music

well, this weekend is great.

kar and i are both sick. me, almost over it, and kar, right in the middle of it. which... granted, isn't so great. kindof a bummer how the whole marriage thing results in not one, but two illnesses, without fail, on all occasions.

anyway... spent the whole day painting, and everything but the bedroom is now complete (and the bathroom.. which i'm dreading). spent the evening watching hockey. kar, conversely, spent the evening gloating. because i'm going for the pens, and she's, of course, going for the wings.

note: one time, while driving towards waterloo at 4:30am during exam week, kar asked me a question about the penguins, and their best player, 'cyndy crosby.'

i've been thinking about what else we could do to involve art and expression in church. we sing every sunday because it is our form of cooperative expression. it's the one element in the service in which everyone can get involved and express our thanks and praise. seems valid. i suppose the 'singing' aspect, as upposed to, say, dancing, or writing, or whatever, has been generally praticed due to the fact that it's something everybody can generally do, and that doesn't particularly require any special skill or training. it's sortof the universally practiced and accepted art form.

but WHAT IF there were others...? i mean, what if somebody particularly skilled in engineering and mechanical thinking were to build something, on stage, that represented or lead our thoughts in a particular direction? Or, what if an artist came up front and drew something, on the spot, sketched something that carried meaning. partially, i recognize, these are singular activities, and wouldn't be 'group participation' based. but... there are just so many incredible artistic talents and ideas... let's tap into that!!

let me describe a eureka moment i had along these lines. i've gone to some of these 'summit' conferences with my dad. they're conferences about leadership, in which some of the big movers in american and world coporations, churches, organizations, etc., get together and discuss the skill of leading, influencing, etc. anyway, they always have this thing at Willow Creek, a church outside Chicago. and that church is really pursuing art in all forms, as opposed to just music. they have pastors who focus on growing that side of their ministry. so before one of the sessions, this guy walks up on stage, and they bring out a sort of square table, about 5x5 feet. the top surface is glass, sortof translucent white, with a light shining up on it from underneath. and there's a camera rigged overtop looking straight down on the table. the guy has a bucket of sand beside him. he reaches into the bucket and scoops a bunch of sand onto the table. this is projecting up onto the screens, so on the screen, you just see a white background, and a big black smudge where the sand is. then he starts rearanging the sand with his hands... and suddenly, it's this incredible black and white painting of, ahh, i forget.. the globe or something. anyway, for the next 10 min. or so, he just keeps painting things, and he essentially told the story of creation with just a bucket of sand and a table, and it was absolutely beautiful.

so inspiring. there was no music. nobody singing something like, 'holy lord, you're the author of my salvation..' over G, C, F sharp Minor... just real creativity and talent, and an open mind. it was such a blessing to be a part of.

i'd love to try to do that type of thing in church. i'm going to. maybe not THAT, specifically, but i think we should push for new forms of expression and praise. sometimes i just don't even know what i'm singing in church anymore. but something like this.. i know exactly what i'm thinking and feeling.

i mean... what if, one sunday morning, all of a sudden there were 26 djembes on stage, and somebody was leading the whole audience in making a beat using their hands and their voices and their feet. MANNNNNN.... how much energy would race through THAT sanctuary!! and then maybe the next sunday, we sing again, but this time, it's straight up a cappella, harmony, clean, and open. and the next sunday, a bunch of dramas are done. and the next sunday, a choir sings.. but sings with life, and energy. none of this.. 'stand up straight, lift your books when i give the signal, sit when i give the signal, don't move your heads, don't smile...' i'm talking gospel choir. moving.. flowing with the ENERGY that accompanies the WORDS that they're singing! THAT is LIFE giving.

