Macchiville

I HAVE A NEW BLOG NOW - PLEASE CHECK IT OUT

2009-11-20T14:51:00.001-06:00

you can see my continuation of this blog here.

thanks!
seth

let's touch base

2009-04-24T02:12:00.004-05:00

so while i'm on the subject of uncomfortable, commonly used phrases, what's the point of the term "let's touch base". as in, "hey, bob, nice meeting. call me on monday to touch base about what we discussed."

where does this come from? did the original 'touch baser' decide that, after meeting with someone, he needed to use his pointer finger and gently touch the base of an individual? if so, what did the other person do?...

"why did you just touch my base?"

"i don't know. just seemed like the right thing to do"

"although i'm uncomfortable with this, i pride my self in being open to new ideas. let's set up a meeting to discuss what we just discussed before you touched my base..."

anyways, at work this next week i'm going to try to use the phrase "let's touch base" as many times as possible and see if people take me more seriously.

next weeks dorky business word: mitigate. as in, "our company will utilize government bailout money to mitigate our losses due to managerial mistakes in the previous 43 quarters."

what's your physical address?

2009-04-09T09:18:00.005-05:00

so i know that we all live in the electronic age. everything is instant and microwavable (for some reason microwaves always come up in a conversation about the shortcomings of modern convenience). and everyone has an email address (or 5) and phone numbers, im addresses, twitter accounts, blog sites, my space stuff, etc. but could we come up with another way to get someone's home address?
saying, "hey, bob, can i get your physical address?", sounds like some pick up line from the 80s. you might as well be saying, "hey, bob, what's your sign? (wink, wink)".
Maybe we could create a new modern term like, "hey, bob, homeoneogeno?", which, of course, would mean "what's your physical address" without sounding like you want to take your relationship with bob to the next level.

i almost like you

2009-04-08T22:14:00.007-05:00

there is a band that we just discovered the other day, The Weepies. maybe we are just a little behind the times but we just started listening to them. sarah brought home their album and i really wanted to like them. they had the indy rock darling name, they had the indy rock darling album cover, they even started a band and got married and now travel the world in musical bliss...

but i just almost really like them. they have a few really cool songs, but i just don't like them like i thought i would.

so that got me thinking about almost liking things.
i really thought that i would like mountain biking, but my crotch began to tell me otherwise about halfway through a ride.
i really thought that i would like wine, but it just tastes like sour grape juice. where's the sweet goodness?
i really thought i would like playing the piano, but i quit lessons two separate times.
i really thought that i would like traveling, but it's no fun if you're working.
i really thought that i would like the new Flight of the Conchords song.
i really thought i would like twitter, but who gives a crap about your most recent selection of markers from Office Max and what your last burp just tasted like?

anyways...i almost like The Weepies

gotta get to the funny stuff

2009-04-04T09:05:00.002-05:00

so there is one video that keeps making me laugh since my friend, mike, posted it on facebook. It kind of sums up my view of twitter...

...and this video i probably the coolest thing i've seen musically in a while. enjoy!

"trip to bethel church "video up now

2009-03-19T21:33:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to make a quick blog for those of you who are following my mom's journey...We recently took a trip to Redding, California to visit Bethel Church. There have been many healings there and my parents wanted to visit this awesome church. I tagged along for the ride to help out and I made a video. You can check it out at the upper left of my blog or click here...

We'd appreciate your continued prayers for my mom's complete healing from cancer
thanks

i totally want to do this (not really)

2008-10-25T09:40:00.000-05:00

the media hates obama?

2008-10-21T10:07:00.004-05:00

check this out...

pretty much my thoughts on obama and mccain

2008-08-04T22:22:00.004-05:00

couldn't have said it better myself...

11 years ago

2008-08-02T10:07:00.002-05:00

i haven't blogged for a while and i'm ok with that.
today, however, is a very special day. you see, i have been married for 11 years. sarah and i got married just after our first year of college and haven't looked back since. and yes, that means that we were high school sweethearts. i was so madly in love with her in high school that i couldn't eat a normal meal for at least a year. i'm not joking. i would lose my appetite because i was so excited about seeing her again.
she has been my best friend ever since and the worst part about traveling is not getting to hang out with her as much as i want. i am a man made for one woman and God gave her to me at a young age. i may not be a smart man but i know when i am handed a great thing. So you can see how nothing that comes to me in life from here on out can quite compare to what God gave me 11 years ago (kids come dangerously close). i am a blessed man who married up...

sarah, even though i have all of my appetite back and then some, i am still madly in love with you and can't wait for the next 50 years together. happy anniversary!

Sting's Watch Coverage Periods

2008-05-22T07:43:00.001-05:00

more song chart memes

car goes 300 miles a gallon

2008-05-01T10:11:00.002-05:00

check out this car. the Aptera is a 1 cylinder/electric, two passenger, 3 wheeler car that goes 300 miles/gallon. $30000 is getting closer to something reasonable.

good movie?

2008-03-16T21:50:00.003-05:00

a friend sent me a link to this movie. looks like it could be good. let me know if you see it.

new weekend week end review

2008-03-12T21:03:00.001-05:00

check out the new weekend week end review in the upper left corner. there is a cool announcement from our corner of the universe!

how hungry are you?

2008-03-05T21:05:00.005-06:00

"i'm as hungry as a gopher looking for food on a sunday"

-my 6 year old son-

worship review

2008-03-05T10:57:00.006-06:00

steven roach is another worship leader that is doing some really powerful stuff. he is more in the "world music", percussion based category than anyone else i know of. be sure to watch the whole clip. they kind of go off in the end. very cool stuff.

