Christmas Came Late This Year

Christmas came later than normal this year. Our family celebrates whenever we can get the clan together. We celebrated 5 days late this year so we could surprise Mom & Dad with a visit from my Sister and her family from Colorado!

Here the Nieces and Nephew open the door to surprise Grandma.

We really surprised Mom, who took about 30 - 45 minutes to really realize that the Haines were really there.

All in all, we had a great time, catching up and celebrating. Can you tell that we enjoy family get togethers like this.

Shawn Lewis of Hyper Static Union

I've long been a fan of HyperStatic Union. I've known these guys since well before their RKT CD debut. These guys are incredibly talented and make some funky rock-n-roll. I've just about worn our their national debut release "Life Giver." You should really pick up a copy of this album!

Anyway, recently, I've stumbled on a video that I just had to share. Here is Shawn Lewis singing a song made popular by Michael Jackson. I've always been impressed by Shawn's vocal prowess. He is talented, earnest, and sound amazing. He even impressed Lenny Kravitz during the warm-up for a show in Portland.

I love telling you about quality musicians. Hopefully this video will encourage you to give a spin to HSU's music.

Encomium

My weekly artist review is on Portland based band Encomium. This is a young band with some great talent. In 2006 they released “Expression of Praise”, an impressive 9-song disc which mixes rock riffs and worship lyrics.

One of the first things that grabbed my attention on this CD was the expert musicianship. This isn’t a sequenced garage band recording, but rather a major label quality offering. Many young bands have an album of songs that all sound the same stylistically. But this CD has a variety of sounds without becoming disjointed.

Led by Devy Jamin, the group has recently put out a new EP entitled “Like the Dawn”. The samples on their MySpace page promise more of the same quality and no-compromise lyrics found on their first effort.

Check these guys out at http://www.encomiummusic.com/

Keeping Up Appearances

I have been bit by the Facebook bug. Like MySpace and other social networking sites Facebook allows you to connect with friends (new and old) through the Internet. I have enjoyed reading the profiles of friends whom I've not seen in years and finding out what they are now up to.

But as I've read the profiles of people from around the world, I'm struck by the fact that nearly all of us are trying to impress the readers of our profiles. We put our best foot forward. We tell about our accomplishments. We "brag" about where we've been and what we've done.

This has caused me to wonder what it would be like if we became really vulnerable and showed our true colors. What would happen if I told about my struggles and failures as well as my victories?

I'm not saying that we should avoid celebrating the high points of life. But I would guess that if we presented the dark sides as well as the bright we would be able to connect with each other on a deeper level. If we shared our frustrations and defeats we would most likely be able to relate better with others.

At this point in my life I've been longing for deeper connections with those people around me. I want to connect with people who have experienced the same struggles as I so that I can learn from them and discover how they worked through those difficult times. I want to share with others so they can learn from my mistakes and not have to repeat the negative lessons.

So, here is to being vulnerable; here is to presenting the real me, warts and all. And I hope that as we interact, we will be able to grow stronger as individuals and as friends through the better understanding of our shared victories AND failures.

Q v Q II

A few months back I discussed my obsession with records in my GeoCaching quest. Since then Sam8994 and DarK JazZ have had many quality excursions. But today was a quantity day. 42 finds in 10 hours of hunting! Our new single day record. In fact, our new weekend record and a tie with the best week of caching.

Discovery

One thing about living in a place for too long is that you begin to take things for granted. At least I do. I’ve lived in one of the most beautiful parts of the world for nearly ¼ of a century. But after the first few years I stopped exploring; stopped discovering; stopped recognizing. But then along came a life change, a fresh perspective, a new reason to enjoy my surroundings.

When my then future wife moved from El Paso to Portland, she was in awe of the wonder that is Oregon. And her excitement rubbed off on me. Again, my eyes were opened to the beauty, the majesty, the surroundings that I had become numb to. And I've spent the last seven years rediscovering my home.

During the past couple of weeks we have been exploring several of the small cities around us. These are places that I have had a very distinct mental image of what they would be like, despite never having been there. But with a renewed interest in exploring and looking and enjoying, it is with great pleasure that I recommend you visit: LaCenter and Battle Ground, WA, Silverton and Mt. Angel, OR… just to name a few. Go for the beauty. Go for the food. Go for the discovery.

