Great slideshow about what it's like being a Cubs fan. When you are a Cubs fan you are more than a fan of a team or a sport. Love this slideshow. By the way, if you make some stupid comment about the Cubs or your particular team, I will ban you as a commenter for life. Deal with it. :)
Trip: The trip to Milwaukee from Woodstock was pretty quick, maybe a little over an hour. No traffic problems. Ate some Fazoli's on the way, which we used to eat a lot when first married. We didn't have time for a sit down meal. The route was awful both ways, in that there was a lot of construction. Both directions I got us lost because a part of the route was blocked. Ugh.
Venue: The Pabst Theater is a great place. It's both a theater (gorgeous) and a bar (Pabst, duh). They let you bring drinks into the theater. Made for a lot of people drinking a lot of bad beer during the concert. And of course the cheapest drink was Pabst Blue Ribbon. The cruelty! The sound quality in Pabst was great and you never felt too far from the stage. We didn't have to worry about that in the seventh row. All tickets were general seating so we got to choose where to sit. A half hour early was enough to get a seat almost anywhere.
The asked for no photography or video, so I obliged. Wish I could have provided something for you, but
Damien Jurado: The band included Damien (who has a large, block shaped melon) along with Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad. They all swapped some of their instruments during the concert. At some point they all played the drums. Really enjoyed most of the music, especially the harmony with Jenna. Beautiful stuff. At one point they played 5-6 fantastic songs in a row. I checked out Jurado's stuff months ago but don't remember any of it. I'll be sure to check out more of their stuff now that I've been properly introduced. Check out Damien Jurado's MySpace.
Here's a video for "Lion Tamer"...
Okkervil River: They opened with 5 songs that just flat-out rocked. Tons of energy. Will Sheff (singer) was like a wet noodle moving around the stage. Jurado's music is more subdued, and so went the crowd. Nothing wrong with that, and actually that's my favorite kind of music. But Okkervil set the place on fire with their opening songs. Loved it. Then they finally stopped to breathe and say something to the crowd, very briefly, only to move on to one of my favorite (more subdued) songs from their new album (The Stage Names) "A Girl in Port." They played most of the songs from The Stage Names and a small handful from other albums.
Though there wasn't a song I didn't enjoy, my favorite of the night was "For Real" from Black Sheep Boy. Here's their official video and a live version that shows you what they are like in concert...
One of the things I was looking forward to at the concert was seeing Jonathan Meiburg, who played keyboard and some guitar. Meiburg's band Shearwater (where Sheff is also involved) was on my radar before Okkervil. Meiburg gave a great stage performance that didn't overshadow Sheff but showed his crucial place in the band. I would not hesitate to see Okkervil again. It was a great night with a hot woman and a couple of hot bands. Hard to beat that.
1. Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six
main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History,
Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of
these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for
each project, and read them over a determined period of time. This
helps to discipline my reading, and also keeps me working across
several disciplines.
2. Work through major sections of Scripture. I am just completing an
expository series, preaching verse by verse through the book of Romans.
I have preached and taught several books of the Bible in recent years,
and I plan my reading to stay ahead. I am turning next to Matthew, so I
am gathering and reading ahead -- not yet planning specific messages,
but reading to gain as much as possible from worthy works on the first
gospel. I am constantly reading works in biblical theology as well as
exegetical studies.
3. Read all the titles written by some authors. Choose carefully
here, but identify some authors whose books demand your attention. Read
all they have written and watch their minds at work and their thought
in development. No author can complete his thoughts in one book, no
matter how large.
4. Get some big sets and read them through. Yes, invest in the works
of Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and others. Set a project for
yourself to read through the entire set, and give yourself time. You
will be surprised how far you will get in less time than you think.
5. Allow yourself some fun reading, and learn how to enjoy reading
by reading enjoyable books. I like books across the fields of
literature, but I really love to read historical biographies and
historical works in general. In addition, I really enjoy quality
fiction and worthy works of literature. As a boy, I probably discovered
my love for reading in these categories of books. I allow some time
each day, when possible, to such reading. It doesn't have to be much.
Stay in touch with the thrill.
6. Write in your books; mark them up and make them yours. Books are
to be read and used, not collected and coddled. [Make an exception here
for those rare antiquarian books that are treasured for their
antiquity. Mark not thy pen on the ancient page, and highlight not upon
the manuscript.] Invent your own system or borrow from another, but
learn to have a conversation with the book, pen in hand.
I'm not ashamed to once again (are you bored with me yet?) state my crush on Okkervil River. This time nothing to offer but my excitement. I'm taking my wife to see Okkervil River with me in Milwaukee next Monday. I haven't seen a real concert out of the Christian ghetto since college. Awesome. I'll be listening to them a lot this week so I can be one of those really sweaty people singing along with every song.
I 've finished Seth Godin's little book The Dip. It's profoundly-simple stuff. I encourage you to pick it up, or at least read Seth's blog. Here's another quote from the book. And when it says "quit" it can mean your job, but it could be projects or programs or whatever.
Here's an assignment for you: Write it down. Write down under what circumstances you're willing to quit. And when. And then stick with it.
Here's a quote from ultramarathoner Dick Collins:
Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out. You don't want to be out there saying, "Well gee, my leg hurts, I'm a little dehydrated, I'm sleepy, I'm tired, and it's cold and windy." And talk yourself into quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.
...you should outline your quitting strategy before the discomfort sets in.
Seth Godin in The Dip, pages 71-72 (emphasis is the author's).