Steven Roach

i am...

2008-02-28T19:37:00.008-06:00

i am a christian. i am in love with Jesus, the only son of God. we have an intimate relationship where i talk to him every day and he talks back. i depend on him to lead me through this life and all that it entails (as a husband, father, friend, worker, and in finance, decisions, opportunities, music, etc.) i am a real person and if you are reading this you probably know me and this is the real deal. Jesus is who i truly love and depend on. this is not just rhetoric. i believe that Jesus provides to all humans the only way to heaven. i believe that the church will live through most of the tribulation (seven years of extreme turmoil) after which time Jesus will rule the earth, on the earth, from Israel. i believe that this is the last or next to last generation on earth before this occurs. i believe that prayer and fasting are incredibly important to the growth of a follower of Christ. i need to do more of that.
i pray for all of the people around me that they would come to know Jesus as a friend who absolutely rocks their world. that they would know the king not some religiosity that is filled with empty rules and leaves them feeling less than. don't you know that he wants the best for you. he is real and wants you? this is not a game and he is not a santa claus. he is a real, living man who is God and one day it will be all too clear. all wisdom of man will seem like a house of cards leaving so many wondering what made so much sense before when they explained away the existence of God. laughing at truth doesn't make truth disappear. i believe that the first step to having a relationship with Jesus is admitting that Jesus is Lord over everything (including your life) and believing that in your heart. then dive into the bible. it is full of the stuff that life is made of. let it come into your mind every day and then it starts to flow into your heart. talk to God about it. ask him questions and talk to him. he will answer. this is what prayer is, conversation with God.
God is the only one who fills me. he is my anchor in life. i have no direction without him, but in him i have incredible freedom. all good things in my life flow directly from his hand.
i am in love with my wife. she's my best friend.
i am in love with my boys. they're super cool.

i am blessed...

worship review

2008-02-27T22:19:00.007-06:00

i thought that some of you might enjoy hearing some worship that you might not otherwise. so here's three worship leaders that are heavy hitters (in my book) right now. Luke Wood, Kim Walker with Jesus Culture, and Misty Edwards. check 'em out:

Luke Wood

Kim Walker with Jesus Culture doing a killer JohnMark McMillan (another heavy) song

Misty Edwards, in my opinion, one of the most powerful worship leaders today

enjoy!

bells and squares

2008-02-27T15:27:00.004-06:00

went to see the liberty bell and independence hall today. i took a leisurely stroll down market street from the hotel. the last time i was here i was maybe four. it was in the middle of a hot summer and i'm sure we had squeezed about as much patriotism into one day as any young family can. i was able to touch the bell then. now they won't let you. in fact, i had to open my jacket to let military-ish dudes make sure i wasn't packin' any heat. i'm sure that didn't happen when i was four. come to think of it, back then i got so sick from the heat that i puked on the subway tracks in the station. i remember being worried that when the train came, it would slip off the tracks on my vomit. whew, was i relieved when i realized that the engineers who built the train had thought that one through and the train sailed safely to a halt at the station.
i didn't puke today. it was a good day. one thing that would have made today awesome is two little boys by my side and one sexy lady. oh well. south carolina is being blessed with them for now. i can wait, but don't want to be doing this for long...

zahav means gold

2008-02-24T21:51:00.004-06:00

i am working in philadelphia this week. i am really tired from this last run of shows. over the last 5 weeks we have done shows in houston, texas; rogers, arkansas; kansas city, missouri; little rock, arkansas and now philly. each show lasts about 5-7 days. you do the math and you will see that that leaves about .0001% of my time with my family...not the way i like to roll if you know what i'm saying.

but i realized a while ago (and sarah helped me to remember just the other day) that i have an old friend here in philly. he is the kind of friend that you didn't spend a great amount of time with growing up but the time you did spend together was very memorable. i would consider him one of my great friends. he and his little bro used to come to florida in the summertime and stay with his aunt who just happened to be our neighbors. there was a lot of skateboarding, pools, ice cream, movies and pretty much whatever else boys do in the summer...great times!

i hadn't talked to him much for the last several years so i wasn't so sure he would want to hang out. but i called him up and he said, "i'll clear my schedule, we're going out". we grabbed a bite to eat and he showed me around a few of the restaurants he is involved in as a chef or owner.
he is a chef here in philadelphia who has worked at places like here and here and was even voted one of the city's hottest new chefs. (you can check out his ultra sexy photo here). he is a part owner of this restaurant and a brand new project, Zahav, a trendy restaurant with Israeli cuisine. It's still being built and the cities biggest paper, the philadelphia inquirer is doing a week to week blog on the building of the restaurant that you can see here.

i have to say, "good on ya, mike!". but to tell you the truth, i was just glad to see an old friend and really would think no differently of you if you had just a plain old job. just from one overworked dude to another, remember to take a day off every once in a while...

savin' money

2008-02-18T00:11:00.004-06:00

when you travel, eating out can get expensive. so i have a foolproof plan to save money.

pb & j.

the only drawback is when you try to fly with a loaf of bread...

jesus 101

2008-01-10T22:00:00.000-06:00

to explain:
i read some pastors got together and put this video together. it was to show some common misconceptions of Jesus. very funny.

i love you

2007-12-09T02:53:00.000-06:00

the other day i was telling elijah about a funny scene in a cheesy movie sarah and i saw the other day. the guy goes to pick up his fiance's ring for their wedding and the personal engraving in the ring was misspelled to read something like "i love you with all of my fart". well eli thought that was the funniest thing in the world.
the next day when eli woke up he comes up to me and says, out of the blue, "dad, i love you with all of my fart" and we both giggled at each other.
the funny thing is that i think he meant it...

