Peterpatch Skating

The Street Team began our Christmas Break festivities today. We're touring across Central Ontario, providing free entertainment for our favorite listeners. Today we were in Peterborough for a skating party at the Kinsmen Civic Centre, and I was impressed with the renos. I was there 2 years ago and it was noticeably old. I arrived today and it didn't even look like the same building! It was a great afternoon, lots of people coming out, lots of hot chocolate being served, and no serious injuries! next stop, Huntsville Bowl on Wednesday!

Guitar Hero III

It was an interesting day yesterday. Boxing Day, so of course the mall is packed. We're walking around and notice there's a HUGE line formed outside of EB Games. Turns out they are selling PS2 and XBox for $40, I say "Meh, that's old news." By the end of the night, I was wishing I had waited in line.

We went to my cousin's in Ajax for a family Christmas get together. They happen to have a PS2, along with Guitar Hero III. I'm hooked baby. I started off with Foghat - Slow Ride... (nice and easy until I got the hang of it.) I did alright, and felt like moving up to something more difficult. I started scrolling through the songs and it wasn't long before I knew my destiny... "Welcome To The Jungle" a song from my youth. What better tune to reach that next level with. I was in over my head right from the start. I don't think I was on stage for 30 seconds before being booed off stage. Embarrassed with my lack of skill, and the fact I butchered one of the all-time great songs I passed the guitar over to my sister.

Don't think my experience soured me on the game... Oh no! It just made the desire to master the game more intense. Maybe EB Games will still have some units left tomorrow? I'm hooked!

Charlie Brown

We've all seen the Charlie Brown Christmas Special right? It used to be a yearly ritual in my youth group. After the Christmas banquet we'd watch the Peanuts Christmas Special. Well did you know it almost never made it to air? It's true. Check out this link:
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/10584

It's Real!

You know the Bell Mobility commercial where Gordon (the one beaver) uploads a video of Frank to YouTube? I FOUND IT!

Santa = Satan

This post is for those crazy right-wing radicals who like to point out the fact that you can rearrange the letters in "Santa" and spell "Satan." I stumbled across this photo gallery online today. It's a collection of children upset about having their picture taken with Santa. If you ask me it's a pretty awesome collection. See for yourself.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/holiday/sfl-scaredofsanta-ugc,0,7181908.ugcphotogallery

Oh... and for the right-wing radicals... relax.

Snow Anyone?

I have a friend who spent the past week in sunny Florida. Every day I'd see more pictures posted on Facebook. Picturesfrom the beach, pictures from the pool, pictures from the house they were staying in. The pictures had plenty of sun, sunglasses and beauty conditions. Today's photos had a different feel... Cold and snowy! After a week of sunburns, he and his wife returned to a couple feet of snow outside their Huntsville home. I was envious of their trip to Florida, but now those feelings have gone with the summer sun. I'd still love a week of beachin' it though. Maybe for Christmas

The WEEKEND!

I cannot express how good it feels to finally have made it to the weekend. You ever have a week that just doesn't seem to end? Let's just say I'm glad this past week is behind me. This weekend is going to be one big Christmas party. Tomorrow night I'm in Mississauga with friends from youth for a Christmas open house party, and then Sunday it's the Life 100.3 Christmas party. Whoop Whoop! Non-stop action baby! I'm gonna be enjoying this weekend, why don't you do the same?

Catch ya Monday!

For Those Who Dislike Cats

Chew on this cat-haters!

That Awkward Moment

I ripped the wrapping paper off the box, pulled the cardboard lid off and suddenly found myself grasping for breath. We've all had that moment haven't we? You open a Christmas present only to find something awful inside. Maybe it was an ugly hand-knit sweater, or maybe it was a cheesy christian movie. In that split second you have to take the disappointment you feel inside and somehow turn it into a smile before it hits your face. It's a tough thing to do, and few people succeed. You might want to start practising now.

T-Minus 2 Weeks!

2 weeks until Christmas and I'm almost done my Christmas shopping. Crystal and I went on Saturday and hammered the mall to (almost) complete my list for this year. Just have the 'rents and Crystal to buy for and I'm done. I never could have done it without Crystal. I get sidetracked easily, but she was a chick on a mission. We'd knock one name off the list, and before I'd signed the visa slip she'd be asking: "who's next?" Talk about focus. I cannot put into words how much I appreciated Crystal's drive to buy. Without her I'd probably still be in the mall, playing Guitar Hero at the Wii display.

Downtown Destroyed

I was on my way home from work last night when I saw something that blew me away. I'm going down the hill on Bayfield and as I pass the 400 I see a pillar of smoke coming up from the downtown area. As I get closer it looks like the entire downtown is burning! I try to get closer so I can investigate, but the swarm of cop cars and fire trucks won't allow me to. It turns out there was an explosion and the corner of Bayfield and Dunlop is now gone. It's a sad story, made even sadder because my favorite restaurant went with that corner. Royal Thai Cuisine, the best food in town, is now but a memory. But seriously, pray for the families that now don't have a place to live. Maybe even take down some clothes or extra blankets for them. Pray that God canuse this mess for good... somehow.

Creative Mission

When I say the word "missionary" what do you think of? Someone going to live in a mud hut in Africa? Maybe. There are many different types of missionary, and that is one kind. I'd like to introduce you to a very cool group of missionaries I recently discovered. "Walking on Water" is a group that uses surfing to take the gospel across the world. They go as surfers, and bring Jesus to the surf community in that country. I think early surfers were a lot like early Christians, I'll explain that in a later blog, and so it's easy to draw parallels. Check it out. It's a pretty sweet deal. www.walkingonwater.org

Crosby Pandemonium

Sidney Crosby is making his first trip out west this week and the reaction from fans is unbelieveable. He played in Edmonton tonight and got a standing ovation from the Edmontonian crowd. How does that happen?!? Edmonton, the city that lives and dies with the Oilers is cheering (quite enthusiastically) for the opposition's best player. It makes no sense to me. The fan fare that surrounds this guy is crazy. He said in his press conference today that he's banished to his hotel room, ordering room service for this trip to Canada's left coast because of all the hype around his visit. He's one special player.

Generous Living

Christmas is an interesting time. I personally don't like it too much. I'm not really sure why. I think it's a combination of things... The commercialism, the over-doing of everything Christmas and the lack of friendliness wherever you go. Christmas this year has been different for me. Usually I can rhyme off a long list of things I want, but this year I'm struggling. I don't really want anything for Christmas. I have everything a guy could possibly want. In fact this year I feel somewhat guilty for getting anything at all. There are so many people that go without at Christmas time. From the homeless, to the single Mom trying to raise a family, to the family that is dealing with the loss of a loved one. I've got it pretty good.

I read somewhere that worldwide we spend $450 Billion at Christmas. That seems like a lot of money, especially considering what that money could buy. How much would a clean well in Africa cost? Probably not nearly that much. How much would it cost to house the homeless in our community? All the houses in Newmarket probably don't add up to that much.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy presents this year, I'm just wondering if we could spend a little bit of our Christmas money on people who aren't as well off as we are. Tomorrow you have a chance to buy from the World Vision Christmas Gift Catalogue. You have the opportunity to buy a goat or a pig for a village overseas. You have the chance to bless someone else during this Christmas season. Please consider it.

Thursday Night Footie

I'm not sure when they started playing NFL games on Thursday nights regularily, but I love it. Tonight's game was a good one. Packers and Cowboys, both wanting to claim top spot in tgheir conference. Brett Favre having a great year, Tony Romo looking like the second coming of Joe Montana, and Terrell Owens being his usual self. I'm very thakful for the football game tonight, it means I didn't have to suffer through another Maple Leaf game on tv. So to whomever decided the NFL needs to have Thursday night games, I raise a glass of hot chocolate to you.

