U2 3D: The First Live-Action 3D Concert Movie, Featuring U2 -- National Geographic

I haven't blogged about this because I don't know what to say. Do whatever you have to do to see this as soon as possible. The wife and I found a wonderful friend willing to sit at our house while the girl was asleep so we could go Sunday night.

It's a fraction of the cost and hassle of actually going to a concert. You don't have to worry about not being able to see around the 6'11" tall imbecile standing in front of you (although you may find yourself actually trying to see around people...the 3D is INSANE) that keeps farting because he knows nobody can hear him. You don't have to worry about your 5' tall wife being trampled by idiots who were in kindergarten when The Joshua Tree came out and have never even heard Unforgettable Fire. You don't have to deal with the traffic or $10 bottles of water.

I don't know if I'm ever going to actually see U2 in concert, but all of these things make me really question whether or not I want to. Besides avoiding all these downsides to an actual concert experience, you get to pretend like you can fly all over the stage.

The only downside to the movie is that you really want to stand up and scream and blow out your vocal cords singing along with Bono and wave your arms and clap and and dance and cry and exalt in the glorious spectacle of it all but you can't. You're sitting in a movie theater.

(Actually, you can cry. In fact, the 3D glasses you have to wear afford no peripheral vision, so you don't even have to worry about the people you're sitting with seeing you weep...)

cat out of the bag...

I wanted to name this entry "randomnity" again, but thought it my make my plethora of readers confused and just see the title and not read anymore. But just because I didn't name the entry that, doesn't mean that I'm not going to be random.

-On Valentine's Day, H & I and I stayed home and ate and watched Seinfeld. Then we loaded up and took I to the new Coldstone, came home, played with I and put her to bed. Then H & I settled in to watch Chocolate which would lead to regular V day activities for married people. About half way through the movie, H says, "I don't feel very good..." This was proven to be more than just a clever deterrent for my amorous advances when she woke up at 3:30 am puking up all that expensive ice cream. She was in pretty bad shape. I got up and went to school and felt ok until I started driving home and then I started feeling not so good. I didn't have the issues she did, I just felt gross all of friday evening and most of today. I haven't eaten hardly anything just because I don't feel like it. I don't know if we just caught some little stomach bug or what, but I'm ready to be done with it. We're just hoping that I. doesn't get it.

-Speaking of intestinal issues of the little shack: something is going on. She's not acted out of sorts, but she's had the grossest diapers all week. The smell, consistency, volume, and plethora (hey, i got plethora in twice in one post!) would have us worried if she didn't seem in such high spirits.

-So, it's not like I've really kept it a secret all this time, but for some reason, a number of the students at PG middle school have just figured out that I am a musician. I will admit that I've not talked about it much, and when asked directly, I usually answer honestly and then say something like, "do you have your homework done?" But, suddenly I'm being bombarded by questions by a number of students, many of which i don't even know or have in class. Here are just a couple of my favorites, including a variety that are part of the reason why I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it to the students:

"Are you famous?"
"Mr. Shacklett, do you lead a double life?"
"What kind of music do you play?"
"Where can I buy your CD?"
"If you're a singer, how come you're teaching us geometry?"

I've finally landed on my regular response being: "If you're really curious, get on itunes and download my cd for yourself. And get all of your friends to download it too."

Anyway, students have found my web-site which means that they may be finding their way to this blog, too. That has me a little worried, although most would never take the time to actually read this much, so we'll see how transparent I'll be able to remain.

-currently reading "In Dubious War" by Steinbeck. Just found it in the library and since I'd not read it, I thought I'd give it a go. It's kind of weird in that it's about striking apple pickers in there 30's. I am still often amazed at how clueless I am. I really didn't connect unions and striking with socialism. At least I didn't realize that around that time, anybody trying to organize for better wages/working conditions etc. was labeled "red". I figure there's a lot of history out there to know, I'm just not sure how I got by with learning so little.

