I love that we keep getting great comments here. And hey, did you know that this blog is in the top 50 growing blogs for WordPress? Kinda cool. The post about superbowl ads was like #28…wow. Not too shabby, eh? Thanks to all of you who are reading and spreading the word about this place.
Everyone who posted this past week is a winner, in my book…but I’m under contractual obligation to hand out at least three awards…and so, without further ado, I give you our four winners…drum roll:
Gina: for this insight into her commenting habits
from ‘Sapentia Sapor Boni’
I enjoy taking over people’s blog and facebook walls… my own blog was born out of reminder notes (to myself) that I kept leaving on a friend’s facebook wall (yes. I’m that weird.) You are my latest host (muahahaha!)
Raquel: for this hilarious tidbit from her childhood
from ‘…dream, dream, dream…’
Whoa thanks! Circleslide is the best valentine ever.
Way better than that little kid in 3rd grade who gave me really disgusting chocolates…I gave those to my mom.
Amy Leenerts: because we love it when new christians post on the blog
from ‘follow you to nowhere’
Hey Gabe, I loved your music in Louisville!! As a new Christian (one year and counting) it was all new to me. So, Thanks!
And finally, a guy wins for posting about my favorite subject…
Will:
from ‘Valentine’s Day PSA’
You’ve inspired me – I’m going to by Coco a Shamwow and a Snuggie for V-Day. I’ll make sure you get all of the credit.
Great job to all. Be sure to tip your waiter on the way out.
Back when we were playing four hour sets in bars and clubs…we came up with this cover of the everly brother’s classic, “all I have to do is dream”. Always got the couples up to dance.
Here it is…if you really like it…you can head on over to itunes and get it from our ‘above the stratosphere’ EP.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. If you’re single…Circleslide will be your valentine…and you don’t have to buy us chocolate ‘neither.
I’ll be back tomorrow to hand out commies…but it’s been a long day, time for the weekend.
As Valentine’s Day approaches…I’m giving out some free advice for the ‘fellas’ out there. …a few lessons in love from a guy who knows what NOT to do. I mean, really knows what NOT to do. Here we go:
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do:
Um, guys, try not to break up on Valentine’s Day. This may seem like a no-brainer. But in 8th grade, it’s exactly what I did. And I did it over the phone. I was a horrible little kid, honest. She was really a sweet girl, too. If she happens to be reading…I’m really, really sorry…and I hope you were able to move on. There. I feel better about myself already.
Actually, I really liked her and she was great…but my really good reason (ha) for breaking up was that I was broke. And it turns out, a lot of people DO break up right around now…and many list the pressure that comes with this holiday as a reason…which brings me to my next bit of advice…
Can’t Buy Me Love:
I’m guilty of busting out the credit card and going for the easy gifts “chocolate”, “jewelry”, “dinner”…but here’s the thing. When my wife and I were dating, we were both missionaries. Raising financial support means we didn’t have opportunities for extravagance. So, I was creative…I made a booklet for her, where I listed about 10 of my favorite qualities about her with some illustrations that I drew and water colored. For one, it forced me to focus on why it was I had fallen in love with her and therefore, it was very personal.
She still has that thing today…she highly values something that cost me probably $3.50…whereas some of the more ‘pricey’ gifts I’ve since given her…she probably can’t even name for you now. But that gift did take time and thought.
Now I realize, not all women are the same…I happened to luck out with Debbie. But with these tough economic times…you don’t have to go into crazy debt to show that girl of yours you love her. Even if you have cash to burn, do something creative that requires time and thought…I think you’ll find that gift will carry more meaning. And if you’re doing dinner, maybe don’t go out and be part of the throngs doing the same…make her dinner…HOWEVER:
If you don’t know me by now:
A long, long time ago…when I was a freshman in high school, me and a buddy of mine told our girlfriends we’d make dinner for them and watch a movie. Sounds pretty good, right? In their minds they’re thinking candlelight, a nice thought out meal, perhaps some tiramisu for dessert and tickets to a theater. My buddy knew this and thought it would be ‘HILARIOUS’ if instead we’d do it in the theme of a ‘kiddy birthday party’. You know what I mean? Paper plates with like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on them, Party Hats, Paper napkins, Plastic forks and spoons, punch, cheap grocery store cake…are you getting the picture here?