Winter Tire Fiasco

After sliding around, (and down hills) in Barrie last winter I decided this year I would invest in some winter tires for my car. Like a good shopper I checked out all my options and searched for the best price. I decided on Costco, and made my way down to the south end of Barrie to make the purchase. I waited in line for a couple hours, only to find they didn't have my size, and would have to special order the tires. So a couple weeks later they call me to tell me the tires are in. I line up (again) and when I get to the counter they tell me they don't have my size of rims, and those would have to be ordered as well. I got a call last week that they had both my tires and rims, and I could come in anytime to have them installed. I arrived this morning just before 10am (the time they supposedly open according to the website) only to find another line and a 9 hour wait for tire installation! I'm starting to get frustrated with this process. I'd almost rather pay the extra and get my tires when I want them, instead of waiting in line for hours, only to be told it can't be done. ARGH!

What does NFL stand for?

"No Fun League"? "National Fieldgoal League"? Maybe "National Football League"?

I think it should stand for "National Felony League." On the field, it's been a good year for the NFL. New England, Dallas and Green Bay are all having stellar seasons. HOWEVER, for every feel good story, there are 5 bad news stories. Mike Vick and dog fighting, PacMan Jones and guns, Tank Johnson and jail time... and now the Sean Taylor tragedy. Yesterday the 24 year-old football player was shot during a home invasion, and passed away today. Earlier this year a Denver Broncos player was shot outside a club, while another died after crashing his jet ski under the influence of drugs. I don't know what's going on, but this is kinda disturbing. Can you blame the league? I don't think so. Maybe it is the fact these kids are making so much money, and don't know how to deal with it? Maybe Biggie was on to something when he rhymed about "Mo Money, Mo Problems." Whatever the issue is, it doesn't look like it's going to get better anytime soon.

Pray for the Taylor family, these next couple of days are sure to be pretty tough, and they could probably use some heavenly help.

Wedded Bliss

I spent this past weekend celebrating American turkey day in Oak Harbor, Washington. It also happened to be my brother-in-law's wedding. It was a fun weekend, although I expected the West Coast to be warmer. (It was around the 5 degree mark all weekend.) It was an interesting wedding... very simple, and yet pretty nice. It suited Brett though. Pretty chill, simple ceremony, followed by a simple reception. (Papa John's Pizza baby!) Aside from the cramped quarters on the flight out, it was a pretty fun weekend. Congrats Brett & Gretyl!

Off To The Left Coast

Tomorrow morning I hop on a plane and head out to the best... er... I mean west coast for my brother in law's wedding. I think it'll be an interesting experience. He's getting married in Oak Harbor, Washington (where his bride is from) which means we get to experience American Thanksgiving, and what is known as "Black Friday." Black Friday is the day after Thanskgiving and is the busiest shopping day of the year. Maybe they'll have some crazy sales, or sweet deals and I can tackle most of my Christmas shopping. December has kinda snuck up on me. It feels like we just hit November and I had 2 months to finish my gift search. Yikes! I'd better get on that pronto! I'll see you guys again on Monday.

Career Day

I was over at Unity High today for their "Career Day." Fire-Fighters, Police Officers, Interior Designers and a ton of other business people talking to students about how to get a career in that field. Here's the shocking thing... I had the lowest attendance numbers! Who would have thought that "Radio DJ" would be the least interesting field? (The Fire Fighter only had 12 students.) The best attended? Interior Designer. Go figure.

Moving Up

Yesterday Crystal and I made a HUGE (and scary) decision. We bought a house! A HOUSE! Yikes! We are growing up fast. We're both pretty stoked about it, but it's a long ways away... September of 2009! Yeah, that tempers the excitement a little bit. 2 years seems so far away. Hopefully it flies by like everyone is telling us it will. At least that gives us time to make the condo look classy and shop for new furniture. So 2 years it is... maybe we'll start a countdown.

Travelling Back In Time

Tomorrow I am taking a bit of a road trip back in time. My buddy Patrick and I are heading down to Hamilton to attend the "Cultivate Gathering." How is this travelling through time? Well the guy who's organizing it it the first host of the show I now call my own. Pernell Goodyear was the first ever Slam Host, who left to go start a church in the Hammer. Now (many years later) he's leading a very cool ministry in Steel Town. (http://frwy.ca/church/) Check it out! I'll make sure I say hi on your behalf.

FoilBoard?

Yesterday I posted about surfing, and how there is something about it that calls to me. Well today in my email inbox I find an email with a link to what they call "foilboarding." The rider uses a surfboard, with a hydrofoil on the bottom of it, and snowboard boots attached to the deck. When they reach a certain speed the board lifts out of the water, leaving the main board and rider out of the water. It looks pretty crazy. Check out the vid!

Foolish Thoughts

Do you ever think of doing something absolutely foolish? Like packing up all your gear and moving out to California to become a surf bum? Sometimes I feel like that. There's something about surfing and the surf culture that stirs up emotion within me. I've never surfed, (I don't even know if I'd be any good), but there is something about surfing that calls to me. Maybe it's out being on the water. Maybe it's the sheer power and majesty of the ocean. I don't know what it is, but one day I will try to surf, and I will answer that call.

Appetite For Construction - The Review

Last night Crystal and I made our way down to Ypsilanti, Michigan to take in the Appetite For Construction Tour. It was a tour put together by Relient K and Switchfoot, with a portion of the tickets sales going to Habitat For Humanity. The show was at Eastern Michigan University in their Convocation Center (a HUGE arena-like venue). OK, now that I got the boring stuff out of the way, here comes the play-by-play.

Ruth opened up the show, (they are a relatively new band), and played a couple of unfamiliar songs. No real reaction from the crowd, but that's the life of an opening act. Next Relient K took the stage and put on a GREAT show. Matt Thiessen is always on point, except he looked kinda odd... Something was different. Upon further examination it appeared that he had grown a moustache.The new found hair above his upper lip didn't throw off his singing ability though. He was great! He had 2 mics on each mic stand, one regular mic, and one "old school" mic that had no bass on it so it sounded like it was coming through an old radio. The guy sang his own backup vocals! Amazing.Relient K even managed to sneak in some of their Christmas songs, and topped it off by making it snow. I'm not talking paper snow, I'm talking real wet snow! (I actually think it was more like foam than snow, but it was wet!) Crystal tried to catch some on her tongue. It was a solid set by the guys from Canton, Ohio.Switchfoot took the stage next, opening with the super-popular "This Is Your Life." They put on a good show too, very different from Relient K, but still very good. Jon Foreman went into the crowd a couple times, singing amongst his adoring fans.Jon did this one cool thing where he'd sing into the guitar pickups, making this really weird noise. I can't even try to explain it, but it sounded pretty sweet.Overall, a solid show with 2 solid bands. Definitely worth a couple late nights and long drives. (It's not often you get to see 2 A-level bands in one show.) After the Appetite For Construction Tour neither band moved (up or down) in my standings, but they did impress me.

I took over 200 pictures, the above are just some hilites. More can be found on my Facebook page.

Appetite For Construction

Monday Crystal Summers and I head down to Ypsilanti, Michigan to take in what I think might be one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Switchfoot & Relient K together! (The Appetite For Construction Tour.) The best part is, a portion of the ticket price is going to Habitat For Humanity. It was interesting talking to Matt from RK a couple months ago. They aren't playing in bars and cubs on this tour so that Christian kids can make it to the show. I think that is such a rad move by those guys. I'm pretty stoked... Hopefully I get to talk to the bands before the show. I hooked it up beforehand, but you never really know until you are backstage with the band.

Junky is in for me on Monday. I'll give you a full recap on Tuesday!

Image Issues

I just finished reading an interesting book called "Unchristian." It's a book written by a couple researchers that have discovered that Christianity has an image problem. With people between 17-26 (that don't regularly attend church) Christians are often described as hypocritical, insensitive or judgemental. It's a very interesting read, and there was one chapter on how Christians place some sins higher up on the "damnation scale" than others... specifically homosexuality. You don't think so? How about these examples:

• A prominent Christian leader calimed that events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are God's judgement on homosexuals.
• Christians protest gays in politics. (What makes them any less qualified?)
• Christians use derogatory terms for homosexuals.
• Christians have protested hiring of homosexual teachers in schools
• (In their study) 42% of Christians would leave a church where the pastor has an addiction to pornography, and 89% of Christians would leave a church where the pastor struggles with homosexuality.