Celebrating the Life of a Friend

Today, I came home from work to find an e-mail that my college roommate and friend had passed away. I never know how to handle the passing of a dear friend or family member. My initial reaction is selfish… “We’ll never be able to _____ again.” Then I experience sadness for his family… “How will they cope with the loss of their husband and father?”

In the end, I have to remember that our life is a gift given us by God to use for a short while. There is no greater end to life then the knowledge that the fragile human shell we live in is stripped away and replaced with a perfect body and an eternity with God.

Jayson Jewell was a man that lived the example of Christ-like love and character, truly caring for others, brining joy to those with whom he came in contact with.

Despite the tears and sadness we are experiencing now, the world is a better place because God loaned us Jayson for a few short years. I am a better man because I knew Jayson as my friend and roommate. During this time of mourning, I pray that his family and friends can embrace his life in Christ even through his absence.

Exploring Oregon

I love the Oregon Coast. This past weekend we spent three days with my cousin Sara traveling the Southern Oregon coast geocaching. We spent time in Bandon, North Bend, and Charleston.

The more we travel and explore our state, the more I am convinced that we live in the most beautiful part of the world. There is so much variety and beauty. There is urban connection and rural solitude.

Incidentally, we found our 300th geocache as well.

I'm Thankful For Friends

I'm thankful for friends. I met my best friend at college in the late 80s. He is the kind of friend I hope I am to others. He stood with me through some of the darkest times in my life. He is always quick to offer a hand, provide a resource, or just hang out. He is always busy, but seldom for personal reasons. His schedule is filled with family activities, aiding his friends, and volunteering at church. He is a jack-of-all-trades. But most importantly, he cares. He has a genuine concern for those people in his life.

I'm thankful for friends. Today, I'm especially thankful for my friendship with Josh.

Chinese Food - for India

I had chinese food for dinner tonight. That wasn't the highlite, though. For you see, this is a farewell dinner for the team of 11 who are going to India from our church. My purpose for joining these intrepid travelers is to support my daughter, who is one of the team.

This will be Kara's second time out of the USA (She went to Mexico during Spring Break.) But I am strangely calm through all of this. I'm proud of her desire to reach out to the less fortunate in the world, to better understand their situation in life, and to expand her world view.

I am completely amazed at how God provided for her trip. Her financial support came in well above what she needed and so she could support others on the team. She was inundated by letters of encouragment and commitments to pray while she is on this trip. WOW!

I invite you to pray with me for Kara and the team. You can stay up on their 15 day trip by visiting the team's official blog.

Because I've ALWAYS Done It That Way

I started my annual fantasy football league yesterday. 12 years ago, when I started this thing, I religiously watched the football games and compared my picks with friends who joined in. I tracked everyone's picks in Excel and sent out e-mails on a weekly basis reminding everying to send in their choices for the week.

Now I utilize a the fantasy sports portion of Yahoo to drive my league and I only have to make my own picks, not track everyone else's activity. Due to my spot in life, I also don't watch as many games as I used to. Seems there are more important things to do with my time.

So, why do I continue this game? Why do I spam all my friend's e-mail boxes once a year to invite them to join, when only a handful actually participate?

I think it is because I like consistancy. I enjoy knowing that things stay the same. I like the fact that even though I'm not writing a personal e-mail, at least I'm contacting my friends on an annual basis. Not really the best mode of conversation and relationship building. But hey... I've always done it that way!

Quanity vs. Quality

My wife and kids have been out of the state, and I am playing the bachelor role. So what better way then to hook up with my GeoCaching cousin and heading out to break all our personal GC records.

We went to Lincoln City and went for as many caches as we could in a day... ended up getting 35. Then on Sunday we went to the gorgeous Mt. Hood and went searching for GCs that were in beautiful locations.

This weekend we found 40 caches, set new records, and enjoyed exploring God's creation (some enhanced or de-enhanced by man.)

The Concert Season is Over

For many, summer brings festivals and concerts from their favorite artists. But for me, the concert season ends tonight. For the past nine months I have had season tickets to concerts by my kids. Between private piano lessons, school concerts, jazz band, solo festivals and community band, my kids have showcased their musical talents.

