Go tell it on another mountain

Okay, "special" announcement for the 5 "special" people who actually spend time reading this puppy. And by "special" I am more or less referring to people who grew up in Saskatchewan. They are always just a wee bit behind. Oh wait, I was born in Moose Jaw, SK.   Need I say more.  Well, yes, I do actually.  My good friend Jon was born in Saskatoon, SK and still has a difficult time pointing out a combine.   "Special." 

Moose Jaw claims to be the "Band Capital of North America - I kid you not.  I have never seen a band come from there, play there, or rehearse within 5 miles of the place.   I even think trooper skips it on their tour.  I cannot even think of one person who is part of a band who comes from MJ.

Yet, I do know there is a large moose statue on the edge of town, but I do not believe he is carrying an instrument of any kind.

I am launching "Video Hits Friday's" (affectionately named after Canada's best ever music video show "Video Hits").  This latest piece of video goodness came from one of my Moose Jaw fans - who amazingly plays in a band but sadly, recently moved to Eyebrow.   So no luck with the whole "Band Capital of the World" deal.  Enjoy the Neudorf's. 

Inner Thighs

The Canadian speed skating team unitards, okay "speed suits". Whatever you call them, let's just face the facts that 98% of us would not look hot in one of those puppies. And no, you do not look good in bike shorts either. As a matter of fact, if I talking to someone wearing said bike shorts I tend to get umcomfortable for them. Maybe it is the butt padding. That doesn't even sound right does it... "butt padding."

Their onesies are scientifically designed with "energy returning patches on the inside of their thighs." Who would not want that? When I was huskier than today (yes that really means "fat" but "husky" makes you think a bit like... does that mean he had big shoulders? Rather than, yea, that guy lived at Arby's) I could have used a little energy return on my inner thigh. There was enough friction there to start a fire on Survivor. Never mind the rash.

That was too much information wasn't it.

Alas, when you are dealing with hundredth's of a second, and your power is derived from your legs. No friction is a good thing. Well, unless you are stranded on an island with no fire of course.

Check out the article highlighting that fact and some other pretty cool scientific stuff.

Stephen Colbert & Bloxes

2 things that bring me copious amounts of joy, innovative idea's and witty retorts (seriously, when is the last time you used "retorts" in a sentence, I am guessing never, or it was very close to the last time you kicked it off with "copious") In that light, here is a link to Bloxes and Stephen Colbert's Olympic interview with Ujjal Dosanjh (BC Liberal MP). And yes, I had to look up how to spell Colbert. Kidding.

S

Sermon Play by Play

Okay, for the possibility of flogging a dead horse, I will cover the best moments of my sermon from this past week.  Well, I can't think of any so, I will just highlight the content...

Text:  Ephesians 3
Big Idea:  We are all One at the Cross

Had this video in the Q but didn't work, so I had to read the lyrics instead.  Video was better.  And for you trivia fans, this song was written by the late MJ and Lionel Richie.



"The gospel is completely, absolutely, profoundly, marvelously inclusive. Therein lies the beauty of the gospel. It does not take into account if you are a man or woman, asian, or latino, organic or have a fast food death wish. It doesn't care if you live on the lake or live in your car. Whether you are a dentist or a truck driver. It does not care if this is your first time in church or you have been here 20 years.  “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, (known as the widlest of barbarians – or people living in Lake Country) slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Col 3:1).  The gospel cares about you. It invites you in.  Yet, Jesus never forces his way onto the scene. He is always available, always ready, always wanting to enter in, but we have a choice. We can welcome him or not."

That's about all I have to offer apparently. My beautiful wife is a great sounding board for analyzing my sermons, hence I regularly inquire about her thoughts. So upon the conclusion of this puppy she said "You finished strong." Lovely. That sounds like a winner doesn't it? And today she noted, "the rose doesn't bloom every Sunday." It just keeps getting worse.