Don't get me wrong, I believe it's a sin, but all sin is the same to God. I think that the church sees the homosexual community as modern day lepers. People who we wouldn't want to go near, for fear of catching their disease. The scary thing is, how are these people ever going to experience Jesus? They probably will never set foot in a church for fear of judgement. Christians? Those are the people that protest any events the gay community puts on. Where are they going to experience Jesus? I think it's sad that the Christian sub-culture has turned them into animals, rather than people. If I had a choice of 2 political candidates, (one being gay, one being born-again) would I pick the Christian one? Not necessarily. I'd pick the one who is better suited to lead. We shouldn't let someone's orientation blur our vision.

Maybe it's time we started changing how we view those outside of the church... Started seeing the world through God's eyes. At least that's my prayer tonight.

Wacky Weather

My alarm clock was screaming at me much too early this morning. I rolled over and gave it a good smack to make it stop, and then rolled over once more to get out of bed. I got up, looked out the window, and my stomach sank. It was a blizzard outside! Snow everywhere! Well Crystal and I had made plans to go to Toronto to take care of some business, and we were not going to let a little snow stop us.

A funny thing happened on our way down the 400 though. Once we passed Innisfil beach Road, the snow seemed to start letting up. By the time we passed the exit for 88 into Bradford, the snow had stopped. Toronto didn't even have snow on the ground! It was so weird to go from blizzard with a foot and a half of snow on my car to no snow in sight. BUT WAIT! It gets even more weird. I talked to some guys from Orillia, and they didn't get snow either! What is this? Is Barrie the snow capital of Ontario? Crazy weather!

P.S. - Snax had her first experience with snow today as well... she liked it.

We Need One Of These!

As you no doubt are aware, I'm kinda addicted to the idea of surfing. I think it's something I would totally dig. The problem is, I live in Central Ontario and the surfing scene is non-existant. I have however found something that could change all that. Check out this link: http://surfparks.com/home.php These guys build surf parks! You know how Waterworld has a wave pool? Well they've taken that and made waves you can surf! Imagine if we had one of those in Central Ontario... It would be wicked! Let's hope someone with some money catches wind of this and decides to build one around here. I can only hope.

CD Shopping Time!

Tomorrow the Street Team is at both Treasure House locations (Barrie & Newmarket) for what they are calling their "Super Weekend Music Sale." If you need to freshen up your CD collection, or need to get a head start on Christmas shopping tomorrow is the time to do it. PLUS you can meet Scott Jackson at the Newmarket store from 10-1:30 and Woody Woodland at the Barrie store from 1:30-5:00. Whoop Whoop!

Who Do YOU Think He Is?

I read an interesting article on RelevantMagazine.com today. It asks the question: "Who Do You Think Jesus Is?" It goes through recent history and takes a look at the different versions of Jesus that have been popular in society. It's an interesting read... Check it out. It gives the good and bad at the end of each segment.

GENTLE JESUS, MEEK AND MILD
The closest thing evangelical Christians have to an icon—in the “sacred picture” sense of the word—is the celebrated oil painting, Head of Christ (pictured below sixth from the left), by Warner Sallman. First published in 1940, it’s now been printed more than 500 million times, making it the most popular religious image in the world. People carry it in their wallets. It hangs in every Sunday school room from here to Jerusalem. And no matter how old you are, this painting probably comes to mind when you think of Jesus. (This and, perhaps, a bloody Jim Caviezel.)
Unfortunately, the image is probably wrong. I’m not a trained anthropologist, but Sallman’s Jesus—with His shiny brushed hair, neatly trimmed beard, limpid upturned eyes, plucked eyebrows, delicate nose and fine Anglo cheekbones—doesn’t strike me as very authentic. Jewish carpenters just weren’t that pretty.
Don’t let the manly beard fool you: Sallman turned Jesus into a woman.
Head of Christ is the capstone in a long history of sentimental feminine approaches to Christ, beginning in the Victorian era. Back then, women dominated the Church scene and were believed to be morally and spiritually superior to men. Religious education occurred in the home, and guess who ruled the roost? The prevailing view of Jesus trickled down into the culture from these pious and pure moms. The Sermon on the Mount was a frequent text, and they emphasized the stuff about sacrifice and submission. Their Jesus became a tender, lamb-carrying Good Shepherd.
Want proof? Check out the major Protestant hymns composed during this time: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” by Joseph Scriven; “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling,” by William L. Thompson; and “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” by Charles Wesley.
Good: There is great value in servanthood and humility, and it’s appropriate to associate those divine qualities with Jesus.
Bad: Proper hair care is not a divine quality. And good luck getting this meek and mild patsy to whip moneychangers out of the temple or to endure the blood and guts of the cross.

REPUBLICAN JESUS
Jesus wasn’t always into politics, aside from the occasional “render unto Caesar” teaching. Then, in 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that state-mandated prayer in schools violated the First Amendment. A decade later, Roe v. Wade invaded the culture wars. That’s when Jesus became a Republican.
Or, to be more accurate, that’s when evangelicals started paying attention to politics. Gradually, the Democratic party lost its white, middle-class, Southern power base. People who had been voting along economic lines started thinking more about social issues and family values. Union allegiance gave way to church allegiance. Ronald Reagan was pro-Israel and vaguely apocalyptic and earned the evangelical vote in 1980. The Moral Majority laid a solid foundation, and the Christian Coalition built upon it. Republicans took note and began treating religious people and their ideas with a lot more respect than the Democrats seemed to. Soon, evangelicals and Republicans were indistinguishable. The GOP evolved into the party of traditional values. The Republican platform became the biblical one.
Which would be a good fit for Jesus, if He spent large chunks of the Gospels worrying about abortion and gay marriage. Or, for that matter, exhorting James and J ohn on the need to support American foreign policy.
Good: Christians need to bring Jesus into politics, because the more Christlike people in Washington, the better ...
Bad: ... but not just along one side of the congressional aisle. Abortion’s one thing, but seriously, folks, does anyone honestly think Jesus had an official stance on Social Security? That the Prince of Peace would have been uncritically pro-war? Or really interested in easing the financial burdens of the rich? Sweet sassy molassey, does anyone think Jesus would ever not come down on the side of the poor?

CHRIST HIPPIFIED
Jesus taught about peace and love. Jesus rolled with the rejects and accepted the outcasts. He was itinerant, misunderstood and lived in community with other misfits. For crying out loud, the dude sported long hair, a beard and sandals.
Jesus was the ultimate hippie. Wrap Him in a tie-dyed robe and He’s practically a cliché. The youthful American counterculture captured the world’s attention 35 years ago. These “hippies” did a lot of drugs, made a bunch of free love and—this may be a surprise—really, really liked Jesus. Significant numbers of them began moving from drugs and alienation to faith in Christ. In 1970, Time did a feature on “Jesus Freaks” (no, not dc Talk). Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Life and U.S. News & World Report soon caught the “Jesus People” buzz. T-shirts with “Jesus is better than hash” designs began showing up. And Jesus Freaks—with their ocean baptisms, rock shows and fervent evangelism—became the talk of the country.
Later that year, two major rock musicals opened: Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, both of which painted Christ as a hippie opposed to the religious establishment. These two shows did more than anything to cement Jesus as an icon of the era. Time ranked the “Jesus Revolution” as the third biggest story of the year in 1971. Christian Century proclaimed 1971 “The Year of Jesus.” Hippies had become a nationwide phenomenon, and the Son of God was their spiritual guru.
Good: Folks grooved off Jesus’ trippy teachings and revolutionary social agenda, emphasizing Christ’s humanity and a relationship with Him over the institutional church. America hit a spiritual high.
Bad: Unfortunately, that “spiritual high” gave birth to even bigger religious institutions. Christian retailing, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and seeker-sensitive megachurches are all rooted in the Jesus movement. Gosh. Thanks, hippies.

