Sunday, at Restore, we talked about telling the truth as we continued our making life work series. So we of course had a proverbial father video to introduce the topic. I have to say that his has become my favorite of the series. It is like the empire strikes back, misunderstood but a real masterpiece. The shots just really worked and what he says is so ridiculous. The voice over really is only the weak part. I have spent of lot of time playing around with the color in this series of videos. I wanted to capture the feel of a vintage 70’s sitcom color and this is the closest that I have gotten. The cool part is that I didn’t even edit this video. Jonathan Cox my video producer apprentice edited the whole thing and he did a great job. While it may be the highpoint of the series and next week we will jump the shark, it is still pretty ridiculous.
I haven’t really been consistent with posting the Proverbial Father videos from the Making Life Work series at Restore. These videos have been a lot of fun to do. I think most of us, at one point or another, have gotten ridiculous advice from our dads. These videos are designed to celebrate the ridiculousness and some how present the mornings topic out of Proverbs. Ridiculous indeed here is last weeks:
I was talking to my friend today, who recently became a stay at home Dad like me. We usually check in throughout the day online or by phone. What I have noticed is that our conversations have drifted more towards our kids behavior or what we are fixing them for lunch. Today, Jesse had a confession:
His transformation is complete. He is officially a soccer mom. It thought that was pretty funny. Then just a minute ago I found myself sipping on Coke zero and watching the backyardigans… by myself. The kids started watching and had gotten distracted by something else. But not me, I was into the show more than they were. I guess the transformation is complete for me too. Hi, I’m Nate and like to watch Backyardigans even when my kids aren’t…and I’m a stay at home mom. (those backyardigan songs are so catchy)
Update: If you visit Jesse’s blog you’ll see how deep this runs. He is quoting this summer’s biggest kids movie, Prince Casbian! JK… I couldn’t resist.
I love how a simple visual idea can trump all of the big budget effects in the world. Take a look at this video and leave a comment about what strikes you about it.
You may have noticed the new look on the blog. It is a direct result of my wife complaining that my previous theme only showed one post at a time.While it was little more rock and roll, it was a little annoying if I posted more than once a day. I have been looking for awhile and couldn’t find one that I liked. I finally gave up and retrofitted one to look like this. It was actually a lot of work. This theme was called miracle with paws, it was cat theme. But I liked the layout. I’m working on getting the boxes to the right to work the way that I want them too. What do you think? No really, I want to know.
Got a chance to take Ethan to his first Royals game last night. It was a lot of fun. This was the first of many “Dad & Ethan Adventures”. He had so many questions about the stadium. He even noticed Arrowhead stadium across the parking lot, where we have watch the chiefs play countless games on TV. Kauffman Stadium is such a great place to watch a game. I have been to several other stadiums, but there is something special about “the K”. It probably is the sentimental value for me. My dad used to take me to this same place, when I was little older than Ethan. He did great at the game, he was seldom bored and most of the time engaged in the game. I did my best to explain what was going on in the game. The worlds largest LCD screen didn’t hurt in keeping him entertained. Also, we got a souvenir bucket of popcorn that was almost as big as him.
This bucket kept him busy all night. Believe it or not, by the end of the night, there was not very much popcorn left in the bucket. All in all it was great night. The Royals hit two home runs and beat the Rockies. It was nice not being in the minority as a Royals fan. Had some great conversations with the people around us. One guy even tried to entertain Ethan by throwing popcorn in Ethan’s mouth. On the way home I asked Ethan what his favorite part of the night was expecting it to be the popcorn or slugger, the Royals mascot. But, he actually said when the pitcher struck out one the bad guys (the rockies) and when the Royals won the game. I think I might have young Royals fan on my hands.
Saturday, I went for a bike ride. About every two years I dust off my mountain bike and go trail riding. Jill and I have been trying to improve our diet and exercise more. I decided that it was time to take the bike out on the land behind where I live. It wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be. I am really out of shape, but I kept a pretty good pace over some rough terrain. I only lasted a little over 30 minutes though. In my mind it was a step towards getting in the groove, I will work my way up to longer rides as I go. I actually felt pretty good after the ride. Sunday morning came and my back was the only thing that was sore. It was little stiff, especially when it came time to unload all of the equipment into the Park Hill Auditorium. It got progressively worse as the day passed. I thought it would be better today. Unfortunately, I could barely get out bed today. I don’t think it is a serious back injury, I think that I am so badly out of shape that my back muscles are refusing to hold me up. The thing is I have been on tons of bike rides like this in my life. Most of them were much more grueling. But, I have never felt like this afterwords. In fact I have never really experienced anything like this after any kind of exercise. As I’m working on my macbook today, sitting on the couch with heating pad on my back, the thought occured to me… this is what it is like to be out of shape and thirty. Life goes on today, I am taking Ethan to his first swimming lesson this evening and then to his first royals game. Pray for my back, otherwise he might have to carry me to car after the game.
It was getting way too big, so we decided to chop it off. Ethan pretty much has the coolest hair, it is the perfect whiteboy fro. But, as I have told everyone today, it will grow back. What a difference a week makes…
Today:
Last Week:
I read Carlos’s blog. I probably read it more than anyone else’s blog, which might have more to do with how many times a day he posts. I’m not sure why I read it, most of time it is just random slices from his day. For instance this week he had an illustration of Jesus riding a T-rex and asked for a caption. The comments that followed were pure entertainment. There are other times that he lets us into some very profound moments in his life, like blogging about a recent trip to Africa for compassion international, or the adoption of his son. In this web 2.0 world it seems that I know him, when in reality I have never met him or had one conversation with him. But yet he is an influence in my life.
I just read a short and concise article that he wrote for catalyst monthly called Megaworship vs.Gymworship. In it he shared about his recent transition from a mobile church to Northpoint in Atlanta. I love the spirit of what he has to say. In his a few short paragraphs he sums up the what is truly important for those of us who plan worship experiences on Sundays, whether we gather in a megachurch or a gym. You really should take a few minutes to read it. Who knows, you might even find yourself reading his blog religiously for no apparent reason.
I am a lot of things... a stay at home dad... an off site video producer for the Chapel.. a media arts director for Restore Community Church and a wanna be church planter. Read here to see what happens when all of this collides.
