Josh Ritter - Aladdin Theatre

Saturday night we saw Josh Ritter perform. The Aladdin Theatre I must say is a fantastic venue. Not only does it have GA seats but the theatre itself has this old school feel to it that was perfect for a Josh Ritter/Laura Gibson acoustic show. The stage had an old table and lamp on it and gave it the feel like it was an old time radio show and that's exactly what it felt like. We only caught the last few songs of Laura Gibson but now wish we would have seen more.

Josh Ritter came out full of energy and with a huge smile on his face. You can see the joy that performing his music gives him. He kept saying throughout the night, "this is so much fun" and it was clear from his performance that he meant it. The first few songs he sang I was absolutely captivated by how crystal clear his voice is live when he's singing his slower songs. The mix of how amazing the acoustics are in this place and just his natural voice was mesmerizing. Not only is he is a great songwriter but he's a funny and as Kelli called him several times, quirky guy. He's certainly not pretending when he gets on stage! But it wasn't one of those annoying, "man i wish this guy would shut up and play." The crowd was listening and laughing at every word he said.

It's clear that Josh is just a country boy who grew up in small town Idaho (and from the last I heard still lives there in his down time) that loves playing his music about wolves and girls. Somehow Josh has kept the phoniness and cynicism of the music industry from seeping through. That alone is an achievement. He does not have that pretentious, messiah, i'm so angry to be up here crap that so many musicians have. He had a smile on his face almost all night and loved every minute of it. At the same time you can see how the showmanship of Elvis and Johnny Cash has really influenced him and his music.

Three of the best moments of the show were as follows:
1. When he turned out all the stage and house lights and sang Idaho in complete darkness.
2. His eight minute performance of Thin Blue Flame which included alternate lyrics throughout.
3. At the end of the show he put down his guitar, grabbed his glass of wine, stepped out from behind the microphone and sang a closing tune in the free air. I'm not sure what's more impressive. The acoustics of the Aladdin Theatre or Josh Ritter for being able to fill the entire place with his voice.

One way or another, I've seen so many concerts in the last five years but this one ranks in my top five easily.

Moving on up...

1. Yesterday was my last day at Hollywood Video. I worked the day shift so it was a very easy last day. As much as I hated most of the crap that went on there are far as sales quotas and such, I did like the people I worked with quite a bit. Plus I feel like I know everyone in the neighborhood now. I recognize so many people on the street and yesterday a guy bumped into me at Starbucks and said, "Hey, video store guy!" and we got to talk for a while. It was a great place to work as far as getting connected with those in the neighborhood. I recognize families and dogs and all sorts of stuff. So as much as the job sometimes sucked, I do not regret working there for a season. I will miss seeing the people regularly that I got to know.

2. We get to move into a new apartment above ground on March 15 or 16th! This is extremely exciting news for us. We've been living in a basement studio apartment which has been completely fine for us but it will be nice to move to a new apartment where there is a huge window and sunlight can come in. It also has a little fireplace in the corner. The most exciting part of this is finally being able to have people over again! It will be a great place to host a life group this spring or summer! Plus, in Tampa we hosted wine/beer tasting parties where people could connect and get to know each other. We miss those a lot! And what better place to continue the tradition than Portland? After Lent of course.

3. I heard a fantastic quote that I had never heard before yesterday that apparently everyone has heard before. It was when a woman said to Winston Churchill, "you are drunk." He replied, "And you are ugly, but I will be sober in the morning." Hahaha. That's awesome.

4. Participated in an Ash Wednesday service last night to kick off the Lent season. It was a time of reading scripture together, praying, being silent and going through some prayer stations. There is something powerful about hearing another human say, "from dust you came, and from dust you will return." Really puts things in perspective. I appreciate the people in our faith community and what they bring more and more everytime we're together. It's truly a fantastic group of Christ-followers.

For these four reasons, today I am very thankful.

For fans of tracts...

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you've got to read this Chick Tract!

Funny stuff! The most illuminating thing out of this tract is how uninformed it is. A classic form of ignorance that has been plaguing fundamentalism from the beginning.

A few observations:
-I honestly think the uncle looks more creepy than the witches.
-I love the scene where the two witches are in the room together and as they pronounce that witches rule there is a picture of Harry Potter in the background. Hilarious!
-The wording of "I'm bringing Uncle Bob home" was a little strange.
-Apparently Holly is going to hell.
-"Do we have the stereotypical witch? Let's see. Ouiji boards? Check. Tarot Cards? Check. Crystal Balls? Check Pentagrams? Check. Yup, we're all set Mr. Chick."
-My favorite, "the King James Bible is the only version that Satan hasn't messed with."

Who are these people that write these things???

Resolutions

These are from a man named Clyde Kilby who I have never heard of but got from John Piper's book The Pleasures of God.

Read these slowly and thoughtfully, they're fantastic.

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death, when he said: “there is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendour, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be food enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence but, just as likely, ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the ‘child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

6. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

7. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are, b but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis call their “divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic” existence.

