New Music Tuesday!...

Picked up a couple of new CDs recently...

Crowded House has released just their seventh CD in their 25 years of existence.  Lead singer and songwriter Neil Finn has written another body of well-crafted, intelligent pop/rock songs. While it won't top the charts, devoted fans like me will find much to like here.

Lancaster, PA's The Innocence Mission just dropped their newest CD "My Room In The Trees" on the Badman Recording Co. label. They made a brief splash on the alt-pop scene early in the '90s but these days they're content to release quietly beautiful music from their home studio.

Friday In My World...

...and of course after complaining about the weather's hot-ness of the preceding week, the following week was nice and cool.  I should cease and desist ruminating on the weather, I think.  "We all weather the weather whether we like it or not," said a wise man somewhere in my past.

...had a nice 4th of July weekend.  The holiday fell on a Sunday this year, so my company observed the holiday nicely with a day off on the following Monday, July 5.  I liked that they did that.  Saturday night found me covering the night shift for a co-worker who was attending our fellow co-worker's 4th of July party that night.  So, with the day off on Monday, I didn't feel like I was going right back to work.  My friends Kim, Gina and Jessica hosted about 40 friends and neighbors at their house in Maryland Heights on July 4th evening.  It rather resembled a junior-high school dance, with the women all congregated inside the house and the men congregating grill-side outdoors.  Much meat and some poultry was grilled, many appetizers consumed, and delicious desserts downed.  As darkness approached, most of us jumped into our cars and headed over to the roof of the Ameristar Casino's parking garage to take in the city of St. Charles' fireworks display.  It was taking place a few miles north along the Missouri River but we still got a great view.  We got a nice bonus view of the Hazelwood fireworks off to the east in the distance.  A few of us lingered to gaze out into the night while the assembled crowd left in their cars.   It was a peaceful end to a nice night.

...took in a fantastic concert by Sam Bush and his band last night at the Old Rock House.  Sam is a bluegrass legend who pioneered the "newgrass" style of bluegrass back in the '70s.  He was in fine form and his band backed him in expert fashion.  Sam is one of the few artists that you will ever see cover Bill Monroe AND Stevie Wonder in the same show.   He and the band jammed FURIOUSLY during the latter instance.  ORH is a relatively new bar and music space located a few blocks south of Busch Stadium.  I'd wanted to catch Over The Rhine there back in April but severe weather prevented it.  This concert made my top-10 list of the best concerts I've seen in my life.

(side note:   I arrived at ORH early and caught some of the opening act's show - The Hatrick was their name and they were made up of a guitarist, bassist, and a mandolinist/drummer/harmonica player.  Seriously.  They lit into their songs with a manic fury that the crowd appreciated.  I especially liked their cowpunk version of the Bruce Hornsby favorite  "The Way It Is.")

...I wish to announce that I have to come to a Decision.  I am staying in St. Louis and not signing with Miami (or Cleveland, for that matter).  ESPN has declined to televise the self-serving television special I am planning.  hrmph!

...It's been almost 3 years now that I've had Chili.  I just scheduled her annual exam at the HSMO vet clinic.  She still bounds around like a puppy at 7 1/2 yrs of age and continues to provide me with comforting companionship each day.

...Watching the recent Cardinals/Rockies series was much like watching a car accident happen in slow motion.  The way we belched up the lead in the first two games was sadistically comical.  The Birds are fliritng with disaster as the allow the Reds to get ahead one lost game at a time.  Something's got to give, folks.

...The street that passes by my building is built atop a crumbling abandoned railroad tunnel, so it is being demolished and rebuilt a section at a time.  At the moment, the section just north of my building has been turned into a giant crater of rock and gravel.  It's been fascinating to watch the wrecking company eat away at the roadway.

Summertime In Heat...

Yeah, it's been really, really hot 'round these parts lately.

There, got that out of the way.

- I don't like humidity, just don't.  It makes walking my dog an unpleasant experience no matter the time of day.  We always come back the same; me REALLY sweaty and her with a tongue that droops out of her mouth and panting like nobody's business for 20 minutes after coming in.  She always finds a random cool spot on the basement floor and crashes onto it.

