Another Great Moment In Christian Music...

LarkNews Is Awesome...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Third Day and Superchick have become involved in what appears to be the first Christian band feud.
It began when CCM magazine ran comments by Third Day frontman Mac Powell who said he "expected more" from Superchick’s latest release.

"I’m just saying that as a band we’re praying that they will reach their full musical potential in Christ," Powell was quoted as saying. "Don’t get me wrong, their music is great. But we wonder if it could be just a little bit better."

Superchick responded on their website by stating that they "forgave Mac and the band in advance of any apology" and that they were "believing God that Third Day will once again experience original creative inspiration so they don’t have to keep recording the latest hit worship songs with a hard rock sheen."

Third Day quickly responded on their own website, saying that "no doubt Superchick knows we have a new album of completely new, rocking material." But taking the words "no doubt" as a sly reference to Superchick’s secular sound-alike, No Doubt,

Superchick followed up with a backhanded compliment by saying that Third Day "continues to pioneer that born-again Pearl Jam sound. Good for them."

Some question whether the feud is real or a publicity stunt meant to gin up sales for their new albums, both released this summer. Others fear Christian bands may follow the trend and start full-blown feuds.

"Can you imagine Michael W. Smith having it out with BarlowGirl?" says one producer. "This could get real un-pretty."

For now at least one of the bands seems ready to put the squabble behind them.

"Listen, we love those guys. Superchick rocks. No harm, no foul," said Powell recently to the website GomerNews.
Superchick has yet to respond.

Source: LarkNews

My Friday

4:45.

Yep. 4:45. AM.

Finley Grace Wright...up at 4:45am...ready to start her day.

So, I got up, filled her cup and put her back in bed. For fifteen minutes.

For the next hour or so, that's the little game we played - Dad trying desperately to put a child back to sleep. For an hour.

I've been a parent for six years. Not a long time, but long enough to know two things:

#1. Sometimes, you can get a kid back to sleep if you do it just right.
#2. Sometimes, they are not going back to sleep short of having their sippy cup spiked with Benadryl.

Since we didn't have any Benadryl (No, Kristen...I didn't actually look for some,) we had lots of fun "playing" while Daddy laid on the carpet and dozed.

Kristen woke up at 7 and I laid back down for a bit. Once everybody was up, we got to work! Krist and I began washing every clothing item we own so we can pack as much as possible. We also washed dishes and packed them up and then cleaned out our closets of lots of clothes we don't use anymore. (It's horrible how much stuff we have that we don't use. Don't tell Shaun Groves.)

After some work, Jonah ran into town for some errands. We hit the bank, the grocery store, then grabbed some lunch for the family. After we got home, Kristen and I were about to tackle one of the porches when Finley woke up. As you can probably see from the video below, Finley wasn't feeling well on Friday, so she had napped much earlier than usual.

We did some more work around the house, filling boxes, picking up clutter and then it was time to get ready for our party!

We dropped off Jonah at his cousin's house and then to Finley to Sugar's. Tonight we had dinner with the FUMC praise band at Chris Caraway's house. It was a great time - good food, lots of laughter and memories about our journey together as we've led worship. It was a sad parting for me...I'll see most of those folks on Sunday, but the whole leaving thing is really sinking in this weekend.

We left the party and little after 9, picked up kids and got home to put them straight into bed. We were pretty worn out so we hit the sack a little earlier than usual!

Tomorrow - more packing!

Other Fridays:
Ross
Artie

Skribit Friday....

"How are you and the family feeling about leaving Lufkin?"
Well...it's weird. While we're very excited about this new phase of our lives, we're also dreading leaving family and friends. As many of you know, both my parents and Kristen's family live in Lufkin. All this back and forth to Tyler has shown us truly "easy" the Tyler drive is, but it's still a big step for us. Our families are excited for us...of course, they tend to hear all about our church work (good and bad!) and they're excited at the new opportunities that Bethel will give us.

"Who will you root for - John Tyler or Tyler Lee?"
It's obvious that this question came from somebody who doesn't know me all too well. (Or maybe they do and they're trying to get me ranting. That would be clever...)

Let me say this - I hail from Lufkin, Texas, okay? A place that is NUTS about high school sports. (And primarily, high school football.) And I'm not joking when I say that I think the community of Lufkin sometimes borders on idolatry regarding the Panthers. I'm serious...I realize I might get slammed for this, but I always get worried when a town starts to worship at the altar of high school sports. It bugs me, okay? So, I'm inclined to devote my energies elsewhere.

In addition to that, I don't like football or baseball or soccer. So, if JT or TL have some rocking basketball or tennis teams, I'm all in. If not...I'll be at home on the weekends, watching Battlestar Galactica. Or blogging.

Probably blogging.

I don't imagine I'll root for anybody. (Hope that's okay, Tyler folks!)

"Living in Tyler..."
We've found a house in Flint, about six or seven minutes from the church. We weren't necessarily looking for something out-of-town, but we like the area and we dig the house. We'll be moving on Monday, September 1!

I Love This Girl...

Beautiful, talented, business-savvy and packer extraordinaire -

Kristen Wright!

How about THIS?

Me and Johnny...

Me and John Simmons. Couple of cool dudes, I'll tell you that right now. Personally, I think John owns this one a bit stronger than I do. Looks like we should be an acoustic-folk-duo or something: me on 12-string, Johnny and a homemade djembe singing BGVs.

Don't forget...Man Up Movie Night is this coming Friday!

Pick a film from our list and watch it Friday night!

Yeah!

Not A Real Word...

"Whenever I see 'not a real word' used to stigmatize what is (usually) a perfectly cromulent word, I wonder why the writer felt the need to hang a big sign reading 'I am not confident about my writing' on it. What do they imagine the penalty is for using an 'unreal' word? A ticket from the Dictionary Police? The revocation (as the joke goes) of your poetic license? A public shaming by William Safire? The irony is that most of these words, without the disclaimer, would pass unnoticed by the majority of readers. (In case you noticed cromulent, that was invented in the 1990s for 'The Simpsons.') Writers who hedge their use of unfamiliar, infrequent, or informal words with 'I know that's not a real word,' hoping to distance themselves from criticism, run the risk of creating doubt where perhaps none would have naturally arisen."

-Erin McKean, Boston Globe

Source: BoingBoing

The Bethel Story, Part III

Back in Tyler, Bethel's pastor went to work.