ROMANTICIZED BOYFRIEND JESUS
Contemporary worship music has done a lot of good things for the Church over the last 30 years, not the least of which is e nlivening the worship experience for a generation that had trouble relating to centuries-old hymns and might-as-well-be-that-old Gaither choruses. However, the modern worship movement brought with it an unfortunate by-product: the extreme to which we’ve taken the “Bride of Christ” metaphor. Song of Solomon was one thing. John Donne and Teresa of Avila took it a step further. The classic hymnster Issac Watts even threw his hat into the ring with “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”
But us? We’ve driven the Love Truck over the edge. You won’t get far in contemporary worship music without running into achingly intense expressions of desire for the Son of God. Critics have called it the “Jesus Is My Boyfriend” syndrome, in which the Bridegroom has become the object of our romanticism. Oh, how we love Jesus. We long to be with Him. We want to touch Him. We want to see His face.
Sing it with me now, and be sure to scrunch your eyes up with emotion: “Jesus, I am so in love with You.”
Good: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and believers are instructed to love Him back with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength. Magnifying God through worshipful music is a good place to start.
Bad: But it’s the magnifying God part we often forget about. Because when we sing songs about how much we looooove Jesus, the main focus isn’t on Jesus; it’s about us. About our love for the Son of God. Next Sunday, count the number of self-congratulatory songs that talk about what we, the worshippers, will do. We will worship. We will lift up our hands. We will shout, stand, sing, clap, etc. The majesty, holiness and glory of God? The Savior who rescued us from sin and death? Not so much the focus there.

THE WILD-HEARTED JESUS
If you’re a Christian male, you’ve no doubt read John Eldredge’s book Wild at Heart or know someone who has. Since being published in 2001, it’s sold upward of 1 million copies. Eldredge hit a nerve among men who longed for adventure and were dissatisfied with the meek and mild Jesus described before.
He replaced that sissified Christ with a more masculine one, modeled after Braveheart’s William Wallace and Russell Crowe’s gladiator, Maximus. According to Eldredge, Wild at Heart men hate their desk jobs and long to be cowboys, mechanics or river rafters. They’re all looking for a battle to fight, an adventure to live and a beauty to rescue (the Eldredge mantra). Therefore, Jesus must have a similar strain of wild maleness. The wild-hearted Jesus is definitely a non-wimp. He’s a tough guy, a risk-taker, an adventure-seeker.
Good: Yeah, the unpredictable, undomesticated Jesus is a lot more appealing than the Breck Girl Jesus of “tender shepherd” fame. You can definitely see Him clearing the temple in a wild fit of adventurous rage.
Bad: But was the moneychangers thing really the action of a wild, marauding renegade? Or was it, perhaps, a display of passionate obedience to the Father? The Christ of the Gospels always appeared in control of His actions and emotions and submissive to His Father’s will. Connections to Mel Gibson aside, the Suffering Servant was no William Wallace.

JESUS IS MY HOMEBOY
In 2002, a small company called Teenage Millionaire unveiled simple, silkscreened “Jesus Is My Homeboy” T-shirts. In Jesus Christ, they found a figure who appealed to everyone—the devout and the ironic, the red and blue states, the Church and Hollywood, Southern Baptist deacons and East Village hipsters. And before you could say Kabbalah, these shirts had become a celebrity fashion fave. Jesus was Ben Affleck, Pamela Anderson and Ashton Kutcher’s homeboy, and the homeboy of lots of other people more famous than the rest of us. Not to be outdone, genuinely religious people—consumers who honestly cared about the figure on their T-shirts and what He represented—also snatched up the design.

Can you identify with any of those? I think I can identify with just about all of them. Interesting huh? So who do YOU think he is?

Trickery Abounds

Check out this CRAZY play from the NCAA. The team in white needs to score a touchdown with only a couple seconds on the clock. It looks like they are toast, but what happens next is almost unreal. 15 lateral passes and they win! Check it out.

What a Weekend!

This past weekend was an interesting one that's for sure. It started Friday with Crystal calling during the House Party to tell me she's feeling sick and doesn't know if she'll make it to the end of her shift at work. Well she made it and agreed to go to the walk-in clinic Saturday to get some drugs.

Saturday I was at the "Say My Name" finals at the Bayfield Mall and after we gave away the trip to Mexico I checked my phone to see how Crystal was. She had left me a message that they rushed her to emerge once the doctor saw her at the walk-in. So off I went to the emergency room at RVH only to see Crystal sitting in the pink chairs in the waiting room. (Pink meaning she hadn't even gone through the preliminary screening) We were in the emergency department for quite some time... We played trivia, sudoku and crosswords to pass the time. People must have thought we were some kind of freaks. We were laughing and playing games, while people around us are crying, moaning and doing their best to look their worst hoping it would get them in faster. We finally made it in after 10pm (7 hours). By 3am they had given Crystal some antibiotics and told her the technician for a CAT scan wasn't in so she'd have to come back tomorrow. We were both hungry so I made us nachos at 4 in the morning.

Sunday, (8am) we were back at the hospital getting ready for a CAT scan. Crystal drank this nasty "dirty dishwater" as she called it and got ready for the tests. Once the tests were done they said it would be 2 or 3 hours before the had results... Great, more waiting around. About 30 minutes after the tests the surgeon appeared in our room saying they were going to remove Crystal's appendix, and the booked to O.R. for 2 o'clock. She went in at 3:00 and was up in her room at 4:30. (Her room was in the newborn section because they are short on space.) I stayed with her until about 10:00 last night then headed home.

Crystal called me this morning at about 9:30 saying they are kicking her out and needs me to come pick her up. We went home, settled in and then I went grocery shopping because she can't eat solid food yet. Lots of Jello and yogurt for the next couple days.

So after spending over 26 hours in the hospital over 2 days am I upset? No. I would be if nothing was wrong with Crystal, but they found what was wrong and they fixed it. It wasn't that bad, because of our work schedules we haven't had that much time together in a long time!



Here's what's weird about the whole ordeal. I wasn't worried at any point of the weekend. I kinda feel guilty for that. My wife was going in for surgery and had her appendix burst, she could have died. Still I wasn't worried. I knew she was in the hands of very capable doctors, and God was lookin out for her, why worry? I couldn't do anything to change the circumstances. Am I wrong to feel that way?

She made me promise not to post pictures from my phone on Facebook or MySpace, so here's what it would have looked like had I been the one with an infected appendix. Believe me, if I could have, I would have gladly taken her place.

Slammin House Party

Another solid House Party in the books... It seems to me they keep being more and more fun. (Granted this is only the second one) Thanks to Joel Dugard, O.D.K., Dandex and Hollee Rock for the good times. Now I understand some of you want to know what Dandex looks like, and I agreed to post a pic for you, so here goes.
Thanks to everyone who called in, who tuned in, and who contributed to the night. Have a solid weekend!

Party Goers

For Group Therapy Thursday tonight I took some heat over the question. Derek is going to a party next Wednesday night and he wants to know how he can refuse drinks without sounding like a knob. Apparently the popular opinion is that he shouldn't go to the party because there will be booze. I happen to disagree... I think he should go exactly for that reason. Yes it's important to have close friends that have the same beliefs as you (ie: youth group), but it is also important to connect with those who don't. Just because he's there doesn't mean he gets hammed, he can decline and be a positive example. Not going would result in him further distancing himself from reality and promoting the "Christian bubble", which is not a good thing.
So we have differing opinions, but that's why there's chocolate and vanilla.

Grocery Store Timing

I went home for dinner last night and when I went to the fridge to see what I could grab before heading back into work I was greeted by an empty fridge. Yes the cupboard was bare. So this morning I decided to remedy that and take a trip to the grocery store. Usually my experiences at the grocery are less than enjoyable. A senior citizen will annoy me, or they won't have what I'm looking for, but today was good. They had everything we needed and it was pretty speedy. It was so dead that we had 2 people bagging our groceries at the checkout. Yeah, so if you (or the rents) need to hit up the grocery store, Wednesday morning at 9:30-10:00 is the time to go.

