD of rejected cuts, with some stand-out tracks that make you wonder how they weren't initially included with the CD they were written for. All in all, for some solid pop/rock with strong melodies and excellent overall quality, you really can't go wrong with these guys. Look for their next full-length album of new material in the middle of 2008.
Download: Cities - A Whisper & A Clamor; Inevitable; The Unwinding Cable Car; Dismantle. Repair.
Lost Songs - The Haunting; Dismantle. Repair. (acoustic); Naive Orleans (acoustic), Uncanny

So there you have it. My top 10+ albums that I've gotten this year. Get you some. Oh, and a Merry Christmas to all...(if I don't post again soon).

Music Year In Review Pt. 1

And now for your reading pleasure, the first in a two part series. Being that I am certainly someone who loves music, and loves listening to music, I'm once again giving some of my top album purchases from over the past year, as well as a few that I found on the side or through other people. I figured I'd do a top 10, with a little review of each individual album, along with some honorable mentions. I'll also list a couple of the tracks I would recommend for downloading if the artist appeals to you. If you like anything that I've had in the player the past year, then most of these songs will be coming off of those albums. Of course, I know that not everyone has the same musical taste as me, so this is probably more for my own personal benefit than yours...but I'll do it anyway. So here we go. My personal top 10 albums of 2007 (with a few bonus cuts).

Honorable Mentions (Part 1):
The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum Soundtracks - John Powell
Composer John Powell did some excellent work in these two films, providing an exciting musical score to go along with the frenetic action shown on the screen. The Bourne theme (instantly recognizable in 'The Drop' on the Bourne Supremacy) is followed throughout on both discs in many different variations. When I watched the Bourne Ultimatum, I was as stoked about the music accompanying the scenes as I was about the non-stop action. That's saying something.
Download: Supremacy - The Drop; Berlin Foot Chase
Ultimatum - Tangiers; Waterloo

Barenaked Ladies Are Men - Barenaked Ladies
In disc 2 of a two part presentation (Are Me and Are Men), we find the Ladies back to some of their wittiest, most fun pop/rock. In my opinion, this is the stronger disc of the two, with their lyrical goofiness and touch for a melody supremely evident. After their mis-step (in my opinion) on their album before these 2, this shows them back to their best. For me, any band that can put out 30 quality tracks in 5 months has more going for them than simply the ability to craft a catchy tune or two.
Download: Angry People; Maybe Not; Why Say Anything Nice?

Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
This one is almost like a guilty pleasure. After their smash debut, they took 5 years to record their sophomore album. It's the same approach, with Adam Levine's smooth voice going over groovy beats, mixed in with some songs that up the ante. Granted, most of the lyrics are throw-aways, and some of the songs just really don't do much for the album (Kiwi, anyone?), but it's hard not to get caught up in the beat and groove of the other songs. When the lyrics don't take away from the song, there is a good, easy melody to ease you through the day, and I would challenge you not to be tapping along by the end of the disc.
Download: Nothing Lasts Forever; Goodnight Goodnight; Back At Your Door; Makes Me Wonder (Clean)

Alter Bridge - Blackbird
You would think that a band composed of 3/4 of Creed wouldn't really be anything worth talking about. But Alter Bridge, with the addition of Myles Kennedy as the lead singer, is anything besides Creed 2.0. Their sophomore album follows in the vein of their debut, with melodic rock that's nothing more, and nothing less. With some slick guitar solos and great melodies, as well as some fairly insightful lyrics, you get a new band that has gone and made everyone forget what band they used to be in.
Download: Brand New Start; Before Tomorrow Comes; Blackbird; Watch Over You

10) Thousand Foot Krutch - The Flame In All Of Us
This is one of those bands that I didn't really think I would like all that much the first time I heard them. They were too much of a rap-rock, almost screamo type band, of which I have a hard time appreciating. However, with each release, they have transformed from the rap-rock they used to pursue to more of a simply hard rock vein. And while I am not huge on ultra-heavy rock, these guys manage to make it fun, and even have good melodies to go along with their lyrics describing their spiritual journeys and thoughts. And even though they are known as a hard rock band, I am always a fan of their ballads that are, to me, incredibly insightful and sincere. An excellent way to keep you awake if you're making a late-night drive, and almost impossible not to sing along with.
Download: Falls Apart; What Do We Know?; My Home; Wish You Well

9) OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud
For a debut CD, these guys have been around for a while. They are one of the most popular bands on MySpace, and they had a hit single when Timbaland remixed their song 'Apologize' early on in 2007, except that they didn't have an album out to take advantage of their new-found popularity. Dreaming Out Loud remedies that problem, giving 12 tracks of melodic, piano-driven pop/rock. It's a testament to them that 'Apologize' in it's original form fares far better than the remix version, although if you pick up the disc you will get both and be able to decide for yourself. While very reminiscent of The Fray and Coldplay, they do just enough to be their own band, while crafting a number of memorable songs. Look for this group of Christian guys to do big things over the next few years.
Download: Apologize; All We Are; Say (All I Need); Goodbye, Apathy

8) Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
This band has been around for a while, yet they didn't make it big until 2001 when 'The Middle' hit airwaves. After the last album's mostly dark approach, things are brightened up again for this 11 song journey. Described as emo (does anyone really know what that means?), the majority of the songs focus on relationships. Then again, what songs don't focus on relationships? Jimmy Eat World still knows how write a hook, and on practically every song you get drawn in immediately from the get-go. Ranging from the fun of Electable (Give It Up), to the huge album closer Dizzy, there is a little something for everyone in this one.
Download: Carry You; Here It Goes; Chase This Light; Dizzy

7) 33Miles - 33Miles
It's not often that you get a band that has more than a taste of country in the Christian Music scene. 33Miles, hailing from Nashville, changes that with a record that is more or less country, right down to the fact that the majority of the songs are ballads. The lead singer does not possess any type of twang or drawl (which I appreciate), but the musical arrangements will definitely remind you of some of the more contemporary country artists out there. For a debut CD, this is a solid effort, and there is certainly potential, as their musicianship really shows throughout in outstanding melodies and excellent harmonization. Throw in strong lyrics, and you've got a great disc. Look for more from these guys in the future.
Download: What Could Be Better; Stand Amazed; I Can't Deny; When I Get Where I'm Going

6) Lifehouse - Who We Are
They've gone through quite a few changes since they first came on the scene with that song that you couldn't get away from back in 2000. It was called "Hanging By A Moment" if you've forgotten. However, the past 7 years have seen numerous changes in the make-up of the band, with lead singer/songwriter Jason Wade remaining as just about the only focal point of the band since then. The past 2 releases have seen Lifehouse moving from the more grunge inspired rock of No Name Face to a more piano-driven sound. In my opinion, it's an improvement as this has allowed the song-writing of Wade to shine through. The melodies are clearer, the hooks are better, and the lack of all the guitars has given a cleaner sound to everything. With Who We Are, I think they've found a balanced mix of guitar-driven songs with the more laid back ballads. This album also contains one of my favorite songs of the year in Storm.
Download: Disarray; Whatever It Takes; Broken; Storm

Part 2 will follow in the next few days. There has been a development on the job hunt front...so hopefully there will be good news to talk about soon.

The Big 100

After a little more than a year, this becomes the 100th post on this little blog of mine. Kinda crazy, thinking that I had enough things to write about that it would take up this many posts. In celebration, see one of the craziest light shows that I've seen (set to music no less) in the Christmas spirit.

The past few days have been exciting, and tiring. Mandi and I went to Charleston to hang out with Josh and Amber for a few days. It was 75 and sunny on Friday, so we went for the beach, and Fort Maultrie to hang out, take pictures, and generally just enjoy the afternoon. Then we went to Sweatman's BBQ, which I highly recommend for anyone that might be in South Carolina. It's only open on Friday and Saturday's, it has no phone, no reservations, and you essentially are eating right in front of the smokehouse where they are bringing in the meat. It was fantastic, and we all stuffed ourselves on their buffet. It was really quite amazing. Saturday we went downtown in the morning, walked around the market, and ate some lunch, before coming back and heading for home. Again, the weather on the drive home was horrendous, as there was constant rain, and the roads were terrible in that you couldn't even see the lines.

One incident of particular note was the high speed chase that went right past my car. Driving westbound (this is important) as I reached Sevierville, TN, I looked over into the eastbound lanes and saw about 4 cops with their lights flashing flying down the road. I figured that something had happened close by, and turned to look back up the road only to see headlights coming at my car from the shoulder. It turns out that some idiot, fleeing the scene of a wreck, decided to go down the westbound interstate going east at about 100 miles an hour on the shoulder for the most part. He eventually ended up crashing about 5 miles down the road from where he flew past me, with only minor injuries being reported. Truly, we were being watched over.

