I dunno...

Maybe there's something wrong with me. Or maybe it's just another one of God-given characteristics that prepares me for working with middle schoolers. Either way, I found this funny. To be honest, I found it way too funny. (Thanks to Marko)

I'm sorry if you just lost all respect for me.

Snow day...

Snow. Lots of it. Well, lots of it if you're living in BC. If you call Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Alberta home, then this really isn't that much snow. But hey, who am I to argue with taking a day off?

I actually drove to work and found a sign on the door saying "office closed". School's have been canceled. People are stuck in their driveways. You cannot see me, but I'm shaking my head in disbelief right now.

Oh, and to all the wonderful "BC drivers"...if you're tires are spinning and you're not making progress through the intersection DO NOT HIT THE GAS HARDER! Sheesh...you'd think that something like this would go without saying.

And lastly, now playing on iTunes is "Christmas Convoy" by Paul Brandt. My wife is loving it!

Clapton tickets...

I tried. But it was finally too late...unless I wanted to pay $125 (plus service charges) to sit behind the stage. Yeah...you can see why I've opted not to go for it.

However, the Clapton ticket saga continues as I found out he'll be in Seattle the night before he's supposed to play in Vancouver. The good news? Tickets don't go on sale until next Saturday! So, there's still a chance this could work.

Ahhh...Friday...

Woke up to the arrival of some friends from our old stomping grounds. It was nice to catch up and share a few laughs and some memories. And it was great to watch our kids. You would never know that it had been almost a year since they had seen each other last.

Anyways, I took off for a little time on my own this afternoon and watched "Deja Vu". Not phenomenal, but certainly not the worst movie I've ever seen. either way, it was nice to just sit and let my brain focus on something else for a while.

In house news...the cleaning people are supposed to be finished today. Then there's still a pile of little things to be done before Thursday. Electrical odds & ends, appliances, shower doors, a bookshelf and a back splash to name a few. But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we might be able to move in a bit earlier.

And I know you're all waiting for an update on Clapton tickets. Ummm...I'm a little sad to say that they do not exist...at least not yet. But they still could turn up in the very near future. Quick, someone head over to Erin's blog and tell her that she should buy me some tickets!

On sale Friday...

I'm surfing around tonight after the kids pack it in for the night and I find out that Eric Clapton is going to be in concert next March. I missed out on seeing him back in 1998 when he made a stop in Edmonton and I always hoped he'd make it back north of the border. And at long last that day has arrived.

Tickets go on sale at 10am Friday. Now I just need to convince my wife that this is a good investment for the future. "Yes, I really did see Eric Clapton live."

Please feel free to send your cheques or money orders to me at the following address...

NYWC '07...

I started to post and then I realized that I would say too much and try to be too profound an insightful. Then I stopped and thought to myself, "when have I ever been profound and insightful in my blog?"

So, here it is...the simplified version of what I experienced in Anaheim. It can be summed up by one word that is written in red marker on the back of an American one dollar bill. LOVE.

Everywhere I turned I was being reminded to love.

• The crazy sign people reminded me to love the people that believe differently than I do.
• Efrem Smith reminded me that "God wants to love the hell out of you."
  
• Matthew Barnett reminded me to stop seeking after success and start seeking after the welfare of the people. Again with the love thing.
  
• Mike Pilavachi reminded me "go after the one" and to "love with Jesus' heart". Whole lotta love.
  
• Shane Claiborne (who left me with the dollar) reminded me "don't do great things; do little things with great love!"
• Marko reminded me that I'm also arrogant and I think that's because I'm usually more in love with myself than with other people.
• I was reminded that I need to love my family more.
• I was reminded that I need to love difficult students more.

At one point we were asked to select one word that we felt God was placing on our heart. Then we were asked to write that word on a mirror with a sharpie and then look at our reflection behind that word. What was it that God was trying to reveal in us and through us. The one word for me? LOVE.