elfed

2007-12-06T09:29:00.000-06:00

please take the time to visit this site

...thank you for your support and merry christmas

oh happy day

2007-12-04T09:24:00.000-06:00

why is it that whenever there is a church in a big hollywood movie the choir is always singing "oh happy day"...

holiday greetings

2007-11-18T08:31:00.001-06:00

weird town

2007-11-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

so i'm working downtown kansas city today. my friend mark and i were carpooling so we were talking all the way through the commute. we pull off the highway into the heart of the city with all the big buildings and stuff. all of the sudden we see three elephants on the sidewalk by an arena being hosed down by some guy.

early morning. big city. wet elephants.

nice.

fishin in arkansas

2007-11-06T15:05:00.000-06:00

Add to My Profile | More Videos

forward thinking?

2007-10-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

i've heard the term 'forward thinking' lately. as in, "these moral right wingers would have us living in the stone age. we need some forward thinking politicians in office to be more tolerant of minorities." i think this article is what they are talking about.

as a friend of mine just commented, pretty soon christians or anyone else with direct moral right and wrongs will be considered in the same category as the whites during slavery in america.

fast. pray.

my morning routine

2007-10-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

this is what i do every morning to stay young

thin as a dime

2007-10-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

ok. so i have to tell you something cool.
my brother came up to visit a while ago and was making fun of how big my old wallet was. it was so big it was making me sit funny in my car; i kind of leaned to the side. he pulls out this super thin wallet and tells me how it changed his life, blah, blah, blah. so after i made fun of it, i asked for one for my birthday. it is awesome. it's called an "all-ett" and it's super thin. it's even made out of parachute material so my brother figured that if he ever found that he was falling from a plane he could just open his wallet and it would slow him down a mile an hour or two. my good friend even just got one and it made me laugh so i had to blog it. so there. go get an all-ett and be kind to your butt cheek.

so this is cool

2007-10-04T16:34:00.000-05:00

their video is in reverse so they tried it live...very cool

yes i will

2007-10-04T13:19:00.001-05:00

i always hate reading the blogs where every other post is about how they will start blogging again soon and sorry for the delay...oh wait, that's my blog.

i'll say something enlightening soon.

check it

2007-08-19T17:37:00.000-05:00

check out the latest 'review' of our trip to colorado. enjoy!

answering the call

2007-07-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

we just got back from TheCall in nashville. it was pretty awesome. the bottom line was that it was a bunch of people from all different walks of life who love God and want to see the next great awakening happen in our nation and world. there is so much more depth to this but i'll let sarah tell you about it. she sure do talk pertier than me...
TheCall is having smaller regional meetings and i would encourage all of you to try to make it to one. not because they are any better than any other event but because this is such a unified 'calling the nation back to God'. hey, orlando folks, there is even one in o-town in february 08.

check this mother

2007-07-05T10:43:00.001-05:00

we had a great 4th (or as my brit friend david calls it 'happy we kicked you out day') this year. we had a bunch of people over to eat and blow things up. my bro and sister in law are here with their clan. my parents came too along with dan and misty and fam (who made this beautiful flag cake which tasted as good as it looked.) all things ended with the traditional city fireworks show. fun day...

go ahead...laugh

2007-05-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

i forgot

2007-05-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

you know how sometimes you can look under your car seat and find a 5 dollar bill. it's like you won the lottery. well music is like that for me. i just 'rediscovered' rita springer this week when my in laws brought some of her music. i forgot how much i love her music. it's had a huge impact on me at different points of my life...

learning from neighbor kids

2007-05-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

our oldest son has begun playing with neighborhood kids. they all sort of started to appear as soon as the cold weather left and they play just about every day now. they're great friends for our little man and i love to listen to their conversations about what they know as fact in their little worlds.

there are three things that God has been showing me from these kids:

1. know all the kids on your street- it seems like a no brainer, but these kids seem to know all of the kids names in a 5 house radius. Jesus instructed his disciples to let the children come to Him and then He blessed them. He told his followers that unless we become like little children we will never enter the kingdom of God. Take the time to meet your smaller neighbors and bless them. and look for their amazing ability to have world changing faith.

2. know all the dogs on your street- kids are masters of the little things. they know about every tiny miracle that happens around them like flowers blossoming or a family of rolly-pollys under a rock. and they definitely know the names of all the dogs around them. take a minute to see the miracles around you.

3. when you want something don't be afraid to ask- one of our neighbors daughters came over the other day just about the time that we were sitting down with some fresh brownies and ice cream. she then said, "my mommy said that i could have some brownies and ice cream with you...and i'd like a drink, please". and you know what she got? that's right, brownies and ice cream and a drink, too.
i wonder how many times i have gone without something just because i haven't 'made my request known' to my Father.

i think that God has so many profound truths wrapped up in mini people. i'm going to start shutting my mouth a little more and start paying more attention to what God speaks through the little ones around me...

