I have been pre-occupied over the last several months due to the fact that mrs seeward and I are having our first child: a little girl! We couldn't be more excited as you can tell by our reactions in the above short video. I think I am starting to wrap my head around it and ready to begin regular posting shortly. Until then ENJOY Brayden Skye McCabe.
Regular visitors to the site will be familiar with my love for Ryan Adams, the rogue genius songwriter extraordinaire. Everyone else in the world will be familiar with Mandy Moore, whom he married yesterday. What an odd couple. She likes to do films for Disney and he likes to drink so many shots that he falls off of stages face first. I find the potential musical connection very amusing and wonder if we will be hearing Mandy's pitch corrected vocals backing Ryan on his next album or Ryan writing songs for Mandy's next teen girl mega-product? He has already proven he can have success with writing for female singers (see the Corrs and Bono singing Ryan's wonderfully written When the Stars Go Blue: check it out here
One of Mrs Seeward's old friends in Jo-burg is an amazing digital artist. He is responsible for the new vector-ized little Seeward you see typing away at this post in the upper left hand corner of the page. He has some amazing stuff on his Facebook profile but I can't find a personal site for his art. Here is a link to a company site that has a small portfolio section : One Plus One. When I get the link to a personal site then I will post it in the comments sections but this is it for now.
I want to thank Will for the fantastic opportunity to see what I would look like as a cartoon. Thanks!
I invented a new game for all the information junkies out there: Wikipedia Diving. Here is how you play:
You select a random topic that you are interested in, such as "Sky Diving" then you type that into the wikipedia search engine. YOu MUST read the entire article, no matter how long it is. When you get to the bottom of the article you got back up and click on one of the internal Wikipedia links that will take you to a new topic and repeat the process. You must read the Whole article and then select the next internal link. WHen you are ready to end the game you click an eternal link at the bottom of most articles and then either read or bookmark that external link. You could set a time limit on your diving (30 min to an Hour) or set an end goal topic such as "I am going to play until I reach something that relates to 'Auto Racing'."
Not all the info you encounter will be correct but it will be an interesting ride into areas that you may never had thought were out there and you might find some interests that you didn't realize you had. I was gong to call the game "Info-Porn" but I thought Wikipedia Diving is more accessible.
I, like many people, have lusted after the iPhone since it first hit the shelves over year ago. Now, thanks to my generous wife, I now have one of my very own! I have been frantically pawing it for the last few days and I have been so overwhelmed by the other features that I am just now getting around to using it to post to seeward.com. So far I am most impressed with the Skype application that allows me to use my Skype account to make long distance calls from anywhere that I can get a WiFi connection (home, office and Starbucks, where else do I need =) As you can see it also came with a groovy Paul Smith Monkey protective rubber casing to keep it from getting beat up. A few years go I was excited about the Palm Pilot technology but it never really delivered on the promise of an all-in-one personal digital companion. Well so far the iPhone has delivered in spades. I can have mobile access to my emails, appointment calendars, music, videos, and even more!
Our community is making a large meditation garden on our grounds. It is made up of five VERY large stones that each represent issues that we feel called to focus our attention on: Grace, Environmental Justice, Economic Justice, Hiv/Aids and Racial Reconciliation. On Wed we gathered to paste small pennies on the Economic Justice stone and bits of broken sea glass on the Grace stone. Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts was also on hand carving faces into the Racial Reconciliation stone. You can see a brief snapshot of the evening in the above video.
Some of the best things in life are discovered completely by accident. Such was the case of Hofmann and his most famous discovery while looking for medicinal uses of fungus found on grain and wheat. I wonder if his discovery and lifelong relationship with his "problem child" had anything to do with his long life? One thing is for sure, his work has had a profound impact on the world we live in and also on my experience of it. Rest in Peace!
I had my first lucid dream last evening. Meaning that in the middle of the dream I realized that I must be dreaming and then was able to take control of the dream and do whatever I wanted. The dream began while I was swimming in the pool in the house that we used to live in in Miami. A got out of the pool and realized that my glasses were broken. In real life I broke my glasses a few months ago so the reaction was fresh in my mind. In the dream, for some reason, my friends son Jack, was to blame for the broken glasses and I was bitterly blaming him for the real life broken glasses also. In the middle of the rant I suddenly asked myself "Could this be a dream?". Everything was so real and vivd. At first I struggled and decided that it wasn't a dream and that my glasses were actually broken again. This made me even more angry. Then I remembered something that I had read about lucid dreaming. Light switches do not work in dreams (no one knows why this is the case but it seems to be for all people). I walked over to the light switch and flipped it up and down. Nothing happened so I turned to the 'dream Jack' and smiled. Then I got excited and fully accepted that I was awake in my dream! I walked over to a group of strangers that suddenly had appeared in the living room area of the house and grabbed one of them by the cheek. It felt so real, even the feeling of razor stubble and the weight of the head as I tugged on his cheek. I decided that if I could do anything then I could think of much cooler things to do than tug on some strangers face. With that thought I leaped off the ground and flew straight through the french doors that separated the dinning room for the pool area. I continued to rise as I flew through the screen and off towards the sky. I made a quick fly over of my old elementary school and was just about to cross over the Florida Turnpike when the excitement woke me up. I quickly got up and wrote down the details so I would remember them for later. i have read that one of the benefits of meditation is Lucid Dreaming and now I know for sure. The practice of meditation, or lowering your brain-wave frequency while staying awake, trains your brain to be able to enter deeper wave patterns with more blood flow than normal. When you are asleep your brain goes into a delta wave pattern which has very little energy and blood flow in the brain. In fact the frontal cortex that is responsible for self-directed thought isn't even active while dreaming. That is why you feel like the dream is happening to you not that you are controlling it yourself. So when your brain gets used to going into deeper wave cycles while awake, the increased blood flow allows the frontal cortex to fire up while you are in deep sleep. Some life long meditating monks never lose consciousness even in deep dreamless sleep. I could not imagine what it must be like to be conscious 24 hours a day! I am no Zen monk but I very pleased to have been surprised by this little adventure and when it happens again I will try to not get so excited and enjoy it for a bit longer.
We had the pleasure of celebrating our good friend Debra Higgs birthday last night at the newly opened Marley Resort and Spa. The place was fantastic even though the restaurant, Simmer Down, hasn't opened yet but the bar, Stir it Up, is fully functional and stocked with a fine selection of beers!
There was a sirt-of wedding reception going on there so teh place was very crowded and quite loud which made for a lively time. My favorite part of the night was when I got mistaken for Johnny Depp (which made Nicole as happy as it made me =) They have put so much work into making the place loot fabulous, it is a pity that most sections were too dark for my camera to get good shots of. Interested parties will have to check out the link above.
Call it the subtle influence of people I respect, I have become interested in fashion all of a sudden. Not that I am going to run out and buy a couture suit or anything, I am just beginning to appreciate the design and creativity that goes into making something beautiful to wear. I been watching the final few episodes of Project Runway and last night the infant terrible Christian won the final $100,000 prize after designing a line of clothes that were edgy and sleek at the same time. Guest judge, Victoria Beckham, said she would love to wear his clothes (we'll forgive him for that one!) While he is only 21 years old he has a firm command of his creative process and continually delivered things that impressed me (and the judges) I must be getting old because yesterday I caught myself daydreaming about buying a stylish suit!
There's a natural mystic blowing through the air
If you listen carefully now you will hear.
This could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last
Many more will have to suffer,
Many more will have to die - don't ask me why.
I was beginning to worry that Ken Wilber, and the future of spiritual evolution, had run its course when I noticed how commercial the posts on Ken's Blog were getting. Every other post just a sample of what they are selling over at Integral Naked. But from this image you can clearly see that Ken is still making money with his integral psychology practice. Famous clients like this must have Ken rolling in the moulah - or samsara! Its not easy being Integral.
The newest issue of Wynwood Magazine has an article that I wrote last year covering the work of John Cox. The article explores the context of John's work and offers a bit of commentary about the place of Bahamian cultural development and the definition of Bahamian Art. You can read the article online here.
I used to be addicted to my laser mouse but for the last two years I have completely weened myself off using it and have been using the trackpad on my Macbook Pro. It looks like the world of user interfaces is about to be revolutionized in huge ways!