Today was a good day. Lunch with the grandparents, which is always fun, followed by candy making with Mandi, and then having to put together a devo for the youth group, our group, and a number of adults for tonight. I was informed that I was doing this devo this morning during church, so I was kinda stressed on getting it ready. I talked about the importance of communication...I'll possibly post some thoughts on this later. It ended up going well though. After that, we just came home and relaxed. It's been a crazy few days. Enjoy the lights.

I'm Dreaming of...South Carolina

This afternoon Mandi and I will be heading to South Carolina to see Josh and Amber for the weekend. It should be some good times. It'll be nice hanging out with them, Josh will have just finished all his finals, and Mandi will have a long weekend, so we'll just get everyone re-energized before the holidays arrive late next week. In addition, by the time we're back home, my brother will be home for Christmas break as well, so we'll hopefully be getting some good volleyball action going at church as well.

It would appear that some of my wishing for colder weather might be happening, as they are predicting some snow and such in the mountains this weekend. I don't really have hopes that are all that high, as this happens all the time, with predictions of snow, people freaking out, and then it turning in to a nice summer's day, but it does seem as if it will cool down a little. It's going to have to do so pretty quickly as a number of us are wanting to get a ski trip for sometime in January, and well...with pictures that they had from the mountains around us, the hills are nice and green, which the last time I checked, wasn't very conducive to skiing. But then again, it is Ober, and you can't really base your idea of good ski conditions on them...

As we just had our monthly "guys night" the other day, I got to thinking about the movies that we'd seen over the past year. Since that's about all that most of them are interested in doing, we just go out and eat, and then go see some "manly" movie that's out playing. The ones that I can remember off the top of my head are: Hitman, The Bourne Ultimatum, American Gangster, The Kingdom, and 3:10 To Yuma. All of them, with the exception of Hitman, were fairly good, although I didn't really care for American Gangster all that much either, although that fact that it's based on a true story is interesting. I'm kinda hoping that they'll get to a point where they might want to do something instead of just watch a movie, but the last time I suggested that it was almost like nobody heard the suggestion and just kept on deciding which movie we'd go see when nobody really wanted to see any of them in particular. Oh well. At any rate, it's time to get packing; South Carolina is beckoning.

House-sitting

The weekend provided an unexpected getaway with me house, or rather, dog-sitting for some friends from church that were going to be gone for Saturday night and would need someone to look after him so they wouldn't have to put him in a kennel for the entire weekend. I obliged, and it was nice to just have some time to myself and everything yesterday. I also got to spend some time working on my Guitar Hero abilities in practice for the New Year's Party that our small group will be having replete with XBOX and Wii. Should be good times when it comes around. But there's lots of stuff in the meantime, such as our impending trip to Charleston this weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

Of course, when you think about Christmas, one of the things that always comes to my mind at least is snow. I love it when it snows. It's all sorts of fun to play in, it cancels anything that you're obligated to be doing for the day, it's just all around good news. One of my most vivid memories around the holidays was during the "Blizzard of '93" where we got all sorts of snow here in East Tennessee, and I think that schools and everything else were closed for over a week. Now, for some people, that probably doesn't sound like much, but for Oak Ridge schools, that was huge since we were usually the only ones going to school when everyone else was out with some frost on the grass. At any rate, we were back at the house, and with a huge hill and a steep driveway directly next door, it became logical to start sledding down this driveway.

Across the circle that we live at the end of is a bunch of forest area with large trees, and a fairly substantial drop-off (especially when you're 10). But at any rate, that didn't really concern us. As most boys will do, we (my brother and I) decided that it would be spectacular to create a ramp in the circle that we would attempt to hit and go flying off in the wild blue yonder. So off we go constructing our ramp, and proceeding to go even higher up on the hill before attempting to hit it as fast as we can. Over the course of however long we were out there, the snow was gradually turning to ice due to our constant sliding down it. As we continued on, we figured out that you go faster if you're both on the sled. As we careen down the hill, which was essentially packed ice now, we start to think that it might not have been best idea. Once we hit the ramp, we know it wasn't a good idea. I'm pretty sure that Dustin flew off the sled in mid-air and landed somewhere in a snowdrift up against a tree, and I proceeded to fly down in to the ditch and in to a tree myself, cutting myself right above the eye. We got some nice air on the jump, but, needless to say, we got quite a scolding from mom when we came back in later.

The possibility of snow is not looking all that promising given that it is currently 73 degrees outside. I'll keep holding out for it though. Hopefully at some point it will actually feel like winter and there might be a chance at some snow. Given the overall hatred of the Little Drummer Boy, perhaps I'll fare a little better with the 12 Days of Christmas? Here's hoping.

Party Time!

So tonight is Mandi's company Christmas party. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, and I don't think she does either, but all I know is that there is lots of alcohol and some food or something. Oh, and a dance floor, although I'm not sure how many of the drunk co-workers will be able to dance. I don't think she's all that excited about going as she felt more obligated to go since she's on the event planning board rather than specifically wanting to. But at the least, we'll be able to sit around and mock all the people that are making fools of themselves, and Mandi will have some laughter throughout the year whenever she sees any of them at work. Apparently it's going to be a relatively small group this year due to the fact that it's not at a hotel, which means people can't get quite as trashed since they'll have to drive home instead of getting a room with 3 or 4 other couples...which apparently happens to save money or something...

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm a big fan of the Little Drummer Boy. Well, at least of the song. I think probably every kid at some point or another had to sing that song in some Christmas play or skit...in my case, I had to play it on the piano at some recital. But it's always been a tune that I've enjoyed. Of course, I don't know where Pa rum pum pum pum came from in terms of lyrics...but what can you say? It's been around for close to 40 years, along with a number of the other songs that people can't really get through Christmas without hearing. I've got a version by Jars of Clay in the player that I've grown to like quite a bit over the past week or so while listening to Christmas music off and on. I would suggest that you have a listen, and while you do that, I'll be getting ready to laugh at a bunch of people making complete idiots out of themselves. Should be good times.

A Guide To Marine Life

The weekend at Searcy turned out to be quite a bit better than I had thought it would be. I had an enjoyable time, even though I didn't really play all that much frisbee. I got to see Doc, which hadn't happened for a while, and also see his two daughters (he didn't have any when I left). He was doing well, and he's going to be moving soon. Crazy stuff. I spent Saturday playing on and off with a team from Little Rock that Jordan and Brett play on, and in between watched Mandi play with the girls team, and got myself a haircut so that I can look professional when I (hopefully) go in for an interview or two in the coming days. Sunday was spent watching and talking with people for the most part...at least until one of the torrential downpours that Arkansas is known for decided to hit Searcy. Now, on it's own that wouldn't have been all that bad, but once we started on our way home, it decided to follow us. So for 9 hours, we drove through pouring rain. I think it had to be one of my worst weather condition drives home from Searcy in all of the times that I've made that trip. In the future, when attempting long trips, check the weather, and if it's possible to not be driving in a hurricane by leaving a little earlier...make sure you do that. But we made it home, even with all the rain, and were certainly glad that we had made the trip out there.

On the job front, I've talked today with the guy from AGT in one of those initial phone-screenings, so hopefully once he's talked with a few other people they'll decide to bring me in for an interview at their company. I'm cautiously optimistic on at least getting that far. I'm still waiting to hear back from Aerotek regarding the position that they've submitted me for. Given the lady's stringent policy on what she's looking for, I'm not as hopeful for that one...but you never know what will happen. At some point, everyone has to hire for the positions that they need. I'm just hoping one of those will end up being me.

Today it kind of clicked in to being Christmas. My dad and I put the lights up on our tree, which I always enjoy looking at when it's dark outside and seeing the lights on in the living room. It's cool, just going through that each year, and having this massive temporary decoration in the middle of the house. I'm sure if I googled or wikipedied the origins of putting up trees at Christmas I'd learn something new. It's neat though, to look back through the trees that we have put up. There have been smaller ones, bigger ones, some bizarre shaped ones, but they've all looked nice by the time they're all decorated. And of course, there are always the favorite ornaments that you always look for once you've got them all put up. At my grandparents house, it was always a game when they first put the tree up to go and look for the ornaments that played music. They had 3 specific ones that all played songs when you pulled the strings, and we'd come in and immediately go and look for them, and not do anything else until we found them. In fact...I still do that. At our house, there was a bizarre light on one of the strands that we'd hunt for. It really looked like an ice cream cone covered in sprinkles almost. And then there was a musical one hidden away somewhere.