#2

2007-04-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

so i go into a public restroom yesterday. i had to #2 so it took me a little while to get situated. yes, i am one who will #2 in a public restroom but i take all necessary precautions by using the donut shaped wax paper that you are supposed to sit on (it took me a few years to figure out what parts of it to rip so that the hole in the middle would open up just right without tearing the whole thing apart). then i have to undo my belt, which is a task unto itself because i am a nerd. i wear two phones and a leatherman/pen/flashlight holder (something more akin to a fanny pack) so the weight of those things can whip the belt right off of me so it takes some talent. after all of this i turn around and proceed to prepare for the landing and just as i am going to get into "roman chair" position the over achieving auto flusher goes off with the force and swiftness of one of those toilets on an airplane. this leaves me with my pants down facing the stall door. now i have to re-cover the toilet seat with the wax paper while holding my belt that wants so badly to whip off of me all the while trying not to get too far away from the toilet so that the auto velocijet flusher doesn't go off again. and then the worst thing of all could happen at this point. the flusher goes off while you are sitting on it splashing onto you. needless to say i am still alive and feel pretty good about life but i will think twice the next time i need to go 2 in public...

hotel water pressure

2007-04-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

ode to my hotel water pressure

hotel water pressure, sweet water pressure why do you hurt me so?
like rivers ere raging floods like a jet stream up my nose.

would i not sleep in sweet soundness bypassing your caress?
were it not for last nights abuses that leave me beaten unable to rest.

water pressure, hotel water pressure such a violent stimuli,
and the added bonus here i stand in water eight inches high.

new feature!!!

2007-04-14T16:33:00.000-05:00

if you will notice a new feature to macchiville. on the top left hand side is the (mostly) weekly feature 'the week end weekend review' video. please enjoy and stop by often...

so i fell asleep on a plane...

2007-04-13T09:03:00.000-05:00

on my way to "hotlanta" ,as our stewardess so brilliantly kept calling it, i had the window seat. now i'm usually ok with flying but this seat was tight and the guy next to me was a little too close. i went to my happy place and fell asleep. i woke up when we were about to land and the guy next to me was basically sleeping on my arm. so i called sarah and we laughed about how awkward that was.

well, on the way back i didn't get the window seat. no, i got the middle seat. and who is next to me on this sold out flight you might ask? mister behemoth man. not a fat guy, just the largest human being on the face of the planet. his arms were bigger around than my entire head. so i went to my happy place and fell asleep. well, i'm a twitcher. i twitch when i sleep and every time the cute kids in the back of me screamed the shriek of death (as all kids know how to do on a plane) i would twitch somethin awful and hit the guy on my right and left. i kind of felt bad about that, but i finally fell asleep pretty good.

i woke up pretty comfortable for being on a plane sitting up between two men, and feeling cosy and warm. why was i warm you ask? because i was gently laying my head on gimondo man's arm. that's right folks, i was sleeping ever so gently on the big man's arm.
when i realized the position that i had put myself into i did what any self respecting man would do. i straightened up, took a deep breath and acted like nothing happened. i never said a word to the giant. i just walked out of that plane like a man.

went to see d.c.

2007-02-07T11:56:00.000-06:00

i am in washington, dc this week the metro stops right in front of our hotel so. the first day when we got here we went to the mall area and went to a few smithsonian museums. it was the first time that i have gotten to do anything other that work on an out of town gig in a long time. pretty fun.

i can see the capitol in the distance from my room. cool...but i miss my family.

unreliable storage device

2007-02-02T14:07:00.000-06:00

just thought this was funny.

i was in a meeting the other day and we were talking about the logistics of a particular show. there is this very cool guy that works with me who has his own way about him (he always wears cowboy boots and those cowboy jeans...think "marlboro man" cool). when someone read to him about a particular thing that he would have to remember over the next week he said, "why don't you print that out for me. my brain is an unreliable storage device."

so right then and there i realized the expression i have looked for for so long to describe my memory. at best, my brain is an unreliable storage device.

death of a computer or blessing of humility?

2007-01-23T16:29:00.000-06:00

this week a friend called me on the phone one evening just asking for a bit of computer advice. as i told him how i thought he could fix the problem he made a comment about how little he knew about computers. i gave a knowing laugh, trying to sound humble. he then went on to tell me over the phone that, when he rebooted after doing the change that i told him to do that his computer screen was just black...
sounds like no big deal, right? well, how do you change the settings back to normal if you can't see anything? exactly. you can't.

as i spent the better part of the next few nights wrestling with his computer trying to coax it into changing itself back into a nice computer, i began to ponder things like: my ego, my temper or the ease in which i lose it, frustration, the meaning of the universe and our seeming insignificance.

oh, by the way, there were important documents on his computer like his lesson plans for a class he teaches and a book he is writing (alright he had his book backed up but it makes for a more dramatic story). pressure squeezing in all around...can't feel hands...life slipping away.

but, as most stories like this are, the situation was in God's hands and the computer just decided to start playing nice somewhere around day 3 or 4 (probably due to my 5 year old sons prayers that God would help daddy fix that computer).

his computer is back to normal now, but i think my hidden ego was beat up a little. good! 'ego' is just a waffle type way of saying 'pride' so good riddance...but just for the record, i will not be dispensing any computer advice to anyone in the future including myself.

why do they all break up?

2006-12-27T09:35:00.000-06:00

got a cool new cd for christmas (thank you dan and kim) only to find out that they have broken up. don't you just hate that?

a little excited

2006-12-22T16:46:00.000-06:00

ok. so i'm a little excited about my bro and sis in law with girls and other family coming in today from florida...i may have upset some of the major players here at the ol' homestead with my spasmatic behavior. namely sarah. i get a little tweaked sometimes...

i am a hard man to live with.

who i miss right now: mom and dad hoberg and justin. when do i get to see you guys again?

if you're gonna play awesome...

