The Temper Trap- Sweet Disposition

You ever have one of those days?
You know the kind.
Everything's fine, then you come home from work and before you know it, you're so stressed out that you're wearing your shoulders as earrings and you want to kick the cat.
For me, not very often, thankfully.
But today...yes.
Wifey will tell you that I'm probably the most laid back guy she knows.
And I am.
Nothing seems to rattle me.
I guess you would say that I'm mostly a "glass half-full" kind of guy and I'm sure that helps.
I don't know what people that don't get adjusted do.
I'll be getting mines tomorrow.
I also don't know how people without Jesus in their life get by on a day-to-day.
The Prince of Peace surely gives me peace when I'm under pressure.
No, I didn't kick the cat. But I sure wanted to.
Maybe I should tie a drum set together and shove it off a tall building like the guys in the video.
Nah...too much work.
Here, kitty kitty.

Joel Gray- Wonderful

Wifey and I watched "Shakespeare In Love" a couple of nights ago.
It was much better than I expected.
Not that I don't enjoy love stories or Shakespeare.
I actually like both.
I just hadn't heard anything about it.
The one thing that it left me with was a desire to do some acting.
When I was a kid, I did a few plays for my church.
I hadn't done anything in a long time until recently I had a part in a skit that was done at a men's weekend retreat.
It turned out to be alot of fun.
One of these days, when life slows down and the kids are grown, I may pursue some "neighborhood playhouse" type parts.
Until then, I'll just enjoy watching others.
This is from the musical, "Wicked".
Joel Gray, the multi-award winning actor/singer from "Cabaret", "Good Time Charley", and "Chicago" stars as "The Wizard".

Neutral Milk Hotel- In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

If I were to make a list of songs that you probably have never heard, but should, this song would make the cut.
It has a catchy pop/folksy melody and lyrics that recall a young Bob Dylan.
"What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun..."
Neutral Milk Hotel were only together for a few years in the 90's.
The band was formed by Jeff Mangum, who helped form the successful "Elephant 6 Recording Company" in Athens, GA.
Despite growing popularity, the group disbanded in 1999 after Mangum became disenchanted with touring and the music press, later having a nervous breakdown.
After this, the band had no choice but to turn down all requests for shows, including a support slot for REM.
Let me know what you think.

Toots & The Maytals- Monkey Man

I went to chiropractic school with a guy named Clarence.
He went by the name, Mac.
Mac was one of my best friends in chiro school.
If we had a long break between classes, we would go by his apartment and play tennis or just chill.
I met my Wifey during the time when we were in school.
Mac said that he knew it was serious when I stopped saying, "Hey, baby" every time we drove past his apartment pool and there were girls laying out.
He once "led" some of us on a spelunking "expedition" in North Georgia.
(Notice the quotes)
On one of our breaks between semesters, he and I drove up to West Virginia and spent some time with his grandparents. This was when I first had sausage gravy.
We hiked along the New River Gorge one day and played basketball at his in-laws church another day.
We were about the same level at both tennis and basketball, so it was always great to engage in friendly competition.
Mac practices outside of Washington DC and we got to see he and his family a few years back when we were in town for a conference.
He had many nicknames back in the day.
One of which was Mac the Monkey Man.

Everything But The Girl- Missing

O, Summer where art thou?
I am a warm weather kind of guy.
I believe that's why God put me in the South.
But now, Summer has said "goodbye".
And cooler mornings and nights are upon us.
I used to love Fall. You know..."football weather".
I still do, I guess.
Now, for me, though..it just means that Winter is near.
I told Wifey this morning that if it gets any cooler in the mornings that she was going to start having to walk the dog.
She said, "Ha!" and started looking for something to throw at me.
Seriously, though, I think last night was the last night for open windows.
The floor was a bit cold for my piggies this morning.
Last night I told Wifey that I was going to try and not complain about the cold weather this year. I said that I think that I complained too much last year.
She just said, "Ya think?!"
Summer...just know that you are missed.
That's all I'm gonna say about that.
For now.

Lady Gaga- Poker Face

There's no two ways about it---strange sells.
Case in point: Lady Gaga (or as Wifey unaffectionately calls her, Lady Gag).
Now, I can understand that not everybody goes for those that wear meat.
PETA, for instance.
But, there are lots that do, apparently.
Earlier this year she drew the largest crowd ever to attend a Today Show concert at Rockefeller Center. An estimated 20,000 gathered, some more than 33 hours earlier, and some from as far away as Ireland and South Africa. She reportedly sent pizzas to those fans, her "Little Monsters" that waited overnight to see her.
Just a few years earlier, she was living in a cheap New York apartment.
Now, she has sold 25 million single songs and put out two triple-platinum albums.
She has 5 million followers on Twitter and 10 million on Facebook — the most of any person on earth. She holds the record for most YouTube views.
Yes, people strange sells.
Not that she's not talented.
She learned piano at the age of 4. At age 17, she gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and lived in a NYU dorm on 11th Street. There she studied music and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, social issues and politics.
So, yes she's talented. And talented only sells when you get noticed.
I think Lady Gaga has been noticed.