- My friend Jeremiah is one of those souls who has to share their birthday with Jesus Christ so this year his lovely wife Stephanie decided to throw him a half-birthday party.  A bunch of us gathered under a pavilion at the South City YMCA in south St. Louis (in the aforementioned heat and humidity of a sultry south St. Louis Saturday night) for a cookout and friendly kickball game.  Yes, friends, I participated in a kickball game for possibly the first time since my amateur days at Beckwith Elementary School in Malden, MO under the watchful eye of the great Coach Orr.  (I say "possibly" because that's the last time I remember doing it.)  It was a fun night of food and frolic and the perfect way to spend a summer night.  (Oh, I believe the game was called on account of darkness somewhere in the vicinity of a tie score.  Oh, and one of the players may have been sat upon somewhere in the vicinity of first base by the first baseman to prevent said player from making it to first base, but I don't remember.  It was hot.  And humid.  So my memory is a little fuzzy.)  I am of the opinion, as I heard some of the others later were, that we shouldn't wait for someone's half-birthday to have these kinds of gatherings.  My pastor is fond of saying, "life is best experienced together, in community" or something like that.  Regardless, I agree with him.

- The Cardinals, eh, don't get me started.  The preceding embarrassing weekend of baseball was sponsored by the Kansas City Royals and should not be re-broadcast, re-transmitted, or re-hashed with anybody's written consent.

- Looking forward to the new Innocence Mission record in a couple of weeks.  I have heard a few of the new songs and they seem up to par with their previous output.  Orgone has recently dropped a new disc and I need to get that in my hot little hands soon.  What I would really like to see is Hem get their long-promised new album out.  It's only been 4 YEARS since the last one, folks.  I'm all for not rushing the creative process, but seriously.

- World Cup - U.S. vs. Ghana - OK, we lost. Can I go back to ignoring soccer now?

- I caught Junior Brown in concert at Beale On Broadway last Saturday night (the 19th) and he put on a great show.  The outdoor patio stage was the size of a large postage stamp, unfortunately so there was no room for any monitors (speakers the musicians use to hear themselves and each other) so I'm pretty sure he couldn't hear himself or his bandmates (a fact he not so subtly alluded to after the first song).  It didn't seem to make a difference.  Wearhing his trademark dark suit and white cowboy hat, he attacked his signature "guit-steel" with demon-like ferocity and laid down bluesy honky-tonk in generous portions.  His crack band (including his wife Tanya Rae on rhythm guitar and vocals) provided expert backup.  They didn't get on stage until 10:40 p.m. and played until almost exactly midnight so it was a late night for this blogger.  I did sleep in the next day but did also make it to church on time, thank you very much.

- Caught a little bit of a Peter Frampton concert on HDNet Saturday afternoon.  The man is a master of the vocoder.

- Have been pulling up volunteer oak tree saplings all over my back yard.  For some reason, my oak trees produced a bumper crop of acorns last year and I guess this is the fruit of their labors.  Squirrels apparently buried them all over the place and the wet spring we had must have set them into growing motion.

- I appear to have new neighbors.  The house next to me has been for sale for several months after the elderly residents moved out.  The asking price was a wee bit high, to put it politely, and I didn't think it'd sell anytime soon.  When I got home from work on Friday, the moving-in was well underway.  Haven't seen much of the new folks but I'm sure we'll meet soon.

- Have been reading through a chapter of Proverbs each morning. My pastor issued a challenge to do that, as my church is traveling through Proverbs in our summer sermon series.  Get wisdom.  Two paths - one for the wise and one for the foolish.  One leads up, the other, well, not up.  I have been enjoying it so far.

- One last bit of goodness from Charles Spurgeon, in today's devotional - "Oh! let not your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail you."  

Wise words.

Appropriate...

So what happened as I my friend and I were walking back to my car after last night's ballgame? In which the Cardinals defeated the Mariners by the score of 4-2? The SEATTLE Mariners?

It began to rain.

Seriously. A rogue rainstorm appeared out of a previously tranquil sky and almost drenched us.  We were safely inside my car before it began raining really hard.

Seattle brought their bad ball team AND rain into St. Louis. The weather had been wonderful throughout the game after midday thunderstorms rolled through the St. Louis region.  The Cardinals played just as wonderfully, with pitcher Jeff Suppan making a successful re-appearance with the team after they took a dumpster-dive chance on him.  He's still got the toolbox, but it remains to be seen what he does with it.  I'm glad I got to see the great Ichiro Suzuki play against our great Albert Pujols.  We managed to keep Ichiro in check but the Mariners gave up a 438-foot laser beam home run to AP.

Catching Up...