2006-12-19T22:44:00.000-06:00

if your gonna be awesome at guitar this is the way to play

notes, lists and a beautiful woman

2006-12-19T08:18:00.000-06:00

this is my wife sarah.

she's hot.
she's cute too. she writes notes all the time; little lists about everything. over the christmas holidays she is in what i like to call 'super list mode'. she has lists about gifts, lists about cookies to bake, lists about parties we are going to, lists about chores, honey-do lists. cute.

i, on the other hand, have a very bad habit of forgetting, well, everything. sarah makes me look like a cool guy. i know she doesn't do these things to make me look like a cool guy. it's because she actually cares about people. i do too, but, like i said before, i express my appreciation for people in more forgetful ways. not cool.

i love my wife. she's cool.

puke

2006-11-12T22:44:00.000-06:00

i think that there is some sort of poetic justice in the world. i'm just gonna come out and say it. i used to puke a lot when i was growing up. i really got some projectile distance, too. all of which my mom and dad dutifully cleaned up. over. and over. and over again.
my puking stories are legendary. my parents seem to bring them up every chance they get.

on that note, i was taking eli to the go cart place the other day. we had been planning a daddy son day for about a week and we were excited.
while he was eating lunch a little earlier he said a couple times that his stomach hurt a little but, after a trip to the potty, i thought he was fine.

as we were speeding down the interstate toward our go cart heaven i began to hear a noise coming from the backseat that was somewhat...familiar.

and there it was. all over the boy, backseat, carpet, etc. "that's my peanut butter and honey sandwich!," said the boy. and in that moment i suddenly felt that grand sense of fairness.

i got the child safely back home and into bed. he was a little wiped from the experience, having never done this before. and i knew that i had graduated to the next level of parenthood.

here's to promotion!

the walking j

2006-11-12T22:26:00.000-06:00

here is a taste of what the little j man has been doing around the pad lately.

eat my face

2006-10-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

last night i was wrestling with the boys. one of our favorite past times by the way. nothing like pretending to destroy the ones you love the most.

josiah (our 1.5 year old crawls up to me, opens his mouth wide and continues to pretend to take a giant bite out of my face...he even chewed afterward like he had a huge mouthful.

i think we bonded

triggers

2006-10-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

sometimes, especially the older i get, i see something or hear something that triggers a memory. all these feeling come rushing in and i am somewhere else for just a second. it can be pretty profound. so, on that note, i just thought this was cool

crazy...crazy for feeling so...

2006-10-21T01:19:00.000-05:00

sometimes you wonder why you do certain things; certain things like, oh, i don't know...work. sarah has been full on mommy-ing. the j man is in code red teething mode with all of its wonderful random screaming all while managing to be adorable. elijah is the same sweet little boy full of energy, too smart for his own good, cute and frustrating all at the same time guy that he always is. i know my wife is a saint. a sexy saint...

i've been traveling around which introduces its own stress.

so i am seriously considering quitting work and just sleeping in and waiting around the house until someone comes and takes the house away.

God is so good to us though. josiah started walking this week. we were able to go out tonight and have some fun. had a good dinner and got josiah some new walkin shoes. i am so proud of my boys. josiah is such a fighter from the very beginning and every milestone in his life reminds me of God's protection over our family. God's got a great destiny for that young man.

i am going to sleep now (please note posting time) only to get up at 5am. monday i'm staying home from work for good...maybe

go, hawgs!

2006-10-11T11:24:00.000-05:00

so here i am at the university of arkansas. we are doing a show right down in the football stadium. pretty cool. it really inspires me to rekindle my dream of playing division 1 football. i think i'm gonna go back to college. after seeing the whole team here practice yesterday, i know i would be a force to be reckoned with. in case you don't know, i'm h-u-g-e. just ask sarah.

mental hiatus

2006-10-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

i have been on a little brain rest for the past month or so. i shall resume my all important bloggings now. but before i do, the 1 year old company You Tube was just sold to Google for $1.65 billion...

Lord, all i need is one idea...

when in texas...

2006-09-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

this is what waffles look like when they come out of texas hotel waffle makers

gaucho style

2006-09-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

i've been in houston, tx the last week or so on a job. in dallas and houston there are these 'gaucho' brazilian style restaurants called fogo de chao. we went to one tonight and i gotta tell you. they are my favorite restaurants in the world. you basically don't order anything. you get to go to the salad bar first(which is a feast in and of itself), but they the fun begins. you get a coaster looking thing that has red on one side and green on the other. when you flip that card to green people start coming out of the wood work cutting fresh filet, sirloin, pork, chicken all prepared in different ways and each meat tasting amazing.

bottom line: i ate tonight until i felt lightheaded...can you get a buzz from meat?

could this be the ultimate music video?

2006-08-30T23:24:00.000-05:00

was out spraying weeds this morning...

2006-08-29T10:48:00.000-05:00

i was out spraying weeds this morning with elijah. it was kind of cold and drizzly. it started raining a little more and e kept telling me to hurry up because of the rain.

now a little background: we have been listening to a jack johnson cd a lot in the car lately. not because we like it so much, but more because we don't have many other cds in the car. you know how it goes; you want some music but you have the same 5 cds in the car so you just keep listening to the most bearable one. (please note: i do like this cd when i don't listen to it until i want to puke.)

so elijah starts saying "outside it's raining, there's no need to be outside". these are almost direct quotes of the jack johnson lyrics. when i asked him if he was saying words from that song he just smiled at me.

time to change the cd in the car!

so now i want a dirtbike

2006-08-18T22:18:00.000-05:00

at work the other day, ryan capes (world record holder for distance jump) jumped two semis in the middle of downtown kansas city. luckily, i had my trusty camera and whipped up this video for your viewing pleasure.
let me know what you think and, as always, enjoy