Whoops!

I don't know if you watch "Dancing With The Stars," (I don't) but you will likely enjoy this clip either way. Marie Osmond is a popular singer from the 70's (Donny & Marie) and she has just finished dancing her routine. Marie and her partner are waiting for the judges to announce their scores and it appears she's breathing pretty heavily.

The good news is she's ok, the bad news is she didn't win. I kinda feel bad for her and the clip makes me squirm a little in sympathy. It is still pretty funny that it happened on LIVE tv last night. She said it has happened many times before when she forgets to breathe properly. I didn't think the whole was that tough. Hats off to Marie Osmond for giving me something to put in today's blog.

Get In On The Action

Yesterday was a super day! It was sunny, hot and the perfect day to shoot a video. A video? A video. Station manager Scott Jackson is obsessed with cycling, and he wanted to shoot a video of him biking to Orillia, and so Sunday was the wrap-up day for filming. At one point during our shoot he asked if I would write about it on the Wonderblog, to which I replied "I don't know." He then talked about how if I wanted something exciting on the page, then I should post the video, and talk about it. Now granted, I did enjoy myself, I don't think I could get into cycling. I liked riding downhill because you went fast, went off some jumps, narrowly avoided serious injury a number of times per run and I got to wear body armour. None of that is present in road cycling. I still respect road cyclists, they are in pretty good shape, but I just don't think it's for me. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind, and when I hit 50 maybe I'll get some enjoyment out of it... But for now, I'll stick to my sports.

Rekindling The Flame

I screwed up today. I knew I shouldn't have done it, but I did. I opted to go against the little voice inside that said "You shouldn't do this." And well, I'm paying the price for it now. On my dinner break I popped "Thicker Than Water" into my DVD player. Thicker Than Water is a surf film, and I love it. It makes me want to go on a surfing road trip everytime I watch it. Problem is I have to work, and it's not exactly warm enough to spend time at the beach. So here I am, longing for warm weather, sandy beaches and big waves... None of which I am going to see in the next 8 months. Bummer! Next time I'm going to listen to that still, small voice.

Wear Something Gaudy Day

Today is "Wear Something Gaudy Day" a day to dress up and look as un-fashionable as possible. It got me thinking... Who makes up these days? Seriously this has got to be one of the dumbest "days" going... No wait, tomorrow is "No Beard Day" that might make it a tie. I guess it's fun to have something different for each day of the year, but no one ever follows these. If you would have showed up at school wearing something gaudy, would anyone have known is was a special day? Probably not. My thinking is if you're going to make a "day," at least market it so people know.

Played To Order

Another played to order in the books for this week. It's interesting to see what songs people pick. Tonight we had Katie from Aurora calling the shots, and she picked a Sanctus Real song that I love. I think "The Show" is the best song on Fight The Tide, but it never made it on to the radio. So far almost every one of the played to order playlists have included a song that was never played on Life 100.3. I think this is so cool, cause often I'll buy a cd and the song I like most never makes it onto the radio, and I think to myself, "Am I weird?" I may be weird, but I'm not alone!

You Don't Know What It's Like

I now know what visitors feel like in our churches.

My sister got baptised at her church last night and I was in attendance. This is the church I grew up in, spent my teenage years in and attended every Sunday morning, and yet as I sat in the pew it felt foreign to me. I knew a grand total of 1 song in their worship celebration, (a hymn). The rest of the songs were from Tommy Walker and I had never heard of them before. If you've bnever sang a Tommy Walker song, it's not a simple song. It is complex, and hard to sing along to if you don't know the song. (Plus the Pentecostal versions are over 8 minutes long)

The experience opened my eyes to how visitors must feel in our churches. Sure WE know the songs, and we put the words on the screen for those who don't know them, but it's not enough. Last night the words were on the screen and I still didn't get it, and by the 3rd time through the song I was ready to quit trying to get it. I don't know what the solution is for this, but I can tell you as an outsider it was an uncomfortable experience.

Weekend

What a difference a week can make! Last Monday I was at the beach, skimboarding for the entire day. Now it looks like we'll be lucky if we stay above the freezing mark this weekend! October is one CRAZY month! Last year I was at the Cranberry Festival (which is this weekend) and had snow on that day too. Crazy! I miss summer already.

Group Therapy Thursday

As you know, on Thursday we ask you (the listener) to help us solve someones dilemma as part of Group Therapy Thursday. Tonight it was Dan, trying to figure out what to get his girlfriend for her birthday. We had lots of good suggestions, but the most unique came via email. Check out this link: http://www.tailoredmusic.com/ It's a website that offers you the opportunity to have a song written for your sweetheart. You get to pick the style of music (from jazz, to rock, to R&B) and then fill in the template to personalize the song. Then they have professional musicians record the song and send it to you. Pretty sweet huh? If you're looking for a unique gift, I think it'd be pretty hard to beat that.

Good Luck Dan!

Election!

Today was election day. I got out and voted nice and early, and sat back to watch the action unfold. OK, so maybe I had the tv on the hockey game instead of election coverage, but it's more interesting! Apparently the Liberals are back in power for another term, lots of high-fives in the McGuinty camp. Some people might feel sorry for the PC party or the NDP, but I feel sorry for another party. The newscaster. Tim Maassarany was in here after midnight getting clips of politicians and putting together a wrap-up of the election. The same guy who has to be back in studio for 5:30 tomorrow morning! I think I overheard him mumbling something about how he's glad it only happens once every 4 years. So as I head off for home, I tip my hat to the Liberals and wish them all the best for their term in office.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I can't remember a thanksgiving where the weather was as good as it was yesterday. I was out at the beach for about 6 hours skimboarding! Yeah that's right, without a wetsuit and all! The temps were around the 28-30 degree mark, and the surf was epic. What a great way to put the wraps on a long weekend. Although, last night as I'm brushing my teeth I noticed that I look kind of red. Yeah I got a SUNBURN IN OCTOBER! Who needs to move south to enjoy the warm weather. If only it stuck around through December and January.

All Request Run

Life 100.3 did something very brave today... they allowed you (the listener) to pick the music all day! Yeah we called it the "All Request Run To Midnight" and I'd say it was fairly successful ;-) I had a buncha calls from the older generation asking when we'd do it again. Well, station manager Scott Jackson says we need to do this more often, so if you like being able to request what you want, whenever you want... send him an email!

Have a great Thanksgiving, play nice in the sandbox and I'll catch you on Tuesday!

AJ - Excited About A Book?

I want you to watch the video below... Tell me what you think. It's a video that co-incides with a book that is being released in the next 10 days called "unchristian." Now as a guy who's frustrated with what Christianity has become, and is frustrated with the "Christian Bubble" this book has peaked my interest. What adds to the appeal of this book is the fact it's got contributions from some of my favorite teachers, (Andy Stanley, Brian McLaren and Rick Warren) I'm going to go pick it up the day it comes out, and will likely be writing some blogs about what I draw from the book, but over the next couple days ask yourself how you are viewed by those you are supposed to be reaching with the gospel message. The answer might surprise you.

NHL Season Is Here!

It has finally arrived! The NHL season is here. Every team excited about their chances to make an impact, foolish dreams still living in technicolor. I don't expect the Stars to win the cup, but I think they'll be a competitive team, (unlike Ben Davy's St Louis Blues.) But the Dallas Stars are so much more than a good product on the ice. They are pioneers off the ice as well. Check out their billboard campaign this year. It's creative, funny and a little mean. I LOVE IT! I'm going to refrain from making predictions, I'm just going to wish everyone luck in the coming hockey season. Enjoy it!