I'm still trying to work this out practically. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with my dollar (go here to read a way better explanation by Kerry). I'm still trying to figure out how to love difficult people. I need to greatly improve how I love my family. I've got to just get better at loving people overall.

4 on a couch...

It's been crazy weather here today. Lots of wind and rain. Ok, so the rain isn't that unusual, but the wind has been sending tress crashing to the ground and blowing small animals into the ocean.

I kind of wondered if any high schoolers would show up. Well, they did. But the mood was a little...umm...I'm not even sure how to describe it. So, instead of our usual routine we opted for playing four on the couch. What is it about this game? This seems to be the one game that every single student will willingly participate in. Go figure...it's the simple things about youth ministry that make this the greatest job on earth!

We also had the power go out with 15 minutes left in the evening, so instead of a mini-lesson we went for a group prayer time. All in all, it's great to have a night like this every once in a while where you can change things up at the last minute and just go with the flow.

Of death & bluegrass...

I started reading David Crowder's book "Everybody Wants to go to Heaven But Nobody Wants to Die (or The Eschatology of Bluegrass)" last week. Then on Friday my wife and I headed over to the AMC in Downtown Disney to watch Stranger Than Fiction (which wasn't a bad flick, by the way).

Suffice to say that I'm more than a little overwhelmed by the subject of death in the past 6 days. That could explain why I wasn't particularly enthused to be on a plane in a rainstorm on Saturday night.

I should point out that I don't have some fascination with death and mortality. I just sort of fell into this. I spent a good deal of Crowder's book wondering just how things were going to come together in the end. He talks at great length about the soul and how it has been viewed throughout history. He also talks a great deal about the origins of bluegrass music. Then he weaves in some of his personal story, some emails, some IMs with a bandmate and even an interesting (yet sometimes confusing) story about three people whose lives intersect due to loss and suffering.

I know..it's a little confusing. Which is why it's good to stick it out to the end. And while the end result is not really anything new, it does serve as an excellent reminder that there is more to life than the here and the now. There is more that just today's suffering. We have hope. With that said, hope doesn't eliminate all the hurt we can feel when we lose someone.

Crowder's wit, humour, honesty and unique outlook on life provide a fresh outlook on a subject that's not often discussed by many. And now I can officially say that I have more of an understanding for (and an appreciation of) bluegrass music.

Dork factor...

It could take me a little while to deconstruct and process everything from NYWC. In this post I shall do neither. Instead I shall try to explain how much of a dork I have become. (And I know what you're thinking, "That shouldn't be too hard.")

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my high schoolers about journalling and I decided to bring out my journal so I could be a shining example of how a person can commune with God. (Doesn't that sound noble?)

Instead I realized that my "dork factor" increased. Oh well, you've got to embrace it sometime right? So I decided to stop trying to run from it this past weekend and come to grips with who God created me to be...a DORK.

While I want to spare you all the gory details, I fear that you may not completely understand the events that transpired and then make unnecessary and unfounded judgements about me. Please don't. Just try to picture yourself the day you finally begin to embrace your dorkiness.

Anyways...it turned out that Disney was taping their annual Christmas Special which meant a special parade and guest appearances by select "artists" (I use that term loosely because of the first act we witnessed). The overall goal was to watch Daniel Powter perform live in front of the castle and maybe (just maybe) make it onto TV.

And since this post is already too long (and not very profound) I'll just state for the record that neither Erin or myself wanted to witness 2 teens named Aly & AJ lipsynch a song 3 times. Nor did we want to be surrounded by 13 year-old girls swooning over Ryan Seacrest. We wanted to see a Powter concert. Instead we ended up seeing him sing to a background track (yes, 3 times) before being introduced by Seacrest after the songs were completed. Uh...yeah...apparently that's how they do things in Hollywood. Film the intro at the end of the segment.