Delaney & Bonnie- Poor Elijah-Tribute To Johnson

Eric Clapton was frustrated.
It was the end of the year, 1969, and he was right where he didn't want to be.
He had just agreed to form the group "Blind Faith" with his bud Steve Winwood.
And he was on tour.
The problem was that he had just split from the band, "Cream", and he was convinced by Winwood to let former "Cream" member Ginger Baker in the band to play drums. He did this against his word to another former "Cream" member Jack Bruce.
So this was one issue Clapton was struggling with.
Another was the fact that "Blind Faith" was newly formed and didn't have enough material to fill an hour. So they had to play old "Cream" and old "Traffic" (Winwood's band) tunes.
On top of all that, they haven't had alot of time to rehearse so Clapton felt their performances were sub-par.
One of the groups that were on tour with them was a husband and wife duo named "Delaney and Bonnie". D and B were a soulful, folksy, rock and roll blues group out of Los Angeles.
Clapton really took a liking to them.
So much so, that he would go onstage when D an B were on and jam with them, because he said, "they were so much better than we (Blind Faith) were."
Here is a jam session with Delaney and Bonnie, Clapton, and Dave Mason from Traffic.

Arvo Part- Te Deum/ Berliner Messe (Alleluia, Sanctus, Gloria)

If you need some music to ease you into this Monday morning, I've found it for you.
Arvo Part is a modern composer from Estonia.
Born in 1935, Part is one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music.
Due to struggles with Soviet officials, Part and his wife emigrated to Austria in 1980. They later moved to Germany, and finally was able to return to Estonia at the beginning of the century.
Part works in a minimalist style using a compositional technique that he created called tintinnabuli. His music also finds influence from Gregorian chant.
This particular recording is based on an early Christian hymn of praise.
The title "Te Deum" translates "Thee, Oh God , we praise."
And it is simply beautiful.
Good Morning and Good Week!

Echoes of Nature-Ocean Waves

My wife recently went to Asia on a missions trip.
While she was gone, Be-Bop went with Grandma to Disney.
That left me with the three dudes.
So, we went to the beach.
A trip to the beach with kids is not a relaxing vacation.
I knew that going in, so I wasn't disappointed.
I planned fun things to do with them, mostly beach time and pool time.
We also went to the zoo, visited a Naval base, played at a fort, and engaged in a couple of rounds of Goofy Golf.
We had an awesome time and it helped keep our minds off of the fact that Mommy was thousands of miles away.
But, I didn't return relaxed for sure.
A 9-, 7-, and 3-year-old will keep you from that.
But, never fear.
The anniversary is looming.
We have reservations for Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, a place that I haven't visited since my childhood.
I'm looking forward to some adult "R n R" time.
Of course, I'll probably make Wifey play Goofy Golf with me.
Hey, when you travel with the biggest Goof there is, what do you expect?

Glee Cast- Hellogoodbye

Life is short.
No doubt about it.
One day we are saying "hello" to diapers, midnight feedings, and baby clothes.
Another day, we are saying "goodbye" to short-term memory, flexibility, and hair.
(Although, in many cases, the hair that leaves our heads finds it's way to strange places like ears.)
Nearly 30 years ago, John Lennon's life was abruptly ended by a gunman outside of his apartment building in New York and we said "goodbye" to a voice of creativity.
He would have turned 70 today.
My Dad just turned 70.
I can't "Imagine" the last 30 years of life without my Dad.
I saw somewhere that John took 5 years off from music when Sean was born.
He became a "house husband" and spent as much time helping to raise his son as he could.
That's inspiring.
John shares his birthday with two great people:
my cousin Ashley and my friend Colin.
Happy Birthday, guys!
Make the most of your day today, everyone.

La Arrolladora Banda El Limon De Rene Camacho- Nina De Mi Corazon (Girl Of My Heart)

I've got some friends that are in the adoption process.
They are adopting a child from Ethiopia.
Like many couples that have chosen to adopt, they have also dealt with infertility challenges.
This in itself creates plenty of stress and anxiety.
From everything that I have heard from others that have gone through this process (both infertility and adoption), and also what I have read from their blog, it is an emotional journey.
Ups and downs, highs and lows.
Here is an excerpt from their blog:
"I completely understand the reasons behind the homestudy process and agree with all that needs to happen, but you can definitely pray for my emotional state through it. I definitely have a bad attitude at times just wondering why it has to be so difficult for us to bring a child into our lives, biological and now adopted. Were any of my friends required to have the state come to their house before they brought their baby home from the hospital to be sure they were decent people who could provide for him or who had a future plan for discipline or who had an extra bedroom or who had all their cleaning supplies locked up and on and on? I don’t think so. Again, I know what I am saying is not very objective, it is simply how I feel. :) I have to be careful to have a spirit of praise for where we are instead of complaining. I am grateful for the process in that we will be well-educated for the transition when we bring our baby home."
You can hear the tumult in her words as the joys and frustrations wrestle in their hearts.
If you think about it, say a prayer for Miller and Kimberly.
They are going to be awesome parents soon.
I know this because they have proper perspective.
Here is another excerpt from http://chalkfamily.wordpress.com:
"Why adoption?...First, adoption was God’s idea. We were orphans, lost and dying, but Christ came and gave all of Himself so that we might have life. We have been grafted into His family and are called His sons and daughters. Adoption is a clear picture of the gospel."
God bless you guys!
This video shows many of the emotions involved during the adoption process. My favorite is at about 2:08 when the mother and daughter embrace.