There is also the requisite Christmas music. I've always liked the Little Drummer Boy, Do You Hear What I Hear, and of course, the 12 Days of Christmas. I'll put up the Relient K version in a while when we get closer to actual Christmas time. Christmas also signaled the year-end Christmas Recital for piano, where we'd play some songs for our parents and any other students parents. There was usually some standard classical fare, and then some fun Christmas stuff mixed in with some sing-along material. I generally liked this recital the best out of the yearly ones, I guess just because it was more laid back and mostly about having fun rather than putting on a good performance. And besides, how can you be nervous when you're thinking about having a holiday, and presents, and food? I think pretty soon I'm going to have to go find our Christmas music books and bust out some songs.

But here it begins, the countdown to yet another year. The theme for the rest of my posts this year will probably be recollections from the past year. And Mandi, no comments about my inability to remember things.

Strangeness...

I'm sitting here in Stone and Whitey's apartment dining room, and it's really just kind of strange. Brett and G-Dub are here as well...and while it's not like when I was big on the frisbee team, but it's almost the same. We've just been sitting around chatting and laughing and everything, and now they've got the TV on, so I figured I'd do a little typing and check all my emails and such. I think there will be more people coming back, like Jake Beveridge and Luke Dockery, so it should be good times. I don't really even know if I'll be playing tomorrow, as I don't want to play on the Harding team since they have their own thing going on and I don't really want to interfere with that. There might even be enough to sort of form an alumni team...but we'll just have to see at some point.

There's been a number of things that have changed in the past year since I got here. The construction that was going on as soon as you got off Interstate 55 was finished, with a 4 lane road going on for about 4 or 5 miles once you first get off the interstate. There's a new Burger King across the street from the McDonald's on Beebe Caps and there's an IHOP next to the Wal-mart. That's about all the changes that I can remember right off the top of my head. I've been here for about 6 hours or so, and the first bit of it was spent just lounging around. I went with Brett to a concert in the Benson with a singer that I've never heard of before. She was pretty good, and it was mostly just mellow, bluesy, piano-driven ballads. We only stayed for about 4 or 5 songs, and then went for Sonic.

The drive down was really enjoyable, as I finally got to spend some time with Mandi and talk with her for more than a few minutes at a time or on the phone. It was good times, and probably one of the quickest drives down here to Searcy from Knoxville in a long time. It's really been a long time since Mandi and I were able to spend some time together like that, so it was really a good thing. After this weekend, back home for a couple, and then off to Charleston.

There has been some movement on the job front. I've been called by a company in Knoxville called AGT (Atmospheric Glow Technologies), and they were wanting to talk with me about a position that I applied to on Sept. 3. I haven't actually gotten a hold of anyone to talk with them yet, but I should on Monday, so maybe something good will come out of that. Just have to wait and see. I think it would be pretty cool, although I don't know if I really qualify as a Senior Technician...but maybe they'll have something that I can jump in with.

Last night was excellent. I didn't really know what to expect from the concert, but Keith Urban puts on quite the good show. He's one of those people that knows how to engage an entire arena. I had a good time there, and I'm pretty sure that Mandi did as well. As that was only my second concert, I'd have to say that I've been to 2 excellent, if rather different, concerts. Maybe I'll be able to go to a few more in the coming years if I can get myself a job and make some money.

I just realized that it's already 1:00 AM. And we got up way to early this morning after our late night...and all that driving...I'm out.

Excitement All Around

It's been a crazy week, and it's looking to be another one coming up. Of course, with Thanksgiving, we had family in town, and we all went to my grandparents house for a Thanksgiving dinner with my aunt and uncle and 3 cousins from Nashville. Speaking of the 3 cousins, they are all just about taller than me. The first is 6-3, the second is 5-10 or so, and the third is about 5-3 (and he's just 10 years old). I don't know what they're feeding them up there, but they're giants. My aunt and uncle on my mom's side from Missouri also came in for the weekend, so we got to spend some good time with them, and played lots of cards with my uncle as that is something we always do. Dustin was in for the weekend as well, so there was some good volleyball action going on as well. It was an excellent (tiring) weekend.

I don't know if it was out of stupidity or being tired or what, but I thought it would be fun to get up ridiculously early on Friday and go and see what specials we could pick up. There were a number of good deals that I saw in all the ads that I thought would be steals, so I suggested it to mom, and after talking for a bit, she got excited about the idea, so off we went at 4:30 in the morning to Knoxville to the shopping area that every guy would probably like to live in the middle of. You've got Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Lowe's, Circuit City, and 4 or 5 restaurants all in about a 300 yard circle. We just went and parked and then went to wherever we wanted to go. We waited outside Best Buy for about 45 minutes, which wasn't anywhere near as long as I thought that it would be, and managed to get some steals on electronic stuff and DVD's and such. Circuit City proved to be the longest wait of all, mostly because the store is small and so they couldn't have a lot of people in there at a time. I think I've gotten my share of this early morning shopping for a while...but who knows. Maybe next year it'll be the same. I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I'm camping out on Thursday afternoon to get in though...

This weekend will be my first trip back to Harding since Mandi graduated. We've decided that we'll be heading back to Armageddon II, mostly just to see friends and such, although I'm sure we'll end up playing some as well. I think I'm staying at Whitey's place with Stone and about 7 or 8 other guys that are going to be there for the weekend. It's going to be crazy. We're also going to a Keith Urban concert tomorrow night here in Knoxville, which should be good times. And a couple weeks from now I'll hopefully be in Charleston, SC if it works out with a place to stay and such. I'll need to get with Josh on that one...

The job hunt is going...slowly. I've had a little response from a recruiting company called Aerotek who has a few places that they are looking to place people that thought I would be a good fit for. They're currently compiling info on me to send to these companies and then reviewing it with them, and hopefully I'll be able to get an interview with one of them and maybe get myself a job here in a month or so. In the meantime, I've been looking for some type of temporary or part-time stuff, but nobody really is looking for any as far as I've found yet. Who knows. Hopefully something will come up soon in some fashion or other. I'd take rejection letters now just to know that it's actually being looked at. But oh well...I think this is probably the hardest part, just getting that first job. Once you've got some experience it surely can't be this hard. Oh well...it's back to the hunt for now.

Before Tomorrow Comes

The holiday season is here. In what is probably many people's favorite time of the year, we have almost a month where there are family get-togethers, an abundance of food, gift-giving and receiving, and just a general time of joy. It's funny, looking back at these times over the years that have passed, and just seeing how much has happened. At the same time, there's a lot that hasn't changed either. I just looked back over some of the things that I wrote about this time last year. Speaking of changes and everything...this time last year, I was finishing up some big projects for school, I was grading lab finals, I was playing in a frisbee tournament in Knoxville where Jake got his face busted, and Mandi was still at Harding. I am definitely looking forward to the end of this year though, and all of the things that will be happening over the next month.

Luke's last post on gratitude is an exceptional little piece on what we as Christians feel towards Christ for what he has done. I suggest you head over there and give it a read when you get the chance. Being as it is the Thanksgiving season, it is especially appropriate...which I figure is the reason that he wrote it. And there are many things to be thankful, and grateful, for, such as family, friends, and the many multitudes of blessings that we enjoy every day.

Along the lines of what Luke was saying, these blessings, and our own feelings about them, should compel us to make a difference. Something about Mandi that I've always admired is her desire to do something that will change the world. And I don't say that in a flippant manner, as it is something that she truly wants to do. And the more we've talked about what she wants, and the types of things that she's wanting to get involved in when she's finished up school and everything, I've seen just how much this means to her. I think that she sees how blessed she is, and she wants to go out and make a difference for people in any way that she can, wherever she can. She will do great things in the future.

I'm sorry to say that the attitude she exhibits is one that does not come easily to me, but I can't help but to be excited about it and want to help as well whenever she does talk about it. I have no idea what I will do that will have a huge impact, or whether anything I ever do will have what could be described as a huge impact, but the important thing is to get out there and do something. I have to thank Mandi for making me realize this. Given our incredible blessings, we should feel moved to go and make a difference for others who are not as fortunate as ourselves. Does that mean we need to move around the world in order to do this? Not necessarily. Does it mean you need to get out of your comfort zone? More than likely. All I know is that I need to take steps to make a difference. Before tomorrow comes, you could change everything. There's only one way to find out though.