Now, I can’t put ALL the blame on my friend. Once he had the idea, I definitely ran with it…but he was older and should have known better. The faces on these two young women, when they walked through the door…I’ll never forget. Utter disappointment, anger, confusion…there was no talking during the meal. And I think my date left halfway through “lady and the tramp”. Yeah. Ouch. Lesson? Don’t listen to your friend. Do something SHE likes…find out her hobbies, interests, and just give them a little romantic twist.
You Can’t Hide Your Lying Eyes:
Ok, ok, this pic is a bit mean spirited…sorry ’bout that. moving on…
One lesson I learned early on is that most girls, when they tell you that they don’t care about this holiday, are totally lying. They may really actually believe that it’s silly and just unnecessary commercialism but they secretly want you to do something for them on that day. In high school I dated a girl who went to another school. We totally had this conversation about the day being dumb, so I didn’t get her a gift…thinking, “ha, look at all these chumps spending money…I’ve got the coolest girlfriend ever.” Turns out, she was even ‘cooler’ than I thought…
She arranged for someone to bring me a huge valentine’s day cookie to class with 20 balloons that said ‘I love you’ and a big gift wrapped with a huge bow. I had not gotten her ANYTHING. Are you surprised that relationship didn’t last? I didn’t think so. Now, there are some exceptions to this rule.
If the day falls real close to when you first start dating…like, you just started dating today on the 10th…then maybe a dozen roses and a big fuss isn’t really required…just something thoughtful, bro. You’ll be fine.
And… after you’ve been married 11 years or so…it does become less important to impress the other person…but still…you’ll never go wrong reminding your wife that she’s still got it…and that she rocks your proverbial world.
Well, I hope I’ve been as helpful as a Shamwow when you’ve spilled cola on your Snuggie…now, time to stop writing and start thinking about what I’m going to do for Debbie… Which reminds me guys,…plan ahead.
Are Christians supposed to be disillusioned? Should they be agents of political change? Does being a ‘light’ in the darkness mean speaking up for the oppressed and railing against injustice?
Larry Norman asked all these questions of me when I was still young and just coming to terms with my faith. Unafraid. Defiant. He scared both establishments…secular and spiritual…and it’s why he’s still one of my favorite artists.
11. The River: Rich Mullins
Rich Mullins disperses with anthem-y hymns and rousing worship choruses and strips it all down in an honest autobiographical tune about the fragility of romantic relationships. As the music lithely floats like water across smooth stones…Mullin’s prays that God will help him keep the girl that he loves…as he daydreams about motorcycle rides, and disparages his own songwriting ability, his own memory torturing his soul…I realized, even the most ‘worshipful’ of Christian artists should sometimes stand naked and honest with their shortcomings and secret hopes and loves. Groundbreaking stuff.
10. I could laugh: The 77’s
As someone who has struggled with depression you can imagine my relief when I heard this tune crawling through my headphones one night as a 15 year old.
“mama don’t understand,
she wants to hold my hand
night and day, and she don’t like my clothes and…
their wearing thin…on her nerves
and she don’t like my hair and…
my glorious crown brings her down
and she won’t take me serious
think I’ll join the circus be a clown
they’ll all laugh, they’ll all laugh, I could laugh
but it’s not funny…no…
teenage angst? In my Christian music? Glorious. Absolutely Glorious. I could see King Solomon, the Prophet Jeremiah and St. Paul morosely humming along…as Mike Roe channeled Lou Reed and gave me reason to hope…I wasn’t alone. I loved God, but I sometimes felt like crap…and here was another voice, from some other place, maybe some other time…who felt just like me.