Technicolor Yawns

I have been waiting for today to arrive for a couple weeks now. You see today was the first "open shinny" at East Bayfield in Barrie. (For those of you not familiar with "shinny" it's basically pickup hockey.) Last year, for the first couple weeks, I would skate and then start to feel sick halfway into the game. Let's just say I left a few deposits in the garbage cans on the bench. I was hoping the same fate would not befall me this year. So far it hasn't. I did feel sick at some points this morning, but I managed to keep my frosted flakes within my digestive system. Let's hope I can continue to keep my composure.

NHL starts tomorrow... GO STARS GO!

Guitar Hero

Central Ontario has a new Guitar Hero! Out of all the qualifiers, Lisa Shaver's name was picked as the winner of the Peavey HP Special Guitar and Peavey Rage Amp from Music Pro in Barrie. I tried to call her after I made the draw, but she was at Karate, but heard the announcement on the radio as she was driving home. She called me to tell me she almost drove off the road when she heard. So congratulations to Lisa, and next Monday we start a new contest, with the prize being an iPod! Stay tuned for more!

What Are They Thinking?

The NHL season opens in earnest this weekend. (Actually tomorrow) But here's what I don't understand. Anaheim and LA play 2 games in London, England this weekend before coming back to North America for the remainder of the season. But while those 2 teams are squaring off in the regular season, there are exhibition/preseason games being played at the same time. Tell me who's bright idea this was. The Americans already have trouble understanding hockey, now you throw in this confusing situation? Hog-Wash! Somebody please give Gary Bettman's head a shake.

Taking The Plunge

I finally took the plunge this morning... All summer I've been attending the gym of "real life," (golfing, skimboarding, baseball), but today I officially signed up for a real gym membership. It's crazy man, now I've got an appointment with a personal trainer who is going to set-up a meal plan for me, put me through the gears to see how my body reacts, where it needs work, and then come up with a tailor made workout plan for me. It's like I'm part of some high-performance sports team. It's pretty cool, but I feel like it might be overkill. I just want to get in shape, not take part in the next olympics. We'll see how it goes, my first session with the personal trainer is next week.

See You At The Pole

This morning I woke up nice and early, jumped in the shower (cause I stink in the morning), threw on some clothes and made my way to 421 Grove St to stand around the flag pole. I arrived promptly at 7 and there may have been 2 people at the pole. I had visions of being back in high school with 3 people standing around the flag pole... But it wasn't like that at all. Slowly people started to trickle in and by the end we had over 40 people surrounding the flag pole. It was a good time of prayer for students, teachers, the school and Barrie, but the hilite for me was something totally different.

3 or 4 times during the prayer time I had someone tap me on the shoulder and ask: "Who died?" It was the same question from each person! I smiled and told them that at this time each year, Christians across North America gather around their school's flag pole and pray for the school, the students and the teachers. Not a single person I talked to thought that was weird, rather most said "Cool." Now after our conversation finished they stuck around for a while watching us, and at one point I felt like I should ask them "Do you want us to pray for you?" But I didn't. I'm kicking myself for missing that opportunity, but the whole experience was a positive one for me.

Pre-Party

Tonight at EBC in Barrie over 100 youth came together to get pumped for See You At The Pole Tomorrow morning. It was a great night, lots of fun, and lots of sweat! It was SO hot inside their youth room. Pastor Dave had some serious sweat going on. Tomorrow morning isn't supposed to be as hot as today, so hopefully it'll be a more comfortable temperature for everyone to get around those flagpoles! I'll be hanging out with the young'uns at Eastview. Have a great morning!

HOORAY FOR PITSTAINS!

Observing

I watched an interesting scenario unfold in church Sunday morning... The dude on stage was praying, and a young man came walking down the aisle, saw someone he knew and began to move down the row towards them. Problem was that he had to go past a handful of people to get to his friend. As you know, there's not a lot of room to get by people in the pews, and consequently he bumped into a couple of the people on his journey. These people were not happy. I can just imagine the thoughts going through their minds: "Doesn't he know to wait until prayer is done?" "What is this guy doing disrupting my time with God?" You may agree with these people's thoughts, and support the daggers their eyes threw at this young man. I do not.
He didn't look like a regular church attender, who knows, maybe it was his first time coming in a while? He clearly didn't feel comfortable sitting on his own amongst strangers... I wonder why? Maybe because they look down on him because he doesn't know the "rules" for a Sunday morning? How about we scrap the "rules" and show some more love? Instead of giving the guy dirty looks, give him a warm smile and maybe even introduce yourself later? Maybe I'm wrong and need to be more reverent in church. It's a definite possibility. I just feel that church is missing the point when it comes to "the lost"... I'll leave it at that.

House Party

Tonight was the first ever Slammin' House Party, and it was a party! We had a studio packed full of guests, from listeners like Brookelyn to former DJ's like Jammin' Jeff, to current DJ's like Hollee Rock. It was a mad house tonight, with so much food! Seriously we had more cookies, donuts, pizza and snacks than we'd need in a week. It was awesome! I'm not sure when the next one will be, but I can assure you it will be CRAZY once again!

Have a great weekend everyone!

BBQ's and Such

Today I got to take part in the St Peter's Annual Back-To-School BBQ in Barrie. Let me just start off by saying we never had anything like this at my high school. I was pretty impressed. I wasn't actually expecting many students out (especially seniors, cause they are too cool) but there were A LOT! And it was a lot of fun. Eating some burgers, checking out the bake sale and buying raffle tickets. Then they had a buncha games planned. I was quite impressed with the evening on the whole. So to those who made it hapen, I send you a "Well Done!"

P.S. - I even got a pie in the face. My hair is rock hard and full of gunk!

A Sad Realization

My normal Thursday morning routine consists of a couple things. Hitting the snooze a couple times because 6:30 comes very early. Drag myself out of bed around 7, get dressed, grab my board and head downstairs. Jump in my buddy Kent's car and pick up some breakfast on our way to the beach. We'd session the beach for a couple hours and then head back into the city and get ready for work.

It appears as if that routine might be a thing of the past. Cold mornings mean cold bodies in the water, and the water isn't all that warm anymore either. As much as I don't want to admit it, the sun might be setting on my skimboard season.

The Flame

I premiered the new TFK album tonight; "The Flame In All Of Us" Response was as expected, CRAZY! TFK gets nothin but love from you guys. It was funny talking to one girl tonight who says she's afraid to say she dislikes TFK because everyone at her youth group LOVES them. I managed to rid myself of 10 copies tonight... Congrats are in order for Amanda from Barrie, Chris from Lisle, Hannah from Oro, Jason from Wasaga Beach, Sarah from Peterborough, Emma from Hastings, Dan from Moonstone, Jay from Port Perry, Sarah from Oakwood and Andrew from Chesley. Thanks for making it a great night!

Duck vs Cougar

Who would win in a fight; a duck or a cougar?

I think they may be one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. The Duck opens up a can on the cougar after it imitates the Duck's trademark "Pushup Dance" I love the Duck's swagger at the end... Check it out!

My First One

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros, the video game that changed the world. Think about it. This video game involving 2 Italian Plumbers (from Japan) set the bar for all games to come. Before SMB games were played on a stationary screen. (Think; Pong and Donkey Kong) But SMB had a moving screen, with unseen enemies and challenges off-screen. It was ground-breaking at the time.

I remember my first videogame system. I got a Nintendo when I was in grade 4 and I was so stoked! Playing RBI Baseball and Excitebike all day. Not doing my homework, not getting the exercise I should have, I was a videogame zombie. But I eventually grew out of it (sort of) and got back to playing outside. I'm glad I did, otherwise with all the junk food I ate, I'd be in terrible shape right now.

