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
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
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
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
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
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
Gala Shows
We are in the midst of our Gala Show week at the Little Theater in downtown Pretoria. Our team performed Gijima tonight and tomorrow we are performing the same show with a cast made up of different members from each team. Our band will be performing the music. It's fun doing the shows in a nice theater, on tour we perform in school halls which are not always nice. The red team will be performing 2 different shows before heading back on the road Sunday morning.
Namibia
We will be heading off to Namibia early Saturday morning, like 2am. It's a long trip through Botswana, but I am excited. We are going to have a bit of a difficult tour due to the fact that we are missing several team members. 2 of our Management Committee members will be missing, one tech guy (which leaves our poor tech team at 2 people), and another girl will all be missing. Please pray that all the missing people doesn't bring the team's spirit down and that we can manage well without the normal personnel.
Wilmien
Wilmien has been my Admin girl this year on team. She is amazing at her job and always keeps me at the right place at the right time with all the paper work that I would not be able to keep up with. Well, she will be leaving our team for the rest of the year to move to Europe and help with the new office there. Its so sad to have her leave us, but I know looking at the big picture its a great move for the ministry. Pauli will be taking her spot as Admin girl. I know she will also do a wonderful job. I am just amazed that there are people that actually enjoy admin work, but I am so glad there are.
New MC
We have a new Management Committee member, Phindile Ralarala. She is a wonderful 3rd year who is only 19 and has so much wisdom and potential. She will be a great addition to the MC for the rest of the year. Congrats Phindi.
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To learn more about any of our team members go here.
Cheers.
Chris
Tonight marked the end of our holiday so we went out to see a movie. We saw Die Hard 4.0 and it was full of ridiculous action, unrealistic stunts, cheesy one liners and it was FREAKING GREAT. I had such a great time watching this movie. Oh, I was so happy. If you have seen it and thought it was lame, then shame on you. I think there was like 7 or 8 minutes where there wasn't bullets flying around, a chase or something being blown up. Get your mind right (at about 14 years old) and enjoy. Back to work tomorrow. Cheers.
Chris
Here are our upcoming tour dates. We are heading to Namibia for a few weeks, then back to SA to finish out the cycle before our next team weeks. I believe its going to be a good tour.
July 18-21 PRETORIA UNISA LITTLE THEATER
July 22-29 OTJIWARONGO, NAMIBIA TBA
July 29-Aug 5 WALVISBAAI, NAMIBIA GEMEENSKAPSKERK
AUG 5-12 WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA EROS GEMEENTE
AUG 13-18 OFF
AUG 19-26 RICHARDS BAY, SA COMMUNITY CHURCH
AUG 26-SEP 2 PRETORIA, SA ECHO YOUTH DEVELOPOMENT
SEP 2-SEP 9 WARM BATH, SA NG MOEDERGEMEENTE
Gonna be an awesome couple of months. Cheers.
Chris
We are on the annual Leadership Retreat this weekend. Its where leaders from the hub spend the weekend with leadership on the touring teams. Kind of a chance to get to hang out without dealing with work. We are at a camp facility almost an hour from Pretoria. Its been nice. We have just hung out, played Texas Hold'em till early in the morning, watched rugby and watched the entire first season of Lost projected on the wall. Its been nice.
Rachel and I have to leave early tomorrow to get back to Pretoria because I am speaking at Re:Verb in the morning with my friend Warren (the other team's tour leader).
Thats all from here. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel's mom is in town and tomorrow is her birthday!!! However, we are going out of town tomorrow so we are going to celebrate her birthday today. It started with breakfast in bed, Second we are going to see Harry Potter and then end the day with supper at one of our favorite seafood places called Ocean Basket. Happy Birthday Jana.
Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I are on holiday this week. I have had a lot of work to do so tomorrow is really my only day off, but whatever. So I wanted a project to do around the house on my holiday. It could have been hanging curtains (which we started last week and never completed) or a bit of gardening or painting the office, but none of these seemed that great to me so I chose to work on the dogs walking on a leash. Sounds easy huh, well its not. Especially when you have a hundred pound beast trying to rip your arm out of socket to get to the Yorkshire Terrier that it wants to devour.
Something that has helped are the special dog collars that we purchased in America. They have spike type things on the inside that pinch if the dog pulls. Its sounds mean, but its better than them suffocating themselves on the choke collar as they pull in hopes of eating the guy riding the. Well, the collars work. Guinness and Damar have been out on several walks this week and I am so proud. Damar is doing better than Guinness though, we actually went for a jog today.
So now I am one step closer to having real dogs. Its so nice. Cheers.
Chris
We are back from the Soutpan, a township about a hour away from PTA. We, the blue team, spent and week hanging out with people in the village. We had games for kids and showed a series of movies at night and spoke to teenagers about their lives and about how God is there no matter where you live.
I haven't posted since returning because I am still processing my own thoughts on the week. It was good, but I think that the exposure for the team of daily life in a township was the most rewarding. I hope that our team members learned a little more about their country and can share their knowledge with people who are ignorant of how many black people live in SA.
We were met with great hospitality from the people in the town. Some team members were blessed with meals with families and a good chance to hear others stories and learn about a new culture.
I was pleased with how the week went. It was physically difficult because it was cold and we slept in tents. It even rained, which is rare for the winter. We weren't eating well, we were given R7 ($.99) a day to eat on. We had no bathing facilities. However through all this the team was tough and I was proud of them.
Cheers.
Chris
We are going on our week of outreach starting tomorrow afternoon. There are a couple of reasons we are doing this particular outreach this year. 1
1.For the community- We will be hanging out with the kids and teens in the township, We will play a series of hour long movies in the evening and speaking on social issues here in SA and we will perform a stripped down version on our show Gajima on Friday night.
2.For the team- This week is a chance of our students to live among some less fortunate people that live in the same country as them. We will be camping at a church in the township which will be uncomfortable because its winter and will be really cold each night, but thats what it feels like for many people who live in small tin shacks. We will be walking everywhere, many people in this country don't have cars or money for buses so they walk very far everyday for food or water. And we will be given R7 ($.99)a day to eat on, which is average for where we will be staying.
We will also get to go help with an AIDs hospice that visits sick and dying people in their homes each day.
Please pray for the team for safety and that minds and hearts are opened for people who are not as blessed as many of us. Please pray for the community that lives can be impacted and changed by something that happens this week. Cheers.
Chris
Once a month our "church" meets at my boss' house for a night of cheese, wine and hanging out. We are a small group of people, but its nice. Tonight a couple in our group blessed us all with a ton of sushi. It was great. Being on tour we don't get to go to Re:Verb often, but it was really nice having some sushi with friends and the Flaps gave a message. You can download it at www.reverberate.co.za
Cheers.
Chris
When I moved to SA I started working out. While traveling with Traveling Mercies I got sickly large. I didn't notice, but it was time to get fit. Well, this year started crazy. We just got back from Europe, I was music producer and tour leader, I was exhausted. So I didn't get back in the Gym.
