New Fragrance by Calvin Klein

Remember Kramer and the Beach fragrance he wanted to create (which was later produced on the show by Calvin Klein)?

I now think that they need to create a fragrance for women called BBQ or Charred... possibly Smokey would work as a name as well. Delicious!

What's better than the smell of a campfire or a smokey BBQ on your wife when she's been out grilling before you get home? Shoot, I love the smell on my own clothes!

Kooky I know but we're all made a bit different. My other favorite - orange blossoms! Love it!

What's your favorite scent?

Caption Please...

Found this picture online when my daughter and I were researching puppies.

She wants one of these but I haven't given the go ahead yet. Puppies are cute until they grow up.

I'll admit that this pic almost sold me.

Definitely need a caption though.
Peace.

SALE!!

Saw this driving around Springfield the other day.

Now let me ask... who's in?

A discount on tattoos.

Is that something you really want to see discounted?
You have to ask yourself... why is it on sale?

Freaky.

Peace.

Bye Bye Intrepid

Well we officially said goodbye to our '97 Dodge Intrepid. The cost to fix it was just too great and with 167k miles on it, I'm afraid it's time for a change. So we donated it to charity - they still wanted it even after I told them about it!

We got the Intrepid from another pastor I was on staff with and it's been a pretty good car.

It had quite a few miles already and had several mechanical problems. For example, during torrential downpours, it helps to have windshield wipers that don't stop in the up position. It also helps to be able to see at night if your driver-side headlight has not been turned into a fish tank (the thing constantly would fill with water... I nearly added the goldfish to complete the look).

The hood was one of my favorites though... it wouldn't open, which made it real easy to check the oil and other fluids. Taking it to get the oil changed was always fun. You had to take a pair of pliers, pull on the hood release cable while someone aggressively yanked up on the hood. It didn't always work either. I could never figure out why the stupid latch just would not work.

The latest - transmission didn't want to switch out of second gear. Forget driving on the freeway. Forget driving pretty much anywhere in the Chicago area. It made me a slow moving target.

Good times. Lots of memories we won't forget but wish we could.

Time for something completely different.
Peace.

Caption Please...

You know Spring is in on it's way to Northern Illinois when you can see the ground and most of the snow is gone.

However, I can honestly say I didn't expect to see THIS while I was out driving the other day.

I need a good caption for this - who's got one?

Peace.

Breathe, man!

A friend of mine sent this to me last night... a beat-boxing flautist playing a medley of inspector Gadget and XLF.

I love when you can take something that has one feel, mix it with another art form and make it something that would appeal to a different/broader group of people.

This guy is good, though I found myself having to take breaths just watching it. He has a few other tunes he's done like this as well.

What did you think?
Peace.

Weenie Whistle

We took this on Friday this last week.

I think my wife was more excited about seeing the Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile than the boys were - they didn't really understand the whole thing.

They were not disappointed, however, to each receive the infamous weenie whistle.

Life has not been the same since.
Peace.

Happy Leap Day

Once every four years this day comes along.

Hope you did something special today. Hope you made a memory today that you will reflect on for years to come.

I had the opportunity to go out with my wife and a couple from our church. Had a great evening!

How was your day?
Peace.

Sasquatch Part 2

See the previous post to catch up on this, but dang! I just saw some of the funniest videos I've seen in a while from Brent Hodge (no relation to Scott that I know of) over at Table Rock Fellowship in Oregon.

Looks like they recently did a message series called Urban Legends and put together four videos using the Legend of Sasquatch as the backdrop... HILARIOUS!

Check all four of them out here. I love the A-team feel!

They actually have it filmed over at the Sasquatch trap near their town.
I wonder if they've ever caught one in the trap?

Anyway, thanks for the laughs Brent!
Peace.

Sasquatch

My wife just watched some sasquatch Discovery Channel show and is totally freaked out.

She can't figure out why no one has tranquilized and studied one of these things.

While I love her tremendously, this is the same woman who thinks us landing on the moon is a conspiracy. Let's see... landing on the moon... no. Sasquatch real... yes.

The videos are kind of interesting, AND whether real or not - are they that scary? My wife says yes.

Peace.

Makes You Go Hmmmm...

OK.

This picture reminds me of someone and I can't think of who it could be.

Really makes you wonder.

Some things just make you go hmmmmm.

Thoughts?
Peace.

American Gladiators

My kids and I have started watching a 'new' show... American Gladiators. Every time I've watched with them, I start having flashbacks to when I was a kid. It's actually very, very similar to what it was back in the 80's.

My kids are interested in another new show coming out soon - Knight Rider. I can't believe this one is coming back and from what I hear, David Hasselhoff will star in the show. Was the show that good back then? I mean kit was a pretty cool car, but David Hasselhoff?

We need the writers back from on strike. Otherwise we'll be reduced to the throw backs. My kids think they're great though so maybe it's ok. They've also been telling me about this great show called I Love Lucy that they had started watching on their school break.

Wow. OK. I guess there are worse things in the world.

Peace.

Found, Etc.

I've been pretty quiet on the blog lately, and a lot has happened this last couple of weeks - a very full couple of weeks.