Admittedly, this might be the worst post ever as I was reminded of a chat I had with another preacher type o' guy. He surmised that preachers are probably the only ones who have flashbacks about their sermons, and then obsess over the next week about what they said.  I sadly agreed. I am pretty sure Monday morning most people are more concerned about whether or not they have matching socks on.  So don't feel bad if you ended up here and you bale so you can go through your sock drawer.   My wife went looking for socks Sunday at noon. And because everyone is asking (ahem) I am wearing Skecher ankle high socks.  Short legs short socks.  Let's get serious, most people can't tell were my socks end and my legs start.  If I was running naked through a Saskatchewan winter no one would be able to see me.

Monday Musings

 In the Men's Alpine Skiing competition @ the 2010 Olympics, the top 27 finishers had less than 2 seconds separating them.  Gold, silver and bronze were decided within less than .10 of a second.

After racing 5.8 km's (4 heats), the Men's 2 man Bobsled competition, the top 10 finishers were separated by 2.75 seconds.

In the ladies 1000m Speed Skating final, all 35 competitors were within 2.97 seconds of each other.

Seriously #35 probably lost cause she had gas on the last lap, farted, and the clench made her tense up.  Done.  Talk about the absolute commitment and dedication needed to succeed at a highly competitive level, and on top of that not forgetting your Beano pill.  Literally years of training and money and living out of a suitcase and frankly very little media attention or pay.  Mix all that together with the knowledge that at the end of the day, you could lose by less than half a second... and I typically cut back on my daily push up regimen so as not to sweat.  Well that's not true, I don't actually do push ups but I have thought a lot about doing them.  Okay, the real deal is that I tend to hit "Restart" on Wii Resort if I am about to lose in Basketball so I don't drop down in my rankings.  I don't want to lose my pro status.  It's very hard to get you know.  Seriously, really hard.

Yes, I am completely pathetic.   But I am totally comfortable with the fact that I am never going to compete at the Olympics.  Now, let's just say I was incredibly athletic, muscular, ruggedly handsome, svelte (oh stop this is getting a little embarrassing), I would want to be in one of the unitard events.  Just cause.  Like when do you get to wear a unitard and not have people not look at you strangely?

And finally, the Canadian Women's hockey team have outscored their opponents, 41 - 2 in 3 games, winning their first game 18 - 0.  Maybe that half a second doesn't look so bad after all.

Of course, after all this training, and typing this stupid thing up, forgot to hit restart button.  Totally lost 6 spots.

The Way

There are very few words that can be used to describe this video.  Well, very few good words.  Okay, actually, nope, I am sticking to "very few words" in general.  To support this theory, I will use a 2 word sentence that describe my thoughts, the first time and every time I watch my favorite church conference co-ed dance video of all time... Awed silence.  I do not believe there has been any other video in the history of mankind, that captures the essence of the entire dance, as this one does, in the first 9 seconds.   Awed silence.

Blogs of Note

As the HighSchool Musical hit proclaimed, "We're all in this together."  And for some reason, when I blurt that phrase, my head kind of whips to the left in some sort of peculiar Night at the Roxbury way.  There is something definately not right in that whole deal.  Alas, yes, today I am calling myself the "bigger man" cause I am throwing out some links to a couple other great blogs/websites.  Hey, just because I am in the top 486 blogs in Western Canada (not including Alberta or Saskatchewan), it doesn't mean I have to get all haughty.  I can share.   Hope you enjoy them.

Out of Ur - churchy focused blog.  Lots of content.  Might love it might not. 

Church Marketing Sucks - what do you say to that one?

Relevant Magazine - sweet take on culture, life and God.

Life Church - okay, so you went skiing on Saturday and Sunday for the past 2 months.  Missing church?  Check out these guys.  They have an online campus that is um... gnarly (just throwing out boarding lingo ya know.. oh sorry, someone just told me to stop wearing acid wash jeans.  Okay let's go with "wicked" but in a non-wicked way sort of deal.  Now this is getting completely awkward)

Jonathan Acuff - great blog.  Surviving church as a single adult.

That should be enough to keep you away from this blog for awhile.  Oh wait, no come back, I just mean, this is not going well.