-forgot to mention that I finally got to see "There Will Be Blood". WOW! very dark and a little disturbing but incredible. It's really not that enjoyable to watch, and I felt kind of wore out by the time it was over. But, it really sticks and rolls around in my head and I kind of want to see it again.

-Speaking of movies. I LOVE my co-teachers. They are some of the best people and I can't believe how fortunate I am to have landed on this team and surrounded by the teachers around me. That being said, I can't believe how different our tastes in movies. I won't even mention the movies they talk about going to see and being excited to go that I don't even want to accidentally be in the room when they come on dvd (or usa channel weekend movie which is where they're destined to wind up). And the movies that I'm excited about, they go running the other way. It's just weird.

-James told me that U23D is supposed to be at the new Razorback starting last Friday. I'm excited and have read a couple of reviews that have me even more excited. But when I checked the listings, the only 3D movie at that theater right now is "Hannah Montana 3D". This does not bode well...

-Still want to see Juno.

what the ?

"...too many people are brainwashed by his message of hope..."

I heard this quote on tv today.

Does anybody else think that this statement is insane? Wouldn't we want to be hopeful about an election year? Could it be that I, of all people, am landing on the side of the line that is wanting to be optimistic? (...fuze....blown...)

I also read an op-ed piece today that talked about the elephant in the room being "could a black man actually be elected president of the U.S."? Through some short/trivial conversations today and Hillary's victory of AR, I guess that's still a pretty big issue.

It's interesting to me to find out that O won the Dem vote in Kansas by a huge margin. It makes me think that 1)my background might have made me even more color-blind than I was aware 2)that inherent color-blindness has engendered my own naiveté.

Basically, I am REALLY NOT southern and I am reminded of it.

...continued...

So, you'd think that I would have continued those thoughts right away because since I went to bed the other night, I woke up and have spent 2 snow days at home. But no: that would be way too industrious...

-Indigo Girls: Great concert, great seats, I'm very glad I went although I'm sad that Holly was feeling so horrible. Throughout the concert, however, I was struck by how arbitrarily fame, fortune and recognition is distributed. Brandi Carlisle opened for the IGirls and sang on a number of songs during their set. She has a great voice and had some good songs and seemed proficient enough on guitar. But, the truth of the matter is that I've heard just as good a voice with just as good of songs numerous times from people that you will never hear about. By some stroke of fortune, she's hooked up with the Indigo Girls and she's set. She's working hard and all she has to do is keep doing what she's doing. Good for her. I think I just keep trying to figure out "yea, but why her?" when there probably isn't any reason.

-So, the total geek in me got excited today when I figured out how to sync my phone's calendar with my google calendar. Since bare-bonesing my computer about a month ago, I haven't re-installed my Palm desktop 1) Because I've not really been using my Palm 2) I did install Outlook and had grand designs to use it and then sync it with my phone. However, I've not spent much time on Outlook because whenever I look at the "month" view, it starts all the weeks on Monday and puts Sat and Sun together at the end of the week. I HATE this! Every time I started the program I'd spend way too much time trying to get it to show me a regular calendar and then when I couldn't get it to show it the way I wanted it, I'd quit. argh! Anyway, I've now got my google calendar syncing with my phone via Goosync. Which means, I don't have to mess around with Outlook at all, and I can start really using my google calendar and still have it instantly mobile.

-Spent a bunch of time trying to decide to buy a new Dell last night because I had a $250 off coupon that expired at midnight. Decided things are running fine for now.

-Can I just say that Snow Days are yet another reason that teaching is pretty cool? Granted, it's a two-edged luxury. My school has zero snow days built into the schedule, so every school day we take gets added to the end of the year. That will suck. However, it's been a lot of fun being home with the girls for two days. I'm even proud of myself that I did some grading yesterday.

I know there were other things I was going to blog about, but that's it for now.

randomnity in '08 #2

I know it's a made up word. But I kind of like it and it seems to fit.

-Finished To Kill a Mockingbird. Good book. I enjoyed it. I know it's supposed to be a great masterpiece of American literature and all but Owen Meany still beats it hands down for me.