I have not been blogging regularly....let's get caught up - 

This past weekend was the wedding weekend for my friend Brad, he of the aforementioned small bachelor gathering.  He and his lovely bride Tami were married at Old Orchard Church in St. Louis über-suburb Webster Groves.  Old Orchard has been only around since 1981 but its building was built in 1897.  It's a charming old stone building with a small sanctuary elegantly clad in refinished oak.  The reception was held at Windows Off Washington, near downtown St. Louis.  WOW and its twin Windows ON Washington are a series of elegant banquet rooms on the 10th floor of the City Museum building on Washington Ave. .  Each room has a wall of windows with a walkout balcony.  Our room faced the east, so I got a great view of the downtown skyline.  I immediately noticed the Post-Dispatch building in the distance and shot some great pictures of it.  I was a groomsman in the wedding party and I performed my duties well, dutifully.  Everything about the day was great!

Pictures are here:  Flickr

(oh, yes, there was dancing.  much dancing.  I danced.  I danced much-ly.  So much-ly that my calves were sore on Sunday.  I blame the DJ - he didn't have to play "Brick House" and "Get Down Tonight" which never fail to move my body to start gyrating. (TASTEFULLY, MIND YOU!)  Someone suggested I give lessons - my reply: "you can't teach what I do!,"  which is the truth.)

(oh yes, it was quite thrilling to be announced as a member of the wedding party.  Everyone should enter a room to much applause and shouting at least once in their life!)

-----------

Got the bro/sis-in-law/niece moved into their newly-built home in Kirkwood over Memorial Day weekend.  Niece Lydia has much more space within which to run around with merry abandon.  Their home is much  bigger than their little townhome in the city.  There is work left to be done, repairs to be made, etc...but they're off to a fine start in a fine neighborhood.

This Glorious Weekend...

...hosted a small bachelor gathering for my old pal Brad last evening (Brad's not a small bachelor, but the gathering was small in size!)...it was a MAN night...no women-folk allowed.  Brad's getting married in two weeks so he'll be getting lots of women-folk time soon enough.  I grilled out burgers and brats and the group of us sat out on my deck and commiserated as the sun set gloriously in the west.

(the sun made a return appearance to the St. Louis metro area just in time to light up the sky and warm up the temperature appreciably yesterday.  Bless.)

we retired (well, walked as a group) a few steps into the house to watch the movie "Hot Fuzz" on DVD.  The movie is British and a spot-on spoof of cop/action movies that was very funny.

Chili-dog got more attention than she knew what to do with from the guys.  Fortunately she behaved herself and basically migrated from guy to guy looking for some lovin'.  They were only too happy to oblige.  So glad that I gave her a bath.  Chili was not glad at the time of said bath, but it was worth it, right?  Right?

I worked my fanny off getting the house in shape for entertainin' yesterday.  Got the yard in shape during the morning, got the inside of the house in shape in during the afternoon.  I washed windows, raked leaves from underneath shrubs. swept areas that hadn't been swept since I don't know when!  I only had to make two trips to Home Depot so that was a definite win.  I bought a GERANIUM, for cryin'out loud.  A CARDINAL Red one, to boot.  Hung it from my front yard lamppost, did I!  Anything to bring our local nine some luck or good karma or vibes or anything that might prevent them from swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.

(here's a blog shout-out to my neighbor Mr. B (he of the Polish last name with lots of consonants)...he saw that the downspout on the back of my house near my basement door was hanging off the back of the house after the wind blew it off the gutter.  It was WAY too high up for any of my ladders to reach and I was basically waiting for someone to loan me a way big extension ladder.  Mr. B. noticed this yesterday when I was out in the yard and mentioned that he had an extension ladder and offered to help me get the downspout re-anchored to the house.  WIN!  He installed a couple of concrete anchors to secure it to the back of the house.  I also caulked around the connection to the gutter so it won't leak.)

Speaking of our Cardinals, we interrupt this blog post to make this special announcement:

---PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GUYS:  If you are hurt or are sore in a part of your body that is critical to your job function, PLEASE TELL SOMEONE.   Two of our pitchers (who shall remain nameless) went down due to non-disclosure issues this weekend.  If your coaches had known you had muscle soreness and/or elbow /forearm cramping issues, they MIGHT NOT HAVE SENT YOU OUT TO PLAY AND RISK FURTHER INJURY.  HELLO!--

(I am happy, however, that Mr. Kyle Lohse did pull it together to pitch a decent game last Monday night. I was at that game with my friend Renee and we were wearing layers.  In May.  Because it was cold.  But you hung in there long enough for the offense to have a chance to rally for the win in the late innings.  That warmed us up inside.)