So this training I lost any muscle gained last year and put back on some weight I had lost. Then we come to America for 3 weeks and lived in up on fast food and sugary drinks and it was wonderful. It was so wonderful I put on extra weight, like 7 pounds of good old processed americana.
Now, its back to the gym. Hittin' it hard, early, when its dark and cold. Its been nice feeling active. I think I have already dropped my holiday from my belly, now its time to work on the rest of 2007 that has been hanging on for dear life. Hopefully if I work really hard I can look like one of the characters on American Gladiators, like Laser or Nitro. Dream a little dream. Cheers.
Chris
PS
I always dreamed of being on American Gladiators and after I won every competition by kicking the guy off the climbing wall or getting all my balls in the little containers that wobbled buy never fell down or the joust, I would show how gladiator-like I really was by kicking butt in the shooter game where the gladiator, maybe Turbo, would shoot tennis balls at me, but always missed because I rolled just at the right time, then I would shoot the bull's eye with my dart from the cross bow or bazooka (or sometimes for extra drama I didn't hit the target until the last station, the tennis ball grenades). It was so cool when I won....in my dream.
Rachel and I are in the process of trying to plan for the future. The road must end someday I suppose. We love working with 13thFLOOR and don't plan on leaving, but I was just looking at some other ministry possibilities today.
Well, I really like the west coast and was checking on some ministries in California when I got a craving for fish taco. Obviously there are no great little fish taco stands here so I decided to make up my own recipe.
I made homemade wholewheat tortillas, wild rice, and a fish/veggie mix. They turned out great. I don't really experiment with cooking too often so I was pleased.
If you want the recipe feel free to email me and I'll try to remember. Cheers.
Chris
It was bath day in the Holohan home today. We gave the dogs their baths and that is always a mission. Guinness isn't too bad, but Damar gives us a little trouble. We get them in the bath tub and use the hand sprayer to get them rinsed. Then I keep spraying them with warm water as Rach scrubs with soap(side note:we are both in our beach attire). Then I give them a steady stream of treats to persuade them to stay in the bath and not run around the house. Guinness goes first, then Damar. Its a taxing job, but well worth the effort to have nice clean dogs. Cheers.
Chris
During the tour year we come back to the campus in Pretoria for Team Weeks. Well, this team week we had a time called "Conversations". Its where every member of the team spends 10 minutes speaking with every other person on team, all 40. Its a time for people to get things off there chest and say good things and things that bothers them about the other person. It is such a great time for the teams. I really appreciate the openness that is encouraged from the ministry. It's hard at times, but over all helps to build the team stronger. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I spent last night with the Kitts. They are old friends of ours and it was great seeing them. The McGuires also came over and it was just a blast hanging out with all our peeps that we haven't seen in a while. We had Wendy's famous pesto pasta with cookies and milk for desert. Fantastic. The night was ended with a little reality tv. Sometimes I really miss the suburbs. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I got our fillings today. She went first and when she came out she couldn't speak clearly. It was so funny. Then It was my turn and I didn't think it was so funny. It's nice to have the teeth fixed. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I went on a date today, it was fun. We went and saw a movie, ate Reese's Pieces, played Ms. PacMan, ate Cold Stone ice cream, walked around the mall. FUN.
While we were playing Ms PacMan there was a couple down from us playing another video game. They were around 30, I would guess, and while the woman and man were shooting plastic pistols at the monsters that were taking over the world she was holding a baby in her arms. I thought it made a beautiful picture. A smiling young women defending the life of her defenseless daughter from the radioactive creatures. I wish I had a canvas and some oil paints. Cuz I would have Bob Rossed dat shiz fo' show.
We are going to my moms for dinner tonight. Ray and I are fixing our world famous fried ravioli. We learned the recipe from some crazy NASCAR loving, red neck Italians living up in the mountains of Arizona. Thanks Kris. I am looking forward to it. We can't purchase the proper wrapping in SA, so its my first real batch in a while. I love them so much it makes me ache.
Tomorrow we are going back to the dentist for our fillings, we each get one. I am not looking to forward to that, however it will be nice to not carry the decayed part of my tooth around with me. Just another filling to go with the rest, I swear I brush my teeth, I swear.
Cheers.
Chris
Our visit in America is going well. We are trying to relax where we can and running around to see people at lunch and in the evenings. We are hoping to go visit my dad in Illinois this weekend and then see people in ATL and Savannah before flying home for work.
I hate that this trip is so short. There are things I want to do and people I want to see that just can't happen. Well maybe in 2 more years I can see those people. Cheers.
Chris
Now we can begin our holiday. From landing here on last Thursday our lives have been full of hectic wedding stuff. The wedding was Saturday, it was beautiful, congrats guys.
Yesterday I got to preach at Capital City Christian Church (CCCC), my home church. It went well. The more I get to communicate the things of God from stage the more I enjoy it. I had to wear a tie, which I have not done in a normal life situation since December 2004. I had to go purchase clothes for church so I would look "nice".
Then after church we went and ate lunch with some of our friends, Tim and Suzy Bomgardner, that were in town from NYC. After lunch we went and played blaster boats (pic above). It was a blast (pun intended, sorry Zoid). They shoot this little stream of water at your "enemy". It looks fun and nice, however I got freaking soaked. I hate being wet and I was drenched. So we played with our friends and then they went back to NY. Cheers Friends.
Then finally, last night we spoke with the missions team and a few other folks about what we are doing in our ministry. It was cool discussing what we do with people from our church.
Now we rest. We have dentist appointments today. Then more rest. Cheers.
Chris
I made it. I was awake for 44 hours before my first night sleep. The wedding is today and it will be nice I think. It was raining this morning, but seems to be done for a while so hopefully it will be nice for the outdoor wedding today. Cheers.
Chris
I left the team last night after our Homecoming show. The show and ministry went well and I think that the team will have a good impact in Middleburg this week. It was sad leaving them, I really like this team and look forward to the rest of our tour year together. Brandon, an American guy that works in the office, is going to take my place and do the ministry tonight and Thursday. I know he will do a great job.
I woke this morning, washed clothes, hung out the clothes and I am just waiting for them to dry so I can pack. Rone (roo-nay [roll that "R" ladies]), our dog/house watcher, is going to take me to the airport really early so I can be first in line and get the exit row seat. The exit row is my holy grail, I will fight dragons, climb mountains and sword fight business men for the exit row. Then I plan on sitting in the airport for 4 or 5 hours watching movies on my computer waiting for my flight. Not Bad.
So I am sitting in my wonderful chair in the bedroom blogging, drinking a cup of coffee waiting to leave. Its pretty lekker. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I came home last night after the Rock Show last night. We were in Jo'burg, so it was only like a 45 min drive. Right now I am sitting in the chair typing and Ray is packing for her trip to the states. We will leave in about at hour for the trip to the airport. I am going to be sad and lonely for a few days, but I'm tough so no big deal. She lands in Tallahassee on Sunday morning. I will get there on Thursday of next week. I don't look forward to traveling alone, but it will be ok. We are flying Delta which is supposed to be the worst international airline in history. Drinks aren't free and the movies still play on a screen in the middle of the plane. Just makes the trip boring. I look forward to some summer temps and Chick-Fil-A. Cheers.