Granted... all of this requires... talent. and practice. and skill. i suspect that a church like willow is quite agressive in their screening of who does what on stage. because a badly done performance, or an uninspired, inhibited attempt at art, can be, of course, incredibly hard to watch, and can and will completely derail a service's momentum. but that's a GOOD thing. why SHOULDN't people be required to be their best. if you want to lead the group in this for the right reason, then what you'll already want, on your own, is to be at your maximum.. fully on top of your potential. that's where those inspired moments come from.

now.. again.. i understand that there's a lot to be said for the fact that willow is a huge huge church. like... something like 30 000 huge. but you start somewhere.. and i'm starting with the idea, and the mentality. gonna see what i can do to make my next involvement 'of that direction'.

one of the ways i think about it is this: there is a reason why our favorite bands... our favorite artists... the ones who just attract our attention and really draw us in.. are able to do so. why is it? for me... why do i have so much admiration for guys like bono, james taylor, steve bell, etc.? and how do i translate what i like about them, and then infuse it into my own artistic expression towards god?

i think that's a good place to start.

it's their energy. their honesty. their realness, and the genuine openess with which they present their thoughts. it's also their talent, and their pursuit of excellence. if they carry all these things, and apply them to every attempt to express themselves.. than i believe that i can too.

J

home (with lots of parenthesis!)

Had a really cool experience the other night.

Kris gave me a ride home from Leamington, cause she's living in TO now, so she dropped me off at kipling station, which is the furthest station west, so i could take the train back to our place. i had all my stuff from home with me, so i grabbed a seat at the back end of the train, pulled out my guit, and started playing. nothing serious... just passing time. not many people on the train anyway.

about two stops in, this other dude hops on. he's got a guit too, along with a big bag of stuff. he spots me right away, and heads over in my direction. his name is joey. his girlfriend just kicked him out (hence the bag of 'stuff'). he's 34. he's baked. all facts i'm able to pull from the quick 2 minute intro conversation we have. except the 'baked' part. his red droopy eyes did the telling there.

anyway, he has nowhere to go, and he's just riding to waste time, so we played our way across the whole city. he was pretty good.. sortof. but it didn't really matter. it was just this whole idea of meeting a stranger and making music in a completely unusual setting.. it was really pretty exciting. somewhere around yonge, we managed to hit a pretty good groove. me plugging this aggressively low blues run. joey soloing like a high-as-a-kite rocker who just got the boot. we rode that all the way to main. that's my stop, i said. cool brother, joey said. take care man.. and good luck with the lady, i said. ya dude. this (pointing to his guitar) is your true girlfriend, Joey said. main street... don't get exiled.. like the stones! he continued. at which point i nodded, assuming that the stones have a song called 'exile on main street'. a google search would later confirm that it is, in fact, the title of one of their albums. anyway.. good fun, and good jam.


good weekend at home. well... great one, really. the sisters and the kiddies were all down, and aside from the nasty cold Josh managed to pass off on me (and he looked so cute while doing it!!) it was great to spend pretty much the whole weekend together. steve and i played golf on sat. morning... man, i'm bad at that now. really... i felt like i was just learning. but the walk was glorious.

had some great conversations with steve (initially during aforementioned golf game, and additionally over several rounds of ping pong... truly the two great conversation-inducing sports of our time) about music and art and church.

great to have family. great to have home.

talk soon!

J

systems and updates

Hey Guys,

In a bit early today to record a conference phone in with ABC for their fall schedule announcements. But that doesn't start till about 8:10, so I've got a min.

been doing a bunch of good stuff lately. Kar and I managed to get the living room painted, which is nice, so it looks more like a home now. feels good to actually get the furniture put back against the walls once everything is finished.

i've also been busy on vocals. got six songs done (lead vocals.. no bg yet) the other night. man, it's so sweet being in the city. the ride to CTV is about 30 min., so i can pop in for the evening to do some work, or just stay late, and it's really not a big deal. love it.

Things I'm excited about in the near future:

- coming home this weekend to see Mel, Cyn, and the munchkins, and to generally be an uncle.