Pretty soon, he called back with a plan. We were scheduled to head up on a Monday afternoon to take in a few meetings. First, I met with Elizabeth, an amazing woman who has given so much time and energy to leading the praise team in the absence of a leader. I sat down with her, got some info on the team, asked some questions, then met with the Pastor, Ross, again.

A couple of hours later, Ross and his wife, Leslie, picked up Kristen and I at the hotel and we headed out to a dinner with the Elders of the church. It was a great time...very relaxed and fun. We loved meeting the elders and their wives. (And they were great to us - just four days prior, Kristen had been released from the hospital after her pancreatitus [sp?] and gallstone episode. They were very considerate of her and had obviously kept up with her recovery!)

The night was great. Kristen and I led a few songs, then gave our testimonies. After that, we fielded some questions and got to ask a few questions of our own. The meal and the q & a was more fun that I ever expected!

We got back to our hotel around 10:30, but I was too jazzed to go to bed. (I really should have, though, because Ross had scheduled me for a follow-up meeting with some of the Elders at 6am. Yeah. You read that correct. 6:00 AM.) Let me be clear: I can get up early. I can. I promise. But I don't like to...

The breakfast meeting was good. Some of the questions got a bit more interesting...nothing bad, just a little more in-depth. After that meeting, I headed to the church to look over some budget stuff then off to meet the pastoral staff at a coffee shop.

And then, there was lunch!

We met with the whole staff of the church for some fantastic Bruno's pizza and lots of fellowship! We enjoyed meeting everybody and were impressed by their sincerity and friendliness. We walked away even more convinced that God was preparing the way for us to be a part of this family.

Great Moments In Christian Music...

Sorry for the weird bump in volume...still learning!

Yearbook Yourself

Okay...okay. I heard about this site last week and didn't have time to dig into it. But thanks to my good friend Johnny, I have become addicted to Yearbook Yourself. Below are just a few examples of the genius of this site...

...remember Winterhaven?

Well now I subscribe to them. And intend to share them.

The Bethel Story...Intermission

I've had a few folks who have asked me how we "knew" that Bethel was the place for us.

That's a great question...if you've ever served in a church or if you even been close to a minister, you probably know that leaving a church to take a new place is a pretty weird thing.

I believe God "speaks" in many ways, but for us and for this particular move, here's what led us to accept this position:

PERSONAL

• This is what grabbed us first and foremost...every person we met at Bethel seemed like a long lost friend. This may not seem overly spiritual, but from the very start and on the surface, Kristen and I both felt like we were meeting people that we would enjoy serving alongside.
• Bethel's mission was in-line with what I consider our family's ministry philosophy. I group that in the "personal" category because Bethel's mission was voiced by many different folks from many different walks of life. That encouraged us...we knew immediately that the leadership of the church had worked hard to instill in the congregants and understanding of the driving force for the church's existence.
• It should also be stated that the previous two factors were definitely present at First Methodist, too. Sure, Bethel's a little bit different from FUMC, but these same two ideas - friendliness and mission - reminded us of what we liked about First Methodist from our very first Sunday.

PEACE

• We left our initial visits very encouraged by what we had seen and heard. But, we wanted to be careful and spend time praying about our decision. We had lots of reservations, concerns, questions, etc., about leaving FUMC and Lufkin. As most of you know our parents and extended family live in Lufkin, so we were fully expecting this to be a tortured decision. And then...it wasn't. Kristen and I both instantly felt God's assurance that this move was right. It's as if we knew were supposed to be upset/scared/stressed, but God was giving us tons of peace. It was amazing.
• Through prayer, I also had a very real sense of peace regarding the future of FUMC. If you've read some of the "Bethel story" already, you know that Chris (from my team) knew what was up. God began to work ideas and plans in my heart and mind regarding Chris and the other members of my Sunday morning team

PARTICULARS

• As ministry goes, this new church had needs that fit right in my skill set. I have learned a ton of stuff at FUMC, especially in trying new things that I had no experience doing! It's been a great learning experience and I feel confident in taking those abilities to Tyler.
  
• While Tyler is a new town and a bigger place, it's still so close to family, which is important to us.
• A lot of folks have asked if I'll continue playing "gigs." I'm not sure. I enjoy heading out to lead worship as it provides a whole new set of challenges, approaches and rewards. In my time at FUMC, I tried to limit my travel dates so that I'd be able to serve on Sundays. In a new place, I'm sure I'm going to be very busy getting settled in and I have a lot of ideas about stuff to try at Bethel...I'm guessing that may push the gigging out of the picture for at least a little while.
• I'm excited to begin writing songs within a new church...I really enjoy getting to know the people and trying to write songs that capture where we are as a church.

Next time, we'll continue the actual story of Bethel...parts 3 and 4 get GOOD!

More Info on Guglielmucci

From The Australian News...

The father of disgraced pastor Michael Guglielmucci has revealed his son has been addicted to pornography since the age of 12.

Danny Guglielmucci – whose high-profile preacher son last week week admitted his two-year battle with cancer was fake – said the "severe addiction to pornography" was part of a bizarre double life his son had been leading.

Mr Guglielmucci, who established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church in Adelaide, said Melbourne-based Michael had made a full confession to his family about his past, including revelations about the 16-year porn obsession and the lies over his supposed battle with terminal illness.

In an exclusive interview with Adelaide's Sunday Mail this week, Mr Guglielmucci also revealed:

HIS son has been suffering "mystery illnesses" since the age of 12.

DOCTORS gave his parents the option of admitting him to a psychiatric ward for assessment as a child over the ongoing "illnesses", but they refused.

THE family's "absolute shock" at discovering Michael was not terminally ill.

Mr Guglielmucci said he and wife Sharonne – who founded Edge Church International with him – were struggling to comprehend what their son had done. They are expected to address the church's Adelaide congregation today to explain his actions.

"When (Michael) rang me last Tuesday, I was on my way to New Zealand," Mr Guglielmucci said.

"He said, 'Dad you've got to come and see me'.

"I said to my wife, 'Maybe the doctors have told him he's only got a few weeks to live'.

"So we cancelled everything and jumped on the plane and went to see him in Melbourne, and that's when he told us the story.

"We were just in absolute shock and we still are. We haven't had time to get our head around it. He said, 'I don't have cancer. I've had two lives that I've lived'.

