I feel like I'm pasting this goofyness all over the Internet, but I really could care less. Yes, we spent 500 miles round trip to go see a band that I like. How cool is that?
If you've not heard of Carbon Leaf, then browse them a bit. From their first disk to where they are at now, they've changed members and some of their general feel has been lost, but like most groups, seeing them live makes it all better.
We drove to Oshkosh, WI (north of Milwakee for those who may know) for their summer concert series. Carbon Leaf has been on my playlist for a while now since I stumbled onto them via a streaming radio station from iTunes. When I heard they'd be "close" and in a place where I could take my daughter, there was very little left to talk about! ;)
We had a blast at the outdoor amphitheater as we could move around as need be, the sound was incredible for all the groups, and the night was cool, but not enough to be cold. They played a good two hours, and we were there for all of it, leaving as they played their encore. My 8 year old daughter sang along to some of the songs (can you say "played too much in the car!!??) and stood right in front of the stage. She literally stood there for almost 2 hours, spellbound by the activity on the stage: singing, playing, and the general movement. Her highlight, the guitar player smiled this huge smile at her when she caught his eye.
Sometimes, you just need to drive to get the true experience of what music is all about....:)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Annual Conference
Hello from the United Methodist Annual Conference located in Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa!
Ok, not quite that excited about it, but it makes for a good introduction. As I'm writing this, the "Praise Band" is banging out this funky beat, to which the old folks are bobbing their heads to in approval....hee hee...makes a good image too! :-)
This is my second conference, my first was an eye opening experience on the political side of the church, blah. Left wing, right wing, and all that stupidity that we deal with on the news came jumping out and slapped me upside the head. I was pretty unhappy with the whole thing, other then listening to our Bishop speak. Dude could preach!
For the current conference, I feel a little more prepared for the left/right/center parts of things, which makes enjoying the people and the various services more enjoyable. Plus, the Bishop (a different on from my last time) can talk it up too!
I'm not what you would call a God fearing man, far from it. As a kid, things really never made "sense" to me, and it was only amplified as I grew older. After the tragic loss of my father in law in a farming accident, and seeing how people reacted to that (oh it's God's plan), that pretty much ended any true belief. And seeing my mother in law die less then two years of cancer just reinforced that feeling.
However, both times here at conference, I've felt a sense of renewal just by listening to the good that people do. True, it done because of a belief system that I don't buy into (ask me about what I think of missions sometime! LOL), but yet, there is great good being done. If that good could be channeled into our country, our cities, our towns, I would be more likely to make more donations towards those causes. As it is, we do make donations to those missions who serve the poor and downtrodden in our state/country, but when my brother leaves his 1 year old daughter and pregnant wife to wife to go on a mission trip to Africa to pass out tooth brushes and candy, I have a huge problem with this. And no, that wasn't all they did, but it was a part of it, along with trying to convert people to Christianity. Don't get me started.
Anyway, I guess my point of all this is, there is good in the world. It's all around us, but we have to look for it, and seek it out, and savor it when we do find it. A church, preacher, or "amen" isn't always needed, just a belief that people are capable of doing great things when aimed in that direction, regardless of their belief systems.
Finally, our Bishop just played Wii tennis and bowling on the jumbotron here in the coliseum, pretty freekin cool!!! LOL!!
Ok, not quite that excited about it, but it makes for a good introduction. As I'm writing this, the "Praise Band" is banging out this funky beat, to which the old folks are bobbing their heads to in approval....hee hee...makes a good image too! :-)
This is my second conference, my first was an eye opening experience on the political side of the church, blah. Left wing, right wing, and all that stupidity that we deal with on the news came jumping out and slapped me upside the head. I was pretty unhappy with the whole thing, other then listening to our Bishop speak. Dude could preach!
For the current conference, I feel a little more prepared for the left/right/center parts of things, which makes enjoying the people and the various services more enjoyable. Plus, the Bishop (a different on from my last time) can talk it up too!
I'm not what you would call a God fearing man, far from it. As a kid, things really never made "sense" to me, and it was only amplified as I grew older. After the tragic loss of my father in law in a farming accident, and seeing how people reacted to that (oh it's God's plan), that pretty much ended any true belief. And seeing my mother in law die less then two years of cancer just reinforced that feeling.
However, both times here at conference, I've felt a sense of renewal just by listening to the good that people do. True, it done because of a belief system that I don't buy into (ask me about what I think of missions sometime! LOL), but yet, there is great good being done. If that good could be channeled into our country, our cities, our towns, I would be more likely to make more donations towards those causes. As it is, we do make donations to those missions who serve the poor and downtrodden in our state/country, but when my brother leaves his 1 year old daughter and pregnant wife to wife to go on a mission trip to Africa to pass out tooth brushes and candy, I have a huge problem with this. And no, that wasn't all they did, but it was a part of it, along with trying to convert people to Christianity. Don't get me started.
Anyway, I guess my point of all this is, there is good in the world. It's all around us, but we have to look for it, and seek it out, and savor it when we do find it. A church, preacher, or "amen" isn't always needed, just a belief that people are capable of doing great things when aimed in that direction, regardless of their belief systems.
Finally, our Bishop just played Wii tennis and bowling on the jumbotron here in the coliseum, pretty freekin cool!!! LOL!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)