Remember my friend John from The Myriad?  Well, check this out.  John wrote a book.  How cool is that?  I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet because Amazon won’t let me read parts of it, and I haven’t left the house to get to Borders yet, but I’m excited to check it out.

John is an amazing guy.  We had such a great time on the tour that we were on together, and continue to stay in touch.  I swear the guy needs his own TV show where he just sits and talks to the camera for an hour or so.  He has so many stories, some of which I hope, for your sake, are not in the book, and has an amazing way of telling them.  He also has a great story about how he once almost met Ving Rhames before he was doing Quizno’s commercials.

So, if you get a chance, check out John’s book and then purchase it.  I’ve got some running around to do today so hopefully I will have time to check it out.  If anyone is able to get it or check it out let us all know what you think.  

Have a great Thursday.  

Popularity: 19% [?]

Great job guys.

*Click Picture to go to the video.  They didn’t let me embed it*

Popularity: 44% [?]

I’m sitting at the airport in Chicago halfway home from a great trip to Portland.  I have a couple different thoughts on the night but most of all I am thrilled the way that the entire thing turned out.  The recording went great.  The video went great.  Phil did great.  And I think it was a massive step for Phil’s career and for the Christian music industry.  I had a great time being a part of it.

The day started a little shaky since, you know, I had no idea how to do any of the stuff that I said I would do.  I had no clue how to use the camera that I rented, and didn’t even really know if the church had good enough internet to pull it off.  For a detailed, bullet point outline of the day go here.  Once again, there would have been no way to pull off the day without Randy making things happen.  There were a couple freak out moments, but everything turned out great.  I was on the phone with this guy and one of these guys way more than they probably appreciated, but I totally appreciate their help.

Once we did eventually figure everything out we were able to grab lunch with Tyler.  We hadn’t met before but because of blogs we were, once again, able to bypass all the formalities and actually talk.  It’s always cool to meet someone that you feel like you know already.  Cool in a weird sort of way.  After the show Randy and I were able to also meet Samantha and her friend.  Like most of you know, my memory is garbage so I apologize, friend, it was great to meet you.  We talked for a little bit after the show and then packed everything up, and went back to Randy’s house.

All in all, a great night.  I had a blast, got to see Portland again, and now I can’t wait to get home.  Thanks again for watching and getting the word out.  I wonder what’s next.

Popularity: 44% [?]

Hey everyone. Thanks so much for checking out Phil’s show tonight if you did.  If you didn’t see it, you missed something special.  I have lots to talk about, but my brain is mush right now.  I have to be up in five hours to catch a flight home.  I met some great people tonight and honestly the night couldn’t have gone better.  

More to come when I can spell things right.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Alright. I’m here at Randy’s house in (amazing) Portland, Oregon.  The camera and I made it safely through security, a Denver layover, and a farting old women* and we are getting ready for tomorrow.  

I’m pretty excited about all these things coming together and I wanted to remind everyone to make sure they are over at Phil’s blog tomorrow night at 7:30 PM Pacific Time.  It’s going to be a great night and hopefully I don’t screw anything up.

*There was an old lady that told me that she didn’t want a middle seat and that she wanted to sit in my aisle seat.  She was in her late 70’s so I had to let her take my seat and I think she was farting the whole flight.  I wanted to throw up numerous times between Denver and Portland.  Seriously, who farts on a plane?

See you tomorrow.

Popularity: 46% [?]

So tomorrow I will be running around a bunch and I’m not sure I will have much time to blog. For those of you that don’t know, I am heading to Portland to meet up with Phil to record and video his live album show. Well, I won’t be the one recording it, but I will be there during the recording of it… you get the idea.

I’m excited to be in Portland again. There is something magically artistic about that place and normally when I am there something cool happens. It’s also cool that it’s where Randy is, so we will be able to get some work done and actually be in the same room to do the work for once.

A couple random things from today. I officially made the switch from Safari to Firefox, and am not sure that I really like it yet. Everything seems so bubbly and annoying to me. And I swear it’s slower, but I could be making that up. What are you using?

Also Kristin and I are two episodes away from finishing the second season of LOST. Ana Lucia is dead and the show is now better because of it. Although it’s a bit creepy that Michael is all whacked out now. I think Season One kept my attention a little better but it’s still a great show.

I rode the scooter to my friend Michael’s house today. We did a rad video for his blog (that he never updates) but I think it’s not working or something. Everyone head to Michael’s blog and harass him about blogging and say hello for me.