"His wife (Amanda), who has been with him for seven years, found out the day before we did and she's had no idea.

"Michael has had a severe addiction to pornography. The addiction to pornography started when he was 12. It's horrendous because we don't have that sort of stuff around. He was raised in a Christian home; we've never brought that stuff into our home."

Michael Guglielmucci was one of Australia's highest-profile Christian preachers, inspiring hundreds of thousands around the world as he performed his hit song Healer with an oxygen tube in his nose.

He was a pastor with Planetshakers, a Christian youth movement that began in Adelaide and has grown into an international ministry. But that all came crashing down this week when his deception became public.

Mr Guglielmucci said his son finally confessed after the guilt of his lies and addiction became overwhelming.

"He lived the two lives and he would get sick as a result of the guilt," he said. "He was feeling like he was letting God down, letting his family down, his church, his friends.

"He's been living this for so long, feeling like he's had these two lives and now he's the one that's come out in the open. He confessed it, he didn't get caught.

"To deal with the guilt he would pour himself into doing good work. He's touched the lives of young people all over the world. Now they are all affected by this. He hasn't done this for any reasons that have been portrayed that he's a fraud. It was either keep pretending or come out with the truth and tell everything. He's come out with everything but now we've got the consequences of it all.

"We have to accept it. We're hoping to share with our congregation how it all started and how it got where it is.

"We understand people's anger, we understand their questioning. There's so many questions. An addiction like this is not going to be fixed overnight. You can't have a 16-year problem and fix it in a week."

Mr Guglielmucci said his son was undergoing psychiatric assessment with Adelaide doctors.

"They have said to me that he is very ill. They are assessing where reality stopped and fantasy kicked in and what's caused all this," he said. "The doctor believes that at times Michael was totally convinced that he had this sickness."

Mr Guglielmucci said his son had a long history of "mystery illnesses", starting in childhood.

"When he was about 12 he did vomit all the time, he'd get really really sick," he said.

"He was in the Adelaide Children's Hospital for seven weeks at one stage; he didn't eat and we thought we were going to lose him. They took out his appendix, thinking that it might be that, but they realised that it wasn't. They gave us the option of putting him in a psychiatric ward to see if there was something psychological but we felt uncomfortable with that at the time.

"We signed him out from hospital and then he would go a few months and then he would get sick again. We'd always take him to hospital; we'd always do the proper thing but they couldn't get to the bottom of it until now."

Mr Guglielmucci said he and his wife were in "absolute shock" to discover their son was not terminally ill.

"We have watched our son go through what we thought was cancer," he said "My wife and I, over the past two years, have watched him vomit in buckets, having nosebleeds, and even his hair fell out in clumps at one stage.

"Every time we saw him, we saw symptoms. He stayed with us for a while where we had to put a special air-conditioner in one of the rooms because he would heat up so much in the middle of winter. He had this cold air-conditioner blowing on him to try to keep the heat down. As a professional minister I've stood in front of my congregation and cried and said to pray for my son.

"I've travelled the world asking people to pray for him. Can you imagine what a horrible thing it would be if I was playing a game? To be honest, I ask myself as a father, 'What did I miss, what did I not do? What could I have done better?' "

Mr Guglielmucci said Michael's wife was "getting really good counseling".

"She's not made any decision at this point," he said.

"It's happened so quickly. There's so many questions."

Source: The Wardrobe and The White Tree (via Twitter)

Saturday At Sugars!

...worth a thousand words

Source: Passive Agressive Notes

My Friday...video version!

Oh, yeah...we're gettin' nuts around here!

Sorry for the low volume...Finley was asleep in the room right next to me.

Still figuring out this iMovie thing...so far, so good...hoping to keep making them better! Enjoy!



Other Fridays:
Artie
Kandice

Skribit Friday....

Skribit was quiet this week, but I figured I'd at least try to answer the few that came through...

1. Contributing to internet addiction:

Here's how I see it. Everybody's addicted to something. The key is minimizing both the number of addictions and the effect they have on our lives. (It should be noted that I have absolutely no training whatsoever that would entitle me to make statements like that second sentence.) Just so you know.

If your addiction is reading this blog, then I think you're gonna' be okay. There are very few side effects to showing up around here. I think the internet is awesome...I think our culture only understands and utilizes about 1% of the internet's potential. I'm sure we'll get there, eventually!

Some may disagree with me, but I love the connections I've made through this blog. While I've got some friends who are readers, I consider almost all my readers as my friends.

So, go ahead...keep taking hits off the old Todd Blog. It ain't gonna' hurt ya!

2. Warren/Obama/McCain forum:

I didn't see the forum. Heard good things about it. Heard a lot of good things about Rick Warren.

I think this election is shaping up to be one of the most interesting ones we've seen in a long, long while. Here's why...

Normally, by this point in an election, sides have been taken. Usually, the candidates have so galvanized their platforms and viewpoints by now that it's hard to find indecision regarding the vote.

But not this year...I think the indecision is a good thing. I like that people are still researching, still asking questions, still weighing important issues about each candidate. It makes for a bit of nail-biter once voting day comes, but I think it's good to have an election where people are forced to dig deeper than 60-second ads and conservative talk radio.

Okay...that's Skribit Friday! Thanks for playing and we'll see you next time...

Listening Now...

Anybody heard about this new record?

Yeah...it's Glen Campbell.

Doing covers.

By the likes of Tom Petty, U2, Jackson Browne and Green Day among others.

And it's pretty cool...

Technorati...how cool are you?

According to Technorati, a strange and giant web machine that ranks blogs and gives them "authority" lists the following sites as the Top 10 most popular blogs in the world. Let's take a look.

1. The Huffington Post
2. TechCrunch
3. Gizmodo
4. Engadget
5. BoingBoing
6. Lifehacker
7. Ars Technica
8. icanhascheezburger
9. ReadWriteWeb
10. Mashable

So, anybody read these blogs? Are they good?

Wednesday Night Video!

...and then I broke Muxtape

"Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA."

Uh, oh...

Startling News About "Healer"

From AdelaideNow, 8/21/08

'A FORMER Adelaide pastor who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his with his terminal cancer "battle" has been exposed as a fraud.

Michael Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O'Halloran Hill, is now seeking professional help.

Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song The Healer which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong's latest album. It debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.

The song has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.

In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose. The clip was pulled late last night by YouTube with the advice "video no longer available."