Video games have changed though haven't they. Now the Ninetendo Wii makes you move around, and actually work up a sweat depending on the game you play. Not to mention the physical activity you get from Guitar Hero. Despite all this, I still think it's more fun to "play" outside.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I talked to Matt Thiessen tonight, and one thing he said caught me by surprise... They aren't playing clubs on their tour with Switchfoot because some of their fans might have an issue with the whole alcohol in a club thing. It shocked me because I didn't think they'd cave in to the pressure from conservative Christians. But I mean, good for them. They know where the majority of their record sales come from, and playing in amphitheatres will still draw the non-Christian crowd too. So cudos to Relient K and Switchfoot for making the stand and here's to a very successful tour with many sold-out shows. [AJ raises a non-alcoholic glass]

Played To Order

Tonight we kicked off "Played To Order"... Now if you don't know what that is I'll explain it to you. You email in your 5 favorite Slam songs, and then if I pick your playlist, you get to introduce them and show everyone that YOU have the best taste in music. You only pick the songs you love.

For example; Jon from Barrie's Playlist

The Fold - New Skeptic

Anberlin - Time & Confusuion

Mat Kearney - Girl America

Classic Crime - The Fight

Relient K - Be My Escape

It's so easy, and it's your chance to prove to everyone that you have the best taste in music. We basically hand over the keys to the Slam to you! Send me your playlist aj@lifeonline.fm

Here's a song that would be in my 5... Group One Crew - Forgive Me. Check it out!

Saturday Skimming

So Saturday was pretty stinkin' sweet! K-Love and I went out to the beach nice and early and discovered the conditions were prime! The waves were nice and big, the wash was nice and big, and the creek had changed it's course so it ran out directly into the water. It was the best session we've had so far (by far!). We hit the beach hard for a couple hours and then made our way back into the city. (My parents came by and videotaped part of it, but I can't figure out how to get it on here.) I went back later in the day and sessioned the beach some more. I never realized just how much fun I would have when I asked for a skimboard. It's the most fun I've ever had working out. Seriously it's a blast... Go get a board now!

Timing Is Everything

My birthday isn't for another week, but Crystal gave me my birthday present a couple weeks ago, and I'm glad she did. I got a skimboard! Now I'm totally addicted. I get up super early and drive for 45 minutes on some mornings just to session the beach for an hour or two before I have to come in to work. It's so much fun! Now had Crystal waited to give me my board, I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much, but she decided to give it to me early, and I'm so thankful. I think I might head out to the beach tomorrow morning too!

If you don't know what skiming is... check the vid below.

Autumn Is Here

You know how I know Fall is (almost) here? Not because the weather is cooler. Not because the leaves are changing color. Not because football teams are practicing after school. Because the NFL kicked off tonight. I thought it was going to be a good game... New Orleans, (an impressive team from last year) taking on the defending champs in Indianapolis. It was closefor the first half of the game, and then Indy ran away with it. Saints fans need not worry, I predict New Orleans will face New England in the Superbowl. They'll be fine.

Ottawa

This past weekend Crystal and I went to Ottawa to see Phantom Of The Opera, and spend some time in our nation's capital. Now I don't remember spending any prolonged period of timein Ottawa when the weather was nice. (I remember going for Winterlude) But it was nice. I mean it feels very different than I imagine Washington would. Washington seems to be really clean, really white, and really modern. Ottawa feels old, dirty and slow. I was surprised at how many people were out being active, whether riding a bike, rollerblading or just out for a walk, it seemed like an active city. So my overall feelings on the city? Well I wouldn't want to live there, but it's a really nice place to visit. Ottawa has a ton of cool restaurants, the market and an overall cool feel to it. It's worth the trip.

First Day Of Skool

Well the first day of the 07/08 school year is in the books. Sometimes I miss school. I miss hanging out, going on road trips, playing on sports teams, and some of my classes. Yeah I liked going to Law, Entrepreneurial Studies, Leadership and of course Phys Ed. When you're in school you tend to take stuff for granted. The fact each day is different, the fact you have a lot more free time, and the fact you don't have much to worry about. High School was a good time. Now granted it was a lot of work at times, but I have nothing but fond memories from my time going to youth, playing ball, and skipping class. (Not that I endorse skipping class) GO TO SCHOOL KIDS!

Last Long Weekend

We're heading into the last long weekend of summer. What are you doing as your last hurrah of summer? I've got a pretty busy weekend ahead. Tomorrow I'm taking Snax to the cottage so my parents can look after her while Crystal and I are away. Where are we going? O-Town baby! Going to see Phantom Of The Opera Sunday night in the nation's capital. I'm pretty stoked, mainly because Crystal hasn't seen it before and I loved it when I saw it. So we're taking in some culture on Sunday night and then driving home on Monday. Did I mention our hotel has a water slide? It's gonna be AWESOME!

Skimboarding

This morning I got up early, now I'm talking SUPER early. Only a couple of things can make me get up that early, golf, hockey, baseball or skimboarding. This morning it was skimboarding. My buddy Kent and I made the trip up to a beach in Tiny Township to get in a skim session before heading to work in the afternoon. Can I just say it was AWESOME! There's this stream that ran into the bay, so we'd ride the stream, and then hit the waves head on... or at least that was the plan. I struggled a little at first, barely making it 15 feet, but by the end we had some longer rides going and the sun even came out. Considering it's only about a 30 minute drive from my place, you might see me up there 3 or 4 mornings a week in September! Whoop Whoop!

Where'd Summer Go?

Seriously! I remember in May I had plans for all the stuff I wanted to do this summer; spend lots of time at the beach, go to a couple ball games, golf lots and maybe even take some time off and go somewhere nice. Now here we are, a couple days away from the end of summer, and I haven't done any of that. I guess I just got busy working and missed out on summer. Kinda makes me sad, but I guess that's what happens once you start working. So enjoy your summers while you're in school, enjoy those 3 months off when you don't have to worry about work. Sure you may have a summer job, but enjoy your high-school years. It might seem like they suck right now, but you'll look back and remember how good it was.

Must See Videos

This is a classic example of a beauty queen!

And to think he used to be a big name in Hollywood!

Sometimes I think the creators of children's show have to be on something... Who in their right mind would think of this kind of stuff?

Karaoke Superstar!

Last night at the Orillia Opera House we crowned our third Karaoke Superstar... Congrats to Andy Taylor for taking home the crown. As the night progressed 2 things came to mind...
1- We've come a long way baby
2- I like Andy.

I remember the first Karaoke Superstar Finals... at Wasaga Waterworld. Not ideal for a singing contest. Then last year it was at the Barrie Fair. Again a less than desirable venue for a singing contest. But then this year the finals were at the ultra-classy Orillia Opera House! Complete with professional stage lighting and a professional sound guy! It was just such a special night. I hope we do it up big-time again next year.

And Andy! I love the way he sings. He puts everything he's got into the song, and he rocks it out with a little growl at times. I was totally impressed by the guy. I'm glad he stepped up his game and brought the title home, because he's such a genuine, humble guy. Congrats Andy!

Random Thought

I'm filling in on the "Steve Jones Experience" this week cause Steve's on vacation. Junky will be filling in on the Slam... I'm back on Monday!

Here's a random thought to get you trough the week: "Drivers are safer when highways are dry, and highways are safer when drivers are dry."

Puppy Trouble

Over the last couple days/weeks I've woken up each morning with a surprise from Snax waiting for me. Some days there's puke (or "vomit" for you stuffy English types) on the carpet, some days it's a book she's found torn to shreds, one day it was Crystal's diary chewed into pieces on the floor. Now usually I just clean up the mess and tell her that she's been bad... but today was a different story.

I woke up and scanned the floor... nothing. No clothes, vomit or paper. I was a little hesitant to give praise though... Something didn't feel right. I saw your chewing something so I decided to investigate further. I picked her up and reached inside her mouth, what was this new found chew-toy? The answer made me cringe. It was a piece of my glasses! She had pulled them off my night-table and decided they'd be a good midnight snack. So half of my glasses was in her mouth, where was the rest? I looked in her bed and found the answer. She had broken/eaten/ruined my glasses! I was a little bit upset (as you might imagine) and so I put her in her crate. (More for her safety than for punishment). Will she ever behave? I think the obedience school decision was made for us this morning. Snax is going, and she's going to like it!

Here's the photo evidence.

