prophecy - in pirate

arrrr matey! here lies another silly article from lark news.

episode III

jodi, alvin, nicole and I saw revenge of the sith at midnight earlier today.

in a word, SWEET! i guess was probably going to love it no matter what. aside from the expected poor script and acting in a few places this was probably my favorite in the prequel-trilogy.

recording

well then. seems it's been a bit long since i last boasted, er... posted.

this week we did pre-production for 7 songs from my (God-willing) new album. it took me about 6 hours to set up and record everything - from miking every member of the band, to mixing on-the-fly, to getting my 4-track to work.

aside from a few compressor glitches, and the fact that no one else in the band could hear my vocal but me, all wen't pretty darn well. lead guitar sounded kinda hot in the mix, but otherwise i'm happy with some decent demos as sketches of these songs emerge. also, during two really great takes, we ran out of tape - artists unknowingly running out of canvas, then trying to re-create the magic.

if songwriting/performing is like bearing and raising children, where writing the song is conceiving - recording is definitely labor.

maybe i should have a baby dedication for my 10 new children in the fall?

carl

carl is my bass player. an interesting character is he. funny. gifted. creative. kinda forgetful. among other things, carl has:

• shown up 5 minutes before we were supposed to start playing (i had to call him 10 minutes before that to remind him we had a gig that night);
• called to cancel a gig because he was on his way to San Diego to propose to his girl;
• forgotten the power supply to his bass amp; and...
• not played the first few minutes of a set because he was putting in his earplugs.

this weekend, however, i witnessed something that truly amazed me. something beyond mere randomness and spontaneity. something that still has me in shock and disbelief.

in the middle of a very worshipful moment, as sacraments were being handed out for a communion/worship service where we were playing, carl ran off the stage, to the lobby area where his bride-to-be, leslie had been sitting.

I thought for sure that something was wrong. either that he was about to throw up, or that leslie (that's "less-lee" - not "lez-lee") was in the back having a seizure, or something very serious. he stopped and exchanged a moment with leslie, then RAN back up to the stage with...

...a strawberry milkshake in his hand from In 'n Out.

he later said that his mouth was a little dry and he needed something to drink. we are all now perplexed at the oddity that is carl deese. remind me to make sure he has his milkshake on stage with him before we start.

crowder's new album

have you guys seen this? i'm not a huge DCB fan, but i think a live 4-room cam of you and your band recording your new album is pretty slammin. keeps me company on lonely mornings.

what's your worship leader doing?

as a worship leader, i find this completely offensive... and stinkin' hilarious. click 'em.

as for other stuff, this weekend was sweet. jodi's parents are in town from PA - always good food and great company. friday, we had an acoustic gig at a catholic coffee shop (yes, coffee shops can have faith too). we did the drum circle thing with both carl and josh on percussion - two djembes, a snare drum, three shakers, two tambourines and a conga - then me on acoustic/vocals.

carl did a short acoustic set of his own songs that was so smooth. he ended one of his songs with a loop of his own rhythm, then played lead over it.

today, i got to lead worship at crosspointe. then we were off to the phoenix botanical gardens to look at a bunch of cacti (no match for the flower gardens at NC state or Duke!). t-shirt update is coming soon....

"theater mix-up"

i laughed out loud when i read this article. are our church services really like this? NOTE: don't click on the link if you can't handle laughing at the church a little.

ben harper quote

“I want to strive to imperfection,” he continues. “the recording process has sterilized music. the more time you have to make things perfect, the more you tend to. when you don’t have time to, they’re just left perfectly undone.” -ben harper

word up ben.

marlow's favorite word

just for kicks, go to chris's blog. then click "find (on this page)" from the edit menu. do a search for the word "amazing" and see how many times it pops up.

much love bro.

christians and the environment

this is an interesting article on Christians' responsibility to the environment. crazy how Christians are finally coming around to this notion (myself included), despite the urging of so many around us over the years.