Nice work if you can get it

Hey! In a dramatic break from tradition, here's a Sunday post. It comes to you courtesy of the fact that C is spending the afternoon revising for her final (final final - the ultimate, the proverbial "it", as Max Quordlepleen would have said) exams and has left me to my own devices for a while. Suits me fine - there's two things I've learnt today which I would like to share. First is: somebody actually reads my blog! I have already received responses to yesterday's blog puzzle (see the post before this one for details - the competition is still open as of today, so get your response in now!). A.ndy, a mystery prize will be winging its way to your doorstep tomorrow! No, "Edmund Turnley" isn't really a studio, but you're so much closer than anyone else so far that I have decided magnanimously to award you a prize anyway. So there! Point Two is something I just picked up from the stuff C is revising for her exams. Apparently, there is something called the "Pygmalion Effect", which I intend to blog about at length here. In a nutshell, the theory behind it is that if a teacher/trainer/coach can envision their pupils/trainees/students as the fully-trained, perfect masters of whatever skill it is these people are being taught, this will have great effect on the successful outcome of the class/training/course. Given the teacher's ongoing vision and commitment, the pupils will, so the theory, eventually become the living image of their trainer's vision. Now, I realise this isn't rocket science, but it still appeals to me greatly. Anyway, that was what I learnt today, and that will be all for now. Have great Sunday evenings, y'all, and I'll talk to you later!

Jeanie's got a gun...

...Wait. Let me re-phrase that. Wifey (the lovely C) took delivery of her brand, spanking new digital SLR yesterday! Itz a Canon 20D - supposedly a "semi-professional" model and definitely a huge step in the right direction for my ambitious photographer partner-in-crime. Yay! Reminded me to post this not-quite-so-recent pic of C in the foyer of a Nashville studio building (C featured holding an older model camera, obviously). I took the pic because the sign next to her features lots of studio names I thought were funny at the time. So, here's a competition; can you tell me at least one of the studio names on the picture? Responses (via e-mail or the comment function) will receive some sort of small prize, I promise! Okay, gottagonow, byeeee... P.S.: Advice for those fiendishly devoted to winning a prize - click on the pic to see a higher-resolution versh over at flickr.com...

A rollerskating jam named Saturday

Hey y'all. Not much to say today, but I'm determined to use what chances I get to actually keep blogging. Blog, blog, blog! I was thinking earlier about a seminar where I've been asked to guest-teach a session on communications management for pastors. Should be fun - I fear that a significant part of my audience may be the type of shepherd who still harbours a secret belief that e-mail is the devil's work and USB the abbreviation of a little-known Bible translation. Therefore, I plan to really push the use of electronic communication within the realm of my other, more general recommendations for improving intra-ecclesial communication (yes, I AM proud of that term, though I fear I probably just invented it...). And, among other things, I intend to recommend the use of a blog, be it as a channel for communicating ideas and making oneself "personable" to a congregation, or simply as an anonymous forum wherein a pastor might vent his or her frustrations and share ideas with a waiting world (or secluded circles of users, if access were to be limited). I truly believe this might be a good way of harnessing the Net's virtues for what is, in my eyes, a worthy cause - the running and managing of a church fellowship. Anyway, what I was trying to say originally was that if I'm going to recommend such things, then I as the speaker should be putting money where my mouth is. And to be able to point my audience to my blog without risking dire embarassment, I will need to keep it updated, won't I? "Cogito ergo sum", as dear old David Brent might have misguidedly quipped at this point. So, here we go. BTW, have a great weekend, y'all, and talk to you soon. Cheerio!

Up jumped spring

Oooooh yace! Spring's here, people! At least it is in Heidelberg and I tell you, it's magical! Down here in the delta, everything's blossoming while the light green of new leaves rushes up the steep hillsides of the previously stark Odenwald. The people are feeling spring's arrival, too, though - there's all kinds of hormones flying around dazzling and confusing everyone, forcing smiles even on the faces of people who thought they had forgotten all about happiness. It's so much fun to watch how people suddenly start wearing colours again, start looking around to see if they're being noticed, how walks become more upright and outward appearance becomes a matter of choice and style, no longer just the fulfillment of necessities. Yes, I am a whole-hearted warm weather afficionado whose dream life involves lots of time spent drinking coffee on busy plazas watching people go by, just spectating. There are many ways in which I would never make a credible Greek/Italian lifer, but like so many Brits and other cold-weather people, its definitely a closet fantasy I harbour. Funny that - that one should be so attracted to an alien lifestyle. Yes, I know that dozens of much better writers than myself have mused the issue before me (I particularly enjoyed Richard Porter's perspective, aired in his evo column of yore). It just still makes me laugh to imagine the stereotypical Armani-turtleneck-and-designer-stubbled Italian nursing a late-evening espresso outside his favourite harbourside bar with starlit skies, laughter and music for a backdrop, musing on how nice it would be to be called Hugh, James or Sheldon and to live in a Georgian terraced house where you would make yourself cups of tea every morning as you looked out at your Rover 216 parked in the morning drizzle. "Ah, to be an insurance rep in Swindon!" is, I'm pretty sure, not something the Giorgios and Stefanes of Brit fantasyland have ever uttered, any more than imagining the thrills of going for a few pints at the Nag's Head on a Saturday. What alien lifestyles, I wonder, do the Italians and other Mediterranean peoples aspire to? "Oh, to be a Massai warrior?" "Oh, the joys of being an Inuit?" Ciao ragazzi for now...

