LOST AND FOUND george's tour blog

From the Luther500 Website

2011-11-30T14:44:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, it's best to just re-blog what another member of the band has blogged. (Original post can be found at www.luther500-festival.com)

You know, it's like they say: reduce, reuse, and remember your baptism, right?

Posted by Michael on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 | Link | Comment

Today, I noticed that my two-year-old daughter seems to be rejoicing, and, judging by her sheer delight in the tiniest of activities and sights, that her heart perhaps finds wonderful comfort. To be honest, to watch her running around, today is not much different than most other days. She seems to do a lot of rejoicing. One thing to know about Geneva, too, is that specific anniversaries are not her forte. She’ll sing “Happy Birthday,” as heartily on any random day to almost anyone at lunch as she would on someone’s actual birthday. So, I don’t think her zeal is a result of her remembering that today is the anniversary of her baptism.

But, I think the extra little zip in my step this morning, despite a late night, is. I know that at dinner tonight, we’ll invite Uncle Mark over, and we’ll light Geneva’s baptismal candle. We’ll pray—certainly her favorite, “Come Lord Jesus be our Guest…,” which we are learning to say in German, “Come Herr Jesus sei unser Gast, und segne, was du uns bescheret hast.” She will shout “Amen,” and clap her hands a bit, as she always concludes a prayer. Along with our daily bread, we’ll also thank God for one another, for the gift of family right across the street, for neighbors and friends, for fulfilling work and supportive colleagues, for faith communities, and for belonging.

And as we sit and chat we’ll remember Geneva’s baptism. We’ll talk and laugh and reminisce about our trip to Germany in November 2009, with the ten-week-old Geneva. We stayed in Berlin a bit, visited the museums and the Christmas Markets, walked throughout the beautiful capital city, and enjoyed long breakfasts. We went down to Erfurt for a couple of days. We visited our close friends the Utpatels and learned how four little boys make Christmas cookies and how their mom makes the house feel like the perfect intersection of Europe, the North Pole and Anthropologie. And, we spent a day in Eisleben, where Geneva was baptized by our friend Rev. Scott Moore, who was serving the St. Peter and St. Paul Church.

In this very church Martin Luther was baptized. Get this—the original font survives (with repairs). That is, on November 29, 2009, Geneva was baptized in the very font in which Martin Luther was baptized on November 11, 1483. Those in the congregation who had them, brought their own baptismal candles and lit them for the service (something it might be fun to see here), and Geneva received a candle from the congregation and one from a German friend on the occasion. She giggled and smiled, while Scott mixed hot water from the kettle in the sacristy with the water already in the font (which had been amply chilled by the November air filling a medieval nave) in order to reach a “room temperature” that would not shock the baby. As he swirled the waters, he reminded us of God’s presence through the ages and also in that place, of God’s promises, and of the community of saints including Geneva that knows no limits of time or national borders. And that’s what we want Geneva to know when we tell her about her baptism—she is part of something Big. God’s love and the community of saints.

Martin Luther said, “Remember your baptism,” and while I only remember mine in faith and theory and times of trouble, my wife and my brother and I, along with some friends in Germany, remember Geneva’s baptism quite well. And we’ll remind her of it, tell her the stories, and show her the pictures every 29 November for as long as we can—even after her candle, a very large pedestal one—has burned its last. And I hope that in celebrating and marking this anniversary each year, she will be reminded of this sacrament of belonging, and she’ll simply know, as sure as she’ll know there is gravity, that she is claimed, marked and sealed. She’ll know that despite the ups and downs of her feelings, the strength and weakness of her convictions, or the good and bad of her behavior, she belongs to the one from whom and from whose love nothing can separate her. And somehow—initiated in Eisleben in the chancel of a fifteenth-century church, continued this evening around our favorite yard-sale-purchased dining room table, and hopefully for years to come (even without her mom and dad) in a college dorm, a first apartment, a home of her own one day, or maybe, who knows, on a mountain in Tibet or in outer space—this little candle ceremony will be something to remind her that this is a special day, and that she is part of something Big. Life, one might say, is a journey of faith, from loneliness to having a home; and Baptism is a sacrament of belonging.

Join us at the Luther500 Festival in 2013. Remember your baptism. Let your faith be revitalized as you walk where Luther walked, and as you learn, serve and celebrate with friends. Take the day trip to Eisleben and visit the birthplace of Martin Luther, the church where he was baptized, and the pulpit where he preached his final sermon. While you are there, you’ll also have the chance to serve the Eisleben community with a special project that will leave a sign of God’s love in action and remind you that you are part of something Big.

You Jump in Where You Can, Right?

2011-08-24T08:23:00.007-04:00

So, yeah yeah yeah, we'll admit it: we're not exactly a blogging band. (As if you haven't noticed.) There are updates on Facebook (profile: LostAnd Found, or official page Lost And Found), and the random photo and status update sort of serve as a blog of sorts. But when it comes right down to it, we don't often get around to updating this little section of the website. (And you'll notice how I am quickly spreading the blame for this by using the royal "we" as opposed to my usual "I.")

Anyway, we wanted to at least tell you about the groundbreaking, first-ever, biennial, Luther 500 Festival. As you'll see from the website, the initial Luther 500 was held in June of this year, and will happen every two years until 2017, which marks the 500th anniversary of the wall post heard around the world, when Martin Luther had a hammer.

With about 150 participants, we were joined by some of our favorite musicians, including the bluegrass duo Alathea, and the blues singer Rachel Kurtz, and of course the blue-speedwood group, yours truly. There are so many great things to say about the Luther500 Festival, that it's hard to know where to begin. But one great thing is that it takes place in Germany, with day trips to various cities, while spending the nights staying in a castle in Wittenberg. In addition, there are servant events, and recreation options. Plus, Morning Prayer in the Castle Church. I know, riiiight? So go poke around the website and give it some thought for 2013. Registration opens on Reformation Day of 2011, which is October 31st to you and me.

In other news, Lost And Found continues our regular lives of touring around the country and world, playing our little songs and hoping people will remember to call us up and invite us to come play in their towns. (Cue finger tapping you on the shoulder saying, "Hey, you live in a town, don't you?")

And maybe, just maybe, the piano guy will get his act together and start updating this blog more regularly. I wouldn't count on it if I were you, but we can always hope, right?

Getting you through summer (with acronymns)

2010-07-24T15:13:00.018-04:00

So, remember how I was promising to write more often? Well, I had my fingers crossed. Let us jump in, shall we?

Late April, I flew westward for my annual YNS meeting (which is an acronym, and you'll have to guess what it means). Then I met up with Michael at his house and we traveled w-a-y up north to North Hollywood, which is so far north it has "north" in its name. Had a great concert, and drove way back down over the mountain to Michael's house.

The following weekend, not having had enough of flying across the country, I flew back to California, and we drove north of North Hollywood to play in San Luis Obispo. (As you can imagine, none of those three words passes spellcheck.) Had a great afternoon concert in a cool-looking church. Then, we zipped up to Seattle, where we played in Poulsbo. (Which also does not pass the spellcheck test.) The next day we flew home.

Obviously, it was time to head south, so we flew to Houston so we could play a really fun concert in Conroe, being reunited with the fellow who hosted in the Ag Building in Geneva, Nebraska, which is probably where Michael got the idea for his daughter's name. I should remember to ask him sometime. (Plus, I wonder why they didn't call her Ag Building?) After that, we flew back home for a few days, I got a new tattoo, and then it was obviously time to hit the southeast, so we flew to Tennessee and played a concert in Johnson City, where everyone is named Johnson I think.

From there we drove over to Martinsville, VA (where everyone is named Martin, of course), and played a fun concert in the local theater. Super great hosts. Good crowd. Then a race to the airport to fly home again. Off for a couple of weeks, until we needed to get a little Nebraska fix, and flew to Omaha, then drove to Grand Island, where we played for the Nebraska Synod Assembly. Had a great time, and met a pastor who has been ordained for 75 years. Yes. 75 years. 75. Years. Three fourths of a century. Back when Pluto was a planet, and World War I didn't need a Roman numeral.