9. Shine On You Crazy Diamond: Pink Floyd
I was in a band with some friends when I was about 16. That summer we made our first road trip from San Antonio to Abilene, Texas. It was a church and they put us up in a hotel and everything. Triumphant from playing, what we thought, was a great show we drove back through the lonely Texas night. Yes, the stars were, indeed, big and bright in a never ending black expanse. And then this song whispered it’s way onto the radio. (Kudos to the DJ who probably needed a bathroom break and played this 17 minute opus)
We pulled over. We opened the doors, crawled on the roof of the van. Looked up at the stars…and we let this song wash over us…in all of it’s melancholic beauty. A lamenting tribute to Pink Floyd’s former band member, Syd Barrett…it brought tears to my eyes and it was then that I knew that the show we played earlier was a joke…and I’ve been chasing this moment ever since
8. Billie Jean: Michael Jackson:
I was in elementary school. Fifth Grade. It was the school talent show. A young black classmate of mine got up on the stage, lip-synced and danced to this song that I’d never heard before. (Christian Radio being all I was allowed to listen to at this point) Then he did something insane…he moon-walked.
Girls went crazy– screaming. Female Teachers went crazy too…fanning themselves. Time seemed to stop. I’d heard dance music before…but this was something else. This was having some kind of effect on the entire school. It was electric. It was primal. It was an inferno. It had swept across the nation. I wasn’t around for Beatlemania…but I was around for this…and whatever we think of Michael Jackson…we’re still feeling the aftershocks of this song and that white glove and that dance today.
7. Precious Angel: Bob Dylan:
The bible has it’s prophets, it’s teachers, it’s evangelists and kings…and then there’s ‘Song of Solomon’. Romantic. Mysterious. Erotic. This song is all of those earlier things that I mentioned, prophetic, evangelical, but it’s done in the context of this love affair. He’s talking about the kingdom of God…but he was singing it to this girl.
Not only that, he’s singing about a black girl. He even mentions the racial tension in the line ‘both our forefathers were slaves’ in case the listener isn’t quite getting it.
He calls her ‘the queen of my flesh…the lamp of my soul.’
Just as exotic as the lines from the the great biblical love poem.
For a young kid still learning the lines to ‘at the cross’ and ‘amazing grace’ in an ultra-conservative Spanish speaking Pentecostal Church…it was REVOLUTIONARY.
And the music was amazing.
When I later heard Mark Knopfler’s guitar heroics on ‘Sultans of Swing’ and ‘Money for Nothing’…I was like, ‘hey! That’s the guy playing on “precious angel”.
Now, there exists this built-in bias critics and fans have against Zimmerman’s ‘born-again’ period…but all agree…this is one of his finest moments, Ever.
6. Hell Hound On My Trail: Robert Johnson
I treat the blues the way some mystics treat sacred sites and texts…with much reverence and wonder. In 1990 and 1991…when the rest of my friends were getting into NWA and Nirvana…I was scanning NPR and vintage record stores…I had heard “hell hound on my trail” and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Robert Johnson was like a ghostly spirit, his voice coming out from the netherworld to warn me of evil spirits, wicked women, and the terror and ecstasy of the blues. The mythology surrounding his selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads only intensified the feeling I got as a young man, as I listened to this sorry soul sing of woe and regret.
5. Airbag: Radiohead
In 2000, I was on the road in L.A.. Still a part of Youth With A Mission, my fellow missionaries and I were staying at a Bible College…sleeping in dorm rooms. Again, late at night, I put OK Computer into my Sony Discman on the recommendation of a friend…and had a moment like the Pink Floyd one I described earlier.
Where that moment was dreamlike…this was a lightning bolt.
I realized that I was not making the music of the possible…I was settling. Radiohead was not settling. Borrowing from the past and yet pioneering the future…they were displaying genius…and like cold water on a sleeping man…I was waking up all over again. Where was I? What was I doing? “You can and should do better than this, mate…” Thom Yorke seemed to be saying…
Then I went back and listened to it again…and shook my head in disbelief and delight.