It appears that Mr Guglielmucci, who was a pastor with one of Australia's biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, may have even deceived his own family.

"This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family," Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian said in an email to his congregation yesterday.

"Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family.

"We are asking our church to pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time."

The Advertiser was last night told that Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation.

The Australian Christian Church said that Mr Guglielmucci's credentials were immediately suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were "untrue".

"The National Executive is taking this matter very seriously and is awaiting the results of medical tests before determining the full extent of the discipline that will be imposed upon him," said vice president Alun Davies.

"We are very concerned for the many people who have been or will be hurt by Michael's actions. We encourage all of our churches to pray for all those affected."'
______________________________________________________
I appreciate Los sharing this info with us.

I'm Working For Thomas Nelson...

Okay, that title isn't exactly true.

I follow the blog and Twitter feed of Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishing. A week or two ago, I see Michael's post about free copies of this new book by Stephen Mansfield. I watched a small snippet of Mansfield talking about the book and I was very interested.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that Thomas Nelson would sending out a limited number of copies of the book for review out in blog-world. Well that just sounded too cool to pass up, so I emailed in.

This book is fantastic. I can say going into this I was not Obama supporter. And after reading, I'm still not an Obama supporter. But I'm so glad I read it. Here's why:

The true strength of this book isn't character study. The book's power comes through Mansfield's massive research and insight into the overall political climate of the country as we approach this election. The author's thoughts on the collapse of the "religious Right" and the massive cultural change among people of faith was simultaneously mind-blowing and totally obvious.

Mansfield in right in stating that if faith is going to be more prominent in the future political landscape, then we need to know the beliefs and values and "faith histories" of those who would lead us. After establishing the fact that things are much different than in previous elections, he then digs into Obama's spiritual history, which is fascinating. At times seeming devoutly conservative, other times revealing a passionate statist approach to the idea of "civil religion," Obama is a hodgepodge of religious beliefs and representations. And if he's gonna' be the president...I think we wanna' know that.

My favorite part of the book would have to be the "Four Faces" idea. In this chapter, the author takes Obama, George W. Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton and skillfully analyzes their spiritual histories and track record to reveal four warring ideological forces within a religiously-charged nation. I loved it.

I don't plan to vote for Obama. And, in all honesty, this book only served to reinforce that decision. I am grateful for an excellent bibliography whereby readers can verify Mansfield's stories and records.

But, the book didn't make me hate this man. If fact, this book is more about us than about the senator-who-would-be-king. Stephen Mansfield has written a fair, honest and I'd say God-honoring analysis of both Obama and the country he intends to serve.

I know lots of folks with lots of different ideas about the country, but I think every single one of them would love this book.

Buy it here!

My thanks to Michael Hyatt, Lindsey Nobles and Joel Miller for getting this book in my hands. I'm extremely grateful.

Crowder On The Big Screen!

Last night, I headed up to Tyler to check out the David Crowder*Band's big-screen debut!

(Also went by Bethel to pick up my computer and some other related techno-goods.)

As some of you know, DC*B's live DVD goes on sale today and Monday night's 100-screen preview was a great way to build excitement!

So here, in bullet form, are my thoughts on the movie.

• It wasn't loud enough. The concert was obviously very, very rocking, but the theater didn't really have it cranked loud enough for my taste.
• I got a new appreciation for some of the songs from Remedy. I have the record, and I've listened to it, but some of the tunes never really "landed" for me. But seeing the band play live brought some of those tunes a bit closer to my mind and heart. 
• These guys really are some stellar musicians. In addition, it was very good show - lots of bells and whistles and warbles and tweets to keep listeners interested. Bwack and Jack Parker were especially entertaining.
• I would have liked some breaks in the set. It would have been cool to throw some behind-the-scenes stuff in there. I know there's lots of that on the DVD, but I think it would have been nice in the theater version, too.
• The show felt a little long to me. It was nice to hear the old stuff ("No One Like You," "O Praise Him" and lots of "A Collision,) but I was ready to go about four songs too early.
• Had a good time with Jinx, Finn, Romack, Corey and Artie.
• I definitely want to see the reported how-to sections of the DVD. These dudes were playing instruments I had never even seen!

If you get a chance to see the new DVD, I think you'll enjoy it.

Man Up Movie Night...a night to remember

The Story, The Idea, The Movement
Last week, I posted something called "Best of the Best." The post was a survey of sorts looking for my readers' favorite movie in three genres (spy, heist, military.)

What happened was amazing. Men from all over the world (Okay, okay, all over the region) rose up and spoke, their thundering voices a clarion call in honor of all things male - Ingenuity, planning, firepower.

On August 29th, 2008, I am calling out the male readers of Todd Blog. I am challenging them...nay...daring them to devote one Friday night to a celebration of Man Movies.

On Man Up Movie Night, each man is being asked to pick one film from the list below. The list is compiled from all suggestions in the aforementioned survey post.

Each man will choose a movie from the list and watch it on the 29th. Some men will also eat very unhealthy food as they watch it. Some will invite other men to join them.

The only requirement is this...

After watching your movie on Friday, you must blog a film review over the weekend. That gives you Saturday and Sunday to post something.

WHO'S IN?

THE LIST
True Lies
The Italian Job
Saving Private Ryan
No Way Out
Mr. Roberts
Patriot Games
Tears Of The Sun
Bourne Identity
National Treasure
Braveheart
Goldfinger
Ocean's 11
Gods and Generals
We Were Soldiers
Bourne Supremacy
The Patriot
Band Of Brothers
Generation Kill
Spy Game
Spies Like Us
Hudson Hawk
Full Metal Jacket
Thomas Crown Affair
The Last Castle
Three Days Of The Condor
Ocean's Thirteen
A Midnight Clear

Sorry, gals...you can't play along on this one. Don't worry, though...there is a female version of the movie survey in the works. (Although yours won't have a cool movie poster. Sorry.)

The Bethel Story, Part II

A few days after talking to Bethel's pastor, I was scheduled to preach in the Sunday morning contemporary service. That Sunday morning, I play acoustic in the band while someone else leads, and then I preached.

At some point during worship, I noticed two women out in the crowd. Their faces weren't familiar, but that's not all that strange. Our service at FUMC tends to bring a lot of guests, so I didn't think much of it.