-"There Will Be Blood" is finally in NW Arkansas, but it's at the theater that would require my taking the WORST exit in all of NWAR. That combined with Nuffy being sick last weekend and not being able to go and me just not really having the time, I've still not seen it.

-Not last Friday, but the Friday before, I stayed up until 4:30am Saturday finishing an assignment for my Licensure program that was due at 8am. I then had to sit through an extremely boring and nearly pointless class from 8am until about 3pm that day. Let me just tell you: I am WAY too old to be pulling all nighters of anything, let alone homework. It was horrible. It has crossed my mind that I'm constantly trying to motivate my 7th graders to get their homework done that they shouldn't waste all the time I give them in class to finish things which is basically me telling them they shouldn't procrastinate. Would this prove no one's disbelief that I am a hypocrite? No, because there's one big difference between me doing that assignment and my 7th graders: I actually did it and turned it in.

-I'm still contemplating buying a new computer. However, I haven't been contemplating since the last time I blogged and I only started contemplating again because the promotion that gets me an extra $150 off a shiny new Dell ends tomorrow. I'm afraid that my computer is still running well and that I can't make a $1000 decision in the time I have left. Froogle? Tight-wad? Incessant waffler? You be can decide for yourself.

-Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to go see my friends Ezra and Keith play a house concert with their original band, Wheatfield. Experienced incredible musicians, some great songs and impressive performances in an intimate setting with another good friend, Justin, that I'd not been able to hang with for awhile. It was so good to see Ezra and Keith and I'm so glad I found out about it and decided to go on short notice.

-Last night, I spent twice as much on a ticket (4 times as much if you count that I paid for Holly's ticket too) to go see the Indigo Girls.

Well, I just got a phone call and ran out of time to finish those thoughts. Will try to revisit this soon.

randomnity

-Great holiday break. I had two full weeks. Made treks to parents on both sides. Love and good fortune abounds. Sister came for 5 whole days, and even though she made me help her work on her record, it was still fun because that's almost the longest she's ever stayed with us.

-Was ready to get back to school last Sunday. I had a great attitude and felt rested and prepared. WRONG! last week may have been the most difficult in spite of the fact that nearly all of my problem students have transferred out of my class or moved. All I can think is that I've had a lot of congestion and didn't sleep well last week.

-Friday night, I watched the movie Jesus Camp. It was overwhelmingly depressing/horrifying/frustrating. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to deal with this. Can't stop thinking about it.

-I ordered the book, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" through interlibrary loan. I've seen the movie, and there's not a whole lot more there. But it's interesting to me that Cameron Crowe actually went back to high school undercover as a 22 year old and then wrote this book. It's even more interesting that this book is out of print and that if you ever even find a beat up old paperback copy of it, you'll probably pay $50 or more.

-I'm reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the first time. Don't know why I haven't read it other than it seems weird that I wasn't required to read it in school at some point. I've never seen the movie either even though I've checked it out from the library a couple of times. I'm glad I've not seen the movie. I have a feeling it might end up being pretty high on my favorites list.

-Sent off two co-writes to TAXI for country listings. Neither got forwarded, but got some good feedback. I think we're going to try to fix one of them. More than anything, it's good that I've done something, even if it has been all because the co-writer keeps pushing.

-I just realized how inexpensively I could get into a PS2. That's tempting. 1)I would like to get guitar hero, 2)I could get tomb raider for even cheaper.

-Been contemplating a new computer purchase. However, I had to barebones my current machine before my sister got here, and it's been running better than it has for awhile. Can't decide if now's the time or not. Also having hard time deciding between desktop and laptop.

-I can't believe how big and growing NWA is and there still aren't any theatres playing "There Will Be Blood". This is a college town. Why in the world is there not an art theatre?

-Watch Bourne Ultimatum the other night. Those are pretty good flicks. Holly and I watched Waking Up in Reno again last night. That is a great movie. I know you've not heard of it. It's worth seeking out.