4. 40: U2
In high school. I struggled with how to act. My dad was a pastor. And I wanted, no, I needed to be ‘cool’. To ‘fit in’. In order to do that, I tended to overdo it with obscenity, with crazy antics, vandalizing school property, alternating between freak and wallflower… I wanted the girls to like me. But I wasn’t allowed to go to parties or dances. Add to that, my family was barely scraping by financially. I was a mess. I’d go to church and feel guilty as sin for my over the top ‘bad-boy’ behavior…then go to school and try to outdo myself from the previous week’s paganism.
A friend from class, a non-believer, gave me ‘Under A Blood Red Sky’. Vinyl. This guy was cool. He’d be a hipster now, but then he’d be considered punk. He’d give me cool music to listen to. Violent femmes. Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Smiths. Jane’s Addiction.
He really valued this copy of U2’s live at red rocks concert. He told me I’d love it.
I heard ‘40’…and was floored. Here was a band, from Ireland, sort of punk, sort of new wave, un-abashedly singing ‘I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry.’ And they were doing it un-ironically.
I never really got my act together in high school. But I think from that moment on, I relaxed a bit about my faith in God…and though I wrestled with how to express that faith to others…Bono and Company showed me it could be done.
Much later, in an earnest and zealous phase in my life, I spurned this band publicly in an attempt to become a more ‘sanctified’ version of myself…while they continued to make great music and publicly wrestled with and wrote about their faith in such a way that has challenged how many think about the confluence of art and Christianity.
That’s a great band for you.
3. Hey Jude: The Beatles
I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard this song. I was probably 11 or 12. I was with some older guys from the church youth group. We were riding in a black Pontiac trans-am. They were cruising some street, windows down, radio cranked. They were laughing, whistling at girls, and spinning tires… …I can’t remember why my parents let me hang out with these guys so late…but there I was… enthralled with this sudden taste of freedom.
Then Paul McCartney’s voice and piano came on…the oldest and coolest guy of the group told everyone in the car to shut up. Up to that point, we were listening to whatever was popular at the time…probably Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, or ‘Motley Crue’…but this was different. I’d never heard this before. And a sudden reverence was brought on by that famous, four minute coda at the end…like waves of melody, pain, pleasure, and some sort of generational defining experience from another age…it was like a part of the time space continuum was being ripped open in that black trans am, and I was allowed, as it were, a glimpse into the best part of the 60’s.
This was real music. Everything else was immediately shown to be either, pure crap or a a sorry derivative of what we were now listening to. I was enraptured; I didn’t want it to end.
The older guy, who told us all to be quiet, declared, “the beatles are the best group of all time…period.”
I still believe he’s right.
2. Circle Slide: The Choir
Ok. So this is a no-brainer, eh? I’ve talked about this ad nauseam in other places and interviews…so suffice it to say, that I heard this song at one of those headphone kiosks in a Christian bookstore at the mall. I was already a fan of ‘the choir’…but this album had the following effect on me. I listened to it, over and over again. Have you ever seen a sign at one of those things…you know, the hand written kind by management…asking you to limit your time with the headphones to some reasonable amount like ‘15 minutes’ or so? I’m pretty sure you have me to thank for that.
I am not exaggerating when I say I listened to that album at least 3 to 4 hours. I think I took a bathroom break and came back to listen again.
I was broke. I might have asked the clerk if I could put the tape on layaway or something. I remember having to save money in order to come back and buy it.
I remember this thing played on those momentous self discovery road trips of my youth.
I remember that I defined my friendships by whether or not a person liked this album or not.
I remember the opening snare drum…the dream scape that ensued…
I remember falling in and out of love to this music…
I remember it all…every time I hear it.