That's all for now, folks.   Thanks for reading!

Friendly Open Letter To Cincinnati Reds Fans...

Dear Cincinnati Reds Fans,

I realize it's been FOREVER since your team was in first place, but seriously...

Last night, 12,409 of you showed up to see your first-place Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers.  12,409!! This after they beat my Cardinals to take over the top spot in the NL Central the day before..  That mighty throng of fans must have made quite a noise when the NL Central standings were posted on the video board at Great American Ballpark.

Meanwhile...

Last night was chilly, with an intermittent light mist hanging in the air in St. Louis.  YET, my friend Renee and I braved these elements to be among the 38,005 fans who took in a game between our second-place Cardinals and the Washington Nationals.

A game which the Cardinals won 6-2, by the way.

Your team is worthy and we shall enjoy dueling with them the rest of the season.

Regards,

Matlockjohn

Mother's Day 2010

My mom spent part of Mother's Day planting flowers with a certain 2-year old girl.

Love ya, Mom!

Groovin' On A Sunday Afternoon...

thanks to the Young Rascals for those awesome lyrics from days gone by.

All is quiet on the south suburban front on this quiet Sunday afternoon.  I've had a pretty good weekend so far. Chili-dog and I are watching the Cardinals toy with the Reds (6-0 as I write this).

  Friday night, I was going to go see Over The Rhine's show at The Old Rock House, but some right hateful thunderstorms prevented it.  Tornado sirens blared just as I was going to leave so I decided to stay in, just to be safe.   I just saw OTR at Blueberry Hill last fall, so I didn't feel so bad about missing them this time around.

(aside on OTR:  They have in mind to record another album but are refusing to submit to the corporate record labels' profit-taking business model.  Their idea is to self-release the record on their own label and pay for it via donations from fans and sale of some of their outdated musical possessions.  It's a shame that it's come to this, but the record will be better for it.  They've lined up an awesome producer in Joe Henry and aim to begin recording on the west coast this summer)

I got up early Saturday so I could deliver my friend Renee to the airport for a morning flight to visit family.  She's the "R" of last Sunday's delicious lunch and has given me permission to use her name! :)  I stopped off at Concord Plaza for a haircut on the way home.  They had the A/C on full blast so it was a wee bit chilly inside but my wait was short, fortunately.  Once home, I laddered up to the roof of my house to unclog a gutter that was clogged up at the downspout opening.  Why is it always the one at the most dangerous corner of the roof?  Don't worry, I was extra careful not to fall.  Broken bones would put a serious crimp in my style.

Lunch was from my nearby Taco Bell, which I'd driven by for 10 years but never been inside of.  Try the stuffed grilled steak burrito, folks.  Trust me on this one.

The afternoon was overcast and (I thought) threatened rain so I took the afternoon to do a brain transplant on my laptop.  Some background - a couple of weeks ago it started locking up randomly, and eventually stopped powering on altogether.  I am a trained and certified computer technician; I work on computers such as these for a living and have done so for many years.  Thus, I decided to attempt a repair instead of just purchasing another laptop.  Extensive troubleshooting led me to decide that the system mainboard was the issue.  My friend eBay helped my find a used one in good condition, so I bought it.  It took most of the afternoon but I finally got it done.  The result?  Still the same behavior as before.  Frustration.  I happened to look out a window and noticed the sky was pretty clear and the sun was shining.  The idea of a head-clearing  bike ride suddenly sounded great.  I packed up my ride and headed over to Grant's Trail.  The late-afternoon sunshine felt great and even with a breeze, I managed to knock out 14+ miles.  Chili-dog got a nice walk after I got home.  After supper, I started in on the laptop again.  After another hour or so of work, all was well again, as my laptop powered up normally and it's working great.

Today was church and lunch from McAllister's (pot roast and carrots on a bed of mashed potatoes with a side of mac and cheese, yum!).  I have read the Sunday paper and devoured the large crossword puzzle as usual.  Am watching Tony L's postgame press conference after the Cardinals finished off the Reds.

Now the Cardinals head off to Pennsylvania for 4 games with the Philies.   These will be tough for the Birds.  Good thing they went 6-1 on this homestand.