On the journey of our human development, we face two potential sidetracks that can stand in the way of our progress or growth. If we think of the ego as simply the dividing line between us and the rest of the world, then we can begin to get a sense of what the course or arc of our development might look like. One way of looking at what is means to be a healthy person is that we we equal to everyone else. One one hand many of us have been formed towards feeling like we are less than others. We might feel deep in our spirits that something is wrong with us or that we are shameful for the things that we do. Often we spend time focusing on the areas of our lives and behaviours that we are not pleased with and that becomes the measure of our worth to ourselves. This state is really evidence of an underdeveloped or wounded ego. We haven't yet learned that we are no worse than anyone else, so we don't know how to give ourselves permission to just simply be where we are at. Instead we end up allowing other people to push us around and often take advantage of us. In times where a healthy ego would have stepped in and defended us, our underdeveloped ego just slips away into passivity and co-depedance. On the other hand, many of us spend no time at all focusing on the negative parts of ourselves and we end up with an overdeveloped ego. We really come to believe that we are better than other people and that somehow other people are weaker or more broken than us. We take this overdeveloped ego out into the world and often end up pushing around others with a less developed ego. These two positions are where most therapy begins. Most of the time it is those with the underdeveloped ego that turn to therapy willing ly and those with an overdeveloped ego that are forced in by crisis. Jesus message is very different to these different types of people. To those in His day that were self-righteous (the Teachers of the Law as an example) He spoke a messege of judgment and harsh critique. Calling them to look at the brokenness and 'sin' in their own lives that they were practiced at avoiding and denying. To the outsiders, like the Samaritans, who thought they were less than dogs, His message was one of acceptance and forgiveness. As the popular saying goes He "comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable". In a sense, Jesus was offering very practical therapudic frameworks for establishing a healthy ego or 'sense of yourself'. An ego that didn't see it self as any more or less important (or holy or lovable) than anyone else. On either side of the coin there is the possibility of transformation by either accepting that the 'burden of your sins' had been lifted and you no longer needed to carry shame and guilt or by showing you that you were not as perfect as you thought and therefore humbling you so that you can truely embrace others as yourself. The major difference between how spirituality and psychology form a healthy ego is simply where the work is thought to be accomplished. In spirituality is it is done by God while in psychology it is done by the therapist (or the patient depending which school of thought). Once we establish a healthy (non-shame based or self-righteous) ego then the real work of transformation begins. The practice of meditation is really the willful practice of disolving the ego and learning to not be defensive. You can think of meditation as allowing your ego to be plunged into the Divine. I have, at times, in meditation felt as though I was connected to every single living person. I am not saying in an intellectual sense but in an experiential sense. I felt that connection. However real that feeling might, or might not have, been, it is a hard thing to carry out into the everyday world. It is easy to forget that I am really one with every other person. My ego is always on hand to jump up and rush to defend my puny sense of myself. As soon as I feel challenged or the need for affirmation, I shrink down into a reduced and singular entity called Christian McCabe. The practice of meditation, over time, can allow a person to trancend the ego all together and from a place of oneness, a person might enter the world as I see Jesus entering it - full of Grace and Truth without the need to defend himself or even argue others into affirming Him. Trusting that 'those that have ears to hear' will hear.
This little video is of ms seeward cooking for the first time in her new kitchen! She is making a very tasty pasta dish that even has a special ingredient (see if you can catch it in the video). Cooking with Gas is an island way of saying 'you are getting along well or doing just fine". It is sort of a like 'Rolling steam-pressed" Nicole is surely cooking with gas!
aught Mizpah Bethel playing by the ocean in Sandyport. The wind was so strong that the audio was ruined but the video came out very nice. I am really beginning to hate what Youtube does to the videos. The quality gets reduced so much that all videos look the same. I am interested in finding a new video host but I already have over 30 videos uploaded to youtube so I guess I will just have to keep playing with what resolution I send them.
Went over to Miami, Ft Lauderdale and here is the proof. I am working on another longer video with highlights from the WORK exhibition from the POPOPSTUDIOS artists. In this little video you can see the sights in Miami Beach and a bit of driving around (in a convertible mini-cooper) and doing what you do in the States - shopping!
The top video is a quick loop of my golf swing and the bottom video is the swing of some pro that we met out on the course at the Cable Beach Golf Course. I had a great day - shot 87 (with three double bogeys) I had a great time playing with, and beating the socks off of, the drummer from the Baha-men, Moe and a few other notable friends. Next time I need to convice them to play for money (or munny's)
If you listen closely to the pro's video, at the end, you will hear that his ball hit a tree, again!
My friend AJ - who I swear is not completely crazy - just prone to fits of twisted genius, has traded some old kit for a real live Dune Buggy. It looks just like a hot wheels car I used to have as a 7 yearold kid. You can see the action in the video above that I shot on a quick spin aroudn the hood.
We are all suffering for Jesus down here in the islands, so today we took a break from the hectic pace of Nassau and visited Rose Island for the day. You can check out the video I shot above. I am testing a new way to present videos on the site. Please let me know if things are not working as well as the used to or the quality is compromised.
I LOVE RICKY GERVAIS! I borrowed the first season dvds of his BBC show Extras and I am loving every minute of it!. I have been a fan of Ricky and Steve's(or should I say Karl's) podcast and xfm show for the last few years so I am already acustomed to the raw sarcasm and off color humor that abounds in the series. The set ups are the same for almost every episode which leaves plenty of room for Ricky and the rest of the very funny cast to spread their comedic wings. Steve Merchant has the all-time funniest character, playing Ricky's pathetic agent. I also really enjoy the guest appearances in each episode and the humor that comes from seeing people like Kate Winslet (pictured above) making fun of themselves. "If you star in a movie about the holocaust you will surely get an oscar!"
I have been rather busy with a few new projects lately so I have not been blogging at my normal rate. lately I have been thinking of what a new way for Christianity(or followers of Jesus) to relate to the rest of the world. For years I have been put off by the exclusiveness and arrogance of the mainstream way of relating that assumes that Christian's have some corner on truth and that the rest of the world is radically compromised in a way that Christians aren't. Aside from the fact that in almost everyway you can measure Christians are no more moral or ethical, you can still her traces of superiority dripping off of the tongues of Christians who follow a Lord who thought nothing of himself. I often get asked by people who discover that I am a pastor (I don't wear it on my sleeve, the tattoos cover it up!) "what do you think of people who reject Christianity" I used to say that I have respect for them since I also reject Christianity as a religion in favor of a relationship with the living and loving presence that I am fond of calling "God". There is one statement by Jesus that has set me off into thinking that following Jesus might not be such a powerful and superior position after all. "I have come for the sick" after asking who needs a doctor, Jesus describes His followers as the sick ones. The ones who are not well and need Him to come along and help heal them and set them on a new path. Does this then imply that even in Jesus day there were those that were well and didn't need a doctor? I realize that this cuts against the tide of the churches doctrine of original sin and much of the way paul's writings are understood but how else are we to take this statement. If their are no 'well' people then Jesus was just saying another of His confusing one-liners. I think it is in keeping with the rest of Jesus life and message that those who would become his followers would learn to see themselves are less important than everyone else - not more. Just some thoughts to prove that I am still alive!
This picture is too funny and comes courtesy of my brother who has a very good sense of humor. He must have known that I would split my sides laughing. I hope he can post some details about the location in the comments section! This made me laugh even more than the day after the final episode when I was reading all kinds of overly intellectual theories of what happened when the screen went black. Right in the middle of two lengthy posts that quoted so many small details trying to build a case for Tony being killed, i read this one line post that cracked me up. It said, "The oddest thing is that I have been to Holstens and they do not have onion rings on the menu..." I laughed so hard that it hurt but this image made me laugh harder. BTW I was pleased to see Phil meet such a disrespectful end, as I thought he was a bad seed all along.
With most of the major players out of the picture, I felt it was safe to come out of hiding. After almost 86 hours of ultra-realistic and totally engrossing crime/family drama, Sunday night marked the end of 'this thing of ours'. Many people thought they had an inside angle on how things would turn out. I even offered my own speculations in this post but creator David Chase had other plans. I have read online reactions ranging from 'I want to kill David Chase' to 'WTF?????'. I have to admit that I was in the 'WTF' camp for most of last night, after the credits rolled but after some reflection, I feel more comfortable with how the series ended. Chase has left us with a few choices of how we might interpret the final ending but he nailed Jersey by having it all end over onion rings at a roadside family diner. You can’t get more Jersey than that! Here are a few possible interpretations:
1) Life Goes On - nothing happened in the diner and life for the Soprano family just keeps chuggin along as normal (with of course the impending FBI raids and grieving of fallen soldiers) One major point in this direction are the lyrics to the song that Tony selected from the jukebox while waiting for his family at the diner' Journey's - Don't Stop Believing. with its line about 'the movie never ends it goes on and on and on' This would be in keeping with Chase's heavy use of musical and lyrical symbolism throughout the series. Even with the apparent FBI tightening its grip on Tony he has proven to be VERY resourceful in the past at getting out of tight squeezes. Regarding the FBI threat, think Meadows lawyer boyfriend mentioning a case with a corrupt city councilman involving bag men and whores. Did you notice the look of recognition on Carmella's face realizing that Tony had leaned on that same Councilman to get her spec house approved. So if Life Goes On, then we might also believe that Tony pulls it together and spends the rest of his life walking that perilous tightrope between power, greed and sudden death that we have been watching for 7 seasons. That last five minutes in the Diner lets you in on what it must be like to be Tony Soprano - what tension! There is enough information to come to this conclusion and feel relatively certain. If that’s the story you go with then David Chase was rubbing our own prejudices in our face by having the Italian-looking guy and the urban youths lurking around to show us that we all stereotype people. In this ending there is nothing is even a bit of a message with AJ echoing Tony’s advice to ‘focus on the good things’ That’s a sound message and thought about in relation to the chorus of ‘Don’t’ Stop…” in the background it even feels like an intentional attempt to show that Tony had made the kind of positive impact on his son, that we never got to see Johnny Boy Soprano (or ‘Livia) leave on Tony. So Life Goes On and Tony is still the lovable and conflicted ‘beast slouching towards Bethlehem’ from the Yeats poem that Chase has been weaving into almost all of this seasons episodes in some way or another. Another sign that Chase might be tryign to send a message would be the desert scene with Tony on Peyote crying ‘I get it” and the Yeats’ poem reading:
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.