But I willingly participated in this and so therefore I am now, and forevermore, a dork. You can look for this dork in the crowd on the Christmas Day showing of the Disneyland Parade on ABC (check your local listings).

This can't be normal...

From the south...

The sunshine is certainly better that any rain we were getting back at home and it's also not so bad hanging out with piles of other people who have the same strange desire in life to tell teenagers about Jesus. But occasionally there are strange things...

• people with signs saying that YS leads to hell...(only in America, eh?)
• a band that has a guy dance around the stage all night with absolutely no purpose...except for an occasional tambourine
• a guy that wears an orange jumpsuit and plays horns

Maybe we'll get some pics up when I'm back. As for now I think I'm over my 10 minute limit.

5 hours...

I need to be up in five hours to head for the airport. I should really be in bed but I need to wait for some clothes to get out of the dryer. But by 7:55am tomorrow morning we'll be on our way to Anaheim. I'm looking forward to NYWC and a few days in the shadows of Mickey.

My intern has been left in charge. He's great and I'm sure he'll do an awesome job. But I'm always nervous when I have to pass the reigns off to someone else. I'll probably spend most of tomorrow's flight trying to think of what I forgot to tell him.

Anyways...the packing and sleeping beckons me. We'll try to keep you posted from the sunny south!

Oh yeah...and what's the deal with high schoolers and their crazy desire to light fireworks in the Church parking lot? That's not normal is it?

Soccer, Middle School & Yac...

My son's soccer wrapped up today. Strangest event ever. They lined up and marched out of the room so they could march back into the room and then through the room. Then some woman made them dance, which looked more like a 500 foot line of kids trying not to fall over by holding on to each others waists. Then they got a trophy a water bottle and a soccer ball. Just a proud dad moment.

Then it was back to my middle school group for the evening. It always amazes me how simply hitting each other with a pool noodle or chucking a hacky-sack at each other can be so entertaining.

And 2 days until we leave for NYWC. Woohoo! (That's in memory of Mike Yaconelli)

Dealing with loss...

I watched the Brandon Wheat Kings lose on Friday to the Chilliwack Bruins (yes, I have decided to attend Bruins games again...but at least this time there was no porn). Then I took a group of high school students to watch my Bombers get beat up by the Lions last night. Sheesh...at least Wayne Rooney & Co. were able to thrash Bolton 4-0.

Ok, this next part has nothing to do with loss...

I had a leader meeting today. It went fairly well. I've got lots of youth ministry rookies on my current team, but they all have great attitudes. It would be nice if we could add a few more bodies to the team though before we break for Christmas.

Red...

Ok, so I'm getting very unoriginal and boring with my titles. It's been a long couple of weeks with youth stuff, so I'll blame it on that. My in-laws are heading out on vacation, my parents are coming out tomorrow, it's my b-day tomorrow, we have a youth event tomorrow, a youth leaders meeting on Sunday and I'm hosting the service this week.

I'm seeing red because I just got a call today from an "independent adjuster" who wants to meet with me next week to talk over the facts of the collision I was involved in back in July. Apparently the other driver that hit me isn't too happy about being at fault and they're challenging ICBC. Good grief...now I have to go through the process again.

And here's why I'll be wearing red...With all the craziness going on I got to open a few presents last night. And while my Dwight Schrute bobblehead ranks right up there as one of the best gifts, my favorite is probably my jersey. Yup, another Manchester United jersey, but it's my first one with official patches and even the name and number of the great Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. So cool!

On the ipod...

Thought this might be interesting...If you read this and you have Itunes, give it a try.