But then, as I'm preaching, I noticed they were very intent on the sermon. My first thought was, "Wow! I am nailing this sermon," but then, knowing my sermon skills, realized that something was different about these two new faces.

After the sermon, our associate pastor stood and served communion. I noticed the two ladies took communion and were still very obviously watching what was happening on stage, pointing, assessing what was going on.

As soon as the service was over, I was on stage, packing up my gear, when my keyboard player, David, hands me a phone.

(I realize this sound very cool and rock and roll...as if members of my entourage regularly hand me phones at various times. The truth is that Kristen had our phone with her.)

I answer the phone and it's Chris, upstairs in the sound booth.

"That's Elizabeth from Bethel," he says. "And she's got the pastor's wife with her. They're headed up to the stage right now."

I hang up and turn around to see Elizabeth and Leslie Strader standing there.

After a few introductions, Kristen and I started asking a few things about Bethel. It was a little awkward...I didn't really know how conversations like that are supposed to go, but both Elizabeth and Leslie were so normal and down-to-earth that we were immediately at ease.

We found out some info on the church, thanked them for coming and then went on our way.

Later that night, I email Ross my resume and mention meeting Elizabeth and Leslie.

He emailed me back and we planned to talk on the phone sometime on Monday.

Over the next week, Ross and I talked on the phone a good bit. Again, the calls were mostly finding out about the church and the Wrights. I immediately liked Ross - seemed like a genuine guy trying to lead a church in way that honors God.

We began making plans for Krist and I to visit Bethel one day - just to check it out. Both FUMC and Bethel had pretty busy weeks ahead, but we finally nailed down a Friday to visit.

We packed up the kids and headed to the church.

We met with Ross, asked him about 10,000 questions, then went to lunch with the whole Strader family. (He took us to Double Dave's. That's a God-thing. How else could Ross know I have a serious crush on Double Dave's?)

After lunch, we headed over to the Straders' house. The kids played and we sat around for a little bit just getting to know each other.

As we left, Ross followed me out to the car and said,

"Pray about it. Call us if you're interested."

So we prayed. We felt a sense of God's peace and provision. A few days later, I let Ross know that we were definitely interested.

The Bethel Story, Part I

Had a couple of Skribit suggestions last week regarding my new position as worship pastor at Bethel Bible Church in Tyler. This may get a bit lengthy, but figured I'd give you the whole scoop!

Alright...I made my official announcement to the church yesterday. The Methodist church handles these things a bit differently than most, in that they typically will mail a letter to the congregation. This does a couple of things - allows the church leadership to be the primary source for info, communicates encouragement and joy for the staff member leaving, and gives a tentative schedule for a staff member's departure.

It works pretty well, and it really helped me with the whole "shocking" aspect of dropping it on folks during a Sunday morning service. (I had actually planned to leak it to the church, but as those things go, tons of people already knew it was a possibility. How does that church grapevine thing work, by the way?)

Back in March, Chris called me. Chris works for a guy named Dave. Dave is married to gal named Elizabeth. For the past year, Elizabeth has been managing the worship team at Bethel, where she and Dave are faithful members.

Through Chris, Elizabeth was following the worship-related stuff on the blog. When "All The Freed" was done, Chris gave her a CD. Then in March, Chris calls me and it happens something like this:

CHRIS: "Can Bethel call you?"

ME: "Huh?

CHRIS: "They love the CD. They want to call you."

ME: "They know there are professional players on the record, right. They realize I'm not going to sound like that, right?"

CHRIS: "Yeah....can they call you?"

So, I say yes. I'm tell Chris to give my number to the senior pastor, a guy named Ross Strader.

So, Ross calls me. But never gets me. At least I don't remember talking to him. I hate to use the phrase "phone tag," but there's no denying it - we played phone tag and never really got in touch with one another.

I decided to leave it alone. I gave up on calling him. And he kinda' did the same.

This is the part where you fast forward a couple of months...to May 30th.

It's Friday, May 30th. My anniversary. At about 10 that morning, Kristen comes rushing into the bedroom, where I am gasping, sweating and pushing my body to the ultimate limit on my treadmill. Seriously, gang...like 6.6 on the speed. That...is...cruisin'.

She's got the phone covered with her hand and she's mouthing...

"Ross Strader. It's Ross Strader!"

Since I couldn't speak and pant at the same time, I communicated to Kristen through the skillfull use of hand signals something like this:

"Can't. Talk. Need. Air. Tell. Call. Back."

I also might have thrown in something like "call 911-I can't breathe," but I'm not sure.

I get off the treadmill eventually and call Ross back. We talk for about 10 minutes about Bethel, my ministry, whether or not I'm "looking" for a new place, that whole deal. I tell Ross that I'm not out there pursuing a new job, but that I would send him a resume.

He says great, and we hang up.

RANDOM INFORMATION...

1. Jonah and I are addicted to a new line of e-cards from Hallmark. These two characters have us laughing like crazy!

2. Apparently, my new Mac Book Pro can send email on its own. It's still in Tyler waiting for me to pick it up. It sent me this message late Sunday night:

"Todd.... this is your Mac. Please come get me Todd. I'm so lonely. Al these guys keep drooling over my body and touching me in inappropriate places. Hurry Todd. I don't know how much longer I can wait for you."

3. Doug and Kandice are now added to the links.

4. I may be buying a piece of gear from Los.

5. A weird thing to hear your wife say: "I love the word gruesome!'"

Tropic...Laughter?

I had no idea this film was stirring up controversy. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of the film until about two days ago. But after watching this...




It looks funny.

It's Coming...

Stay tuned for more info...

My Friday...

Naturally, I woke up around 3 because a six-year old boy had snuck into my bed and was slowly pushing me closer and closer to the edge.

I get up, look at him curled up in bed with Kristen and opted to just find another place to sleep. (I can sleep anywhere!)

Kristen woke me up a little after 5 because Finley had been up for awhile and Mom wanted some sleep! I got Finley back to sleep for another hour or so. Around 6:30, that beautiful two-year old face was perched right over mine as she whispered.

"Daddy..."

So I wake up. Kinda. She wants juice and I say okay. But before I could get up, I look over to find her sound asleep on the other couch. Maybe she was sleep-walking when she asked me for juice.

Never one to tempt fate - I let that little girl sleep!

A good while later, Jonah came in and woke us both up. I went back to see if Kristen was awake. (She wasn't.) So, after a few minutes of screaming in her ear, my wife finally woke up.