Sun

I just wanted to mention, there's the question on the side panel now. If you feel like it, you're more than welcome to pick an answer. After a week I'll change it out and put up the answer to the previous week's question. We used to have the random mind-teaser thing a while ago, and I thought it might be fun to have it up again. I put one up last week...but it wasn't really that great of a question. This week's is quite a bit better I believe. It even appeals to Paul's history side. And who doesn't like something that involves Hannibal anyway? Just to clarify, we're not talking about Anthony Hopkins' character...in case that needed to be pointed out...

From a purely astronomical point of view, the sun is fairly average. It's of average size, it puts out an average amount of heat, it will live an average lifetime for a star. Taken in context with all the other stars in the universe, there really is nothing special about it. If you look at what it does for this particular area of the cosmos, however, you realize that it holds a very significant role. Were it not for the star that we call the Sun, there would not be life on this planet. There would just be no way that we could have survived. Granted, there are a number of other factors, but it just doesn't fit with what I'm trying to say to go in to all of those. I admit, I'm a fan of the sun. I love sunny days, especially in the fall and spring when it's bright and sunny, and yet not so hot that you start to sweat from walking out the door. I love days when you go to the beach, or to a park, or hiking in the mountains with a beautiful blue sky and the sun shining down. Sunsets can be some of the most beautiful natural events that happens so often that we easily come to forget about how pretty they really are. And even with how simple it seems from down here (we just get up in the morning, and up comes the sun for another day), there really is quite a bit going on to make it all work so that it actually emits energy that we get. There's so much that is still not understood about it. But it's still appreciated, and many times simply forgotten about as we expect it to work.

I have an album called Tension by a group known as Dizmas. Quite a strange name, and according to the band, "Dizmas is Greek; a lot of historians and theologians of the Bible believe that Dizmas was the name of the good thief on the cross next to Jesus. It's not biblical truth, so for us as a band, we don't necessarily claim it as absolute truth. The reason we decided to name ourselves Dizmas is more so that whenever somebody did ask us that same exact question (where did your name come from?), the first thing that we have to refer to is the day on the cross when Jesus Christ, in this guy's last breath, gave him a chance and gave him hope, and basically said "today you will be with Me in paradise." Just the hope for the thief that he had in those last minutes. That's kind of what we're trying to do is express hope to people found in Christ, and that's why we are named Dizmas."

The final song on that album (which is in the player coincidentally) is called 'Sun'. Now, if you listened to the song, and knew that the title was called 'Sun' but not the spelling, I think you would do as I did, and think that it was called 'Son'. Take a listen (it's about 2 minutes), and pay attention to the lyrics. I think that it's really easy to take God, who has made us and given us all these blessings, and to just get up in the morning and assume that he'll just keep on doing his 'job' while we go through our day. There is the easy trap to fall in to to just take the distant approach to God, and then say that there's nothing really all that special about it: 'Everyone has something that they believe in, so if yours is God, then that's great, for you'. And I think that's the approach that many now take today. But if you look closer, and move in for a more intimate view, you see that God is indeed special. He sent his Son to bring light to the world. His Son gives everlasting life. And His Son came willingly for us. We should be striving every day to serve Him because he deserves that from us. And because we should feel the need to serve Him, to show him some semblance of the love that he's shown us. How lucky we are, to have a Son do that for us, to show us that love in an incredibly personal way. Do I make you proud?

I'll Put Him In The Wall

Geico has always had fairly funny commercials, and this is probably one of their better ones, in my opinion. The first time I saw this I laughed quite a bit.

A Few Nights of Culture

This past weekend was quite busy. On Friday, I got to spend most of the day with Mandi for the first time in a while since she didn't have to go to Nashville for classes. It was a welcome break for her, as she's done for the semester. Just has a paper to write in the next couple of weeks. To celebrate, we went to Taste of Thai...possibly the best restaurant ever. At least when you're looking for Asian food. Josh, next time you're around here, we'll go to Magic Wok and then we'll go to Taste of Thai. You just can't be disappointed.

Saturday was filled with more work on the new additions in the house. Dad worked on getting wall studs put in so that we can put up electrical boxes for the room, which will allow electricity for the lighting and hot tub to get put in. I put on the second coat of paint in the room while he was drilling holes in the concrete floor. Maybe tonight we'll finish up some of the wall things in order to get the switches and such put in. It's coming along though. That evening, Mandi's dad had got tickets to a surprise something or other. I didn't know I was going, but at about 3:45 Mandi calls and says that there was a misunderstanding and I was supposed to be going with them. So I get going and show up to their place, and we leave about 5:40 with these mystery tickets. It turned out that the Knoxville Opera was doing a performance at a church in town, and since Mark's company was promoting it, he had gotten tickets for everything. So we were there from about 5:45 to 8:30 that night. Not the best example of opera as it was just piano and singing, but it was alright. Certainly nothing compared to Carmen that Mandi and I saw earlier in the year.

Sunday was a good day as well. Church in the morning, where we're doing an interesting study through the book of Acts. Yesterday's discussion centered on the story of Annanias and Sapphira. You remember the story, where they sell some land and bring the money, but falsely claim that they are bringing the whole amount that they received. They are both struck down and die immediately after they lie. The question that was discussed was mainly, why such a harsh punishment for this act? And how much blame could really be given to Sapphira who either had the choice of hanging her husband out to dry, or lying to Peter? Was she completely at fault herself? Or was it because she was married to Annanias and therefore was sort of brought along due to his sinfulness and harshly punished? It was interesting to think about.

Lunch was a spectacular Indian curry that Cathie made. I had not been a huge fan of my previous experience in Indian cuisine, so it was a pleasant surprise at how good this was. Actually, I think she said she got the curry from people from Qatar. So Qatar curry I guess is more appropriate for a description. The evening was finished off with a chocolate fest as one of the ladies in our small group was celebrating a birthday, so we brought all sorts of different chocolate desserts to the party. There was chocolate cheesecake prepared by a chef in our group, we made chocolate-peanut butter pie, there were cookies, chocolate fondue, ice cream cake...I'm pretty sure we were all on a sugar high. That might help explain some of why I'm not feeling all that well this morning...but it was worth it last night.

Something pretty cool that my mom does is the Foothills Craft Guild. Essentially it's a bunch of artists from around the area that are in this guild to show their crafts and artistic abilities. They are having a show this weekend where they are all displaying and selling their creations and such. It's really pretty neat. Mom will be displaying her Temari balls and her baskets that she makes, so she's pretty much frantically working on getting some things together since she's only been home for the past week or so. I've never actually gone to the show before, but Mandi and I plan on going this weekend at some point to look around. Should be pretty cool to see some of the things that people are making in the area. With all this culturizing (is that a word? I don't think so...) I don't quite know what I'll do with myself. I'll have to hold off for a while after this thought I'm thinking. Even so, in honor of culture (somewhat), the music in the player is from the Transformers movie score.

High on Paint

I have to say, I never thought it would take so long to paint such a small room. With the new additions to the house completed, and in an attempt to get most of mom's plants inside before the cooler weather kills them, we kind of went in to a frantic cleaning mode yesterday when the temperature was predicted to reach right around freezing. Brrr. First time all year, so off we go on a mad scramble to get room to move mom's plants in to the garage. In the two hours that we had, we were pretty successful. Of course, we didn't want them in the garage, so we failed miserable in that respect, but the addition requires a little work. First up is some waterproof sealer paint to be applied to the concrete blocks. So up I step to get this stuff painted. I think the room is maybe 10 feet by 18 feet or something like that. I figure it shouldn't take too long...but it took about 4.5 hours. And the latex paint that dad got was really pretty strong in terms of it's odor. My nose has been giving me this weird burning sensation all night. And I've felt a little weird...hopefully we'll be all good by tomorrow. Of course...there's the still the second coat to go.

Tonight I went with Mandi and her family down to Lauren's college (Bryan) in Dayton, TN to watch her in her last home volleyball game. They trounced the team they were playing 3-0 in a best of five series, and these were the conference champs. The college is quite small, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 students. The camps looked nice from what I could see of it. It's up on a hill, and I would imagine it's got quite a nice view if you have the chance to walk around and see it. It's just strange to me thinking of going to a college that has less people than the high school that you attended had. It seems like a nice school though, and judging by all the banners in their gym, they've got a pretty strong athletic program for such a small school. They even had Men's soccer. Take that UT.

Speaking of soccer, I added a Game of the Week description on the sidebar where I'll just put up a little blurb each week about the game that I'm most interested in from any of the leagues in the upcoming weekend. There's also a poll if you'd care to vote on it where you can pick who wins. So for the 5 people who regularly read this, there's a little something for you to do if you'd like. I was thinking there could be some cool prize or something, but there's not a whole lot that I can do in that department. I could perhaps proclaim your greatness on this blog the following day or something. How's that for incentive? Maybe we can even bet on it. This just keeps getting better. I just don't know how I'll get people what they've won. I guess if you vote and you're correct, you can have bragging rights or something. And I still need to implement a score guessing tie-breaker. How about if you actually do vote, post your score prediction as a comment, and we'll see how things go. Hoo-rah.