Ryan Capes jumps 2 semis-downtown KC

that's funny, i don't care who y' are

2006-08-07T23:49:00.000-05:00

movie time

2006-07-30T22:21:00.000-05:00

i might regret saying this, but i can't wait to see this movie

living life for real

2006-07-26T00:10:00.000-05:00

Single city block hosts world's longest race

"I think this is what they're looking for: The feeling that you're living life for real," runner Pranab Vladovic said of himself and 13 other athletes now competing in the 10th annual Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race in Jamaica, Queens.

i don't think this is the path to 'living life for real', pranab...

father perks

2006-07-19T18:13:00.000-05:00

one of the cool things about having boys is that you can be out in public and say, "hey, e. make a face like this"
and they just do it.
it's great!

a quick note on lodgings

2006-07-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

just a traveling update:

last week we stayed here in Dallas
which looked like this

this week we are in Wichita staying here.

and check out the view from my room as captured by my camera phone just this evening!
i know you all are green with envy. and the best part is that we have plenty of time to relax in our hotel accommodations this week unlike last week in Dallas where we had only enough time to go to sleep before getting back up to go to work.

ah wichita. i think this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship for you are truely a thing of beauty. (did i mention that it was 108 degrees when we got here today and some of the rooms ac went dead)

nice

internet neutrali-what (pt.2)

2006-07-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

this is a follow up to a blog i recently posted. i heard this techno remix of a very confusing speech senator ted stevens made on the subject of internet neutrality and the inner workings of the internet. check it out. very funny.
hear song here

grocery attack

2006-07-18T21:17:00.000-05:00

as you can see, the cute little man in the photos is still having a hard time with mood swings due to teeth that don't seem to want to pop out of his gums.
the other day at the grocery store i had the baby that was echoing off the walls. i always wondered who that kid was...

but look at him, he's so cute

some dude's laptop exploded

2006-07-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

new house rule: never put sarah's dell on our laps again

gamer sighting

2006-07-08T21:55:00.000-05:00

i was having lunch today at a really nice hotel. we noticed that there was a unusually large number of 'rock starish teenie boppers' all over the place. turns out that the world series of video games was having its last day at the convention center we are loading into tomorrow. one of the guys i was having lunch with suddenly raced off when he spotted an old friend. when he came back, he told us that this friend of his had gotten into gaming competitions a few years ago and had since won numerous international competitions. he said this guy won about half a million dollars a year between competitions and companies knocking at his door. even if my friend was exaggerating, the prize purse for the competition at this hotel is $225,000. haven't i seen a movie from the early 90's about this. i think it still plays sometimes on tnt late night.

i have questioned my career path choice today. i was pretty awesome at super mario bros (first generation with the original nintendo). i guess i'll never know.

who decides the end?

2006-07-07T22:19:00.000-05:00

i haven't seen this film. i don't endorse al gore. however this film looks like it has a lot to say. i know that it will invoke a lot of fear in people in hopes that there will be some sort of mass 'enviro-movement' to save our planet from our misuse of resources. very fair and probably mostly true. we have misused this planet. no doubt.

but what i mostly see is an earth that is literally groaning for the return of Jesus. a humanity that is in the last generations of this age posturing for the last great move of God. it makes me so aware of my need to live in the reality of the eternal and not be too focused on this earth. it will be gone in just a second.

how does this trailer make you feel?

my new tool

2006-07-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

i was just given a new multi-tool at work. now i have been carrying a leatherman for years and had been on the search for a new tool to carry. but i was given one of the leftover employee christmas presents from last year which is totally cool.

now i know what you are thinking so i'll come right out and say it. i realized that i am a total tech nerd when i was excited about it. i can't wait until something needs to be cut or tightened on my next show. "no, no. don't use your hands to screw that in. here, let me get it..."

internet neutrali-what?

2006-07-05T22:51:00.000-05:00

my bro, adam sent me this link about internet neutrality and what a senator recently said about the issue. here's a little preview:

"But this service is now going to go through the internet and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially." (more)

huh?

all's i know is that the senator is having someone else take care of his emails.

a time and a place for the boom

2006-07-02T22:40:00.000-05:00

"i'm beginning to hate the 4th of july" is a direct quote from my beautiful wife. and to tell you the truth, i don't disagree. let me explain.
i used to love the 4th. i even used to work here. what boy wouldn't want to hang out with friends, eat bar-b-q and blow things up. fun on the highest level. but that was in florida.

here in missouri there are no fireworks laws. if you can find it, you can blow it up. and that's cool, but they start 7 to 10 days before the 4th. so to all you missouri pyros, what's up with the fireworks going on until 1:30am four days before the holiday you are celebrating with explosives?

but just when i am about to turn into a complete old fogey, i catch a glimpse of my son's face when he sees a perfect 'blossoming flower' peek over the trees. and i suddenly remember...

for my geeky friends

2006-07-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

just thought this was funny...

home

2006-06-04T22:20:00.000-05:00

got back home yesterday. nothing can be sweeter than the gifts that God has given me as family. especially that sexy wife of mine. to say i'm ecstatic to be home would be an understatement.

this one's put to bed

2006-06-02T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well, we got up at 3 AM to get there at 4. The show started at 6 AM and went until 11:30 AM, then we started loading out until 9:30 tonight...

and that was just today.

it's been a long 2 weeks, the show's over and I'm ready to see my family. Woman get ready 'cause I'm a comin' home! I'm ready to do some rasalin' with my boys. Yee Haw, we're outa Arkansas!!

how can you be late this early?

2006-05-31T19:34:00.000-05:00

just a note:
i have a 3:45 AM call time in the morning so if you call me tomorrow i might be a little slow in the response department. i could get up at 3:50 AM tomorrow and be late for work. go figure.

who are you?