Chris
Here's a current Family picture, the girls are getting big, they grow up so fast. Cheers.
Chris
On Monday's we have our Sport Afternoon on tour with the team. I like it to be some sort of team competition where some of the team members get too competitive and start fighting with other team members. We are christians and the sad thing is most people think christians are supposed to always be "nice", well sport afternoon is the place where we are allowed to be "normal". I like "normal".
This week we did an individual sport, Archery. We practiced in our contact person for the week's back yard for a while and then the competition began. We had several rounds to get down to the finals which was between myself and my lead guitar player (all band final, take that all you dancing nancies). Marnus ended up beating me, but I tried hard if that counts.
Then today me and my coordinator (my right hand man) when over to the guys house just to shoot some targets and talk about team members and stuff that drives us crazy and our host got out the compound bow and I got to shoot the cool stuff. It felt less Lord of the Rings and more Rambo, so thats cool.
The weeks going well, I am feeling really tired though. My brain needs a rest. Cheers.
Chris
I blogged this morning about the cold weather in Jo'burg. When I wrote it was cold, but the promise of warmer temps through the day made it ok. Well, it got colder as the day went on and as I stated before there is no heat in the buildings. So we did a show tonight in a small hall with probably 100-150 people wrapped up in coats and hats (due to the freezing air [I am amazed anyone came at all]) while the band was nice and bundled on our little band scaff thing and the dancers froze in their t-shirts and other costuming.
My bass strings were like ice, but our rock was warm as the blood that flows through my beating heart, or whatever. Cheers.
Chris
Yesterday the temp was 1 low 12 high. Today it was -3 low and 12 high (Celsius). I know that doesn't sound too cold, but here it doesn't get this cold typically and there is no heat in the buildings, so I am freezing. I found a storage closet in the basement of the church where we are showing at this week thats a bit warmer. I hope you are warm. Cheers.
Chris
Tonight we did a team social at this super cool restaurant called MOYO. It's this super cool "aftican" themed place. I must admit that I haven't seen anyplace that looks like this in the "wild", but its still super cool.
It was also one of our girls birthday today, Jolindi. Happy 20th birthday!!!
It was also the official announcement of our newest couple on team. Lelo and Andri have been working through the 13thFLOOR system of dating and have had many talks with me about relationships and commitment and blah blah blah and tonight we got the chance to announce them as a couple. They are great together. I will get a picture of the happy couple soon.
Jo'burg is going well. I think is going to be a lekker week. Cheers.
Chris
We are in Roodeport this week, its a suburb of Johannesburg, and I think it is going to go well. The hall that we are showing in is small, but i think its going to be a great week. Our contact people are really nice and helpful which is a great start to the week.
Last week we were in Polokwane and the week was fantastic. There were almost 500 people at all the shows and a lot of people were touched by our shows. It was a great week.
Our host family this week is also cool, I just finished hanging out with them and Ray and I have our own room with our own en suite bathroom. Cool baby. There's also a nice sitting area in our room with a couch and chair. Its flippin nice.
Cheers homies, keep it pimped out on hiz fo' shiz.
Chris
I turned 28 on the first of May. I can't believe I am 28. I know its not that old, but to me it sounds so old. I am also starting to wonder if I am looking old. I will watch a movie or TV show and if there is a 28 year old person I always think I look a lot younger than them, but maybe I don't.
I think this problem is compounded by the fact that I work with a team of young people where 75% are between 18 and 21. If you aren't good at math, 18 is a DECADE younger than me. When I started driving at 15 my piano player was 5. Thats nuts.
Oh well, thats part of growing up. Cheers.
Chris
I called customer service today and spoke with a nice young man that helped me get connected to the internet at last. Its nice to be human again. Cheers.
Chris
We had a movie night last night and on the recommendation of others we didn't see Spider Man 3, so we went and saw The Hills Have Eyes 2. Rachel hated it. Some people liked it some thought it was horrible. It was gross, I secretly loved it, don't tell Ray Ray. Cheers.
Chris
Happy Mothers Day all you hot ladies. Sorry I forgot to write this the other day. I am a bad child/grandson/nephew. Cheers.
Chris
Ray got her ticket for our trip to America at the end of this month. We have been down in sponsorship several hundred dollars each month so we don't have the money now for my ticket. If you would like to help me come home to see family and my sister in laws wedding please email me. This is a issue that Ray and I need prayer for. We are struggling in our attitude toward our ministry right now. Not ministry as in our job (thats going well, we love our job), but why we are always just making it finacially and when we get ahead a little we loose support. It has happened for the past 6 years this way and I don't understand it. Please pray for our contentment and attitudes. Thanks.
Chris
I am going freaking nuts. Ray got a new cell phone and I can't get it to work with my computer to get on the internet so I can't check email or blog or do any mindless crap. Its so frustrating. All this stuff has happened and I can't share it will you like the racists or the satanic spot that we found. I know, big stuff. Hopefully I can get it working because I want to let you know what is going on. Cheers.
Chris
We are in Nelspruit this week, its a beautiful part of the country on the eastern side near Mozambique. For some reason the crowds are really small this week which is a bummer, but the shows are going well without any problems which is nice for the second week of tour. Hope you are all doing well. We will be going to Polokwane next week and then back to Jo'burg after that. Cheers.
Chris
We purchased new tour vehicles this year, we are super excited about them. They are Toyota Quantum's and have our new 13thFLOOR logo on the side. I will get a picture of ours with the logo when I can.
Ray and I are going to be touring in the Corolla, but we don't get a nifty logo on the side of our car. Oh well. Cheers.
Chris
Just a quick hello. We don't have internet right now, I am sorry I haven't written lately.
We had the longest work day ever a few days ago. We started Monday morning at 7 am and finished Tuesday afternoon. We worked 30 hours straight. I was so tired and I got 2 new eye wrinkles.
We go on tour Sunday, I am pumped, pray things go well.
Will write on a regular basis soon I hope. Cheers.
Chris
Hey people. I haven't been able to blog for several reasons and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.
We are in Skyne (pronounced 'skane', its Afrikaans for 'shine') Week at 13thFLOOR. Its our dress rehearsal week before we head off on tour. Its so busy, its 8 days where 1 team skynes all day (7am to about 2 am) and then the next day have rehearsals all day and then do the next shows skyne the next day. We have tonight off, so we are going to go to bed about 7 or 8.
The shows are looking good, I am getting a little nervous about tour coming up next week. Our first show is next Sunday night at 1830. I expect things to go well, but with a team of 41 anything can happen. Please pray for my friend Lelo he hurt his foot really bad last night. He is one of our best actors and hands down our best hip hop dancer, it will be sad not having him in the shows. He went for x-rays today and its not broken so hope he will be back in action soon.
