Killer worship set by the Slackers of Valhalla! Jason Watson led, and I played the crap out of my congas. Also joining us were Cory Ryan on guitars, vocals, and keyboard; Amy on violin and vocals; Roberio on drums; and Wagner (I think that’s his name… seriously!) on bass.

I really miss playing with a whole band. Don’t get me wrong—playing with Melanie is great—but I miss playing with a larger group as well.

Ok, a quick aside: Franny totally just grabbed Zoey’s tail and bit it. I think she’s going to do it again. She did.

Anyway, I’m exhausted. Good job, Slackers! Good night!

When you think about truly American art forms, it doesn’t take long, because there aren’t many. Art Deco was just a spin-off of Art Nouveau. We’ve got Andy Warhol, but he’s just a spin-off of LSD and Campbell’s soup. We’ve got cheeseburgers and reality television. A lot of people say jazz is the greatest American art form, but I beg to differ. I propose that the Muppets are the greatest American art form, and for obvious reasons.

Without Muppets, we’d not only be without Kermit, Piggy, and Gonzo—we’d also be without Yoda, E.T., and Ross Perot. Imagine childhood or late-90s political cartoons without them!

Man, I think this coffee ice cream is really getting to me.

Best action movie ever. Made even better by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Justice Jam 2008 is in the planning stages right now, and we’re getting ready to start promotion. Check out the website:

http://www.justicejam.com

Apparently, the Beatles were the first Christian rock band.

Very, very interesting for a lot of reasons—mainly because of the general disdain between the Beatles and the church, despite both claiming to be “Christ’s biggest fans.”

Today, I look at bands like Creed and Guster—both of whom use religious symbolism in their songs—and wonder how many closet Jesus bands there are out there. And I’m not trying to say that this is purely the fault of the Christian community at large. Many people outside of the Christian camp form their opinions of Christianity on the outbursts of a forceful, vocal minority. Disgusted or no, you have to be pretty calloused or blind to miss all the good that religion is actually doing in the world. (And yes, I believe that it has historically been one of the most destructive forces in the world. That’s another discussion altogether, but I think the tides are turning.)

And on the flip side, I wonder how many Christians would embrace modernity (or, more specifically, Postmodernity) if they understood how much it defined what they already believed (and how in line it is with the Bible). In the book Finding Common Ground, Tim Downs verbally attacks Postmodernism in one chapter, and then spends the rest of the chapter talking about how art is the new instrument of truth and how we need to appeal not only to people’s intellects, but also to their emotional imaginations—extremely Postmodern concepts.

An interesting fact: John Lennon was actually the original choice to play Jesus in Jesus Christ, Superstar, but turned down the role. Just saying.

After a week and a half with no Internet, I’m back in action. Unfortunately, I’m in no position to be blogging right now, being that I have a housewarming party tomorrow. (Oh, excuse me, a high-octane house party. Because housewarming parties… are for babies!)

We’re cooking a bazillion foods. Here’s a partial menu:

• Dolmades
• Chocolate cups with cheesecake filling and cherry pie filling on top
• Chocolate cups with coconut cream pudding and toasted coconut flakes on top
• Beef kabobs in red wine and soy sauce with ginger
• Chipotle-lime chicken kabobs
• Veggie kabobs
• Mocha coconut brownies
• Olives and feta cheese
• And so much more!

So come hungry, if you’re coming.

Oh man, when Janelle leaves town next week, I am so cooking up a pot of bratwurst and sauerkraut. Who’s with me? That just popped into my head.

Nerd alert! This is some fantasy-esque writing I did for one of my characters in one of those online RPGs. I don’t really play the game anymore, but I like the characters I developed (you had to play in-character at all times), so I kept up with them. If you’re curious, Lenus is my drunken alter-ego, and Jacques is actually my friend Daniel Sherwood.

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Alright, who surfed in from Osijek, Croatia just to vote for the Slackers of Valhalla? Who would have thought that Slackers of Valhalla would be the most popular option, anyway?

Also, thank you to whomever voted for Winsome Dysphoria. I made up the name as a joke, but I kind of like it now.