We lounged around a bit, waiting for our water to come on. (Apparently our water line sprung a leak at some point on Thursday.) Everybody finally got ready and we headed into town.

We picked up my paycheck, went to the bank, grabbed lunch at Ray's Drive-In and then ran a few more errands. Jonah and I located which Lufkin cinema was showing "Clone Wars," so we could catch it on Saturday.

We got home around 2:30. Finley had fallen asleep in the car so we laid her down. Jonah played some PSP, Kristen read and I went for a run on the treadmill.

After my run, I cleaned up around the house a bit, played with Jonah and then we headed to a birthday party for Kristen's brother.

We got home from the party around 8:35 and got the kids in bed. Krist and I were asleep not long after that!

What a day!

OTHER FRIDAYS
Kandice
Artie (video version)

For your Friday, I thought I'd take a few real quick passes at the Skribit suggestions for this week.

When ever that widget is busy, I'll try to do a single post blast where I can answer/post/discuss and clear out the list!

#1. What does somebody have to do to get on the "read these blogs" list?
Great question! All joking aside, all you really have to do is tell me! I'll admit that I do a poor job with the upkeep of the link list. Because I use a blog reader to follow sites, I often forget that other folks might still use my list from time to time to find blogs. Sorry about that. Anybody that wants on can get on! Except Doug. But that's another story for another day.

#2. Blogger's block.
See Thursday's post below. ZING!

#3. Explain why you love your blog more than your job and get away with it.
'Cause I can?

#4. There were quite a few suggestions regarding the rather negative "anonymous" suggestions. (See #3.)
Thanks, guys. But I've found that typically anonymous comments of that sort are best left ignored.
______
We've also had some great suggestions over at worshipnotes. If you've got time, sail over there and check out some of the stuff we've been talking about!

Skribit Week (#4)

My good pal asked about getting over "blogger's block."

I know a lot of you are thinking,

"Why ask Todd? He never has blogger's block. The dude blogs 16 times a day."

Well, that's not true. I do get blogger's block. A lot. But I do it anyway.

Here are a couple of ways to get over blogger's block...these work great for me.

#1. The Regular Post
I know folks who don't dig this, but one of the best ways to get over blogger's block is to build in some regular, consistent posts. For my blog, "my Friday" would be one example. For about a year, I did worship confessionals on Mondays and Tavin Dillard videos on Tuesdays. Creating certain things that you're going to post on certain days is a really nice fallback. For example...I may not have anything to write in the middle of the week, but I know Friday's coming. That way, I'm gonna' be posting something soon. And after a few of those, if you're feeling creative and want to kill the regular posts, you can easily bring them back if a dry spell hits.
#2. What's Close
There's interesting stuff all around us. Some of us get into trouble when we start up a blog and write it under some sort of guideline. ("Oh, this is a spiritual blog." "This is my exercise blog." "This is a blog about my kids.") Taking a more open-minded approach to your site allows you to find interesting stuff everywhere. Blog about your kids, how much you love your truck, something cool at church or tell a story from your childhood. Look around...find something to write about. You'll feel good when you're done!
#3. Videos
YouTube, hulu.com, and tons of other sites allow bloggers to embed videos in their sites. If you got nothing, find some goofy video and post it. Chances are that everybody's already seen it, but hey, you're posting, right?
#4. Surveys
Rule Number One of blogging = people like to talk about themselves. They like to share their opinions. That's why I love surveys. The blatant way of using this is just throwing it out there. ("Hey, guys, best newscaster on the air right now?") Another cool thing to do is to form sort of question based on your blog. We've all done the whole "Thoughts?" thing, but if you can tailor a more specific question based on what you've written, you'll get more comments.
#5. Save It
Most blog programs let you save posts (and even schedule when they run!) On those days where you have a few ideas, don't post them all at once! Save them. If you can stretch them out to some sort of regular blogging schedule (daily, every other day, etc.) then you're good to go.
#6. Comment
When you get comments, get in there and talk back. Not only does it signify that you're reading them, following what's going on, but it can often inspire more blog ideas!

These are a few things I try to do to make sure I've got stuff to share. So far, so good. At last count, I was at 1526 posts! Sure, it's a lot of nonsense. But at least it's a lot!

Best Of The Best...

Okay...

I'm asking three questions.

Three answers.

No explanation.

Just three answers.

Ready?

1. FAVORITE SPY MOVIE?

2. FAVORITE HEIST MOVIE?

3. FAVORITE MILITARY MOVIE?

Skribit Week (#3)

I was asked to write a vision statement for the blog.

Wow.

That's deep.

Well, Adrienne, that's a great suggestion.

Actually, the blog has changed a bit.

When I first started it, I really enjoyed writing about worship-related things, songwriting, lots of music stuff. But last year, I changed things up a bit. I've got folks who still wish I wrote more "serious" stuff, and occasionally I do that, but over the last year, I've enjoyed the conversations, questions, laughter and links the blog has created.

Don't worry, don't worry...I'm gonna' get to that vision statement.

Let me say this, though. I love people. I like getting to know people...I love hanging out, talking, asking random questions, sharing funny stories with people I know and respect. I'm a people person!

I also believe that everybody is way more creative than they think. I think that inside everybody is a unique, surprising perspective and I think blogging does a great job of revealing that.

The Vision Statement
Todd's blog works to create conversation and community among blog readers. The blog does this through surveys, videos, family updates, mini-rants and tons o' links! This blog seeks to offer something each day that my friends and family will find interesting.

BIG NEWS!

Oh My...

Bartle Doo

A little background is necessary here. A while back, I came across a YouTube guy named "Edbassmaster."

This guy is a comedian, YouTube hotshot and a notorious prankster. He's developed a lot of different characters, but my favorite so far has to be "Mumbles."

Mumbles is essentially a hick who...well...mumbles.

And his catch phrase is "Bartle Doo."

Mumbles likes to go through drive-through windows and confuse the staff. Now that I've watched a couple of these, I find myself waiting for it. Long to hear it said by the drive through clerk.

So, if I start saying "Bartle Doo" a lot, you'll know what's up.

Here's an example:

YouTube, man...

Source: Overstreet

Skribit Week (#2)

Thanks to Artie who came in with the most random Skribit suggestion:

NEAPOLITAN ICE CREAM?

