Knock Knock

Who's there?

Interrupting Randy Moss.

Interrupting Randy Mo--

STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!

Alright, sorry about that. I'm trying to keep up the blogs a little bit more. They are a big part of what keeps me sane right now. My life's kinda getting quietly crazy with school and work.

Lynz and I were talking last night about my favorite topic, other than music, in the world...television. And since I'm blogging more often, the topics are getting more abstract. So, here's some sociological discussion on our, mine and Vee's, favorite shows.

First, The Office. Not much to say here, it's a comedy and supposed to be silly (by the way, if you're still not watching The Office you need to get with the program--he--tv program--hehe).
However, one observation I've seen revolves around the love triangle of Pam, Jim, and Roy. Pam and Roy are engaged but Jim and Pam are best friends and Jim loves Pam and last year's finale was Jim TELLING Pam he loved her and they kissed and the screen went blank. OK, got it? Alright, point number 1: This girl just cheated on her fiancee. And we've never wanted adultery to work out as much as Jim and Pam. We've been brainwashed over two season to wanted with every stolen glance and every joking conversation that Jim and Pam are perfect for each other....but she's WITH ROY! So, what's the lesson? You should go after what you want no matter what you do to other people? Or, you should stick to your committments no matter how misrable they make you? Take your pick. (Kinda like Bush or Gore isn't it?) POINT TWO: Roy is a warehouse worker, Jim a top salesman with upward movement potential. Roy is a big, dumb, idiotic jerk who lives and dies for sports and treats Pam like a cavewench. Jim is a smart, sweet, funny, nice guy who would do anything for Pam in the spirit of friendship. Ya know, that Geiko commercial with the cavemen. If I were a warehouse worker, I'd be pissed.

Alright, show number two, Grey's Anatomy. Another show with a beloved adultress at the center. This show completely revolves around adultery, almost every plotline is about someone cheating on someone else. AND I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!! So, recap. Meredith gets with a guy who turns out to be her boss. The continue to see each other and then she finds out he's married( to a woman who cheated on him, of course). Two years and many tears later, we're left with the cliffhanger of will she choose available hunk vet, Chris O'donnel, or leave with McDreamy, WHO'S STILL MARRIED!!!! And I know some of you out there, I'm lookin' at you Caldwell's, dirty bunch, are rooting for her to leave with The Hair. Oh, yeah, and Meredith cried when she seduced her best friend who's hopelessly in love with her, broke his heart, leaving him a shell of a man, until he hooks up with plus size hottie who rocks his world, Christina hooks up and moves in with her boss. Izzy sleeps with the biggest overplayed, overwritten, overacted, character in tv history (the jerk intern with the heart of gold) , he of course cheats on her with a nurse who he gave the clap to earlier so Izzy turns to the feeble arms of a handsome mystery patient who dies on her and The Jerk with a Heart of Gold carries her out of the room and she quits. Oh yeah, and the Chief had an affair with Meredith's mom who still thinks its 1973. Alright, deep breath. Anyway, my point is, on paper this show is HORRIBLE in what it says about human nature or what it's trying to teach about human nature. Aparently, we are all hedonistic narssicists who don't care about anything but our on pleasures and desires no matter who we hurt and leave bleeding along the way. But, come tomorrow night, I'll be watching.

I could go on, but I ranted longer than I thought.

here's the question: Do we watch TV to escape from our own lives, knowing that these characters are far away from us and with a sort of "it's fun to watch rich people be naughty" mentality, or do we watch these shows because they speak to something deep inside about who we are as humans, because we know these characters because they ARE us, or do we watch these show because they are entertaining and fun to watch?

I'm gonna go make sure Lynz's dvr's set to record Grey's, I don't wanna miss a thing.
B

Random Notes-Brothers Boast

I don't really have anything to say, but I wonder what will happen if I just start typing and we'll see what comes out.

I have to tell my brother that he did a very "Jimmy" thing on Saturday. There we were, Jeff, mom, Steph, Andy, and me, having lunch while moving Steph into her new apartment. Andy goes walking off without a word. About 5 minutes later, I see Andy running down the gang plank to Steph's place with a 27" TV in his hands. "Holy Crackers", I said and ran to open the door. As it turns out, Andy pulls a muscle in his pectoral area and can't really help the rest of the day. I see really no difference in this and my father sledding down the tree-lined back yard or my uncle lifting mattresses weeks after his quad-by-pass.

That got me thinking (Andy, I hope you don't mind my psychoanalyzing you on the world wide web, feel free to return the favor). Everytime I see my brother, I try to impress him by playing a song on the piano or attempting to start some intellectual conversation that's way out of my league. I wonder if my brother carried a 27 inch TV up three flights of steps with no help to impress me. I do what he does, be smart-he does what I do, lift heavy things. Nothing unhealthy here, I think two brothers who want the respect of the other is a good thing, just a weird pattern I noticed on Saturday.

My big screen TV is awesome, although I now have to get cable. Watching a 52in TV with anntena squiggles is a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad thing. But, the good news...October marks the last payment on my car and only half of the car payment can get me cable and wireless for 15 mos, so I can do it.

I suck at fantasy football. I picked players I like, not that are any good and some that aren't even playing. Big Ben you freakin' wuss, it's an appendectomy. This isn't cricket, this is football, suck it up..

Did I mention the Tool show was awesome?

Alright, I think i'm taking Fiona to the dog park.
Peace out, B

Matt Lauer Corners Bush on Torture

Our president's not only kinda stupid, he's also pretty mean.

I SAW TOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know how Simeon sees the baby Jesus and tells God he can die happy now...well, the same thing goes for me except all I have left is to see Pearl Jam and I can die a happy man.

Friday night I saw the best heavy metal in the world right now, Tool: four guys who hate playing in four four time, love playing in drop d, c, or b tuning, and have nothing but contempt for the frat boys who think their music is about aggression.

Adding to the amazing experience was sharing it with Jeff Green, a great friend of mine that I had not seen in I think four years. (My relationship with Jeff can best be summed up like this, he introduced my to heavy metal by playing my first Pantera, and I got him baptized at our church) Jeff and I, drummers the both of us, waited in the smokey Kemper arena for Tool to take the stage. Four guys, dressed in white lab coats, came out and pulled away the carpet on the stage. They revealed an all white stage with an all white backdrop. We were puzzled, it looked like a Strokes concert, or the Killers.

The arena went black, the crowd erupted in cries of anticipation, and in the dark we could see four guys ascend to the stage and take their instruments. Tool opened the show with thunderous unison drop d riffing and low and behold, that white stage was a GIANT VIDEO SCREEN!! Adam Jones played guitar on a lake of lava, Danny Carey's drums floated in some waters from a lake in hell, over Maynard James Kennan's sholder as he belted out lyrics in his amazingly strong tenor growlscreech came a flying demon skull who opened his mouth to reveal another flying demon skull. Then the lasers started.

It was unbelievable, Jeff and I were speechless, and exhausted from non-stop air drumming for 1 hour 45 minutes;we just sat there after the show waiting for the crowd to disperse, laughing histerically. It was all we could do.

Danny Carey, the drummer, is too good to be human. And, being in Tool, it's quite possible that he's not ALL human. With his towering 6'6" frame behind an expansive double bass drum set (which may or may not double as the band's space ship they use to get from show to show), he played all the beats I wanted him to play. Two impossible high hat/bass drum patterns from two seperate albums and an even more impossible triplet pattern on the double bass.

Well, I could go on like this forever. Needless to say, the show was good.
Now I return to my normal life, going to work, going to school, doing homework, knowing that somewhere out there, something amazing is happening to someone at a rock show.

So, until next time, never stop looking for new music...go to as many shows as you can (you too, mom and dad, whatever your style, get out there and see it happening)...don't steal music...support local radio...shop at local record stores...join e-mail fan clubs...Rock and roll is not dead, it's just a little harder to find these days.

B

New Numa - The Return of Gary Brolsma!

He's Baaaaack!

To My Boys

Donutman, Mustoe, Lee, The Janitor, Wolfedawg, Bubbles,

Sometimes, late at night, I put in Halo and run around the Slayer maps by myself.....just for the memories.

Good times, BB

God Talk

OK, so I'm not really a part of the Methoblogosphere like my brother. People don't have long theological discussion on my comment page. I'm usually the one who uses my blog for more personal reasons, to rant about stupidity, to recommend music or movies that come along that I actually enjoy, stuff like that.

However, with the start of a new school year and an article in the new Newsweek about modern atheism, I'm in kind of a theological mood.

So, the question, which is in no way a new one: How do we prove God? Or, perhaps a better question, do you we really need to?

First, it's important to know that I think the atheist quoted in the article aren't very current in their understanding of mainstream theology. Their opponents are the Christians that everybody knows about, the Christians in the media and high-profile positions. Which are, of course, the ultra-conservatives. (I'm sorry I can't give a link like other people, i'm not as blog savvy) In one quote, they say, "It seems you can tell a Christian that pudding turns people invisible, they will need the same evidence that everyone else does. But tell them that the book on their nightstand was written by an all-knowing deity that will send them to an eternal pit of fire if they don't believe every word of it, they accept that without trial."

ok, good start, guys. But, I don't believe the Bible was WRITTEN by God, but inspired. And, of course, I don't believe that I'm going to burn in the pit of fire if I don't accept every word the Bible says. (how did he get all those animals on one boat?) The atheists here are rejecting a very particular kind of belief in God, and I've got to say that I tend to agree with most of those sentiments.

The next point is eons old, how can anyone believe in a god who sends tsunamis and hurricanes and allows roofs to collapse on people while they worship? The answer is simple, I don't believe in that god. I believe in God, who comes to us in the midst of the hardest moments in our lives, to put a God arm around us and cry. God gives us the courage and strength to move on, to live on, to get back up, to rebuild.

Atheists are wrong. I will defend my rights to believe how I choose, as I defend theirs, but the one thing that I am 100% sure of is that there is a God. There is something beyond our understanding that is the ultimate source of benevolence and love and life and beauty.

Atheists are people who look at children as biological combinations of chromozones, sunsets as rays of light reflecting off our atmosphere and music as patterns of pitches, volumes and tempos.
When I look into the face of a child, I know that there is something more than science. When I look at the sun setting over the Lake of the Ozarks, I know there is some entity out there that I will never fully comprehend, some energy completely apart from everything we know that still yearns to have contact with us. And, especially, I need simply to listen to a Bach violin concerto, a John Coltrane sax solo, or Stevie Ray Vaughen play lenny with tears in his eyes to know that God is.

