Fun Times at Thirsty

Well some of my most popular posts were my recaps from Thirsty this year. I think my Charlie Hall vs. Francis Chan dance-off even made it’s way around the blogosphere to fellow blogger in our community!

So, you can imagine my excitement as I peruse through the 268 Generation site looking for updates on if there will be a Thirsty ‘08 (it looks doubtful by the way with all the touring happening) that I see pictures highlighting this year’s event and find this:

Info bubbles added by yours truly! Hahahaha! I love it. We’re trying to figure out if there were trying to capture the cute couple strolling through the halls holding hands or checking out Shane and trying to see what his shirt was saying

So for some crazy cool Passion updates check out:

268Generation.com

The Regional Tour Info

The Passion Podcast

The Blog

Enough Passion pimping for now

Worship Pre-Textfessional Dec 2nd

Ok I am officially “Freaking out!!” as I see that this weekend is actually December! Where in the world has the year gone?!?! This is crazy.

Well, the songs for this weekend are as follows:

• Awesome is the Lord – G
• O Worship the King – G
• Shout to the Lord – A
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Em? It’s got alot of Ems and Bms and Ams and Ds
• Draw Me Close to You – A

This is the first week of Advent which is still new to me so you’ll begin seeing ‘Advent songs’ and Christmas tunes creeping in here. Look for more on that in a later post specifically on Advent coming your way soon!

NOW, do you notice something wildly out of character here?!?! I’ll give you a hint: it’s in slanty red letters
When I came on to River I said I’d never play 2 songs: Shout to the Lord and Lord I Lift Your Name on High.
If there were ever two songs that rate highest on my cringe factor that churches continue to play, it’s these two tunes. However, I think when we make statements like that, God must sit there laughing and humming to Himself “Ha, that kid is so funny.”

It has ironically come to my attention that Shout to the Lord is our congregation’s favorite song though and while I find that wildly funny because I haven’t found record that anyone’s played that tune in 3 years and no one’s mumbled or grumbled about it, the only way to find out is for us to play it and see how people respond! So, remembering that it’s not always about ME and what I want, we’re going to play Shout to the Lord and see what happens!

wow that brings back so many memories!

Hitman…dare I?

So many things are brewing in my vast cranium yet before I can unleash them here in WordPress I have a burning desire to put out a review for the movie Hitman that was released just in time for the family fun weekend of Thanksgiving

Hitman got BLASTED by Rotten Tomatoes with a measly 10% Rotten score. IMDb was gentler with a score of 6.7/10. In my review of Hitman, I must say…I was thoroughly pleased! Let me say this up front:

Warning: this movie is rated R because: the lead character is a hitman who kills multiple people in this movie. There is violence. There is also maybe a little less than a dozen F bombs. Then there’s 2 scenes of female nudity. This is the downside of this movie for me and the stumbling block I have with it. It appeared almost that they made the movie and it was borderline PG-13 or R. They decided to go R and put in the boobies and F bombs. It was a sad choice

However: The redemptive warning I have is that they did NOT fall prey to the instant gratification sex scene that it seems is part of the formula of making an action movie these days! That was AWESOME to not have to endure and I was so pleased by that!

Fans of the game, I think will love it! Obviously, many of the poor reviews came from people who must have never played the game. Timothy Olyphant scared me in the first 5 minutes because I didn’t think he had the stones to pull this off. Needless to say, he changed my mind after that! They gave us some background on Agent 47 and gave him just enough depth to make us care about him without allowing us to forget he was a Hitman!

As they did with The Rock’s Doom, there were some moments that only gamers could truly appreciate!  A few scenes seemed to have been pulled straight from the game and had me grinning like an idiot! The last shot was a bit over the top and felt like you were now watching a game sequence instead of a movie but again…I can let it slide. The movie is over the top, explosive, and wild. Suspend reality and see a video game inspired movie that blends Jason Bourne and James Bond and go into it having fun and you’ll LOVE this movie! It actually felt alot like the Bourne Identity now that I think about it and would love to see them give it some more attention and perhaps do a follow up movie! I doubt seriously though that it will get that kind of attention but a nerdy gamer can dream can’t he?