Off to walk the dog and get on with my Sunday evening.

Late Night Tuesday...

Well....I received an electronic communiqué from one of my regular readers tonight, reminding me that I'd not written in a while.  Over 7 days, in fact.  Here's the latest from the 'burbs...

.... I've been to 2 Cardinals games on my season ticket package so far and the Birds have won both of them.  I took my Dad to the first one and I borrowed my brother from his wife and adorable daughter last night to sit through a win in the cold rain showers.  His life is considerably hectic these days, what with tying up loose ends with the sale of the current house and trying to prepare to move into a new one soon.  I was glad to be able to take him last night.

....enjoyed another fellowship lunch hosted by my friend R. after church on Sunday.  This was the third one in as many months and her cooking once again did not disappoint.  I'm talking about pork tenderloins in apricot glaze and cajun rub  I enjoyed catching up with friends that I'd not seen in a while.   She sent me home with some leftover gooey butter cake...yummy!

...my parents just returned safely from another sailing adventure in the BVI with 3 other couples that they invited along.  Bad weather cancelled their flight from Puerto Rico last night so they didn't get back until this afternoon.

...Several friends of mine are either expecting children or getting married within the next few months.  Did I mention that I'll be an uncle again by September?

...loved Rick Hummel's story in today's P-D sports section on Whitey Herzog's recent trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The legendary Cardinals manager of years past is entering the Hall this summer.  I chuckled at this bit:  

Asked if he had any lineup cards that might have been items for the archives, Herzog said he wasn't one for saving lineup cards like current Cardinals manager Tony La Russa does.
 
"I used to tear them up and throw them in the trash can," Herzog said. But he saved one, from the last game Pete Rose managed for the Cincinnati Reds before Rose was suspended. [for betting on baseball games]
 
"We went out to the plate (for the umpires' conference) that night, and here comes Pete," Herzog said. "He says, 'We're going to kick your butt tonight,' and I said, 'Want to bet?' He said, 'Don't say that.'

HA!

...So I finally received the iTunes gift card from my credit card rewards program after 6 weeks and now I can't remember all the songs I was waiting to purchase with it!  Note to self:  write these things down.

...The recent runaway volcanic ash cloud over Europe affected the travel plans of a couple of pastors from my church..  They and some other folks from my church were in Berlin to meet with young church planters who are daring to re-start the flame of the Gospel in Germany.  Our church folks were scheduled to leave just as the ash cloud grounded all flights and were forced to spend an extra four days in country.   They arrived back home safely last Thursday.

...So is Sam Bradford the new face of the Rams?  Bryan Burwell anointed him as such in his column in the P-D today.  Way too early to predict anything about his future but he has great potential,  apparently.  All I know is they'd better protect him better than they did Warner and Bulger.  Both left here having taken terrible beatings during their respective tenures.

...I've actually been doing some reading lately.  I enjoyed Paul Shaffer's new autobiography and am now devouring Lars Anderson's tale of Red Grange and his exploits in the fledgling National Football League of the 1920s.

Thirty-Six...

That was the number of the birthday I celebrated this weekend.  Saturday was the official day but it was officially observed today.  I spent Saturday pretty much as I would any other weekend day.  I took Chili-dog for a walk in the morning, ate breakfast, cut the grass, indulged in my favorite lunch from McAlister's Deli, then pulled out my patio furniture and placed it on my deck.  Later I drove out west to explore the newly-opened Rock Hollow Trail that branches north from the Al Foster Trail, which I blogged about recently.  Rock Hollow goes up, up, up, folks.  It was a cool, mid-60s day with a slight breeze and my legs weren't quite prepared to pedal up the ascent.  I made it up about 3/4 of the way before giving up and coasting back down.  One thing I discovered, though; the stillness.  The quietness.  Almost to the point of creepiness.  I stopped and just listened to the solitude, surrounded by sunlit trees.  If one wanted to get away from it all and just think or get alone with God, that would be the place to go.

Today, I got a nice birthday lunch and family time at the parents' house.  My mom fixed her famous potato salad (famous to me, at least!) and my favorite strawberry cake for dessert.

One unwelcome aspect to this weekend was the sudden allergy attack that hit me.  I felt out-of-sorts pretty much all day Saturday and overnight into Sunday.  Here's hoping it leaves me and that right quickly.