The authors discussed in the article hold fast to the claim that atheism is the smarter choice, that any rational mind can look at the world and know we are on our own.

Fine. I'll give you smarter. I'll give you the brain. Knowing that God is real is about heart. It's not about smarter, it's about truer, about deeper.

Atheists of the world, I respect your views and stand up for your rights to have them and speak them. But, I believe that you are wrong. Look your child in the eye, visit Banff National Park in Canada, listen to the guitar solo on Comfortably Numb, then try and tell me there's nothing more to this life than what we know.

B

Little Miss Sunshine

Hey,
Just a quick post that I forgot to mention in the excitement of school and new digs.

Little Miss Sunshine is the best movie I've seen since Sin City. If you don't know what that means, that's about two years.

It's a gut-busting, tear-jerking, knee-slapping, heart-wrenching...umm......bum-numbing, mind-boggling look at what it means to be smart, successful and cool in America, and how America's idea of that is pretty much wrong. It's an odd movie, with plenty of language and "did he just say that" moments.

Anyway, go see it, B

A 'Ho' Nuffer Rebel!

Alright, so Mad TV and SNL have sucked for a long time, but this title is from one of my favorite new sketches from Mad.

School's started again and they're not foolin' around this time. In fact, it seems to have gone to the HNL, or whole 'nother level. I have two, count 'em, two ethics courses-Engaging World Religions through Ethics and Ethics for Parish Ministry. The former is half an actual world religions class where we learn about the four other major religions and their ethical systems and half an experiment by our teacher, Dr. Richard Randolph (who everytime he e-mails I think is Robert Randolph calling me to join him on tour before I read closer). The whole class requires a computer and an internet connection. I tell you guys, it's like these people have never seen a computer before. If you entered graduate school after the year 1999 and you don't know how to upload....GET OUT NOW!

The latter, and if you don't remember that's Ethics for Parish Ministry, will be no picnic. Part of the course objective is to define my ethic for ministry. I have no idea what that means. This would be fine and expected, I would fully look forward to learning what that meant and being able to write the heck out of this paper...except it's the first assignment. I'm supposed to be able to identify and articulate my ethic for ministry by Sept. 28th. Oh, and CS's were out in force in this class too. (We call them Captain Students, for more info, see www.youmightbeacaptainstudent.blogspot.com ) People just couldn't get their little heads around the possibility of having an ethic for ministry that's something different than your personal ethic. Even Dr. R (yeah, I have him twice, and after I pissed him off by dropping out of his Brazil immersion this summer) got flustered and had to end the conversation. You don't treat your congregation with the same ethical convictions that you treat your children...and if you do, either quit the ministry or stop having kids.

At the end of my marathon 8 hour school day on Tuesday's is Worship-Dining in the Kingdom. This will be a good class except that everyone I didn't want to have class with again is taking it. Teaching this is Dr. Susan Smith, an absolute space cadat but one of the smartest space cadats I've ever known. This might be the first class I actually use when I get out of this place.

And then....there's Greek. AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!

Alright, on to more important things. When my sister moves, with a lot of help, on Sept. 16th, I'm getting my first set of matching furnature, an industrial size couch that's actually longer than The Beast but not as, shall we say, unique in appearance, just big and soft and perfect for napping, and a chair that's really a love seat with matching depth and softness. They kinda smell like small annoying dog, since both Steph and her roomate havea small annoying dog, but nothing a little Arm and Hammer and Febreeze won't take care of. To go along with my new perfect movie/football watching living room, I'm getting...wait for it...a big screen TV. It's not a plasma or liquid, one of the old ones but who cares. Everywhere I've lived, I've kinda felt like I'm only there for the summer and waiting to go back home. I hope that maybe this, along with Lindsey, Bates, Steph and the NKC fam., will finally make me feel home.

Living large and in charge,
B

Land of the Free, Home of the Naive

I'm having a sick-of-it-all moment. Friends, I've tried my best to stay positive. But America sucks. I'm not even really going to talk about our idiot president and his evil vice-squad Dick/Rove. (I'll only retell a story from this months Rolling Stone. Kurt Vonnegut, author, tells his interviewer that he's going to sue Pall Mall cigarettes. Ya wanna know why? Lung cancer, the interviewer asks. NO, because I'm 83 years old. Those bastards lied to me. They told me I'd be dead by 40, but instead I now have to suffer through leaders named Dick and Bush and, until recently, Colon.)

What I'm sick of is how our media treats teenagers. As a rookie youth pastor, I'm coming to enjoy teens as deep, smart, complex little adults coming into their own identity. The media sees teens as shallow little pods to manipulate into buying crap they don't need and is dedicating itself to turning teenagers into consumerist robot adults.

This weekend I witnessed three things that have brought this epidemic to my attention.

First, Sunday night was the Teen Choice Awards on Fox. Dane Cook was hosting with Jessica Simpson. If you aren't familiar, go to youtube and watch Dane Cook. Needless to say, noone under the age of 18 should know who Dane Cook is, but their he was, telling the teens what to like. "Roll Model" Britney Spears, who's pretty much turned herself into the richest white-trash barefoot and pregnant, stand by my man, walk into public restroom without shoes, drive with my baby in my lap kuntry girl in the world. Britney's explanation of why driving with a baby on her lap is ok, "We're country". And, if you needed anymore prove that TV stations and record companies are ruining our teenagers lives, the show concluded with the first ever performance of Britney's equally trashy and undeserving hubbie Kevin Federline, or K-Fed, as I call him. Kids who think Pink Floyd is an energy drink and The Beatles were the precursor for the Wiggles are being forced, FORCED, into thinking that Federline actually has any sort of musical talent and really deserves to be performing for us all, not merely because his sugar-momma bought and paid for his entire career, but that he's breaking new ground in the COMPLETELY over white-guy trying to get into black music. You're no Elvis, you're not Eminem, you're not even Vanilla Ice. But, because of his wife, our teenagers are being told to like this immature, idiotic, talentless piece of garbage.

Number two, this week in Entertainment Weekly there's an article about the MTV "reality" show Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach is a horrorfyingly watchable show about horrofylingly spoiled rich kids from California. The channel that just celebrated 25 years of MUSIC TELEVISION, and hasn't played a music video in about 10 oof those, is watched by every kid in America 13-20. These shockingly shallow kids who have no idea what need is, what real problems are or how much they actually have, are being painted by the writers (that's right, the reality show has writers) as people the teens of America should aspire to be like. And because they're well-trained little commercialist robots, they listen.

Number three, getting a hair cut yesterday, the only thing to read was Seventeen. This is a horrible magazine. Not only is it not well-written or designed or edited, but the content itself is disturbing. One such magazine, "How to Make Him your Boyfriend", discusses the need for young women to define themselves based on the idiot jock on her arm. The other, "How to Get Over Him", says that all men are trash, and the best way to feel great after your boyfriend cheats on you is to go out with his best friend. No lie. No articles about finding yourself, defining who you are as a young woman, being comfortable alone. It's boyfriends and fashions. In one magazine, the front of the magazine has vomit-inducing pictures of Nicole Ritchie (another person who has done absolutely nothing but be born to be famous) and talk about the dangers of anorexia. Later, in the SAME MAGAZINE, there's a story about how to get Ritchie's style, which to me looks like "Hobo-chic".

I'm sick of it all. I put the blame 50% on the industry and 50% on the parents. The kids who shouldn't know who Dane Cook is but do, aren't getting the parental supervision that they should be getting. The kids who come to me at church to talk about the new System of a Down album or bloody video game (both of which, at 24, I buy with frequency) need parents who don't just send their 13 yr old to the mall with money but who take an active interest in what their child is doing.

America. Land of the ignorant. Home of the Consumer. Land of the ethnocentrist. Home of egomaniacs. Land of the shallow, the inept, the celebrity. And home of the free-blogger, able to type his mind. Love it or hate it, it's home.

B

The Church's Stellar Social History

So, I'm reading an awesome present from Lindsey last night (actually couldn't stop reading it, stayed up 'til 3:00) called I Was There:Gigs that Changed the World. It's all about Jazz, Blues, and Rock shows that go down in rock n roll history for their "in the zone" playing, their social or political importance or just their you-had-to-be-there aspects.

As I'm reading through, I am amazed, and not for the first time, at what the church objected too. First, it was blues. Robert Johnson, the famous blues guitarman who, rock legend has it, sold his soul to the devil to get guitar skills. Well, of course, once that rumor started floating around the church could have none of it, banning and chasing Mr. Johnson out of town after town in the south. And then, as we all know, came Rock 'N' Roll and the legendary Elvis performance on the Milton Berle Show. Nicknamed Elvis the Pelvis, the church thought Mr. Presley was just too much sex for TV. The backlash was so great that he was shot from the neck up on the Ed Sullivan Show.

So, I got to thinking. Let's take a look back at the things the church has opposed over the years.

First, the church opposed pretty much anything that wasn't the church. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, all that.

Of course, any woman who proported to have a working relationship with God was burned at the stake for witchcraft.

Reading the Bible in anything but Latin (NOT it's original language by the way) was once blasphemy. In fact, anybody reading the Bible who wasn't a priest.....blasphemy.

In the US, I don't need to remind anyone of how Christians felt about the native peoples of the Americas.

Integrated church services, I still don't think the church does very well on that.

And then came the evil, moral-draining rock 'n' roll revolution.

No woman speakie in churchie, woman brain not big as man.


Of course, I could go on and on and on. The church always seems get all up in a huff about something only to watch it become a cultural norm. Elvis too much sex for TV. I've seen Denis Franz's backside more than I've seen my own.

I'm just saying that I'm glad the church has finally moved on from these unimportant issues and moved on to the things that are really tearing this world apart, those evils that threaten our very exsistance. War? Violence? Poverty? Disease? Hunger? Oh no, I'm sorry, I meant gay marriage and the right to choose. I'm sorry for the confusion. (I know I can't type sarcasm, but you should be picking up what I'm laying down)

Hey, Rev. Brad Bryan, Christians, the Church.......GETOVERYOURSELVES!