I am known in these parts as a big fan of ice cream. And I do mean BIG.

But I'm not nuts about neapolitan.

Primarily, this is due to the fact that I'm not a big fan of strawberry ice cream. I can deal with the neapolitan version because it typically doesn't have little bits of strawberry included, which I happen to find disgusting. So, I can do the neapolitan...I just choose not to.

This aversion to strawberry does not work well with the secondary issue. Which happens to be my LOVE for chocolate and vanilla ice cream together. Blue Bell's "Great Divide" flavor is a work of genius. I can creatively and carefully control the chocolate-to-vanilla ratio, thereby ensuring a perfect, tailor-made bite each and every time. As you can see, adding a third flavor into this already almost perfect duo borders on heresy to my delicate taste buds.

If I am going to consume neapolitan ice cream, I prefer to ingest it in a different, better, more enjoyable, form

The Ice Cream Sandwich.

I know it doesn't make much sense, but for some reason, I find neapolitan better in sandwich form.

These are my thoughts. I'd love to know your take on this triple-flavored treat!

Uncle Jay...

I Like Books...

Over the past few months, Chris and some my other friends have been recommending Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor, an astounding tale about a young Navy Seal's brush with death in the mountains of Afghanistan.

First off, this is an amazing story. Regardless of writing ability or marketing or overall theme, the story itself is worth the time. The book isn't just about Marcus Luttrell, but rather about the brave men who fought alongside him and in multiple cases, saved his life. But the book has a lot of that other stuff working for it.

The book reads pretty fast. Rather than get bogged down in a lot of military jargon, the reader can feel pretty comfortable with any particular terminology that might arise.

I also found Luttrell's mini-rants on the state of the American media to be spot-on. Here's a guy, in the trenches, risking his life day in and day out; and he knows what's up. He knows what's really happening in the streets of a war torn country. He knows what happens when he and his team stare down the barrel of a gun. And he's saying things that more people need to be saying.

I don't think your personal position on the war would prevent you from appreciating what this solider has to say.

If there's anything I didn't dig about the book it would have to be the obvious arrogance. (Luttrell recognizes it, even, but still makes use of it.) The first few chapters are supposed to awe me at the strength, endurance, never die attitude of the U.S. Navy SEALs. And it did. But, I think I would have been just as impressed with maybe fewer paragraphs on "why we're awesome."

The book's got some profanity (if such things concern you,) but it is a fantastic book. A great story, a pretty in-depth look at Pashtun mountain culture and a surprising assessment of American media's influence on military affairs.

To buy the book, click here!

Anybody else read it?

Skribit Week (#1)

An recurring theme among the Skribit suggestions seemed to be something like "why-are-you-addicted-to blogging?"

It's a great question...and one I get asked a lot, believe it or not.

Yeah, I love blogs...and here's why!

1. Other than my wife and a few others, I rarely see any of the people who manage the blogs I love so much. Folks like Artie, Romack, Clay, and the Cragers even live close to me and I hardly ever see them at all! And others like the Burch, Fullen, Conn, King and Simmons families live far away from me. For me, reading blogs is a great way for me to keep up with their lives - what they're doing, liking, thinking, etc. I count these folks as my friends and it makes me so happy when they blog about their lives.

2. As to why I love writing those blogs so much, what can I say? These thoughts are in my head and I've got to get them out! When I see or hear something that I think my friends would enjoy and I have to share it.

3. I learn a lot about my friends from the way they blog...things they think are funny or interesting. It's like an inside peek into their heads...what they "produce" when they have ultimate creative control.

Call it a sickness, if you want, but I love it! And I'm so thankful for those of you who come here often!

Thank You, Adrienne...

Source: Adrienne

18
Yeah...we're currently sitting at 18 comments on the "favorite band in high school" post (below.)

That's amazing: almost 20 comments and it's not even a controversial post! The Blog Gods are smiling on us all, my friends.

So, if you haven't jumped in there with your favorite band/artist/group in high school, come on! It's fun...everybody's doing it.

It'll make you feel good...

_____
By the way, Skribit Week is gonna' be awesome next week. I'm also getting tons of cool questions/suggestions over at worshipnotes, too. I'm excited about the forthcoming posts, so I may be giving you updates here to go read over there.

Skribit...

Thanks so much to those of you who either submitted or voted on the "Skribit Widget" over on the right hand side.

How cool! It's totally fun to see how you guys think!

So, next week...I'll be tackling each and every subject on the Skribit list. So...if you got something you want to say, do it now!

Skribit Week will kick off bright and early Monday morning, August 11th at 7am!

My Friday.

Woke up around 6...not sure why. Somewhere around 4, Jonah had ended up in bed with us. So, to give him a little more room, I got up and headed into the living room.

I laid on the couch for awhile until Finley came in with a book and her sippy cup. I got her some milk and got off the couch so she could lay down.

She watched Little Einsteins while I went to YouTube to see if I could find the Steven Curtis Chapman interview from last night's Larry King Live. I found the segments online and watched a few. Man, I am so amazed by this family. I had been warned about Larry, though. I found his interview style very distressing, as if he was rushing each family member to finish their thoughts before they were really done. It's strange to me that America has so embraced a man as a consumate interview host with skills as rough as King's. (I'm of the opinion that Charlie Rose is probably the best "interviewer" of our time, but I could be wrong.)

After that, I exercised just a bit, got ready for the day, played some Bionicle with Jonah and then met my Dad who was bringing donuts by for the kids.

Once the donut handoff was completed, I headed into town to run sound at the church for the culmination our our Music and Drama camp for kids. I got there about 9:30, setup mics and monitors, got my script and headed up to the booth. (It wasn't a major production, but I still had to follow the script to make sure I didn't mess up!)

The show went off without a hitch. Kristen and Jonah were coming back from a haircut so they picked me up. Then, we grabbed Finley from my mother-in-law and headed to THE LUFKIN MALL!

We headed straight for "Lunar Mini Golf," which Jonah has been dying to play since it opened up. Finley wasn't digging the darkness, so Kristen took her to the play area while Jonah and I played some. Krist and I traded off so she could play with Jonah. Finley and I headed up to Chick-Fil-A and then down to the Great American Cookie Company where I embarassed myself with regard to cookie consumption.

