joedonahue.org

The NTS variety show was Friday night, and although it was not extremely well attended, it was a lot of fun. Brad Hays, a new friend of mine who is in Greek as well as Systematic Theology with me, even took the night off from work to come and support us. Kudos, Brad.
As we arrived we realized that there was a boardroom-esque table with leather chairs in the middle of the stage, and so coupled with our pink shirts and random ties, our theme became “Corporate Meets Rock.” We started off with Marshall McCluen, did a second set with Five Iron Frenzy’s Most Likely To Succeed, and 5,00,000 miles, and wrapped it up with Relient K’s Sadie Hawkins Dance. I think there was another song in there but I can’t think of it now…. if there is one I will edit this post.
Saturday brought with it our first real encounter with that nebulous foe who travels under the guise ‘Car Maintenance.” On Thursday we decided that this weekend we would get the new tires for my car that were prescribed for it the last time I took it to the shop, and on Friday the Check Engine light came on. Thusly, we paid three times as much as we were planning to pay, and I still don’t have new tires. But I do have two brand-spanking new Oxygen Filters.
Sunday was a great day at church, and the “First Hour” worship team played, so it was nice to have a slightly more relaxed Sunday morning. The evening brought with it a Small Group Business meeting and a Costume party at Matt Banner’s place. At the former engagement we discussed how to creatively ‘multiply’ our small group since it has the ‘blessing’ of growing. Each of these quoted words are not to be read with sarcasm, but with a hint of dismay. We like our small group a lot, and it is sad to have to part ways with some to make room for others, but we are having faith that it will work out. As for the costume party, I attended as the Denim Cowboy. It was a blast, and my Super Mullet wig was a big hit with the little kids.

My name isn’t Joe Donahue, but that’s not gonna stop me from taking over joedonahue.org. Today is a good day, because it was snowing all day!!! I like snow. And I like Joe. Joe and snow. But apparently I can’t have both, because Joe is gone….gone far far away.

Well, this is going to be an interesting post, let me tell you. I plan to begin with a recap of the rodeo last night, followed by some rants on what I saw on TV this morning, and then some thoughts on what is going on tonight and beyond.
The American Royale Rodeo, right here in Kansas City, Missouri. As I shared my feelings about this experience today in my Cultural Anthropology class, I was informed that this is what they call ‘Culture Shock.’ I wish I could have been a little more prepared for it. The part of it that was actual rodeo was pretty cool, but I absolutely was ANNOYED by the commentators. They spent more time talking between themselves concerning the ice cream they ate last night than on the show itself. I was on the verge of tears because of their inane banter. Between the two of them and Troy the Rodeo Clown… who, we were informed, was voted the #1 Rodeo Entertainer of the year. I hope it wasn’t because of his witty jokes. Anyway, we did watch some pretty awesome mutton bustin’ and Mad Dog (a six-year-old rodeo clown… why?) dive-bombed in front of another 6-year-old riding a sheep. Hence the Mutton. Hence the Bustin. It really was funny to watch little kids ride sheep. AND, lets not forget, we got to see Miss Teen Rodeo Missouri 2005. OK, one rant down, one to go.
So, Julie and I are watching the Today Show or whatever it is on TV this morning before I left for class, and they had a segment on ‘the new evangelicals’ which is always interesting, since that in some ways includes us. Only they showed this absolutely gargantuan megachurch, and they interviewed the pastor there. His interview included this little snippet of joy,

Every sunday, people vote by where they go to church. And right now, I am winning the election.

I don’t rant very much (at all?) and don’t necessarily view my little corner of the internet as the soapbox for my condemnation of the world and everyone who would contaminate hot dogs by using ‘condiments,’ but this made me absolutely furious! I don’t understand, and so I think I am just going to leave that right where it is.

Tonight is the big night. The NTS variety show is set to commence as planned, and so long as people come to it, I am sure it will be an amazing time. But I am glad this whole thing is going to be over soon – we’ve been planning it for like a month and this week alone I have not spent more then 20 minutes at a time with Julie. Between this, and the rodeo, and my papers, and her work schedule, it has not been good. We need to go out on a date or something. So, I am excited about rocking out tonight, I always love playing, but it will be nice to return to normalcy. On that note, I would like to quote this Julie individual I mentioned, upon a time last week when we were cleaning up the house and she picked up something that needed to be thrown away. She looked at it and said,

Can this be deleted?

Wow it looks like I just signed up for an account on JoeDonahue.org. Just to let you guys know I just copyrighted the band name Four Foreigners and a Red Head. Looks like you will have to use something like For Good or for Awesome 2 or For Good or for Awesomer.

Later,
Pete

This morning my comrades and I from the IS department visited upon the ITEC conference in Overland Park, which stands for… International Technological Explosion Creators. Or something of the like. There were many who handed us pamphlets and brochures and stress balls with their company logo on it. And, of course, the Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleaders were on hand for autographs, but alas I wussed out on having them sign my shirt. Maybe next time.

So, for tonight, Doctor Andy Fey and myself will be attending the rodeo. I am not sure how I am going to make it happen so that I finish my paper by tomorrow morning while attending a rodeo, but when life throws something at you, your only options are to duck or to let it hit you in the face. Sometimes, its a better story if you just let it hit you in the face.