Rock 'N' Roll will never die, Brad

Life and Death

Lately, it seems my life is full of both.

First, Lindsey's great-aunt and sort of adopted grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. Then, Lindsey's grandpa Herbie died in California. Then, Mustoe calls me and tells me the news of his friend from Columbia.

I tell ya folks, funerals suck. I'm lucky and unlucky in this regard.

I am very unlucky that I never knew my mom's dad, Papa, and my dad's mom, Nana. All I remember of Papa is a cigar, a birthmark and a dog he trained to be more human than animal. All I remember of Nana is a smile, a laugh and a story before bed. Papa died when I was 5 and Nana when I was 7. These were people I NEEDED to know. It's unfair that I didn't get a chance.

But, I'm also lucky. Just as I don't remember their lives, I don't remember their deaths. I remember Mom and Dad telling me about Nana and not believing it and running to the stairs of the Dome Home and crying. I remember something about Nate putting a car on Papa's chest, but I could've made that up. I don't remember my parents or siblings crying. Which is a good thing, 'cause when they cry I cry. I'm glad I don't remember the funerals, because, as mentioned above, funerals suck. I made it through Lynz's aunt's ok, but I broke down at Grandpa Herbie, mainly because of a beautiful euolgy that Lynz wrote and because I saw her crying. But it was weird, we were at the service, the very bored and boring preacher said all the right words in all the wrong ways, Lynz's thing was read and we cried. And then, 20 minutes later, we were all in the basement of the Eagles Club eating loose meat sandwiches like nothing had happened. I don't like funerals.

I pray for Corrine, Herbie, Tyler. I pray for Mustoe, Abby, Jeff, everybody. I pray for Lindsey, Brett, Cinde and her whole family. I pray for all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, who have to have funerals.

At my funeral, no one will wear black, everyone will wear a different band t-shirt. No preacher, just stories. You'll sit and laugh and cry together, not silent in some stuffy room somewhere. Mustoe will play Free Bird and my wife and/or my kids will take my ashes to some mountian stream in Colorado and let me go.

My world has also been full of life. My sister's having a perfectly healthy baby boy and, yes, I'll probably be in the room. My brother's got two "bonus" kids, Joshua and Hannah for an indefinate time. And my best friends having a baby in March. I love those kids more than anything. Cori is so smart. Wesley is just as smart and such a laugh riot. Hannah has this bombastic belly laugh that goes along with her bombastic belly for a three year old, she looks like a doll. And Joshua, oh man, Joshua. I walked in the door and he ran up to me with his arms up and gave me a big year and half year old hug. I think he thought I was daddy, but it's ok he did it again the next time. I can't wait to be an uncle again, and an honorary uncle for Ryan and Honora. It's a role I think I was born to play.

Good times, bad times, the world keeps on spinning,
B

travis pastrana doublebackflip x games

Unbelievable

There I Said It!

There are two things on my mind as of late and I think both of them need to be expressed in blog form in order for me to free my mind of the maddening rants swirling around inside.

(By the way, I'm writing this from the comfort of Lindsey's living room....AWESOME!)


NUMBER ONE: Movies are too long.

Vee and I saw Pirates of the Carribean on Thursday night, and despite my brother's high opinion, I thought that it was a great movie turned mediocre by the length of it. The special effects are amazing, the stories great, the action is awesome and Johnny Depp's the man. Those are all givens. But, here's the thing, in between all those things, I was bored.

Note to director's everywhere: Longer is not always better. King Kong, 30 minutes too long. Spiderman 2, 20 minutes too long. Return of the King and it's three seperate endings, 45 minutes too long.

Just because you think you're a visionary and you want to put the full force of your artistic mind into your work, doesn't mean do it. It's your job to give the audience the best experience possible not feed your egotistical urges. Especially in the age of the DVD, save it, ladies and gentlemen, that's what bonus features are for.

A person's enjoyment of a motion picture is directly porportional to the severity of their ass ache. Two hours, folks. That's it.

NUMBER TWO: Royals' Executives are idiots.

Lindsey and I took Wesley and Cori to the Royals' game last night and while the game was good, (I swear we're lucky charms, all four games we've been to have been wins) the whole experience was just rediculous. Four hot dogs, and a Jumbo hot dog, three sodas=$34.75. Cotton Candy, Two Ice Cream, Peanuts, and a Water=$15.00. Not to mention 7 dollars a seat in the nose bleed section.

But here's the kicker, baseball fans. We are sitting in a half empty stadium, watching the worst team maybe in baseball history, and the Kaufmann staff are throwing people out of seats left and right. I thought perhaps that it would end after a few innings, but it lasted to the absolute end of the game. We're sitting next to a completely empty section and when some people in front of us moved just across the aisle, the staff girl runs of the stairs to kick them back out.

Seriously people, who are you saving these seats for? Who's rushing to the stadium to see what the abysmal Royals are doing in the 7th inning?!

Royals' Execs, you worried about money, worried about moral, and filling the seats? Lower prices everywhere, all the time, not just crappy hot dogs on Buck Night (of which I had 7 the last time!) and STOP BEING TICKET NAZI'S!!!!

Alright, I think I'm done, except to say that the kids were awesome and Fireworks Friday is the only thing that makes the Royals Stadium crap worth it.

'Ello Beastie....
Brad

Wired Up

Hey everybody,
I'm currently posting this blog from Lindsey's couch watching King of the Hill on FX. That's right, I'm the proud owner of a Dell Inspiron E1505 Notebook computer and the proud stealer of someone's wireless connection somewhere in this building. I'm also going to LEGALLY purchase wireless for myself. So, within the next couple of weeks expect major advancements to the blog of the misspelled ZepplinRules.

thanks mom and dad,
Brad, or my new hacker alias, Orephus

Commander in Chief

I know these video blogs are really cheap ways of not having to think of anything creative, but I couldn't help myself.

Arrested Development

Hey everybody,
Thursday of this week I will be arrested. The MDA is holding me for an undisclosed charge at the Brio Tuscan Grill unless I raise the bail money. My bail has been set at $600 dollars, the cost of sending one of Jerry's Kids to summer camp.

Please give all that you can, 25, 50, 100 dollars. The kids need your help and so do I, 'cause I don't really want to spend my afternoon in a restaurant with a bunch of strangers. I've got work to do!

Make checks payable to MDA and mail them to Brad Bryan c/o Central UMC 5144 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64112.

Thanks for the help, Brad

I can't get enough!!

Coup de boule de Zidane vs Materazzi. Finale CDM06.

The Coolest thing I've seen in sports...EVER!

Old Man Rant

Alright, so as I was proofreading my blog yesterday, as I do on a regular basis since I want to give all of you who take the time to stop by the best product possible, I read something that might need some further explanation.

When I say that going to the water park made me feel like I was going to hell every three seconds, I want the world to know that I was not checking out 14-18 year old girls. I don't think anyone who went on the trip read it that way, we joked about it all week, but I can see clearly how someone else could read it wrong. I wasn't checking anyone out. To look around at Blue Bayou Water Park and not see a 14-18 year old girl in a bikini would be kinda like looking around Blue Bayou Water Park and not seeing WATER!

So, here's the rant. Most of my girls' arguments against one piece swimsuits is that they're impossible to find, and I have to respect that. So, they ended up wearing tank tops over their bikinis, which is NOT just as good. But I have to wonder how difficult it is to try and raise a young lady in today's world who respects herself and her body and those around her.

Look at the TV and the movies. Everywhere we look we see that dressing like this and acting like this is OK, is actually the cool thing to do. Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, even squeaky clean Hilary Duff, I would never let my daughter out of the house in the things they wear. But, everyday on the TV or in the magazines there they are, hanging out all over the place, teaching young girls who want to be like them that it's ok to wear clothes that don't cover 90% of your body.

So, I understand, it's not my girls fault! You can't find a shirt that's not tight or doesn't show belly. You can't find pants that don't come down so far you can almost see...well...you know. They don't make them. So, even if girls wanted to they couldn't.

So, I guess this message is to clothing designers as much as it is girls. Anyone remember how mystery is sexy? I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but ya know what sometimes its what you DON'T see that's the turn on. For example: I think Jessica Alba is the hottest girl around simply because she hasn't shone her boobs in a movie to get to the top.

OK, so I felt like I was going to hell at the water park because of what my eyes saw. And I would have to be blind and my eyes ripped out with a soup spoon to not see it.

These days you tell a girl she looks like a prostitute and she says thank you!

Alright, a couple of "Get off my lawns", "Turn down that music's", and "This is a street not a racetrack's" and I'm officially my grandfather.

See ya, everybody,
Brad

Louisiana BaYOO!

Greetings and Salutations One and All,
I'm back. If you weren't yourself presently aware, my grammer sucks. Also, I've been gone for a week on a mission trip to Louisianna. Here's the recap.

Unbelievable, horrific, rewarding, amazing, hilarious, heart-wrenching, exhausting. If you're interested in more detailed info, read on.

Well, a week ago Saturday I was in a wedding and Mrs. Caldwell was in another so we drove the I-70 Train together later that night. Mustoe and Adam were waiting for us at the door and after about a half an hour I was out on the floor. Not a big day, although Dru and I did have some good talks.

Sunday we drove and drove and drove and drove. I have to hand it to my van rental guy, 'cause we had a sweet ride. On the way down we watched Meet the Fockers, Karate Kid Part. 1, Ghostbusters, Star Wars: A New Hope, and some SNL dvds. We arrived in Kenner (See ya in Kenner) LA around 6:30 or 7:00. Had dinner and met with our work groups for the first time.

Monday was a short work day because of orientation. There were mainly three guys in charge, Darrel, Warren, and Tommy. Tommy moved down from Detroit or somewhere and has been sleeping on a cot in a Sunday School room for ten months. He was just recently given a part time position, before that he was all volunteer. Anyway, the orientation was not exactly uplifting. Lots of "wear your masks all the time" and "watch out for snakes". Also, a lot of "the bad element has returned". But it was good and these guys really know what they're talking about. So, we headed to work.

...And got lost. The guy in the lead, Vince, has never heard of "Being in the lead etiquette". Changing lanes without signaling, turning right on red. It was impossible. But, we eventually got to our worksite around lunch time, so we ate before we got work.