Favorites from 2007

So, I've seen a lot of people making their "best-of" lists for 2007. I started trying to think of things, but realized I don't have much. So, here are some lists. They aren't in any order, and they weren't even necessarily released in 2007. It's just what I can remember that I've been into this past year.

Music: More than anything, it feels like I have to view this year as the year I got old. I look at the big 2007 lists from the critics and I just don't get 90% of it. So many people like Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, but man: it just sounds like crap to me. stupid crap.

-Josh Rouse- Just discovered him this year and particularly got into the projects Nashville & Subtitulo. He's very pop/folk with a smidge of some jazz chords here and there.

-William Fitzsimmon, Goodnight. I typically don't like buying music from itunes, but I found this online and the only way I could actually get a CD would be to order it. After going back and forth on it for about a month, (more than enough time it would have taken for a CD to arrive in the mail), I downloaded it from itunes. The best I can describe this CD would be Iron & Wine vocals, folk instrumentation with the addition of trippy beats and loops as unto The Postal Service. The difference between this and Iron and Wine is that for some reason, it doesn't strike me as so precious and the melodies are more interesting to me. Besides just the gentle finger-picky guitar, he does have a lot of keyboards/piano on this thing. One of the reasons I may like it so much may be because his keyboards sound a lot like the way I play. This is definitely MELLOW, so don't be thinking you'll rock out to it.

-Ingrid Michaelson- Girls & Boys. Folky/poppy New York chick. Somewhere between Lisa Loeb, newer Norah Jones, and Coldplay/Keene (but again NY, not UK). Honestly, I can't stop listening to this CD. She's got a real effortless, 'real-world' kind of voice that I like. One interesting thing that I realized listening to one particular song: It starts out with a nice staccato guitar figure that hangs pretty well (again, it reminds me of something that I might do) and at the end of the 1st verse this 16th note hi-hat comes in. When I first noticed it, it felt so good, just because, in the studio, it's so rare to hear a drummer come in like that and play it so perfectly in time. I'm starting to think that my producing/recording experience may have left permanent scars...

-Suzanne Vega- Beauty & Crime. It didn't capture me like Ingrid did, but I've listened to it quite a bit. I've never been a Vega fan, but I like this CD and she's kind of taken Jonatha Brooke's place in my heart, because I couldn't really get anything out of her new record, Careful What You Wish For.

-Bruce Springsteen- Magic. I can't say that I'm in love with it. I LOVE The Rising and there's a lot that I like about Devils & Dust. However, I keep popping it in to listen to it some more, so that seems to say something to me.

Looking forward to the new Sam Phillips CD that's supposed to be coming out in February.

Movies:

Boy this category is dismal. 1)I've not seen many movies this year but 2)There really haven't been many movies worth watching.

I did love Pan's Labyrinth and regret not getting to see it in the theatre.

The only movie I can think of seeing in the theatre has been No Country for Old Men. Although that movie was really good and probably the best movie I've seen in the theatre of late, it's VERY dark and VERY bleak, and I don't know if I could put it as a favorite. I do love a lot of the Coen Brothers and Fargo is high on my favorite movies. More than a couple of times, I've described No Country as sort of Fargo set in TX but without any of the fun. Did you hear that peeps? It's DARK with a capital D.

Again, I don't know if this would be a favorite, but I saw my very first theatrical 3D movie about a month ago when I saw Beowulf 3D at the new Razorback theatre. The U2 3D trailer at the beginning about made me wet my pants and I will figure out a way to see it, but of all 3D movies I could see, Beowulf was pretty great to see that way.

Books:

-Crazy for God by Frank Schaeffer. I've wrote enough about this book. Go back and read previous blogs if you want.

-I've read a lot adolescent fiction since I've spent almost all of my mentoring money on books for my classroom library. I've not really hit any that I really love, but maybe I can't really love them anyway. I'm proud that I turned at least one student on to a book called "Touching Spirit Bear" that is pretty good.

That's all I can think of right now.

Crazy for God (some more)

Crazy for God

I found this interview with Frank about the book by somebody that is mentioned in the book. I thought it was interesting.

