Clarification

Just to clarify, the little girl in the last post is NOT my child. I think a few people were confused. It is just an internet "viral video" that's being passed around right now.

...although our Kalli has said her fair share of interesting things...

Kassie's take on Monsters

I know I've not blogged much lately, and every time I do it's rather shallow and pointless, but you've really got to see this. Every time I watch it it gets funnier (especially the sentence she says at the :15 second mark).

You know you're a parent if...

Only the father of a toddler would find this interesting enough to post to his blog. I present to you... the voice of and the man behind (up-under?) Elmo:

Meatless Eatin'

I've been slowly moving in the vegetarian direction for some time now and have really enjoyed getting to eat some new things. Saturday night I made this. Wow, that sauce is pungent! It was really good, and I'll probably make it again...

Dumplings
2-3 cakes Med. firm tofu pressed and mashed
2 Tablespoons (peanut butter)
3 Tablespoons tamari soy sauce
4 scallions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms (6 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup diced water chestnuts

Sauce
1 1/2 cups pineapple, orange, and/or apple juice
1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, or brown sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
2 Tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water

In large bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the tofu dumplings. Shape into approximately 2 dozen 2 inch balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Bake at 375* for 45 minutes, until golden and firm.

Combine all the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch in a stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and simmer, stirring continuously, until the sauce is clear and thickened.

Pour the sauce over the dumplings and serve immediately. Serve with rice and steamed vegetables.

Rockin with the Big Boys

Less than a few weeks since I posted about how I much I enjoy my friends' band Waltz for Venus, I've been invited to join the band... on piano/keys, guitar, and bg vocals. Big rock show in less than 2 weeks.

_____________________
//Sent via T-Mobile Sidekick 3//

Reflections in a MegaChurch Coffeehouse

Here I am, sitting at my 3-day church conference in Alabama.

One of the many realizations that I've made this trip is that I have a love/hate relationship with the church.

On one hand... to be quite honest, there can be such a hokeyness to it all. Take the conferences: the idea swapping with overly nice 40-something dudes in polo shirts and khakis. The strategic planning that won't make it any further than the car ride home. The incessant head nodders taking notes to help make their church too into a golf-cart shuttling, TV-station hosting, bookstore-sporting MegaChurch. Top this off with the look-at-me presenters who, while probably meaning well, have a look-at-what-I've-done air about them.

Then there's the contemporary worship, with its dramas and stage lights and bad music. Its silly pop culture rip-offs and poorly produced videos.

There's also doctrine and theology, which opens such a bag of worms that I won't even begin to go into.

And on the other hand? It's beautiful. It meets the needs - real or imagined - for many people. It invites me to be less judgemental, seeing everything and every seemingly un-hip person and procedure as exactly what it is and should be. It kicks me in the ass when I realize that everything that drives me nuts about it is less a reflection of the church than it is of myself.

It's a place that opens people to service and giving and community and God. It gives ordinary people like me the opportunity to use their gifts and creativity to work in a Mini-Hollywood with sets and props and rockstars and production. It downplays separation by connecting people together and then inspiring them to just be better people when they're interacting in their workplace. When it's done correctly it shuts out no one and is the great equalizer - giving love and meaning to the ones the world pisses on. It is what it is - and it doesn't deserve my negative criticism; it reminds me that all things are positively perfect.

So, now, as my eyes roll up in my head at the guy with the FBI Jesus ("Firmly Believe In...") who just walked into the church's in-house Bookstore to purchase a book that I would probably consider spiritually and theologically premodern/barberic, I'm gently reminded of the love and order that undercurrents all that is and my own need to be more accepting. And while most of the world - and myself, much of the time - sees the church as either silly, outdated or misguided, I'm enamored with it and I freakin' love it.
_____________________
//Sent via T-Mobile Sidekick 3//

I'm goin' to Alabamy with a Banjo on my knee

Sorry I've been an absentee blogger friend this week...

The staff at work are going to a Conference in Alabama from Friday to Sunday and I'm losing 2 days of work because of it... so I've been "cramming" (see also: busy).

At any rate, I shall return on Monday with unlimited new knowledge of... uhm... Well, I'll see you on Monday.

Earworm / Feb '07

In the unexpectedly excellent animated film "Open Season," Elliot the deer finds a discarded coffee in the trash can. He says: "Ew. EW. EW! It's terrible and wonderful at the same time! It's like freedom in a cup!"

