I have already made my distaste for birds pretty clear on here, but I would like to take it one step further. This photo is the updated picture from the barbecue, and what Shaun and I can only describe as “man parts with wings and beaks”. Okay… I know it’s pretty nasty, I agree… but so are birds. Kristin thinks they are cute. I don’t know about that, but they are intriguing. I will post more pictures when these things get a little cuter, but aren’t old enough to peck my eyes out.

I am at a GMA Indie (Non) Breakfast in Nashville right now, then off to Texas for a show tonight.

My friend Brian just released his first independent album, and I am pretty impressed. In fact, I think it’s pretty important that you, whoever is reading this, go here immediately and but it.

My honest opinion? This is one of the best independent albums I’ve ever heard. And by independent here is what I mean: Brian played all the instruments except drums, sang, wrote, recorded, engineered, produced, and mixed the entire album himself. Brian also took the photos, and designed the cover layout himself. In fact, I think he may have even sewn the clothes that he is wearing in the photos that were taken himself. Have a listen and then go buy this thing. You won’t be sorry.

Last night Blue and I drove down to Huntsville, AL to catch the MercyMe, Audio Adrenaline show. It was great to see some good friends and hang out. And since I wasn’t working and with Blue’s future scrapbook in mind, I was able to take a few pictures. That way when he is older he can look at these and ask who these people are.

Blue and Mark flying a remote control airplane in the arena before the show.

MercyMe trying to figure out why “Blue” is spelled E-L-I-O-T.

Blue on the stage, wondering why 6,000 people are looking at him.

Blue and Will celebrating “High Five Day”.

“National High Five Day falls on the third Thursday of April each year, which falls this year on April 19, 2007. The holiday originated at the University of Virginia in 2002, and has since spread across the nation, and around the globe…”

“The first National High Five day began five years ago, when inspiration hit a few college students in the early morning hours. With little expectation or indication of what the reaction would be, the University of Virginia undergraduates summoned their courage and their friends to set their ideas into action. They posted fliers, wrote an article for the paper, and devoted a week’s worth of comics to promoting the newfound holiday. Disregarding class attendance in favor of this important cause, they recruited friends, made gallons of lemonade and set up a booth on the university’s central lawn. Waving handmade signs and blasting music in the spirit of the holiday, they attracted the attention and the high fives of students passing by.”

Who can get the most high fives? I already have three.

Let’s pretend just for a minute that I, yes I, am the sun, and you are my friend. Are you ready? I am a several thousand degree ball of fire, and you are my friend. When you walk too close to me I burn you, in fact, I can even make your skin blister to the point of giving you cancer. Look at me? There goes your vision. I can make you sick, make your head hurt. I can even kill your dog if you leave him in the car. I won’t mean to, but you know what? That’s just me, and you are my friend.

Now, I’m not thinking that I personally would hang out with someone that gave me blisters that eventually could cause cancer, scorched my retinas, gave me headaches and, at any given moment, could unintentionally kill my dog. Feel free to do so, but don’t come crying to me when your “friend” leaves you wearing two eye patches at the cancer ward just after your dogs funeral. I will be the one wearing long sleeves and pants. Sweating? Sure… but at least I will have my dog.

And briefly, let’s take a look at the surface detail of this “friend” of yours. Looks a little like a “lake of fire” to me. No cute smile, no raised eyebrows, not even a John Travolta chin. Nope, just bubbling heat, waiting to cook you. Some friend you’ve got there…

I’m just saying.

Shaun writes:
None of this is needed. It’s a want for sure. But if I try hard enough I can argue convincingly that all these capabilities I’d have with a new Macbook would make for better music, a better on-line experience for my visitors (that’s you), more marketing and communication tools, a larger audience, and world peace. I swear. Look, I have a flowchart.

In related news… I want one too.

I had lunch today with my friend, Phil Wickham, and if you haven’t already, it’s time to buy his first album. Phil is currently (and I literally mean currently… this very moment) in the studio recording his next album, which he claims “takes it to another level”. I didn’t get a chance to hear any of it yet, but no doubt it will be pretty good. Phil’s a great guy, very talented and loves what he has been allowed to do for a living.

While we were there we ran into Mark and Will, so it was a neat little reunion from all over the country.

Not much else going on here…. in case you were wondering. It’s about time to head outside to play.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - “A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 31…”

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“..Triple A pitcher, Matt White, is the lucky dude who bought 50 acres from his great aunt in 2003 to help cover her nursing-home care, hoping one day to build a house there. He later found some rock — well, not just some rock, 24 million tons of highly prized rock — that sells for around $100 a ton. On paper, and in the papers, he became the “baseball billionaire.”
“…Forget for a moment the huge cost of excavating the stuff and stick to the fantasy math. White’s $2.4 billion windfall would place him 131st on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans in 2006, $100 million ahead of Mark Cuban.”

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“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” - Kurt Vonnegut

“Influential author Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84 after suffering brain injuries in a fall in New York…”
“…He likened himself to a flower, which having finished blooming, “has some sort of awareness of some purpose having been served”.
He did come out of semi-retirement to write the short story collection A Man Without a Country in 2006, saying that he had “drawn energy from my contempt for our president”.
Vonnegut said he was often surprised to have lived for so long, having been a heavy smoker.
He once joked: “I’m suing a cigarette company because on the package they promised to kill me, and yet here I am.”

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