I received a 10-game Cardinals season ticket package for Christmas and my first game was last Wednesday night.  I took my dad and we enjoyed a win over the Astros.  I was not lucky enough to be in attendance at the 20-inning debacle they engaged in with the Mets yesterday.  My friend R. was there on one of her season ticket days with three of our mutual friends from church and they stayed for the entire 6 hrs, 53 minutes of fun.

That Dog!!!...

...grievously injured my sliding screen door last evening.  I forgot and left her inside while I was outside with nothing but the screen between her and the outside world.  The evidence:

All I Ever Wanted...

apologies to The Go-Gos but I had a week of vacation last week.  Didn't go any place special, just stayed around and relaxed.  The highlights:

I managed a day out with a certain special niece and special parents on Tuesday.  Had my car in the shop for an (expensive!) repair all day on Thursday and spent that day cleaning up my back yard after the long winter.  The weather was gor-geous all week long so I tried to be outside as much as possible.  On Friday I spent most of the afternoon on a great bike ride.  Today I went to church, had lunch with my friend R and joined her for a few laps (walking) around Fenton City Park a couple of hours later.  I came home afterward and walked Chili-dog around the neighborhood.  I am tired tonight.

The STL Cardinals got the season off to a 5-2 start, winning 4 of 6 games on the road.  The offense is as explosive as everyone had hoped but the bullpen will ultimately make winning the NL Central division tougher than it should be, I think.  I received  a 10-game series of season tickets for this season as a Christmas gift and the first of the games is this Wednesday night.  I am looking forward to it!

A few pictures from my bike ride on Thursday afternoon:

On Holy Week 2010...

I ran across a neat passage of scripture from Job 33 today in my morning devotional (the updated edition of Spurgeon's "Morning By Morning" by Jim Reimann - LOVE IT).  The devotions have been Easter-oriented since last week.  To put it in context, we must go back to Job 32:

 ^1-5 Job's three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn't budge an inch—wouldn't admit to an ounce of guilt. Then Elihu lost his temper. He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God's. He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong. Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger. (The Message)

(aside:  I didn't previously realize there was a guy named Elihu in the story of Job.  I think it's cool that even though he was really ticked off at all these guys, he didn't fly off the handle immediately.   He respected his elders and their supposed wisdom, and THEN flew off the handle.)

He then proceeds to rant and rave for many verses but by the end of chapter 33 his tone changes:

²³ "Yet if there is an angel on his side
       as a mediator, one out of a thousand,
       to tell a man what is right for him,

 ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say,
       'Spare him from going down to the pit ^[f] ;
       I have found a ransom for him'-

 ²⁵ then his flesh is renewed like a child's;
       it is restored as in the days of his youth.

 ²⁶ He prays to God and finds favor with him,
       he sees God's face and shouts for joy;
       he is restored by God to his righteous state.

 ²⁷ Then he comes to men and says,
       'I sinned, and perverted what was right,
       but I did not get what I deserved.

 ²⁸ He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, ^[g]
       and I will live to enjoy the light.'

 ²⁹ "God does all these things to a man—
       twice, even three times-

 ³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit, ^[h]
       that the light of life may shine on him. (NIV)

  

Eugene Peterson paraphrases it nicely: 

^23-25 "But even then an angel could come,

   a champion—there are thousands of them!—

   to take up your cause,

A messenger who would mercifully intervene,

   canceling the death sentence with the words:

   'I've come up with the ransom!'

Before you know it, you're healed,

   the very picture of health!

 ^26-28 "Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God's delight!

   You'll see God's smile and celebrate,

   finding yourself set right with God.

You'll sing God's praises to everyone you meet,

   testifying, 'I messed up my life—

   and let me tell you, it wasn't worth it.

But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.

   I'm alive again! Once more I see the light!'

 ^29-30 "This is the way God works.

   Over and over again

He pulls our souls back from certain destruction

   so we'll see the light—and live in the light!  (The Message)

Isn't that neat?  A mediator who provides our ransom.  So we can 'live to enjoy the light.'  We all know how great it is to wake up to a sunny morning after days of cloudy skies, right?  On our own, our lives are destined for 'the pit' - Satan is cool with that and gladly helps us along.  But merciful God has provided a ransom that gets us out of that awful existence.  A decidedly high-cost ransom.  We don't deserve it, but he did it anyway, because he wants us to live in and enjoy HIS light, 'yesterday, today, and forever' (Hebrews 13:8).

PSbtS!!!...