Terrible and wonderful at the same time. That's the phrase I would use to describe how I feel about this song (below). I know I shouldn't like it... being pretty awful and all... but for some reason every time I wake up at night or when I'm laying in bed in the morning, it's there - singing that goofy Supertramp rip-off hook until I bang my head against the wall four or five times to make it go away.

So, watch this video 2 or 3 times and tell me you don't wake up w/ it. Or, then again, maybe you shouldn't.


Gym Class Heroes: "Cupid's Chokehold"

Honesty on TV

Thanks to Renegade Buddha's post on the same topic, I spent a few minutes this morning watching this amazingly honest, transparent and compassionate clip from the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

It is a rare moment in television when a man has the guts to step off the media train and speak from his heart about injustice and vulnerability.

It's a bit lengthy and (maybe due to high traffic) seems to take a while to load, but it's definitely something to watch.

Ferguson Speaks From the Heart (YouTube)

Waltz for Venus

Friday night I went to the Waltz for Venus show in Lafayette. WFV includes 2 of my old high school friends and has become the single best local band around.

Anyway, I just want you to swing by their Myspace page and listen to the tracks from their new, yet-to-be-released EP. All kidding aside, I think "Suspicion Will Destroy Us" could rule Pop/Rock radio if anyone ever picks it up.

And, just for good measure, here's a silly pic from Friday night of myself (doing the Zoolander face) and Jay - their lead singer - and a box of Nerds.

Pronoia

I've struggled with deciding whether or not to make this a public recommendation**.

I've been blessed to start a new adventurous outlook on life - all summed up in a crazy, amazing book called "Pronoia" by Rob Brezsny.

Pronoia is the OPPOSITE of paranoia. Paranoia, of course, is thinking that the world is awful and out to get you. Pronoia is experiencing the universe as conspiring to shower you with blessings. This book is a call to see the world as good, to see evil as boring, to be a kick-ass bearer of divine love, to be a creator of beauty wherever you are.

Brezsny's huge workbook sized Pronoia is NOT a New Age-y, feel good, kittens and bubbles kind of book. This is a book you will need to take off of your coffee table when reading-age kids and conservative-types are likely to pick it up. It's raw, unashamed and even raunchy - but overflowing with truth, beauty and love. **If you (1) offend easily or have any aversion to (2) alternative expressions of spirituality or (3) ecstasy and joy, please don't bother. If, however, you're tired of doom-and-gloom news, mindless entertainment, and negative worldviews, please do yourself a favor and give Pronoia a chance.

Part of me wishes the writer would've toned things down a bit for the average reader. As one reviewer said on Amazon, "I don't always agree (or necessarily understand) every last suggestion in the book--some of it is really out there--but the more important thing is that it's all done in good spirits, and it sends you off thinking about what you can come up with on your own to make life a little bit better." Brezsny is simply trying to crack us open to see all of life - the profound and the profane - the outrageous and the ordinary - as very special, as exciting, as beautiful and electric with love.

Tommy, Jon, Andrew, Julie, Kevin(s), Darrell, Celeste... I'm calling you guys out in particular. Let me know if you get this and what you think!

Blizzard '07

Yes, that is the top of a Speed Limit sign.

...from the inside of my garage...

...the front door...

...the back yard - that is a 3-4 foot cable box sticking up in the back left...

...front of the house 1, 2 and 3...

Pink Noise Rocks It

Saturday night was our Pink Floyd tribute band's first real show. It was fantastic. I'm so honored to be playing with these people... they rock big time.

It was a lot of FUN. This is the first time in a long time that I've been in a band that wasn't really trying to "get anywhere" - i.e. advance our "careers," or sell CDs, or ...

This is just a hell of a lot of fun.

SATURDAY'S SETLIST:

"Shine On You Crazy Diamond"

"Wish You Were Here"

"Hey You"

Dark Side of the Moon:
"Speak to Me"
"Breathe"
"On the Run"
"Time"
"Great Gig in the Sky"
"Money"
"Us and Them"
"Any Colour You Like"
"Brain Damage"
"Eclipse"

"Comfortably Numb"

Maybe the Best Quote Ever

"The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire."

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

(Artwork: "The Love Embrace of the Universe" by Frida Kahlo)

Garbage = Energy

Remember in Back to the Future when they used the "Mr. Fusion" to power the DeLorean with their trash?

It turns out Purdue University (which happens to be a 7-minute drive from my home) has developed such a machine. It'll be used in the military first, then hopefully downsized (it's huge currently) and used for normal civilian usage... say, in automobiles?

Check it out... very cool!