All Your Reasons

We've been having some very interesting discussions at our small group on Sunday nights. Our topics have been, well, the controversial ones I guess. The things like drinking/drugs, divorce, how to give, music in the church, etc. etc. I think next week is women's roles in the church. Although I'm not sure about that...it might not have been suggested actually. But at any rate, it's basically just a way for our group to discuss these types of issues, not with a goal of coming to a conclusion that we all agree with, but just to hear different people's opinions and other viewpoints that we might not have heard before. It's really been pretty neat, since there are a number of different backgrounds in our group, and getting to hear those differences, as well as just learning about new ways to view these things, has been pretty cool.

I think that one that surprised me a couple weeks ago dealt with giving. Apparently, this topic is quite a firestarter for some people, and I wouldn't have really guessed that. Some of the older people in our group have witnessed some heated debates about how to give, meaning, whether you should be putting something in the plate every Sunday, or whether you can give one lump sum one Sunday a month for the same amount. I wouldn't have really thought that it was an issue at all. Or whether you are obligated to be putting something in the plate every Sunday in the first place, since it's certainly not the only way that one can give. Am I saying that you should never put anything in monetarily? Absolutely not. But I certainly don't think that you should feel like you have to if your circumstances don't allow it.

Now, I know, we're certainly the most financially blessed nation, and even when we feel like we've got no money, we're really incredibly well off. I liked how our de-facto leader put it, when he said that giving comes of our abundance. And more importantly that money is not the only thing that we should be giving...it sadly just gets the most attention. I don't know...it's just been intriguing hearing these opinions, and all the reasons that people give for doing things a certain way.

One of the better things we've talked about deals with where you fall when the Bible is silent on an issue. You either see silence on a subject allowing you to go on with something since it is not expressly forbade, or you see it as a stop sign which you cannot cross. I think I fall in to the former category, although we've been in classes with other people that certainly fall in to the second group. And when you get in to these topics like divorce, or instrumental music, you get these viewpoints of what exactly we're supposed to do. Some will say that it's not mentioned that way in the Bible, so therefore we can't do it. Other's will say that the Bible is not our manual of minutiae and therefore shouldn't be expected to give example for every single little detail of our lives. (I'm not really entirely sure where I'm going with all this rambling...)

I guess in the end, for me at least, I just figure that you need to at least know all your reasons for doing and believing something. I don't think there will be ever be two people who will agree on all aspects of anything, whether it's religion-related or not. But if you know why you believe something, and you have your personal study to go with it, who's to say that you're wrong on something that's not said to be one way or the other in the Bible? I think on the whole the CoC is getting better about the "we're right, you're all wrong" thing that has given us the stigma that many others place on us. It's sad that it happens as that whole grace thing gets forgotten a lot it seems, but it's not like these types of issues will just go away.

I think what I'm learning is that I don't need to post stuff where I need to think this late at night. If this was incoherent, my apologies. Oh, one other thing of humor/surprise/shock. So, I go to church on Sunday, and I'm looking through the reading material during the slow periods (the announcement sheet) and see that church service for Wednesday has been switched to Tuesday. Now, we meet at the local YMCA, so you might think there would be a pretty good reasons, like maybe they were holding some meeting or the building was going to have some work done on it or something. Nope. They've moved it since Halloween is on Wednesday. I guess they wanted to make sure we work the Halloween spirit in to our week.

Different Directions

The camping trip that was last weekend was quite a bit of fun. As I said, it's weird being able to go camping and have it not get below the mid 40's up in the mountains in the middle of October. It was good times though, and having never really been up to Cumberland Gap it was pretty cool. There's a nice overlook where you can see Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee all at the same time. I would not recommend eating too much before you make the drive up to the top of the mountain though. At least, not if you're easily prone to motion sickness. Like I am. Ugh.

So, while I'm waiting to find out stuff from the UT interview that I had over a month ago now, I'm signing up to be a substitute teacher at the Oak Ridge schools. It's a pretty involved process, as I'll be going to get fingerprinted later on today, and I've apparently had a background check done as well. I guess they need to nowadays. But it should be fairly interesting. I don't know if I'll actually get around to do any teaching, as it depends on how quickly the UT stuff comes through and whether I get it or not, but as it seems like it will be at least 3 more weeks, I might be able to pick up a few extra bucks on the side. I don't really know how much preparation teaching a couple labs for a couple years gives me...but I figure it can't be that much different. Except that they'll be 12-18 years old instead of 18-19...I guess it's not that much of a difference. And besides, it never seemed like subs did anything except give an assignment and sit there and make sure they didn't burn the room down. We'll just have to wait and see how things go.

Speaking of substitutes...I'm sure everyone can remember the sub that was hated and dreaded above all subs when you were in school. I can't really remember having a cool sub...but then again, they don't get much of a chance to make an impression outside of reading the instructions and telling you to be quiet repeatedly. But there was one that everyone feared having, and that I honestly don't know why she kept up with it since she always seemed to be angry. And everyone always gave her grief as well. First, her name was Mrs. Muckenthaler. I think you can imagine where that might have been taken by a bunch of 16 year old guys. Second, she was older, so she had a hard time hearing anything. Third, she had a propensity for sending people to the office. I think I was in a class once that had 6 people sent there during one period. That had to be some kind of record. Oh well...hopefully those situations won't be what I'll be getting in to.

There's something a little different in the media player. It's a piece off The Bourne Supremacy soundtrack. Good stuff.

The Angel of the Lord

As I mentioned on Wednesday, Patrick Mead was in town giving some lessons over the course of the last week. Unfortunately, I had to miss the first 3 sessions (4 if you count Sunday morning class). Luckily, they are all taped, so I should be able to get some copies and listen to what he had to say at those times. But Wednesday's lesson was really quite interesting to me, as it was focused on something that I hadn't quite heard before. It dealt with the Angel of the Lord (otherwise, this post would be titled something different.

He started in John 1:1 where we learn about the Word being with God, and being the same as God and being there from the beginning. Of course, we know this to be Jesus. He then said that the first time Jesus had been on earth was not when he was born in Bethlehem, but rather from way back in Genesis. If you go to Genesis 16, you see that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar as she was fleeing from Abraham and Sarah. He talks with her, and sends her back to them. The time that I think his point was most apparent to me was in 2 Samuel 24 when David directly disobeys a command and counts the men of Israel. When David realizes his sin, God presents him with 3 options for punishment (vs. 13). David chose to suffer the plague rather than be turned over to his enemies. After 70,000 people had died, it says that the LORD was grieved and told the angel of destruction to stop. It says that the angel of the LORD was at the threshing floor of Araunah (vs. 16).

Of course, I'm not doing the argument any justice, since I'd only heard it one time. His argument was that the translation that we read as "Angel of the LORD", the Word, and Jesus are really all the same thing. The reason for John using the term "the Word" is because of how it was described in the Old Testament when referring to the "Angel of the LORD". He had a fancy word that I can't really remember at the moment for this particular idea, but it made equivalent John's description with those of the Angel of the Lord in the OT. I thought it was a pretty neat concept to think that Jesus had been on earth before he was born in to the world, and that even then he was interceding, and helping those in need of help. I really wish that I could do a better job of explaining it...maybe after I have the tapes and am able to hear it again. I will say that if you're ever in the area where he's speaking, it would be worth your while to go and hear him.

As a side-note, dad made it home fine yesterday after being in the air for about 15 hours, and awake for something closer to 30 probably. But everything is fine on that front. Mom comes home in a little over a week. On the agenda for this weekend is a camping trip with our small group from church up in Cumberland Gap State Park near the Kentucky border. Should be fun times. Who would have thought you could go camping in October and do fine in t-shirts and shorts?

Youth Retreat

I had the privilege of going on our church's youth retreat this past weekend, and basically spending the whole weekend playing around. I didn't really go on all that many youth retreats growing up since most weekends were usually spent either at soccer tournaments or piano related things, so I didn't really have the experience from a child point of view. But working at PBC and this past weekend has shown me some of the things that I probably missed out on. Our "your professionals" group had about 6 of us out there just helping out with our main purpose to be there and to hang out with the kids. The majority of the group was comprised of middle school aged kids, probably about 2 to 1 for high school aged people. The theme was following the voices you hear, related to sheep and their shepherds. This was used to facilitate building relationships not only with the elders of the church (who were out there for the majority of the weekend as well), but in also realizing the importance we each have in helping guide every other brother and sister to be more like Christ. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.