Have you read the book yet?

WTF??!!

How can I not be profoundly annoyed and use such strong txt-speak for the fact that our local news spent the first full 5 minutes of their 10pm broadcast informing the viewing audience that the Razorbacks still don't have football coach? Are you kidding me?

Usually I'm just blissfully oblivious to society's ridiculous preoccupation with organized sports and at most I may get mildly annoyed. However...

We're at war. We're starting into an election year. Gas prices are soaring and car manufacturers are still getting rich off people who go way into debt to drive vehicles that get a whopping 10 mpg. A 19 year old kid just killed 9 people in a mall. It's cold outside. I saw people standing on the side of the road with signs asking for help on the way home today. I'm trying to teach an alarming number of 7th graders who barely read as well as nuffy's 4 year old son and I don't know how I'm going to pay my dental bills. I don't care what you talk about, just talk about something more important than lamenting not being able to hire some guy for $X million to coach f-ing football. For the love of pete, grab just the tiniest bit of perspective.

Are you kidding me?

Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

Anybody who has ever paid any attention to this blog knows that I am a fan of fiction. I'm pretty sure that I've read some other memoir, but I can't actually think of another at the moment. So, it is with great enthusiasm that I recommend this particular book to just about anybody that may actually read this blog. I'm seriously inhaling it.

I think that this book will make exactly a half dozen of Frank Schaeffer's books that I've read. I LOVE his Calvin Becker trilogy, and it's not far off to say that his two books, "Sham Pearls Before Real Swine" and "Addicted to Mediocrity" have had profound influence on my personal beliefs about art and creativity. I think the only book by his father, Francis, that I've actually read, is actually two rather short essays collected in a short volume called simply, "Art & the Bible". I has been formative to me as well.

The title really tells you what's in store. As I understand it, Frank made his escape from evangelicalism and converted to Greek Orthodox. (I've got about 50 pages left to the book, and he hasn't said anything about that yet.)

I had heard about the book, and then James said that he'd started reading it. I got it from the library and can't put it down. There are so many people that I would like to have read this.

I had a quote from the book that I thought about typing in, but I have to go to bed right now. Maybe some other time. If you read it, let me know what you think.

Cocktails & Dreams...

Just kidding with the title. But you get 10 points if you can name the movie reference.

I'm feeling kind of weird. I really felt like I just needed some down time and that t-giving would be perfect to get me excited or at least more interested in this whole teaching business and carry me through Christmas break. What I didn't count on was that going back after those few days off would be so difficult. If anything, I feel more tired and more wore out than before break.

I also spent a little bit of time with an old friend that I've not talked to since I started teaching. She asked a little bit about teaching, but kept asking me questions about what I'm doing with "my music" these days and H has told me that this friend worries that teaching will keep me from what I'm "supposed" to be doing. On one hand, it's really nice to hear that somebody really thinks that writing/recording/performing is what I'm "meant" to do. On the other hand, I'm finding very little motivation to pursue those endeavors.

It's been like that. I don't know why, but I feel this compulsion to be evasive and vague about my music "career" with everybody I deal with in my new setting. I don't want students to find my web-site/myspace/blog or hear any of my recordings and I am reticent to talk about any of that with my new colleagues/friends. On the other hand, I don't think I've even been to Arsaga's since August and I've been to the studio probably 3 times since July. I have a co-writer that wants to write with me, and we've actually come up with some good stuff so far, but I can't help that other things get in the way and when they do, I'm not overly upset about it.
Sometimes I think that I just need to not worry about it and not push any of the music right now. That was the whole point of starting to teach: to take the pressure of making money off making music. Now, I just need to take the pressure off making music period. I keep telling myself that once I'm in the groove of teaching and I'm not so distracted, I'll pick it back up and write and play what I want.

Then I wrestle with the same little voice that is the source of all writer's block. To the writer, it whispers: "what if you never come up with a good idea again?" It's sitting on my shoulder saying that but also: "if you really just give up music, what if you never pick it up again?"