Then we were off forever. Or so it seemed. Not a lot of concerts get booked in June for some reason. Must have to do with the impending summer solstice. But have no fear, July is here!

To start the month right, we flew to Edmonton, which is in Alberta, to play at the LCC National Youth Gathering. (Another acronym you'll have to decipher on your own.) Had a great week with lots of people who all carry colorful money around. Since it was freezing cold to these timid southern fellows, we needed to get some warmer clothes. So . . . on July 4th, Michael and I went to The Bay (Canada's Department Store) and purchased official Olympic CANADA hoodies. Yes. On Independence Day. In Canada. Thus, it's obvious we can never run for president. And, as an aside, if this event were held a century or two earlier, these hoodies would've been made of beaver pelts, and purchased at the same store. However, on the extreme upside, the hosts gave us sparklers on July 4th, and 500 Canadians sang our national anthem to us. It was quite moving, actually, and I would show you the video, except that my camera seems to have been stolen by some Delta Airlines employee. Well, perhaps "stolen" is too harsh a word. Maybe they're just still inspecting it, right?

After a fantastic week in the True North, Strong and Relatively Inexpensive, it was time for us to ease our way down south to Montana, where we played for the Western States Region of the UCC (another acronym). Had a fantastic few days in Billings, including a brisk walk up the mountain to retrieve my cell phone from a rental car at the airport. While in town we also played a concert at a local Lutheran Church, which was fun and Montanan!

Back at the UCC event, I was able to record a fun version of our Lions song on the last day. I set my camera on the piano, and filmed away. Sitting in on the drum is our new friend Masankho, who lives in the San Francisco area, where the fog is in a hurry.

After Billings, I went home for a few days, and Michael rejoined his family on Geneva's First World Tour, currently in The Great Lakes State. Exactly halfway through July, Michael and I began the drive south. After about 1,000 miles, we arrived in New Orleans, where the YAV's (acronym alert) met us near the dumpsters and carried in our tons of stuff, out of the kindness of their hearts! (I'll tell you, the V stands for Volunteer, and that is exactly what they did.) The reason we had tons of stuff is because the organizers once more threw caution to the wind and invited us back to the LC-MS NYG! (That's a double acronym there! And the second is not a football team.)

We had an amazing (and busy) week in New Orleans. Played 12 times in three days, and every single concert was as fun as the next one. Met a couple new bands, and our friends Alathea, Echelon, and Tangled Blue were there, so it was kind of a band reunion week. After the YAV's helped us load everything back out, we began the drive north. Along the way, we golfed in Mississippi and Missouri, with the piano player having slightly better scores in the first LAF Summer Classic. Then we stopped in Jefferson City, had a great concert with a fun group of folks in front of a blue curtain, and then headed further west. Currently, we're sitting in a Starbucks in Kansas City, about to drive once again to Lamoni, IA, where we're expecting to have a Spectacular week!!!

Oh, bee tea dubs, I have a couple of announcements:

We're in the process of finalizing details for the Luther 500 Festival, to be held in Wittenberg, Germany! It promises to be an amazing week, with amazing people, in an amazing place, all to begin celebrating the 500th anniversary of Luther hammering on the door of a church. Check out the website for more details!

Also, you can follow us on Twitter, if you do such things. Our username is hengh, or you kind find us by using the e-mail address hengh@aol.com. Or, there's that button up there on your right you can click.

More later, you people you . . .

Some Midwest Action

2010-04-12T02:17:00.011-04:00

So, starting April 4th, Michael celebrated his first anniversary, our Lord rose from the grave, and the Yankees won two out of three against that other team: all was right in the world.

Having accomplished all that, Michael flew to Chicago, and I picked him up at Midway. From there we drove to Rockford, IL, where we had a very fine concert with some very fine peeps. From there, Gurnee, IL was next, and we felt fine afterward.

After that, we WauseOn'd in Oh-io, then drove to MadisOn after the concert. The next day, we stopped off in Reedsburg, WI to play at a school, and continued on to The Metroplex.

In the morning we played a high school, in the afternoon a K-8 school, and in the evening, a concert in a town called Fairbault. At the second school, our friend Joe was showing off the latest Metroplex accessory.

It seems that all the cool kids are doing it.

The next day we slept in a bit, and drove on up to St. Cloud, where we were reunited with our long-time friend, Jayne 1. Before the concert, she showed us around her church, and Michael enjoyed a large cup of coffee.

It seems all the cool kids are drinking it.

Anyway, they took us out to a fine differ afterward, and then we drove back to the Metroplex. On the way that night, we saw a most amazing sight, a glowing green light, a meteorite ! Apparently, there were no injuries or damage, but there were widespread reports of bad poetry outbreaks.

The next day we both flew home, Michael to his coastal state, and I to my midwestern one, where I celebrated tax day by taking in a rowdy Ben Folds concert downtown.

Next up . . . California.

Catching up with Depeche LAF

2010-03-22T19:22:00.017-04:00

So, if you're anything like me, you hate to update your blog between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. That's just the way life is. It's the time for hibernating, not updating. It's like Pete Seeger said in Ecclesiastes, right?

So, since you last heard from us, here's where we've been . . .

Houston, TX, Seguin, TX, Hickory, NC, St. Peter, MN, Moorhead, MN, Manitowoc, WI, Mequon, WI, Milwaukee, WI, Columbia, SC, Simsbury, CT, Flemington, NJ, Lansing, MI, Knoxville, TN, Carmichael, CA, Danville, CA, Asheville, NC, Sherrodsville, OH, Sacramento, CA, Philadelphia, PA, Florence, AL, Sheboygan, WI, Saukville, WI, Sheboygan, Falls, WI, Menasha, WI, Marshfield, WI, Jefferson, MD, Oberlin, OH, Oakdale, MN, Garden City, MI, Mayer, MN, St. Louis, MO, Peoria, IL, Charleston, IL

And then came the Spring Equinox, as I said. As you can see, we were hibernating over this time, so we basically stayed home. Michael bought new clothes for his daughter, and George learned that his kitten is now able to tear up everything, since she is all growed up and all. (And if Geneva is anything like Pippin, Michael better start hiding the hair-ties and pen caps now.)

More sooner, I promise . . .

george

Oh, October

2009-10-21T10:57:00.005-04:00

So, while still within the Octave of Geneva, we headed off to parts east. I drove the van across Pennsylvania (zzzzz) and Michael flew to NYC. We met up at the Life Church, where I used to provide music on Thursdays, and where Lost And Found provided music on this particular Friday. Not a huge turnout, but a huge amount of fun for us. We played lots of songs from the new album, several for the first time.

The next day we drove over to Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, and then drove back to Long Island until the next morning when we headed to the airport to fly to Los Angeles, so I could meet Geneva. Well, I guess that's not why we went, but it was definitely a highlight for me, if not for her. Then at night we played the first of three National Youthworker Conventions, hosted by our friends at Youth Specialties.

Michael flew back to NYC the next weekend and got the van, then met me in Baltimore. We played a couple of concerts at Ft. Lee Army base, which were great fun, and quite an honor to do. (And, in passing, if your band is looking for roadies, you cannot do better than playing on a military base. Among the many talents of the enlisted men and women is loading a vanload of sound equipment in approximately 30 seconds!) As you can see in the photo, a picnic of soldiers looks a little different than your family gathering.

After being discharged from the base, we headed north to play once more with our friends Agape and Rachel Kurtz, this time in Gettysburg. The world will little note nor long remember our concert there, but we had great fun in a packed house. Er, chapel, I mean.

From there, we went to my house, and Michael flew home. A few days later, we joined up with Agape and Rachel in Lansing, Michigan [come on, let's Michigan, like we did last summer . . .]. Actually, I got there just fine, but Michael's flight through the night (commonly called a "red-eye") was seriously delayed, causing him to miss connections, etc etc. Eventually, he walked in just about exactly in time for us to play our part in the night's lineup. Phew.

