Love This

I periodically blog about how much I love Boston Big Picture. Well, here's more reason why!

The Band's Visit

Last night whilst I was home all alone I watched a movie called The Band's Visit. It was super good and here is my favorite scene. I'm going to set it up for you because on this clip there are no subtitles.

Khaled is the man in the blue uniform, and is part of an Egyptian police band that gets stuck in a small Israeli town. There is no hotel so some of the locals take them in. Khaled ends up going out on the town with Papi, the guy in the white, somewhat imposing on a double date.

What we don't see in this clip is that both Khaled and Papi are terrible roller skaters. The girl that is Papi's date (the one in this scene) tries to get him to come out into the middle with her, but he ends up pushing her down and telling her to leave him alone.

Hence, the girl starts crying. The dancing couple the Papi talks to at the beginning of this clip is of no help, but Khaled is quite a ladies man and guides Papi in how to make her feel better.

This is like an Israeli Napolean Dynamite, I'm not even kidding. Just watch, and trust me, subtitles are not needed. The whole movie was two thumbs up and you can instantly stream it from Netflix.

Enjoy!

Real? Hoax? You Decide

Dusty just showed me this video:



I thought it was a joke, perhaps a funny video made for a sermon or something. But then I noticed the website. Click here.

You can pre-order it starting tomorrow! Coming Easter 2010!

So what do you think? Real? Clever sermon illustration?

Catching Up

Admittedly, I have not blogged in a long, long while. Maybe it was an unplanned hiatus. Probably.

Anyways, let's catch up shall we?

On November 2, the niece turned one year old! I cannot believe it's been a year. Here's a picture of the ummm... happy little party animal during cake time:

Is happy the right word?

What else, what else? Ah! As of this week I am no-longer-a-temp-officially-employed at a company that shall remain nameless. I work in Collections and it's a grind. I'm thankful for the job and the extra money is great, but nevertheless... it's a grind.

Is it too soon to decorate for Christmas? Quick poll around our house, I say kind of and Dusty says definitely.

This video is funny:



My friend Devon is going to have a baby soon, I mean really, really soon and a few weeks ago I took some pictures of her and her husband Josh. Here is one of my favorites:

If you are friends with her on facebook you should go look at the whole album. I'm pretty proud of my work. :)

Here are some books I've read recently:

• River Town by Peter Hessler: This book is great if you love China, love the Peace Corp, and especially if you love both
• Unbroken by Tracy Elliot: This book was pretty good; very interesting look at someone who came from nothing and now has something. I didn't love it though.
• Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan: I've heard the movie is trash, but the book was ok. It's definitely childish, but then towards the end it takes this really dark turn and now I want to know what happens. Special thanks to April for suggesting this series.
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: (Currently Reading) Again, this is not an "adult read" or anything, but it's pretty cute so far.
  

Here is some music I am digging right now:

• Is God Listening by Vineyard Music: this is a great little worship album and two songs (Cloud by Day and Flood) were written by the pastor at our beloved church back in Campbellsville. You can get it on iTunes
• Noble Beast by Andrew Bird: My friend Adam T told me about this one, I think. Anyways, I've become increasingly fond of this album for the past month or so. It's so diverse and lyrically sound.
  
• Consumed by Jesus Culture: Heaven touches Earth anytime this album is played in my car or in my house. That's a great feeling.

I think I'm done catching up now. Next post: youth retreat recap!

Oh My Soul

This week has been a roller coaster. Dusty and I have both been sick with "flu-like symptoms," I've had to miss work, and perhaps even worse, we had to miss the first few sessions of the Streets on Fire conference back at the Vineyard.

But we made ourselves go last night. And it was like a long, cool drink for this parched heart of mine.

They brought in a worship leader from Morning Star, and you can check him out here, he's great. After the second song last night, he starts strumming a new tune on his guitar. The rest of the band (Vineyard's very own Embers) start giving each other quizzical looks, "this is not on the set list," kind of looks. And he says, "So this song has been on my mind all day. It's an oldie. Uhh... we'll see what happens."

Remember that camp song, where you'd sing really loud with obnoxious hand motions: "I'VE GOT A RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING OUT OF ME! MAKES THE LAME TO WALK AND THE BLIND TO SEE! OPENS PRISON DOORS, SETS THE CAPTIVES FREE! I'VE GOT A RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING OUT OF ME!"

Yeah, it was that song. At first I was appalled. Lord, I am not singing that song. No way.. no way.. no... hey... wait... This. Is. Awesome!

And the place erupts and I kid you not when I say the presence of the Lord descended in a way that I've never quite felt before.

All because of a camp song.

The rest of the conference is being wrapped up this morning, but you can download all the audio archives at www.vineyardcampbellsville.com

And I'm gonna warn you: these sermons are not for the faint of heart! The one I heard last night was chock-full of wisdom, but some of it I feel I need to search out further and glean for myself. It's just very, very contrary to a lot of stuff I've been taught in my life. But contrary does not always mean bad.

I Really Should Blog More

TODAY is D's birthday. I'm not telling how old he is, but if you're still in high school, he's older than you. At least, that's what he told one of the youth today:

Youth Kid: "Dusty, how old are you?"

Dusty: (pointedly) "Older than you."

I declared this weekend birthday weekend, and it's been great! We got to hang out with friends, family, and he bought a bass amp, which looks great with the decor in our dining room. And by that I mean no, it doesn't, find another place to put it.

So happy birthday my love, and here's to a great 23rd year!

Oooops... ah well!

Epic Win or Epic Fail?

I tried to quit my temp job today.

I say tried because instead of saying, "So long and don't let the door hit you on the way out," they said,

"Don't quit. We've got two permanent positions open with a raise and benefits. Take your pick."

I totally didn't see that coming.

And yeah, I have some mixed feelings about it. But tentatively, I start October 12th.

So this is either an epic win because I essentially/accidentally/without intention leveraged myself into a better job,

or an epic fail as sometimes I feel like I can't do anything right--not even quit a job.

How was your Friday?