My name is Kid, Kid Rock

I walk up to the club entrance and the bouncer won’t have it and says I’ve got to wait in line. The line just so happens to wrap around the building. So, I began the walk of shame to the back of the line when another club employee recognized me! He escorts me back up to the entrance and yells at the guy for not knowing who I am. One of the hosts of the venue then escorts me upstairs to a VIP lounge where I can watch the concert with my Chihuahua with some dude and this lady who obviously was a celebrity as well. They cater us all night with foot and drink and the concert was amazing! I still can’t believe what a night I just had and was one of the last people to leave the venue! As I’m on my way out a guy yells out, “See ya later Kid Rock.” 

I woke up dazed and confused and with “Batwitdaba” stuck in my head! I still don’t know if that was a dream or a nightmare! I don’t even like Chihuahuas! I don’t even like Kid Rock!

Anyone??? What the heck does that mean?!?!?!

This Day in Music – Christmas is here!

The radio stations have made the switch! iTunes has a new category. Trees, lights, and yard creatures are filling neighborhoods everywhere! Christmas is here! For my normal readers that means your looking for new Christmas songs to fill your iPods! For my wacko Worship Leader brethren that means your beginning your Christmas Eve Worship service preparations! Some have already begun posting their top Christmas CDs and I’m hoping not to ditto anyone but here’s what I’ve got for you:

MercyMe – The Christmas Sessions – Hands down, THE BEST ‘modern contemporary’ Christmas CD out right now. I know the words ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ have broad understandings behind them so let me just say that this CD is the one for us rockers who are looking for versions that band styled worship teams can pull off together and have the sound we love to play every other Sunday of the year! The one I love doing is “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” It’s beautiful and pretty and then slaps you in the face with a rousing chorus! I don’t think there’s a miss on the entire CD! I even love doing their version of “Silent Night.” (However some do call it sacreligious so I do it as a special during the offering

GET THIS CD! You’ll love listening to it as much as we’ll love playing it! (Another plus is that it’s a couple years old so tabs can be found online! I think there’s even a book out with sheet music and chord charts?!?!)

Relient K – Let it Snow Baby…Let it Reindeer – Big fan of these guys after seeing them live and this CD doesn’t disappoint either! With a whopping 17 tracks, I’m really impressed with what these guys put out! I expected outright punkish versions like “Angels We Have Heard on High” but we get a great blend of piano driven beauties mixed in there as well! Obviously, there are great songs to use for your youth group (or a great CD to get your kid) but I honestly think there’s enough here to use for adult services or to be that CD that Mom and Dad can enjoy with their distant teens as well!

Josh Groban – Noel – I can’t listen to Josh Groban. He’s the male Norah Jones for me. They’re incredibly talented, they just put me to sleep. HOWEVER! What I love about this CD is what he’s doing with it. Sure you can purchase it off iTunes for 12 bucks OR you can head over to World Vision and donate as little as $25 bucks and help feed suffering children and families in South Africa and get it for free! That to me is pretty much worth the nap music, I can always use it for a Christmas present for someone else I suppose?!?!

I’m trying to cut down on my lengthy posts! Enjoy these morsels of Christmasy goodness and I’ll be back with more later on. While your waiting, iTunes has some incredible playlist samples that are divine! My personal favorite:

I mean come on, Mel Torme’, Brenda Lee, Nat King Cole, Harry Connick, Jr., Tony Bennett, it just doesn’t stop!

“I ate it…”

With an extroverted precocious 2 year old, we’ve entered the stage where things that come out of her mouth are sometimes scary.

“I ate it.“

“…uhh….you ate it?“

“I ate it.“

“WOAH…WHAT? What did you eat?“

“My lay-low,” as she stuck out her tongue exposing a big blob of purple Play-doh!

“RACHAEL!!!“

5 Things Better than Mon Nov. 26

5. The Kyser Cut Capo – I’ve been having some fun with this lately. I even picked up a ‘How To’ DVD that I’ll be reviewing soon!

