Number 3 out of four.  What can I say about this one…  The first things that pop in my head are peanut butter, chocolate, frogs and of course Star Wars.

While she still lives at home, I tend to see her only on rare occasions.  She is in college and has a boyfriend.  Those two things put together seem to negate any family time.  For years, I was able to spend a lot of time with this daughter.  I was a coach on most of her softball teams.  When I wasn’t a coach, I was always helping out.  Then after she turned 14 she played a couple of years with me on the Church Softball team.  And at barely 5 feet even and under 100 lbs, her favorite position was catcher.  She was a good one too.  Never showed any fear waiting for that ball to come on close plays at the plate.  In part I was afraid she’d get run  over, but I was also proud of the way she played the game.

My greatest joy were those few times we have been on stage together.  I’m hoping that we will be able to do more in future shows, but the few times she has been on stage with me, are very special to me.

And let’s not forget the Star Wars.  My very first date with my future wife was a dinner at a Chinese restaurant, Star Wars – Return of the Jedi, and then a stop at Dunkin Donuts.   This young lady definitely likes Star Wars, and donuts, so 2/3rds of the time she reminds me of a wonderful first date I had with her mother… 😉

During the past couple of days, I’ve again been amazed at the pictures current space missions have been sending back to earth. The first pictures from the latest lander are back.  Just cool stuff.   I saw one yesterday where one of the orbiters got a picture of the lander underneath the parachutes.

I am interested in all things in the space program, and these landings are on the top of my list of news stories.

Normally I just roll my eyes to yet some other scandal happening in sports.  Athletes are given god-like status by many fans, so why shouldn’t they act like egotistical know-it-alls {sarcasm}?  Today, it seems Little League teams are no longer allowed to use the names of actual major league teams due to trademarks.  Not just the logos- the names too.  That is, unless MLB gets its share of the pie by forcing the Little League to use their “approved” uniform manufacturer.  How cold can their greedy hearts get?  Now, to be fair, the trademark office requires companies to actively enforce compliance or risk losing their trademarks; and the MLB could have been threatened with that from said trademark office, but I really doubt it.  I remember when I was in intermediate league one year and was on the Astros.  A friend of mine was on the Phillies.  Today we would probably be on the Oranges and Greens thanks to this ridiculous enforcement.  What happened to just giving a nod and a wink because you support youth sports?  It sounds like they support $$$ more.  Here’s a link to the story:

Major League Baseball Tells Little Leaguers: We Own Uniform Rights

We organized a concert in January with our local theater group where we had a collection of totally awesome singers perform selections from popular musicals.  My husband has an excellent singing voice – I’m not biased or anything, I swear!  Plenty of other people have said so…  If you were to ask him about it though, he would say much differently – he has a bit of an ego problem, but it goes in the opposite direction than that of most singers and actors – he does not have nearly enough confidence.  So even though there were other songs in the concert, this one might be the only one we actually get to see because I don’t know how to post on youtube – that’s his job and he doesn’t deem the other songs worthy of posting!  And if you are a stage veteran or know someone who is, you have had to suffer thru awful recordings of stage performances.  It seems that no matter how beautiful a play or song sounded on the stage, it will never translate correctly when recorded and played again – SO GET OVER IT AND JUST POST THE REST OF THE CONCERT ALREADY!!!  🙂   My favorite song from this concert was actually Bui Doi from Miss Saigon, and I was PROMISED that I would get the link to that one soon, so stay tuned!  Don’t hold your breath though…  I was also promised a new altered picture from a show we directed last fall because someone ducked out of it at the last second, and a picture in the director’s hall of the basement of the theater should have the show’s director in it, right?  But that hasn’t happened yet, so hopefully this will be more of a priority, even though I’ve stated how much that picture means to me…

I feel sorry for all those friends and family members who couldn’t make it to this great event – you really missed a great showcase of talent, especially if you’re a fan of showtunes!  Maybe you’ll be able to make it next year if we do it again.  This is a clip of Chris singing the Les Mis classic, “Bring Him Home”:

What a frenzied way to start off the shortened week after a 3 day weekend – it was Pet Day at my oldest daughter’s school today.  So this morning saw us trying to unload a parrot, a 19-month-old little girl and a dog from the car, all while trying to get the other dog to stay in the car – it must’ve made for a funny scene.  We had to bring our “veteran” dog with in the car since the other pets got to go out, but she was not invited into the classroom because of her nervousness around kids.  So while she stayed in the car, Squawky the parrot and Beesley the dog visited a classroom full of 2nd graders.

