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That’s what the drummer for Mute Math got this week from a performance in Seattle, WA.

Speaking of drumming.

I received a call out-of-the blue from Dustin McKamie, who I met last fall when I got roped into playing drums for a production of Godspell. His band had an upcoming gig and their drummer was on hiatus (something about his wife having a baby. Does this happen to a lot of drummers?) and they needed someone right quick – so I jumped in. I met keyboardist Jonathan, his wife (and BGVs) Cassandra, and bass guitarist Dan on thursday night for a couple hours as preparation for three songs at Jacob’s Well yesterday evening. The only real bad thing that happened was that they forgot the bass guitar, so Dan and I drove back to Shawnee Mission to pick it up after sound check. Then, during, the performance, it was not even turned on. But it was good times.
Afterwards I got a call from Julie to show up at the Haney Mansion for a last-minute get together. It turns out that a new Seminary couple were in town, and we were showing them some good-ol’ Southwood hospitality with pizza and guitar hero. I ended up (reluctantly) playing one round of Carry on My Wayward Son, and, according to the XBox, I rock. It made me want to go home and play some bass.

Speaking of which, I tried to find bass tabs for Mute Math’s song Obsolete, to no avail. If anyone stumbles across this, please let me know.

Julie had a baby shower yesterday with her co-workers while I was out a-rockin. To her surprise, she had another baby shower this afternoon over webcam with our families back in Maine. My mom sent all the stuff to my work ahead of time, and they got to watch Julie open it and say “Oh, Cute!” I am sure I heard that about a million times today. It was great to see everyone though, and now, all we need is a baby. Everything else is pretty much in place. And we won’t need to buy clothes for the first 18 months.My sister Sara, in England, joined us for a conference call for a little bit too. Upon request she gave us her best English accent – “There’s a bird in the water.” Apparently that is a popular phrase over there.

I also spent 7 minutes and 19 seconds talking to Dave and Heather this evening. Yesterday was Dave’s Birthday, and I needed to make sure that he remembered.

In conclusion, there are $0.69 soft drinks at QuikTrip again. I highly recommend the Mountain Dew.

I was trying to find a group on facebook in which to share my newfound enthusiasm for Mute Math. In joining a group simply titled “Mute Math” I was presented with an image that is forever burned into my mind.

I should have seen it coming, but it is remarkably painful nonetheless.

Sentences that begin with “Actually.’  If one needs to issue a corrective to a statement made immediately prior, take advantage of the backspace key for such a time as this rather than plowing ahead.  If one is appending to a previous proposition rather than subtracting from it, than this word is right out.  Completely inappropriate.

As in all cases, please take the appropriate measures.

I have to begin with a hat-tip to Adam Spriggs.

h/t wvpv.

It was Adam that pointed out Mute Math’s new video on YouTube in a blog post, and watching it caught my  attention in way Mute Math had failed to do before. Vocalist and keyboardist Paul Meany with bassist Roy Mitchell were formerly in Earthsuit, a band who have been one of my favorites since their debut release Kaleidoscope Superior in 2000. I had the joy of seeing them play at Soul Fest in New Hampshire about that time, but after one more ill-produced (but still enjoyable) indie cd The Rise of Modern Simulation, Earthsuit disbanded. Mute Math was formed in 2003, and courtesy of Andy Fey I got to listen to a sample from the Reset EP about a year ago. I was terribly disappointed and yearned for Earthsuit. After watching their video Typical on YouTube, I was once again hooked!

I went right away to there website, and discovered that they were coming to Lawrence, KS. I shot an email to Andy, and it was set. The concert was last night – and it was one of the most amazing things I have experienced. Andy and I left speechless at what we had just seen and heard. The opening acts were fantastically mediocre, but not necessarily bad. It was worth enduring for Mute Math. It is just amazing how each of them are completely amazing musicians, and much of the show was just jamming out in between songs. At one point everyone on stage had a pair of drum sticks, hitting anything they could find. Hitting microphones with drum sticks makes a cool sound.

Another high point was the song “Stare at the Sun” in which they busted out the upright bass. About halfway through the song they just went through a 10 minute jam session that featured each of them one at a time.

It was also the drummer’s sister’s birthday, and there was a really informal, funny interlude where they had her come up on stage while the drummer told her how how great she was. Paul accompanied by playing “altar call” music on the keyboard during this touching moment.
Following this, we quietly retreated to Dunkin Donuts to reflect and recuperate. I purchased three dozen donuts, warranting the extra-large plastic bag to carry everything in. Needless to say, everyone appreciated the donuts at work today. They should change their slogan to “NPH Runs On Dunkin.”

“Mars” recognizes a major update to our web and development servers at NPH that were launched today, after more than three months of updating. It was an intense day, including about 5 hours of “putting out fires” but all major concerns were resolved. I wasn’t directly involved in the project, but I really enjoy the “all hands on deck” kind of feeling when things aren’t working as expected. Props to Darren, Kindra, and James for making it happen!  It was also a good day as I made some solid progress in my own work.

I would also like to take this time to thank my wife for being so wonderful.  I like her a lot, and she supports me by telling me that I should write more blog posts.  As does Ryan Scott, who threatened me, saying that I am on the edge of “going off the rotation” of his blog reading for lack of consistent updates.  May this delay such a move.

Upcoming: I have been focused a lot on work this week, and I need to catch up on some Seminary stuff.  Just a few more weeks, and then vacation!!!

Gravatar – Globally Recognized Avatar.  Now, from http://www.gravatar.com, you can upload a picture and it will show up next to your name whenever you post a comment on here.

I am trying to come up with some cool ideas for WordPress -Facebook integration.  If you have an idea, post a reply!

Tim,

If you have figured out how many Megawatts per Kilometer you have expended swimming the Atlanic and would like to convert that to Horsepower per Furlong, just ask Google here…

Google Conversions

 

I found this link on Nazarene Roundtable.  I found it to be quite funny.  I have never claimed myself as a participant in all this Emergent Church business, but some of this really resonates with me.  I don’t have a VW Bus yet, but someday I will!

So I was Googling directions to a place nearby to get some BBQ wings and accidentally typed “23″ instead of the full “23 East Elm Avenue…” street address. Anyway, follow this link to see what I got:

Google Maps

Now, take your time, breathe it in, and scroll down to direction 35. Is the shortest distance between two points a straight line? I guess it depends on how you travel that line.