One thing that I learned not related at all to spiritual matters is that Mandi is ruthless at Knockout (where you've got 2 basketballs and the person that shoots second tries to make their basket first and get the person in front of them out). She went on a hot streak, and got about 7 people in a row out (including me) on her first shot. She'd just step up and drain it. She ended up winning that round, but it was pretty impressive. And it's not like she was just beating up on the 6th graders, as there were adults playing as well. I also learned a game called Ha! Yeah, that's the name. I can't really explain it on here...it's basically just a game of reactions with as many people as you want. And weird posing. And lots of yelling...like a ninja.

Patrick Mead is here this week at Highland View in Oak Ridge. I had heard him last spring when he had come to Farragut and really enjoyed his lessons. This week he is talking about the Battle being the Lords. We missed Sunday (due to the retreat and soccer), and Monday (since we were getting Mandi a new car). Yesterday's talk was on the Lord of Hosts and basically was about how there are times when God is that kind, meek person that you see depicted so often, but that at many other times, he is a warrior, a general, who commands legions of angels behind him to do his bidding. He's Irish, funny, engaging, and usually puts a new spin on things that you've heard many times before. I look forward to his lesson tonight on the Angels of the Lord. For a glimpse in to what he's like, check out his blog.

Dad gets home from Japan tomorrow at 5 PM, probably after flying for about 24 hours (or more depending on delays and such), so remember him if you could in your prayers. Mom comes home about a week and a half later if all goes to plan. My reign of terror at the house is coming to an end. I better get to work on getting things looking like a semblance of how they were before they left. It's really not that bad, I promise.

Selling It

I've been looking through a few Consumer Reports issues over the past few days seeing if Dad had saved any regarding cars (no luck on anything relevant for what I needed), and this back-page section caught my attention. You usually see things like this on Leno or Conan or something when they highlight humorous ads that seem pretty ridiculous. I guess sometimes you just have to do everything you can to get ahead in the world of advertisement.

Outside of that, things have been fairly low key. I was in Nashville on Friday/Saturday to watch some of the guys from Harding play at Itchfest, where they eventually got 3rd place. Not a bad weekend, and especially more-so after going undefeated on Saturday while playing against Vandy and UTK. There was even a sighting of Rufio somewhere in there, but it was hard to tell because he was wearing a black shirt...

I really hate this job hunting thing. It's been about 2 weeks since I've heard anything regarding the position that I interviewed for, and over the past couple days have tried calling and sending an email to get some more information on where the process stands and everything, but nobody answers the phone or responds to the email. Frustrating. On the bright side, I guess they would have called and said no thanks if they had moved on (you would think, anyway), so it's not all lost. I was just hoping that it would move along faster than this. Oh well. On the agenda? Guy's night tonight, which means wings at Wild Wings Cafe. Excellent. Helping out for a day at the church youth retreat this weekend. And then finding ways to help Mandi relax and enjoy her first weekend where she won't be traveling in probably about 2 months. Good times.

These Hard Times

It's been a rough day. Mandi has had bad news about her car, and I believe that I pulled my hamstring tonight playing frisbee in an attempt at a D. At the moment it doesn't feel too terrible, but I have a feeling that tomorrow will be quite a bit worse. For the moment, though, it's sleeping with it elevated, and putting ice packs on it and attempting to stretch it. I've never really had a pulled muscle in all my years of sports, which is quite surprising because I am certainly not a very flexible individual. I've had all sorts of problems with cramping, but never a pull. I guess I just don't really know what to do, but we'll see how it goes. Maybe it'll turn out that I just tweaked it a little, and I'll be good as new tomorrow. One can only hope.

Being one of the 3 shows that I watch on TV on a regular basis, I was remiss in not inviting all who read this (I'm sorry if you're among those...) that House started again on Fox last Tuesday. Seeing as how it is once again a Tuesday, the second episode of the season aired tonight. It started quite promisingly last week, and for those of you (Paul) who failed to see the end of last season, you'll probably be confused at what is going on (but rest assured when you get back I'll hopefully have all the episodes from where you left off). But it looks like it's going to be a good season, and who can really not love the character of House anyway. Hugh Laurie is quite the actor, and I'm inclined to think that I should maybe see some of the other things that he's been in. If you're new to the show, let it be known that he's British, and if you hear him speak on the show, you'd never guess. In addition to being a talented musician, he's a skilled actor who really makes that show tick. Catch it if you have the time.

The UEFA Champions League continues with Matchday 2 today and tomorrow. It's unfortunate that ESPN2 has been stuck with some pretty boring games the past 3 broadcasts. Not that it's their fault, as Manchester United is a potent attacking force with some brilliant players, but they have failed to spark the imagination this term, and has led to some rather slow games. Tomorrow is Liverpool vs. Marseille, but I don't know if it will be much better given Liverpool's previous outing. Of more interest are the games on ESPN Classic that air at 5 ET that show Barcelona and Real Madrid playing. It is still early in the season, so it can only get better from here though.

In music news, today was the release of the matchbox twenty retrospective album "Exile On Mainstream". This is exciting for me since they were the first band that I actually bought an album of, and the fact that I like their music, and they haven't done anything new for 5 years (their last release was in November of 2002). If you head to their web-page you will get to hear the 6 new tracks that they've written for the album (including the track for the title of today's post). Of the 6, I probably like All Your Reasons the best, but all 6 are good. They are certainly different compared to their earlier songs, mainly due to the fact that the band as a whole is writing the songs, rather than their lead singer Rob Thomas writing everything on his own. I think the collaboration does the band well, especially since Thomas has a successful solo career as well after his 2005 release. At any rate, I'm excited about the new songs, and looking forward to what they do in the next couple years.

I got to see one of the funniest Sonic commercials to have come out for a while last night. It was the husband-wife team, with them enjoying the new ice latte's I believe. So they're drinking them, and the wife says, "Ha! I've got a mustache!" The guy casually continues drinking his while saying, "You can only see it in direct sunlight." The wife glares. And I can't stop laughing. Classic.

A Little Humor...

I don't usually post twice a day, but I completely forgot about this little clip that Mark Pratt showed me the other night, and it's really quite hysterical. It's a guy on the phone calling a buddy of his and he witnesses an accident. You'll have quite the laugh listening to it as well. Trust me, it's funny.

My Home

For the next 3 weeks, I have the house. It's just me and the cat running the whole place. I'm sure my mom is terrified. She kept telling me that she wanted it all to look the same as it did when she left...I don't know why she's personally so worried about it. It's not like I'll be calling up all sorts of people to have wild parties out here and everything over the next few days...or will I?

That reminds me of a classic story from the days of 1106 where the Murphy's and some other good friends lived for a year. It involved the "Shaggin' Wagon", a Friday evening, and some girls at Harding. Seeing as the 1106 guys were taking it easy on this particular Friday evening, they decided to go out and about in Paul's affectionately remembered minivan. It was amazing how long that van ran for them. I think it's still going somewhere. At any rate, they all piled in to the van and went driving around. I think some of them might have even had some goodwill suits on (although I might be confusing that with another story). As they were driving, they happened across the girls laundromat on campus, and seeing as there were a number of women inside doing their laundry (on a friday night?), they thought they might go in and ask them if they'd like to go and hang out for a while. How serious they were about this proposition, I don't really know, but it elicited a classic Harding response. After the question was asked if any of them would like to go out and party and have some fun, one of the girls said, "We don't party here". Dejected, the guys in the shaggin' wagon had to spend the rest of the evening by themselves. At least, that's how I remember it being told. You'd have to ask P-Murphy himself for the actual account. Mandi and I frequently joke about "not partying" in mockery of that whole story. I mean, I know sometimes you just have to get the laundry done...but really. And who wouldn't want to hang out with the guys from 1106 anyway? Well, maybe not the present occupants, but the ones from 2 years ago were certainly top-notch.