For one, Kylee was able to recover the missing slipper for her mom. This has been a good thing and was found near the end of Kristen's stint of being sick. I fear I take too much that Kristen does for granted, which was very apparent during her illness.

Myself and a few of the musicians on my team played a party for one of our long time teammates. A lot involved with this but it was totally worth it... the whole thing had been organized as a complete surprise for his 50th birthday! Always proud to have my team rock the house!

Preparing for Christmas at The Orchard. Lots of prep and a lot of things that need to take place over the last week or so before the 24th. It's going to be amazing!

More later.
Peace.

* * WANTED * *

One pink, fuzzy slipper. It's owner has located the left but has been unable to find it's match.

Weight: nearly nothing.
Height: a couple of inches.

Distinguishing marks: let's just say well worn over the last 11 months. It also has (or perhaps now it's only had) white fuzzy trim and pom-poms.

The owner is in dire need of the second slipper due to the recent inclement weather conditions.

It's last known whereabouts include the hall and the local dog's layer. No sign of fowl (or canine) play has been discovered as yet, but nothing has yet been ruled out.

Last seen approximately 11/20/07.

If you have seen said matching slipper, please notify the owner immediately. No reward is currently being offered.

Peace.

Lines I want to use...

"You don't have to eat every Big Mac to know it's a delicious hamburger sandwich."
Kenny, from the TV show Frasier.

I thought it was funny at least.

Peace.

Pudding Diet

So I think I've stumbled on to the most perfect diet.

After hearing a commercial for pudding cups that have only 60 calories each, I figured out the best diet I could ever go on.

I happen to love pudding - yes it's a weakness. But there is almost nothing like homemade chocolate pudding! In fact, when Kristen and I first got married, she use to make me my own bowl of homemade chocolate pudding for my birthday instead of a cake! No joke.

At any rate, with each cup only 60 calories each, you could have 20 of them a day and still only have about 1200 of your calories for the day!

That's it!
Who's with me?

Peace.

Fighting

It's been a beautiful day in the Chicagoland area - I love this time of year! It's cooling down and we get to have the windows open and enjoy the weather. My wife is not thrilled about the change in temps though.

So I'm sitting here in my upstairs room with the windows open, listening to my neighbors fight. They have been arguing for a while - cussing and screaming at each other. I guess I never grew up around that so it seems almost movie-esque to me. I'm praying for their kids. I don't know them very well, but the few times we've talked they seemed friendly.

The one thing that is totally jumping out to me is the yelling.... they're yelling at each other at the same time. Neither is listening to the other. Very sad.

I'm sure they didn't plan the whole neighborhood to hear them. Though their windows sound like they are closed, everyone else's are open. I'm praying for the two of them as well.

Now, please keep in mind that I am not one to eaves drop. This is nothing like that... I am on the verge of closing my window.

But have you ever thought about how your conversations sound to others?
Would others hear you screaming or yelling at your spouse? At your kids? At your pets?

Have things ever been so bad that you couldn't solve a problem through discussion rather than through screaming? Do things ever get solved that way?

I hate fighting.
Peace.

The Fridge

Upon our return from our camping trip (check out my previous post), we were greeted by a nasty odor and a bunch of water all over our kitchen floor... our fridge had decided to die on us during our time away.

Maybe it was lonely.
Maybe it felt neglected, not being opened a trillion times a day.
Maybe it just figured that 6 years was long enough to be a fridge.

Whatever the reason, the thing must have literally ceased to cool or keep things cold the moment we closed the garage door on our way out of town to go camping. Everything inside was a total loss.

There is nothing like losing your fridge... almost makes you feel, oh how did the department store salesman put it - like being naked. OK... But it does make you feel kind of stranded for some reason.

The only thing worse than losing your fridge is finding it coming home from vacation that got rained out.

Actually, the worst part about it was the smell... don't know what to say about that or even how to describe it. Wow!

So, a journey with yet another appliance ends and another begins (and so does the payments :)

Is your refrigerator running? :))
Peace.

Freakiness

About two years ago, my wife and I along with my brother and sister-in-law went to Six Flags in Louisville, KY. My brother and I rode this ride called the Tower of Power. The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops them nearly the same distance at speeds reaching 54 m.p.h.

My brother sent me this article regarding an accident on the ride this week.

I am a roller coaster junkie! I love them! There is a thrill to it that you can't obtain anywhere else. It's fun and, yes there is risk associated with it.

I feel bad for the young girl and her family. This was just a freak accident.

Do you like coasters and amusement park rides? Will you keep riding them?
I have since I was a kid and will as long as my body can handle it. What about you?

Peace.

Church in McD's

A few weeks ago, I shared with my musicians that I had eaten at Taco Bell that afternoon before rehearsal. I wasn't in there for a very long time but of the 5 songs that played over the loudspeakers in the restaurant, 4 were songs we had used in our weekend services with in the last few months.

I thought that was awesome.

My wife mentioned to me this week that she had taken the kids out to lunch to McDonald's and a song came on the loudspeakers that was a 'secular' tune (you might remember how I feel about using that term from this earlier post). My kids remarked, "hey that's a church song!"

I find that very cool! My kids are growing up learning that God can use anything to bring people to himself. Even more that we can have church anywhere we go - we are the church.

Peace.