We split up the youth groups into 6 work teams for the week, which, MUSTOE, I think was a great idea. My work group was Leah, Caldwell's sister, Andy, an adult from Mustoe's church who attends Dad's church when he's in school, Anna, Tim, Sexy Lexi (Alex), Niky and Renee from Mustoe's church, Galen and Emily from my church, and Danielle from Florida. Great bunch of folks that I'm better off for having met.

Our first house, due to a not-out-fault mixup, was to be worked on by three teams until a dry wall job could be found. That's a lot of people for a tiny house. We carried out ruined furniture, the fridge, old pictures of kids birthday parties and posed by the Christmas tree. Then we started tearing down the destroyed drywall. Which, with all the reverance to a person's home I can have. Was FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!! So, that was fun, and that was pretty much our first day.

Like usually happens with me, everybody I first met, especially NicNic and NayNay (the girls from my group), thought I hated them at first. Although this was not the case, I spent most of the first night with my kids, joking around and playing cards. Later I explained to the girls that if I were nice to them, I could go to jail, so they understood, after telling me they thought I was a grumpy 84 year old man trapped in a 24 year old body, which sounds about right to me. But, by the end of the trip, we all loved each other like it should've been. Being down there, in LA i mean, with people you don't know, is a good way to get to know them pretty quick.

Alright, it went on like that for a two more days. One group went off to be drywalling experts, Dru!, and my team and Dustin Bryson's team continued with the house. So, within the recap, I will recap some funny/touching stories from our house.

We never met our lady, which was sad, but we did meet her mother. The first day, Galen, of course it's one of my kids, decided to help two other guys get the kitchen counter down. The other two guys knew the water was off, Galen didn't. Galen took a big old sledge hammer swing to the edge of the sink and a steady stream of water about an inch in diameter sprayed all the way across the room to the opposite wall. We took the fridge out of the kitchen window, which was kinda fun. The three muskateers, Alex, Galen and Nathan took down the cealings and had to wear funny "ET" suits that, judging from the sweat pouring off them at break time, hot as hell. It was good getting to know Dustin, he's a cool cat, although he sucks at the Cajun pronunciation game. He's kinda like Babe Ruth: he strikes out a lot, but when he gets a hold of one, it's out of the park. Niky and Renee found a bunch of change, which I said throw out of course (remember, grumpy old man) but they kept it and counted it and when it came ot 49 dollars, added a dollar of their own, which I thought was pretty cool of them. My relationship with my group solidified at the end of the second day when a water fight broke out waiting for the other group. They learned that I wasn't grumpy all the time, I'm just quiet and have that look. They also learned that about half of what I say is not to be taken seriously.

So, that's our house. From Monday to 1:00 Wednesday we completely cleaned out, gutted and swept up a house, bringing our lady one step closer to moving back into her home.

Wednesday afternoon was really cool. We took 7 vehicles, bad idea, on a tour of New Orleans. Our first stop was the 17th Street Canal, where one of the levees broke. The most fascinating thing was a row of town houses. There were three townhomes connected to each other, a hundred yard gap where nothing stood, and then four more identical townhomes on the other side of the levee break. A FOOTBALL FIELD SIZE STREACH OF HOMES, GONE. But, it was amazing to see the rebuilding process in this area, the rich side town, and compare it to where we were working. It was great to see my kid Dylan in his element, which is photography. Dylan is Dennis the Menace, Bart Simpson, and the squirrel from Over the Hedge, rolled into one and dipped into a bathtub of liquified Speed. But put a camera in his hands and he could be mistaken for an adult.

From our stop in the rebuilding rich, white neighborhood, we drove to the Ninth Ward, one of the poorest areas of our NATION let alone New Orleans. We saw the infamous house-on-top-of-a-truck. We saw a tree growing inside a car. We saw a lone tricycle in the front yard. I cannot explain to you in words what it felt like to be there, or even what it truly looked like. It looked kinda like a movie set, which Caldwell and I made a joke about which I'm sick to my stomach thinking about still. Surreal is only part of it. It's the most surreal place I've ever been, yet at the same time, it's more real than anything I've ever seen.

The Ninth Ward will not be reconstructed. It will be bulldozed. Acres and Acres of neighborhood, gone forever. Turned into a greenspace, a park across the river from the real neighborhoods, the ones worth rebuilding, the white neighborhood, the rich neighborhood.

The Ninth Ward is where we met Roosevelt. Roosevelt came riding up on his bike and asked one of our girls (who was not by herself, don't worry) if we were a church group and could we pray for him. She got an adult, and the adult found me. I thought that myself and the other adult would put our hands on Roosevelt and move off to the corner and say a prayer. But as we moved about twenty-thirty kids got in a circle around Roosevelt. We joined hands and I said a prayer. The girls were crying, the guys were trying not to and failing. As Roosevelt thanked us and turned to ride off he said, "Now I gotta go find somewhere to sleep tonight."

I need a minute after typing that, and I was there, so take a minute, there's much much more!!

After the Ninth Ward we went down to the still-intact French Quarter, which seemed to me like a dirtier Las Vegas with more culture. I didn't like it. It was 7:30 on a Wednesday night and there were guys stumbling drunk in the streets and girls in bikinis handing out jello shots on the corners. Not for me.

Thursday was another work day, and, I think, the best. Mustoe joined our work team of two groups, so I got hang out with him all day, which was nice. I'd've (that's right, the double contraction, what are you gonna do about it?) liked to work with Caldwell some but we didn't get a chance to, except of course for THE FRIDGE which I'll get to in a second. The owner was there on Thursday. She was Thai with a name like Mena, or Myna. It was pretty but I couldn't pronouce it. She was a widow, not from the flood, who lived alone in the big house. She had driven from Dallas just to be with us as we worked on her house. We only had one day here so we made a plan and got to work. Highlights: cutting my finger and actually feeling like I did something that week, the rats in the kitchen, and , of course, demolishing the bathroom in the garage. There was this built bathroom our in the garage, literally like a Water Closet. Mustoe, Nathan, Galen and myself totally smacked that thing up like Ike Turner (sorry old joke for mustoe). The ax worked the best. We swung at the wooden doors of the closet with all our might, throwing out sholders and tearing down the wood frame. Mustoe had a mis-hit, and immediately went into the Colossus Power-Up from the old X-Men video game. The next time I"m with any of you, ask me to do it for you but it looks like this aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAARGGH!
And then took off the whole door in his next swing. I tell, if there was a soundtrack to my life, it would've been playing "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta" or "O Fortuna" (that opera music that's played when the ringwraiths are chasing Frodo on that elf chicks horse). It was beautiful. After we were sure that the bathroom was dead, we came out to find Mena, her son-in-law, and Dustin in the backyard looking at us like idiots.

One more story and then the water park and then we're done guys, lower your sholder and power through to the end.

Everything was going smoothly at Mena's house, until we went 'round the corner and saw a giant fridge laying on its back. We tried moving out long ways, side ways and upside down. We took the doors off the house and tried again. Nothing. When Mena said in her thick Thai that she had to take to door off to get the fridge inside, we thought she meant the back door to the house. She didn't. This fridge was not leaving the house with its doors on. Let me set this up a little. This fridge had food inside it, Milk, Mayo, Eggs, that had been through a hurricane, through a flood, and then had sat for ten months in LA heat and humidity. We decided to wait for the end of the day to get the fridge out. So, when everything else was done, and everyone else was in the vans with the air on and plenty of water, Adam Caldwell, Mustoe, Dustin, Jake and I went back inside to get the fridge. We came up with a plan and executed. Dustin pulled the doors off, we tipped it over on it's side and Jake and a kid named Tyce hoed out all the rotten, disgusting food onto a tarp. When they started hoeing, and got all that riled up and moving again, it wasn't overwhelming, it was worse. Every few breaths you'd get a mouthful of the most fowl smelling, putrid thing in the whole world. Then you'd have some ok breaths, and that fowl monster would come back. Truly gut-wrenching. We pushed the doorless beast out the back door and to the curb. Got in the trucks and drove away.


The next day I thought I was going to hell about every three seconds. We went to the Blue Bayou Water Park and all of Mustoe and my girls put on their swimsuits. My girls were prepared with t-shirts and tank tops to where over them but when I saw that Mustoe's group had not apparently heard him when we said no two-pieces (something "He just wouldn't think of") I told my girls they could do as they pleased. And so, for the next 6 hours I thought I was going straight to hell about every three seconds.

The water park, exept of the hell part, was awesome. Adam, Mustoe, Jake and I, weighed so much that we got the most air on this one ride that the lifegaurd had ever seen. And then, the most amazing three hours of my life ensued. Mustoe, rented tubes, Lazy River, Three and a Half hours. That's right, Mustoe and I spent three and a half hours after lunch innertubing round and round the lazy river. It was glorious. Different groups of kids and adults would come to see us (I'd feel like going to hell some more). We talked about stuff, and nothing. We talked and not talked, we not-talked for hours. It was awesome.


Alright, everybody, the longest blog entry in the world is finally complete. If you have a chance to go on a trip to New Orleans, go right away. It was unbelievable but I'm glad to be home.

"You must be the change you seek" -Ghandi

Too summerize this whole entry in Cajun:
Salutation
Transportation
Introductions
Communication
Deconstruction
Devastation
Repulsion
Completion
Anticipation
Damnation
Exhaustion

I'm outie 5,000, take it sleazy,
B

What John Saw

Inspired by the dismal remaking of The Omen and, partially, the politically apocalyptic V for Vendetta, both of which I saw last weekend, I have decided to make a movie.

I'll do this in my spare time of course, between finishing school and starting a heavy metal church. (Andy, thanks for putting heavy metal and ecclesiology in the same sentence!)

The movie is entitled "What John Saw". We have had movies about the Anti-Christ (The Omen 1-4), we've had movies about the end of the world (The Day After Tomorrow, End of Days, and the dredfull Left Behind series), but we've never had an actual literal translation of the book of Revelation.

Picture it:
The movie opens with a bronze, iron, gold Jesus decending from the heavens with AN ACTUAL TWO SIDED SWORD coming out of his mouth. The four horsemen of the Apocolypse come flying in on their quad-colored steeds. The beast with seven heads comes lumbering out of the sea to terrorize the villagers. And the battle between Satan's minions and the Good Souls.

