Wide Awake

If you know me, you know I'm a big fan of Erwin McManus. Everytime I read some of his material or hear him speak it moves me deep inside. Maybe it's because he's a big booster of dreaming/creativity/imagination, and I'm guy who loves to let my imagination run free. Well, I picked up his new book Wide Awake and I can't put it down. The book is divided into segments: Dream, Discover, Adapt, Expect, Focus, Create, Enjoy & Invest. I'm halfway through so far and have 8 pages of notes. The book begins describing the scene from M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable where Bruce Willis talks about how he wakes up every morning with this cloud of sadness around him. The reason for the sadness is because he's not doing what he should be with his life. The book is about the heroic life God has called us to... A life that will change the world you live in for the better.

The book gives you a lot to chew on, and a lot to digest. At times I have to put it down and try to download what Erwin has just said. Check out this line: "I think a lot of our prayers make God wonder why we think so little of him." Did you catch that? BAM! It's heavy. God works with the impossible and makes it probable. Remember that Sunday School song? He gave sight to a blind man. When Jesus asked "What is it you want?" What if the blind dude had said: "I left my coat back at my aunt's. Think you could hook em up with a new one?" or if he had said: "Could you give me better hearing so I can compensate for my lack of sight?" Maybe we do that. Maybe we don't want to trouble God or seem greedy. Maybe God wants us to dream big.

I'm not talking about prosperity gospel, I'm talking about the dream God has placed in you. I like this line: "Is it possible that when we begin to find the dream for our lives, it always involves helping others live their dreams." It hard for me to read a book like this because it challenges me to move out of what is comfortable and familiar and step into a different life, one that is filled with uncertainty, failures and roadblocks. But a life that is also ripe with excitement, adventure and victories. I'll keep you posted.

"Spread hope like fire!" - my new motto.

Camera Work

I was watching the baseball game today and I noticed a disturbing trend. Every time they went to the crowd for a shot, it was always an attractive person who got face time. Seriously! Great play, they go to the crowd and they show an Abercrombie model reacting to the play. The inning ends and they go to a quick shot of the crowd before heading to commercials and it's a blonde bombshell that fills the screen. Are you telling me the only people who go to baseball games are models? Do they screen people at the entrance send the less than beautiful fans to the seats that no tv camera dares to access? Where's this guy (below) at the ball game? He's there! Just not on tv.

Gettin' Ink Done

I'm a frequent reader of Carlos Whittaker's Blog "Ragamuffin Soul" and I love this guy. It's refreshing to read his blog. He's real, funny and manages to move me on a regular basis. Well he's also a tv star. Dude was on LA Ink. Check it out!

I'm hoping to get ink done at some point as well. Not sure if I'm ready for the entire arm though.

David vs Goliath

A new search engine hit the scene today. Cuil, (pronounced "cool"), is the product of some former Google employees who have looked to improve on the search engine, and cash in on some of Google's market-share. Could this be a coup of electronic proportions? Cuil claims that while the interweb has grown, search engines have not. So that's where they come in... 3x the results of Google and 10x that of Microsoft. If you're looking for a Native-American owned business, selling fake rolexes from Zimbabwe, Cuil will find it. Google? Not so much. It is kinda cool how your search is broken down into tabs. Type in "Charger" and it breaks it down into battery charger, Dodge charger & turbo charger. I don't think it's enough to take me away from Google though. Whether they become the big guy on campus, or just another dude walkin' the school grounds, the buffet of searching continues to grow. Eat up!

Six Stages of Cheese Whiz

It was a beautiful sunny day on the 16th hour of the day, when our young and mighty hero Junky Rhodes was hungry for an afternoon snack. He looked and looked and spotted celery in a big in the fridge. "That's perfect" exclaimed Junky "Now, if only I could find something to go with it..." He looked around the fridge and saw a few condiments "Jam....no...to sweet.... Honey....to stick... That green stuff we always get from KFC and never eat and then turns into it's own personality...Maybe...OHH...THERE IT IS!!!" he screams as sees the Cheese Whiz. "This will be the perfect afternoon delight" As he grabs the jar, he finds that he can't open the lid

# FIRST STAGE: Shock


"WHAT?!?!?" said a confused Junky Rhodes "It's impossible, they make these things for fat people whose eye sockets are so plugged with cholesterol that they can't even see color" So our hero tried and tried and couldn't open it which leads us to...

# SECOND STAGE: Denial


"YOU ARE NOT STRONGER THEN ME" screamed a provoked Junky Rhodes "I am tough and strong. I should be able to open such a small jar. Why I have the strength of many men, and that is just in my finger tips." Again he tried with all of his might. "WHY WON'T YOU OPEN" screeched Junky who then fell into the...