Hey kids! Time for another edition of Potentially Shamed By The Shuffle!!

let's turn on the ol' iPod shuffle and see what comes up!

1)  "Easy" - The Commodores - love Lionel Richie's vocals and the sweet guitar solo in the middle.

2)  "Ridin' That Midnight Train" - Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs - hardcore, traditional bluegrass.

3)  "Song From Holland" - The Innocence Mission - simple, plaintive ballad sung sweetly by Karen Peris.

4)  "Street Life" - Herb Alpert - from the same album that produced "Rise" comes this slice of sweet disco soul.

5)  "All Things Must Pass" - George Harrison - thanks to KDHX radio for turning me on to this classic tune.

6)  "Yearning" - Basia - I think I'm shamed here!  I am a closet Basia fan and love this track from her live album "Basia on Broadway" - Jay Beckenstein (Spyro Gyra) adds a sweet sax solo to the middle of the track.

7)  "Todo que voce podia ser" - Milton Nascimento - some nice Brazilian jazz-pop from the early 1970s.

8)  "After The Love Has Gone" - David Benoit and Russ Freeman - nice cover of this Earth, Wind & Fire classic.

9)  "Alleluia" - Glad - great version of this beloved Randall Thompson choral anthem.

10)  "She" - Elvis Costello - the theme song from the film "Notting Hill" - what can I say, I'm a sucker for a great love ballad.  Elvis is in great voice on this number.

March Madness!!!!!!!...

...am enjoying the annual madness that is the annual NCAA D-1 basketball tournament.  I do not fill out any brackets and have no desire to do so, but I do enjoy watching the upsets.  Already several traditional "powers" and/or presumed favorites to win it all have fallen by the wayside.  Love it when the smaller schools who are hungry and just happy to be there pull one out over the big boys.  Case in point:  Northern Iowa knocking off Kansas last night.  Northern Iowa, out of the "mid-major" Missouri Valley Conference, just won their conference tournament here in St. Louis two weeks ago and will return for their 'Sweet 16' regional next weekend.  Bill Self's boys, um, will not.  Mizzou, alas, will not be going any further after losing to West Virginia.  They hung in there for most of the game but ran out of steam towards the end.  Next year!

 

...spent an enjoyable day with my parents and niece Lydia yesterday.  My parents kept Lydia overnight Friday night and all day yesterday while her parents tended to the process of preparing their house for sale.  (speaking of which, if you know of anyone looking to buy a 5-year old townhouse in a relatively safe part of St. Louis city, let me know!)  Love that Lydia!  She is 2 years old now and has turned up the cuteness factor quite a bit.  A happy, silly, normal toddler is she.  I got out with Chili-dog late in the afternoon out to West City Park in Festus, down the hill from my parents' house.  West City has expanded quite a bit since I've moved away and I never got over to see what all was there.  The city really did a great job with creating trails and open space that are great for walking dogs and their humans.

 ...had some great fellowship time over lunch with some friends from church at our friend R's house.  She's a great cook and hostess who has the gift of hospitality and enjoys using it.  She first hosted about a month ago and served Mexican food.  Today was Italian, with two varieties of pasta, along with salad and bread.  Warm peach cobbler and chocolate-toffee brownies came afterwards.  We all watched a good bit of the Mizzou basketball game on the tube before heading home.

...finally, a shout-out to our own Washington University Lady Bears, who won the NCAA D-III basketball championship this weekend in Bloomington, IL.  Smart kids who can shoot hoops....love it!)

A Stellar Night Of Jazz...

 ...one month ago was the last post to this little blog.  Let's blow the dust off with yet another performing arts review!

I was privileged to be at the Sheldon last night for a performance by the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by the ubiquitous and irrepressible force of jazz nature, Wynton Marsalis.  The concert was for the Sheldon's annual Gala fundraiser and for $500 I could have partaken in dinner, dancing, VIP parking, and other benefits but I chose a $65 seat in the balcony.  Dead center, front row of the balcony, thank you very much.  I took advantage of a Metrotix pre-sale for this event last month and luckily, the Metrotix computer smiled on me.  When I say 'balcony,' it helps to point out that the Sheldon is a small concert hall and a balcony seat still puts one in a very good viewing position.

As I said, Wynton Marsalis leads the JALC Orchestra as their musical director and emcee.  He handles both jobs with great aplomb, as evidenced by the group's live show.  The Orchestra is made up of some of the best and brightest jazz players on the New York City jazz scene.  Marsalis noted that he'd known some of the members since they were teenaged music students of his (at Juilliard, I think).