HOW MANY SONGS? 4288

SORT BY SONG TITLE:
First is 'Til the Day I Die by Third Day
Last is Zombie Zoo by Tom Petty

SORT BY TIME:
Longest is 38:52 with #41 by Dave Matthews Band (from a live concert in Ottawa in 2002)
Shortest is 8 seconds with Too Much by Dave Matthews Band (actually it's a fake intro they once played in concert)

SORT BY ALBUM:
First is Back to the Future Soundtrack by Various Artists
Last is Youth by Matisyahu

TOP THREE MOST PLAYED SONGS:
1. Wholly Yours by David Crowder Band (56 times)
2. Foreverandever Etc by David Crowder Band (53 times)
3. Here Is Our King by David Crowder Band (47 times)

TOP THREE MOST PLAYED NON-CROWDER SONGS:
1. Second Place Victory by This Day & Age
2. Marvelous Light by Charlie Hall
3. Girl America by Mat Kearney

LAST THREE SONGS PURCHASED:
1. Eclipse by Cary Judd
2. In Your Eyes by Jeffrey Gaines
3. The Great Escape by the BBC Orchestra

LAST ENTIRE ALBUM PURCHASED:
1. No Safe Bet by Pete Schmidt

RANDOM WORD SEARCHES:
"Can't" 37 songs
"Find" 8 songs
"Normal" 12 songs
"Dave Matthews" 383 songs
"Mike" 18 songs
"Erin" 25 songs
"Disney" 48 songs
"Unplugged" 66 songs
"Live" 339 songs

FAVORITE PODCAST SUBSCRIBED TO:
1. Acoustic Tuesdays

This is an instrument...

Richard gets the credit for this post. He pointed out that one of the sounds in the last video I posted was made by an instrument called the Theremin. I'll admit that I had never heard of this so I decided to check it out a little further. And this video is probably the best explanation of the instrument with the best demonstration of the song, all by a guy wearing the best pants ever.

Prepare to be amazed...

Random video...

This year at our youth events I started something I like to call the "Random Video of the Week". Sure, it's not very profound or original, but it is occasionally funny. I think the funniest is watching how the students will react to the videos. Some of them are still trying to figure out the point to many of the videos.

So, I thought I'd share the randomness with this little gem...

Soccer Saturday...

I woke up at 5ish this morning so I could hit the record button on the VCR so I could watch United play at a half-decent time. Unfortunately I missed the first 25 minutes of the game and I was shocked to see a 1-0 scoreline in favor of Wigan. Anyways...I headed back to catch a few zz's and then watched the rest of the game a little later.

I know, this isn't super profound, but it is Saturday. And soccer and Saturday go together so perfectly. Anyways, United battled back to win 3-1. And Solskjaer scored the final goal. It's so good to see a guy putting the ball in the net after being out with a multitude of knee injuries for almost 2 complete seasons. It gives a me some hope that I can actually come back from my knee injuries.

Porn and hockey (part 2)...

I left it alone for a week and I thought that maybe it would stop bugging me, but it didn't. And today I finally reached the breaking point. After some "outside" advice (thanks to the many people who provided their 2 cents), I decided that I had to respond to previous email I received. Here's what I fired off today...

Darryl,I'd like to start off by thanking you for your quick reply.
I've taken some time to process what you had to say and I believe that I need to
respond accordingly. I'm glad to see your emphasis is on families and on
kids. After all, that's one of the reasons I attended the game with my
son. It's great to see organizations that make family entertainment a
priority.

I guess this is what confuses me most about the ad. With so much
focus on families and kids, it seems ill-placed for an ad of that nature.
I would think that "family-focused" would mean going the extra mile to ensure
that all families and kids are in a safe environment. I'm assuming that
you have a large no-drinking section in order to ensure that families have a
safe & comfortable time together when they attend a game. It seems
like a simple step you take that improves the family environment (especially for
those with little children) while still allowing other people in attendance to
enjoy a beer and a game. It makes perfect sense to me.

The problem about the ad is that it isn't confined to a set area, it's open
for everyone (including children) to see. I understand your statement
about "a tanning salon is going to promote itself by showing a tan", but let's
be honest, the only thing you can decipher from 25-30 feet is that it's a naked
woman on the picture. The last thing anyone can see is the quality of the
tan.