After that, we came home. Finley fell asleep for about twenty minutes, but didn't nap when we laid her down. After a while, Finley and I took a little drive to stock up on some foodstuffs for the family. We came home, ate some supper, visited with my mom and grandmother and then bathed the kids.

Finley, not having a nap, went to sleep pretty quick and Jonah, Kristen and I watched some sort of new version of Garfield on Cartoon Network. After a little TV and some book time, Jonah went to bed. Kristen and I layed around reading, playing on the computer for awhile and then I went to bed!

Time To Date Yourself...

Okay, gang

FAVORITE BAND IN HIGH SCHOOL?

Go...

Funny...

Jonah and I watched this and laughed our heads off!

Wanna' Make A Memory?

David Crowder Band's much anticipated live CD/DVD "drops" on Tuesday, August 19th...but...

The live DVD portion is being showcased on 100 theaters across the country on Monday night, August 18th.

And one of those theaters is the Carmike 14 in Tyler, Texas.

I'm not above a road trip.

Sure, it's a late night, but come on.

It'll be better than Batman.

Who's in?

...check it

On Sleep...

Tuesdays tend to be the busiest day in my week.

While it's certainly not "ditch digging" Tuesday tends to be one thing after another. We all have days like this, so you understand.

Now, normally, I'm a bit of a night owl. As I've said before, I usually hit the wall every night at around 7pm...feel dead for about 45 minutes, then get my second wind at some point after eight.

These late night hours might be spent songwriting, working on blogs, goofing off on YouTube or something silly or reading.

But Tuesdays, not so much.

I typically come home totally drained. And for the past few weeks, Tuesday night has been the one night a week where I crash early in the night. But lately, I've noticed something...

When I go to bed "early," which for me would be somewhere in the 9:30-10:30 hour, I am wide-awake at 3am. And I can't go back to sleep.

I know what scientists say about sleeping. I know we need it. I know it's good to go to bed early, but it kills me...when I do manage to fall back asleep in the wee hours of the morning, I wake up exhausted.

I know we've talked about how many hours of sleep each of us get each night, but I'm wondering if anybody out there experiences something similiar to this? Is there a way-to-sleep that doesn't work for you? Any night owls out there? Early birds?

For those who use a blog reader, I've added a Skribit widget over on the right hand side of the blog. (Can't been seen in blog readers.) Ha..."Skribit Widget." Sounds like something on the Wiggles, doesn't it? This is a cool site where you can suggest topics or vote for subjects you'd like to see showcased on the blog! Check it out...love to know what you think.

Chapmans...

If you didn't get the chance to see this earlier today, please watch it.

As a parent, I am in utter amazement of God's evident grace and strength in this family. Please keep praying.



For probably the rest of the day, you can also watch it directly on the GMA site.

___________________________________
NEW SONGS UP AT toddwright.muxtape.com!

click the cassette tape in the sidebar...

No...

I received this email a few days ago from my "friend," Justin Romack. Please find his letter below. My response is printed directly underneath this ridiculous request from Justin.

Mr. Wright,

This is a formal request to add, Mr. Doug Hedstrom, to your links list on the "Todd Blog" as soon as physically possible. Below you will find a list of people supporting and requesting the above mentioned request.

We request that you either, a) take action and add Mr. Hedstrom to your links list and no further actions will be taken, or b) justinromack.com will remove the link to the Todd Blog and will relinquish its' involvement in the "My Friday Movement".

Your adherence to this request is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Justin Romack, Angela Romack, Philip Melton, Maegan Melton, Bonquisha Jones,
Rashide Pumpernickle, Cletus Wayans, Laura Toadburger, Nick Bearnstein,
Jim Jimmy Jimmers, Doug Bedstrom, David Funnels, Bobert Monn, Boss King,
Tony LaRue, John Mackleroy, Peter Smith, Tommy "the Nose" Nostrils,
William Shakespeare, Todd Wright, Nancy Puttman, Putt Puttman ,Kara Van,
Kiki Koko, Amanda Hugandkiss, Mark Van Buran, Kyle Twittersalot, Paulo Marshall
Mary Ninjitsu, Brad Handerson, Chris Faraway, Stephen Colbert
Eric Cartman, Beavis, AND, Butthead, Glenn Quagmire,
the band formely known as Queen,
Harry Potter... and many more that I am too lazy to type out.
____________________________

Let's start off with Doug Hedstrom's horrible choice or representation. Justin Romack? Really? Isn't he still in college? Did Doug really think that Justin was gonna' get something done with his silly threats? Removed from Romack's blogroll? Not that scary, Justin. I'm Todd Wright and I don't need anybody's blogroll. I am your Blog Father, young man. I was the first, the pioneer, the one to whom East Texas bloggers look to for guidance. I inspire dreams...dreams that some lone blogger one day will reach the pinnacle of success as I have. And your "My Friday" post included a reference to Weird Al. Ain't gonna' miss that, I'll tell you right now.

Secondly, Doug Hedstrom has blogged 4 times in 5 months...which is the total length of his blog's existence. A five-month old blog? Four posts? Is that really the quality level that deserves a hallowed place on my site?

And third...I think you made some of those names up.
___________________

Let the record show that Doug Hedstrom has yet to ask me (in any form or fashion) to be linked. Had he requested a place, he most assuredly would have been granted a spot. But now that he's run to a buddy to the dirty work, he will not be allowed on here. Ever.

Sorry, Doug. But mistakes have consequences.

Don't Do This To Me, J...

A new show from dudes who like to stress me out.

Thoughts?

Top Three

Last year, a friend of mine shared with me "Three Things That Are Always Funny."

It was an interesting list and it really made me think about how each of us find humor in life.

So here's what we're doing today...

In the comments below, tell me three things that you ALWAYS find funny!

I'll start:

1. Ridiculously sized objects (i.e., a giant pencil, Zoolander's tiny phone, etc.)
2. Video footage of newscast bloopers
3. Cal Naughton Jr.

YOUR TURN!

Levi Conn...destined to make the world laugh

A while back, lots of you got an email from me begging you to pass this video along. This is Robert and his son, Levi, and I am determined to make it a viral hit on the internet.

Here's what I need you to do!

#1. Watch it, enjoy it, and realize that Levi knows what's up the whole time.

#2. Pass it along. (Blog it, link it, email it, Twitter about it, the whole thing.) As of this posting, it sits as ____ views, but we can do better than that!







Come on, how can you not love those 2 guys, right?

Start Sharing!