10/4 Little Buddy

Let's be honest here, intimidation does not result from wearing your bold lettered 2001 Celine Dion World Tour SECURITY t-shirt and a walkie-talkie.  Never.  Not even if it was still 2001.  Really.   Alas, weekly I seem to encounter another well worn SECURITY t-shirt on a dude who used to be a size L, during the concert security days, but is now a size XXL yet wearing the same shirt, but now with the odd scent of mustard.   Doesn't help that all the letters except "ITY" have fallen off.  Mind you, I kind of like it cause if I want to bring a smile to my face I look for SECURITY people.  Why that is, I am not certain.  Maybe it's the air of "Look at me people, these boots are B-Force 930's from Army Surplus," or maybe that they still use fanny packs, or just the fact that it is very hard to take someone seriously when the arrive on rollerblades.
How come, when I see Mall Secruity peeps 10-4ing, my mouth utters a giggle.  Not a laugh, a giggle.  Okay, for one thing, McDonald's "Employee of the Month" hats are not that fearsome.  At least they should get a tattoo or something.  Well, no, let me restate that.  At least they should get a real tattoo.  Scooby-Doo in a unitard just doesn't have the same penache as headless cavemen ripping unicorns apart. 

At the Vancouver 2010 Olympics this week, VP Biden was caught in a tough situation when a dude who was stalking him breached security.  Walked right through boo boo bedoo.  And this is my favorite part... with a homemade security pass.  That is awesome.  Best story of the Olympics so far.   Like nothing is better than that.  I can see him prepping...   'I am so in.  Just gotta sign in an official way here and color that in with red, yes, red is sweet, I am so awesome!  Fire on this picture of the Olympic Rings, scotch tape and oh man, I am in'.  I would love to see what that puppy looked like.  Maybe it had Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi stickers all over it (don't worry I have no clue what those names mean either.  Nor do I have a clue why we couldn't have at least one beaver as a mascot) or maybe he posed as Stephen Harper.  I don't know but it's beautiful none-the-less.  The best part, is that I am pretty sure if Mall Security was on the job, they would have smelled that one a mile away.

Vanoc Security, betcha they don't even have a t-shirt with SECURITY printed on it.

Between the dreaming and the coming true

Author Robert Benson wrote a book with that title many years ago.  In it he penned his struggle coming to grips with God, and his long held faith in the midst of a significant struggle with depression.  To be honest, not much stuck with me from the content of the book, maybe a sentence or two.  What has never left me is the title of the book, "Between the dreaming and the coming true."  I do not know how many times that phrase has erupted from my memory vaults.   There is something surreal, potent, and terrifying in those words.  Yet somehow I inevitably end up at hope.  I don't know how I get there, maybe it's the fact that I haven't arrived, and all my struggles and valleys and mountain tops can be regarded not as stuck in a moment rather from the eyes of an eagle.  Watching the whole picture unfold - realizing that these moments, this moment, will pass.  Today I am caught in one of those moment where I want the coming true right now, I need the coming true right now.  Yet here I sit in the dreaming, the worrying, the valley.

Benson says "When I was younger, I worried a great deal whether or not I was going to make it home to God.... What I fear now is that I will somehow miss what I am supposed to learn heresomething important enough that the Dreamer dispatched me, and the rest of us, here to learn. What I fear now is that I will somehow miss the point of living here at all, living here between the dreaming and the coming true."

I don't want to miss that either.  That there is a God who chose me.  Me.  Well, not just me, he chose you too.  I so easily can choose not to remember that He is here in this moment too.  That He wants me in this moment for some reason.  Eventhough I can't see it coming true.  Eventhough it involves pain, fear, regret.  Eventhough I feel lonely.  He has my here, today.  And I can deal with today.

I think this is where hope begins to heat up in me, where it starts to push through my viens.  Somehow it takes over my clenched fists and tired heart.  Where hope inspires the fretful moments.  Hope deals out peace.

"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.  I come that you might have life and have it to the full."
John 10:10

Well, if you are like me, you have walked this journey too.  I am going to seek the full life by hoping fully today.  Maybe you can too.