Time keeps on ticking...

...into the future. Can't believe how quickly the last couple of days/weeks have flown by. My prediction about not blogging regularly was spot-on, I'm afraid. Sorry about that. I don't know yet when I'll get back to my regular form, sad to say. At the moment, I'm trying to work Biblical Hebrew (the language, not the band) into my little noggin. Somewhat staggeringly, I'm finding myself actually enjoying it. Weird, that, but true. What it is, though, is four days a week of hassle - courses in the morning, then homework and cramming for the next day (oh, and a couple of other lectures, of course). I'm going to need the remaining days of the week to revise and review stuff - every week starts with a mock exam. Eye-watering stuff but, like I said, at the moment I'm still enjoying the challenge, so that bodes well, I guess... What else is new? Well, exciting news is that I'm going to be the single, official main stage manager for this year's Himmelfahrtsfestival, coming up May 25th. Ticket sales are booming, apparently,which is good. I also talked to my all-time favourite sound guy, Jochen, on the phone earlier today and he has confirmed he'll be my monitor guy, which is awesome. This cat (whose CV includes work done for Phil Collins, Jimmy Cliff and Miriam Makeba) is just unbelievable - I used to think I had pretty good hearing, but this dude is in a whole different world when it comes to frequencies and phonograms. Mind-blowing! Another cool thing is that, as a trio with Hannah and Billy, I've been booked for the Christmas Colours Festival which, as the name intimates, will happen in late December. So, the rock'n roll quota for my year is looking better by the minute. Now add a couple of days' early spring sunshine, a successful attempt at dieting (another eddyquette first) and you have the perfect recipe for one happy bunny! Yes, folks, I'm doing just grrreat at the minute, glad to say. Knowing me, I may be bombed-out and moaning again by next week, but right now, things are great. Which gives me cause to praise the god I believe in. So, praise God! Okay, on the downside, I've caught myself fighting my old temptation again a lot, what with all the nice weather and the preety girls out in droves. God is good, though, and is allowing me to be strong as well as giving me the knowledge that he will never turn me away if or when I fall. Now, that's hope for you - or at least, that's what I believe and what keeps me going. Seeeyah!!!

So - Easter's over, bunnies. Did you have a good one? Aidid. Spent it "back home" with various relatives&family. Booked a gig, signed up for a festival, called off another gig. Played one with good friends Tina & Rebecca. Nice. Very chilled-out right now and off to the park in just few minutes, so catch u l8r!

Joe's party (with video, I hope)

Well now. This is going to be interesting. I don't even know if blogger supports YouTube video, but here's my first attempt at showing you a random clip from the much-mentioned birthday bash I attended some weeks ago. Hmm! Looks like it's working. Coo'! I'll try to put better stuff in ASAP. For now, this was simply the first file I could find. Sorry about the bad singing, etc. I thought the band sounded pretty good, though...

Here's some pics from the party, too...

People really went to town on costumes.

Okay, enough for now, more soon. Cheerio!

It's been a while

Hi blogosphere. I'm sorry for all the weeks of silence with no prior warning. Blooper. It wasn't intentional, b'lieve me. So what have I been doing? Well, two weeks ago, I was on the road with Beatbetrieb. Which was one of the funnest things I've ever done in my life. On a par with my first skydive. No, really. The pics in this post are from the gig (some taken with my cheapo camera, some courtesy of the Beatbetrieb website. Suffice to say I had a huge blast and can't wait to do it again some day. Rock on!

(Me enjoying a moment's sheer unbridled elation as I try to finetune my setup)

What was cool about the whole thing (besides getting to hang out with hypercool cat Dee, the band and the one and only Florence Joy) was that my ego got through the whole process without most of the rollercoaster action I used to endure in days gone by. No more over-the-moon one minute, down in the dumps the next insecurity and emotional instability - flying high after the gig, fishing for compliments and admiration, then waking up with depression the next morning. It's amazing what faith can do for you. I've taken a long time to learn my lesson, and of course I'm still learning now, but knowing that there's a God who created me, loved me first and wanted me the way I am has definitely become a stable foundation for my fragile little self-esteem. So, yay for my God! Oh, he loves you just as much, by the way, in case you didn't know... Enough of that. Here's an announcement which doesn't come easy to me; I don't think I will be able to maintain my previous form of roughly one post per weekday. There simply isn't time - I don't usually have lunch in front of the laptop these days, and am finding that my desire to get going on the meat of my studies and to be a good husband tend to overpower my exhibitionist blogging desires. I'm going to miss writing, but I honestly feel I need to focus on other stuff at the moment. D'ouch! I will put pictures and hopefully some video up from Joe's party a while ago. Yes, I finally got 'em... Okay, be blessed everyone, talk to ya sooooon!