(the episode before the desert trip is titled “The Second Coming”)
So Life Goes on and Tony has his own private revelation about the meaninglessness of life and we have to struggle with the deeper fact that their was no deeper meaning behind the ending other than ‘Life Goes On’.
This interpretation is a bit undercut by the fact that at the end the action is interrupted not with a nice fade to black but a quick and jarring cut to black. If you are just trying to tell us that Tony’s life goes on then it would have been a gentle signal to have a slow fade to black to show that action is still happening. What we got was a quick and jarring halt to the action. The feeling the NOTHING happens after the cut. Over the seven seasons it has become clear that the directors invest a great deal of thought into small choices like scene cuts and this isn’t the first scene in the series to end abruptly right in the middle of the action.
2) Tony Got Whacked - In a flashback conversation with Bobby at the lake from earlier this season, Bobby and Tony agree that 'you never even hear the one that gets you' when talking about getting whacked. This wasn't the case with Bobby who both saw and heard his series of fatal shots over the tin whistle of a massive toy train set. It is possible that just after Meadow enters the diner with a very uncomfortable look on her face, Tony is killed instantly with a shot to the head from the Godfather-gun-in-the-bathroom hitman. Everything ends abruptly because we have been seeing that scene through Tony’s point of view. Tony never saw or heard it coming so neither did we. Tony is instantly dead and since the show was about Tony the story is instantly over. Internet obsessives who have no doubt freeze-framed the last scene a million times by now, point out that while Tony is in the diner, before his family joins him, we get a quick cut to a shot of Tony sitting at the booth looking in the mirror at himself. In the mirror Tony is wearing a striped shirt, not the brown shirt and jacket that he is wearing throughout the rest of the scene. This might be meant as a subtle hint that we are seeing this scene from inside of Tony’s paranoid and jittery head. He had to be thinking about the fact that he whacked a made boss of a family without consulting the whole five-family-council for backing. And the way the hit went down was so disrespectful especially to an old school guy like Phil Leotardo. It is more than likely that even if the five families approved of the hit, once they heard Phil’s wife’s story, it was all over for Tony. A ‘zip’ from the Old Country was sent in to follow AJ and lead them to the diner where Tony is waiting. The Italian guy gets up and goes to the bathroom to gather his thoughts before whacking the boss of the New Jersey ‘Pygmy thing’ in front of his family in a crowded diner. He comes out guns blazing and its lights out for Big T. If you buy this version of the story then it makes sense to have a quick jarring cut when the story ends because this is how most of the real stories of the Tony Soprano types actually end : Quickly with one shot to the head and they ‘never see or hear it coming’.
3)We Got Whacked – Did we really think that we could hang around with these tough guy types without getting some blood on our hands. We just were never expecting it to be our own blood. We have been slowly reeled in by the paradox of Tony’s hulking tough-guy frame and the very human frailty. Not unlike Agent Harris with his “we’re finally going to win this war” admission of guilt, we have grown comfortable in Tony’s world and in that final scene; we were instantly ripped out of it. It was always Tony’s world and we were just voyeuristically peaking in for the thrills. Maybe we wore out our welcome, like Ralph Cifaretto or we were just the victim of senseless violence like the waiter who Paulie whacked because he complained about the tip. Either way in the end we were taken out of the story. We were so ‘on the edge of our seats’ worried about Tony, that we never saw it coming.
I have to hand it to David Chase. It would have been much easier for him to have selected one ending and let the chips fall. Some would have loved it and many would have hated it no matter what he decided. Instead he choose the harder path of leaving us with at least three valid ways of interpreting how the story ends. That is postmodern storytelling executed exceptionally well. Going the extra mile to leave us hanging and to offer multiple layers of perspective and meaning without bowing to the pressure to flatten it down to one dimension so people will leave with a sweet taste in their mouths (even if it was the taste of Tony's Blood that would have satisfied many). I believe Chase is not only acknowledging the interpretive role of the audience in his work but he is forcing us to enter into the participatory and creative process of putting it all together for ourselves. This is not groundbreaking in it self but very ballsy to choose to take the path that was sure to confuse many and infuriate everyone who needed to be told how the story ended.
I look forward to seeing what Chase gets up to next because I am even more convinced after last nights finale that he has a powerful grasp on what makes our culture tick and he seems committed to rubbing our faces in it with an excruciating attention to detail and a great ear for musical symbolism. I am going with story ending number three (check out the picture above at our open casket)
Even if the show ending on a perplexing and challenging note that doesn’t mean this post has to so, I leave you with my favorite one liner from the finale: Little Carmine’s movie production company is called ‘lone wolves’ – that is classic Sopranos subtle humor and one of the small reasons that I have grown to love this show.
I have spent the last few days relaxing on Cat Island (the island formerly known as San Salvador) It has been a wonderful time of rest and exploration. I have been shooting lots of video and Nicole has been taking lots of pics so more will follow. For Now I am well rested and loving the fact that I live so close to such a remote and deserted island. The image above is of the Hermitage. I am editing a special video of shots from the hermitage so stay tuned!
Christopher Moltisanti had seen his ups and downs over the past 7 seasons of The Sopranos. From the dizzying heights of rubbing shoulders with John Favreau and Janeane Garofalo to last seasons lows of dating one of Tony's ladies and falling back off the wagon, it has been a ride that has helped make the show so dynamic in its dramatic reach. Well, at least from Chrissy's point of view, it all ended last Sunday. After placing an obviously bootlegged copy of The Departed soundtrack into the disc player, while Comfortably Numb played in the background, Tony realizes that Chrissy is high and they have a horrific accident. It seemed fitting that his last words were "I won't pass the drug test..." I think it was the fact that he admitted being high that drove Tony over the edge. I think Tony even saw it as a mercy killing to save his wife and daughter. In a short and darkly lit scene, Tony puts his once heir apparent out of his misery.
I had somehow hoped that Chrissy would go down in a hail of gunfire rather than turn state's evidence, as many online were saying, but noone saw this coming out of the blue. It makes sense though when you consider how often people die from traffic accidents. Chrissy was my favorite character on the show, always good for a one liner that makes me roll over with laughter. Even this week in his final scene with Tony, he says "That's the flying ointment" - classic!
Chrissy's tensions with Paulie over the years has provided some of the more entertianing moments that the show has offered. Last week they ramped up those tensions and had Paulie breaking balls and cadilac-mowing lawns, I thought they were leading to a showdown where Paulie would whack Christopher. David Chase is determined to keep us all guessing right up til the end.
I could devote a whole post to the thoughts I have about Tony Soprano dosing on Peyote! "I get it!" - with tears streaming down his face. Maybe Tony meant he discovered the meaning of life or maybe he just discovered what Christopher's struggle with addictions had been about. With three episodes to go, i am sticking with my original prediction that Carmella will kill Tony and AJ will fully enter a life of crime. One thign I am sure of is that the ending is going to be hideously dark in its tone. It just feels like the Sopranos world is imploding in an atomic fashion.
"Tragedy... Like a pebble in the lake. Even the fish feel it." - Christopher Moltisanti
Q wrapped up with a few short presentations from people like Rick Mckinley, who spoke about how to take the information home with us and put it to some kind of practical use. Clint Kemp also got the chance to tell some of the stories that are happening at NPCC. The stories seemed to go over well, since he had a line up afterwards to give him the glad-hand. (he didn't have as many people as lined up for Rob Bell last night and, unlike Rob's line, to my knowledge no one asked Clint for an autograph or asked to take a picture with him =) The rest of Rick's crew from Portland seemed like a great bunch and I am hoping to make it out to Portland to do some ministry research sometime soon!
We also met this great guy named Eric
He works with a ministry based out of Pretoria, South Africa. It is a drama ministry but nothing like you would expect from a drama ministry. They deal with difficult issues like sexual abuse and self injury. This kid had a real glow and warmth about him that you could really feel. If the future of the church is being led by people like Eric then there will be no shortage of courage and faith! Stay tuned for video highights in a future post.