Happy Birthday

Today marks the 8 year anniversary since Life 100.3 signed on in their studios at 14 High street in Barrie. It funny looking back at the Slammin' Top50 charts on the website. In 1999 you find names like Chris Rice and Steven Curtis Chapman on the chart. 2001 has the likes of Plus One, Swish and LaRue. Christian music sure has come a long way in the past 8 years. I remember being in school and listening online to Mike C host the Slam... telling myself that one day I'd like to do that. Now here I am, hosting the Slam and maybe my replacement is listening online somewhere and saying the same thing. 8 years ago I'm sure the staff had no idea they'd be adding repeaters in Peterborough, Owen Sound and Huntsville. Maybe in 7 more years we'll look back and say "Wow! look at far far we've come in the last 15 years." Maybe we'll become Canada's Christian Superstation?

Strike That Chord

If you were to go to my car at any point over the past couple weeks you would likely find the new disc from the Rocket Summer in the CD player. (Yeah I'm a high roller... I have a CD player in my car) Well today I was driving and this song came on that made me stop and say "Heck Yeah! That's totally where I'm at." The song? "Run To You" Check it out.

"Run To You"

Turn, look, look out and see

Do you see me?

Because I think I see you.

I've been some other place

The wind that I chase, it all just leads back to you.

Oh how I'm still, so still, it's sobering, but still I ran.

I knew you when I was young

But where am I now that I'm a man?

Run to you, I will run, I will run.

I will move right on through

All of these things that I have done.

And you'll take me back, I don't know why.

I want to say I'll never do it again,

But I can't, but I will try.

Turn, look, look out and see

Do you see me?

Because I think I see you.

I've been some other place

The wind that I chase, it all just leads back to you.

Oh how I miss what you miss, but I will fall time and again.

And I will say that I'm true to you,

But I'm a cheat. I don't understand.

So I'll run to you, I will run, I will run.

I will move right on through

All of these things that I have done.

And you'll take me back, I don't know why.

I want to say I'll never do it again, but I can't

I want to say I'll never do it again, but I can't

I want to say I'll never do it again, but I can't

But I will try.

This song is so totally about me! I sing lies every Sunday in church. I sing about how much I love God, how I'd give anything for him, how I want to serve him daily. But then I cheat... I continually choose other things over God. I will choose to watch TV instead of spending time in my Bible, or I'll let the busyness of Life take over and throw my relationship with God on the back-burner. "I want to say I'll never do it again, But I can't, but I will try." I love that line... That's where I'm at. I think that's what makes a lot of Christian music so unappealing to me... It's too perfect. That's not my life. My life is messy, filled with mistakes, filled with conflicting desires. If artists like Chris Tomlin, MercyMe and Kutless can sing those kind of fluffy, lovey, silky songs and be truthful, more power to them. That's just not where I'm at, and I'm glad The Rocket Summer can identify with that.

Great Lakes Road Trip

This past weekend was one I had been looking forward to for quite some time. It was the weekend of baseball! On Friday, 2 of my buddies from baseball and I headed out for what was going to be a weekend full of good times.

We started off with a Friday night matchup between the Indian and Yankees. The game was sold out and even the scalpers didn't have tickets. We weren't sure we were even going to see a game! We walked up to the box office window and it turns out they had just released some $10 tickets in the upper level. We jumped on them faster than a fat kid on candy. Later we overheard people around us paid $30 for their tickets from a scalper... We scored big time! The game was alright, the Yankees won and we almost witnessed a fight between an Indians and Yankees fan. After the game they had a jaw-dropping fireworks display. Now this was no ordinary fireworks show. It was over 25 minutes long, set to music, with fireworks coming from all directions. AMAZING! It was bigger than Canada Day fireworks here, and it wasn't even a special occasion. Super cool!

Saturday we set out for Detroit, with a quick stop in Toledo. We visited Fifth/Third Field, home of the Toledo Mudhens in hopes of an afternoon game. No such luck. So we made our way down the street to the Toledo science center. That was (surprisingly) a lot of fun. After the pit-stop in Toledo we made our way to the Motor-City. I was kinda iffy on parking my car downtown for 3-4 hours in Detroit, but we managed to find a "guarded" lot and made our way to Comerica Park. We got to the box office and we had 2 ticket options. General admission or "on-deck circle." We took the ones with seats, and made our way to the section assigned on our tickets. Turns out we were 6 rows behind home plate! I was on TV for the entire game! They wouldn't allow us to take pictures, wave or talk on our cell phones because they wanted everyone in the camera shot to look like they were paying close attention to the game... I still managed to sneak a couple pics here and there. They also had fireworks after the game (I don't know why) and they were also pretty sweet. The drive home was long (got home around 4am Sunday) but it was totally worth it! An absolutely amazing weekend!

Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH

The Fellas @ "The Jake"

Fireworks in Cleveland

More fireworks in Cleveland

Cloud machine at the Toledo Science Center




The Fellas @ Comerica in Detroit

Fireworks @ Comerica in Detroit

Tonight

I'm off to MBC for their big Book Sale Today... Junky is taking your votes and requests tonight. Make sure to be nice to him. Have a GREAT long weekend!

Looking Forward

I'm pretty stoked about this coming weekend. Not only is it a long weekend, (Woohoo 3 days off!) but it's also an eventful weekend for me. Saturday I'll be heading up to my buddies cottage in Port Carling to do some Cliff Jumping, Wakeboarding and overall cottage funning. Then Sunday, Crystal and I are heading to the Rogers Centre to take in the Jays vs Rangers, (we've got some sweet seats). And we cap off the weekend with Kempenfest Monday morning, then date night with Crystal. Yup, it's gonna be a sweet weekend. :-)

Scared Of That Ride?

Have you ever been on a ride (at Wonderland of Darien Lake) and felt like you were going to die? It's not uncommon for you to feel that way. It is, however, uncommon that you would actually die. Fatalities on amusement park rides are very low. That doesn't mean there aren't close calls though. Check out this video.

The worst part is the woman who keeps laughing at the kid... He almost falls out of the ride and she is busting a gut thinking it's the funniest thing in the world. The ride stops, the kid is in pain, and she keeps laughing. If I was that kid, as soon as they release my belt, I'm giving that woman a left hook to the jaw.

So if you're off to KingdomBound next week, go ahead and get on those rides. They are totally safe! ;-)

Scared Snotless

I did something today that scared the snot out of me... I went and had acupuncture done on my ailing elbow. It seems years of playing baseball has taken a toll on my elbow and I need to have it fixed to eliminate the pain I am feeling. A good buddy of mine is a doctor and so I decided he could do this acupuncture thing and maybe it would help me. There's one problem though. I HATE needles. I pass out when I have blood taken, I squirm when I get booster shots, I HATE needles. So I got up this morning and I was regretting my decision to book this appointment. I showered, shaved and ate some breakfast. If I was going to be carted off the the hospital I wanted to be clean. I arrived at Dr Kent's and he greeted me with a smile and ushered me into the treatment room. (He was much more professional than he normally is when we're kickin' it on the golf course) I was freaking out on the inside, and despite my best efforts it probably showed on the outside. He tried to calm me down and told me not to watch. It didn't hurt at all, just felt kinda funny at some points and I could not stop sweating. Soon I felt like I was going to pass out and my vision started to blur a little... I was officially having a meltdown. He must have noticed, because he began to try to distract me from the treatment. Asking "How was Air Raid?" and "How's Crystal doing?" Once the needles were in place it was time for me to chill... I had some trouble relaxing with numerous needles firmly in my skin. He did a good job of making it comfortable for me, except for the pillow. It felt like plastic and didn't absorb any sweat. ("Would you want to be lying on someone else's sweaty pillow" was Kent's reasoning) After about 20 minutes it was time to remove the pointy rods from my skin. This was probably the best part. I got up off the treatment table and there was a puddle where I had been. (It was kinda nasty) Overall I'd say it was a good experience. Not only will my elbow be getting better, I might get over my fear of needles! I may have to if I want to make it through. I go back Thursday morning.

This guy seems to be enjoying it... no?