I think this is most scary because it questions the identity that I've always thought of myself. That doesn't make it any easier.

she has the highest midi-chlorian count I've ever seen...

On Saturday, my lovely wife decided it was time to put up Christmas decorations. This means I help get them down from the attic and she goes at it.

It was fun watching "Itchy" (that's another new thing, if you ask her what her name is she says "Itchy") looking at the tree and the lights and ornaments and pointing them and naming them. She's good at spotting Mickey Mouse and Snowmen, but she doesn't know who Santa Claus is yet.

H had put a number of ornaments around the bottom of the tree that Itchy could reach including a Luke Skywalker Christmas ornament with blue light saber drawn and wearing his bespin fatigues. I always thought this was his coolest garb.

Anyway, Itchy found Luke and started saying, "Daddy! Daddy!" and kissing the action figure.

I don't really think there's anything left to say about that.

a couple more thoughts...

I wouldn't want to say "retractions", but maybe a couple of clarifications:

1) My rant may not suggest it, but I have no problem with somebody reading theological/philosophical non-fiction. In fact, I think it's probably good for you in helping you reflect on your own life and your own beliefs. What I get annoyed about is when that is ALL it seems a person will read/think about/discuss. This seems WAY out of balance. Jeff made some particularly clear comments on this subject. He probably even said what I meant to say better than I actually did. So, check that out.

2) I read t-rev's comment a couple of days ago, and I'm being too lazy to go back and re-read it to comment on some things he said specifically, but here's some responses that I remember:
Yes, writing "worship music" (and I'm referring to the most simplistic definition of this) is and should be much more concrete in its terminology and "craft" if you will. Consequently, I'm not sure that you can have really "good art" in a worship song. I wrestle with this. And it opens a huge can of worms in terms of "good art" vs. "bad art", but I don't really want to go there.

When I was younger, I was told the the highest aspiration or highest purpose of the art of songwriting would be writing praise and worship songs. I have all kinds of problems with this statement now, and I'm not sure if I really bought it to begin with. And I don't really want to go there right now, either. (I'm tired and lazy.)

My point here is that Mockingbird was NOT a Praise & Worship record. If it were, I would be evaluating it by a different set of criteria. I would say its purpose was to be an "artistic" statement and in that regard, I believe it failed horribly. I would contend that it was definitely a statement, but feebly artistic if at all. And again, I say that even though I agreed with most of what he had to say. I just think that if he's going to say it in the way he did (lacking poetry/nuance/etc.), he should write a brochure or booklet or something instead of a record.

I felt the same way a couple of years ago about Allanis Morrissette. (spelling?) I had read in an interview that she'd decided that she didn't talk or think in meter or rhyming, so she decided that her songs didn't need to either. I'm sorry but that's not really songwriting to me. I'd call it writing that you sing. And if it's just writing, why don't you just write for somebody to read.

I realize that my ideas of songwriting are not the same as others'. Some want more structure and more craft than I do. Some want less. I'm ok with that. I'm just saying that Mockingbird does not fit my definition of good songwriting craft and/or art.

P.S. Thanks for commenting. I really didn't know if anybody looked at this anymore.

a thought...

I know a number of people and check a number of blogs of people who like to populate their "recommended reading" lists with all kinds of books discussing theology, church growth, spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines and stuff like that.

It annoys the crap out of me. It just seems an outrageous waste of time and energy. (I must send out an apology to a couple of you that may read this. You know who you are.)

I mean, the people that I've known in my life that I have respected the most for their spiritual maturity and wisdom would never mention their personal theology. What impressed me about those people I can think of would be their humility, generosity, gentleness and honesty.

I just think most people don't care if you're 5 point Calvinist or Armenian. They don't care if you believe every word of the Left Behind books or if you even believe there is an actual hell or not.

I also think that when it's all said and done all this thought, study and discussion will be dust. It won't matter. Why in the world would anybody be sitting around in heaven talking about this stuff? Why should any body worry about it now?

