We didn’t have much downtime on this past trip to California, but I was able to catch about fifteen minutes of T.V. and a movie on the flight from Sacramento to Atlanta. There were two pretty interesting quotes that I heard from shows that I was watching.

The first was a commercial for some show called “Intervention”. From what I can tell it’s about a family that has a member that is addicted to something and they step in and try to help out the addicted person. Neat idea, but not sure I would want that documented on cable television.

Anyway, the commercial was showing clips from the upcoming show talking to the family members. Then it showed the “addicted” guy, and he said,

“…I’m literally dying for something to live for.”

What an unlikely profound statement. How many people in this world are literally “dying for something to live for”? That struck me.

The second was from the “in flight movie” that was playing from California to Georgia. It was Rocky Balboa, the new (and hopefully last) of the Rocky movies. Now, before anyone gets mad at me for saying this movie was pretty slow, and unentertaining, let me be the first to say that I am a huge Rocky fan. I grew up on those movies and think it’s a great underdog story where the “nice” guy actually wins. Sorry if I spoiled any of the six endings for anyone that, including my wife, hasn’t seen any Rocky movies.

About half way through the movie, the fighter that is supposed to fight Rocky is talking to his manager. I don’t really remember much of the context, but the manager says to the fighter,

“A legacy is something you get when you aren’t getting paid.”

Again, something I found profound, but in an unlikely place. There are so many things that we can do in life (especially in the music industry) that are genuinely good, but how many times are we getting “paid” for it? Would we be willing to do something to leave a “legacy” if it meant that we weren’t getting paid for it, or if no one even noticed?

Shaun and I have spent the entire day in Auburn, CA. My family moved here when I was four, and I lived here for the majority of my life until about two years ago. It was cool to see a bunch of old friends including Damian and Shane who helped add a lot to the show.
Shane painted this painting during Shaun’s show, and is allowing Shaun to auction it off on his website.

There were too many people that I saw tonight to mention them all on here, including some folks that I know are reading this and refuse to comment.

Shaun and I went to lunch with my family, and then took a drive to one of my favorite places on earth. When my wife and I were newly married we spent most of our days at this river. It was pretty crowded today, but still nice to be back and look around.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight. I had a great time being home, and can’t wait to get another chance to be here.

You will notice that this post is lacking the usual artistic and/or amusing photo to join forces with these words to make what I have written funnier, sadder, or more confusing.

You may be asking yourself, “Self. Where is the artistic and/or amusing photo that Brody usually places here to join forces with what he writes to make what he has written funnier, sadder, or more confusing?”

Well, let me tell you. The “amazing” Blogger technology is broken. Yeah. I have no ability to upload artistic and/or amusing photos. Now the words that I type are not joined with something to make these posts funnier, sadder, or more confusing.

“How long has this been this way, Brody?” you may ask.

To which I would reply, “Three freaking days”.

“Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt, superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group here, recently gained worldwide attention for this photo of him holding an injured Iraqi child. The photo was taken about a month ago, while he was deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq.

The young infant had received extensive gunshot injuries to her head when insurgents attacked her family killing both of her parents and many of her siblings. The chief had a knack for comforting her and they often would catch a cat nap together in a chair.”

In completely unrelated news: Blogger sucks, and I think I want to change.

“According to the United Nations, the richest 225 people in the world have a net worth that is equal to the annual income of the poorest 2.5 billion people” -
Craig E. Johnson
“Meeting The Ethical Challenges Of Leadership”

Is it possible to bridge the gap? How?

(HT:JB)

I stumbled onto this website today. It made me want to be a photographer. It made me want to see more of the world and capture the colors and beauty.

I love it when something is inspiring enough to create an ache inside me that won’t go away until I move toward it. Music that makes me want to write, paintings that make me want to paint, photos that make me want to be a photographer, and nature that makes me want to explore it.

What makes you ache?

Congratulations to our friends Levi and Jessie and their new little girl Ruth.

Oscar-winning director James Cameron’s controversial new documentary, which claims that Jesus may not have only been buried with a wife, but a son as well, adds an intriguing new piece but certainly doesn’t solve the 2,000-year-old puzzle of the life and death of Christ, the filmmaker said in an exclusive interview on TODAY.

“I’m not an archaeologist. I’m a filmmaker,” said Cameron, who won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1998 for Titanic. “I looked at the evidence initially, and as a layman I found it to be compelling …. I haven’t seen anything that contradicts the initial hypothesis.”

Are Christians fueling the fire for things like this? Or is it our responsibility to make it a big issue? If we ignored it, would stuff like this have such an impact? Or is it our responsibility to stand up against these things?

I know in a few weeks I will be able to walk into Lifeway and pick out a book with a similar picture on the cover as the one above, and some guy who looks like James Cameron on the back, and read all the facts disproving the Discovery Channel Documentary. I know there will be mini-books passed out at my church, begging that people’s faith won’t be swayed by the “King Of The World”.

My question. Did James Cameron watch the absolute frenzy that The DaVinci Code created among Christians and recognize something that would get us all talking about him? Now that we all are what do you think?