Well, it's been a weird week so far... i'm currently watching/burning to DVD the last game of the NBA Finals to free up what is apparently unneeded space on my DVR since there's nothing on television anymore... i can't wait for the return of Psych, Monk, The Closer and Burn Notice... maybe even more, but those four come to mind right now... until then, we'll have to settle for whatever we can scrape up from good old netflix... dang, another three-pointer from Ray Allen...

I've also been reliving the days when i watched the NBA regularly by moving my old video tapes of the 1996 NBA Finals onto DVD as well... how great would it be to see Jordan, Pippen, Harper, Rodman and Longley square up against Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, and Perkins... oooooh... that's the ticket... i can't hardly BELIEVE that it was TWELVE YEARS AGO... crazy...

Of course, i've also been doing a lot of reading as well and my updates are below... it looks i'll be able to go in for the kill and finish at least one of those books this week... possibly two, but at least one... and as they get checked off, you can expect brief little reviews in keeping with my agreement with the reading club thingamabob...

Okay, let's move on shall we... this game is wrapped up and i'm ready to get this blog party started...

CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER
to the tune of Still Suspicion Hold You Tight - Black Rebel Motocycle Club

Okay, so i've mentioned before, probably several times that i enjoy playing the games online... particularly word games, but i've been known to delve off into puzzle games and other nonsensical flash-based games as well... and when it comes to word games, i like to win... and i do win a lot, but not always... i'm okay with losing and whenever it happens, i try my best to take it with grace...

And so it was that after handily defeating someone at a particular word game and then losing the rematch as they improved their score significantly it was a logical next step for me rematch again and dig in for the "rubber match"... Well, my scores remained pretty consistent, but their score, again, improved significantly on the back of a string of perfect rounds... chalking it up to good luck on their part and still wanting to win, i opted for another rematch...

However, as i watched them kick off the opening rounds with more perfect scores, my suspicions got the better of me... i researched the possibility of cheating in such a game as this... previously it hadn't even occurred to me, but the suspicion holds me tight as they say and as it turns out, it is possible and there is no doubt in my mind that this individual was juicing up their scores... that last game - and it's the last i'll ever engage in with this particular person - unfolded with perfect round after perfect round... not only was the fun evacuated from the situation, but my concern for this individual grew as well... i mean, come on, how messed up and insecure do you have to be to cheat in a friendly game to make yourself look better?.... man, that's insecurity at it's apex... what a shame...

UNO DOS TRES CATORCE
to the tune of Like Spinning Plates - Radiohead

So i woke up Tuesday morning after an interrupted night of sleep and the room is spinning... it seems that i got up during a bad sleep cycle or something, but my equillibrium was all messed up... i tried my darndest to fight through it as if it were a passing feeling, but this vertigo had set in for the day... i ended up calling in sick and going back to bed... by the afternoon, i was able to be on the couch, eat lunch and do a little bit on the computer and such, but every time i turned my head, the images seemed to be proccessing in slow motion... i felt like i was in the matrix...

Little boy made my day by coming over, wrapping his arms around me and informing me that he had prayed for me three times and then, for good measure, prayed again right then and there... such a sweetie... clearly, i'm back on my feet again, but that was a wild day and i didn't particularly like the way i felt...

SHORE ENOUGH
to the tune of Stronger - Seabird

New on the music front this week is a band called Seabird... i know what you're probably thinking... you're thinking that if it came out this week, i should be writing a regular full-on album review for it instead of putzing around here in this blog with just a brief mention, right?... well, it's here or nowhere for this week... i'm backed up beyond belief and as hard as i try, it's gonna be a while before i'm back on track... besides, you wouldn't have the enjoyment of this handy little album player here to my left if this were an actual review...