I'm sorry to hear you say that this is a morality issue. If not
wanting to expose my children to soft-core porn makes me a "moral" person, then
so be it. It's hard enough being a parent today without the extra
pressures of having to explain to a 5 year old why there's a naked woman on a
blimp at a hockey game. Take this for what it's worth. But if you're
trying to reach families, it probably wouldn't hurt to actually help create an
all-round family environment.

The thoughts of a concerned parent.

I kind of figured the conversation would end there. But I checked my inbox tonight and discovered this...

We have done one thing once I saw the flyer- I thought you were talking about
something else. They can no longer use those unless they are in a closed
envelope. If you see it up close- it looks way better than what it looks like
from 30 feet.

If I could only hear what was going on behind the scenes. I really wonder if they had to deal with other complaints. Either way, it's good to hear that I can head back to a hockey game. The bad news for the Bruins would be that I already booked a trip for my middle school students to attend a Giants game. Oh well...

Porn and hockey...

That got your attention didn't it? Well here's the backstory...

Last Friday I got some cheap tickets for a Chilliwack Bruins hockey game from a friend in our care group. I took my son along thinking it would be a fun evening for us to hang out with some of the other guys in our care group.

All in all it wasn't that bad. Popcorn, pop, and bad hockey made for $27.50 well spent.

My problem was with a remote controlled blimp they have floating around during the intermissions of the game. As it floated overhead you could clearly make out a picture attached to the bottom of the blimp of woman with her arm carefully positioned across her bare chest. To be honest, I thought it was some practical joke and that someone in the crowd had managed to hijack the blimp and stick the picture to it. Then it was up again during the 2nd intermission. My idea of it being a joke was ruled out.

Well, I'm not usually the letter-writing type (except for one occasion of a Dave Matthews concert back in 2002...but I can post about that another time), but I paid a visit to their website and fired off this email:

I attended the game on Friday night vs Swift Current and brought my five year
old son with me. I would just like to inquire about the Tropicana blimp
that floats around the arena during the intermission and why a semi-nude picture
of a woman was attached to the bottom of the blimp. I'm a little confused
as to why this would be deemed acceptable at an event where young children are
attending.

I've contemplated bringing a larger group of students, and I
can honestly say that I am questioning whether or not I will attend future
games. But I would be interested in hearing from someone so I can make an
informed decision. Thanks for your time.

Here's the response I got back yesterday:

Hi Mike. This is Darryl Porter, President of the bruins.

First off I appreciate your support in coming to the
game last week and I want to stress to you that we are a family
entertainment business. Yes, we have alcohol sales and some promotions
adult oriented but our primary theme is families. We have Family Pack
ticketing, After Game skates, a 50 ticket section of donated kids tickets
from our ownership with Tim Hortons, a large emphasis on our mascot, a large
no drinking area of the rink, an average ticket price of $10.00, many in
game contests that are focused on kids, a7th Man promo for a young hockey
player, a primary relationship with the Chilliwack School Board and Minor Hockey, etc.

My position is not to judge others morality. A tanning salon is going
to promote itself by showing a tan. It was my call that their ad did not
go too far and I find it fine for what they are promoting. We would not
allow anything more, have rejected sponsorships for products such as Viagra and
Adult Novelties in the rink for this reason. I hope you do come back to
enjoy Bruins hockey. Darryl

Is it too much to ask that when I take my kids to a family-friendly event that we don't have to see porn? Sure, I get it...it's a tanning salon and the girl is mostly covered. But, if you try so hard to be family-friendly, wouldn't it make sense to stick with that theme in everything?

You might as well make your slogan "Families are our primary theme, but porn is our secondary theme because it pays the bills".

Now I have to decide whether or not I will ever attend another game. It would have made for a fun and affordable youth event, but can you imagine a group of junior high boys every time the blimp came around? I wonder how much tickets are for the Vancouver Giants...