Valentines No No

Believe it or not, my hot smoking wife is not a big fan of Valentines Day. I know most of you non-believers are saying, "Yeah whatever Lanigan, she just says that because you are a dope." Alas, I will admit, the "dope" tag tends to ring true when I try and shave my own back.  And especially since, just this morning, my wife made a retching noise when viewing said hairy back.

And Valentines brings similar sentiments (the throwing up noises are saved me, this, more of a shoulder shrug). She really figures we can do better than spending $5 on a card that you look at for 18 seconds and keep for 2 months so that the giver things you really appreciated it. To that end, I post a lovely "What not to do" music video for the real male "dopes" who don't have a hot clue about romancing their ladies or picking up their tighty whities after they take a shower. A shout out goes to my sister in-law for sending this to me. I had watched it a few years ago but had forgotten the beauty of this video. Enjoy.


The Don't Song from Igniter Media on Vimeo.


PS: And just maybe my "dope" status will go down when you consider that tonight, I locked and loaded some NY Steaks on the bbque, dropped some fresh Prawns on top and then capped off the evening with a Bernard Callebaut Chocolate Fondue... thank you very much.  But don't get too excited, cause the romance was at about a -6. With two of our kids screaming because they somehow got chocolate covered kiwi in their eyes, another kid with foot odor that could knock out a small horse, and our dog munching on partially eaten steak from the garbage, the potential for a long kiss was not even in the solar system.

And Happy Valentines Day to you too.

Olympic Family

Yes, we will have to live vicariously through our children if the Lanigan name has any chance of athletic glory. Don't get me wrong, not like there aren't some abilities (okay, I'll be honest, I was tested one time and the results showed I could probably come off the bench on a co-ed community basketball team in Pilot Mound, Manitoba). Alas, Brady may have heard the phrase, "Dude you need to make pro in something, seriously, or we will have to move in with you when we retire. That or pray hard the housing market in Saskatchewan becomes affordable, or an opening comes up with the Pilot Mound Pilons."

Enjoy the pic and enjoy the Olympics - we'll be cheering hard for the 2 man luge.

Moments

Came home after a long day at work and had an even "longer" night at home.  My wife was already spent cause the kids, specifically our youngest, had not been her typical angelic self (clear throat here).  It was also the end of the power hour every parent endures just before supper, and I tripped over shoes in the doorway.  Supper was complained about, the dog was tortured, and it quickly became apparent, that it would have been easier to force feed the kids haggis than have them complete their homework. 
It was then that I decided to give myself a time out.  Didn't work.  Came out fiestier than before.  My kids felt the brunt of my head space.   Man that never feels good.  As a parent I am supposed to be the one in control.  Bed time couldn't come quick enough.  Well the evening passed without much repreave. 

As I went to bed, I laid there eyes wide open and mind racing.  Music would help so I popped on my IPOD.   Started listening to some worship tunes and almost immediately started regretting my actions.  And were they relentless.  I thought back through the years of how I have screwed up as a parent, the "I wish I had done this or that" moments.  How fast my son has grown up, how at times work had taken precedence over family.  Then my mind kicked into overdrive.  Brutal.  On and on I considered my regrettable actions, my "lack of's", my capacity to be a complete jerk in one moment, a "wonderful" leader in the next and worse, not think twice about it.  Hello tears.  They came almost faster than the stunning memories.

I called it.

I said, "God I am a pitiful man.  I cannot do this.  I want to be the best dad, best husband, best leader, but I keep screwing it up.  I am so sorry for disappointing you and for disappointing my kids, my family."
I wasn't sure what to expect, well, I should say, figured it was going to be a long night.  What I didn't expect was God's voice.  Audible no, profound yes.

"I am for you"

"But..."  Didn't get to complete my sentence. 

"Scott, I am for you.  I know you are sorry.  I know you are human.  I get it.  You are never going to the perfect anything.  I forgive you.  I love you.  Walk in grace brother, tomorrow is a new day."

Peace, hope, contentment starting piling in the mental elevator.  Man was that sweet.  Sleep came soon after.  So I share this today, cause maybe you just need to hear the same thing.  It's not exclusive to pastors, parents or the male gender.  It's inclusive to you.  So hear Jesus' words to you today,

"I am for you."