The next night we played in huge room with a great sound-system crew in Kenosha, Wisconsin at Carthage College. From there, we all raced westward so we could play in Decorah, Iowa, at Luther College. Had another great time in a great auditorium, and all headed home, and this particular band took a weekend off. The End.

For Unto (half of) Us, A Child Is Born!

2009-09-21T20:53:00.006-04:00

So, in the last round of gigs, Michael met me in Chicago, and we played a really fun concert for the folks at Concordia University, thereabouts. (Note to self: you can always get a bigger crowd when your concert is held on Parents' Weekend. Kind of a captive audience.)

Following that, I took Michael to the airport so he could go home early. (The reason for that will be clear in a moment.) The next two nights, I played our portion of the gigs with our pals Agape' and Rachel Kurtz. There were really fun (for me), but I don't think I'd want to make a habit of it. In other words, don't be looking for any solo career out of this piano player. Maybe at some point (if I figure out the technology) I'll post some mp3's from those unusual gigs.

But on to more important matters . . .

So, on September 18th, Geneva Layne Bridges was born at home in Los Angeles. There are stats about length and weight, but really, what do those mean when you think about it, right?

The important thing is that she was born healthy, and the parents are filled with nothing but joy.

And those pictures are worth 2,000 words, if I remember my cliche's correctly. Thus, this is the longest and happiest blog posting you're going to be getting out of this erstwhile blogger!

later,

george

It Is HERE!!!

2009-09-16T07:35:00.004-04:00

Okay, we couldn't resist. With all the possibilities, calling our new album "HERE" seemed the right thing to do.

However, it also seems an appropriate name for reasons beyond the ever-expanding opportunities for humor.

HERE was recorded before and after concerts while on tour over the course of a few weekends. That meant, prior to playing a concert, we would set up my laptop, fire up the Protools, and lay down as many tracks as we could each night.

The result is not the smoothest-sounding recording we've ever had. (See if that thought doesn't scare you away!) On the contrary, the sound of HERE is just what it is. And in this virtual-world way of doing things, where I write to you on my computer and then post it on a server somewhere in . . . well, who knows where?. . . an opportunity to focus on HERE is perhaps just a little bit subversive in some ways.

Moreover, in this world of auto-tune, professional studio musicians, professional songwriting teams, and lip-syncing, I like to think there's something to be said for going back to recording like Jackson Brown might.

So, like I say, it's a bit more raw than the other albums you will hear this year, but HERE is actually here. It's us; no smoke and mirrors and studio tricks. If you are familiar with our previous albums, you'll know that we've never put much money and effort into the perfect recording. Our emphasis from the beginning has been on the live concert, where the people are. In a sense, if you are HERE, and we are HERE, then we're exactly where we want to be.

Check out the new album, and come see us on tour when we're in your area.

Wherever you are, it's always HERE, right?

george

Later that same year . . .

2009-09-03T21:05:00.006-04:00

So, guess what? We didn't fall off the edge of the earth, that's what! Isn't that cool? Yeah, we thought you'd think so.

However, what has been happening in the past few months seems to have been taking a whole lot of Lost And Found's time. Let's see, from where we left off, it was April, I believe. Half the band had become married, and half the band preached a sermon, and the whole band enjoyed themselves so much that they forgot to update this blog thing for months on end. Since it would be overwhelming to try and tell you everything that happened, I will just blaze through and give you the basic overview . . .

After the wedding, Jesus rose from the dead. Then we played Saginaw, Chelsea, and South Haven Michigan, then Plano Texas (not too fancy, mind you). In May, we played Ann Arbor, I was honored as a "Distinguished Alumnus" by my Alma Mater (I'm guessing they're going in alphabetical order), we played Excelsior and St. Paul Minnesota, and Little Rock, Arkansas. A Few days later, I graduated from school. They gave me a diploma in Latin. It looks really nice, but I can't read it. Apparently one of the courses I should have taken was Latin.

Then we played in St Louis, and called May finished.

The next month turned out to be June, so we headed off to the appropriate gigs. First up was Ft. Wayne Indiana, followed by St. Joseph Michigan. Then I drove the first round of stuff from our apartment to our new duplex in Ohio and unloaded same. Had my own ontological change ceremony. Then we played in Florence Alabama, then Bellevue, Chagrin Falls, Westerville and Groveport, which are all in Ohio. From there, Cowen West Virginia. Then my wife and I went to see Waiting for Godot. With June coming to an end, I rented yet another truck, my family and friends helped us load our final possessions into said truck, and we headed west, into the Ohio sunset.

Which meant, it was July. Within an hour of arriving at our new house, the cat died. This is what is called an inauspicious start. Then with boxes piled high in our home, I headed off on tour. We played the July gigs, which were Washington DC, Wichita (kin about), and Knoxville. Then Michael represented at a party in honor of our old pal Tic, and I unpacked a box or two. Then we spent a few excellent days in New Orleans, and drove to Lamoni, Iowa. From there, we drove to Minneapolis and flew home, where I played at a wedding, Michael performed one, and Troy did as well. It was Wacky Wedding Weekend!

Then came August. After a week at camp with my family, I flew to Colorado, where Michael met me and we played Estes Park, Loveland, and Littleton. From there we went to Minneapolis, where we took Troy out for a lovely dinner in honor of his 10 years with us. Then we had a swing through Nebraska, playing Lincoln, Norfolk, and Grand Island. Then I flew home, and Michael golfed his way to Minneapolis. We met up in Albany, where we played at THE First Lutheran Church in North America. Yeah, I know! Then we had a week off, until we zipped over (or down) to Texas to play in Flower Mound, and flew back home.

And you know what that meant? Of course . . . September.

So, see, it isn't that much to cover when all you do is list the places, right? I'm hoping to get more consistent with updating, now that the move is finished and the cat has been replaced. (Of course, there is no replacing Manny, I'm just saying.)

A few notes of housekeeping:

1) We have no created an actual profile on Facebook, since the groups and fan page stuff seems like too much work. Thus, if you want to befriend us, search for LostAnd Found. (It had to be written that way, since Facebook is all clever and stuff.)

2) We're well into booking dates in the Spring of 2010 in earnest. (Which sounds like the name of a town in Texas.) So, if you've been thinking about contacting us, now is the time. You can write to us at lafbooking@aol.com, or call us at 419.897-9792.

3) We have been recording tracks for a new album before and after concerts for the last month. It makes for some chaotic pre-concert racing around, but just this afternoon I laid down one piano solo on a song, meaning all the tracks are now recorded. The new album will be HERE sometime this month. Details can be found at the website, once we have some details. Meantime, I've got some mixing to do.

4) We trust that you are rocking on.

george

the best wedding ever

2009-04-14T08:43:00.006-04:00

George Baum
4/4/2009
The Wedding of Michael and Lalanya
Colossians 3:14-16
Matthew 5:13-15

As I’m sure you all know, Michael spent much of the past two years working on the campaign to elect Barack Obama. 22 months of volunteering. Maybe because Michael believed in that message of hope. Maybe, just . . . because. Along the way, he met lots of interesting people. Among those people was Joe Biden. I once saw a fantastic photograph of Michael shaking Joe Biden’s hand, and Lalanya is in the background, having just been introduced to the future vice president. The shocked look on Lalanya’s face in that picture tells the story.

When Michael introduced Lalanya to Joe Biden, the Senator’s first words were, “Holy Mackerel! Look at those eyes!” It seems Lalanya never heard anything else he said, because she spent the rest of the night asking people, “Who says Holy Mackerel? I mean, what kind of person says ‘Holy Mackerel’?” She had just met Joe Biden, the future vice president of the United States of America, who paid her quite a compliment, but the distracting thing—the thing that really gets your attention—is, “what kind of person says ‘Holy Mackerel’?”

This afternoon, Michael and Lalanya will look into one another’s eyes and say, “I do.” (Holy Matrimony.) They will stand here, surrounded by all of us, promising to remain faithful to one another, to support one another, to live out their lives as husband and wife. Two people promising to swim against the tide of our culture of separation and divorce, daring to make a go of this thing we call “marriage.” And, if we’re honest, we are all secretly asking ourselves, “Holy Matrimony? What kind of person says ‘Holy Matrimony’?” What kind of people gather together their friends and family and say, “We commit ourselves and our lives to one another?”