The song that's in the player now reminds me, however, that my home is not this earthly place that we inhabit at the moment. Our home is with God and Christ, and that one day we will be reunited with him. It's essentially the same theme as the classic hymn "This World Is Not My Home" but...rockified? And different lyrics. Here they are:

This place is many things, but I'd never call it home,
It's just a building in a city, everywhere I go
This place is many things, but I can't call it home,
Home is the place you are and I just wanna let you know

And I've done a few things I wasn't proud of,
I've said a few things that hurt you,
But you're still the only one who fills me up,
And every night spent alone, was worth it

You are my home, you are my everything, when I feel so alone,
You are my home, you are my shelter, when all my hope is gone

And I've seen many things, but they don't look like home,
They're just the bright lights from a city glowing all night long,
And I've seen many faces, but they all look the same,
Home is the place you are, and I just wanna let you know

That I've done a few things I wasn't proud of,
I've said a few things that hurt you
But you're still the only one who fills me up
And all the tears that we've shared were worth it

You are my home, you are my everything, when I feel so alone,
You are my home, you are my shelter, when all my hope is gone
You are my home, you are my everything, when I feel so alone,
You are my heart, you are the one, when it all comes undone
When it all comes undone, when it all comes undone

At times it's difficult to remember that we are supposed to be in the world but not of the world. My home, for eternity, is with Christ. Mandi, I hope the title made more sense to you this time around.

Long Time Gone

It's once again been quite a while since I've done any type of update on here. It's been an interesting couple weeks. I had an interview last Monday for a job here in Knoxville. I feel like it went well, but it will be at least another week before they are able to officially hire anyone, due to restrictions and EEO requirements forcing them to leave job openings open for at least a week. So, if they decide to hire me, I won't know about it for at least another week, if not 2 weeks or so. In the meantime, I guess it's more applications and searching until I hear one way or the other.

I also got to spend the weekend playing some ultimate with most of the guys from Harding that I played with for a couple years. It was fun, tiring and hot, but all in all good times. It was great to see guys like Luke and Will Dockery, Rufio, Brett, Jordan, Whit and others that I hadn't seen since about the same time last year for the most part. We ended up getting 4th place in the tournament, which wasn't bad, although we did pretty much fall apart in the last game that we lost, going from leading 7-3 to losing 15-12 I believe. The only things missing were the Murphy boys and J. Bland. One of these days we'll have to try and put together a "Master's" team of some sort and get everyone together and play a tournament. I don't know if that would ever be possible, but it would certainly be fun. And I would be remiss if I didn't give mention to the Park Avenue CoC who allowed about 35 odd players to stay at their building and use their facilities, in addition to preparing all of us dinner on Saturday evening. Their kindness and hospitality were greatly appreciated.

My parents are leaving on Thursday morning for Japan. Dad will be gone for 3 weeks, and mom will come home a week and a half later. They will be touring through different parts of Japan, and then spending about a week at my Grandmom's place in Tokyo. It should be a good trip for them, and if you could pray for their safety it would be much appreciated. At the rate that they're going, next year they'll both be gone for a month, and then who knows how long after that. So I'll have the house to myself for 3 weeks and have to take care of everything around here. Should be fun stuff.

I've been trying to think of a favorite moment from this past weekend relating to the frisbee, and I'm having a hard time of it. Outside of playing again with guys like Luke, Will and Kevin Chastine, there isn't really any stand-out moment. I guess my best personal moment was after dropping a pass that led to a score for the other team, I came out the next point, caught 4 tough passes, and made the scoring touchdown pass all while completely owning my man on offense. I guess that running over the past few weeks paid off after all.

Play It Safe

I have good news on the job hunt front. The other day, a church friend that works at UT sent me an email about a research group that works on things related to soil erosion with world-wide implementation of ideas that they have formulated. They're currently looking for someone, and so he gave them my name. I talked with a member of the group briefly today, and they are wanting to interview me on Monday. So...if everything goes well, I might have myself a job in the next few days. It looks like fairly interesting work, I'd be in a research group, and be doing something that's being used everywhere in the world. We'll just have to see how it goes, but it's looking promising at the moment. No sense getting ahead of ourselves though...

I feel I have been remiss, being an avid soccer fan, to have not made any mention of the FIFA Women's World Cup that is currently going on in China. The best women's teams from around the world are competing in their soccer championships. Action picks up again tomorrow morning. While we're on the soccer theme, this past week saw the return to action of the national teams as Euro 2008 qualifying began again in earnest. England impressed, posting back-to-back 3-0 wins to revive their chances for qualifying, while France was stunned by Scotland at home. Most of the other results went according to plan. In addition, the US played Brazil in a friendly, with the final score being 4-2 to Brazil, and starting next week, the UEFA Champions League picks back up for the 07/08 edition. All sorts of exciting stuff.

Seeing as how I've not really got anything else to say, I'll call it quits.

Things Better Left...Unseen?

The other day, after dinner, dad said that he was going to the church to play some basketball. I had asked who all would be there, and he wasn't entirely sure but that a friend of ours had said he should come out and play for a while. Dad was a pretty good player back in the day, but it's been quite a while since I've seen him go play b-ball. Well, having not run yet yesterday, I figured I'd go along as well as it would be a good little bit of exercise. So I ended up going, and it turns out that they don't play full court. A league here in Oak Ridge plays a half-court 3-on-3 style game, where you play to a certain score, usually 25 or 30 or so. It turns out to be a good workout, but for the older guys, it's essentially 3-point shooting practice since the game-plan is to pass the ball around, and hit a 3 at the first opportunity. Maybe once every 10-15 possessions or so someone will drive the basket, but that's about it. I still got myself a good bit of high-intensity running in though, since I would just chase the ball around. At any rate, I talked with Mandi later in the evening, and mentioned that I'd attempted to play basketball, which anyone that knows me would know that it's a lost cause. But she said she couldn't even picture me trying to play. Which got me to thinking of other things that I didn't want to ever have to try and picture or see myself attempting...

1) Basketball
Reason that I shouldn't be pictured attempting this - I'm Asian. Enough said

2) Visual Art
Reason that I shouldn't be pictured attempting this - Have you seen anything I've attempted to draw? Be thankful if you haven't. I might be the worst pictionary player in the world, and if you can't even draw to get someone to guess what you're attempting in that game...well, you're bad.

3) Ballet/Gymnastics
Reason that I shouldn't be pictured attempting this - Does this really have to be spelled out?

4) Bodybuilder
Reason that I shouldn't be pictured attempting this - Well, besides the fact that it's disgusting, I sure can't think of why this would be your objective in life. And have you seen the female ones? If they need a commercial about what drugs can do to you...

That's about all I can come up with at the moment in between attempting to find jobs and such. If you've got suggestions, I'd like to hear them. Tonight, it's wings and a movie with the guys from church. 3:10 to Yuma is on the schedule, and Wild Wings Cafe is the dinner. Should be quite the evening.

Reaching Out...

Yesterday, for our small group meeting, we went to a new group that was being started by some of the older members and more knowledgeable teachers that would focus on having an environment to allow people to bring friends or acquaintances to a non-threatening bible study. Our group went along just to help support the leaders and to have a few people there, since a number of our usual group were gone on either vacation or personal reasons. Essentially, the point of the group as defined by them is to have a place where people can bring questions or things that they want to study, and that will be the objective for the day. That way, if you meet someone who you don't feel would be comfortable in an intense study within a particular group, you can bring them there and allow them to dictate more of the direction if they should feel so inclined. I think it's a good idea, and it would do well for new Christians or people seeking to learn more. However, I don't know if that's how it will end up working in practice.

The main problem that I had with what was discussed last night dealt with the mind-set of the people that are going to be leading it. After a prayer and some of the usual chat when you've got people together, we got into some discussions. Well, the older people got in to some discussions while I sat back and listened. Now, I respect the older members of the church, as I feel like they have unique wisdom and insight, but I also feel like a lot of what they say is based on traditions, and that they go to Scripture in order to support their traditions. People were saying that if it's not expressed in the Bible, then they won't go along with it, but then they go on to make assumptions about things that are said in order for it to fit their view. Is that not contradictory? Maybe it's just me...

The main point of the evening was talking about unity. Do I think that unity is a good thing and that we should strive for it? Absolutely. But it comes to the point of what you define as unity. My impression was that unity, for the majority of older people was that everyone should become CoC. Stereotypical of Coc, but clearly evident here. They spent probably about half an hour talking about how some of them grew up in the Baptist church, and how they now felt that they had to go and show them how they were wrong and we were right. Are you kidding me? When I think of unity in regards to religion, I think of Christian unity. Not CoC, Baptist, Catholic, or any other type of unity. If you think that unity is making everyone believe what you believe so that there aren't differing ideas, that's not unity.

And then I got to thinking about how that type of discussion would have worked had there been someone there visiting or seeking to learn. What would their impression have been? Probably that we view ourselves as holier than thou and that it's either our way or no way, and if you can't accept that, then we will ostracize you and not give you the light of day until you come around to what we think. It seems to me like that is not a good way to go about reaching out to people who perhaps have never heard the Gospel.