# THIRD STAGE: Anger


"You....are...a...no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, hopeless, heartless, jerk face, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed creation from the ugliest and scariest part of the world, so scary it makes New Jersey look like paradise" roared an enraged Junky Rhodes who got most of that quote from Family vacation but took out the parts that you can't say on TV...that was a good movie...over played during Christmas too...where was I....Oh yes...on too...

# FOURTH STAGE: Bargaining


"Please...Oh please jar open"... groaned a distressed Junky Rhodes "If I open you...I will only eat a portion...I won't go cheese happy and eat half of you like I did with your cousin" Now, at this point Junky was getting desperate and irrational. "If you open...I will make sure that I will recycle you...and you can be with all of your jar friends....Maybe you could meet a nice wine bottle and settle down and have kids of your own" At this point, our conqueror was in a sad state which sparked the next event...


# FIFTH STAGE: Depression


"I AM A FAILURE...." wept a cheerless Junky Rhodes "I can't even open the...jar...of cheese whiz...It's not worth living...I should end it all...I know...I could take the toaster to the bathtub...no...that wouldn't work...that is the first toaster that ever worked for us, I would get screwed if I broke it...I know...I will get the rat poison" So Junky went under the sink and found a Master Craft boa constrictor and now that leads us too...

# SIXTH STAGE: Testing


"You have met your match my friend" declared an enthusiastic Junky Rhodes "Cheese Whiz Jar....meet...Boa Constrictor....Boa meet Cheese Whiz..." And he took that Boa and wrapped it around the lid of the jar. The battle was on, he pulled and tugged and even heaved a little, but the jar was tenacious and unfaltering and did not barge...so then he thought...what else can I do...maybe...I can get help, but alas no one was home. He thought maybe the neighbor girl could do it...but having her open it is is much worse then having to put the jar back. Dazed and confused our star went into...

# FINAL STAGE: More anger


"RAHHHH!!!" bellowed an agonized Junky Rhodes who has forgotten the real reason he wanted Cheese Whiz in the first place. He is now more concerned on the battle between man and bottle made from Kraft. "OPEN!!!....OPEN!!!...OPEN!!!" but the jar was not listening, until "Pop" The sound could be heard from all of spring street and surrounding areas and with much awe and excitement, Junky put the bottle on the table, and low and behold a light a shown from the sky and pointed onto the jar. Some say it was a coincidence, but for this narrator it was truly the light of God and "Yeah, the peasants rejoiced" and that moved us into...

# BONUS STAGE: Acceptance


"Yeah...Get your happy dance on...WooWho..." trumpeted an animated Junky Rhodes who was more excited then the Nintendo 64 kid. "The Jar is OPENED" and yeah, it was a happy day. For now our leader Junky Rhodes can then enjoy his little snack and move on with his life, for the jar is opened.

Hallelujah.
Ahmen
Usta

Boredom = Genius

Often times when we are bored out of our trees we come up with the best ideas. Seriously. Why didn't I think of that?

Dark Knight

As I sit here and countdown the minutes until I get to enjoy the latest film in the Batman series I find myself getting excited. Why? I'm not really sure. I'm not a fan of Christian Bale as Batman, and I seldom enjoy action/superhero flicks. But I'm excited for this one. Maybe it's because I'm excited to see the new interpretations of the Joker or Two-Face. Either way, I'm going to see it tonight, and on Monday night (I'll give you the weekend to check it out) we'll let you give your reviews. Cool?

He's Just Being Miley

Gotta love YouTube. I found this video of David Crowder covering Miley Cyrus. Check it!

If You Only Had 6 Words

I'm not going to pretend this is an original post. I actually borrowed it from Mike Foster and his Deadly Viper Character Assassins Blog. But he stole it from someone else so I don't feel so bad.

What if you only had 6 words to describe your life? What would they be? It's not an easy exercise. Here are a couple examples to get your brain going in the right direction.
“Revenge is living well without you.”
“Met young. Got married. Still infatuated.”
“Raised by lunatics. Still in recovery.”
“Work in progress. Come back later.”

What would your 6 words be?

Comeback Story Of The Year

Major League Baseball is taking a bit of a breather this week as the All-Star Game goes tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium in New York. Tonight was the Homerun Derby, and what a show it was. Some background info before we get into the derby.

Way back in 1999 the Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted a "can't miss" prospect by the name of Joshua Holt Hamilton first overall. Joshua was named the Amateur Baseball Player of the year by USA Baseball and many professional scouts said he was the best player they had ever seen. (Think Sydney Crosby) Well he signed for about $4 million (as an 18 year-old) and he began what many assumed would become a hall of fame career.