Day two at Q! The first day proved to be much like trying to drink from a firehose while day two was a bit less intense, there were still some interesting ideas exchanged. The energy level was high and the lineup of speakers was very diverse. Dan Kinnamen, from the Barna Research Group made a presentation called 'unChristian'
It was a bunch of statistics that he had assembled about how 18-24 year-olds think about christianity. Some of the stats were interesting - only 12% had positive feelings about Christianity while over 90 % had positive feelings about homosexuality. One thing about his presentation that bugged me was he kept saying 'this is what outsiders think of us'. I felt the use of the term outsider was not very helpful and only made it more clear why those same people might reject Christianity. I thought he should have called them 'normal people' because Christians are the crazy ones! I also got do meet Stu from 'One Punk Under God', it was fun to chat with him and find out how the Revolution church is going since Jay Baker left for NYC : things are going well, he said and he was surrounded by a posse of tattooed freaks!
Andy Stanley is a second generation pastor of a very large church in Atlanta called North Point. He spoke about the church changing culture. I liked the end of his talk when he focused on the balance of grace and truth. He is a very clear speaker and has a humble stage presence. Next up was a panel discussion on homosexuality and the church. I thought it was going to be interesting but it didn't turn out to be so great. No one had read the NY Times article about the genetic aspects of sexuality and the conversation went down a very well worn road of 'love the sinner and hate the sin'.
In the talkback session afterwards, some very uptight brother found the speaker's rather conservative views too shocking and he began firing with both barrels. Chris Seay did a great job of putting the guy in his place and restoring peace and order. I am still troubled by the lack of real open ended dialogue on this matter and I hoped that a conference like Q could actually be a place that radically new ideas were exchanged : not so on this issue! The Exec Vice President of American Evangelicals, Richard Cizik, spoke about his life-long passion for the environment and shared that he was recently written a letter by a large group of his peers asking that he either be silenced of fired.
That was truly sad to hear, since the guy seemed to be very bright and also carrying a huge heart for God's creation. He said that the letter stated that evangelicals should only have two issues: abortion and gay-marriage - figures that more people would be excited to stand up for what they are against that actually standing for something that they are for.
Jon Passavant is one of the top five male models and happens to be a pastor's kid. His talk was funny because he LOVES the movie Zoolander and also he is ridicualously good-looking!
In the after noon half of us went on a tour fo the High Museum of Art. They had an exhibit from the Louvre but I was more excited about seeing the largest gallery collection of Howard Finster's art. I got a phot pass and took a photo of every single one (look for a seperate Finster post soon!)
I'm writing from the lounge area of the 'Q' conference in Atlanta, Ga. The conference which is modeled after the T.E.D. conference, is a gathering of cultural influencers who happen to also be christians. The conference is founded by Gabe Lyons (pictured above) and the Fermi Project. Today was the first day and already I have had lots of great ideas to interact with. My favorite presentation so far has been by Kevin Kelly, editor-at-large and founder of Wired magazine.
As you can see, he spoke about his views on the next 1000 years of Christianity. His presentation was all over the map from aliens to asking if robots should be considered Children of God. He has a very fresh perspective on many things that sometimes get christians all worked up. he said that he firmly believes that all technology is divinely inspired. This from a man who doesn't own a laptop and has never had a television in his home. My favorite part of his presentation was when he stated that he feels the most important question for the church to be wrestling with is "What does it mean to be human?". Since this is the theme that we choose for our teaching theme this year at NPCC, I felt very encouraged. Some other notable speakers included Donald Miller,
who spoke about the power of living within a narrative. I have been saying that very same thing about the value of teaching people to see themselves living within the Biblical story. Josh Jackson is the founder of Paste Magazine
He spoke about the need for the Church to encourage and not limit artists in their expressions and creativity. He also talked about what he thinks it means to 'be in the world and not of the world'. He had some great things to say and it was cool because I bought my first issue of Paste yesterday, not knowing I was going to me the editor and founder today! The mag is great and had a very fair review of the new Bright Eyes cd. Jeff Johnson hosts two shows on BET.
He spoke about the HipHop culture and racism and IMUS. He made a nice play on words about the whole Imus "nappy headed hoes" scandal, saying 'I'm us" focusing us around the reality that we each, individually, carry the responsibility of seeing ourselves as a part of the collective 'us'.
We have been having a great time and eating very well. Last night I finally got the Mexican food that I have been craving for the last six weeks! We also tried some dark Mexican beers as well!
I am shooting lots of video and more pictures than I can post right now. The venue is a very old church that has been converted into a concert hall. So it feels very cool and the sound mixes are incredible! The evening sessions began with John Foreman (the singer from the band Switchfoot ) playing his songs on an acoustic guitar with a very gifted cello player. He talked about the art of song-writing and how he sees the intersection between church, culture and economics. Great stuff!
This weekend I had the rare opportunity to take part in a baby dedication service. Our friends Shaka and Jen's little one, Judah, was being presented to the world. Boy was he excited about all the attention! He did well considering that he had a late night the previous day! The service went well and it was so great to be able to take part in a service that was both casual and meaningful at the same time. We all committed to being a part of Judah's ongoing development and growth. That shouldn't be a problem because he is quite magnetic, especially for the women! Many continued blessings for the littlest 'Lion of Judah'.
Just got an email from a friend that reminded me of this. When Nicole and I were in South Africa I really enjoyed some Kilppies and Coke. Seeing this little bottle, on the rocks, near that beautiful rocky sea, made me extra thirsty (for both a cold glass of Klippies but also a game of HotShots)
Now seems to be the time to begin to explore some issues that have been circling around in my mind/heart for quite a long while. A few Sunday's ago, during our Easter series, I gave a talk about the work accomplished by Jesus' death. I made a statement after reading this passage from Hebrews 10:1-4
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
After this passage, where the writer goes on to say, 'therefore, lets creatively encourage each other in love'. I made a statement "Ultimately the story is not about sin, it is about love". Well that statement seems to have caused a bit of a stir. I thought I would take a bit of time to unpack how I arrived at that statement, both for my own clarity and for the sake of others that might seek to understand where I was coming from. let me begin by stating my bias up front - I believe the story of the Bible is a story about God - but a story about God told from a human point of view. That is not to say that there are not moments of revelation but simply to say that the writers themselves(particulary in the New testament) are clearly struggling to make meaning out of what has occured in the life, teachings and death of Jesus. So I am not offering any of the following scripture passages as proofs unto themselves but rather pointers towards, what I believe, is the 'true arch' of God's intentions with his relationship with humanity. That being said, lets begin by looking at Romans 7:7 - "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law." Here Paul is saying something important about the function of the law: making us aware of our sinfulness. This takes me in my mind back to Abraham and a time, before the law, when human beings had no awareness of sin. God engaged Abraham, even without Abraham's awareness of sinfulness, and began a relationship. God then began a process of teaching human beings that there was a better way of being human. He began to set up the systems, symbols and rituals that marked the Old Testament temple worship. A hint at the purposes behind this system lay in the meaning of the word Leviticus (the Old Testament book containing the law). It means "to seperate" or to "divide". So God uses the law to divide out a people who begin to become aware of their sinfullness, and also aware of a new way of living in the world as human beings. This whole system and it's underlying purpose of teaching people about their sinfullness before God came to fulfillment and conclusion in the work of Jesus. In fact Jeremiah 31 talks about the new covenant when God will "forget that His people ever sinned". Now we are two thousand years on down the road and we still view 'awareness of sin' as an essential part of the story. Even in spite of our open admission that many people suffer under the weight of guilt and shame that results from the way we place such an emphasis on sin. Lets think for a moment about someone, in our modern world, coming into a church community. They are there, most likely, for one of two reasons. 1) They have had a painful experience that they find hard to cope with and are seeking a new way of being in the world that allows them to make peace with what they have experienced , or 2) They have had experiences of trancendance or freedom that seem to lift them out of their ordinary lives and point them in a direction of the deeper spiritual dimensions of life. I think we make a huge, and niave, assumption if we think that these people coming into a church are in the same state as Abraham. They are fundamentally different because of the ongoing effects of God's interaction with humanity. Even though they might not use the word 'sin' to label it, they are fully aware that there is something deeply fractured and broken about, not just the world they live in, but in themselves as well. They have been living in a world that has been slowly waking up (for thousands of years) to the presence of Evil and the deep fractures that 'sin' has caused in their world. What should our starting place be for these people when we tell them the story that has offered us a new way of living? Do we teach them some Old Testament system of labeling sin? The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8 that 'Any focus on the law is actually a focus on ourselves" If we try to teach people to become aware of their sinfulness, do we not run a huge risk of setting them on a course towards self obession and empty legalism? Is there another way? Lets look for a moment at 1 John 3:18-20:
"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves."