I hope I will be able to blog more. Hope all is well with you. Cheers.
Chris
Here is a look at our first tour cycle:
4/28-5/6: NG Pretoria West
5/6-5/13: NG Nelspruit
5/13-5/20: AGS Polokwane
5/20-5/27: NG Wilgespruit Roodeport
5/27-6/3: Middelburg-Wes
If you know any cool places to check out in any of these towns let me know. Cheers.
Chris
Our Thursday night show this year is called Gijima (run or chase in Zulu), its about chasing after life and how our choices determine our destination. It is multicultural, just like South Africa and we are hoping to have a multicultural audience for the shows.
Most of the churches that book us are white Afrikaans churches so to get our Thursday night audience to be multicultural we are going to rent a bus or 2 and get high school students from the closest township and bring them to the show. Please pray for us that this goes well. With the problem of racism being very strong, I am praying this goes smoothly without opposition from the churches. It's going to be a big stretch for some of the people here.
I love the picture though. Imagine a show about South Africa, with all its diversity, followed by a time of worship where the auditorium will be full of white and black people praising the same Creator. I love it, it makes me smile. It may be the first time a particular church has had non white people worshiping within their walls. Beautiful. Cheers.
Chris
We are crazy busy this time of year. There are dance rehearsals, actors rehearsal, production band rehearsals, rock show band rehearsals, voice recordings etc....but today while running around my sound man, Bart, taught me how to weld. Yeah, I fused 2 pieces of iron into one mighty piece of steel. Thanks Bart. Cheers.
Chris
Mark Oestreicher is an amazing blogger. www.ysmarko.com. It's worth a few minutes a day checking out his site. Trust me. Cheers.
Chris
I love Grey's Anatomy, I think the writing is brilliant. It has gotten me thinking though about life direction. I watch these characters that are on a good career path (I know its fiction, but just go with me) and I wonder where am I heading. Ray and I are about the same age as the people in the show and I don't feel we have this road ahead of us that will lead to my final destination career wise.
However, I don't have a final career chosen in my head. I feel called to minister, but I think I just don't know what that will look like. I honestly don't see myself being a preacher at a church. Perhaps I will be, but today I just don't see that ever happening. I just wish I had a picture in my mind of what I want to do in 30 years so I could begin walking that path. Just thinking. Cheers.
Chris
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My friend Pieter Swarts is madman (he's tall, hairy and from Namibia). He just ran the Two Oceans Marathon. I would be proud of him if he just ran the normal marathon, but last weekend Pieter woke up early, put on is running gear (shoes, tank top, tiny shorts) and ran 56Kms. Thats like 35 miles!!!!
He was telling me about it and that the race has hills that are miles up and down. I drove the same route last year to go "whale watching", it took forever and I was exhausted, he must have wanted to die. Congrats Pieter. Cheers.
Chris
Rach and I just got back from our planning meeting for the rest of training. Each day is full of rehearsals and voice over recordings and other tasks until we go on tour April 29th. Its going to be hectic, but the teams will make it. I am looking forward to tour. The first few weeks are crazy, but after that its pretty smooth sailing.
It was a nice relaxing holiday. We watched the 1st season of House (a tv show) and about half of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy (another tv show for you who live in Siberia and have never heard of this series). Grey's Anatomy has great music, its worth watching to hear the music.
Our next little break will be in June and Ray and I will be in the States (hopefully). If any of you know someone who can get discounted airline tickets or buddy passes or owns a boat we can take or some other form of affordable transportation please let us know. I keep staring at the amount we need to pay for the tickets and it doesn't seem to be shrinking. Cheers.
Chris
Today began with an easter egg hunt that Rach organized. She made paper eggs, wrote clues for me and Gio (a girl from team that is staying at our house this week) and sent us on a hunt for our "prize". It was fun.
One of Rachel's clues was a word scramble. I will put the letters up here with the clue I got and the first to get it wins a special African prize.
Clue: 3 words
Letters: lnblcbonniehgjelseo
Today is also the last day of our holiday. It ends tonight with a production/schedule meeting for the last 3 weeks of training which includes the highly feared week of dress rehearsals. Then I start back with my 0630 tour leader meeting tomorrow. I hate the end of holiday. Enjoy your easter. Cheers.
Chris
Last night Guinness played her role as guard dog really well. At some point in the middle of the night I was woken by Guinness barking like crazy at something outside our house. Its such a startling thing to be woken by your dog. I am glad that we have her. Then I realized what she was barking at and I was a little less impressed with her guard duty, it was a cat. There is this cat that has been visiting our house at night and she hates this intruder. I guess I am glad that it was a cat and not a thief, however if it is only a cat I would rather sleep. Good work Guinness scaring away that dangerous cat, good work. Cheers.
Chris
There are times in a man's life when he feels more like a man. 1)When he can grow a proper mustache 2)When he holds a woman (not a relative) in his arms 3)When he fixes a household appliance for his wife (soon beansy, soon). Well, today I feel like a man.
Our LG WD-10160FU (washing machine) has been not working properly for a while and I called to have a repair man come fix it, but I would have to wait till Tuesday because of the holiday weekend.
So I stared down the LG WD-10160FU and said in a slow rugged voice, "son,(pause) looks like it's time to dance". It would have been more dramatic if I had a cigar in my mouth, but I did't, I did have coffee though which is tough-ish. anyways, so I did a little research on the "net" and found out the problem with my machine. Then I took care of the problem and now my LG WD-10160FU is in perfect working order. Your welcome Ray Ray.
The thing that makes me feel less like a man and more like stupid moron is that the machine wasn't broken at all. Apparently.....the child lock became activated and that was why it didn't work. However, I did press the 2 buttons (at the same time) to disengage the child lock, so technically it works because of me and my research, so the technically I fixed the machine, so technically I am still a man. That was a close one. Cheers.
Chris
Rachel and I stayed with a great couple last year when we toured Jo'berg and tonight they invited us to come eat dinner with them, so we did. They took us to this place called Rusty Hook, its a cool little restaurant located on a pond with a thatch roof and a great vibe. It was such a nice blessing. We ate and talked and had a great night. Cheers.
Chris
This morning I was washing dishes and between sips of coffee from from new coffee maker, I was thinking "what is the great verse in modern rock music?". I thought for a while and a then it hit me, it has to be verse 3 of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive".
I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back
I play for keeps, cause I might not make it back
I been everywhere, still I'm standing tall
I've seen a million faces an I've rocked them all(GREATEST LINE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I lay in bed at night and think what was it like when time stood still and Mr Jon Bon Jovi penned this verse. Was Jon sitting at home playing around on his piano? Was Jon driving on the George Washington Bridge that leads from NJ to NYC? Was it a spark of genius in the studio when the producer asked him to come up with a 3rd verse because the song just needed a little more. I wish upon a star that I may have this stroke of genius come upon me some day.
I'VE SEEN A MILLION FACES AND I'VE ROCKED THEM ALL! Amen.