Anyway, Seabird hit the scen a little bit ago with an EP that turned some heads and with the pedigree of being on Credential Recordings, you know it's gotta at least be interesting music, right?... indeed it is chock full of pleasant melodies and artsy hooks... the sound may not be entirely unique anymore with the recent insurgence of indie rockers on the mainstream scene, but Seabird seems to hold their own on that front and i think that songs like "Rescue" and "Stronger" are certainly worth giving ear to...

TWITTERFIED!
to the tune of Lead Me On - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn

So, i finally caved and signed up to join Twitter... it's nothing all that special, but see, what sold me is that there's a growing number of artists using it and if you follow them, you can find out about upcoming projects and tour stuff... that's what i was convinced of when i peeked in and saw the Bart Millard was recording for Hymned Vol 2...

other spectacular things i've learned since signing up? Vicky Beeching doesn't own a vaccuum cleaner, but she borrows one from her neighbor... Cindy Morgan has fed a camel... Brock Gill likes chocolate.... Aaron Shust likes to make bad puns about his friend's names... the guys from downhere like to run... someone from Dizmas doesn't watch where they're walking...

clearly this is an invaluable tool... though, i'll admit, it is how i discovered Mark Lee's book club...

RIVER ADVENTURE
to the tune of Veggie Doodle Dandy - Veggietales

So, despite Tuesday being all but a complete loss... i was able to give the boys a treat since they were pretty well-behaved... after they had gotten into their jammies and were ready for bed, i gathered them up, one on each side, and we planted ourselves on the couch to screen the upcoming Veggietales release, Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue...

My first thought was how daring it was to choose Huck Finn as the inspiration for a Veggietales film simply because i remember clearly that it's been the subject of banishment, censorship and whatnot throughout the years, but of course, it is a classic and it's a very memorable story of two pals and their adventures... and it translates very well to the capers of Bob and Larry... The sink scene was clever and really set the tone for the rest of the film...

It's a hair-raising tale of friendship, sacrifice, and doing what you know is right... it's also a fun tale of bluegrass, babies with signal flares and fried chicken... the boys enjoyed it, i liked it and it's a winner... due out July 12th... check it out...

THE READING ROOM
to the tune of Word of Mouth - John Reuben

Updated list for Mark Lee's Summer Reading Club... i keep adding more titles, but hopefully i'll get to cross some off...

- It All Goes Back in the Box (Ortberg)
- Deadly Viper Character Assassins (Foster & Wilhite) [audiobook]
- The Word of Mouth Manual (Balter) [about 15 pages left]
- Character Makes a Difference (Huckabee) [about 50 pages left]
- Simplicity (Salomon) [about 75 pages left]
- The Parent You Want to Be (Parrott) [about 150 pages left]
- New Way to Be Human (Peacock) [about 200 pages left]
- Boys Should Be Boys (Meeker)
- Wide Awake (McManus)
- At the Crossroads (Peacock)
- Deliver Us from Evelyn (Wells)
- The Two Towers (Tolkien)
- Quiet Strength (Dungy)
- UnChristian (Kinnaman & Lyons)
- Prince Caspian (Lewis)
- Searching for God Knows What (Miller)

FULL LIST HERE...

peace... love... bdg....

Yesterday was non-stop motion, so i didn't really get a chance to do a full blog entry, so here's a special Tuesday update... we'll join yesterday's blog already in progress...

Well, that was a busy weekend.. i feel like i'm a bit behind on everything and maybe a part of that is because i'm starting this so late... but we'll see where it goes and how it all turns out... i ended up seeing a couple movies, booking a few interviews, enjoying a special breakfast with little boy, checking out a comedy improv show and, of course, watching some serious football...

And now, it's back to the grindstone and back to the ole blog...

THERE'S NO NEED TO FEAR...

...the underdogs are here... well Sunday the 13th lived up to all the eerie superstitions that can be expect- what? oh, why does that only work for Fridays?... anyway... what a crazy bunch of games this weekendl... i honestly can't remember a year when the playoffs were so very compelling... i've been on the edge of my seat for most of these games so far and i can't wait for the next round... with the exception (maybe) of the Giants and Buccaneers game from Wild Card weekend, all of these games have been classic matchups... and this weekend is shaping up to be a snow-bowl in Green Bay and a snow-bowl in New England...

i'll address each of these games later this week, but man, is this excitement or what?

