New CD.

When Traveling Mercies first began touring with CIY Believe several years ago we got to meet a folk singing group from eastern Tennessee called Alathea. They have a new CD out now, you should check them out. Cheers.

Chris

It May Be a Problem.

I love a good cup of coffee. Its so important to me that I am heartbroken that 90% (fake statistic) of South Africans prefer instant coffee to freshly ground filter coffee. I work with a girl who went to America last year and would rather have a cup of instant coffee to a fresh cup of Starbucks.

So this morning I was had a coffee jones like you wouldn't believe. I was running a hot bath, was going to read some of my Harry Potter 7 and I needed some coffee to take with me. However, my power converter is broken and my Starbucks coffee grinder (that I named Jack Bauer) is on American 110 power while we run 220 here. So I went old school, I whipped out the old mortar and pestle and ground my beans by hand. It was tough to get it just right for my french press. But it turned out great. And the new HP book is awesome, I am not finished so please do not email me with an important detail in the subject line, I might completely freak out. Cheers.

Chris

Hopeless.

Our Sunday night show deals with a kid whose parents got divorced and he just feels like his life sucks. The point of the show is that there are things in life that we just can't "fix" and thats reality. I think the church has put on the smiley, Joel Osteen face for a long time and can't own up to the fact that life hurts sometimes.

So tonight I was doing the speaking after the show and asked the students to raise their hand if they were feeling hopeless so that I could just pray for them.
About 18 kids raised their hands. I feel so bad that there were 18 teenagers in a group of maybe 200 that are feeling hopeless about life. I don't know if its family stuff, school stuff, relationship stuff, I don't know. It's heartbreaking. The scary thing is I don't know what to do about it. I used to, when I was younger and knew everything, but now I step back sometimes and just feel so helpless in the face of so much pain in the the world. If you have any ideas let me know. Cheers.

Chris

The Beach, The Road, The End.

When I was a kid my family would go to the beach almost every weekend. I loved it. We made sandwiches, ate cookies and drank Fresca, it was awesome. I always hated when my aunt Pat would put sunscreen on me because if felt like sandpaper on my skin, you know what I mean. And I would pull away the whole time saying, "you're finished, you're done, come on hurry". I thought of this memory on my off morning last week in Richard's Bay. We went and enjoyed the beach and the waves in the ocean, it was so nice. It's always great to tour in a new place and get to discover something special about that town. Whether it be the beach or a little restaurant or gritty local market, its nice to see something that belongs to that town.

This will be our last year on the road. I love touring to different places and performing or speaking its what I do. However, we have made the decision that the road will end in November. My first taste of touring was to summer camps in 1998 with Florida Christian College. The traveling, loading the trailer, meeting new people, eating in gas stations it was addictive and I am sad to think this may be the end. I know I will have chances to travel, I won't sit at home everyday for the rest of my life, but it will be different. Like it will be something I do rather that something I live, if that makes since.

If you never travel, go somewhere. Get to know some locals and have them show you the local place that you can only find in that town. Its great. Makes the world feel smaller. Cheers.


Chris

Jana's Pics.

Jana, Rachel's mum, was here visiting us and went on tour with us to Namibia. Here is a link to here photos she took on tour with the Blue team, enjoy. http://Saudimumma.sendphotos.com/?J21Q6S

Chris

Richard's Bay.

We are in Richard's Bay and I have been looking forward to this trip for a while, I love being by the sea. I am getting to stay with my friend Lenny that I met while touring with Believe for Traveling Mercies. He had a video he made of us while we were on tour and traveling between shows. Its funny that a guy in South Africa has a video of my acting silly in Seattle. Thats fun.

Well today we had our sport afternoon at the beach. However when we got to the beach there was an announcement to tell everyone that there was no swimming today because there was a crocodile in the water. So we waited for the croc to leave, but he wouldn't. It was crazy seeing this big crocodile in the shallow surf of the ocean. I really hope he leaves tonight, because my friend Lenny is a great bodyboarder and he wants to show me how its done.