1. Love Broke Through: Keith Green
I grew up listening to Keith Green. Keith’s songs have been the sound track to many of my most intimate and defining encounters with God. I grieved as a young boy, when his plane went down. When I hear his voice…it’s the voice of an old dear friend. His piano is as familiar as the street that I grew up on. I still get a thrill when I hear him pounding away at it with joy and reckless abandon.
And though some of his songs had more prophetic fire in them, like ‘asleep in the light’ or ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’…I was more influenced by the songs where he’d let down his guard and let his absolute, unabashed love for Jesus shine through…as is the case with this song. When you’re on the journey that is the Christian life…it’s sometimes imperative to be reminded why you started this journey in the first place. This song accomplishes that, like no other. The fact that it just happens to describe the story of my life no matter where my life might be in any particular moment…is what makes this song number one.
Not too long ago I was at a writer’s retreat where Reed Arvin shared some of his insight into the writer’s process. Some of you may know his name from the liner notes on Rich Mullin‘s albums. Reed produced Rich’s timeless music most of the time. He has since evolved into quite the novelist, writing critically acclaimed thrillers and still taking the time to talk to up and coming artists…nice guy.
He quoted St. Bernard of Clairvaux: “Sapientia Sapor Boni”…or ‘it is wisdom to savor what is good’.
I love that quote…and I’ve since tried, at least once a day, to stop and savor something ‘good’.
It’s sort of tough to do on days when it’s 14 degrees outside and you forgot to take out the trash, and you’re shutting yourself in because your trying to finish lyrics or music to a song that you thought were done but they aren’t and they seem to be mocking you, and bills are staring at you from the table unopened, and the van is making a funny noise when you hit a certain speed…
you know what i mean…the usual ebb and flow of life.
So, if it’s a simple thing like, hot water in the shower…or a passing smile that flashes across my wife’s lovely face…or an old picture from a dear friend that just got posted on facebook…or a good piece of chocolate…or taking in a great movie…or cranking a favorite song at full blast on the speakers…or a hot tasty cup of coffee…I’m doing my best to savor those things.
I’m trying to let those moments linger…or at least, I’m trying to notice them a bit more.
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” –phillipians 4:8
Maybe it’s because it’s a cold february morning, maybe because i’m feeling generous, or maybe because i got chastised in louisville for not sharing any new music…whatever my motives…
I’m letting anyone who’s here listen in on a very early, rough, demo version of ‘follow you to nowhere’. It’s a song I wrote a while back, with Gabriel Wilson of ‘the listening’, when things were looking pretty bleak as far as the band was concerned.It’s a sort of re-affirming of a faith that feels a bit lost…hope you enjoy.
When you do a good job leaving comments…we shall reward you with recognition…and all your fellow peers will raise their collective glasses to you and say, ‘hoorah!’.
and they will sort of be envious and have to pray and ask forgiveness for that…and then they’ll leave better comments next time…making this a better and more tolerable world in which to live. Also, if you have a blog or website…i’ll link to it …sharing the love, people, that’s what we’re all about.
here are last week’s” winners: (ahem, more like last month’s winners amirite?)
Ruben from the post “Preparation” is full of epic win for recognizing that ‘the Alarm’ is a huge influence in our music:
“Hi,
I saw you guys last year in Harlingen when you played with Salvador.
HOW did you guys perfect such an almost reverent homage to The Alarm. I was a big fan of the Alarm back in the day and got to see them twice during the late 80’s. Your live sound on some of your songs is truly reminesant of them. When I saw you it made me wonder– what did their Mom’s leave The Alarm blaring next to the crib? “…Come on down and make a stand…”
Regards.”
Bii from the post: ‘Greatest Advertisements the World has ever known’ wins for filling us in with the ‘knowledge’:
And finally, Gina, also from ‘Greatest Ads’ wins for adding, what i call, ‘the personal touch’:
“Whew! I’m so glad that Macs were released in 1984… otherwise the world may never have known Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, and I may have never come to be!!”
Congratulations everyone! You have earned our admiration and respect. Keep those comments coming.