What will be talking about if we make it to that point?

Stories...

It’s An Audible Sigh: An Interview with Bill Mallonee (Part One)

Excerpt from my comment on the actual article:

I honestly think that Audible Sigh is the reason that I’ve never been able to embrace Wilco, SonVolt, or even Ryan Adams for that matter. Audible Sigh was really my first “alt-country” experience and all those other “alt-country” tagged artists/bands/albums just don’t even come close.

It’s also interesting and heart-breaking to read Bill’s assessment of his place (or lack thereof) in the music industry. I think his assumptions are spot on. For all their talking and posturing, posers like Derek Webb and Caedmon’s Call are not really as far removed from Casting Crowns and Mercy Me as they (or their audiences)would like to think. It’s just that they’re a little hipper about it.

For that matter, I recently read an interview with Don Chaffer (it may have been here) where Don even admitted that looking back, waterdeep was guilty of following the CCM money/fanbase a little bit and he seemed to carry some regret about where WD ended up artistically because of it.

What is even more abhorrent is the fact that the CCM community not only did NOT support true artistic endeavor like V.O.L., but that there was just enough of an association to hinder V.O.L. from making headway with the No Depression crowd.

It seems that now, with Magazines like Paste, and webzines like the ooze and relevant, there would be more people open to embracing sincere artistry like Bill. Unfortunately, if you spend any time reading those zines, you’ll find they’re just as likely to embrace mindless drek like Tomlin, Webb or Agnew.

Bill, like Mark Heard or Van Goh, seems just too serious and sincere about living out his art authentically to build a fan base that could sustain livelihood. This is not a criticism. It is an awed observation. I struggle to reconcile this with God’s design for art’s place in human existence. All I can can do is cling to the belief that God’s economy is not man’s.

The only thing I didn't mention in my comment is that I do have to disagree with Bill on one point. His self-editing is not as stringent as he contends. Over the course of his albums, he's got a number of filler. Especially over the solo records. I think I have 4 or 5 of them, and would say there might be one album's worth of quality songs. His going solo and doing the "homespun" records has given him the freedom to release material quickly and easily. Unfortunately, if he were limited to 1 record every year or so, I think his output would be of higher quality.

What is it with alt-country guys? This is the same problem Ryan Adams has except that he's yet to put out a masterpiece like Audible Sigh. IMHO

I love you, Bill. I wonder if you might be happier if you let your art be your passion rather than continuing to beat your head against the wall trying to make it your vocation. I only say that because that's where I'm at and trying to be. It's not easy and it's not fun and I sometimes have severe doubts, but I've yet to give up on the possibility.

bloggity

quick blogs:

-This week is the 9th week of school. I have to turn in grades for report cards at the end of this week. I've got a lot of assignments that I need to get graded. I'm not as far behind as I would expect, but I am a little behind.

-Next week, after report cards, I have my first parent-teacher conferences. I'm not real worried, but maybe I should be.

-I played the first gig I've had in months. I traded sets with Brasher, but otherwise it was completely solo acoustic. Oh yea, mr. powers was in town, so I got him to come up and play on a few songs. Good news was that Brasher and I both got $100. Bad news is that there was next to nobody there. That's what you get when you have a couple of 30-somethings playing folky-singer-songwriter material in a bar for 3 hours on a Saturday night. Oh yea, and the Razorbacks lost, so most who might have come out were too depressed. I had fun with Brasher though.

-I have really only 2 students that ruin my teaching experience. I've figured out how to deal with every other problem, but these two constantly fight me and I don't know what to do with them. It's frustrating because I really love the rest of my students and am enjoying teaching. I know that I'm lucky that it's only 2, but I still have to figure out how to deal with those two.

-Read a NY Times bestseller that I've seen a lot of the middle school girls reading called "Twilight". It's a teenage vampire story. I can totally see how adolescent girls would get into it, but I thought it was pretty ridiculous.

-Started reading another book that I book for the kiddos called "House of the Scorpion". It's pretty good. I'll let you know when I finish.