2006-05-30T21:49:00.000-05:00

just curious. who reads this blog? old friends? family? stalkers? stand up and comment like a man (or woman)!

amos and amen

2006-05-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

"He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth-
the Lord God Almighty is his name."
-amos 4:13-

nice

2006-05-29T22:11:00.000-05:00

sarah and the boys drove down to the town i'm working in for a couple weeks. we went out to dinner at a very cool country fried chicken place and then had some ice cream. very fun, very cool and a much needed break in the middle of a long show. they have never been able to come see me when i'm out of town and it was awesome.

not only do i have the most beautiful wife in the world, but my boys are two little studs! i love you guys and thanks for the visit.

what?

2006-05-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

i'm an audio engineer. that being said, i've been working with an audio team on the largest live rig that i have ever worked on in my life. i went to school for recording stuff in small controlled studios. with small little pretty speakers. but for the past week i've been walking around like this a lot
i gotta get used to this live sound in huge arena thing...

gu you

2006-05-12T00:43:00.000-05:00

just wanted to give a shout out to my awesome sister-in-law. she went out of her way the other day to pick me up some of these. i can't find them in KC and they have caffeine for the long runs. rock!
THANKS LEYA!!

a tale of two boys...revisited

2006-05-10T15:22:00.000-05:00

every year we put together a video mostly about the boys. we posted this a few months ago but here it is again for you guys that didn't see it before. God is always so faithful with our family and last year was no exception! enjoy

here, here and here @ 15 gallons per mile

2006-05-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

over the next several weeks i will be here. then i will go here. and right after that i start full time here. lots of stuff to do. should be fun. sometimes i wish i could just take off in one of these with them, but that just isn't practical. it gets 15 gallons per mile.

two dorks...again

2006-05-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

maybe a year ago i posted this video as a feeble attempt to motivate my brother to start running again. it stars two dorks before and after running a marathon in 2004.

i'm really posting this video to test a new video streaming site i'm using called vimeo. let me know if it works for everyone.

apple sauce and my toe

2006-05-01T09:28:00.000-05:00

note to self: applesauce can come thundering down from top shelf of pantry at lightning type speeds and almost decapitate (detoeitate?) my second toe.

it was almost like it jumped off screaming, "always called me the soft food for babies! well think again, sucka!!"

farewell freelance world

2006-04-29T14:19:00.000-05:00

as most of you know, i have been a freelance audio engineer for the better part of four years now. recently, things have slowed down considerably as far as work is concerned and much prayer and fasting ensued. "what in the world now, God?", "what do you want us to do, Lord?", "Jesus, what does an audio engineer do in the midwest if there's no audio to engineer???"...you get the idea.

so...

God, in his perfect timing, has recently opened up the door to go work for a company that, ironically, i have been working for as a freelancer for almost two years now.

vista productions is a great company and, as far as i can tell, one of the largest production houses in the midwest. think of arena shows, convention centers, ballrooms, etc. i'll be the newest addition to their audio department.

thank you, God, because you have never failed us and are always faithful even when we are not.

thing one or thing two?

2006-04-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

there have been some recent rumors flying around about our little Josiah looking like thing one or thing two from Dr. Seuss.

as you can clearly see, he looks nothing like thing two or thing one. his hair is more red and his outfit blue, not the other way around, people.

easter bubble gun

2006-04-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

this morning, i have to admit, was fun. for kids, easter is one of those holidays that kind of sneaks up on you. you wake up and are surprised with an easter basket and, much to your shock, this is the one morning of the year that you can eat candy...before breakfast!
well, this year sarah decided to get e a bubble gun for easter along with his little bit of candy. it turned out to be a big hit this morning and...what? what's a bubble gun?
well just you sit right back and watch this!

somethings inside the boy

2006-04-16T14:40:00.000-05:00

church was great today and we had a lot of the family there; sarah's parents and my parents along with e and j. (we really miss ad, leya, gigi, unborn sweet baby and justin by the way)

josiah kept lifting his hands during worship like there was something inside of him that he didn't quite know what to do with yet. well, son, let me tell you about easter...

they dedicated a new building on campus to the children's equipping center
the children's ministry here is so unique in that they focus on loving God passionately from a young age while the 'cement is still wet', as one speaker said.
get this: in their summer camp they take one day where they invite adults that are sick to come into the meeting with the kids and teens. the kids swarm around and pray for healing and people are getting healed! i can't wait for my boys to be old enough to start (6 year old limit).

God is on the move and, as a parent, i am becoming so aware of our responsibility to position our children in an environment where they can fall in love with Jesus.

there's gotta be a proverb about in-laws

2006-04-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

these are my in laws and they're awesome.
they just flew into town for josiah's 1st birthday today and we have already been having a great time. we love the time we get with them.

elijah was ecstatic to see them. he was pulling out his ultimate wrestling move on his grandad: the head butt.
quite exotic, effective and brutally painful.
and josiah was in full force with his best 4 tooth smiles.

they're here for a week so i hope that they have the physical stamina for our mini boy army. but somehow i don't think they have any problem keeping up...

isn't there a proverb that says something like

"the guy that does stupid stuff ends up with really annoying in laws, but the guy that does stupid stuff but marries a killer lady is blessed with really cool in laws"

well, there should be

great baby news!!!