As far as I am aware, no historical denomination has ever been able to fully recover its earlier, more fluid and dynamic movement ethos again. That's why it is the network structure, where power and responsibility is diffused throughout the organization and not concentrated at the center, that more approximates our real nature and calling as the body of Christ. A network structure thus guards us from the dangerous creep of religious institutionalism.
Many of my 'minister' friends speak of church as something from which they must seek solace. They 'protect' their day off and guard the privacy of their home. They feel the loneliness of ministry, looking outside the local church for people who will pastor them and events that will refresh them. For me church is where I find solace. The Christian community pastors and refreshes me through the Word of God. Someone put it to us like this: 'If I were to say I needed a weekly day off from my wife and children, people would say I had a dysfunctional marriage. So why, if I say I need a day off from church, do people not ask whether I have a dysfunctional church family?'
Church discipline needs to become a daily reality in which rebuke and exhortation are normal. Without this, any form of confrontation will itself create a sense of crisis.
The good folks over at the much-hated Pitchfork continue to woo me through their love for Okkervil River. (And I hope my love for Okkervil River is rubbing off to you all.) Pitchfork introduced me about this great performance on Conan...
...and the official Okkervil video for "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe"...
...and this live video of "Unless It's Kicks"...
Here's the stuff I listen to when reading or doing something that takes considerable concentration, meaning, this stuff is mostly instrumental. I often turn to Explosions in the Sky (MySpace) as brilliant, thematic, engaging stuff. Eluvium has been a recent favorite on the more passive and ambient side (MySpace). Pelican, an instru-metal band from Chicago (MySpace) has been rocking my face off. The Field is a new edition to my collection, but already a very welcome one. Even when I'm perfectly still The Field has me dancing (MySpace). I've recently mentioned E.S.T., modern jazz (MySpace). Very good for the study.
One last thing. Cloud Cult's new one is really great: The Meaning of 8. This is one of those quirky bands that finds a way to make every song awesome in a way it's hard to fully describe. Here's an MTV interview.
Fundamentalism is really losing the war, and I think it is in part responsible for the rise of what we know as the more liberal end of the emerging church. Because a lot of what is fueling the left end of the emerging church is fatigue with hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture. But culture is the house that people live in, and it just seems really mean to keep throwing rocks at somebody's house.
Mark Driscoll in the Sept 2007 Christianity Today, "Pastor Provocateur"
I preached yesterday on "Work and Rest" and found much help from Tim Keller's stuff. If you are searching, on this lovely Labor Day, for some helpful stuff on work and rest (they need to be considered together) go to Tim Keller's sermons...
Just wanted to quickly update you on what life looks like several weeks after Molly's surgery.
The three biggest problems right now are...
1. Molly can't lift much of anything. Still under 5 lbs right now. That's to keep from ripping her neck muscles apart. Once we were out to eat and she was stranded at the counter with a tray full of food and drinks that was too heavy. The kids and I were like, "Where's Mom?" I went looking and found m'lady looking in need of rescue. Fortunately I have muscles to spare! 2. You know how you will go to bed and just start to drift off to sleep and then jolt yourself awake? Molly still has a little of that. That's really the only remaining symptom, and it's so insignificant we usually don't even talk about it. 3. Molly is just dying to start working out more, but can't do much yet. She is walking on the treadmill and that's about it.
Yeah, after an awful summer and long post-surgery recovery life is pretty much back to normal. We took a train trip into Chicago yesterday with the kids and she did great. We don't assume there will never be any Chiari related stuff in our lives again. We know that symptoms could come back someday. That keeps us on our toes and thankful for the time that things are great, like now.
By the way, the best question we get asked is, "So, what did you guys do this summer?" Love that, because we will unload the story on people and enjoy their disbelief. It's quite the conversation starter. It also stops conversations. Like when someone is whining about their silly problems and I drop the Chiari-bomb all over them. They suddenly have nothing to say about their lives. :)
I have a short list of things I'd like to reflect on now that we have some distance from the symptoms and surgery. I'll try to get them written sometime soon. And the next appointment with the surgeon is in mid-October.
A church member alerted me today that there was a gun scare at Pontiac Township High School, the school I graduated from in 1991. They found 6 guns and arrested 3, and no one was hurt. The photo is found with the USA Today article. I believe, though I can't be sure, the dude on the right is John Cox who graduated in '91 as well.
From the Pantagraph link below, quoting my brother...
“The police departments, school district and the students worked
together to make this work,” Mayor Scott McCoy said. “Where this
started was with an observant student who brought it to the attention
of someone that needed to know. There are a lot of heroes here but
there is one major hero and that is the student who stood up and did
what he or she had to do to make sure that their fellow students and
classmates were safe.
“There is a student right there that I
can’t wait to meet,” said McCoy, who also commended police and school
districts for working together.
“What we have today is something
very minor to what could have obviously happened,” he said. “This is
due to the due diligence of the police departments and school districts
working together with this Code Red.
“The city is safe,
school is safe, and all of our students are safe, and that is a direct
statement to how well our police department had done and how they
reacted to the situation.”
Nina Nastasia: Heard her on some podcast, I think. Lovely acoustic music. Nina Nastasia MySpace.
Sketches for Albinos: Found this stuff a long time ago and forgot about it. Found a Sketches for Albinos MySpace link somewhere and listened again. Really interesting and worth checking out. Iceland represents.
. Michael also provides us the Table of Contents.