Maybe a better way of engagin with people would be to direct them, firmly and practically, towards lives of sacrificial love. Telling them that this is the way our Lord lived His life and offered it to us as a way out of the oppression and brokenness that we feel. Certianly, without the work of Jesus, the issue of sin would still keep us from loving but clearly, from the state we find Israel in during Jesus' time, awareness of sin, through the law, did not result in lives of love for one another. It resulted in self obesession and pride. I find it interesting that we don't see Jesus in the gospel's laying out awareness of sin for people but loving people first. I have much more to say on this matter, so this is just a part one, but I finish with this. We have to consider what we think the story is ultimately about before we can experience the full impact of the story. Anthony DeMello recommends that we let a story work on our subconsious for a very long time and then it will reveal its deepest meaning to our hearts. I think that on the surface the story of Jesus appears to be about sin because we tend to see it from a human point of view. I am starting to believe that, from God's perspective, the story has always been about love. It has always been about God, Himself, and as we know from another sly passage in 1 John 4:17:
You know you have soul when, after you die, your house burns to the ground and collapses in a cloud of smoke and ash. That's what happened to Johnny Cash's former Hendersonville, TN home on Tuesday. The home was purchased by Barry Gibb (yes from the Bee Gees) and was undergoing renovations when tragedy struck. It seems odd to me that the family would have sold the house in the first place but who can judge how people will react to death and loss. Mabe the house was too emotional for them to return to so they decided to let it go. You can see the house featured in the video above from the fantastic song HURT. It somehow seems fitting that Johnny's legacy is so powerful it burns down everything in its path and only leaves a pile of dust and ash. Ashes to ashes, indeed!
My brother emailed me this image that he took on his phone last week of the original Satriale's in Kearny, NJ to celebrate the beginning of the final cycle of Sopranos episodes. Will Tony end up in jail, in prison or worse? Here is my official prediction about how the series will end: Tony will be killed by Carmella in a rage and Anthony Jr will begin a life of crime in his dad's footsteps. We'll have to wait and see!
Our friend Jane threw a party where men had to dress up as Vicars and Lady's had to dress as bunnies. For some strange reason the thought of dressing up in the formal liturgical robes got me excited! I was so lucky to have help from the women in my life : Nicole, My Mom and My Grandmother really made the costume perfectly and I just got the pleasure of wearing it! And what a pleasure it was. I was thinking Cardinal but everyone called me bishop which I gues isn't so bad! We had lots of fun and even more than this guy:
He may have had the most creative costume for the whole evening! Nicole Looked beautiful as a sexy bunny, complete with whiskers and a button nose!
We even ran into a real priest - my friend Father Stroud was in town and up for a good time!
He said that this was the first party in his life that he felt that he didn't stand out! You can check out a few more images from the evening by scrolling down and checking out the lower left hand side.
On a cold and rainy Seattle evening about 14 years ago, Kurt Cobain bummed a cigarette from me as we stood huddled in the cold outside, between acts, at a Leonard Cohen concert at a small theatre in the center of the city. I remember noticing that Kurt had a missing fingernail on his right hand and a very deep stare that made it hard to look into his piercing eyes. There wasn't much conversation among the four of us and as we went back inside I snuck in behind Kurt's security guys and enjoyed an unexpected escort to my seats which were only one row behind Kurt and his entourage. I remember seeing Kurt weeping as Leonard sang the lilting and achingly beautiful lines of Hallelujah and Sisters of Mercy. I knew the concert had a big impact on Kurt because a few months later when his newest album came out he had a line that begged for a 'Leonard Cohen afterlife'. It was about a year later when the sad news came of his suicide. I still remember the sickening feeling I felt when I heard that he had died and in such a tragic and painful way. I remember feeling a sense of pain and loss, even in the midst of my own drug crazed oblivion, that has never left me since. It wasn't so much that I was a fan of Nirvana - I was, but only casually. It was more a sense of loss for our generation and the hopes and dreams that had found an outlet in the whole 'grunge-everybody is moving to Seattle' thing. There was a sense that the world was waking up to something that the gloss and excess of the 80's had kept at bay. It was almost as if the early 90's was the morning after for the decadant 80's. A time for people to wake up and do an assesment of what kinds of damage had been done the night before. In Kurt's case, the damage was too much to bear. On this day 13 years ago, with Kurt's passing, much of the world had to face the dark and painful reality that getting everything you ever wanted can still leave you cold and empty. William S Burroughs, who worked with Kurt on some spoken word musical projects, said that Kurt couldn't continue living because he never learned to 'be alone with himself'. Lets pray that we all experience a 'Leonard Cohen" afterlife filled with beauty too painful to describe and too stable to avoid and until then we learn to be alone with ourselves.
I got an email today from David Sacks. He is a very talented and creative photographer who had the good fortune of using Nicole and I as models during his last journey to Nassau. He emailed this screen shot of an image of he shot last year on the front page of the American Express website. (click here for full size image) I never really thought I had a mainstream look but after this and a few other places that my photo has popped up I am beginning to wonder. The Yahoo Life cover from three years ago was a funny place to see my shining face but the best so far has been when my cousin called me to make sure I was ok after seeing my face msiling at the top of an ad for americansingles.com. There can only be two explainations of this image being used: 1) They recognized the power of Nicole's beauty or 2) they knew how large my AMex bills are and they thought they would give me some sort of recognition! Lets see them use my new natural white rasta look =)
Bono has won many awards during the span of his 30+ year music career. A few weeks ago he won the NAACP image award for his work against poverty. On the RED BLOG they said this about the honor "This is an award for a lifelong pursuit of the equality and coexistence of humanity" - not bad for a rock star! Above is a video of the comments he offered after accepting the award.
Every once and a while I come across a technology that really gets me excited! The last time I got this excited they had just perfected streaming multi-track audio onto a laptop through the USB ports. Now I am excited about a new piece of gear called EyeTV Hybrid. It allows you to watch tv (HD, Digital and Normal Analog) right on your apple laptop. That is pretty cool by itself but the best feature is the Tivo-like features. You can pause, rewind, record and edit LIVE TV. The software is really easy to use and the features are incredible! Within seconds (I mean it) it was up and running and I was ready to record. Not only can you simply press the "record" button, you can also schedule it to auto record shows and it will even wake your computer up and tune to the correct channel. You can hook up a VCR or DVD player and encode them to digital format for playing in KeyNote or Powerpoint presentations. You can burn them to DVD right within the same slick software that allows you to edit out the commercials. The signal quality is great even though my cable signal isn't very reliable on its own. It also has a digital antenna for those who live in the States. Most large cities in the states broadcast 18-25 HDTV channels for free over a digital format. That means that you can even use it wirelessly while on the go.
Literally seconds after I plugged it in, the first channel it was tuned to was CBC. It was one of my favorite shows, The Hour, and the guest was my dad's favorite musical artist : Meatloaf. I quickly hit the record button and caught the last three minutes of Him comparing his newest Bat Out of Hell 3 album to Abbey Road and Sgt Peppers. Just last night I recorded three interesting things on-the-fly: The Meatloaf interview on The Hour A Strange Cartoon about Jesus Freaks and an episode of The Sopranos
If you are interested in getting into the digital television recording world and don't want to shell out the cash for a Tivo (or Cable Bahamas' $500 digital set top box) then the EyeTV Hybrid is for you! That is if you use a Mac!
In the ongoing quest to put all availible technology into the palm of our hands, a new add-on for the iPod has just taken it to another level: The iBreath is both an FM transmitter and fully functional breathalizer machine rolled into one. So you are out at a club and are not sure if you have had too many, there is no need to worry, simply pull out your iPod (you certianly had it in your pocket as a plan b in case the evening was un-exciting and you needed to retreat to the saftey of your digital music and video library). Besides saving people from harm and DUI violations, having your very own pocket breathalizer might also curb other drunkeness related mishaps. Before you make a fool out of yourself by attempting to "pop that collar" in a wildly drunken frenzy or before you make a pronouncement of love to the "lovely" lady/man that you just met on the way to the toilets, check to make sure that you are not past the legal limit for love - or dancing!
My friend Derek took some great images during practice for this morning's worship service. I like the way that he captured the motion in my arm. They came out so well I used one for the header image on the music page.
I found a great video of Shane speaking at a youth event on youtube. It seems that Jamie Moffett (another founding member of The Simple Way in North Philly, has been posting videos of Shane and their Another world is Possible project. Jamie has some great media skills and it was nice to see some videos of Shane infiltrating the web-i-verse.
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget the perfect offering There's a crack in everything That's how the light gets in -Leonard Cohen
This morning I was having a peaceful quiet time and I came across this little flower growing out of the cracks in the pavement. Many years ago Clint Kemp used this very idea of a flower growing through the cracks in concrete in a sermon about How God Works. At one point we were even trying to hire a photographer to stage a similar image so we could use it in our services. Well this morning as I saw the flower I felt God's presence in a powerful way. It was as if God was saying that even when everything looks broken and hard, new life and beauty can pour forth from the cracks.