- F1 in Montreal in early June

- James Taylor at the Molson in early July


we started a new series at church about the revolutionary character of christ. basically discussing the fact that he was nothing if not completely counter-cultural. i've often taken that to mean 'outside of culture' or, you know, that whole 'in the world but not of the world' thing. brux had me thinking on different lines, though. he made a few really great points encouraging us to live lives that aren't sortof passively and even unknowingly controlled by the various systems that make up our western culture. which is to say... if i'm not careful, i'm so easily consumed by, and driven solely by systems that i don't even acknowledge. money is a system (wealth), status, socially, is a system. there are so many things i DO daily that are only for the purpose of... doing what i've always done. of course, much of that is fine. it isn't even so much the involvement that is the bugger, but the lack of actual awareness of the system. and that's what i want to try to fight. .

anyway.. so, systems... i'm on the lookout for them this week. gonna try to define my own path, and make my decisions based on truth and relationship.

and.. i still don't have internet at home on my compy. the landlords have wireless, but i don't have an airport card, so i'm trying to figure out a way to connect cheaply, without having to buy a dang expensive airport card and, in all likelihood, have apple install it (they don't usually sell them cause they don't think it's a DIY compatible project). any advice? for now, still using kar's comp at home, and my work rig during the day. will get things figured out soon enough. seems like evenings are a nip busy right now.

i'll see YOU. later.

J

banff

back in TO after a fantastic weekend away. here's where we stand:

now living on the east end of Toronto in a basement apartment. the house is owned by friends of ours from home church. we LOVE the place! great to be in the city, and part of that whole moving thing.. the car is parked. kar and i both get up in the morning, hop on the subway, and head our separate ways.. me east, her west. i'm working normal hours again. something like 9:00 until whenever.

we have a few things to pick up yet, including some much needed extension cords, and a wireless card for my compy, before it really feels like home, but we're close. also, we're going to be painting soon (this week? this weekend? don't know. soon) so that will have to happen shortly as well.

i should be able to get my tail in gear regarding vocals on the new album in the coming weeks. i've almost forgotten what it sounds like, between being away, working on jimmy's stuff, etc. but it'll be nice to get back into it.

let's talk about banff.

that place is sweet! so beautiful, you know? and so... clean. like, by that i mean, you keep driving around the corner expecting to see a best buy, or a walmart, and it just doesn't happen. i mean, ya, it's touristy, with a bunch of little knick-knack shops and stuff, but it's also largely devoid of commercial encroachment. you really feel like you're escaping when you're there.

so we went there for a long weekend to celebrate kar's graduating. she's DONE!! 5 long years, and she's got her degree. so before moving on to bigger and better things, i thought it prudent to party to that note. we spent one day riding at sunshine. really cool doing it in the mountains like that. you show up and it's just a parking lot with a sign that says 'sunshine village..' and then you have to get on this gondola and take a 10 minute ride way up into the mountains where the actual lifts are. it's just all about the view. you're up there riding, and all you really want to do is just look around you. it's completely stunning. we'll try to post some pics on the ol' f-book. so that was fun.

the next day we just hung out downtown for a while, walked around, etc., and then headed up to spend some time at lake louise. again, just a completely absurdly breathtaking place to be. i just look around and soak, you know? like.. we have that too.. we have niagara falls. but we don't know how to live and let live. so we put up all these museums and rides and casinos and bs that makes money, and the falls lose the light. but out there, for now anyway, it is what it is, and what it's supposed to be.

also, we ate great food. that's one of my newfound favorite things to do. go for a really long and good dinner. good conversation, really good food.. man.. i've spent so many of those opportunities in my life rushing off to something. it's nice to just sit and have dinner.

so, ya, we ate at the keg, and then at this really incredible italian place, and then at a sushi place, and they were all awesome.

and now i'm home. finished the majority of my reads for the day, so i'm taking a minute to drink a coke and write this before heading off to do a few other things in the plant. the next few days will be about bill paying and paint buying and slipper wearing, and conference final watching (go pens! go wings!). see you soon!

J