Oh, sure, we know the kind of person who races off to Vegas, and gets divorced 48 hours later. And we’re familiar with marriages of convenience, or passion, or youthful indiscretion. And on the other end, we’re familiar with people who choose not to buy into the system of marriage, because it is outdated. Or those who cannot get married, because they happen to fall in love with the “wrong” type of person, or don’t live in Iowa . . . of all places!

But the question is this: who gets everyone together for a big party and actually means it? What kind of person looks into the eyes of their beloved, and says, “Holy Matrimony?” . . . What kind of person does that?

The kind of person who has hope. A promise to remain together until the end has to be rooted in hope. Real hope. Because statistically, it doesn’t make sense. To sit down and reason it out, nobody would ever get married. To do what we are gathered here to do this day requires hope. And the only reason we can have hope is because we trust that this is all going to be all right. Somehow, this is going to work out. We mark this day with a joyous celebration, because—as we heard in the reading from Matthew—a light is shining in the darkness. Because you are living out God’s promise, and you are the light of the world. You are a city built on a hill. Let your light so shine, and let the strings so play, and let the food and drink so flow, that everyone will know that today is different. We mark this day, dedicated to hope for the future.

Now obviously, every day will not be like this. Even here in southern California, a little rain must fall. Michael and Lalanya will change over time. Their relationship will change. These two know that they won’t be eating every meal here at the arboretum in fancy clothes. Hope can only take you so far. There will be hard times, when their spines get all “out of joint.” Times when they will view one another as a pain in the neck. And as Lalanya well knows, adjustment is what will put things back in place. Adjustment is like forgiveness. Putting things back in right relationship. What Lalanya does with her training and her hands, God does with relationships. Restoring to wholeness. We can dare to hope that things will work out because we dare to trust that there is restoration and forgiveness.

We, as people, are built for relationships. And our relationships are built on love. When we make our feeble promises of fidelity and forever, we are promising to try to love like God loves. Forever. Our strongest love for one another is a reflection of God’s unending love for us. A love that knows no limit, respects no boundaries, and stops at nothing to reclaim this world. God loves you—no matter what. God loves you, whether you promise and fail . . . or fail ever to promise at all.

That’s the kind of love we all look for in our partners. Unconditional. Forever. Not merely to be loved, but to be fully and completely known . . . and yet, somehow, still be loved.
God calls all of us into committed relationships, knowing full well that our brokenness may break those bonds. God lights the fire of love in us, again and again, regardless of the result. God is not jaded by failure. God does not listen to common sense. God does not give up on anyone, ever. God has lit, is lighting, and will continue to light the lamp of love in your heart. You are the light of the world.

But that is impossible for us to believe. Common sense and sanity tell us to give up. We’re tired of the pain, and the heartache, and things not working out. Get out the bushel basket and put out the light . . . .

But today, in Lalanya and Michael we see a different message. Today they stand before us, promising to seek a different result. A better world. A brighter light. They are announcing their intention to throw off the bushel basket. They promise to live in love, for better or worse. They promise to stay together, in rich times and poor. Rooted in hope; committed to adjustment.
So, will this time be different? Will this marriage hold as long as they both shall live? We hope so. They hope so! And we all go forward in that hope.

But no matter what happens in 10, 20, or 100 years, it’s really going to be all right.
Because of what God has already done, we can face the future with hope that things are going to be different. As Julian of Norwich says, all things shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. Love is God’s insane plan of hope for our jaded, broken world. And along this journey, God embraces each of us; God embraces every relationship built on love.

And because of that embrace, Michael and Lalanya reach out today to embrace one another in a new way. And that sacred embrace is just the kind of thing that can make a person say, “Holy Mackerel!”

I think we're in Kansas, Toto.

2009-03-27T10:37:00.010-04:00

So, this entry will take you back a bit. The whole idea of going to a blog as opposed to a monthly newsletter was so that I wouldn't fall behind. But, now that we've sprung ahead into spring, I will catch you up on the doings of us. Um, the doings of we? Who knows? It's so hard to pick your pronouns when you're matching them up with colloquial phrases that don't really make for good sentence structure, don't we think?

Back to Kansas . . . home of the band, of the same name. Michael flew in a day early and drove a million miles from Detroit to pick me up in Kansas City. Once he got me, it was just another 5,000 miles out to Sterling, where we were pleased to have been invited back to play at the aptly named, Sleepless in Sterling event. Before we get there, in case you have never been to Kansas, I felt I should give you a few photos to give you a sense of it:

As you can see, Kansas is the place where they grow the fabric that brown suits and blankets are made from.

And, Michael and I finally have photographic evidence that the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

And then, we arrived in Sterling.

I don't know what they mean by POE at this motel, but I'm hoping it's not this guy. Cause, after all, he's scrary. AND, he's been dead for a long time.

Anyway, there at Sleepless in Sterling, they asked that we do a lot more than play music, and we happily delivered a series of talks, or led the small groups, or both actually. I had ample opportunity to display my artistic talents, as you can see in my rendering of the Kingdom of God.

AND, we found that the building we were playing in was dedicated to an important member of the community. Now maybe it's how I framed the photo, but that last qualification doesn't really seem like it belongs in a plaque at a Christian College.

Anyway, we had a great weekend and, when it was over on Sunday, we drove approximately 3,000 miles back to Minneapolis, so that we could fly out in the morning, which we did.

From there, I had a bizarre set of flights that took me through Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia on my way home. But it was worth it, since I made it over another hurdle.

Now, ordinarily, the post would end there. However, being all far behind like this, we press on. The next weekend, Michael and I flew to Minneapolis, got the van, and drove eastward into Wisconsin. In case you have never been to Wisconsin, since I didn't get any photos, I will provide with a visual here.

Saturday night, we played in Mosinee, which i think comes from the French phrase meaning "my friend." Played in the local high school there, and had a great time. The local worship band from the next morning played a set before ours, and they were quite awesome. The next morning, we played some songs during worship in Steven's Point (advantage Steven) at the local college ministry chapel, which is where the local worship band from the night before plays. Would have been nice to stick around, but we had some high tailing to do to get to the evening's concert, which was in a brand new Lutheran High School in Hartland, Wisconsin. Though they spell the word "heart" incorrectly in their town name, they have built one beautiful High School.

After that concert, we headed over to a hotel near the Milwaukee airport. In the morning we flew home, and that was the end of that short weekend.

Though I could continue, the next weekend deserves its own post, so I am going to stop for now and make you wonder, "Huh?"

Back in Ohio Again (All the doors I closed one time will open up again)

2009-03-17T10:14:00.007-04:00

It's music week around here because . . . well, because I decided it was. No pictures, just lots of interesting musical links. (Facebook readers are advised to go here, for full visual stimulation.)

So, we were able to leave our homes fairly late, in the scheme of things, and fly back to Detroit, where you may recall I left the van. After finding same, we headed off south and east, passing over that new bridge in Toledo, past the town where I got married, then off toward roller coaster heaven. (Which is where roller coasters go when they die, I guess.)

Arrived at the secret location for the youth gathering, and had the second of two consecutive Lutheran middle school events. Again with the pirate theme, again with the Bob Lenz speaker, and again with the great time had by all. It was deja vu all over again, except a lot bigger than the first time.

Met some very interesting people, many of whom will be my new neighbors in just a few months. But no time to stick around being neighborly. because we had to race on over to Jackson, MI for a concert. We were relieved to find out that the MI stand for Michigan and not Mississippi. Not that we've got anything against the Magnolia State, it's just that we would have missed the concert.

Got to Jackson about an hour before the concert, so it was a race to set up. Had a good workout carrying stuff up the ramps, but we were all set up about 15 minutes before the opening chord, so it was no problem. It was a beautiful church, right downtown, and the mosaics were all done by a previous pastor. Wish we'd had time to stick around and get some photos and stuff, but we had to race off right away to make some flights out of Detroit.