Okay, so I like Cooking

Yep, there it is. I said it. Cat out of the proverbial bag. Gotta be honest. I love it because cooking has a start, middle and finish. The end result might taste like a pile of leg hair but at least you know if it was good or bad. In my line of work, I am dealing with people every day. And if you are a people, you know, there is always something going on in someone's life that equates to chaos. Might have a great stretch, but there is always another mountain. It's the climb people (my daughters will be thrilled that I just gave a shout out to Hannah Montana).
Wow, that was close to my "jump the shark" moment wasn't it.   Now I am sweating.  Let it be said, that if it was,  I was not wearing a leather coat while typing this nor have I ever cooked in anything leather for that matter - and for those born after 1985 who do not have a hot clue what I am talking about, watch the video.





So off and on, I will post a famous recipe from the Lanigan House O' Love and you can let me (us) know if it becomes famous for you too:

Morning Glory Muffins 
(from "Muffin Mania" by Prange and Pauli)**
**With some Lanigan substitutions

In a large bowl mix:
1.5c all purpose flour
.5c whole wheat flour
1.25c white sugar
2tsp baking soda
2tsp cinnamon (kick in a little more love if you want)
.5tsp salt

Stir into that mess:
2c grated carrots
.5c raisins (suck it up they are good in there)
.5c chopped walnuts (or any kind of nutty deal you like)
.5c coconut
1 - 2 apples peeled, cored and grated

In a separate bowl:
beat 3 eggs
.5c oil
.5c apple sauce
2tsp vanilla

Stir this whole deal into the flour mixture until the batter is just combined. Lube up a muffin tin and fill to the top.
Bake @ 350 for 20 mins.
Makes 12 big muffins. Lock and load baby.

Of Jawbone's and Juxtapositions

"Jawbone" in case you were wondering, is the name of my new blue tooth device. It was that or "Blue Ant." Couldn't see myself responding to those inquiring minds asking, "What are you wearing?" and having to say, "Ahh.. Blue Ant". Not cool. So went for the gritty, manly one. JAWBONE - When I say the name I kind of picture one of those movie announcers dudes voices... Works for me

Had to buy one because in our lovely province of British Columbia a new law was passed (effective Feb 1) that you can no longer text or talk when driving unless you have a hands free device. Ticket is $169 big ones and 3 demerits if you are caught.

Let me interject this little discussion with something that needs to be said. It is totally and completely not cool, in any form or fashion, not even in Saskatchewan, to wear your blue tooth device in your ear outside of your vehicle. Never. I have no clue why I see so many dopes standing around, with this little thing hanging from their ear, when their phone is 5 inches from their hand attached to their belt loop. And let's get serious, belt loop holders should be banned in general, especially if you tuck your shirt in to boot.

I am just saying. To walk around with what looks like a growth on your hairy ear, when you are shopping for tighty whities, eating KFC in the food fair, or waiting in line to watch "The Tooth Fairy" with your best friend, it is just not right. Never. Take it off and leave it in your Ford Taurus. I kid you not. I am in Costco the other day, and Joe "I am so hot with my Blue Ant earpiece" Sidebottom is walking down the aisle, and that little blue flashing light is going off every 3 seconds totally blinding everyone in the aisle, including me. So much so, that people are running into poles, diving for cover, and surrendering. And Blue Ant boy is so totally unaware of the situation, cause he is piling into the free snacks, that when his phone rings, he misses the call. Unreal. The law only applies to vehicles people. And what happens in your vehicle stays in your vehicle. I digress.

Believe it or not, I think it is a great law. Mostly because I was tired of following dudes who had no capacity for driving and answering a phone at the same time, without accidentally hitting their brakes and honking .

I also speak of Juxtapositions, as I was unsure whether or not to post a video which speaks to the issue of texting while driving. It is an extremely graphic video displaying the results of a single regretable action, specifically, texting while driving. It is disturbing yet profound. Profound because it led me to consider the times in my life where something "almost" happened and how thankful that in the midst of my stupidity nothing tragic took place. And now, how I need to consider the difference between the tyranny of the urgent and the necessary things.