THANK DOGS YOU'RE HERE...

our church brought in a comedy team known as Mad Dogs and Englishmen this past weekend... having no idea what type of comedy this would be, we decided to go because there was free child care and i like to laugh... turned out that they are an improv team in the vein of Whose Line Is It? and Thank God You're Here... and i guess that's about where i would put them... not nearly as good as Whose Line, but not as agonizingly bad as You're Here... the biggest problem, i think was that they dragged the sketches on too long... 5-6 shorter sketches would've played better than 3-4 longer ones... i'm just saying... that and the fact that i'm funnier... but anyway..

YO HO HERO...

YES... as promised i went to see Veggietales extravaganza known as The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. We packed up the littles and headed to the "movie puterer" on Friday afternoon for opening day. It wasn't quite as crowded as one might expect, but that's probably because we didn't go to the midnight showing or anything like that... actually, the movie did fairly well in the theaters, placing 9th in total sales with just under $4.5 million and maybe 6th or so based on the average per theater...

All that aside, the movie itself was very entertaining... i liked it from the very beginning and as always, it's great fun picking out all the random pop culture references... leading up to the release, i'd heard complaints that it doesn't blatently spell out the Gospel message... but there are so many good lessons and messages tucked away in there that i think those folks are crazy... i liked it, the little liked it, it was a hit all around... and the littles currently spend as much time as they can blasting the soundtrack in their headphones... go see this movie...

MUSIC NEWS

Skillet recently announced that they've got a new drummer now... Apparently Lori "Coolest Chick Drummer Ever" Peters has moved on to pursue other interests and she's replaced by youngster, Jen Ledger... Ledger has been training with Lori for the last few months and is excited to join the group...

the big news today though is that EMI has announced plans to cut about 2000 jobs (a third of their current workforce) over the next six months... the cuts will save an estimated $400 million a year and, "allow [their] labels to spot and sign new artists and better handle existing ones," according to a press release. sure, less people doing more work for fear of getting fired... that's the way to go...

and the really big news is that American Idol begins again tonight... okay, not that big of a deal... never mind.. move along...

WORD OF THE DAY

Joshua 4: 1-9

What do these stones mean?... i remember hearing a sermon specifically about this question... actually, it wasn't a sermon so much as, hmm... what was it? i wanna say that it had something to do with a mission statement of some sort... regardless... this is an interesting passage for me... clearly this is a common practice for their culture, stacking up some rocks, building a memorial and remembering from whence you came...

whenever i go into the Capital, which isn't very often, i love looking at the architecture of the buildings - houses, museums and whatnot... and most people who come to DC spend the bulk of their time walking around "The Mall" and staring at all the memorials that have been erected to honor past leaders and influential times... i guess we all have different ways of preserving memories, but it seems that we could do better... i don't know, giving God credit for all that He's done... perhaps we're so far removed from deliverance... i don't know... just thinking out loud...

IN OTHER WORDS

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

Ortberg states that there are three main ways that we keep score in life... comparison, competition and climbing... they're all quite interconnected actually and as, he states, they all have downfalls... there are healthy ways to work within each of these scoring systems, but more often than not, we'll get caught up in them, and fall into their respective trappings... before closing out the chapter, Ortberg talks about the contrast between these three systems and the one that Jesus models... it's almost like he's read my mind...

GONE BABY GONE

well... little boy actually has a fever today and i'm going to go take care of him... like only daddy can... this is where i would put links to all the updates that i've had pop up around the web, but there's nothing to link to today... perhaps tomorrow... i do have a number of irons in the fire... be safe and enjoy American Idol tonight... bdg... out!

peace... love... bdg...