In 2001 Josh Hamilton was involved in a bad car accident, and during the recovery process began to experiment with drugs and alcohol. In 2002 he was injured again and began to delve further into drug culture. He was then suspended after failing a drug test and was out of baseball from 2002 to 2006 when he came back with the Cincinnati Reds. He was then traded in to off-season to the Texas Rangers where he is currently playing.

That brings us to Homerun Derby tonight. Josh put on a clinic slugging 28 homeruns in the first round (the next closest was 8) a Homerun Derby record for one round. Many of them moonshots, well into the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. Josh just came up short in his bid to win the Homerun Derby. (Congrats to Canadian Justin Morneau) Adding to the fairy tale was the fact that his pitcher was Clay Counsil (71 years old) who was his high school mentor.

The overall story is such an amazing one. The tattooed, once drug addicted, suicidal, alcoholic Hamilton has turned his life around and give all the glory to God. It really is an amazing story of how no one is too far for God to reach. A couple weeks ago Josh Hamilton was the feature story in Sports Illustrated and it was one of the best I've read in that magazine. Take a couple minutes and read the story. It will move you.

New Hockey Night Song

Hockey Night In Canada is apparently looking for a new song for it's broadcasts, and (in true CBC fashion) has invited Johnny Q Public to write it for them. Well there is one entry that I think should win. Not because it's the best (it's the only one I've heard), but rather because the guy who wrote it is a friend of mine. You know Manic Drive? Well Shawn from Manic Drive has put in an entry and I think we need to show him some love. Vote early, and vote often!

Vote Here

Cheap Christianity

In the past some people have taken issue with some of my blog posts, they don't like my views on certain issues. Understandable. I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I write on here. But let me say this: what is posted on the Wonderblog is simply my opinion, and that opinion does not always reflect the opinion of Trust Communications, Life 100.3 or its supporters. Now that we got that out of the way, on with my post.

If you're a frequent (or maybe even infrequent) reader of the Wonderblog you know I'm bothered by how the church is viewed in culture today. I wish it wasn't so. Do I have the solution? Probably not. I've got some ideas, but haven't tried them out in reality so I don't know if they would actually work. I read the Bible and Jesus repeatedly engaged culture instead of withdrawing from it. That's what the religious leaders of the day didn't like. He didn't play by their rules, he hung out with the wrong people, said the wrong things and extended love and grace to some of society's least deserving... at least in the religious leaders eyes. Sometimes I think the church today behaves like that. We've created our own culture, with our own rules and our own standards. Sure we meant well at the start, but maybe it's gone too far.

Check out this article from Relevant Magazine.
http://relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7507

Got My Camera Back

Over 10 weeks ago I took my camera in to Henry's because it wasn't working properly. After a quick inspection we discovered one of the shutter blades had gotten jammed and it was affecting the light meter and resulting in crappy pictures. Good news was the lens was still under warranty and it wasn't going to cost me anything. So we sent the lens back to the manufacturer and they said it'll be 4-6 weeks before I get it back. OK, no worries. The wakeboard weekend was 6 weeks after that date, so I figured I'd have it back in time for Base Camp. Not so. They had to send it back to Japan to get it fixed, and it took over 10 weeks. I got a call today saying it had arrived back in store and I could come pick it up at my earliest convenience. I went as soon as I could over my dinner break. I missed taking pictures. As soon as I got home I started taking random shots around my condo, and Snax was my model for the majority of them. I took about 50 pictures and I think the dog was tired of me following her around snapping pictures every 5 seconds. Here's some of my handywork. I'm happy to have a functioning camera again!

Summer Lovin'

On my way to work this morning I experienced a little bit of heaven. Seriously. I was driving with the windows down, Angels & Airwaves pumpin through the stereo, sun shining down on my face, not a cloud in the sky and a Starbucks Vanilla Bean Chai Frappuccino in my hand. That's what I think heaven will be like. Always 27 degrees and sunny, with free Starbucks and loud music. SWEET!

Finger Fun

The Leafs made a big splash in the free agent pool this week, signing Jeff Finger. I don't know who this guy is, so I looked for hilites on YouTube. This is about all I could find.



Plan the Stanley Cup parade route now... Jeff Finger was the missing piece!

Happy Belated Canada Day

I know it's a day late, but I found this online today and I thought it was worth sharing. It's an online article, that is basically a video tribute to this country we call home. Happy 141st Canada!

http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=1200dbe6-29f0-4404-9e29-7379d420df22&p=1