Well, dear friends, and loyal readers…it is that blessed time of the year again. The Superbowl is upon us. And as falsified stories are passed around the intrawebs about Kurtis the stockboy, whilst all manner of chips get dunked into the infinite varieties of cheese and salsa dips…America and the world will briefly put aside their economic, spiritual, and soul starving woes to watch the epic struggle between good and evil play itself out on 1080p HD LCD screens bought at stores that no longer exist. Hooray!
But really, only a handful of people will actually be watching the game…the rest of us hooligans really only want to tune in for the wonderful adverts that crackle and flash across our screens. Most of them are pretty crappy…aren’t they, though? I’m always left with only one or two that i actually enjoy. So I thought to myself…hey, it’s been a slow week (newswise) in the band…why not make one of those wacky lists about MY favorite commercials??!!!
And here they are listed from 10 to 1…1 being the greatest.
10. Mean Joe Green Coke Commercial
One of the greatest, eh? No need for half naked ladies running amok. Just good ‘ol fashioned sentimentality…done well. I just remember wanting to be that kid that gets to hang out in the tunnel without security throwing me to the ground and tazing me.
9. The Original Geico Caveman
Afterwards they’d get slicker and more clever (the one in the restaurant was great)…and then they’d become parodies of themselves and then a tv show. ppphhhhht. But this one still makes me laugh…and is therefore, the best.
8. Nike Revolution
It was 1987. And the controversy over this ad was huge to me, cause I was still just discovering the Beatles. I was 14, but I knew (before watching the ad) that there was an uproar about the surviving members not wanting the ad to run with their song…and something about michael jackson and yoko…which made the thing just leap off the screen when i saw and mostly “HEARD” it.
7. Dr Angus for Burger King
When I first saw this ad i thought…finally a commercial with my sense of humor. ‘no, YOU’RE cheesy’.
6. Quizno’s
um, i still don’t know what those things are. But i think of them whenever i eat at quizno’s. Is that good advertising? The greatest my friend. the greatest there is or ever can be.
5. Jimmy Dean “Full Moon”
How did this relative ‘newcomer’ make it on this list? All out, foot to the metal Sarcasm. I love, love LOVE when the sun asks ‘you’re not feelin’ it, huh?’ and the moon says, “yeah… that’s what i said.” i could watch this thing 100 times in a row. Now you can too…thanks to al gore and these series of tubes.
4. Little Chocolate Donuts SNL
Ok, so this one isn’t real. But a wise man once said, just because it isn’t real doesn’t make it not true…or something like that…
Vodpod videos no longer available.
3. Connect Four
Pretty sneaky sis’. If you were around during this time…(and i realize most of you weren’t, and that is to your everlasting shame)…however, if you were then you know that it was a terrible era in which chili bowl haircuts and sneaky sisters were a widespread epidemic…and this commercial addressed that issue very succinctly.
2. Apple 1984
What? This isn’t number one you shout!? Calm down. I have your therapist’s number right here. You can call them in a second. Sure this one started the whole Superbowl ad craze thing…so it is important…and it still is a cool commercial but there can only be one greatest, and that prize goes to…
1. Flea Market Montgomery
Every ad agency would do well to see all new job applicants have a phd in this commercial. It is everything that commercials are supposed to be. It’s just like a mini mall. An apt description of our entire nation, no? Bask in it’s glory. I dream of a day when this is what we see on superbowl sunday. Till then, enjoy your celebrity endorsements…i’ll be chillin’ with my man Sammy Stephens. A true american hero.
The drive up was uneventful…and that’s always a good thing.
Soundcheck was long…it normally is when we have such a long layoff between concerts…but it’s a luxury to take our time.
I got to hang out with Paul Parish, one of the coolest guys in the nation, who pretty much was the king of setting up a show…and his wonderful wife, Mitsi…a fellow texan who made some very authentic brisket. so good.
Got to hang out with the YWAM team from Louisville.