I am so grateful that the musical gene has been passed to the kiddos. It is fun to watch them get excited about different music styles and instruments, and to watch their eyes light up when they see a musician who does exceptionally well. It is also fun to watch them hone their musical chops, improving their technique, and fine tuning their craft.

So this year’s concert season is over. And I only have three months to sew the buttons back on all my shirts before the next season begins.

Invisible Children

I just spent a couple of hours with some of the youth from our church who were showing a movie regarding the Invisible Children of Uganda. This is a documentary showing the suffering and plight of children who run from their rural homes to the cities to escape the atrocities of being abducted and forced into slavery, raped, turned into soldiers, or even worse, killed.

It seems impossible for me to express the impact this had on me, so I invite you to look at the InvisibleChildren.com website.

The documentary was very moving and made me wonder what I could do. I’m just one man and these kids are on the other side of the earth. Can I really make a difference?

And then I watch my daughter and her friends as they work to raise awareness of this African tragedy. Tonight they are recreating the 5-mile walk many of these kids take each day and night to go to school and then back to the safety of hospitals and other public places. They will sleep at the local hospital and then walk 5 miles back to school tomorrow morning.

These kids are putting action to their beliefs that we should do something. And while it may seem insignificant, they are jumping into action with the resources they have. So when did I become complacent and think that I couldn’t make a difference any longer? I fear I am making myself invisible out of ignorance and lack of action.

This... is American Idol

As I watched tonight’s American Idol, I was like a giddy school kid to hear that Scott Krippayne was co-writer of the winning song in the new songwriter competition portion of the show. It has been fun over the past couple of years to see Christian music show up on this popular reality show. Season 4 had Nadia Turner sing “The Power of Love” by Ashley Cleveland. This year Chris Sligh sang dc Talk’s “Wanna Be Loved.” And who can miss 3rd place finisher Melinda Doolittle who has done some impressive backing vocals on albums by Charlie Peacock and others.

I am glad that music made by Christians AND Christian music is finding its way into the mainstream. There are so many components to why this is happening (society’s spiritual hunger, disgust with inappropriate lyrics, and quality production in recent years in the CCM industry to name a few.) But regardless of the reasons, I’m thankful that people in the high profile entertainment industry are staying true to God’s command to be salt and light to our world.

Benny's Back!

When I was a much younger lad, and before I knew what an audiophile was, I really enjoyed the music of Benny Hester. Not only did he have a great sound, he wrote songs that really affected me during various times of my life. “Nobody Knows Me Like You,” was important during the break-up of a relationship. “When God Ran” helped during a difficult time in college. I even got to promote a concert with Benny when I was first starting my concert promotion business.Benny took a break for a while and worked in TV. From 1993 to 1996 he was a Music Producer and Songwriter for the Nickelodeon show Roundhouse (which incidentally starred an up-and-coming Crystal Lewis.)I’m happy to report that after a nearly 17 year break, Benny is working on a new record. Check out his new songs on his web site.

Bigger and Better

"Now with twice the calcium!"
"Home of the largest airplane in the world."
"More horsepower than our competitors."

I’m struck by society’s need to out-do everyone. We want “new and improved.” We have to have more capacity. A large soda isn’t enough, we have to upgrade to an extra large.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that technology allows us to create more for less money in less time. I’m aware that innovation spawns growth.

But sometimes I wish that we could all just enjoy status quo. That keeping up with the Joneses would mean staying in touch with them as individuals, not trying to buy a better boat or a bigger lawn mower. How can I make “bigger and better” refer to my relationship with people, and not with things? Is it possible to connect with people without having to compare ourselves with their things or their status?

I hope so…

A Hard Act To Follow

When I started this blogging adventure, I had grandiose ideas of documenting my thoughts on a daily basis. But to be quite truthful, I’ve found it difficult to come up with anything interesting to say the past couple of days. I long for the skill to be witty and clever and to change the world with my thoughts [insert maniacal laugh of Dr. Evil here].


I have been inspired by several folks who blog nearly daily. These people write about their observations, feelings, and opinions.