4. The Wah Pedal – Mmmm…man, I have been digging me some wah lately!

3. The Electric Violin – It’s a long shot but man it’d be a wicked Christmas present!

2. Hitman the Movie – Yeah, you read that right baby. Soon enough you’ll find out why too!

1. Overtime – Nope not the kind you get paid time and a half for because as a salary employee I don’t get that any more BUT to two stupid exciting games this weekend that kept going and going and going. I’m forever a college football fan now! Even though both the teams I wanted to win actually lost it made for incredible football. Ali could you ever imagine a day when I would know enough about football to utter something like: “Man, I really wish Kentucky had pulled out a win over Tennessee. They were our only loss and their win would have showed they were a stronger team and lessened the blow of our loss perhaps. Plus, if they had won that means we’d be playing Georgia for the SEC championship.“

Worship Pre-Textfessional Nov 25th

Today was…interesting.

• Overslept by an hour and a half due to the incredible amazing power of Benadryl
• My truck won’t start so I have to borrow my parent’s truck
• The dog craps in her kennel a giant elephant turd (did I mention the kennel is inside?)
• We’ve had no rehearsal due to Thanksgiving and the band decided not to take a listen to the special song I wanted to play today. Except you Jim and Christine, and a great Thank You.
• We’ve had no rehearsal due to Thanksgiving and not everyone decided to get to practice this morning on time.

I did however capture it on video so I’ll be editing that tomorrow. Unfortunately, given the reasons above, I’m really scared to see my demeanor on video. Here’s the song selection:

1. All We Need – G – Charlie Hall (Your Grace is Enough – 10:45 – G – Chris Tomlin)
2. Your Grace is Enough (All We Need – 10:45)
3. Mighty to Save – A? – Hillsong
4. Jesus Paid it All – B – Kristian Stanfill and Alex Nifong
5. Come and Listen – E – David Crowder*Band – during the Offering
6. Shine Your Light on Us – E – Robbie Seay Band – post Communion

3rd OVERTIME!!

Oh man my Tigers are having me sweat off all that Thanksgiving goodness!!!

COME ON BOYS!! GEAUX TIGERS!!

42-42 and 3rd Overtime! This is why there’s no conference like the SEC!

Cries of the Heart bring forth Heaven in a Manger

I can’t believe I’ve wasted this much time reviewing Paul’s masterpiece of Heaven in a Manger! I can’t believe Paul’s put up with me this long without reviewing it either! It’s completely weird though reviewing someone who will in return be able to read this and not someone who’s oblivious to my rambling diatribe!  However, here goes:

I’m fiercely preparing some Christmas reviews because, as musicians, if we haven’t heard it by the end of Thanksgiving, there’s a good chance that we’re not playing it this Christmas. I bring you to Cries of the Heart and Paul and Anna’s Heaven in a Manger. Let me preface this by saying, I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas music. GASP! Yes, I know. But I grew up in choir’s and Christmas was HUGE in our High School Choir for doing songs and specials and after beating them down for 4 years they all seem to sound the same and seldom do any of them have guitars!

That being said, I really dig this new tune! At first I didn’t think I would like it! It starts off to me with a slight cringe factor. Nothing against Anna and Paul’s incredible voices! Man, they work together with great chemistry! And something begins to happen as they move from the female lead to the male lead and then together. The song begins to take shape and picks up beautifully! It takes a bit to get to a ‘full band’ stage however that allows you to really lean into the lyrics.
While it’s not your congregational sing along this is a beautiful special song to be sung for any Christmas event! Heaven in a Manger’s painting of the birth of Jesus is truly sweet. For me it’s:

• Healing in a little hand uncurled
  On the hay that feeds the cattle lays the Bread of Life that feeds the world

Lyrically, each verse tells a story at what the birth means to Mary and Joseph and then to you and me.

Musically, I don’t know how else you would play this, except to have a full fledged string section behind you. That’s the only thing that kills this guitar player, there is alot done by Korg Triton or some other behemoth of a keyboard but I don’t know what else you’d do except to use live instrumentation! I can picture hearing this in church, in a Christmas musical, on the radio, live at the climax of a Christmas extravaganza downtown outside somewhere with the orchestra section and 1st Church’s choir backing them up as the exclamation point to the end of Christmas caroling. I think Paul needs a mySpace page to pimp this song out to those who can do something with it! HAHAHA.

Go…NOW…pick it up while you can and show Cries of the Heart some love!!!