Sunday is always strange for me. I am on holiday and I still have that Sunday afternoon dreaded feeling that my weekend is over. I think it started in high school and continues on today.
Sunday was also the day of the week when I met Rach. I know this because it was at church before leaving for camp. I was wearing a tie, it was one of a handful of time she ever saw that.
On a Sunday in high school something happened that impacted me even to today. I was driving to our evening service at church and on the side of the road was a person that appeared to be homeless with a bloody foot. This person was barely walking up this hill on the sidewalk by the road, like struggling up this hill. Well I had this thought that I should stop and help this person, but this other thought flashed through my mind as the justification to not stop, "I will be late to church". I drove on for another 1/2 mile then felt so convicted by not stopping that I started crying, turned around went back to help this person. When I got there he or she was gone. I am so embarrassed by this story.
I think this event showed me how church goers are not always following Jesus. If I say that I am desiring to look like Jesus and live my life like him, then on this day I was nothing more than a liar. This event made me decide that if I am going to follow Jesus then I going to give my whole life to this. I am not saying that I don't screw up from time to time, some days it seems like theres more screwing up than following, but I made the choice that I can't half-ass this Christian thing. People have been doing that for too long and I believe that is a major thing that pushes people away from God. Sad, but true.
Sundays have meant a lot to me. I pray they continue to be a day of inspiration for me and everyone in the world. Today I went the movies and saw Wild Hogs, I want a motorcycle. See it's inspiring. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I stopped by a charity shop today and as I was complaining how the 2nd hand shops here suck I came across this chrome and red coffee maker. It was a diamond in the rough. It was pretty nasty and was taped together so there was tape goo everywhere, but after a good cleaning and several runs to get the pipes cleared out, it works great. Cheers.
Chris
Here is a picture of my short hair. My friend also trimmed my beard today so I look a bit presentable. Don't fear that will change in a few months. Cheers.
Chris
There is an American girl on my team named Kaitlin (I have never spelled her name, so if thats the wrong spelling, sorry) and she loves art. We met her when we were touring Belguim.
Tuesday night is an off night during training and she held an art night on the campus and it was great. People sang songs and painted and did other artsy things. She also started an art wall on the porch where we eat meals and I am so impressed with the talent we have in 13thFLOOR. Good job Kaitlin. Cheers.
Chris
A friend of mine found a free internet connection at a cafe inside a grocery store so this is my new favorite place to get work done (props to Warren). Its a crappy connection, but still free and it's in a grocery store so I can pick up some milk, bread or tampons if I need to. Very convenient.
Anyways I sitting here enjoying a mediocre cup of coffee and Ray's mum messaged me and in this message she brought up how she would like some Taco Bell when she gets to the States (she lives in Saudi Arabia) and I almost got depressed thinking how badly I want/need/desire/lust for/crave/would kill for Taco Bell. There are not words that can express this deep need for this, I am on en emotional roller coaster thinking about this. I am half way between tears of joy in anticipation and curling up on the floor in the fetal position not being able to continue with everyday life. Don't even mention Chick-fil-a, I may freaking go ballistic on Joyce (the sassy woman who works in the cafe at the Super Spar). That would be bad because she knows me and thats nice. I mean, I would hate to freak out about missing my American fast food and throw her in a shopping cart and crash her into the rack of condiments seeing bottles of All Gold Tomato Sauce and Mrs. Balls Chutney scattered to and fro while Joyce shakes her head wondering what just happened. None of us want that.
Be grateful for your easy access to some of lifes wonders, like Grilled Stuffed Burritos and cups of Pintos and Cheese. Cheers.
Chris
Today we had our first management committee (MC) meeting concerning tour and it went really well. I really love my MC and I am getting so jazzed about tour. There are a million things that need to be done to get a tour week to run smoothly and we addressed many of those things. From week schedules to who packs truck after Rock Show on Friday nights to who buys fabric for the front of the stage to make it look nice. I really am proud of our team, they work so hard and I know they will do great on tour. Cheers.
Chris
I went to rent a nice dramatic DVD tonight because I wanted to mess around with recording some nice mellow instrumental music. I ended up walking out with Talladega Nights. Not what I had planned, but I love Will Ferrell. He's so funny. Cheers.
Chris
Thats right baby, all the inhabited continents. Thanks Argentina for showing a little love. I realize some people get like 2500 hits a day and I get between 6 and 14, but still they are well spread out, makes me happy. Cheers.
Chris
I have wanted dreadlocks since I was young, I always thought they were great. So a little over a year and a half ago I made the choice to grow my hair with the intention of forming them into dreads. So about 8 months ago I got my hair all knotted in sections and let it go with the intention of growing for 5 years. I have fine hair so the dreading was slow, but the progress has picked up recently. They were messy and frizzy and I liked them. However other people didn't like them and felt it their civil duty to say things like, "I don't like your hair" or "you look horrible" you know typical nice things like that. Why would people feel its ok to do this? People say this kind of crap to me all the time. I never walk up to people and say. "you're fat" or "your shirt looks stupid" or "you dance like a deer thats been hit by a car and didn't die, but has broken 2 legs and is trying to walk". Whats up?
A philosophy I have is "I don't want to hear about it". Fine, you don't like something I did or said or the way I sang that song, why must you tell me? Please just let me be.
That said, I cut my hair last night. I now have a nice clean hair cut to go with my Rev. Holohan title that is on my movie rental contract at the DVD shop. I think it was a bad Idea. I let others pressure me into not being myself and thats bad. I would advice one of my students to be strong in what they like, but I failed. I just couldn't take it anymore. I made an emotional decision that now I kind of regret, but its too late, can't change it now. It's a nice haircut though, my female vocalist Giovanni did it for me.
I am sad now. I threw away over a year and a half of growth, patients and wonderful frizz so "I don't have to hear about it". Oh well, my Nanny will like my hair better now. Cheers.
Chris
I am not a person who likes to waste money on stupid crap, though I end up doing it a lot. However one of the things I would love to own is a huge pepper mill. You know, the thing they bring around at the Olive Garden and people who think they are cool say, "Mmmm yes that would be nice, (guys starts grinding while they wait 2-6 seconds then old up their hand), thats fine, thank you." And I am not talking about a sissy little pepper mill, I am talking like a life size replica of Magic Johnson Pepper Mill, where you turn his head and perfectly ground fresh pepper sprikles down on my seafood portofino. I just think it would be cool. Cheers
Chris
The power was off all day yesterday. I had huge plans. I was going see a movie with my wife, then drive home and make a great pot of coffee and say on the love seat and watch TV show dvd's with Ray all day until the last moment that I have to rush to my little home studio and finish a little work for Monday. However, this ruined my plan. So this is a break down of my Sunday.
Went to movie with wife (there is this deal where we can go for R7, thats just under a dollar, wicked sweet). We saw The Pursuit of Happyness (i know its old, hey its a freakin 3rd world country, you are lucky we have roads and pants and we aren't riding around on camels and killing wild game with spears for summer). It was good, but depressed me a bit in the fact that it kind of says that money will make you happy. I want to be super spiritual and say I don't feel that way, but the thing that gets me down most in life is money, so I guess I can't be self righteous. Though I do believe there has to be more.