2006-04-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

my bro and sis-in-law just told us that they are expecting another baby. we couldn't be more thrilled and excited for you guys.

dear baby, you are a gift from God to our family and we welcome you completely into our hearts. i pray that you are completely consumed with a passion for Jesus and that you are blessed with an absolute joy for life.

you have some awesome parents and sister (and some pretty excited uncle, aunt and cousins, too). we can't wait to see you but, for now, just take it easy in the world of the womb and we will see you soon...

did 'ja read Jesus' blog today?

2006-04-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

so i've been sitting here thinking (with much too much time on my hands) about jesus. not as deeply as i would have liked to. i've been wondering if jesus would have had a web page. you know, www.jesuschristministries.org or www.JCglobal.com. you see, i don't think Jesus would have. he was much too 'hands on'. here is the Son of God stepping out of his eternal existence as the supreme ruler of all things, coming down to earth, becoming one of his own creation, growing up starting as a humble infant (with all the snot, poopy pants, fevers at all hours, and grunting of a baby) and then into a misunderstood man with the ultimate 'death to yourself' message. all of this done out of a passionate love for his bride-to-be that we will someday maybe begin to grasp.
would this man then set up a sterile, no touch web site. probably not.

however...

his disciples probably would have. you see, after the 'money changers being kicked out of the temple' incident his crew would have wanted to do some damage control.
PETER: "hey james. we need to do something. Jesus almost ruined his ministry today. we need to beef up his image. any ideas"
JAMES: "what about john. he's a teenager so he mush be good with computers, right?"
PETER: "yeah, he's always on that laptop just staring at it every night"
JAMES: "think he could set up the master with a really cool web site. you know, not too flashy. just clean and easy to use."
PETER: "we could post current info on it like 'current healings', 'testimonials', Jesus in the news', a Jesus blog with a cool picture of Jesus in the 'about me' section, i think thomas has his new camera phone with him, and maybe even a 'devoted disciple of the week' page with my picture up first...don't look at me like that. we have to start with someone!"

pause in conversation

JAMES: "hey, peter"
PETER: "yeah"
JAMES: "what do feel about myspace..."

anyways, it's my daydream. it doesn't have to be theologically correct...

evangelist drummer speaks to thousands

2006-04-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

just a quick note...
if you notice to the right over there is a link to jason betler. jason and i used to play worship together. he mostly played drums but could sometimes be seen draging other interesting percussion instruments on stage such as: metal trash cans, a home-made didgeridoo among others. we lost contact for a while as he went off to work as reinhardt bonnke's personal assistant (mr. bonnke is an evangelist who has 500,000 to a million people at some of his meetings in africa. the next thing you know jason has launched his own evangelistic ministry called The Nation's Hope.
check out his video page here where you can see a video of jason speaking to half a million people in africa at one of reinhardt bonnke's meetings. one minute we're playing worship in front of fifty people and the next jason is speaking to literally hundreds of thousands.

the most refreshing thing is that jason is just as passionate about jesus in front of fifty people or hundreds of thousands.
very cool.

spring has sprung

2006-04-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

spring is definitely here. the trees are shootin out their leaves, grass is starting to grow again and turn green. so i got to mow my yard for the first time this year (this year, sarah, our yard won't be the worst one on the street). i love the smell of grass and warm breeze and sunshine. reminds me of the millions of yards i mowed growing up mostly in the sweltering orlando summers.

because of the smell that heat inevitably inspires from animals (namely dogs), i washed the dog today. the more he got wet the more his 'been in the kennel too long' funk kept wafting from him. eventually the grease and stink went away and i am now the proud owner of a fro-ed out malamute.

i've been able to get some good running in, too. running in the freezing cold just has never felt right to me. ok, i admit it. i'm a weenie with cold and i've been stuck on a tread mill for a few months now. i can't stand running in freezing weather. by the time i get back home all of my digits have disappeared from my senses.

IN SUMMARY: abundant foliage, mowed; stink unbearable, washed dog; warm weather not cold, ran off of the hamster wheel. spring is awesome!

what the hail?

2006-04-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

a couple of weeks ago we had a storm pass through the KC area that made all of the comments people made to us before we moved to the midwest come to brilliant life in my head.

What the Hail? on Vimeo to see a video of e and me showing off our hail treasures.

so the next time someone asks,"from orlando to kansas city? why?". i'll boldly mumble what i've always said,"you know, God told us to come up here to be near this ministry, but not a part of it, but we really feel..."

vacation anyone?

2006-04-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

may is just around the corner and i know who's ready for vacation...

...i think i'm ready too
sanibel island F-L-A here we come

people, and i know you're out there, where are you planning to go this year?

car show!!!

2006-03-11T14:42:00.000-06:00

i gotta tell you. ever since we found out we were having a boy the first time, i have been waiting to take E to go do 'guy' things. football games, races, baseball, large piles of dirt, etc. but today we got to go to the mother of them all. the greater kansas city international car show. i mean with a name like that how can it not be cool...

E got to get into bunches of brand new cars and act like he was driving and got to see all sorts of cool cars and trucks. He even got to get behind the wheel of his favorite, the mini cooper.he go to eat the largest pretzel known to man. how does the little man eat something that is larger than his head? mysteries of the universe...

our good friend dan helped E hold up a hummer.

ok, so E was more interested in the pretzel at the time and not the impending doom of dan. you gotta have priorities...

but the coolest thing that i saw was this baby. It's called the gladiator and it's made by jeep. and yeah, it's a diesel.

and if that wasn't enough, when we got home the ice cream truck was going by. E asked what they were doing. well, being the concerned father that i am, i couldn't just let my son walk around ignorant to the knowledge of ice cream trucks so he walked away with a fresh eskimo pie and a huge smile.

now E is asleep in his room for a well earned rest. way to go, little man!