Christian vs. Christ-Follower

Want a good laugh?

Check this out - a series of ads based on the Mac/PC ads that Apple put out earlier this year. Keep your mind open when you watch!

There's some good thoughts on this in Bill Kinnon's site.

Thanks Bill!

7 Days and 8 days and 13 days to go!

Seven days to the School Concert - and I am realizing how much work there is yet to do. Today I picked up chain (yes...) for Marley's Ghost. Can't wait to show the kids...

There are only 8 Teaching Days left until the break - and a couple of those days are taken up with special events in the school, so I really only have 6 days of planning to do.

And it's only 13 days left until Christmas.

Counting down is so much fun!

Concerts!

Last night was the Royal Winnipeg Rifle's Band Visitation. We played R.V. William's Tuba Concerto (with a guest soloist) to dedicate 3(!) tubas that are new to the band. We also did Variations on a Korean Folk Song (Chance), Sleighride (Anderson), Midnight Sleighride (arr. Wallace), Orange Coloured Sky (Rugolo), along with 4 carols and the regimentals of the Rifles - Old Solomon Levi and Keel Row. I think I may have missed a few pieces, but I don't have the program here, so I'll update it later.
UPDATE
Pieces I missed were Eternal Father Strong to Save (Smith), Swing Away (Sharpe), T'was the night before Christmas - with altered lyrics. There was also 2 pieces by a Tuba Quartet, and 2 pieces by a Clarinet Trio.

I think the concert went fairly well. Nathanael enjoyed listening to the band, and he got to stay up late to boot, so he was happy.

His concert is this afternoon, so what has he been doing all morning? Singing. Singing. And more Singing.

I think he's nervous.

Scrooge as the best keeper of the Spirit of Christmas?

I'm rediscovering an old Christmas Story.

Ebenezer Scrooge doesn't usually bring up visions of someone who knew how to keep Christmas well. We often think of him as being someone who hated Christmas so much that he woudl have packaged it up and mailed it to Mars if he could. Two things this year have gotten me thinking about the change that occurs in Scrooge.

First, the church I attend has cast me in a script (as Bob) where Bob tells about the transformation Scrooge undergoes - but from Bob's perspective. The last paragraph begins with "For years after his death, people still talked about how he exuded the spirit of Christmas". This line really caught my imagination.

Second, I have chosen this story as my Christmas Concert theme with my elementary students. I've been talking to them about the change that Scrooge undergoes - he wants to be a better person, and that means treating others better than he has. It's opened up some conversations with students and parents.

I took out a bunch of versions of the story for display in the school - I think I'm going to read one of them before the weekend is out. The final words about Scrooge keep ringing in my head - the ones about how well he kept Christmas.

Spam Spam Spam Spam

I had to put this in...

Ever had problems finding that special gift for someone who just can't get enough of SPAM? Try this site out!

I found it on a link in the John Cleese site - it's legit! I love the "silly walk" section!

Enjoy!

new blogger - we'll see...

I thought i'd try the new version of Blogger out - so I've migrated this blog to it. We'll see how it goes.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day. Went to two services over the last two days. Saturday was at the armouries near our house. Only the band ipc turned out - I moved the camera too much again when I took a picture of the soldiers in thier ranks.

Sunday was the "Regimental Church Parade" for the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. I joined the band for the day and played my saxophone for the Anglican service (very long Cathedral service). Afterwards, they did a graveside service at a memorial for the soldiers who died in the Riel Rebellion of 1874 (is my year right?)

Reminded me too much of Grandpa Budlong's graveside funeral.

Of what measure is a man?

Surfing the net today and found a former student's blog. Kind of neat to read his comments on life. Particularily this one.

Read the links that go to Bill (Dad) and others too!

It did get me thinking about how we define manhood and why. After going to today's Remembrance Day service, it really gets me thinking.

I'm still thinking, though. If you read this, I'd like to hear what your thoughts are too.

I live in an awesome city. Realized that this past week when we were getting the keys to the new house. The lawyer's office was on the 24th floor of the Soctia Tower on the corner of Portage and Main. They had an amazing view of the south part of the city and the Forks - here's some shots of The Forks, the Provenchier Bridge, and one of the better hotels in the city. I also went to "Garbage hill" today. For those who don't know, it's an old dump that is covered over and has been turned into an off-leash area for dogs. I tried to take some pictures at dusk - but the photos turned out blurry. I guess next time I should take my tripod.

oops - it's sideways....

Can put up with that - this is Nathanael's costume this year - a Court Jester.

Too much Danny Kaye, I think.