Got to meet our new favorite person in the world…the incredible Mavis…who makes THE best food of all time!
We led worship on Sunday Morning…could tell the crowd was unaccustomed to our ‘style’…but they quickly joined in…and it felt very cool.
After that we went to Mavis’ house for food where we played a little Rock Band…some Bon Jovi ‘living on a prayer’…i can’t believe kids only 10 years old can sing every word!
Got to spend time with my wonderful sister Carmel and her very cool husband Kirt Stauffer.
Got to see so many dear friends, it was a bit overwhelming.
Keith and Diana from Artist Garden Management drove up from nashville to spend the day with us. Feels so good to have management, we can’t even begin to describe that…
The show itself was one of my favorites…really.
First show with Lee Yoder, formally from ‘8 days later’. Most of you know that Tyler Oban had been drumming for us for most of ’08. He started off as a ‘hired gun’ but as time passed we began flirting with the idea of him becoming a full fledged member of the band…even took those cool promo shots of us together. We love Tyler and those of you who saw him with us on the road know that he’s a a great guy, a true professional. But towards the end of last year, he let us know he had decided he wanted to pursue some music with a friend of his. As much as that was hard for Eric, Jon, Debbie and I…we know it was the best decision for everyone involved.
The cool thing is that we, as a band, had become friends with Lee in the past few years…cheering him on with his other band…especially Eric and Jon. I’d seen him play a few times, and his style reminded me of another drummer we’d had along the way…the mighty Mark Alvis. Lee’s passion and hard hitting is very reminiscent of good ‘ol Mark. Lee even decided to give my vintage Ludwig kit a try…the one you see in the ‘Gravity’ video.
One could say we all were a bit nervous, this being our first show with someone new behind the kit…but it turned out to be surprisingly good, and amazingly tight.
now it’s time to get back to writing/rehearsing for some sort of new project…tomorrow I’m getting together with Steve Hindalong…should be fun.
Would you like to hear why I’m a better blogger than I am a live interview giver?
Than log on at 6:50 pm Eastern Standard Time to WJIE.org
and you can hear the interview I gave to Chris at the station…I flub some lines about my sister, mutter something about Louisville being an exotic place! and attempt to bring humour to the harsh financial times we’re all experiencing.
Not too long ago I was at a writer’s retreat where 
Maybe it’s because it’s a cold february morning, maybe because i’m feeling generous, or maybe because i got chastised in louisville for not sharing any new music…whatever my motives…
above the stratosphere: the circleslide blog 
Commies
I love that we keep getting great comments here. And hey, did you know that this blog is in the top 50 growing blogs for WordPress? Kinda cool. The post about superbowl ads was like #28…wow. Not too shabby, eh? Thanks to all of you who are reading and spreading the word about this place.
Everyone who posted this past week is a winner, in my book…but I’m under contractual obligation to hand out at least three awards…and so, without further ado, I give you our four winners…drum roll:
Gina: for this insight into her commenting habits
from ‘Sapentia Sapor Boni’
I enjoy taking over people’s blog and facebook walls… my own blog was born out of reminder notes (to myself) that I kept leaving on a friend’s facebook wall (yes. I’m that weird.) You are my latest host (muahahaha!)
Raquel: for this hilarious tidbit from her childhood
from ‘…dream, dream, dream…’
Whoa thanks! Circleslide is the best valentine ever.
Way better than that little kid in 3rd grade who gave me really disgusting chocolates…I gave those to my mom.
Amy Leenerts: because we love it when new christians post on the blog
from ‘follow you to nowhere’
Hey Gabe, I loved your music in Louisville!! As a new Christian (one year and counting) it was all new to me. So, Thanks!
And finally, a guy wins for posting about my favorite subject…
Will:
from ‘Valentine’s Day PSA’
You’ve inspired me – I’m going to by Coco a Shamwow and a Snuggie for V-Day. I’ll make sure you get all of the credit.
Great job to all. Be sure to tip your waiter on the way out.
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