We are excited about the shows this week too. Please pray for us because the stage and whole setup is kind of funny for performing. It should be find though. Cheers.

Chris

Thump Tump....Thump Thump.

Rachel and I went to the mall to day to go to a movie and I came around the corner and in the window of the record store I saw a glorious red poster showing Smashing Pumpkins new album. I smiled and my heart rejoiced a bit in my chest to think that the gangs back together. I hope I can find someone here who has it so I can give it a listen. The world always spins a little smoother when Billy Corgan is singing. Cheers.

Chris

A Great Day.

Rachel and I are on holiday this week before heading to Richards Bay on Sunday and today was a wonderful day. Enjoyed a quite morning reading Harry Potter 7, then we went on a long walk with the dogs and we were talking about how we don't have a grill and then I found a bit of wire mesh on the ground and figured I could make a grill out of it. So I came home, dug a little whole in the ground where we tried to make a garden (which Guinness ate, including the palm tree) and folded the mesh to a platform. Well, it worked great, cost me nothing and we ate a great supper of lamb chops. Thats a great day. Cheers.

Chris

What Men Do For Love.

A few years ago I was convicted by a certain tv program to take better care of myself for my wife, she deserved better. So I started running and washing my face with special stuff and whatever. Now I am still trying to be the best I can for my lovely wife so while I was at the gym today (which I caught the 5 o'clock rush, I will never go then ever again, it was so horribly crowded), I thought of how I may up my sex appeal to my wife. So I thought I should give tanning a try.

So I sign up for the "Tan Can". Its a stand up tanning bed. So I finished my workout, purchased a protein shake and hit the can (Tan Can that is). So I stripped to my Fruit of the Looms, put on the funny little eye cover things, turned on the big machine, grabbed my protein shake and entered for my 10 minute session.

Well, 10 minutes later I exited, got dressed, drove home, washed the dogs, took a shower, checked some emails, ate dinner, took the dogs out, locked up the house and now I am SO SUNBURNED I THINK I MIGHT DIE. Its bad, really bad. I went from skim milk white to Folgers red in one 10 minute session. I hope all my skin doesn't melt off my body.

The things men do for love. Your welcome Rach, would you please rub some lotion on my back please? Thanks. Cheers.

Chris

Update on James.

While we were in Walvis Bay, Namibia we went riding on the desert dunes on quad bikes. It was awesome. We went up on huge sand dunes and saw some beautiful overlooks of the desert and the sea, it was a great time.

Well, while we were having a great time one of our team members, James Nteso, lost the trail of the person riding in front of him and went off the edge of a big dune. The dunes can be gradual on one side and then be straight down on the other, thats why we had a guide who knew the desert very well. So James went off the steep side with about a meter drop, then a long tumble to the base of the dune. Luckily he only broke his leg (a nasty brake I must say), but he could have been killed. He was rushed out of the desert in a 4x4 to the hospital (same one that Angelina Jolie had her baby), where the leg was stabilized, then driven back to SA for surgery.

We went to visit him at home yesterday and he is doing well. His whole right leg is in a cast, from foot to upper thigh. He will not be joining us for the next tour cycle, but perhaps the last tour to the Cape. We'll see.

Please pray that his leg heals well. Cheers.

Chris

Last Day.

This tour has been crazy to say the least. I will inform you later when we we get home and I have a chance to process what happened. We lost a ton of team members to different things; sickness, injury, father's wedding, sisters wedding and, and, and. We became a team of understudies. Even the band was used during the shows for different parts, even I had to dance last night.

This is our last day in Namibia, we head back tomorrow at 3AM. It will be sad, if you ever get a chance to visit Namibia do it. Its beautiful and the poeple are great. Cheers.

Chris

No Blogging.

Hey Folks,

Sorry to not be in touch lately, we are in Namibia and haven't had a chance to get online. I will write about the tour when we get home. Cheers.

Chris