Who wouldn't come to see that movie? The Book of Revelation, literally, is a great horror movie.
The trailer's the best part:

Close up on man's face watching something behind camera. His eyes keep getting bigger and bigger as the horror of what he's seeing sinks in. His terrified expression on his face, we mouths the words "Holy Shh-" Quick cut to movie title "What John Saw"-Find out Summer 2012.


Awesome, Awesome,
Brad

More Thoughts on Metal Methodism

I can't get this out of my head. Maybe that means I'm on to something.

Here's some more reasons I think Metal Edge United Methodist Church would work:

1. There is need. Despite popular belief, not all metalheads are Satan-Worshipping, Violence-Loving, Beer-Swilling Neanderthals. For the most part, metalheads are mostly-white, blue-collar people who are fiercely loyal to the music they love. While good heavy metal music is always aggressive, it is not, neccessarily, violent. It expresses anger at political, social, and, yes, religious structures that have left an entire group of people forgotten and outcast. And, if you think that there's no need because you've never had anyone at your church who cares about heavy metal music: A. you're wrong, every church has metalheads in it already. and B. when they aren't there, it's because the church doesn't speak to them.

2. The Gospel speaks to headbangers too. Jesus' message of a life-changing grace and mercy given to all people, especially the outcasts, is exactly what metal fans need to hear. Heavy metal is about fighting the power, it's about venting frustration, it's about being in community with strangers with a common love and it's about anger, frustration and revolution against any power stucture that does not lead to the betterment of everyone. That sounds like Jesus to me. It seems to me that people have just sort of given up spreading the message to metalheads, resorting to simply boycotting and protesting concerts like Marilyn Manson (who, by the way, is simply a man playing a role who, sometimes, writes good songs [remember Beautiful People], stop taking him so seriously. He's acting, and everytime you protest, he sells more records.) Jesus calls us to spread the message to all the world, and metal fans need to hear about grace and redemption just as much as the rest of us.

3. Heavy Metal lends itself towards powerful, creative worship experiences. Heavy metal music is about theatrics (I know, I just said heavy metal was about anger, frustration, revolution. I'm talking about Heavy Metal as a movement above, here I mean the music and concerts themselves). The imagry, the lyrics, the symbols, it's all there already. Imagine, as Alice Cooper threw a live chicken into the crowd and pieces of said chicken began being thrown back to him, imagine throwing a blessed loaf of communion bread into the crowd. As Ozzy sprays the faithful with water from a hose, imagine actually, literally, washing the congregation in the blessed juice, the symbol of Jesus' blood. OK, those are extreme. But I'll tell you what, Metalheads would love it.

All this sounds very performance oriented, I know. I am the first to say that the main problem with "contemporary" worship is that it's not worship but performance. However, metal shows are full of liturgy, call and response from lead singer to crowd, and message, James Hetfield talked at length about how much better Metallica sounded now that they were clean and sober and happy. It is not at all that hard to quickly and powerfully convert a rock show into a worship experience.

4. The most successful cross-over Christian music is heavy metal music. As I Lay Dying, Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold, Norma Jean, P.O.D, Project 86, and lest we forget, Stryper. All metal bands. All extrememly successful in terms of cross-over from Christian lists to secular lists. Why is this? Because metal music is real, it's honest. Stephen Curtis Chapman doesn't have anything real to say to you unless your an upper-middle class, white, suburban, preppy mainline Christian. Christian metal can speak to Christians but also secularists because of the honesty in the music.

I envision a church that is based on inclusion, community, loyalty, discipleship, mission, conversation, passion, sacrifice, learning, and evolving. (positive voice)
I envision a church in which the music isn't boring, the message isn't irrelevant, the connection isn't superficial, the mission isn't self-serving, and the goal isn't numbers. (negative voice)

Metal Edge United Methodist Church
"We Pray in the Pit" (for those of you who are unhip, that's mosh-pit, but its unhip to call it that)
"Shreading the Gospel to the World" (again, shreading is the art of playing metal guitar)

I like the sound of that. Let me know what you think Blogosphere.

In the immortal words of Kirk Hammet, guitarist for the biggest band in the world, Metallica,
"Metallica's all about music, not the length of our hair." (check out Metallica Behind the Music from VH1)

It's a long way to the top, if you wanna rock'n'roll,
Brad

My Calling

Every year on the drive home from Annual Conference my head is full of ideas. Mainly, ideas about how to make Annual Conference suck less. But, sometimes, however, I get real ideas. Last year, on the way home from Conference I solidified my calling to young adult/college ministry.

This year, I was drinking Mt. Dew and listening to some Iron Maiden to stay awake and it hit me. I think perhaps I have stumbled upon something real for my life OR have come up with an idea solely based on sleep deprivation and Hwy 13 wind in my ears.

Metal Edge United Methodist Church
"We Pray in the Pit"
"Shreading the Gospel to the World"

That's right, Iron Maiden, Mt. Dew and perhaps a God-nudge, have lead me to the dream of creating a church, a UNITED METHODIST church, for the heavy metal community. We would set up in an abondoned warehouse downtown or an old storefront saloon or something. We would sing our praises in drop D tuning and double bass drums.

Picture this, a come as you are church, communion every week, covenant discipleship groups, homeless outreach ministry, and, every Sunday morning worship is a rock show. With a mosh pit, with pyrotechnics. But, MORE IMPORTANT, also with a relevant message to the group perhaps most shunned by modern mainline Christians, the metalheads. Metalheads are the most loyal people on the face of the planet. They rejoiced together when Metallica finally won the Heavy Metal Grammy. They cried together when Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed at his own concert. Why can't they worship together? Every church has at least one youth that dresses in big black pants. That's fine in high school, but when they grow up, they're still metal fans, and since being a metal fan as an adult is kinda looked down upon, I think a lot of these people leave the church or are going to churches that really don't facilitate any kind of discipleship.

Christian Metalheads deserve a place of worship that speaks to them, where they can come freely and be themselves, and where they can listen to killer heavy metal music.

When I went to see Metallica from five feat away from the stage, I was amazed. 50,000 people knew every word, every lick, every fill. I saw 50,000 people doing absolutely everything that James Hetfield told them to. Imagine that kind of devotion and dedication in your church.

Metal 'til I die, Brad

Best Week Ever?

Hey everybody, I know it's been too long since I've graced the world wide web with my presence. I tried to get an entry in between my birthday weekend and Annual Conference but the system was down. Man, I wrote an awesome entry too, so here goes in shortened version.

I've had one of the greatest weeks of my life. Two weeks ago, Lindsey and I saw the Dave Matthews Band (my third, her first) and they were on fire. Three new songs and at least one song from every album. It was awesome.

Then it was off to St. Loius and Sarah and Dennis' wedding. It was a whole lot of fun. There were only about 10 of us at the party after awhile but we had a blast telling the horrible DJ what songs to play next.

The next morning we picked up Mr. Ryan Bates and headed to the Lake of the Ozarks, met by Hilary Alexander and Tyler O'Banion and later Honora Bates. This is where it really got kicked up a notch. Truly one of the best experiences of my life. Just sitting around with good food, good drinks, good water, good tunes, and great friends. We've put the weekend on our calanders for, oh, the next 80 years. We actually halfseriously talked about all moving down there and getting a place together. After that weekend, I'd do it in a second.

So, it's time for the birthday present wrap-up.
My parents gave me a new queen size mattress. Not very exciting I know, but I slept through the night for the first time in years the past few nights so thank you so much.

A Family Guy Chicken Fight t-shirt, a t-shirt from Bradley University that just says "Bradley", an interview book with Bono, the 1000th issue and a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, a Jack Johnson CD, a Trevor Hall CD, The Toy DVD, Blazing Saddles DVD, and Napoleon Dynamite pens.

And now, the coup de grais, from the Saturday Night Live Best of Collection: Adam Sandler, Cheri Oteri, Christopher Walken, Dan Akroyd, Eddie Murphy, John Belushi, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Myers, Molly Shannon, Steve Martin, and Tracy Morgan. I think I'm forgetting one.

So, there it is. Thanks to everyone for a great birthday. I hope that all who read this can have at least one weekend this summer as good as this.

~Brad

Cheap Little Excuses

Here's a list of cheap little excuses for why I'm not blogging recently.

1. This week: Two days of work, crazy busy planning youth mission trip. Weds. have to pick up a tux after five and make it to the Dave show by seven. Thurs. drive through Columbia, drop off dog, drive to St. Loius, be in wedding. Friday, be in wedding. Saturday, drive to the lake, pick up Ryan Bates in St. Loius, Fiona in Columbia, continue down for birthday weekend.

2. Next week: Three day work week, still crazy busy. Annual Conference in Spfd.

3. Week after: Finalize plans for mission trip, wedding weekend.

4. Week after: Leave on my first mission trip as youth pastor.


So, yeah, I'm not finding the time to get online and rant or rave or muse or discuss or debate or anything else. So, deal with it. I'll see you in July.

B

All is Right with the World

Well, my world at least. Tonight, I turn in my final final of my first year at St. Paul School of Theology. Tomorrow night, Lindsey, me and bunch of St. Paul people are going to Dave and Busters, an big arcade with adult beverages, and three great bands put out three great albums.
I'm feelin' fine! The 31st, Vee and I go to the Dave MAtthews concert and then it's off to St. Louis for Sarah's wedding and THEN down to the lake for my birthday weekend. Good stuff all around.

The three great bands and three great albums I refer to are as follows:
Pearl Jam-Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam came out with their best album in 10 years. Matt Cameron is the best rock drummer around. Mike McCready on guitar is unbelievable, again. For someone who never lost faith in the boys from Seattle, I love everything they've ever done, even Binaural, it's great to see a solid rock band put out a solid rock album.

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Stadium Arcadium
Alright, Anthony Kedis can't sing. Ok, some of the songs sound exactly the same. But, I love this album. The Peppers have always been weird and there's no change here. There going in a different direction, a more mature sound, and I like it. Flea, what can you say, best bassist anywhere. And what the hell does John Frusciante take to come up with guitar licks like that, and where can I get some. Clean it up, Johnny!

Tool-Ten Thousand Days
You either love or hate Tool. And I love them. This is probably the last album from the weirded-out, cross-dressing, Pagan-following, cosmic number counting, foursome, and it lives up to the hype. Danny Carey is the most apendage-independent drummer there's ever been. I swear the toe of his foot and the heel of his foot are playing two different times zones. It's unbelieavable heavy but beatiful and melodic. Maynard is pleasingly angry but poingant and elegant. A great, great rock album.