8. I shall follow Darwin’s advice, and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good listerature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devlish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Chalres Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. If for nothing more than the sake of a change of view, I shall assume my ancestry to be from the heavens rather than from the caves.

11. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shal bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the Architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

The Pastures of Heaven

I finished John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven today and once again am blown away with Steinbeck's skill. Descriptions are his craft and he is the master. You cannot help but be moved and feel the exact emotion he wants you to feel. This sounds strange but his writing makes you able to hear, see, smell, feel, and taste exactly what he is trying to wrap up in words.

Pastures is a book of interrelated stories focusing on the defining moment's of certain individuals lives and how relatively small incidents colored their existence. I highly recommend it to those especially already taken with Steinbeck's style and wit.

Oh What A Day!!!

The flowers that I ordered for Kelli to be delievered yesterday never came.

Today I found out that after doing about 10 hours of research for a paper on Inclusivism and whether General Revelation can be salvific that the paper has been cancelled.

After Kelli dropped me off as school at 9am I realized that she had both sets of house keys and she is not going to be home until around 8pm.

I got coffee in the afternoon at my seminary and went to the fridge to get some cream and they were out.

All of these things are appalling.

The only thing I can say about my day that went well is that Stephen bought me a beer and some tots after class today. Thanks man!

Saturday Kelli arranged a tour of the Widmer Bros. brewery here in Portland for my birthday. The tour was fantastic. If you have not been, I highly recommend it! The tour guide Robert was extremely knowledgable and runs several beer events in the NW as well has been brewing beer for over 20 years so he can definitely answer your questions. Before you start the tour you see a video of how Widmer started and then get to sample four of their beers. Nationwide Widmer is most famous for their Hefeweizen but their Drop Top Amber is also a great beer. You can actually taste and smell the honey in this beer. Also I'm a big fan of their Snow Plow Milk Stout. In any case if you have a Saturday free, it's worth the trip. Plus you get a free Widmer Pint glass on your way out.

The last two posts now have been about beer. I think this means I should give up beer for lent! What do you think?

Thanks Doug

Last week my friend Doug from Ft. Collins, CO sent me a package for my birthday. Inside was a New Belgium beer glass which I was very excited about since I do not have a Belgium beer glass! And alongside was a six pack of New Belgium's Abbey as well as a Fat Tire bottle opener.

So anyway, thanks man. That was an awesome gift and a very nice surprise! And the beer is great too!

The Sports Guy

Must read Bill Simmons running diary of the Grammy's. There is some really funny stuff in here. You should check it out. A few highlights:

9:58 -- Sports Gal's take on Rascal Flatts: "I don't get it. I don't get it at all. I hate everything about them. I hate their name. I hate their music. I hate the lead singer's voice. I hate his hair. I hate his leather jacket. I hate everything. What are they? I wouldn't even hire them for a wedding if I only had $15,000 to spend on everything." She's not a fan.

10:19 -- Hey, did you ever think you'd see the day when Christina Aguilera was much prettier, sexier AND cleaner-looking than Britney Spears? Me neither. Britney won the battle, Christina won the war. Who woulda thunk?

10:59 -- As Quentin Tarantino and Tony Bennett announce the nominees for "Record of the Year," we see a shot of a smiling Paris Hilton in the crowd. Good God, can that girl do anything to end her own career? Sex tapes, racial slurs, drugs, hateful personality, no discernable talent at all ... and she's still chugging along. Are we sure she's not Satan? Let's chop her head off and see if it grows back.

11:00 -- The Dixie Chicks win again for "Record of the Year." I feel like the Grammy voters are speaking out against the Iraqi conflict at this point. We'll know for sure if Cindy Sheehan wins for "Best Rock Album."

11:25 -- Our final awards tonight: Don Henley and Scarlett Johannson come out to present Scarlett's breasts, as well as the "Album of the Year" ... and the Dixie Chicks end up going 5-for-5. Now pray for me while I spend the rest of the night trying to get that "I'm not ready to make nice ... I'm not ready to back down" song out of my head. This is ouuuuuuuuuuur country.

I love this quote

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world."

Can anyone guess who said it?

One Year Closer to 30

I never actually thought I would be thirty. Of course, i'm not yet but I'm only three years away!!! I especially never thought I would be this old and be going to school and working at a video store.

God certainly does work in bizarro ways.

I also never thought I would be living in Portland, OR. Or married to Kelli Lashbrook. Or enjoy drinking coffee. Or be able to read 70 books in one year. Or have been able to travel so much. Or have been published in a book (although a mediocre one) but still! Or be living in a basement. Or have done stand-up comedy. Or have such great friends from all over the country.

Since a birthday must involve some reflection, as I look back I cannot believe all that has happened in the last few years and all that God has done. There are only two words that come to mind as I think of all of this: blessed and thankful.

I might just cry.

Nash is inactive tonight against Portland. I cannot believe it. I bought these tickets and now i'm not going to get to see him play. Unbelievable.

A Grand and Glorious Day It Will Be