My favorite is a second cousin whose nearly daily entries are succinct, entertaining, and thought provoking.

I also enjoy reading the thoughts from our music pastor and church secretary (yes, they are married… to each other).

My goal is to be more aware of my surroundings and document the things I care about. I think that means taking a more active, intentional role in my day-to-day activities.

It's OK...

.... to be in a bad mood.

You know, growing up I thought that bad moods were supposed to be pushed down inside and covered with a fake smile. Being upset was a bad thing. My parents never really taught that in words, but that is what our family did in action. I've lived under that motto for nearly 3 1/2 decades.

Then I met the woman of my dreams. And she explained... no encouraged me to own my bad moods. All I have to tell her is that I'm mad, or grumpy, or sad. And I'm free to vent that emotion. I can't tell you how freeing that is. I'm no longer an emotional pressure cooker, shoving more anger and frustration inside, waiting for the top to blow. Now I just express my moods and let them desolve away. At least that is the goal. 35+ years of stuffing practice is a hard habit to break.

That being said... I'm in a funky mood. And its OK.

MMMM

So, I've been watching several of my friends’ blogs and they have inspired me to attempt a daily routine of documenting some of my thoughts. I've been impressed by some of the clever names people give their blogs, and I knew I had to come up with something clever as well.

Problem: I don't consider myself to be very creative. In fact, I'm a numbers guy and do better with the constancy of numbers. (You only have to count to 10 as an accountant, you know.) Not necessarily part of the standard creative mind.

Solution: When I was a kid in high school, I published a monthly newsletter that I sent to all my friends as a way of keeping in touch (this was way before the advent of e-mail.) One of my friends came up with the name Mischievous Maurer's Miscellaneous Misquotes as the title of this weak attempt at communication. As I contemplated the name of this small space of internet real estate, I thought the title would fit here as well.

Finally, I decided to create a blog category called MMMM for the completely random and uncatagorizeable drivel I will spill on these pages; very miscellaneous, slightly mischievous, and largely misquotable.

So, I've succeeded in a couple of things today. I've created another entry into the public online diary that is my blog. I've been ever so slightly creative by giving homage to a historical burst of creativity (unfortunately not mine). And I've given myself yet one more opportunity to elaborate effusively on inconsequential topics.

Boy, isn't that a hook to keep you coming back for more!

Christian Music Heritage

I am a music junkie. There, I said it. But that still doesn't remedy my problem... I have so much music, that I seldom get to listen to it all. But fortunately, the iPod came along. Now I shuffle through my entire collection randomly and within a four or five month period, I'll hear every album...

... except my records. But I've been in the process of ripping my vinyl to a digital format that can be played on my iPod. During this task, I've rediscovered a lot of really cool music! (It has to be cool, if it is in my collection, right?!)

So today, I'm listening to Sheila Walsh's 1983 "War of Love". I bought this record when I was working at a radio station in Boise. I loved the 80's techno beat, fairly rare in ccm at the time. Admittedly, it sounds a bit dated today, but it sure brings back some great memories!

All this has got me thinking about how thankful I am that people have been making music glorifying God. For decades artists have been expressing their beliefs through music, each in their own styles. And I am confident that the music industry today is a much better place thanks to the work of people like Sheila Walsh... or Martin Luther... or King David.

My hope is that generations from now, people will look back at the music of today and be thankful for the legacy Christian musicians are leaving right now.

The Music of Nature

My wife and I enjoy GeoCaching. Yesterday we spent the day in the scenic Columbia Gorge of Oregon, and I was impressed again by all the music of nature.

• Wind strumming through the trees


• Water splashing over waterfalls


• Birds singing


• The percussive pops of the trees warming in the sun

And this doesn't even begin to touch on the sights and smells! What a wonderful, musical world God has made for us to enjoy!

It's Everywhere

I am struck with the importance of music. The commercials on TV I remember most, have a catchy jingle. Everyone has a portable music device. Most stores have some kind of overhead music playing. The world seems to have surrounded itself with music.

All this makes me wonder, is my Christian walk as pervasive as music? Does my relationship with Christ affect everything I do and everywhere I go?

Unfortunately, I think not. Like most musicians, I guess I need to practice my Christian walk so as to be more "listenable".