If you are interested in seeing the commercial mentioned above, I want to give the premise so that going in, you are aware. It is the story of some teenage girls driving, talking and texting who tragically, get into a significant car accident and the ramifications there after.

Here is the link

Monday Musings

Ken Hitchcock was recently fired as the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Last week, he was interviewed by Bob McCown of Prime Time Sports fame, and frankly it was a striking interview. First and foremost, Hitchcock did not speak negatively of the Blue Jackets. He spoke candidly and practically. He understood that his team was underperforming, and that he had to carry that responsibility in the form of losing his job. You could hear how much he cared about the organization. Not only from a coaching perspective - the incredible job that coaching is - helping individuals reach their greatest potential in the context of a team effort, but also that he had been a primary factor in developing this NHL expansion team from the beginning. His vested interest was great. He ended off the interview by suggesting that he would rather participate in this organization in a different capacity than move onto another coaching opportunity.

Having been fired once before myself, it got me to thinking about a few things. So I'll share couple thoughts with you:

1. Have much do you invest in what your job is today? If you cannot give your full passionate investment into what you do, either you are doing the wrong thing or you need a kick in the hiney.

2. No matter the situation, do you finish well? Whether you have been fired from a job (I have) or you are developing a project, whatever, do you finish as strong as you started. Do you move on with grace? Intergrity? Honesty?

3. If you have been fired, and whether or not the organization handled the situation poorly and as good as could be expceted, have you restored the relationship to the point that you could partner again in the future? In other words, do you live trapped by the experience or free from it? Traumatic experiences are the like the tentacles of an octupus. You free yourself of one and there are a bunch more arms sucking you in. Hence a lot of people go with the idea of "coping" (which is a pretty way of saying, "I am 2 seconds away from freaking out"). One by one you've got to work through those puppies to be free.

4. There has got to be a better name than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Like seriously. Alas, if you go back in their history you'll find out that pre-NHL they were call the Columbus Chill. But no, they wanted to change the name because, and I quote "the franchise will be the Blue Jackets, celebrating patriotism, pride and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and, more specifically, the city of Columbus." Aka: we are super proud to have fought our fellow Americans. Gotta be honest, I would have stuck with "chill"

Here's the full Ken Hitchcock interview

And here's the full Columbus Blue Jacket history

Unplugged

There are days when floppy discs are appealing. For you twenty-somethings, that is an old school flash drive... really old school. It could hold up to one picture.

For the last day or so our family has been unplugged from phone and internet. It all started when we attempted to order a movie through our digital cable box. Error code: 16559. Which apparently means, "Good luck trying to rent a movie any time soon". As I chatted with our provider, it came to his attention that we our system was on the wrong server. That's what I figured. Alas, he said it should only take a moment. I waited on hold.... as Tim came back on the line, it appeared that the problem was going to take a little more effort and would it be okay if we had no phone or internet service for a few minutes? If only I had just gone to the Movie rental store. Alas, what could I do but agree. Well, 18 hours later still nothing. So called this morning (on my cell phone). Or should I say, called 4 times, was hung up on twice, and waited on hold for over 40 minutes. Alas, when I finally got through I was told, that it looked like a dude was going to have to come out and fix our easy problem on-site. Great. Paul (Tim was off shift apparently) asked if we had time today for a repair guy to come. No, not really, I don't want it fixed. The silence on the phone was deafening. I cleared my throat and said, of course. To which Paul stated, "I cannot give you an exact time so, he'll be there any time between 8:00am and 5:00pm, so please be available." At this point I was in the fetal position on the floor whimpering. Well, okay, if I were to be honest, it was the result of inhaling caeser salad last night, which was hopped up with enough garlic to cause people to check their own breath while I walked by. I am not kidding, my pores were firing that stuff out so fast it's like I put on garlic pit stick this morning. It wasn't pretty. Anyway, 4 hours into the day, no repair guy. And then, like it was not big deal we receive a call that the problem had been fixed, and I quote "but at a whole new level". What that means I am still not certain but I am guessing they just got back from smoke break. All I know is, I am not cooking with garlic until 2015 and we are going back to VHS.