So that’s it from this place. I will be around tomorrow but mostly on Twitter so check me out there. I am a little curious about how many people that read this blog are going to be at the show on Friday. I know a couple people have commented already about being there, so let’s hear it. Who’s watching online, and who’s going to be there?

**Quick update. I am currently editing this in Safari because Firefox was being lame. One more like that and we are in a fight.**

Popularity: 54% [?]

Yesterday I went to the Lifework2.0 thing that Randy and Spence put on and I think my brain is a little swollen.  We went through so much stuff that I am still checking my notes to see things that I have already forgotten about.  There were a bunch of other folks there, and since I’m miserable with names it’s going to take me a little research to remember all the folks I met.  Vicky was there, John Voelz was there, Beyond Jems was there, and a bunch of others.  We talked about Twitter and all sorts of other Google search stuff that I am still sorting through.  

I had a great time getting to know some of the people that I read everyday.  Make sure to check those links out if you haven’t and say hi. 

Today I’ve got to get ready to head to Portland.  Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Popularity: 43% [?]

If that doesn’t blow you away, I don’t know what will.

Popularity: 74% [?]

Yesterday I think I saw more performances than any one person should be allow in one day. The day started meeting up with Phil and hanging out with him and his brother.  After a while Phil needed to sound check so I left and wandered around until I found myself at the venue where Jars, Third Day and Switchfoot were going to play later in the night.  I said hi, sat there a while watching my phone battery die and then left.  

INO Records was hosting (I don’t know if that is what it’s called but it sounds good) a showcase with a handful of their artists, including Phil so I went that way to catch that.  I think these little showcase things are fun simply because the artists played two or three songs each and then there was another one.  Addison Road, Phil, Sara Groves, Caedmon’s Call, Derek Webb, and The Afters.  It was awesome to see some of those folks play and hang out a bit.  

After that ended Wes and I walked a few blocks over just in time to catch the beginning of Swithfoot’s set.  Now I have see a lot of shows in my day, and I have even seen Switchfoot a few times, but last night they put on, what could quite possibly be, the best live rock show I have ever seen.  They blew me away.  They have come a long way from Chem 6A that’s for sure.  Unbelievable entertainers and if you haven’t seen them, now is the time.  They are about to head out on tour with Jars, and Third Day and the show is pretty amazing.  

It had also been a while since I had seen Third Day so it was cool to see them play some new stuff.  And by the way, Mr. Mark Lee, brought his “A-Game” last night.  A genuine rock and roller that guy is.  There were even some new things he was doing on old songs that blew me away.  They put on a great show as always.

About half-way through Third Days set I walked back out to the back of the room and saw a group of the cool-kid bloggers.  Randy and his wife were there, along with Anne and her husband, Chris and Heather but no Carlos.  They had all come over from the Compassion Dinner and stopped in to see the show.  I felt like the geek in high school that was waved over to the nice popular kids table.  Come on, we all know the feeling.  It was cool to hang out with them for a bit and talk loudly about blogs.  All very, very cool folks.  When that ended it was about time to head home, but I ended up talking to Anne and Chris in street about blogs, and “the industry”, and books and critics.  We talked way past our bed times and then I headed home, but it was cool to get to know them a little better.

All in all, a good day.  Today I’m not sure what the plan is yet, but I’ve got some diapers to change, I do know that.

Popularity: 73% [?]

This week is a busy time here in Nashville. Everyone that lives here can attest to that. It’s GMA week and even if you don’t have anything you have to do, everyone from the industry is here doing things they have to do, and it’s like a big reunion.

So far I have managed to keep my calendar pretty open but I know that it will fill up fast. Yesterday I had a great lunch (meeting) with Spence about blogging and social networking and all that.  I love talking with people that “get it” and I don’t look like a crazy person when I am talking about blogging.  Today is pretty free, but I have a lot of things to get done before the weekend.  Then tomorrow, I will be headed to Chattanooga to hang out with these guys and their crew and answer a few questions.  These guys will be there too so I’m excited about that.  Then on Saturday I will head to Jackson, TN where these guys and these guys are playing a show together, so that will be fun.  Stay tuned because I heard that there might be some MercyMeTV stuff going on that day.  Sunday I have a meeting with one of those mass text messaging companies to talk about… well… mass text messaging, and Monday there are a few different options of things that might happen.  That will start the week, and from there I’m sure it will get busier.

 I know a few people have contacted me who are coming to town for GMA Week, but if you are in town let me know on my contact page. Maybe if we get enough people here we can do a blogging dinner get-together type thing. You know a big group of us.  

 Have a great morning.

Popularity: 56% [?]