Then, I went home and got pissed because the power was still out. At this point I was blaming the power outage for me not being able to do my work, when I was just upset because I couldn't lay on the love seat and watch tv.
Then, I took a luke warm bath, because the water in the geyser began to cool from the power being out, and read some of my historical romance book that Ray got me hooked on (thats right beansy, I am hooked on the books the NV women were going on about, its nice).
Then, in a towel, I ranted a bit because the power was off. At this point the sun was setting and I was getting a little worried about not getting my work done.
Then, the sun set and we got out the candle and realized our 4 candles aren't a great source of light.
Then, we went in search of a shop that may be opened to by oil for our oil lamps. Which is difficult on Sunday because stuff closes really early here, like 2pm.
Then, we drove around and looked for an open shop that had power, now we realized the power outage was on the whole north eastern section of Pretoria.
Then, we found oil for the lamp, went home, filled the lamps, walked around the house with my old school lamps like the kid in Where the Red Fern Grows and I laid on the couch and read my historical romance book. I did this for a while and finally went to bed.
Then, as I was falling a sleep the power came on, I know because the fan in our bedroom came on and I had a lekker night sleep.
That was my Sunday, much more involved than it was supposed to be, but hey it worked out. Got up early and had my 0630 Monday morning meeting. Another week begins. Cheers.
Chris
Yesterday was 13thFLOORS (previously called C-Kruis) Guys and Girls day. The girls spend the afternoon and evening doing whatever it is that girls do when then spend time together, I imagine lots of giggling and nail painting. I am not sure, but Rach went to girls day wearing dancing gear and came back in a black dress with her hair looking nice, so whatever.
We guys went and did a much more masculine thing, we played rugby and drank beer. It was nice. However with this being the first rugby I have played this year, I am so stiff, it hurts. It was a good day though.
I am very excited too because this is the first weekend that Ray and I don't have to work this training. There is always something to do, actor rehearsal, writing music, preaching at our church service thing......but this weekend I am going to do nothing and go see a movie I think. I have about 45 minutes of work to do, but that doesn't really count, its easy. Hope you have a great weekend. Cheers.
Chris
As an artist I am self conscious. It is so hard to play something to somebody the first time, its ok if I think its cool, but if its only goodish to me then its tough. Well I finished all the new production music for the new show. 7 songs of various styles. There's rock, rap, dance/techno, afrikaans country, poppy, but today they started reheasing on my songs, so all over the campus my music is blaring while people dance. Its pretty cool. I love my job. Cheers.
Chris
There is a sale at www.guitarcenter.com now where they are selling a Gibson Les Paul 52% off the retail rate. It's a $1700 guitar for $800. I know its a lot, but its a killer deal on a killer guitar. If someone reads this and feels moved to bless me, thank you in advanced. I own a great bass that a sponsor helped me purchased, but I don't have a great guitar, making proper music takes proper gear and this would be a dream to own and play. Cheers.
Chris
My friend Chad got engaged to his girlfriend, Rachel, last week. Congrats guys, I am so happy for you guys. Cheers.
Chris
Tomorrow is my friend Lelo's birthday so we had huge bash at our house tonight. It was a surprise party, which I think never works, but tonight I think it did. The 4 Management Committee guys went out for dinner and then we they dropped me at home I made up a reason for him to come in and all 40 people from our team were crammed in my kitchen, it was great.
My girlfriend in my freshman year of college through me a surprise party, but I heard her speaking on the phone about it so I had to pretend that I didn't know. I wonder if I ever told her that I knew. That was my 19th birthday, that seems like ages ago.
My biggest surprise for a birthday was when my Aunt Pat drove up to ATL for my 24th birthday party. I knew I was having a party, but when I walked in she was sitting in the corner of the porch. It was very special to me because it was the first road trip she had taken by herself and she died later that year, so it holds a very special place in my heart.
Happy Birthday Lelo. I look forward to touring with you again this year. Cheers.
Chris
I read 2 quotes today that broke my heart. Firstly, "It's easier to get sex on the street than a hug in a church". Secondly, "I'd rather face God with an abortions than the church with a pregnancy".
Is this true? Take a second and think of your church and people who need help. The first quote was from a young gay South African man. The second was from a young woman. What would the reaction be if we met these people in the context of our christian life?
I don't know the answer, but how can we love like Jesus, where he loved the woman caught in adutery enough to not have her stoned, but also love to tell her to go and sin no more? How do we live that line of grace and obedience? Just a thought. I pray that the world can feel more love from the church. That people will know that Jesus' love is real. Cheers.
Chris
One of the things that shocks me every time is the amount of open racism here in SA. I know there is racism everywhere, however the way people talk about it takes me back. It has happened all over this country, we meet a new person or family and within 10 they are asking us about "blacks" in America and how "it" (racism) is there and how bad it is in SA to be white. I am just shocked. Of course it isn't everyone, but I hope so badly that this country can heal from this division.
We met a young girl the other day, just a kid, and she was telling us about her dance class and in her telling us of this dance class felt the need to tell us that there were 2 black kids in the class. However, she used a really harsh racist word to inform us. It just blows my mind.
I hope that nothing I do adds to the problem of racism in this world, I am so aware of the pain and isolation that it causes now more than I have ever been. It breaks my heart. Cheers.
Chris
As of yesterday Rachel and are no longer working with C-Kruis International. We have had a nice time, but it is time for a change. The change has nothing to do with us quitting our jobs, rather the corporate name of C-Kruis International will be changing to 13thFLOOR. The reason for the change is C-Kruis is an Afrikaans word, that many who read this blog don't know how to pronounce and we are changing in time for our launch of the ministry in the UK. The ministry that has been going the the States is called 13thFLOOR and we decided to take a easier to remember name. Its going to take a lot of effort to get the corporate change done, but we are excited about where the ministry is heading and hope that this is the beginning of a great new chapter in the history of this ministry. Cheers.
Chris
I am struggling with the idea of what to do for the rest of my life. I am loving what I do now, but I know I can't tour forever. Well, let me rephrase that, I could tour forever, but Ray can't and I don't want to be on the road with kids or miss them growing up because I am gone all the time.
I am loving my music production and I think that I could work here in the office at C-Kruis working on music production and I think that is something where I could really grow and impact people. I am just so confused because I think it would be great, but the idea of getting up everyday and going to the office, then coming home everyday for the rest of my life seems scary. I think that I am trying to find where my niche in ministry is. I love the music, but I want to impact people. Please pray for me so I can have a clearer picture of what I am "meant" to do.
Cheers.
Chris
Just after the new year I shaved my beard then me and a guy I work with, Tertius, thought we should grow our beards for the extent of training (end of April). Well, here is how its going. Sorry for the bad picture, its rays camera phone. If you want to rub my beard you can for a small donation. Cheers.