Okay this is rich, what are the chances, that this fateful story could come full circle but here. An internet provider called "Garlic". Unreal

Flexing Your Creative Muscles

Since I don't have too many other muscles I gotta go with this. Admittedly, it has been awhile since I have performed improv. But come on, let's get serious, there is enough spontaneous chaos having 3 children.

Like the other day, when I couldn't find my 4 year old girl daughter. As I called her name to no avail, I got that funny feeling this was not going to be pretty. That feeling turned to reality upon discovering my ensuite bathroom door closed with the lights on. As I opened the door, there my lovely 4 year old sat, pants off, legs in the air, half covered in lotion. I leaned down and asked, "So Caedyn, what are you doing?" To which she proudly replied, "I am putting cream on my bum." Nice.

Well, maybe that was the inspiration to think of all things spontaneous once again, or maybe it was the fact that I regular laugh audibly when I watch Improv Everywhere in action. Check out there website here, for all their missions, and check out the one below for a little bit o' joy on a Thursday. Well, that is, unless you child likes to put cream on their bums too... there's a laugh or two lathered up in that one.

GMAC Song O' The Year 2009

Okay, the GMAC's are just a wee bit less popular than the Grammy's. Hey, come on, they are important too. Just like the fact that you probably didn't have a hot clue, that when you wash your pits everyday with soap, it most likely was a product of Saskatchewan - the World's largest producer of Potash (which is a major contributor to Soap among other products). I know, just a wealth of knowledge here.
I digress. This tune was written by Joshua Seller, who by the way, was a top 10 finalist on Canadian Idol 2004 - I know, like I said, a wealth... Okay hotshots, little trivia for you: Name 2 other Top 10 contestants from 2004. Yes, I will help you. Here is the curly haired winner you probably forgot about. And here is the dude who didn't want to win and you hear at a lot about.
Oh yeah, Josh baby. Here is the tune that won the GMAC song of the year. Oddly enough, he has curly hair and didn't win Canadian Idol.

Artistic Expression

At it's peak, over 28 million people were watching the Grammy's. Alas, I was one of them. Although the Grammy's are inherently an awards show, do not be mistaken, they are all about the performances. And I found it extremely interesting while watching Sunday Night, the extent to which each individual artist took their craft. Some were failed attempts at one "uping" while others were incredible displays of talent. Here are a couple peaks - you decide.
Beyonce "If I were a Boy"
Dave Matthews Band "You and Me"

Whether you love or hate what these artists did, from Pink to the Zac Brown Band, they did what we are all called to do... The best with what you are given. Most of us will never have a full-time posse to plan our every move, or an opportunity to perform before 28 million people (and lets get serious here people, most of us should never wear a full body leotard or mankini of anykind) but we all have something to give. Today, I am not sure how you feel about the whole, "I've got something to give" deal. I am pretty sure some of us are having a bad beginning of the week, or worse January was a complete right off, as I am also certain there are many that are kicking off the near year with an incredible vigor for life. Regardless of where you are at, start today. It is never too late to start. These Grammy winners had to start somewhere. Maybe it was a grade 2 talent show, or a College Glee club. Don't start worrying about the audience either. They are always going to be fickle. We all are at times. Do what you are born to do today, you will never regret it. (Well, okay, you may regret wearing a Hypercolor t-shirt the day you had PE but I digress)

Monday Musings

Blogging takes diligence, time and lack of "cheese." Diligence requires discipline, time is fleeting and cheese comes in many forms (let me tell you that Valarosa Foods here in Kelowna makes a killer Guiness Cheese). I will therefore regulary attempt to dutifully create non-cheese.
This Monday I want to kick off the week by directing you to an insightful & challenging article, written by the poet and front man of Switchfoot Jon Foreman. So I leave with this quote from Jon as a springboard to start your week, "The human story is still unfolding. We are telling it as we speak. The human song is still weaving its way towards a chorus, through the suffering, through the fear. We need each other. We need heroes. Let your life be a beautiful song. We need hope. Tell a good story with the way you live."