The new show on TLC The Monastery is an interesting show. It features five men bringing their modern-life struggles into the confines of a monastery to see what the monks have to offer. The show has an interesting collision of the traditional and the current. Last week's show featured a day trip to visist a hermit who had been living alone for the last 27 years. In his solitude, he spent most of his time in prayer and daily chores. One of the modern day men asked him what his prupose or goal in life was and he said "My purpose is to die!". I find this very odd given that Jesus said to His disciples that their business was life not death. The monk's life or solitude and seperation seems to align with many of the attractive qualities of Buddhism. This is only the beginning of the mixed signals that this show is sending out. The first few episodes that I watched were heavy on the personal discipline side and very light on the ideas about a loving God. It seemed like the monks were saying that the life of following Jesus was all about hard work and disicpline. I didn't hear much mention of a larger theology that made their efforts worthwhile. Soon some of the men dropped out because they either didn't like or couldn't hack the regime of religious life.
I find it interesting that the monks tend to use very mystical language to express their ideas about God. For instance, in last week's show, a man who was angry at the monks for not blessing his divorce was talking to an older monk. The monk said that their was no way to experience God except through the love of human beings. This is a thought that I have had as well but it was interesting to hear it coming from someone who has chosen to live a life that was very cutoff from people who don't believe the same things or experience God int eh same way that he does. As the conversation progressed the monk said that he felt that the TV show project was an instrument that God was using to wake the monks up to a deeper understanding of Himself.
I guess I can accept that God is even using the show to expose people to to alternate views of human life. I just wish I heard more about how Jesus had inspired the monks to choose their lifestyles.
I know some people are scared by crazy monsters or black cats but there is only one thing left that truly scares me. The thought that soemwhere out in the universe there is a children's animated cartoon (as the video above seems to imply) with the Misfits as the main characters. That is scary in my book!
Yesterday was my fouth round of golf in the last two months. Before that I hadn't played in over three years and even then it was only once a year or so. Well, yesterday I shot an 89! For those who don't know anything about golf that is a fairly good score! I may find myself spending more time on the links!
I am late to the Google Earth party, I know, but I am really enjoying marking up my personal desktop globe with significant places in my life: like seeward's house and seeward's church. If you download the linked files you can see the locations on your own earth.
In full screen mode you can soar like a bird through the Grand Canyon or zoom down the southern tip of South Africa.
I once lived next to a programmer for Cisco who worked on the US government contracts for satelite technology. One night (8 years ago) we were discussing how high the resolution is for the government satelite photos. I asked him if they could tell that we were sitting out on his deck. He said they could tell which brand of cigarette that I was smoking!
Imagine a Google earth in super high resolution, running in real time! Spirit in the Sky!
He's up to it again! The English version of Davd Blaine with a degree in pyschology, Derren Brown, is up to his old tricks again. In previous episodes of his BBC show Mind Control, Derren has used NLP, hypnosis, pop psychology and more to do some very interesting things with people's minds. One episode had him instructing a team of ad execs to come up with an ad campaign or a pet mortuary. Before they even got to work, Derren predicted, in amazing detial, what they would come up with. At the end of the show you discover that all day long the ad men were subjected to sutble (almost subliminal) cues about what Derren wanted them to create. It appears that, instead of creativity being the creation of somethign entirely new, it is actually the bricolage-type assembling of unrelated bits of information that we take into our subconcious. After watching the episode, you are let wondering if creativity is not just the function of stringing together various bits of things that have embedded themselves in our subconcious.
The episode above takes his borderline sadistic techniques and turns the volume to 11. (for a sense of the sadistic in his work check out this) He invites twelve middle-management types to a workshop under the guise of learning his techniques. The real plot is him preparing them, through various mind control techniques, to commit an armed robbery (with a realistic looking toy gun).
There is much to critque about his methods but you get a sense that these shows are real. The psychological reactions of the participants seem far to unguarded for them to be acting. People are clearly breaking down and their whole understanding of reality seems to shift. He seems to make them into different people, and even more scary, he gets them to do things that they would not have done if he hadn't fiddled with their minds.
This show called "The Heist" was the first thing that made me believe that mind control could actually be an explanation for some of the assasains that populate the cast of most conspiracy theories. Take a look for yourself!
After almost three weeks of sinus related headaches, I decided to visit the local Chinese doctor and get some acupuncture done. The little pieces of metal in my face, in the above image, are not a hip new form of piercing but an ancient method of bringing the electrical and chemical systems within the body into harmony. You can learn more here.
I really enjoyed the experience. It was relaxing and didn't hurt at all. I know it has some effect on your endorphin flow so that would make it feel relaxing. When I got up from the table, my legs were asleep and it felt like my feet were no longer connected to my legs. i stumbled around for a second and then caught my balance. I made an appointment to go back next week for anti-smoking treatment!
I took sometime last night to set up my new macbook pro with a customized graphical interface. With the hep of some nifty apps like Shapeshifter and CandyBar, I was able to get exactly the theme I wanted. The final look is a combination of persoanlized touches and some great templates like Unity GK. You can check ut a closeup of the hacks here.
I really like a minimal feel but I just had to add some of the very cool desktop widget from Yahoo Widgets. I have one that shows my to do list and calender from iCal and a very compact iTunes remote so you can pause and pay without showing the clunky iTnes interface. While we're on the subject of widgets, Apple has some really cool ones for their dashboard app here. I found so many really useful little dashboard widgets. One that has an animated guitar neck that wil show voicings, all over the next, for ANY chord. It also plays an arpeggio and strum of the chord for you to compare with your playing. I also found one that finds the beats per minute of a drum loop or piece of music. This is helpful in music production when you find a cool loop online but can't find the tempo.
After all the customizations that computer really feels a part of me. I must be becoming a cyborg! My normal working looks less minimal and more like this.
As you may have seen in the Cribs video, my door is almost completely covered in stencils by spraycan artist DeCyPuL. The newest editions are, by far, my favorites!
He said he was considering putting an iconographic halo around my forehead but his better judgment prevailed.
I used to have to drive an average of 12-14 mins to the nearest Starbucks. Now they have placed one (with free wireless internet) within one minutes drive (or a five minute walk but nobody walks that far here - seriously)
I had a dopio espresso while listening to Brian Eno on iTunes(in headphones) and right around the corner. When I first moved to Nassau, a blackmarket video rental place was on everycorner. Now it is beginning to seem like a Starbucks is opening on every corner. There is no chance of this threatening the independant coffeeshops here in Nassau (because there aren't really any to speak of).
If this is truely going to turn into my new office, I will have to ask them to do something with the decor but I do enjoy all the new space!
I am not much of a sports fan (huge understatement!) but I have been following the developing story of my cousin Brian McCabe and his new contract in the NHL. It seems that the story has changed from his wife not wanting to return to Toronto (although that may have some truth to it) to a family medical emergency that has been all consuming. I hope, whatever it is, Brian can get into an office shortly and sign his name to the multi-million dollar deal and allow the Leafs fans to rest easier knowing that they will have another few seasons of Brian's blood and guts on their side.
My first cousin (on my dad'd side) Bryan McCabe is a professional hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Do you see any family resemblence? Maybe the hair?
It seems that Bryan is going through contract negotiations and domestic issues are holding up the works. Even if it is the case that he is reluctant to stay in Toronto because of his wife, it seems a bit over-the-top that the Canadian press would make it such an issue. I am not close with Bryan so I can't say if this is purely speculation about his wife pressuring him to move to a NY team.
I am happy for Byran being such a success. I didn't see it coming when he used to bite me when we would play as children. I also remember him visiting right after my high school graduation. I got drunk for the first time ever and all night long tried to pick a fight with him. At one point, I think he simply reached out and gently pushed me over into the sand on Key Biscayne. He foudn it funny that I was so aggressive. Looking back on that night, after I sobered up, it wasn't such as great idea to pick a fight with the guy who is notorious within the hockey leagues for being tough as nails. You live and you learn!
This week in our Small Group, we were led in an activity by AJ Watson. Each meeting a different person leads us through an activity that will begin a discussion that we can all engage and learn from. This session AJ had a vision of making a lamp that symbolizes the truth that there is pain involved when someone draws near to the Light. He opened up the conversation with two examples: 1. When he decided to take the Red Pill at NPCC and open up to the life of community and God, his life didn't get easier but, in fact, got more painful at first. 2. He saw a drugged out guy on the side of the road and he realized that in order for him to stop and help he had to sacrifice and live up to the light that he was trying follow in his life.
The discussion took many interesting turns and everyone engaged with their own ideas about what the lamp could symbolize. In a very practical sense, we all experienced physical pain in the process by twisting and cutting the sharp metal wire. AJ wanted to use razor wire but reason won in the end and we used copper wire instead. Sharp pain is much better than missing fingers! Our conversation focused down in the relationship between pleasure and pain in our lives. We all agreed that if we could all hook up to a machine that ensured that we would only experience pleasure, none of us would take the opportunity. We decided that pain was a nessecary part of life and also one of the best teachers in life. Throughout our discussion we seemed to express the conviction that we all held a value that was deeper than the feelings of pleasure or pain: authenticity. The reason we wouldn't hook up to the pleasure machine is because the experiences would not be real.