So I figure that the best advertisement for this would be to post it on this website which is visited by millions of people every day. So here it goes:

This Friday October 28, at 7:00 PM, Four Foreigners and a Red Head will be performing LIVE at the NTS talent show. It will be the greatest thing you have ever experienced. Four Foreigners and a Red Head has won Billboards “2nd Best Christian Cover Band” award 2 years in a row. Rounding out the line-up:

Andrew “Mutton Bustin’” Fey
Joseph “They don’t let me sing” Donahue
Sherwin “How Low Can You Go” Rulloda
Esteban “I Used To Be Andy’s Roommate” Trujillo
David “The Second Best Guitarist The Band Has Ever Known” Ardrey

Really, you should come. Even if all the other acts are lame we were Rock Your Socks Off.

It will all go down at the Nazarene Heritage Center (just down the hill from Seminary on 63rd St.) I think it costs $3 per person, $5 per couple, $10 per family, and $98 per Volkswagon Bus.

If you have questions then call someone who might know (preferably the best band manager ever, Megan “I keep these guys in line” Young)

Did I mention you should come and it will be awesome (even if every other act is lame).

Can I, a lowly bullet maker, write a post on Josephus Donahue’s personal blog????

This is wihout doubt the most exciting event of my day

Whew, for a while there Joe, by the looks of your website a few days ago, I thought you were going Martha Stewart on us. Boy I am relieved. Our drummer is not Martha Stewart. The site is looking better every hour, albeit a bit confusing to login and post, but I’ll get over it. And speaking of getting over it, what are the chances you could post or email me the pictures of the D.O.G.? Thanx. (i’m pretty sure that’s how you spell that here in the e-world, right? if not, then please disregard that last comment).

PS- www.thevestibules.com
Go there!!!

Whenever asked about my website, I always jokingly respond with “I have it because I am very important to people!” or the like. This afternoon I received an email sent out to those on the Dilbert mailing list (I know, I’m awesome) and within it there lies the truth I’ve been claiming all along:

People who are trying to decide whether to create a blog or not go through a thought process much like this:

1. The world sure needs more of ME.
2. Maybe I’ll shout more often so that people nearby can experience the joy of knowing my thoughts.
3. No, wait, shouting looks too crazy.
4. I know, I’ll write down my daily thoughts and badger people to read them.
5. If only there was a description for this process that doesn’t involve the words egomaniac or unnecessary.
6. What? It’s called a blog? I’m there!

The blogger’s philosophy goes something like this:

Everything that I think about is more fascinating than the crap in your head.

Well, that’s how that goes. In other news, we had band practice last night, complete with a manager, a lead guitarist, and a techie for said lead guitarist. Meghan has been doing a fantastic job, and I was really broken-hearted when she shot down an item from the set list that I have been really looking forward to performing – but I don’t hold it against her. She is the manager after all. If we are going to survive the turbulent waters of rock industry, I can’t let things like this get to me. Especially one day after we signed her on as manager.

meanwhile, several kilometers away in reality…

Here at good ol’ NPH I am making some good progress on a (somewhat tedious) job to report on the ID life of numbers in our database. This has so far meant rummaging through 500 tables in search of incrementing numbers which may someday hit a data precision ceiling and explode. Oh, you want an example? ok. Right now, each of our webpages has a set of Frequently Asked Questions which are dynamically generated from our database. Each question in the database has a unique number assigned to it. Right now, we have 2080 different questions in our database, and a quick study reveals that we only generate about 15 new FAQ’s a year. This particular field is only set to be 6 numbers wide, and thusly will no longer be usable after it hits 999,999. This should happen in about 66,528 years.

This weekend Julie and I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart on the other side of Kansas City, and the best thing about it was the BBQ place across the street. Needless to say, we didn’t but anything at NFM, but we ate the absolute best BBQ I have had since moving here at Famous Dave’s. So good. So, for our entertainment center, we ended up going to Wal-mart and getting one we had been eyeing for about a month now. It took a half-hour and five people to finally get someone that could help us take it to the car, and once home it took the rest of the evening to get it set up.

Then yesterday we got our fireplace going for the first time. As we sat back, enjoying the fire and our new entertainment center, it seemed for the first time like it was home. Then the fire alarm went off – apparently we didn’t open the flue right. So we got that straightened out and started the first a second time. It was awesome.

After church yesterday we went and had a “Holy Party” – our church’s youth pastor, Josh Haney, is back from Iraq. Over a taco lunch we decided that Meghan Young would be the new band manager, and she will retain this position until somebody stronger comes along who can beat her up. We figured physical violence is the only reasonable way to discern one manager’s qualifications over another’s. She promptly assumed her role, acquired everyone’s phone number, and made arrangements for when our next band practice would be (since we are too incompetant to arrange one ourselves). She also is working on our housing situaiton for the gig this week. By housing, I mean finding out when and where it is. I informed her that I would prefer to recieve my checks quarterly, for maximum tax benefits. I am sure she will work this out accordingly.