I dropped Michael off, parked the van, and we both made our flights home. A simple weekend, came to an end, with nary a hitch. Next weekend, however, will be filled with challenges. But meantime, I've got to go to class. Rock on, people who read blogs.

St. Louis and Ohio

2009-03-10T16:13:00.012-04:00

I begin with my usual disclaimer to Facebook readers that the blog looks better here. I'm just saying.

So on Thursday, we headed for St. Louis. Well, technically, Michael left on Wednesday night, but he arrived on Thursday, same as me. Or, I guess I mean same as I. Or, based on what the flight attendants say, I think I mean, "Michael arrived on Thursday, the same as on behalf of myself."

That afternoon, we played for a large group of area Lutheran students, that being National Lutheran Schools week. (Who knew, right?) I don't know that we were much help in "securing each student's future," but we were happy to play our songs for them, and they seemed to tolerate us just fine. Later that night, we played a concert in the same room, and some long-time friends from Spec and elsewhere.

The next morning, we headed off for parts east, driving across the On-Behalf-of-Myself states (Illinois and Indiana) and arriving in southwest Ohio. We were actually headed for Mason, which is Cincinnati adjacent. Continuing with our Lutheran theme, we were there to play for a Lutheran youth gathering, which we did. We were psyched to find that the speaker for the weekend was none other than our long-time pal, Bob Lenz. Had a great time, celebrating the pirate theme, but i never have been able to get the hang of those pirate eyepatch things.

Sunday afternoon, we raced off to the east, looking for a place called Crooksville, Ohio. Since we got to town early, we decided to make a stop at the National Ceramic Museum, which we saw in our Atlas, and which was right on our way to Crooksville. We realize that neither of us is exactly a big fan of ceramics, but, you know, it would be interesting just to see what kind of stuff one finds at the National Ceramic Museum. We figured there would be gift shop, and all sorts of interesting things.

We were surprised to find so much parking available.

We thought the entrance seemed a litte unkempt. But, hey, these are artists, not landscapers.

We wondered about the orange pieces of paper that were stuck in the door.

Perhaps some kind of brochure? An explanation of the displays currently on exhibit?

Um, so . . . It seems maybe the National Ceramic Museum isn't exactly operational just now. Possibly, if you're a fan of ceramics, you can help them out.

Anyway, we went on to the town of Crooksville, where we were playing. When we got to the church, we were a little concerned to see this sign out front, given that we were playing there in March.

Turned out, we had the wrong church. Our spirits lifted when we found the right Methodist church, where we found people instead of birds that had expired standing up, like this one at the ironically named "New Hope."

As I say, the real concert location was much nicer, and the hosts were fantastic. Had a good concert, but then had to race on north and west to the Toledo area, where we slept briefly in a hotel, before heading north to the Detroit Airport, where I dropped off Michael, parked the van, and then returned to the airport for my own flight home.

On behalf of myself, here ends the missive,

Back at It

2009-03-02T09:10:00.019-05:00

So, if you're reading this on Facebook, I think it looks better at the actual location, which you can find here. I'm just saying.

First off, a little cleaning up the piles of stuff around your apartment can yield all sorts of interesting things. Take this picture, for intance:

After several weekends off (which explains why I tried to straighten up my random piles of stuff), Michael and I were pleased to join together in Maryland for some concerts this weekend. (We were particularly pleased in that Troy was willing to be the one to drive the van from Minneapolis to Washington to pick us up.) We met at the airport in the late afternoon, and raced off into Maryland. Given the name, I thought we were going to a nice hotel, but it turns out there's a town in the Old Line State called Waldorf. Set up for a nice concert, and had one, as a matter of fact. Michael sat in for the receptionist since the desk was empty that night.

The local ELCA Bishop offered a plausible explanation of Maryland's nickname, and we accepted his proposal. (And it certainly beat that time when someone told us that Wapakoneta came from the Native-American term for "white pants.") The pastor at the church in Waldorf had all manner of interesting toys, and we had great fun playing with the flying suacer thing. Who says church isn't fun, right?

Turns out the church in Waldorf was planning to add on to their building. A special kind of addition, as you can see here:

Anyway, we had a fun concert in Waldorf, and afterward drove north into Pennsylvania.

The next afternoon, we found our way to the Toftrees Golf Resort (talk about your white pants!) to play for a group of enthusiastic folks from the Allegheny Synod who were gathering for a gathering. This was a lot of fun, for us anyway. But we had to race on out of town to get to Dillsburg, which is Harrisburg adjacent. The folks at the BIC Church there were doing a 30-hour famine event, and they asked us to play a concert at the end of it. (I guess the theory being that after 30 hours without food, they were all worn down to the point that they could take a Lost And Found concert.)

Had a great time, and headed back to the hotel for a brief rest before getting up early to play during worship in Neffs, PA, which is near . . . uh . . . well, it's kind of not near anything as far as we could tell. Or, mainly, what it's not near is an exit off the 476. Got a little lost on the way to worship, but we did eventually find the church and made for a quick set up. The church people had set up a stage in front of the chancel, which was somewhat unusual, I must say, but served our purposes quite well. I did notice that the pulpit had a conveniently located thermostat.

As you can see, the preacher can reach down during the sermon and make adjustments as needed. I'll bet that's particularly helpful when people are getting drowsy and she can turn it down to, say, 55 or so.

After worship, we had a few hours off, and then it was time for the concert. The opening band, called SWiM were really quite excellent.

The hosts turned out a huge crowd, and we had a great concert. Afterward, Michael used the Slinky Phone from Waldorf to spend a little time with Jesus. From there, it was time to go our separate ways. Troy got back in the van and headed off to St. Louis. Michael and I got in the rental car and headed east for my place in New York. Unfortunately, Michael's flght was cancelled for some reason, but that gave him time to clean off the car to get to the airport.

I would've helped, but I was busy taking pictures with my phone. Since I didn't receive a panicked call from Michael after he left, I'm assuming he found JFK alright and is currently somewhere over the Miidwest at 30,000 feet. So, now we have a couple days off, until we gather back up and find where Troy left the van.

And speaking of Troy, if you're interested in getting a free copy of one of the Slide Girl recordings from this weekend (or any other weekend, for that matter) you can e-mail him at troy@speedwood.com.

10 Days Make One Week

2009-01-31T15:51:00.023-05:00

So, Michael finished up with the swearing in Washington and drove westward, back to Ohio. Thursday night, I went out to Long Island where I played piano for The Life Church, which had its first worship service (which I would link you to if only they had a website). Then, on Friday, I flew to Dayton, by way of Detroit. And you're asking. "Who even knew that Dayton had an airport?" I know, right? Since then, several people have told me that Dayton obviously has an airport, since the Wright brothers were from there--but I think they were from Akron. In either case, I know they aren't from North Carolina. (All first-in-flight claims to the contrary.)

So, we drove to the YMCA Camp, in Oregonia, OH. The SOSLYO was going on, and they allowed us to play a couple of songs here and there during their event. Of course, the first thing one has to do at a youth gathering is decorate the room. In this case, the organizers handed decorations to the youth and asked them to have at it, which they certainly did.

Also, while at the camp, Michael showed-off his unique ability to capture the sun and hold it in his hand.

Of course, just like Harry Caray, Michael's favorite planet is the sun. But I don't know how he can take all that heat on his hand, personally. All that heat would have served us well after leaving our time in Oregonia, since we were headed north. And I do mean north. Dakota north, in fact, as in North Dakota. But I am getting ahead of myself.

So we drove north, as I say, and stopped off in Maumee, my former place of residence. I went to a Vestry meeting, and Michael went to the gym. (I always take the easy way out.) Then we drove to Chicago, to get some sleep. The next day we drove to Minneapolis, which was like our base camp for the final ascent into the tundra. Troy invited us to stay at his grandmother's house since she was out of town--you know, like when we recorded our cd, Pronto. In the morning, we headed out across Minnesota.

Since it was Troy's birthday, we really splurged and bought him a coffee mug. I know, we are really some nice guys, huh?