They did an all-Count Basie set of music, save for an opening set of kiddie nursery rhymes, a Mr. Rogers number (I Like To Take My Time) and Kermit the Frog (It's Not Easy Being Green).  Trombonist Vincent Gardiner showed off his vocal chops on the latter number.  All were creatively arranged by the various band members.

The Basie material swung effortlessly, as the band has been performing it in recent concerts this year.  Marsalis noted that Basie music is divided into "Old Testament and New Testament," depending on whether the classic or new edition of the Basie band performed it.  The band was relaxed yet professional throughout the show and all the solos were top-notch.

The encore was positively sublime - the band's senior (read: oldest) member (the most soulful thing to ever come out of Scotland, according to Wynton Marsalis) played the bass clarinet(!) on a duet with the young pianist on Duke Ellington's "A Single Petal Of A Rose" - whoever was operating the stage lights chose to bathe the duo in an amber spotlight...chills!

 

One lasting impression I took from the night was of the expert musicianship of the players.  Several of them "doubled" on other instruments than their chosen one, i.e. the saxophone players also played a flute, clarinet, or piccolo whenever the music called for it.  The saxophone is a hard enough instrument to learn, but to tackle the other reed instruments is really admirable.  My jazz fan's hat is off to them.

Weekender...

quiet weekend in my world...drove up to Maplewood yesterday to get Chili-dog's nails trimmed at Airedale Antics. A local Greyhound rescue group does nail trims there every month for a $5 donation. They used to camp out at a nearby Petco store to do them, but they apparently got kicked out over potential liability issues. It was a cold but clear and sunny day yesterday so Chili and I took some time to explore the "main street" area of Maplewood since I rarely drive through there and when I do it's usually at night. (For my St. Louis readers I'm referring to the area of Big Bend and Manchester.) Maplewood's done a good job of revitalizing their downtown area with a variety of shops and restaurants. I also noticed several small concert and theater venues. Must get by there more often.

...Actually my quiet weekend started off loudly on Friday night. I caught Fundamental Elements in concert with Tim Be Told at a new local art space called The Chapel. The Chapel is, as its name suggests, an old stone chapel located behind Memorial Presbyterian Church near Forest Park in St. Louis. MPC has set up the building as an art gallery and concert space for local artists. FE did a great set, performing most of their most recent CD and previewing some songs from their upcoming CD. Tim Be Told is a younger group of guys from Virginia that FE met at a festival last year. They have a good sound and I hope they go far!

...don't remember if I wrote about last weekend, but I and some friends did another trivia night last Saturday night. This one benefited the local Boys Hope Girls Hope chapter. I believe we finished 7th or 8th out of 60+ tables.

...last Sunday I enjoyed family time with the parents plus bro-sis-in-law-niece Lydia. It was sort of a late celebration of my bro's birthday. Sure am glad he likes lemon cake because that's what my mom always makes for him and it sure is good!

...enjoyed hearing the story today of how my church was instrumental in bringing the Gospel to the Tatarstan region of Russia. There were literally no churches there when we interfaced with a few local Christians there back in 1991 and planted a single church. Now there are many churches in the region and we enjoy a thriving partnership with the Free churches there. My church has a long history of church planting. We were the first EFCA church in St. Louis when we got started back in 1983. The only other one in Missouri at the time was in Columbia. We've since planted two others in this area and there are over 30 Free churches in Missouri now.

Practicing For Next Year's Super Bowl Halftime Show...

From "For Better Or For Worse" - the New Bentwood Rockers!!!

seriously, why all the old folks at Super Bowl intermission lately? Did Justin and Janet damage our collective psyches that much?

Lucky Guy!...

How good is it to be Chase Daniel this morning? Mizzou's former star QB went undrafted last spring, later signed with the Redskins, was cut after training camp, and finally landed with the New Orleans Saints last fall. He spent the season being repeatedly released and re-signed to their roster and practice squad before finally being promoted as the Saints' third QB on January 1. He was on the roster for the Super Bowl and despite never playing a down, he gets a Super Bowl ring.

In spite of all his regular-season heroics, Colts QB Peyton Manning is just 9-9 in the postseason and, as the P-D's Bernie Miklasz noted at the end of his column today, has the same number of Super Bowl rings as Chase Daniel.

One.