Chris
We are home. I am exhausted. We left early this morning, drove 7 hours to Bloemfontein, had a 2 1/2 hour meeting, drove 5 more hours home. This week I thought would be nice and relaxing, but ended up full of meetings and other commitments. I am tired.
The whole week ended up good though, there was great times of worship and many people learned a lot about themselves and God. It also cool meeting so many people working in ministry here in SA. We are doing different things in different places, but all serving one God and that is amazing.
I am going to rest tomorrow morning, but I have to get to work in the afternoon. My music for the new show is not finished. I was supposed to work in J-bay, should have not slept I suppose.
Cheers.
Chris
Well, I said that I was in need of a break and a sunburn. Today my goal was met. It was my first day off in weeks and I am in a bit of pain.
Ray and I spend the day together on the beach with friends. I played cricket with the guys, it was fun. When it was my turn to bat they laughed at me because I took a baseball stance with the cricket bat (which I think looks like something you could row a boat with, or use as a cutting board), they were not laughing for long when I send the ball soaring like Sammy Sosa with a corked bat or Jose Conseco on 'roids. It was fun. This was part of the 6 hours in the African sun which led to my super rad burn.
The worship service tonight was cool. Ben spoke about our generation and things that he thinks are fears that keeps us from doing Gods work. 1-Fear of Brokenness (our own and other peoples) 2-Fear of exposure (putting ourselves out on the line) 3-Fear of Death. I think he is right. We are so caught up on comfort, convenience and getting "ahead" that we do ministry as a second thought. He gave a time for us to think of our own fears. I think that a fear I have that if I could deal with I would be more able to be used by god, is the fear of security. A vision that I see sometimes of myself, that scares me to death, is this picture of me homeless, alone, toothless and rejected by everyone that sees me. I believe in the devil, I believe that he would love nothing more than for me to quit ministry and get a job for the sole purpose of making money (I had a better hourly wage in high school). I know that this is a vision that he puts in my head to try to get me to quit, but there are days where this fear of security (financial mainly) is so strong I honestly consider leaving the ministry. It's sounds so stupid in black and white, but its true. I pray that god continually gives me the strength to continue to do what I feel he called me and gifted me to do. Please pray for me.
The week is going well. We have tomorrow then we leave before the dawn on Friday for the trek back to Pretoria. I will be glad to get home, I miss my dogs. Cheers.
Chris
Today, weather wise, was much better. Not too warm, but not cold and no rain. I think tomorrow will be brilliant.
Our band led worship tonight again for the night session. It was a time where there were several stations set up around the church and we played while people could spend the time doing different "activities" like have elders pray for you or confessing sins or meditating on god's awesomeness or worshiping in song. I think it was good. We played for about an hour, it was long, but I think the night was great for some people.
Because of the worship stuff the past few days and the fact that this is supposed to kind of off for the MC from the teams, Rach and I are taking tomorrow off for a nice relaxing day. We haven't had a day off in a few weeks so we are due. She is the admin girl for this week so she has been swamped as well.. I am hoping the sun is nice tomorrow and we can just go swimming and get wicked sunburns, yeah baby.
I made a footnote on yesterdays blog (a first for me) regarding the fact that I want hundreds, no thousands of people to read my blog everyday and that I might get as many as 14 on a strange day when several people wrongly typed in my domain and they were actually were looking for garden advice or a used car. I would like to say there are several people, friends/family/a few people in Asia that I don't think I know, except my friend Andrea from high school, I hope you are happy. I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read my blog, Its fun for me. Thanks for your effort.
I having received the huge response that I was hoping for when I asked for someone to sponsor me fund for a recording studio. I really have a huge expectation that god will bless this need. I honestly believe that music may be my area to impact the kingdom. It's a passion that grows more and more with every breath I take to the point sometimes I sit around smiling with a stupid grin on my face thinking about the fact that I get to play music soon. When you get 5 guys playing perfectly on time, doing their part to create something that can stir a mans spirit, its breath taking. I am proud of my band, they have been working really hard for the worship stuff this week. I think I may take them for a beer tomorrow, they earned it.
Please pray for me with this music desire. Ray and I won't be touring much longer, this may be our last year, which is a bit hard on me. However, I could really focus my energy with C-Kruis on creating great production music and I would love that. We will see what the future holds, right now I have more than enough on my plate without thinking to much in the future.
I hope you have a nice day. Thanks again peeps who read my blog, poor spelling/grammer included. Cheers.
Chris
I would like to give you an update on the time here in J-Bay. As you would remember yesterday, if you were on of the few people who read this blog(***See Footnote***) you would know that the weather was crap yesterday, well today it is worse! When I was in high school a hurricane hit down the coast from where I lived and we didn't get super bad weather just a good bit of rain and wind, thats what it was like today. Like 200 km's down the beach a hurricane was hitting the town of George (where my friends Daniel and Elzette live, I miss those guys.) So it was raining like a mug and freezing like its the middle of July. I sat in a meeting soaked to the bone in a hoodie that was soaked like a sponge, I was not content, I was grumpy. Oh well. I went and bought a cheap, crappy jacket that I hope lasts at least 4 days and some socks that come up to my calf and have colored stripes at the top, not cool old school stripes like you would buy at Urban Outfitters for $30 a pair. So, I am warm now in my house, with my crappy jacket and make-me-look-like-a-pathetic-loser socks. I am more content than earlier.
Besides weather info the fest started officially today. All the groups arrived and we had a worship service tonight and our band got to lead worship. I want to write a blog about leading worship one day. I started hating worship music a couple of years back, but ironically enough I am getting many chances to lead in various places and I love the platform of music to reach people and minister, I think it is great now. So I think that went well. My boss, Flaps, gave a little message about Moses (I wasn't paying much attention so please don't email me and ask specifically what he said, I have the attention span of a 7 year old, I hope Flaps doesn't read this either and punish me, I would feel bad if I disappointed my boss [I honestly only said that so he would think I am a sweet good man rather than a man that lets his mind wander during sermons to stupid stuff like how I can make my coffee turn out better from my french press, which I don't think I can, its near perfect, Juan freakin Valdez couldn't produce anything better himself, bring it Juan you wanna show down, I'm game, bring it viejo amigo.]). So everything went well.
I hope all of you throughout the world, are doing well. Please email me sometime and let me know how you are doing, I am interested. Cheers.
Chris
***( I have a friend named Suzy, her sister has a blog, she averages like a million hits a day, ok not a million but hundreds, I get like 12 on a huge day, how can I get more? Maybe if I were more interesting or wrote more about government or used big words or discussed 18th century celtic poetry. Whatever, I like that I have people that check my blog, makes me feel important, thanks mom and Beansy.)
I went to sleep last night at 12:10, I woke up at 3:55, I fetched our friends to drive to J-Bay at 4:45, I drove the Corolla for 12 hours and 22 minutes to the bottom of the world and it's freaking FREEZING!!!!!!!!