One of the odd things that came up was the fact that leprosy was a disease where those infected experienced no pain. Their nerves stop sending signals to the brain. After all the discussion, my conclusion is that "I want to be happy but not all the time". You can read an interesting website entry on this topic here where he comes to the same conclusion.
Tomorrow morning I leave on a trip to visit my friends at the Simple Way in North Philly. It should be a wonderful time to connect and see the Kingdom from a different perspective. One fo the coolest things will be seeing my brother on Sunday! I am traveling with some cool peeps : Tim Hauber, Mark Jordan, Nikki DT, Pennie Baldacci and Jane Seibels. Also Chris Seay and some people from his community in Houston are coming up as well. That should make for an even more interesting time! I will hopefully have internet and will be posting some thoughts and images. Peace for Now.
Read this little story and you will feel much better about your day. This worl dis a very odd and often dangerous place. I can really see how the anxiety and stress of just staying alive can wear some people down.
The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have been exploring the surface of the Red Planet for over two years now. Things are beginning to get interesting. There is a great deal of chatter surrounding certian photos released by NASA. Here are a few of the ones that have stirred up the most discussion about possible evidence of life.
The one that looks like a face has already been exposed as simply shadows. When they look at it from other angles it is revealed to simply be a natural rock formation. Here is one that shows that if there is life, they know how to make the universal earthling symbol of "Have a Nice Day"
Here is a few interesting links that have some even better images that seem very interesting. Space Magazine : Google Mars : Mars Geo
It will be interesting on earth if one day the rover is cruising along photographing rocks and suddenly a huge worm pops out of the side of a dune. Will NASA still release the images over the internet if the rover meets a tragic end after being eaten by a huge desert space worm? I think not!
I listened to an interesting podcast yesterday. It was Doug Pagitt and Bob Deeway debating PostModern spirituality. Doug, in typical heretical form, was taking the post modern side of the exchange. You can check it out here
One of the points they discussed was whether the human mind could hold a knowledge of God. Doug argued that the human mind is incapable of holding the mystery and paradox of God, while Bob argued that God has revealed truth to human beings so they can have certianty. Towards the end of the final dialogue, Bob was stumped in his position by the doctrine of the trinity. He had to concede that the trinity is a paradox that we can not ever fully embrace without accepting the mystery of it. It got me thinking about optical illusions and how they are points where our visual sense breeaks down and we cannot reconcile the paradox. They are visual mysteries. Here is my favorite. Try to look at this image and say the color of the word not the actual word:
What happens is a conflict between the right and left halves of our brain. The right half wants to say the color of the word but the left half wants to say the actual word. This shows the limited aspects of the human brain when dealing with reality. So to put this idea into context with the podcast. Why is it so hard for us to imagine that the same conflicts would arise when limited human beings are talking about a limitless God? On the modern rational side of the debate, people keep thinking that this idea makes God somehow an inadequate communicator. They fail to see the inadequacies are human. Think of all the things you once thought you understood about God, only to discover that you were very wrong. In my life it was the view of God as father. For too long I held onto the image of a loving father and I had a loving real father to use as my analogy. Then thing happened in my life that blew that image apart. I had to reconcile that God was something more than a human loving father. I realize that the analogy of Father God is still a useful metaphor but, as all metaphor eventually reveal, it is not an image that I can pin any certianty on. Take a look at these other illusions:
In honor of the new season of the Sopranos, click the image above for a random mafia nickname generator. Mine came out as "The Bishop". I have to comment that this season of the Sopranos has been the best one yet. Starting with Tony going into a coma and having the purgatory vision. My favorite part was Tony getting slapped by the Tibeten Monk. Hows that for karma! Also the homosexual mobster storyline has provided a wealth of interesting and humorous dialogue. I just found out that they are going to only air the first 13 episodes and then break until Jan 07 for the final 8. David Chase (the creator) has been speaking quite openly that the ending will not be happy for Tony. It appears as if they have only filmed the first 10 so far and the other 11 will begin shooting after the summer. Several major characters are in contract negotiations. Deja Vu from a few years back when James Gandolfini held up the production for months in negotiations. It seems that from the chatter at The Chase Lounge messageboards, Vito will meet his end this coming episode. Also there are a few truely disturbing spoilers that I hope are NOT true. >br>
On a side note, whenever I go to the Sopranos messageboards I feel like Jay and Silent Bob from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. If you have seen the movie you are already smiling.
I just discovered yesterday that one of my favorite mad scientist/music producers composed the Windows 95 start up sound: Brian Eno. You can here the sound by licking his image above. Here is a quote from him about the project:
"'We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah- blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,' this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said 'and it must be 3 1/4 seconds long.'[He doesn't say how he persuaded them to eventually use a piece six seconds long] "I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It's like making a tiny little jewel. "In fact, I made 84 pieces. I got completely into this world of tiny, tiny little pieces of music. I was so sensitive to microseconds at the end of this that it really broke a logjam in my own work. Then when I'd finished that and I went back to working with pieces that were like three minutes long, it seemed like oceans of time."
I always thought that sound was pretty crap! I am amazed to find out that they invested the money to commission someone as expensive as Brian Eno (U2, Roxy Music, David Bowie, James, etc)
All of this makes me wonder who composed the windows 98 sound with the laughing children in the background. I think the 98 sound is much cooler - sorry Eno!
First let me start by saying, Yes that is an image of what you think it is: the people of Israel worshipping at Mt Sinai made entirely out of breakfast cereal.
Now on to my point! I have been thinking lately about what the churches relationship to the outside world should look like. I have been looking at two key points of servant leadership found in the Bible. The first on is from the Exodus journey of Israel, when Moses goes back up to the mountian to chill with God. The people become fearful and melt all their gold into a giant golden calf to worship. God gets very angry. Moses says something so loving and so in line with the heart of Jesus. "Oh what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin - but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." - WOW! There is a true leader. Moses is willing to disconnect himslef from God for the sake us his people. He even goes on to offer himself as an atonement for Israel's sins.
When we look into the New Testament, The Apostle Paul also makes a boldly sacrificial statement as well. In Romans 9 "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel." Double WOW!
Great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the hearts of lost people is the starting place for the Children of God. Not judgment and frustration, contempt or violent opposition. What would it look like in our world for the followers of Jesus to be willing to give up their own relationship with Christ for the sake of those on the outside? I have written a few thoughts on this matter, you can download the word document by clicking the image above or clicking here.
This is were seeward works. Too many days spent sitting in my funky office chair staring blindly into the LCD of a 17" powerbook. Some days I feel that I have the best job in the whole world and others I feel I have one of the jobs in whole world. I realize that I have very little to complain about and I am thankful. I am surrounded by lots of great people who challenge and inspire me daily. I also deal with a few people who frustrate and confuse me but isn't that the way life goes? In the last year of transition from Pastor of Arts and Worship, I have seen more growth and strength in myself than I ever expected. I feel that teaching is what God has crafted me for. I heard Oz Guiness say that a teacher needs to be at least one chapter ahead of their students. I pray that I can keep up the pace and also humbly acknowledge when students have moved further into the book than I myself have. Tonight I will be leading a discussion on the Torah and particularly the book of Exodus. I am very tired and cranky from not smoking but I still feel an excitement and joy about the class. If that is not God's affirmation, than I don't know how else to explain it. May we all be students of life!
Looks like the success of Apple's celebrity iPods has motivated them to release a few new models. It also seems that they have a sharp sense of satire!
I reworked the site design to take care of a few browser inconsistancies and got a bit carried away. I have a few more housekeeping/database matters to work out but for now most sections are in working order. For those of you that used the little comment box it is coming back! For now you can comment in the interact section. Stay tuned as I bring a few new features online in the next several days.
This morning seeward conducted a clay sculpting workshop for ages 7-12 at the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas. We had a great time! Many thanks to the helper elves Nicole and Gillian. I promise to split the treasure in heaven three ways =)
My van is a Suzuki Carry Van. Not the coolest van ever but I have made a few improvements. Tinted windows, powerful 5.1 sound system with sub-woofer, and cheap seat covers do not really pass for pimped but it's better than having "Ice Cream Truck" painted on the side! My friends call it the "Half-loaf" because it looks like a small loaf of bread rolling down the road. Although I joke about it, I wanted one as soon as I saw one driving on the Bahamian streets. They are not road legal in the USA. Some crazy nonesense about tipping over at speeds exceeding 25 mph. If that was true I would already be resting in a ditch! I made the move to the carry van after I smashed the front windshield of my last car(2 years ago) loading my bands PA system into the front seat. Since it was the day of the gig I had to drive around without a front window all night. Since I have had the carry van, I can load:
1 full drum kit
1 Large PA system
2 Guitar amplifiers
3 Guitars
and four band members
I had the pleasure of spending time with two interesting people Gene and Alicia over lunch. We talked about many interesting ideas and looked at their African artifacts collection. Towards the end of my visit Gene broke out the full medieval gear. We're talking swords, helmets, shields and even a battle hammer. If you don't know what a battle hammer is then don't get caught breaking into Gene's place late at night! I took the chance to dress up as a crusader. You know the time in the church history where people went around and killed people who they thought were heretics and who refused to repent. I think its time that we all repent!