AND I almost forgot.
Rob Zombie-Educated Horses
Rob Zombie stripped down his overtly technical and processed sounds and a lot heavier in the process.

So, FOUR great bands with FOUR great new albums. This guy's did what all musicians dream of, each album gets better the more you listen to it.

Life is good,
Brad

Sad Day

"The time will come
One day you'll see
When we can all be one"
~Freddie Mercury of Queen

Well, it's a sad day to be a United Methodist. I add my voice of dissention to chorus. The Judicial Council's decision today was a wrong one, a bad one. However, like my brother, I understand the reasoning in the decision. It is not the job of the Judicial Council to make moral decisions for the UMC. That's the General Conferences job, and from what dad tells me about the last couple of those, we'll probably reach a decision in, oh, around the time I retire.

Still, it's sad. A pastor now has the right, the responsibility, to accept or exclude anyone he or she wishes. that's not our job, as I said before, that's God's.

Proud to be American and a United Methodist, but currently pissed at them both,
Brad

A Little More Conversation Please...

Well, I've decided to get into the mix of conversation surrounding the Judicial Council Meetings here in KC that's been going around the blog world. As many things in my life, my explaination of why I think the Council should overturn the decision will be much simpler than my brother's. He's much smarter than I. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about here's the deal: some preacher somewhere denied a homosexual man membership in his church. That preacher, after a bit of confusion, was backed by his superiors. The Judicial council is voting on whether or not to overturn that backing. that's how I understand it.

So, here's my explanation:
IT'S NOT UP TO US.

There it is. That's all. Who can and cannot come to church, have a relationship with God, or attain ultimate salvation is not our decision, it's God's. In the Wesleyan tradition, we believe in a thing called grace. Nothing you do, no action from you, no set of rules that we check off, get us saved. Nothing but the grace of God. That's it.

Alright, so there's my say. CMU graduation this weekend, me and Vee will be going back to the Alma Mater to see Mustoe, Abby, Crystal, Melissa and other folks walk the line and get the illustrious title of CMU alum. Congrats.

California Love, Brad

ps Rock and Roll is not dead after all. Fans of punk-based, straight ahead rock go get the new Pearl Jam album. Fans of heavier stuff, go get the new Tool album. Also coming this month, Robert Randolph and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Good stuff, good stuff.

My Life's One Regret

I'm usually not one for self-reflection. I like to think of myself as a stoic, take things as they come, instinct kinda guy. But, this week I've been thinking a lot about my past, present and maybe future.

So, Vee(that's Lindsey's middle name, by the way) and I went to see Martin Sexton on Friday night. He and his opening act, the Trevor Hall Band, were great. He was, actually, unbelievable. The guy used to be a street player, you know, those guys on the Plaza or hanging out in front of the Cherry St. Artisan in CoMO. Just a guy, a guitar, and a cheap little amplifier. Now, he tours the country, has a small but strong and loyal fan base, just a guy, a guitar, and a fancy sound system. Anyway, it got me thinking, I really wish I would have done something with my bands.

I've been in three bands, with a couple of projects that were little more than two guys in a basement. First was Golgotha, Todd Monroe, Sam Giffith and me. Our biggest show, Barnswings, Ozark MO. Then Preserve with some college guys from a pentecostal church but they loved Pearl Jam and U2 and played like them. Our biggest show, playing for one of their church rallys. In between there, Tom and I wrote one song in his basement. OK, one song, but it was a good song, if not a little ripped off from our favorite band at the time, Tool. Our biggest gig, Tom's family and recording our one song onto cassette tape.

Then I went to college, met Adam Caldwell, Ray Malik and our red haired, stage fright ridden quaterback. I don't know what our name was, or if we had one, but our biggest show was the Halloween party in the basement of Woodward Hall.

Then, Adam Mustoe, Ryan McClouth and wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaddddddeee! came to school and Blessed was born. wwwwwwwwwwwade decided to go be more man than any of us ever will and build trucks with his bare hands or something, and Jamie Diffee, a far better bassist and all around cooler guy joined the mix. Our biggest show, almost 2,500 screaming teenagers and an $1,000 pay check.

I gotta tell ya, we were good. With no real sound, no real style, and really no rehersals, we were good. We could've been great, we could've been contenders.

I'm playing music now with Jen Klein, another pastor, and my brother(something I never thought i'd get the honor of doing) and everytime we play I'm reminded of how much I miss being in a band. Writing songs, perfecting them, performing them. That's it. I don't think I've ever felt as truly in my element, so completly myself, as when we rocked the end of "Blessed" for about 7 minutes at our first WOW. I don't think I've ever felt as whole as when Mustoe said "freeze" and 2,500 hundred screaming teenagers actually did what he said. That place blew up. I don't think I've felt as accomplished as when I heard my own drums on, first of all, cassette with Tom and then CD with Blessed.

So, there it is. I regret, my life's only one, that we didn't try harder in these bands. Really just Tom and Blessed. I miss being in a band, I miss creating music, I miss playing on stage, I miss kids buying my broken and signed drum sticks for 21 dollars. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance again, and that's fine. But I hope I do.

I know it's only rock and roll, but I like it,
Brad Bryan, Drummer

For Adam Caldwell

Holy crap I'm a Calvinist!!

So, AC, I took your little quiz things I think they may be flawed a bit. I am Chalcedon compliant, no surprise there. I am tied for being Wesleyan and Liberal theologically, again nothing of note. But, then, I take the Which Theologian Are You? quiz and JOHN FREAKIN' CALVIN narrowly beats out mister Paul Tillich. And, I say it's flawed because John Wesley is not a choice for a theologian but Wesleyan is a choice for theological world. How can Wesleyan be a theology if Wesley wasn't a theologian.

Anyway, I'd like to take this oppurtunity to give you all a sample of Bryanian Theology. Now, understand, Barth wrote Dogmatics for about 40 years and never finished it and I have about 15 minutes before I have to go. Here we go.

Doctrine of God: Truly, Wholy, Wonderfully in love with ALL OF CREATION.
Human Condition: Separation. We were created to be with God, our choices separated us.
Christology: Reunion. God became fully human to reconnect the creation with the creator.
Soterilogy(doctrine of salvation): Salvation ultimately rests in the grace of God, nothing we do can save us.
Doctrine of Sin: That which separates us from God further than we are. Choices.
Ecclesiology(doctrine of the church): The church exsists to expose people to the grace of God in Jesus Christ and to actively work towards the social, political, educational, economical, racial, sexual, orientational, and environmental justice of all creation.
Old Testament: Mostly metaphorically, not literally, true in nature, meant to instruct and reveal God's active presence in creation.
New Testament: Meant to first and foremost be seen for its original meaning to its original readers, THEN read for us today. A human product, which in turn makes it seem more real and true to me.
Eschatology(doctrine of End Times): I have no freakin' clue and I don't think we're supposed to know and i don't think it matters one bit to what the church does in this world.


So, there you have it. That's what I think. However, I also think that no human being has ownership of the truth. We won't know for sure until we're on the wrong side of the grass and by then it'll be too late. Conversation and dialogue are key for world religions to bring about the justice that we all seek.

All I have to figure out now is whether it should be BRY-n-e-n (say the letters) or BRYAN-ee-n.

Thanks for the inspiration AC, I'd be interested if you my cohorts in the theological realm of things or any other of my readers would offer similar synopses of their theological stances.

See you in the next world, (except you, lynz I'll see you today, and you andy I'll see you thursday, and you AC/dru/dennis/mustoe i'll see you at graduation, and you mom and dad I'll see you soon, and you tom, i'll see you this summer sometime) But, eventually, I guess, I'll see you in the next world, whatever that might be.

B. James Bryan (my theologian moniker)

Some things I've learned

Hey everybody,
I'm working on my final paper for Systematic Theology class. It's called, How My Mind Has Changed. So, here's some brainstorming style thoughts that I've learned this year.

The names matthew, mark, luke, and john were put on the Gospels 2oo years after they were written. Call me dense, but I never considered that.

I have power, even when I don't mean to. I have power as a man, as a white man, and as a preacher. Even when I'm trying to be empowering, this power travels with me.

Augustine said on his death bed that everything he ever said was garbage.

St. Julian of Norwich, who wrote about the beauty of God's creation and treating others as children of God, locked her self in a cell with only one servant companion for the last 40 years of her life. She was also kinda crazy, praying for and recieving an illness that almost killed her.

Karl Barth was a smart guy. He wrote a 13 volume theology called Church Dogmatics. The word volume is misleading however, since some of the volume are actually 6 books long!!!! He died before he could finish his masterpiece. The part he never finished: Redemption. God's funny.

Apparently, the New Zealand accent is so strong that living and working in the US for 16 years cannot stop its power.

There were at least four letters to the Corinthians. What happened to the others?

The sect of Jesus followers, sort of, that lived in Qumran (the dead sea scroll place) thought that Habbakkuk was the most important book since sliced manna. HABBAKKUK!! (AC-there's nothing in Malachai)

Atonement is the least creative word in history. It's meaning: at-one-ment. The opposite of atonement, you ask? gotohellment.

And finally, people who raise their hands to ask questions in seminary, apparently, don't have to actually ask any questions. They can just illumine us all with the beacon of light that is their brilliance.

Ah, the wonders of higher education.

~B

Words of Wisdom

Let me give you some background: there's a recent movement in the church called the Confessing Church movement. This is primarially a conservative group of folks whose main goal would be to create a checklist of beliefs one has to attest in order to be a United Methodist. (I'm sure some of those beliefs would be "I am not an Illegal Immigrant" or "I do not love those in my own gender").

The words "Confessing Church" come from Karl Barth (that's Bart, for those who haven't been or it's been 30 years since you were in seminary). So, here are some important words from the man from whom this movement took its name.

"Since God became incarnate is Jesus, and every human being is, by definition, related to Jesus of Nazareth, therefore, every human being is related to God Incarnate and should be treated as such"

Can you imagine a city, a church, a world where every person was treated by every other person as God's blessed and beloved child? I'm sad to say that I almost can't imagine such a place. In a world where some people are still treated as less than people, let alone part of the divine family, it's hard to imagine what this place would be like is we actually took the foremost theologian of the past 100 years at his word and put that word into action.