It went surprisingly well!  And we were very impressed with our normally shy daughter, who got up in front of her whole class to tell about her pets.  She shared information about them, and patiently called on individuals from her class and answered their questions.  Neither pet had any accidents in the classroom, and the kids seemed to really enjoy seeing and learning about the animals.  Squawky got shy and wouldn’t talk for the kids of course, he never does, though he did yell out “HI!” when we entered the school – wonder if anyone heard that or what they thought it was?  He enjoyed himself, didn’t bite any of my husband’s fingers off, and returned home in time for a relaxing perch in front of The Price is Right.  Beesley loved being around all those kids, I think her only problem was being on a leash so she couldn’t be let loose to turn onto her back and let them all pet her at once.

Now, should we try Pet Day at the preschool with my younger daughter?  I wonder how a roomful of 3-5 year olds would handle the parrot and vice-versa…  I will let you know if I get brave enough to attempt that one!

Today as we go about our everyday busy lives or maybe enjoy a barbeque with friends and family, it should be appropriate to take just a moment to reflect upon why we have this day off from work.  Right now, it may not be the most popular public view to have men and women in Iraq fighting for the past seven years but those men and women have parents, spouses, children, and other loved ones who are hoping and praying for their safe return.  Also to remember those lost in not only the current overseas struggle but also those lost in previous wars.  Without those, we would not have had the many freedoms we all hold dear.  So hopefully everyone took just a few moments while eating that hot dog around the picnic table to maybe not attend a Memorial Day Service but just stop and think about the people who have fought and continue to fight whether or not it seems like the right thing to do.

My oldest daughter and I have a different history. I met her when she was around 18 months old. I was a big Dungeons and Dragons player when I first met my future wife and her daughter. This charming little 18 month old helped me roll the dice so necessary in the game. I sat on the floor behind a ‘fortress’ of a coffee table with my books, and bags of dice. She sat with me, playing with whatever toys she had, and rolling the (according to her) color balls. Didn’t matter to her that they were pyramids, cubes and other solid shapes. She really made an impression on all the gaming folks. Somehow this got in her blood, because now she is in her own gaming group. They are good gamers, and they even allow the “Old Man” to pop in from time to time.

Now, because of the wishes of my late wife, my eldest did not know that I was not her bio dad until after my wife’s death. We were going to answer her, if and when she ever questioned her heredity. Things came up, when I thought that it was time to tell her. I’m not sure if my wife would have agreed, but I didn’t have her to ask. Apparently, I was as good a father to her as I was to her sisters. She thought I was kidding. Seeing that I’m a big prankster on the 1st of April, I guess I can understand where this comes from. She was a bit (maybe an understatement!!) shocked. I recall her wondering if this changed anything. My response to her was simple, “Our relationship will only change if you want it too, I’ve always known. I will treat you the same as always. I was the lucky one, when I got married, I not only added a wife, but a daughter at the same time. It wasn’t hard to love these two precious people.”

Now my eldest didn’t always follow the rules of the house. Her life was spent trying to push the limits. Not that she was ever a bad kid, but she did seem to want to push her parents as far as she could. I always thought she did this because she was super intelligent. I know she kept her mother and me on our toes.

Again I will say, I really don’t have a favorite daughter. They all stand out in many ways. I love them all dearly, but the eldest does hold a special place, she is the one I chose to make mine.

My favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is by far his most controversial. Jesus Christ Superstar may not be the most accurate telling of Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem up to the point of his crucifixion, but the music found in this show is some of the most powerful, moving, and beautiful ever to be put on stage. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the controversy originated because it indeed tells the story of Jesus as a man seen largely through the eyes of the confused, almost sympathetic Judas.