Also, since it was Troy's birthday, when we stopped to switch places in the van, he decided to run over to a nearby snowdrift.

Unfortunately, that first step's a doozy.

That's Troy's head sticking up over the edge of the road there. I didn't get the descent into the glacier, but I was able to capture Troy's victorious finish of having climbed out to safety. We traveled on to Bismarck, where we were pleased to play with our friends, Tangled Blue, who sound better than ever. Though we would have loved to hang around, we had to head back to Fargo, since there were no rooms at the inns of Bismarck. (If you're thinking that makes us like Jesus, it really makes us more like Mary and Joseph, except neither of is pregnant, though there is a census coming up next year.) Anyway, the drive back to Fargo was seriously slow and dangerous, since blowing snow does not take the night off.

Arriving in Fargo, we checked into our hotel and slept soundly. The next day, we drove the short distance up to Grand Forks. You know you're out in it when you see signs like these:

At some point, looking at the map, I realized that Bismarck is closer to LA than to NYC. Which probably surprises no one except me. But back to Grand Forks. The room we played is something called the Chester Fritz Auditorium. As you can see, you could fit a person or two in this room.

I went up to the very top balcony and took a picture of Michael down on the stage.

It makes me laugh to think how many people it would take to make this room seem crowded. So, though we were playing for about 800 confirmands, they didn't even fill the first floor. As I say, big room. Of course, confirmands are typically smaller than adults, so maybe that has something to do with it.

We had a great time, and the crew at the venue were among the nicest we've worked with--and we've worked with some nice crews. After the load out, it was time to begin the seriously long night's journey into day, if I may paraphrase Eugene. In order to make our crack of dawn flights, we drove from Grand Forks to Minneapolis, where we spent a couple hours at Troy's house until he kindly drove us to the airport. I was asleep before the plane took off, and when I woke up I found myself at 10,000 feet with my seatbelt off, and my cell phone on. Thanks Delta. I switched the status of both things and settled in.

Michael and I met-up in New Orleans, and two nice guys from Charlotte gave us a ride to the hotel. We had to spend a little time adjusting to the change in our environment. After our nordic plunge, New Orleans seemed quite toasty and urban.

We were in New Orleans to play at the annual Extravaganza (which is a spare vaganza, I think). We've played in New Orleans many times over the years, but you never know what you're going to see on your random walk outside your hotel. For instance, the second night, two buses pulled up in fornt of hotel, and a full-size marching band unloaded onto the sidewalk, where they warmed up before coming into the hotel and filing up the escalator, like so many business travelers.

We had lots of fun at the Extravaganza, and ran into all sorts of folks we've known for years. Among the highlights of our time there was watching our friend, Agape' (Dave Scherer) receive the Hunstad Award for his ministry among youth.

In response, Dave did his signature beat-box-singing combo, which is always impressive.

Later that night, Michael and I were sitting in the lobby when a bunch of clowns came in and stood around chatting, like so many business travelers.

Michael went over to get a better look, and I couldn't help but notice there was something oddly familiar about the whole scene . . .

The next morning, we played a few songs before worship, and then Erin was kind enough to whisk me off to the airport, since Delta had told me I could get an earlier flight. Of course, once I got to the counter, they had no seats on any earlier flights. Psych! So now I sit around the New Orleans airport for 5 hours, and will be flying during the entirety of the Superbowl. Thanks Delta. I want my little Northwest Airlines back now, please. At least they didn't lose my luggage yet. Of course, that's because they won't let me check in until 3 hours before the flight.

For now, Michael and I have a few weeks off, so I probably won't be writing again until March. Rock on, you people you.

A Long Journey (if you're Michael's luggage)

2009-01-24T14:45:00.012-05:00

So, for this weekend, I flew to Siberia (which sometimes goes by the name "Detroit,") and got the van from the airport parking ramp, where it was a pleasant 4 below. I know people in Minnesota laugh at such warm temperatures, but I do not live in Minnesota, and thus I was not laughing. In fact, with my eyes watering, it was more like crying. However, I was able to collect the frozen teardrops and put them in my pocket as emergency fluid in case I should suffer some roadside mishap.

Point being, I got the van and drove it south to Cincinnati, in preparation to meet Michael in Knoxville the next day. However, just as I was about to leave town in the morning, I got a text from him saying that his flight had to return to Los Angeles and make an emergency landing. Everyone was fine, but he rebooked on a flight to Cincinnati. Which meant, I now had about 5 hours to kill in Porkopolis. It occured to me to go to the Cincinnati Museum Center, which I did.

I now know more about Cincinnati than the next guy.

For example, they kill some beautiful birds in that town.

Also, I learned that polar bears want to hug you.

Or maybe they want to box you. Or maybe just high-five you. It's hard to know, exactly, since there are so many polar bears in Cincinnati that my small survey is relatively inconclusive.

Anyway, Michael did make it to Cincinnati, and I happily met him at the airport. However, nobody seemed to know where his luggage might be. Then we raced off to the right--I mean, east--and arrived in Asheville precisely five minutes before we were scheduled to play. Well, actually, we arrived at the gate sometime before that, and the security guard helpfully gave us the complicated directions to get to the camp, which is apparently somewhere deep inside the compound of the Billy Graham Cove place. (You've got to wonder about a place called the "Billy Graham Training Center." I mean, how can you possibly have an entire compound dedicated to training Billy Graham? I think he knows his stuff by now, don't you?)

Fortunately, the participants were there for the night, and they patiently waited while we set up the sound stuff. We had a great time, and we were sad to leave. But we had to move it on down the line, as they say. Michael found out that his luggage had gone from LA, then to Denver, then to Chicago, where they took it off the plane, refusing to take it anywhere else until he called them, which he was doing at the time. He asked them to send his stuff to Raleigh. (More on that later.)

The next day we made the short drive to Newton, NC, where we played in a warehouse. Interesting venue, and certainly a creative use of space.

We had a great time, and then drove off to Raleigh. Along the way, Michael got a call from the baggage department at the Raleigh Airport, trying to confirm his address in California, so they could send his luggage back to his house. He was able to talk them into holding onto his luggage, and we drove directly to the airport to pick up his clothes and guitar, now that the weekend's concerts were complete.

In the morning, Michael dropped me at the Raleigh airport so I could fly home, and he headed off to Washington because there was somebody swearing, or something like that. I got home and rested for a couple days, then headed back to the airport . . . but that's your next installment.

The Year Ends, or Year's End

2009-01-12T13:58:00.010-05:00

So, to finish off the year, Michael and I headed for our Nation's Capital. The Brethren in Christ were kind enough to invite us back to their YQ event, and we know a good invitation when we see one. I didn't really take many pictures this weekend, so the final blog of the year is kind of texty, or actually, kind of linky.

Had a great time playing music, leading workshops, visiting with Pete, and generally having a huge great time. We met folks from Cuba and Canada, plus the United States. (I have heard that the reason Canadian candy bars are so good is that they get their sugar from Cuba. But I have also heard that the high school years are the best time of your life. And that toilets in the southern hemisphere spin the other way. Plus I have heard that Guns N Roses would release "Chinese Democracy.")

Over the course of the weekend, we met lots of people, as I say. After several great days, we headed home. I went to Union Station in DC and sat for a long time, trying to stay awake until I could board the train for my first Amtrak trip. Interestingly, that route (from Washington to New York) could be called "Amtrak's Tour of Cities Past Their Prime." Now let's be clear, it's a tour of the parts of town that are next to the train tracks, so I'm sure there are real nice parts of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and so forth on the other side of the tracks.

So I got home, and my family and I rang in the New Year by watching the nationally televised events taking place 20 blocks north. I mean, why leave your apartment when they bring such distant events right into your living room? And, this way we got to see the Ting Tings, who make us all happy in an 80's kind of way. Oddly, when we woke up the next day, all our calendars were out of date, so we had to replace them. Plus, we had to account for that extra second. It was a really busy morning.

The following week I had to take some exams that I hope you never have to take. I don't really want to talk about them, but it took all week, and I am still tired. Anyway, this post got us to 2009, and that's about all one can ask.