The next time I get cut off or stuck behind someone on 71, the next time a waiter gets my order wrong, the next time a fellow student raises their hand to make a statement and not ask a question, I'm gonna try and remember that they too are a child of God, a relative of Jesus, and should be treated as such.

~Brad

Spring Fever Redux

Well, this is probably the most stressed out I've ever been. School's gearing up and getting pretty busy: this week a take home test, next week an exegesis paper, the next week an annotated bibliography and the next week THREE tests. Also, I had to do my taxes this week and although, because of the wisdom of my parents, we're getting money back this year, just walking into that taxman's building is stressful. And, on top of all of that, a "family emergency" has taken my boss out of church, meaning I have a 100% increase in worship leadership and pastoral care responsibilities.

I need summer. I long for it. I need to spend time at the lake with my family and friends. I need to have Saturdays not spent inside working on papers but at the park with my dog. Ya know what I look forward too? Growing up you're always balancing too many responsibilities. Like right now, I'm a student AND a pastor. I can't wait for the day when I'm just one thing. I know the duties will grow and the stress won't go away, but I'll just be one thing. I won't have to struggle between two full time occupations. When I go home from a long day at work I won't have to immediately sit down for a long night of homework. I can't wait.

It's 80 degrees, without a cloud in the sky, and I'm at the computer, writing this....

Brad

Pride

Early Morning
April Four
Shot rang out in the Memphis sky
Free at last
They took your life
They could not take your PRIDE!

~Thanks, MLK, sorry I'm late.


Well, folks, I'm suffering from some serious spring fever. This weather has been unbelievable. With my girl on my arm and my dog on the leash, I don't think there's anywhere I'd rather be right now than at the park, or the lake.

I told the staff that I was upset that I had to usher, for Sarah and Dennis' wedding, on my birthday, and I got a lot of "welcome to adulthood" type comments. Ya know, I hope I never lose the idea that my birthday is special and I shouldn't be working. Birthdays should be spent with friends and family. And, I hope I never lose spring fever. I hope I never lose senioritis. The idea that when it's "Sunny with a high of 75" (to quote the fellas of Reliant K) one should not be crammed into an office somewhere or running around to meetings. Especially those of us who work in the theological realm. Weather like this is God's gift to us, and any preacher who DOESN'T get outside, write a sermon at the park, take a walk for a meeting instead of staying in the board room, or something is missing the point.

This week, my friends, don't deny spring fever because that's what adults do. Embrace it. Get outside. I'll think you'll find that you are actually happy to be alive.

I hope and pray that becoming an adult doesn't mean denying ourselves of anything fun, as some folks around here seem to think. Gotta go, I think I'll go to the park.

Brad

11 Years!!

Excuse me as I wipe the throw up off my computer after reading my brother's last comment. I haven't seen cheese like that since the Donnie and Marie Reunion Tour.

Your birthday has not slipped my mind, Older and Wiser, but I can't very well post what YOU want for YOUR birthday on MY blog. That would be connectional and I think you know how that's discouraged around here. No, no, how could I ever forget my brother's birthday, which is two months and ELEVEN YEARS!!!!!! before mine.

Anyway, Tyler's coming up this weekend and I'm pretty stoked. For those new to the life of Brad, Tyler O'Banion is my best friend whom I've known since 7th grade. Sports came and went, music tastes changed, we each spent time locked into high school relationships that, apparently, everyone else knew wouldn't work, but we haven't changed. Norm Stewart basketball camp and we've never looked back. So, it'll be great to spend some time with him before he gets married and I never see him again.

What else, what else? Well, I had my District Council of Ordained Ministry committee meeting yesterday and I still have a job, so that's good. I got two how's your father's, two how's your grandfather's and even one how's your brother. But, we got into the meeting and good ol' Steve Campbell, the boss of both me and my brother who has changed both our diapers, said that most of the family stuff is in my head, that he and the board don't have any expectations for me, and that they recognize the unique gifts I bring to the table. So, that was nice to hear.

I got King Kong and watched all 3 hours and 8 minutes of it after this meeting. I watched some of the bonus features and still think Andy Serkis, who gave us the motion footage for Gollum and King Kong, should get an Acadamy Award.

Well, I think that's all the rambling info I can come up with for today, I hope all is well with everyone out there in blogland,

Oh, and in case I forget, Happy Birthday Big Bro,
Younger and Stronger,
Brad

It's B-day time!!

I actually looked at my calander the other (yes, I have a calander. It comes in sort of briefcase form, its more of a binder with handles.) and realized that you all only have two months to shop for my birthday presents!! So in the interest of getting cool stuff...er...imean...aiding your shopping so that you benefit from this somehow, I'm giving you my list!!

1. An iPod docking stereo: I'm tired of either not listening to music in my house or listening through computer speakers.
2. A new couch or recliner: I know, I know. I shed a tear for "The Beast" too, but it's time to retire it. I need furniture that doesn't come from Goodwill, my parents old stuff, or that I stole from someone's dorm room.
3. A digital camera: it's high time I joined the ranks of other great Bryan photographers like R. Andrew and James J.
4. A new matress: the lumps, the bowed middle, my back. 'Nuff Z'nuff.

Alright, obviously those four ideas are pretty much for two people in particular. They are in order of desire not necessarily need and the list is by no means exaustive.

For the rest of you:
DVD's are always a good bet, here's some that top my list:
The Shield(TV Show): any season
Indiana Jones Collection
Superman Collection
Alien Collection
Die Hard Collection
Sean Connery James Bond Collection
Lethal Weapon Collection

Books are also a good bet, I've gotten in the habit of reading lately for some reason, and need something to get me through the summer. When I moved from Fayette I left behind books by three of my favorite authors and I'd like to start collecting them again. So, here they are:
1. Anything by Stephen King, except the Dark Tower books which I have.
2. Anything by Robert Ludlum, the guy behind the Jason Bourne spy novels.
3. Anything by Micheal Connely, detective Harry Bosch.

Let's see, what else?
Anything drum or food related is always good.
Always looking for music: right now especially classical and more jazz.
I'd like some camping stuff.

And, if you must, if you absolutely have to, if you have to resort to the gift certificate, Best Buy tops the list, Target comes next, and then Old Navy.

Wow, I've done it. This is the single most selfish piece of liturature ever written. I should win, like, a nobel prize for self-serving inward-looking prose.

I also want peace on earth, a lower dependence on foriegn oil, death to WalMart, Nike, and the rest, less money in Washington, more unity in the Church, food for everybody in the world, an end to Aids/HIV in Africa, and Bush to be held accountable for his illegal actions.

There, that completely makes up for asking for stuff, huh? That's what I thought.

Two months and two days 'til 24, Bradley James Bryan

My Bradley Boys

Just a quick note to congradulate all my boys down at Bradley University. While I didn't get my bracket in in time with my boys from CMU, I did pick Bradley over Kansas on Lindsey and I's bracket. I always knew someone would make something of that name.

~Bradley James Bryan

Lower Murder Rate Be Damned....

WE WANT A SUPER BOWL!!!! Soon, the residents of Kansas City will be voting on whether or not to raise taxes for a proposed renivation of our two pro sports stadiums. If our teams were worth this trouble, I'd be fine with this. But since the Chiefs can't make it past the first game of the playoffs, EVER, and the Royals are just unbelievably horrible, I do take some issue with even the idea of a tax.

When we hit 100 murders last year, did anyone propose raising taxes to help the police department? When we hit 130 murders last year, did anyone say let's raise money to promote jobs in our poorest areas? Let's stop the gangs? Do everything we can do ensure everyone in Kansas City has the same opportunities for education and employment?

Or, has anyone said yes to a bill to raise taxes for our dismal public school system. I have 15 kids in my youth group. They go to 5 different private schools. Our school's are horrible. The teachers don't get paid, the kids don't have the resources, they are vacant school buildings all over the place. NO, every time a bill comes up it gets tossed back down.

But, we love our Chiefs don't we. And for some reason that God, or maybe the devil, only knows we stick by our Royals. And everybody knows building on to the stadiums will be great job opps, for about a year. And a Super Bowl will bring in lots of tourism dollars, for ONE DAY!!!!

Come on, people, Brad

Clarification

Hey ya'll, this is an addendum to my last post:
To get to the Lil' Brudder cartoon, you need to click on "sb email" at the bottom of the main page. Just click "come on in" when the site comes up. And don't forget to look for the words you can click on when the e-mail's over. I'm serious. That little guy, he's got the heart of a champion.

Brad

Clarification

Hey ya'll, this is an addendum to my last post:
To get to the Lil' Brudder cartoon, you need to click on "sb email" at the bottom of the main page. Just click "come on in" when the site comes up. And don't forget to look for the words you can click on when the e-mail's over. I'm serious. That little guy, he's got the heart of a champion.

Brad

Doing the Blog World a Friggen' Service!

Hey guys, just a quick one today. I hope it'll get you a laugh. It's gray and rainy today and I'm working on a take home test. So, I needed one.

Do yourself a favor: Go to www.homestarrunner.com
Click on e-mail
Scroll down to an e-mail title "crying"
Watch and enjoy the story of Lil' Brudder

Also, I ordered two t-shirts today from busted tees.com (they're cheap, mom)
One features an anglo-Jesus flying through the air on a hang glider, an extatic look on his face, underneath the words:
What Wouldn't Jesus Do?

The second is a photo of an anglo-Jesus, sans facial hair: Jesus Shaves.
I think the sacralidge is justified because Jesus is clearly white and therefore not the real Jesus!

This lent, take a dump, fast, get closer to God, and remember to laugh,
Brad

ps, don't forget the homestar runner cartoon

King Kong got robbed, man!

You've got to have some pretty big grapes to deny a giant ape his little golden statue. So, the Oscars have come and gone again, and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased. This year's awards were given to relatively small movies, with relatively small audiences, with huge subjects. The beauty and heartache of socially unacceptable love, racism in today's world, the fight for freedom of speech and the press, and assassination as a duty sent from God. As I expected, none of the actors in King Kong got anything, although they won for sound and visual affects. people don't seem to understand, THERE WAS NOTHING THERE!!! Philip Hoffman does a funny voice for three hours, Reese Witherspoon plays a down south girl with razor wit and devilish charm(oh wait, she IS a down south girl with razor wit and devilish charm) and they walk away winners. Naomi Watts is terrified of nothing, befriends nothing, makes nothing fall in love with her, and winds up killing nothing, and we all thought there was something there!!! Not to mention Andy Serkis, who lived with gorillas for months and brought Kong's moves and voice to life. Anyway, I'm glad that nothing went to the number one movie of the year: Dukes of Hazard. All in all a good night.