-Unfortunately, I'm not getting very much reading in.

-I've written most of two songs with another songwriter I know. This is exciting just because I've done something. One of the songs seems really commercial but kind of boring to me personally. The other might be pretty great, but it still needs finished.

-baby-shack is awesome. I love her so much and hate leaving her to go to school everyday.

-wifey-shack takes care of me beyond what I deserve.

-time is moving very fast.

the blogging english teacher (all lower-case letters are on PURPOSE!)

So, it's kind of weird. One of the things that I've been working on today is grading some Narrative Essays that my 7th graders had to turn in last week. We don't really have tests in that class, so these writing projects are pretty significant to their grades.

Anyway, after writing that last blog, I realized that I was being hyper critical and careful to use correct grammar and punctuation, etc. If you see something wrong, please don't tell me. I don't want to know. I also don't want to become an english/grammar/punctuation nazi in general, and I REALLY don't want to said nazi toward myself on my own blog.

In which case, i will not capitalize "i" with impunity.

Impunity...that might make for a good Word Of the Day for tomorrow...argh!

Fear Factor part II

Even after all my whining, Holly still took Ivy to Wichita for the weekend. (I know this weekend is a good time. I started my Saturday modules and so I wouldn't have had as much time with Ivy anyway. But still...)

So, now I've not seen my girls since I went to bed Thursday night. What can I say? I hate it. Now I not only have to deal with irrational fear that they're a long way away from me and I need them to come home to me safe, but I'm also lonely, bored and depressed!

To top it all off, after arriving in Wichita, H started feeling really crappy and running a temp. She's been in bed at our friends' in Wichita pretty much since Saturday evening. I'm torn because I REALLY want them to come home tomorrow and be here when I get home. But I also don't want H driving if she's feeling weak/sleepy/sick. argh!!! Damn these parental motivations! I lived so long without worrying about them.

It's almost 10:30. I've spent most of the day alternately procrastinating and actually accomplishing some much needed grading of homework. Now, I should get in there and make my own PB&J for my lunch tomorrow....man this sucks.

Fear Factor

When I was a kid, I was afraid that Jesus would come back before I got to see the final Star Wars movie. As of May 19th, 2005, that has no longer been a concern.

When I got a little bit older, I was worried that Jesus would come back before I could have sex. (Be shocked if you want, but I guarantee that all honest church boys have this concern at some point...I'm just sayin'....) I don't have to worry about this any more either.

The truth is that I don't think I've really felt afraid. I worried that something would happen that would cause me to miss a future experience, but the fear was never that I could die. Until now.

Now, I have to be here for the girl. I don't want to miss anything. I don't want her to grow up without me. I can't tolerate the idea that something could happen and that I'll miss seeing her grow up and knowing her as she becomes more and more her own person everyday.

Everything is more serious now. Driving on the bypass is a much bigger deal. Driving anywhere is a much bigger deal. Collapsing bridges and crashing semis, highway debris, drunk drivers and potentially psychotic overly disgruntled 7th and 8th graders with too much hunting experience haunt my sense of security.

I was warned about many things, but I don't think I was adequately warned as to how much more I'd have to confront fear in my life. It doesn't control me, but for the first time: it's there.

A What?! (tales from a 7th grade classroom-first entry. This is for James.)

So, in my first class class of the day, we're talking about our word of the
day: bedlam. (means chaos, confusion). We've already talked about
what the word means and I ask: "What would be some situations or
settings that you would expect there to be bedlam?

I get a couple of kids raise their hands and they say, "war" or an
earthquake or a tsunami. And then I call on this one kid and he says:

"A gangbang!"

I have no idea what my face looked like. I was a deer in headlights with my jaw hitting the floor. Then he said, "you know, like a bank robbery or something..." I say: "Ok...yes, like a bank robbery or something like that...." Whew!

I'm glad that 7th graders are pretty innocent for the most part. The
other day we were talking about plot and I had to talk about "climax".

I knew then that they didn't know otherwise or I would have had
snickers.