More later in the year . . .

Christmas Off The Starboard Bow!

2008-12-22T00:30:00.016-05:00

Christmas is coming. (I suppose that's a phrase you can utter 364 days of the year.) But with the advent of Christmas, Lost And Found plays a few Christmas Concerts each year, and this year was no exception. You'll recall (or will read below) that our first weekend took us out to Seattle for just one concert. We made up for the shortage of concerts that weekend by extending the weekend this week. (We're very pro-labor in this little band, it seems. Of course, a longer weekend doesn't mean a shorter work week if you only work on weekends. Perhaps we need to lobby for a longer work week and a shorter weekend. We are so out of step sometimes.)

Enough blabbering. We began the weekend on Tuesday, by playing a Christmas show at The Life Church, in Westbury, NY. This show was different from the first show, and the line-up included Lost And Found (duh), Famous Actor Justin Vetrano, The Amazin' Jazon, and Agape Dave Scherer. We had a tremendous turnout, and a really great show. Famous Actor Justin Vetrano had recently been doing some renovations on the building, and put all his tools away in time to welcome the crowd. As you can see in this photo, the folks at The Life have a real knack for squeezing people into small spaces.

The next morning, Agape flew home, and the rest of us headed out to Long Island. Or, that is, further out on Long Island. We played at the aptly named St. James Church in St. James. This show was different from the previous two shows, in that it was just Lost And Found and Famous Actor Justin Vetrano. Had a great time and saw lots of long-time friends. Then I dropped Michael off at Justin's house and drove back to The City.

The next day, being Thursday, our weekend continued, and the three of us met up at LaGuardia to fly to St. Louis, which we did. Troy and the Amazin' Jazon met us in St. Louis, and off we went to regroup for the morning. On Friday, we set up early and played a small version of the show for the local school at the church where we played that night. Famous Actor Justin Vetrano added a new character to the lineup, which was great fun. (And I learned the valuable lesson that kids pay attention to anyone who throws candy at them while talking. In this way, children are like seals and dolphins. But not in many other ways.)

That evening's Christmas Show was different from the three previous Christmas Shows in that the lineup included us, Famous Actor Justin Vetrano, the Amazin' Jazon, and our pals, Alathea, who were awesome as always. Lots of people came to the show, and the group from Waterloo, IL did their famous rap, broken foot and all. It's always entertaining to travel with someone who brings along costumes, and in the afternoon, we spent some time having a Christmas Character Fashion Show.

After the nightly dose of the Amazin' Jazon's pasta preparations, it was time to bust up the group. In the morning, everyone left except for Troy and us, and we headed west into Deep Missouri.

We ended our westward trek in Columbia, and we were happy to arrive. This show was different from the four previous Christmas Shows in that it wasn't a Christmas Show at all. Just a Lost And Found concert. Our friend Jamie provided a great room to play in, and we had a very interesting concert. I can't remember how it came about, but for some reason we told people to text their song requests to us. It became as much a social experiment as concert, since all sorts of new considerations came into play (anonymity of texters, and the judge's secrecy to ignore the unwanted ones). Maybe I'll write a doctoral thesis on the evening. Or maybe I'll just drink another cup of coffee.

Then the three of us made the long journey back to St. Louis. In the morning, Michael drove off toward Chicago, and Troy and I flew home to our respective homes, at which we all arrived safely. Though I did have the experience of landing at LaGuarida on the over-water approach and hearing the "wind sheer" alert coming from the cockpit. That will get your blood pumping, as they say. (Which is not to say it is a human heart. I just mean it upped the adrenilyne level in the cabin.)

Anyway, now we're all home. Or somewhere like it. I've got to get to packing to fly out to meet my family. (But, shhh, don't tell the cat. He gets a little vocal when he senses everyone's leaving him.) I thought I would leave you with a couple pictures to show you how we get our Christmas trees in New York. It's probably a little different in your neighborhood, but we use a lot less lights.

Merry Christmas!

It Never Rains in Seattle

2008-12-14T15:50:00.013-05:00

Have you ever met anyone from Seattle? If so, you probably noticed they had moss growing on them. Of course, I jest. As everyone from Seattle knows, it never rains there. It only rains when we're there . . . and we only go a couple times a year. Like this past weekend for instance. And even this weekend, it didn't rain the whole time we were there; some of the time we were there, it snowed instead.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Thursday night, I went out to Lawn Guy Land and stayed with Famous Actor, Justin Vetrano. He and I got up before God and headed for the airport. It had been raining for about 48 hours in New York, so my sneakers were completely soaked when I got on the plane to Seattle (which, of course, was perfect). Justin and I flew to Seattle, where Michael was waiting for us, having got up before God in the Pacific time zone, 3 hours after God got up on the east coast. (I'm assuming God has to get up in every time zone.) Then, with Michael, Justin, God and I all awake and ready, we met up with our friends Gretchen and Rachel, and headed off in search of food and coffee. Finding those, we headed to the church, for the first installment of the 10th annual Lost And Found Christmas Show.

As it turns out, we got there really early. So Justin dug around in the sacristy and found a costume that he tried on. He's thinking of maybe doing a monologue from the point of view of the Christmas Squirrel, but I told him I'm not so sure that's really in the Bible.

Not to be outdone, Michael thought he might do a brief presentation of the Christmas story from the point of view of the guy who worked in the restaurant where Mary and Joseph stopped on their way to Bethlehem.

Anyway, after all the shenanigans, we did in fact play a Christmas concert. And it went well, as a matter of fact. But beforehand, there was the little matter of drying off the keyboard.

I'm not saying it rains in Seattle, believe me. I mean, we all know that's just a myth. The keyboard got soaked in the five-foot trek from the car, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was raining. There could have been llamas in the parking lot for all you know, right?

Anyway, as I was saying, the concert was great. Justin was great. Rachel was great. Gretchen's opening band was really great. And all the people who braved the not-rain snow were beyond great.

Afterward, we packed it all up, and headed for a hotel near the airport, from which we all flew home to our respective towns where it was not raining. The next day, at my field parish, I knocked all four huge candles off the Advent wreath, and made a very noisy room go absolutely silent. I resisted the temptation to throw my fist in the air and yell "STRIKE!!!" (Mainly, because no one in New York City would get that it was a bowling reference, baseball fans that they all are.)

Oh, I almost forgot. If you have been to a concert in the past few months and we played "Slide Girl," there is probably a recording of it, which you can get for free by e-mailing troy@speedwood.com.

Oh, Canada!

2008-12-08T10:34:00.009-05:00

So, hey, you ever been to Canada? If you're like me, the answer is, "Of course I have, since I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY, and Canada was 'Our Neighbor to the West'." If you're not like me, you're probably right handed and were born in the spring.

Anyway, the thing about about Canada is, they have the best candy bars. You know why that is? Well, it has to do with root-word origin. But among the many interesting things about Canada is how they take classic American products and improve on them by replacing the letters "SP" with the letter "K." You can see an example in the photo here:

Plus, in Canada, they have a real knack for giving things a name that tells you all you need to know about the item. (Think, for example, "hoodies," "dualies," "parkade," etc.) You can also see this in the name of foods. Like, for example, in this picture:

Whoever Mr. Noodles is, he couldn't have gone into a more appropriate profession, eh?

And, as you probably know, everything in Canada is written in both English and French. I have heard that this is to appease Quebec, so that they don't succeed. But sometimes the French word for an item makes it sound completely unappetizing. Take, for instance, the apparent French word for "root beer."

Don't think I'll be partaking of any of that anytime soon, thanks all the same, Piere.

So, what's with all this discourse on Canada? Glad you asked. What is with it all is that we went there over the weekend. As I noted above, Michael and I visited Canada quite a bit while growing up, and we are still pleased to go there, now that we are no longer growing up. This past weekend, we flew to Toronto (pronounced: toe-RAWN-toe), to play at our first ever Youth Specialties National YouthWorkers Convention, Canada-style. Quite a lot of fun was had by us. But, man, do the Canadians ever keep it cold up there. In our hotel room, I had to wear a hoodie, just to keep warm. Checking the thermostat, I figured out the problem.