The Lost party is continuing, one more four episode DVD to go. It's wedding season and I've got four in the next four weekends. Everything else is going great.

Talk atcha later, Brad

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

Hey everybody,
Well, the ski trip has come and gone and, aparently, skiing just isn't my thing. I got sick after the first day and didn't ski. Thus, I've been sick all week and still am not 100%. Note to self and all in reading range: NEVER MAKE FRIDAY THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK YOU WORK!! It sucks. I'm pretty excited for the weekend. I've been watching Lost since the beginning and Lindsey and I are going to have a Lost weekend with Red Lobster, island drinks and the complete first season of Lost on DVD, stretched over two days of course. And, this Sunday i'm preaching and playing drums and Mom, Amanda and maybe Nanny will be here to hear me.

In other news, I bought an X-box, Halo and Halo 2 off a kid on the ski trip for $100. No, mom, i'm not neglecting my studies. No, Adams, i'm still not as good as you too.

Speaking of the two Adam's, funny story: So, there's this old person adventure day at our church on Fridays. In the hall is a table of old magazines, old people like they're magazines. And who do I see staring up at me from within the table, Carter Snow. Coming into work in the morning, and there's the Snowman, Mr. Missouri Conservationist, checking the clipboard in the forest. Pretty funny. I gave him a call and left a message.

I don't think there's much more going on. I apologize for the lengthy and rather ranting post last week. This country's in bad shape. And, as Dad said, it's not just that. Our world is in pretty sad shape right now. My friend Tom is recording a few songs for a demo. He calls his project "Compassion in Exile". Pretty fitting in think.

If anyone wants to help me save our environment and lessen our dependence on foreign oil by buying me a new Trailblazer or Tahoe that runs on that corn gas, let me know.

Brad

Playing Catch Up

Hello one and all,
I've been busy finding a balance with school back in the picture, so my posts have been a little slow lately. So, this is my chance at catching up. It might get long, so hold on to your seats!!

Heavy stuff first, has anybody noticed and does anybody care that our administration is probably one of the worst in history. Our White House BROKE THE LAW!!!! And, instead of owning up to WARRENTLESS wiretapping, in other words spying on the American people, there's talk now of just creating a new law that allows for it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Let's see, the last time one of our presidents broke the law.......what happened.....I'm trying to remember.....oh yeah, NIXON HAPPENED. We're fighting a war we never should've started, and believe me, we did start it, and it's not going to end anytime soon. Taking the troops out now would be disasterous for Iraq. So, let's see, the last time our president went to war without support and it turned into a debacle....ummm...oh yeah, NIXON AGAIN!!! Anybody remember Vietnam. So there's that war, that's unending and all about oil not the freedom of Iraq. And then there's this other war, remember the whole Osama Bin Ladin thing. Somehow, this guy can get his video feeds to the local news, but the richest and most sophisticated military in the history of the world can't find him. Once again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Then there's the whole Supreme Court thing. Let me just appoint my little puppet king who will vote how I tell them to vote. Yeah, that's fair. And THEN, there's the illegal, ILLEGAL PEOPLE, wiretapping that our White House sanctioned and put into action. Not only should they be kicked out of office, they should be arrested!! Oh yeah, and let's not forget the way the White House handled Katrina and now have regressed to just ignoring it!! It's much more important to find out who to blame for this shit than to actually help this people get their homes and lives back. Oh, AND THEN, there's the angry troll who will be our president if Dubya has another nasty bike wreck. This is our second in line to the most powerful man in the world. A senile, angry totalitarian who thinks there's nothing wrong with a little torture if it's done in the name of, brace yourselves, THE WAR ON TERROR. A man who can't tell a 78 yr old man from a deer and waits almost a week to say ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!! Oh, and I almost forgot, the website link on my brothers site, www.entertherainbow.blopspot.com, pointed out to me that we have 150,000 Hiroshima size atomic weapons that cost us billions of dollars a year just to maintain. Oh no, Iran, we can't let you have any nuclear weapons, after all, your Muslim and everybody knows Muslims can't be trusted. We could cut more than half of our military budget and still be the richest army in the world. Our country is going to hell and nobody seems to care. It's time to do something about it. Write congresspersons, join this www.truemajority.org to get information about when to write. And most of all, VOTE.
But, here's the bad part, the Democrats don't have anything better to offer. I know that the Republican's won't have the next president, but whoever we do get won't be much better. Hilary Clinton? A black man will be president before a woman, I garauntee it. John Kerry? John McCain? Seen those guys, they lost to Dubya. They lost to a man who tripled our national deficit in less than four years!!!
When you really think about it, the level of corruption and ineptitude of this administration should frighten, anger, worry, and intice you to action.

All right, deep breath, in, two three four, out, two three four. We're in trouble, is all I'm saying.

Here's the good stuff. Lynz and i babysat my niece and nephew last Saturaday. No, i didn't mean last Sat. Night. I meant last Saturday day, all day. And, I've done some pretty crazy things in my life but that...was...awesome!!! Those kids are one of the best things that's ever happened to me. For example, we were playing dinosaurs in Wes' room and Wes and I were bad guys and Lynz and Cori were good guys. Then, Cori says, get this, "Let's just all be good guys, why does there have to be bad guys in the game?" She's almost eight and has a better foriegn policy than our pres. Sorry, i'm done talking about that. And then Wes, who just turned five and has his broken arm slung up in his blanket with gause around his whole body (by the way a five year old swaddled up like that is just about the cutest thing in the world), Wes turns to Lindsey and says "Ya know, Lindsey, I didn't like Chicken Little.....I loved it!!!" And as we played Cranium, the family fun game edition, he kept saying things like "For example" and "The thing is". Cori has a such an ear for music she gets upset when she can't hum a song correctly, but she knows it's wrong and knows why it's wrong. Amazing, amazing, amazing kids. Mom and Dad, ask Andy to bring along the Cranium game. We played for 7 of the total 8 hours we were there.

Second thing of note, I saw Robert Randolph and the Family Band again. From the front row again. And it was awesome, again. If you've never been to a rock show, or have forgotten what it's like, go see RRFB as soon as you can and no matter how close or far away they come to you. It was unbelieveable. Other than Metallica from five feet away, probably the greatest entertainment thing i've ever seen. (Mustoe, Bela Fleck March 31st, we're going.)

Thirdly, Lindsey got me a mandolin for V Day. In the words of Mr. Mustoe, "You better lock this one up, this one's a keeper." Um, the girl, not the mandolin. But i've had it for exactly one day and have learn one song already, Golden Slippers. It's a pain to keep in tune, but it's awesome nonetheless. My goal, of course, is "Battle for Evermore" from Led Zeppelin Four. But, i'll have to settle for Golden Slippers for now. So, the tally is now: PRETTY DANG GOOD AT: drums, TOTALLY MEDIORCRE AT: guitar, piano, and mandolin. Here I come accordian.

Lastly, Tomorrow night I leave for God's home away from home, Colorado. I'll be skiing for three days straight, no classes missed! I'm really really excited but just hoping that I won't get hurt this time. I've been twice, been hurt twice. So we'll see, I'm more mature and stronger now. But, after all, I'm not 18 anymore.

Wow, I'm sorry if you were just getting on real quick to see if Brad had written anything. If i'm gonna post once a week, It's probably gonna be long. Thanks for coming by.

What's so funny about peace, love and understanding,
brad

I've been tagged.

Ya know, tag is being banned all over KC because it's too violent. Can you imaging a playground without tag? How else will popular kids learn that they're better than everyone else? How else will fat kids learn that they're slower than everybody else? How else will the smelly kid learn that noone wants to touch him/her, even in tag? Anyway, here goes.

Four jobs that I've had:
(all in one year)
Central Methodist College Resident Assistant
Pizza Hut cook and delivery driver extrodinaire
Daytime cafe/personal trainer @ THE ZOOONNNNEEEE!!!!!
Pastor, St. Paul United Methodist Church

Four movies I could watch over and over:
Snatch
Anchorman
LOTR
Kill Bill vol. 1

Four TV shows I love to watch:
Family Guy
The Sheild
Lost
The 700 Club (for material only)

Four places I've lived:
Springfield, MO
Fayette, MO
Kansas City, MO
England, United Kingdom

Four places I've visited on vacation:
(much much more than four but these are my favorites)
Banff National Park, Canada
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Rafting down the Grand Canyon with Dad
Neurschwanstein Castle, Germany

Four Websites I visit daily:
homestarrunner.com
entertherainbow.blogspot.com
postsecret.com
and, um, hotmail, i guess

Four restaurants:
Hong Kong Inn, Springfield, MO
Mexican Villa, Springfield, MO
Shakespeare Pizza, Columbia, MO
Smokestack BBQ, Kansas City, MO

Four places I'd rather be (or things I'd rather be doing):
Our Lake house
Colorado
Behind a drumset
On the radio

Four things that make me mad (nice addition Mr. Mustoe):
When people ride in a bench seat and the girl is sitting right next to the guy.
Hands free cell phone people.
Pat Robertson.
People who don't update their blogs. (just kidding)

I too am adding one that I can't believe no one has added already

Four CD's that I will never tire of listening too:
Led Zeppelin 4
Pantera- Cowboys from Hell
Failure-Fantastic Planet
Pearl Jam- Ten

And, in an interest to stop the violence, I am not tagging anyone.

Brad

A Kiwi and a V that sounds like a U...

Well, school is back in full swing. I've got New Testament with a Kiwi (that's a person from New Zealand and not an ethnic slur, they use it on themselves) , Theology with Kris Kvam (pronouced Kuam), and Preaching with Graves. I don't know Graves and don't have the class until next Wednesday. I'm pretty excited about this semester, not only because I've got great teachers (Warren Carter literally wrote the book on the NT), but because we're getting into my areas of interest, theology and preaching. I'm looking forward to it.

That's pretty much all that's going on,
thanks for stopping by guys, thanks for reading my blog,
Brad