What ever happened to things such as grace? Is it our right to take the place of God and decide who is right, who is wrong, who is saved, and who isn't? Yes, we need to stand firm in our faith, and we need to teach those around us that do not know Christ. But there needs to be love and understanding to go along with it. And you need scriptural back-up. Not tradition, with scripture turned in the direction you want it. I don't claim to be right, or to know everything. For all I can tell, I might be way off on my own island in the middle of nowhere. But at least for me, the idea of unity being everyone to CoC or in the wrong...that misses the point. And to me, it's concerning if that's the type of mindset that people leading this group are going to take.

It's Just An Illusion...

I've always enjoyed magic. Way back in 1991 I saw my first magic show on TV. It was a David Copperfield special, that he used to run every year. Dad had watched them, and this was the first one that I was able to watch, or that I was interested in watching. A few years later he came through Knoxville, and my family went along to see the show. I don't remember a whole lot about that first show, except for his entrance and exit. The entrance was done in an empty box, along with a motorcycle. The finale was him riding that motorcycle onto a lift that took him up about 20 feet above the stage. The bottom fell out of it, and he reappeared about 3 rows behind us on the motorcycle. Needless to say, I was impressed.

I always looked forward to the specials, and for a while there were a number of magic shows on TV just at random. I even got myself a magic book that did some sleight of hand tips and tricks. About a year ago, Copperfield came back through Knoxville, so of course my family and I had to go. There were a bunch of new tricks, a number that we had seen in his last TV special. The most impressive of these dealt with audience members. In one, they take one audience member anywhere they want in the world. Whether they really do go to places like the Caribbean or Hawaii or not is up for debate, but it's sure believable and amazing. The other involves bringing 13 audience members up to the stage and making all of them disappear, and then reappear in the back of the auditorium almost instantly. If you get the chance to see him live, I would highly recommend it.

At any rate, all of that since I decided to put up one of his best illusions. It's portrayed as an escape, but it's really one of the best illusions that I've ever seen done. If you've not seen it before, you're in for a treat.

Blessed Are The Meek...

An interesting thing happened this past week at church. Actually, at 2 churches. There's the one that I attend in Knoxville, and then there is Highland View in Oak Ridge where I grew up. Last week due to a number of circumstances, Mandi ended up going to church in Oak Ridge, while I went to Knoxville. The OR church had a guest speaker, their last in a summer series that they've been having for a number of years. I don't particularly remember what Mandi said the main message was about, but she mentioned that they talked a good deal about the passage dealing with turning the other cheek (Matt 5:39), and that the meek will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5).

As Mandi related this particular part of the lesson, and what it was that bothered her about it, I realized how much it bothered me as well. The speaker for the evening had talked about how difficult it would be for him to turn the other cheek if someone were to come up and threaten him and his family. He also talked about how it'd be better for someone that would break in to his home and attack his family to not be there when he got home, since he might be inclined to not show restraint. What?!? I wasn't there, but the way Mandi explained it made it seem as if the speaker would rather come home late after everything had happened, and give it a few days before doing anything about it. Luckily for him, apparently his wife wasn't in attendance.

She was also there for class on Sunday morning, where they were apparently following up on this subject, or at least it turned to it. The idea of meekness came up, and one of the ladies who teaches the younger children began saying how difficult it is for her to teach children the concept of turning the other cheek, and taking things without reacting. I don't know, but it just seems like the church wants a bunch of people that will just take anything regardless of who it might be harming.

It was quite the coincidence, however, when at church on Sunday in Knoxville, the exact same message was coming up, but with a completely different view. Our preacher addressed the idea of turning the other cheek in a way that I hadn't heard before. He stated that the idea of being struck on the cheek is like that of an insult, as a cultural type of insult. Therefore, turning the other cheek does not refer to allowing someone to just pummel you with punches, but that you do not react to someone that is hurling insults at you. You don't fight their insults with insults of your own, but rather you take them, and allow them to spew venom without reducing yourself to their type of mentality. I hadn't heard of it approached in that manner, but it appeals to me much more than the idea that everyone in the church should simply allow someone to run all over them and take advantage of them while we stand by and do nothing.

The other passage dealing with meekness required a definition of the word. What do you think of when you hear the word meek? I picture some pansy guy that can't do anything, and everyone is able to do whatever they want to him because, well, he won't do anything to defend himself. Here's the very first definition from Merriam-Webster. Meek: 1) enduring injury with patience and without resentment. I hadn't thought that someone described as meek could have a chance at having something good to describe them. But that's exactly what is being described in the passage. The meek will inherit the kingdom. This doesn't mean people that just roll over and give in to everything, and let everyone else run all over them. No! It means that people that can endure the hardship that will come, those that can handle the ridicule of claiming Christ, that can "turn the other cheek" at those that would mock, they will inherit the kingdom.

I found it incredibly refreshing to hear that message on Sunday, especially in contrast to the ones that Mandi heard. Why does everyone in the church feel like we should all just take everything, never defend ourselves, or each other for that matter, in times when anyone in their right mind would defend themselves? How can a speaker get up and say that if someone were to break in to his home and attack his wife that he had better be gone before he gets home since he might react badly? Jesus didn't come here and hope that he didn't offend anybody. He didn't just take things that were clearly wrong, and just allow it to continue out of "meekness". Is there a time to be humble? Of course. Does that mean that the church should be made of women, and as my preacher put it, effeminate men? I sure hope not.

Boomsday

Every Labor Day weekend here in Knoxville, there is a festival known as Boomsday. I'm not entirely sure how it originated, but 20 years ago, the people of the city of Knoxville thought that it would be a good idea to hold a fireworks show down on the Tennessee River. It's actually quite the deal, if you're brave enough to deal with the excessive traffic. There are vendors and live music all down the river-front all day long, and from about 9:30-10:00, you are treated to the best fireworks display that I've ever seen. The fireworks are shot off from the Henley Street Bridge, which is closed for the entire day to allow for set-up, as well as from the adjacent Baptist hospital, and another bridge a short distance away. The show is set to music that is broadcast over the radio. This year, there were fireworks that exploded in the shapes of cubes, smiley-faces, and stars, they were lit and hanging from the bridge in a type of waterfall, they were shot down in to the river where they then exploded up out of it...basically it was an assault on the eyes and ears for 20 minutes. And it's spectacular. If you're ever in the area by chance during Labor Day weekend, set aside a few hours on Sunday evening, and come see it. Should you come, pick your seat wisely, as being too close to the river might not be all that great. Mandi and I were across the street from the river, and up the hill a little ways, and during the sequence where the fireworks were being shot in to the river, one of the flares that exploded up didn't go quite as high as it probably should have. This resulting in a flaming ball coming down right in the middle of all of the spectators on the street. This particular one happened to land about a foot in front of these two ladies, who managed to jump out of the way right at the last minute. They proceeded to continue backing up after they managed to calm themselves and get back on their feet.

I really wish that I had some funny story related to fireworks, but there's not all that much to draw from. I think I've got two of them, both from a while ago, and given how terrible my memory is, I could just be making it all up for all I know. The Boren's used to live right up the street from us, and we'd be over there frequently visiting, and playing with their kids. Well, at some point we thought it'd be fun to shoot off bottle rockets, so we got a whole bunch of them and some old glass coke bottles and went out to their front yard to fire them off. Well, we started off with them on the ground, but quickly decided that it'd be more fun to hold the bottle so we could aim where they went better. Let's just say that the idea sounded a lot better in principal than in practice, as I think we managed to shoot a number of bottle rockets directly in to their neighbors garage and in to pretty much every tree within 30 feet around their house. It was fun though.

The second one comes from high school, when a group of friends were out during the 4th. We had just grilled out and eaten, and decided that we should shoot fireworks. Now, the city of Oak Ridge has a ban on fireworks within city limits, but since they were out in the outskirts, we figured we may as well shoot them off anyway. So we went down the street a ways, and found a patch of (what we thought was) dirt. So we go and light the fuse on this big box of fireworks (not too much unlike what they've used at camp for the "big show"), and back up and wait for it. Well, they go off alright, but one of them doesn't do as well as it should, and ends up shooting up, spinning over, and going right in to the dry grass that's right next to where we set it up at. Well, there's still a good portion of the box to go, and for all intents and purposes, it looks like the grass is catching on fire. Luckily, it doesn't catch too much, and we put it out once the box emptied. We decided maybe we should hold off on the rest of them. We walk back, and pass a cop on the way. Either it was just sheer coincidence, or someone called us in.

At any rate, you can't ever go wrong with some fireworks entertainment. Just be careful of the neighbors house, or some flammable grass being nearby.