Here is an image of my brother's hummer! Isn't technology wonderful. This image was taken and emailed from his cell phone. Soon people will be able to use their cellphones as videocams and stream instantly onto the internet. Maybe it's time to buy stock in bandwidth techonology companies =)
The New School has arrived. Jumping from the rural context of the New Testament, we make a jump into the concrete jungle of urban culture. This little buy is already spoken for but stay tuned, I plan to make a whole lot more hiphop influenced pieces. If you have a request email me here
Peace, love and hand-crafted cuteness!
I used the $50 from the sale of Jesus with the Whip to get more clay! As promised, I made a new version of The Last Supper. I made a larger version back in 2002 for Debra and Rick Talens. You can check out the old one at the bottom of this page. I haven't decided on a price for this one yet. I will give it some thought. If anyone wants to start the bidding, go right ahead!
Also check out the larger image of the whole piece by clicking the top picture above. Nice ponytails in the last pic =)
It seems that many visitors to my site forget the fact that they are guests. This site is an authentic reflection of where I am at at any given moment in my journey of faith and life. I am in no way perfect or above error but I am certian about my heart for God and my convictions about truth. It is unfortunate that this level of honesty and openess becomes a weapon for judgment and harsh, sometimes cowardly, criticism. Mostly by people who feel very secure in their discernment because of their relationship with Jesus. I am willing to accept the fact that people will misunderstand me and without ANY personal experience of me will have much to judge. It is my life goal to simply be myself before God and others. That will mean at times I will be perfectly in line with other people's expectations(of a follower of Jesus, of a Pastor and Leader, of an incomplete human being loved entirely by God) but I also will be way outside of those confining boundaries. I am at peace with that.
So my apology is not for being human and therefore capable of misunderstanding and even evil, it is for not making it clear enough that I don't intend to censor and water down the thoughts that I feel and explore. If anyone feels, in their spirit, that they need to come and speak with me about anything they have read on this site. I am very open to that possibility. But if you are just coming to this site to confirm the fact that I am not perfect, please stop! Find something more positive to do with your time and energy.
2006! Wow it seems as if things are speeding up here toward the end! 2005 has been very good to me. I have seen ups and downs but mostly ups. It seems as though, at times, we are just drifting along and not much growth is really happening. But if we look back over a longer period of time, we can see a different perspective. I am proud to say that even with copious amounts of facial hair I don't see to look much older. There is still a glow in my eye and, even if it is a little worn, a smile on my face.
I would like to thank everyone who has made this year such a wonderful one for me:
My Girlfriend: for being so pure and beautiful
My Parents: for being such wonderful examples of forgiveness and love
My New Landlords: for giving me a place that feels like my own private island
My Teachers: for pushing my boundaries and lighting my way, even the ones who are way off the acceptable map!
My Lord: for strengthing my faith and showing me that I have nothing to fear.
My Spirit: for believing at all
My Friends: for teaching me just how far I still have to go
My Critics: for proving that someone's paying attention and that I must be making an impact
May you all have a blessed 2006!
Loved, feared, misunderstood, inspired, insane! These are just a few of the words used to describe Clint Kemp. I tend to prefer human(with a heart for God) but that's just my perspective. Over the course of my life, Clint's fatihfulness, strength, and courageous honesty have had a huge impact on my life. Since I just found this self portrait(taken at Sacred Space ) It caused me to think for a moment about the person behind the image. I have no doubt that God is looking down and smiling that Clint is working in His Kingdom. I am smiling as well!
"Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured against you.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, "let me take the speck out of your eye", when all the tiem there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will clearly see to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces"
- My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:1-6
The funniest thing about the experience of getting my new tattoo was that the artist was actually an actor (who isn't in LA) A few years ago I had decided that I wasn't going to get any more tattoos but then I have been watching shows like Miami Ink and Inked. Both of them opened my mind up to how wonderful the process of decorating yourself can be. This tattoo is the largest, and most painful, tattoo that I have gotten so far. At this point I am happy with what I have but I am not making any promises about never getting another tattoo. Even though it was painful I really enjoyed the process of getting the tattoo. The artist even said I "sat very well". I am not sure what that says about me but at times the inner feelings were very much like a meditative state. I felt connected to my body but at the same time I felt a part deep within that was stronger than the pain that I was feeling. It would have been easy to completely block the pain out but instead I decided to relax into it and feel it. At times this was very difficult and I felt myself tensing up but at other times I felt a wash of warmth and even pleasure. Maybe it was the endorphens rushing towards my back to ease the pain. Oh the sweet pain!
Me and my disciple/girl friend made clay self portraits as gifts for our much loved and missed friends: Paul and Randy. We wished that we could have gone up to Toronto to see them this weekend so we decided to sneak little voodoo versions of ourselves into friends luggage. I will post close-ups soon showing Nicole's wine glass and ciggy as well as my Guinness bottle and Bible. Karl Barth said we must do theology with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other, I have updated his idea. We must do theology with a Bible in one hand and a bottle of Guinness in the other.
Talk about a wicked sense of humor, and wicked sculpting talents! This is only the second piece from my clay disciple(and girl friend) Nicole. She tells me that she is advanced from her art school training. I have to say that she really has an attention to detail and an eye for humor. You should have seen her first figure, all tits and ass! Too bad she was so hot she burst into flames in the oven. I expect great things from this student!
I am in the process of making the whole cartoon band Gorillaz out of FIMO clay. This first figure is the guitar player Noodle. He has a few special details: His guitar is on a strap and can be removed. His shirt/shoes/ and arm bands glow in the dark! Soon I will move toward the rest of the band.
When I was studying for the talk on Finster, I was reminded of a Bahamian artist that also was inspired to paint by a vision from God. While Howard's vision was God speaking in paint, Amos' was a dream that God gave his nephew. I love that when the sophisticated New York art people came to see him, he asked them if they know anything about art. When they replied yes, he said"we'll see". If you want to read more about his life story click here
I finally got around to working with my new batch of FIMO clay. I have been learning new sculpting techniques from the guy who makes all the figures for WB and Disney stores. I also finally got a new batch of Model Magic so stay tuned for the attack of the robots.
If the image above is moving, there is a good chance that you are stressed out. This image was created to test people's ability to manage stress. If you manage it well then the images will remain static. If you manage stress poorly the image will appear to breathe or slight waves will appear. If you are on LSD everything on this page will be breathing and you clearly manage stress very well!
I am just filling in some of the old posts that got deleted and I couldn't pass up this image. I am growing my hair and I heard that cornrow braids make your hair grow faster. Do you need another excuse to look like a gangsta? I sure don't!
Have you ever searched for your own name on Google? Usually when I do it, I only get npcc or seeward.com pages. This time I decided to do an image search and I got this image of my long lost twin. Named Christian McCabe and born in the same year as me('71) I wish there was an email so I could try to talk some sense into him about his lack of personal style. In a strange way, he looks alot like I did in High School. I am much younger now!
During the month of July, I worked at the NPCC summer arts camp. It was such a wondeful experience. I started off the first week very stressed and not really enjoying the children. After a few days, i was fully in love with them! They are so full of life and energy. We had some great artists working along with the children to produce art around such themes as : racial reconciliation, HIV/AIDS, and enviornmental justice. Toby Lunn, Maria Govan, Andrew Jones, Samantha Moree, and Sabrina Lightbourn all did a wondeful job teaching them the power of creativity. The image is of the HIV mural that Toby Lunn work with them on. Pictured are Asia and Cameron who were both very adorable.
There is an interesting story in the Gospels where Jesus' disciples come to Him and tell say that they found some outsiders csting out demons and preaching in His name. They said that they didn't understand the methods that these outsiders were using so they told them to stop. Jesus tells them to leave these people alone saying "whoever is not against us is for us" (Luke 9:46-50)
I bring this up because it seems to be at the heart of all the criticism that this site, and my willingness to be honest about my life and thoughts, stirs up. It seems that many people have a very defined image of what a "man of God" should do, say and think. When they come across my site, it doesn't fit into this image. They are left with two options. 1. Throw out their limited and unbiblical image of what a follower of Jesus is and accept me for who I am, just like God accepts me. or 2. Hold desperately to their limited image and throw me out by judging and casting suspicion on me and my motives.
I am not that concerned that many people choose option two. Even Jesus first disciples clearly chose option two. But know this! I come into this world in the name of Jesus the Christ. I have willingly become a slave to God's word and will continue to pursue God in spirit and truth with my whole being. You may not understand or even condone my methods, thoughts or actions and outside of a personal relationship with me you may remain convinced that I am doing more harm than good. I can accept your fears and I respect the level of integrity with which you so strongly desire to please God. I am convinced that he loves you entirely just as you are.
I decided to make things easier for everyone to sort out my motives and make sure that it is easy for people to see me as a man of God. My new forehead tattoo should do the trick!