I don't care if you are from the True North, strong and relatively inexpensive, that kind of temperature indoors is simply unacceptable. I mean, you'd think the pipes would burst if that's as warm as it gets inside.

Nonetheless, it didn't feel that cold, and we soldiered on with candy bars and hoodies.

Our hapless Buffalo Bills came to town the day we left so they could lose to the Miami Dolphins in Canada. (I don't want to talk about it.) But we flew out well before dawn on Sunday morning so that we could get to Baltimore and drive over the Severna Park, MD. (Sounds like a doctor's name, doesn't it? Our family pediatrician: Saverna Park, MD.) We were headed there to play at the 50th anniversary party of Our Shepherd Lutheran Church . . . which we did successfully. Had a nice time, enjoyed some ice cream afterward, and then drove on up to New York to stay at my place. The drive only lasted about 4 hours, but the level of difficulty was quite high, and we struggled mightily to stay awake. Then, this morning, Michael flew home to Los Angeles, and I put on my robey things and led Morning Prayer.

What's next, you ask? I'm glad you asked. This being December, we have some Christmas shows coming up. In fact, this is our 10th year of Christmas shows. You can find details on where we're playing by clicking on the link for finding details about where Lost And Found is playing their 10th annual series of Christmas Concerts in the United States. In other Advent news, I recently made some corrections to the sheet music for my version of "Oh Come Emmaunal," which sheet music you can get at our website. And in a final piece of it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas news, we're running some kind of special on our website that saves you money or something like that, which you can find explained here.

And, with that, it's getting to be about time to get out the holiday lights and decorations for the annual trimming of the Guitar Player. As you can see, we've already got a jump on the lights.

Tennessee: Send Space Heaters

2008-11-25T10:47:00.008-05:00

Wow. I mean, Brrr. Tennessee sure knows how to make it cold. I mean, Obama isn't even in office yet and he already seems to have cured Global Warming. (I'm just kidding with that link there.)

So, Michael and I flew into Nashvile on Thursday night. On Friday, we drove over to Knoxvile, and played a concert in a town called Jefferson City, hosted by our friend Luke. (His mother makes good food, by the way.) Had a great time with those folks, then drove back over to Music City, gaining back the lost hour on the way.

Saturday, we had--get this--the day off. I spent the day reading about Episcopal Church history, and Michael went and saw one of the sessions at the 3rd of 3 National Youthworkers Conventions, hosted by our friends at Youth Specialties. Then we had a lovely dinner with friends. Then we hooked up with our pals Alathea, who happened to be in town doing some kind of music-type meeting with some kind of music type people; we didn't want to ask. However, we did ask them to pose by a very scary picture of Billy Graham, right there in downtown Nashvile.

The next morning, being Sunday, I headed on over to the Cathedral in town to see how Episcopalians in Nashvile do their worship. Nice service overall, though it was kind of jarring to hear everything spoken, rather than sung. After that, we watched all the sad Titans' fans crossing the bridge downtown.

And then it was time to set up for our evening gig, which we did.

We played in the ballroom at the Rennaisance Hotel, for the 3rd late-night concert of the 3rd of 3 National Youthworkers Conventions, hosted by our friends at Youth Specialties. A surprising number of people came over, and we had a really fun time. Wish we could've played longer.

But, since we didn't, that meant we could still go out for my birthday, which we did. Stopped in several places on Broadway in Nashvile and listened to a variety of very interesting bands. My favorite was the 3-piece Rockabilly band with stand-up bass and only one guy in the band. Really fun, and lacking the boys-only overkill we all have come to expect these days. (You can tell it's a Rockabilly band by the big guitar the guy is playing.)

With the Jets' win, we ran into several people (or, they ran into us) who had been celebrating since the game ended. Usually this was as they were being escorted out of places.

With the celebrating over, we slept for a couple hours, then headed for the airport in the morning. I flew to NYC, where Justin picked me up and we headed for the second practice of the Life Church band. Michael flew home to make a Thanksgiving Dinner that couldn't be beat.

And speaking of that, we want to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all. As our little gift to you, we send you our rapping pilgrim turkey greetings, right here.

Rock on, y'all,

george

The Germans Call it Schnee

2008-11-10T18:07:00.012-05:00

So, I began this weekend by leaving my apartment on Friday just before God gets up, and walking to the subway, which I took to the bus, which I took to the Newark Airport, where I got a pilot to take me to Chicago, where I met a nice guy who drove me out to a parking lot, where I got in the van and drove it to the Quad Cities where I picked up Michael and we drove to Marion, IA. You know, just a little commute to work.

An interesting thing about Iowa is, the crop of snow they planted in the spring is just starting to come up, as you can see in that photo. I guess it's that time of year. Another interesting thing about Iowa is that they change their motto on occasion. (Wait, I guess it's the slogan they change; the motto is much more threatening sounding.) So the slogan used to be, "Iowa: You Make Me Smile." But I think they were concerned that the last word sounded too close to "laugh." So they had a contest, and people could make suggestions for Iowa's motto. They ended up choosing, "Fields of Opportunity." But I think they should have chosen, "Embrace The Corn." Because, if you think about it, from an evolutionary perspective, corn has done very well for itself. Corn has thousands of people working for its survival. People who spend all day, every day, thinking about corn. You cannot beat corn; so you might as well embrace it.

Okay, where was I? Oh yes, Iowa (Embrace The Corn). So, we played in Marion, (ETC), which made for a fine concert in a really nice room. Oh the weather outside was frightful, but the concert was so . . . uh, fine, thanks. When we were done, we had to race on off into the dark of Iowa (ETC) because we needed to stay in Decorah in order to get all set up for the morning at Luther College, which--not surprisingly--is a Lutheran College, in Iowa (ETC).

As you can see by the picture, my school's mascot is really rubbing off on me. Some people swear that I am starting to really look like a penguin. Perhaps I should've gone to Virginia after all.

We had a great time at Luther. Played several times throughout the day, and did a couple of workshops where we talked about our bike trip. In the evening we played a concert, and folks from around Iowa (ETC) came over. However, one of the obvious highlights for us was meeting Miss Waseca, of Minnesota.

In the morning, we played some songs at worship, and then raced across Iowa (ETC) to barely make it in time to play in Sioux City. However, our time in Sioux City was awesome as can be, and they gave us gift bags with great snacks to help us make it through the night. Though we would have loved to hang around for the afterglow, we had to race back across Iowa (ETC) to get to Minneapolis in order to check into a hotel. With a 7am flight, I decided sleeping was pointless, but it sure was nice to sit in a hotel room for three hours.

So, I flew home, and Michael flew home, and that was pretty much what happened this weekend. And in closing, just thought you'd like to see the kind of thing that happens when you think of the piano as a percussion instrument, which I was always told it was.

The First Post

2008-11-03T10:44:00.003-05:00

Welcome to my nightmare. I think you're gonna like it. Wait, that's Alice Cooper. (Fun fact: he's a republican!) What I meant to say was, welcome to my weblog. I think I'm gonna like it. Okay, so I'll jump right in. I began the weekend by driving the van from LawnGuyLand to North Carolina, where I picked up Michael at the airport.

We headed to Kernersville, a small town with a lot of McCain lawn signs. (As Colbert has observed, if we take our polls by lawn signs, we'd better prepare for President Remax.) Had a great time with a small group of folks at an all-day event, and took time out to chat with the people waiting in line at the library in order to cast their early ballots. After the evening concert, we drove off down the road a bit.

The next day, we drove 400 miles north through a series of calendars, jigsaw puzzles, and Successories posters.

Eventually, we arrived in Pittsburgh, where my daughter is sure her future husband plays hockey. We were in the Steel City to play at the second of the three National Youthworker Conventions, put on by our friends at Youth Specialties. Had a great time, played a late-night concert, and headed for the airport a little before 5am.

Michael continued on to Chicago, somehow staying awake, and I made it back to Manhattan, where I now sit in class, listening carefully to a lecture on Teresa of Avila.