Its supposed to be the last stretch of summer before autumn comes, however nobody told mother nature concerning the weather in this wonderful land. I surely hope it warms tomorrow because it will be hard for me to get my much needed sunburn through my hoodie (that was worn in The Hydration Method by Patrick Snow playing the part of Josh Kindell [was that the kid's name?]) standing in the wind and rain. Oh well.
We arrived safely and I am excited about the week.
Also, I am making my band grow beards and not cut their hair so we look tough as nails as most of todays top worship bands do. The slight problem is that nobody, save me, can grow a beard. They each have a dozen or so hairs spread somewhere on their face. I will hand it to them though they are sticking in there and giving it the old college try. I think we are sexy.
I really hope the sun comes out.
The waves were huge today, there was some storm off in the Indian Ocean and it caused the surf to be up. I think I might just have to show these people what world-class belly surfing looks like....if it warms a bit of course. I mean I may look tough as nails, with my cool beard, but I'm just acting. I'm just a scared little boy that needs a hug......from a freakin' polar bear.......thats how tough my beard makes me....bring it on cold ocean and strong winds......I will battle against you to prove I am a true champion of all things belly surfing. Boo-ya!!!!!
I am sorry for the last paragraph, I have no idea what that was about. I am tired, it's late, and I need sleep......and sunlight. Cheers.
Chris
I used to consider myself a bit old school. I prefer black coffee to mocha whatevers, guitar rock to boy bands, Pearl Jam "Ten" to anything else they did, though I love "VS" as well it's a great albulm, (I know, thats not too old school, but relatively speaking students I work with now have never heard Pearl Jam "Ten", shame), I like beards and I think one of the greatest things if for a man to build his house with his own 2 hands, whatever. All that to say, now I am in love with computer/synth/dj/techno music. I am writing new music for a new show and I like all my music to be heavy drums and guitar. I didn't even want a keyboard player in my band. But this new show is to be more urban so I am having to write different stuff then I typically would produce on my own. It's great. I own a cheap, stripped down, crappy version of Reason (computer software that can be used to build drum loops and virtual synthesizers) and I stole my teams synthesizer for crazy sounds (I had to write an Indian dance-groove song, major sitar baby) and I am having a blast. I love hearing the music I want in my head and its not just old school heavy guitar. My issue is I don't have a huge salary to buy gear. I can do a much better job with writing production music for C-Kruis if I had a good studio set up and not just trying to make the best of what I have. If any of you out there has a heart for electronic music or arts ministries in general and would like to sponsor me to help build up my studio please contact me. I want to take my music and my ministry to the next level and I think if I had "proper" equipment I could do that. Please pray for this need of mine. If was in medical missions people wouldn't find it funny that I wanted someone to donate an x-ray machine, please don't think it funny that I am asking for music equipment when music is a major part of my ministry. Please pray that the new shows music turns out well, I am almost done. Cheers.
Chris
Ray and I shipped my coffee make from America and when it got here it was broken, it was a great machine, "I miss you Mr. Coffee ISTX85". So I kind of gave in and started drinking the instant coffee that 99% of people drink here, it was easier. I have to admit there is some decent instant out there, I bought the good stuff. Well several weeks ago I quit drinking instant coffee. I have my french press, that was purchased for me as a replacement for my Mr Coffee ISTX85. Well, last week my french press fell over and cracked, it didnt break all the way so I continued on in a state of coffee bliss. Then yesterday I was cleaning the little french pretty and it broke for good. It just fell apart in my hand, jagged glass. I was so upset. So I tried to make coffee today in a travel mug. I ground the beans, put them in the travel mug with the hot water, let it sit for a few minutes, shook it up, them poured it through a metal filter (from the deceased press). It was a hassle, but worth it. I am going to get a new french press at the mall today after I go to the bank. Cheers.
Chris
This has been an exhausting 2 weeks. We don't live by normal office hours, we work the whole time we are awake. It's been so busy. We are writing a new show so on top of my normal work load I have been composing and recording new music anytime I have free. So its up at 5:30-work-go to bed at midnight-repeat. However, we leave early Sunday morning for a festival with other ministries in SA at Jeffery"s Bay. It's a small beach town on the Indian Ocean. As Tour Leader I don't have many responsibilities so I get lots of time to relax and get sun burned, I can't wait. We are leading worship the first 2 nights and thats it. Save me J-Bay. Cheers.
Chris
Today Rach and I were at the campus doing rehearsals and somebody came by and did something that was funny or strange, I can't remember exactly what it was, but I just though how great it is to work with so many artists. From my 17 year old keyboard player who loves playing classical music, but is loving to experiment with the synthesizer, to the American girl that joined team after we met her in Brussels where she was hoping to go to college and has just a great mind for visual art and painting, to the guys and girls on team that can dance like angels. I love working with the people I work with and for the ministry can brings all this together to tell people that God loves them. Just a thought. Cheers.
Chris
I haven't blogged in a few days, just wanted to say hi. We are in a hectic bit of training right now. We are learning a show called Lil' Me, it was written for 13th Floor, so its the first time we will do it here in SA. The music is great, but tough. Its going to be crazy, but will work it out. I will let you know how it goes. Rachel is at a late rehearsal tonight so she wont get home until about 1130. I hate when she has to work so late. Besides crazy work stuff, we are doing well. Cheers.
Chris
We have a Valentines ball every year with C-Kruis. Tonight we had the dinner/dance at a lodge just down the street from our house which was nice. We were supposed to have a mask to wear, I am not sure who's idea that was, but whatever. Well, Ray and I went looking for masks and I liked this one. It wasn't the traditional feathery mask or Phantom of the Opera mask, but I though it was cool. I liked it because it was kind of a mask of me, red hair, black glasses. The evening was good and I enjoyed my mask, however it made my forehead sweat so I only wore it for about 5 minutes at the beginning. Have a nice weekend. Cheers.
Chris
Today is Rachel's Birthday. I must say that I think that every year that rachel gets older the more beautiful she gets. I cant wait till shes 80, ooohhh yeah. Happy Birthday Rach.
Chris
I was looking at a friend's Myspace page yesterday and he listed in the "people I would like to meet" section that Jack Bauer from 24 is the person he would most like to meet. Then a friend of his left a comment saying he loves 24 so much that he bought a puppy and named it Jack Bauer. Well, Rach and I have recently gotten hooked on 24 like some people get hooked to crack or diet pills and I was so impressed that this guy named his dog Jack Bauer (which is quite bold and Jack-Bauer-Like) that I wanted to name something of mine Jack Bauer. So I looked around the house to consider what to give this great name and my eyes locked on the perfect object. My Starbucks coffee grinder. I mean its sexy in design, like Jack Bauer. It's made of metal so its tough, like Jack Bauer. Its a little loud and over bearing at times, like Jack Bauer. It's always there when I need it, like Jack Bauer. And most importantly, it always, always, always gets the job done, just like freaking Jack Bauer. I feel like a new man now that I too have something that is special to me named after the man I would most like to be (list in order of importance: Jack Bauer, Ben Harper, Abraham Lincoln). I heart life. Cheers.
Chris