The most powerful part of the show is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His Father. Christ asks God why he must be the one to suffer and die on the cross and indeed what his death will mean in the big picture. Will he be more noticed then he ever was before. Would the things he said and did matter any more. By the end of the triumphant piece, he has accepted the role he must play whether or not he understands what the ultimate consequence for those he leaves behind will be. He will drink the cup of poison and allow himself to be broken and nailed to the tree…. but he wants it to be done quickly or he will change his mind. All too human.

One of my favorite parts of the show is King Herod and his show stopping song. A totally flamboyant character who makes a list of demands for Jesus to perform in order to prove that he indeed is the Christ. Walk across my swimming pool, change my water into wine, etc. By the end of the vaudevillian act, Herod has become annoyed with Jesus and his unwillingness to perform the simple tasks. He condemns Jesus as just another false Messiah and not worthy to be prosecuted by him and sends him back to Pilate to be judged. One of the only comedic moments in the entire production. I cannot see it done in anyway that it would not be memorable.

“I Don’t Know How To Love Him” is probably the most famous song in the musical and is sung by Mary Magdalene. After she soothes an upset Jesus to sleep, Mary reflects on her feelings of physical love for the man. She has never known another like him and as a prostitute has known many but has never loved. She does not know how to and indeed if she should act on those feelings. Plus, if he were to say he loved her in return she would not know what to do. She is a frightened young woman.

There are so many layers to this masterpiece (and I hope that it will be the show Lord Webber is most remembered for) that it would take hours to explain and debate its significance. Controversial or not it is hard not to imagine what Jesus would be thinking or feeling if he were an ordinary 33 year old man placed in such an extraordinary position. And this comes from someone who has never seen a staged production but pictures in his minds eye while he listens to the music without the visual. It must be magnificent (as long as it is not the 1973 film adaptation that I found to be horrible).

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Tonight while at work, a co-worker as me if I had heard the news about the stabbing death of Harry Potter in a brawl. WHAT?! I was shocked to say the least. She was not sure if it was true or not but she thought she saw the headline flash across the CNN ticker earlier today. Thank heaven she asked me this with 15 minutes before closing time, I do not think I could have withstood 8 hours not knowing if the report was true or not. Of course, this would not be the first time one of the actors in the franchise had met with tragedy. Prior to the theatrical release of the second movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Richard Harris who played Professor Albus Dumbledore passed away. Subsequently, Michael Gambon has played the role in the remainder of the films.

However, it was not Daniel Radcliffe himself. Another young actor named Robert Knox (who just completed filming his scenes as Marcus Belby in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) was untimely struck down outside a London tavern over something as trivial as a cell phone. Senseless, tragic.

Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-6)

…for the 5th graders in children’s ministry that is.  What?  Did you think I meant I was done with this blog?  Today the 5th graders made their exit from children’s ministry.  In a couple of weeks they will officially enter student ministries as junior high students.  Being Memorial Day weekend didn’t help though as there were a few who didn’t make it due to traveling, though fortunately not too many.  The Junior high pastor (I think? I don’t remember the other one leaving) came in with a couple other leaders and spoke with them about the welcome night, things to expect in junior high, etc.  The kids were prayed over and given certificates- a sort of graduation I guess.  Of course, some won’t really be in junior high/middle school if they go to a public school in the area where 6th grade is still elementary, but at the church 6th grade is junior high even for them.

So, kids I have been working with for the last two years are now gone and in two weeks the third grade moves up to take their place.  They should recognize me though, at least Saturday night kids, as I have been in the kid’s drama.  This is supposed to be the time then to heavily advertise camp, but the early bird discount will be over by then as camp is one short month away, and unless things change significantly, yours truly will be joining them for the week.  I have said before that that one week last year was very powerful for me spiritually, and I hope it will be the same for me this year- and for whoever will be in my cabin this time around.

Going back to drama, the headline applies here as well.  It is done for the season, not to start again until next fall with a new theme.  My usual exit line, to tell the audience to be sure to tune in next week, reflected this as well, instead telling them to be sure to trust Jesus since He’s the only one who can make us super human.  I also added a line for the third graders- that they would see me (“someone who looks like me”) in two weeks.  Heh, heh…  So at the end, we added cast bows, and on reflection, I should have walked over to the puppet as well, since the puppeteer couldn’t very well step out and take a bow too.  Oh, well.