Music: Good For You

I really didn't need for anyone to tell me this, but I found it interesting.

Some studies show that music can be good for you health. Sweet! Now if it could pay the bills!

Read more here.

Seaside, FL (Part 2)

One of the party's houses (Seaside, FL)
The Stairway (with artwork)
The Living Area and Kitchen
The Beachfront view from one of the decks


This house was great. It used to be Michael Jackson's, but I heard that he has been in financial trouble so he had to sell it. I'll need to look into that though.

We dined at the famous Bud and Alley's. Jen and I had some amazing merlot, and the Mixed Grill (filet, shrimp, and wild boar). Some of the best specialty salsa around (summer salsa).
*Blogstar gives Bud and Alley's: **** (out of 5)

The last day for lunch we went to one of our favorite spots in Destin. The Back Porch. The shrimp and scallops are always great!
*Blogstar gives The Back Porch: *** (out of 5)

Anytime you are in the Seaside area, you need to pay a visit to the Modica Market. Cool place.

Seaside, FL. Fun times.



*Michael Jackson never owned the house....that we know of.

Seaside, FL (Part 1)

Jennifer and I just returned from Seaside, FL. This has become one of our favorite places to visit. It is a bit exclusive in nature, but it has the feel of an old "back in the day" town feel. Seaside is located about 20 minutes east of Destin, FL and 30 minutes west of Panama City, FL on the Gulf of Mexico.

Jenn was a part of the Heffel / Bradley wedding, where we stayed in a multi-million dollar beach-front home. (Can you say big-pimpin'?!). I'll try to get some photos of the crib up in Part 2.

The waves were HUGE! Hurricane Rita came ashore just over 400 miles west of us...and we saw crazy cool waves, felt lots of wind, and inhaled saw yummy "red tide" (Red Algae)....not a good thing by the way.

One of the things that put Seaside on the map so to speak, was the Jim Carrey film The Truman Show. If you remember the film, that is the feel of this amazing little place.

Another similar town next to Seaside is Watercolor, FL. Check it out. Very cool.

Look for Part 2 soon (eats, and more).

By Popular Demand: Rufus

Rufus Jackson Jarnagin

Last week when I talked about the visit to the Vet with Oscar, I mentioned that I had 2 dogs, only showing a picture of Oscar.

Well here is Rufus (named after Rufus Wainwright). He is a rockstar. He enjoys jumping, pulling Oscar around by the tail, and fast sprints around the yard.

FILM: Elizabethtown Premiere In Franklin

Orlando Bloom in Franklin (Sept. 18, 2005)

Franklin played host another movie premiere. A list of celebrities were on hand for the premiere of Elizabethtown on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 18th). The movie release nationally Oct 14th. The film was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Kirsten Dunst and orlando Bloom.

For more on this story click here.

Coldplay Show in Nashville

Chris Martin in the sound tech area from my crappy camera phone.

2 years ago I was one of the many witnesses of the magical night at the Ryman Aud. with Coldplay. That was one of the best shows that I had ever seen that night. So it stands to reason that I wasn't going to miss the next Coldplay stop here in Nashvegas.

It was a bigger, more produced, fanatical show. Better than the Ryman show? No, but I'm not sure that you can really compare the two shows. The venues are totally different. Last night at the Starwood Amplitheater was a perfect night for a concert. The moon was full, the temp. was chilled, and the smell of weed was in the air. I noticed last night that weed kinda smells like body odor.

Chris Martin and Co did a great job. You could tell that Chris was getting over a virus (which canceled 2 shows earlier in the week), but he was as animated as ever. Jen and I had amazing seats dead center next to the sound board (where Chris paid a visit toward the end of the show).

The sound wasn't consistent. It seemed as if the main sound guy would go take a smoke break leaving an assistant to run it. One song would be good, the next great, and then it would be crap...only to repeat. One note on the sound...the drum sounds were great from start to finish.

Over all it was a night of great songs, engaging lyrics, and stellar production that could have been over the top. All from one of the world's most intoxicating bands.

A Trip To The Vet

Oscar

I am not a fan of the Vet. I love my dogs, but knowing what goes on behind closed doors....uhh, freaks me out. Naturally I don't dig the human doctor either.

As I entered the office of our regular Vet, I started to think that I entered an alter-dog-world. Better than an alter-cat-world...I'm pretty sure that would be hell. Anyways, as me and Oscar had a seat I heard a lady's voice engaged in an in-depth conversation. As the conversation when on I slowly figured out that the lady was totally having a conversation with her HUGE german shepard/ something that seemed to be foaming at the mouth, hence the Vet visit. From what I could hear, the communication was one sided. I never heard the dog speak back. Maybe the lady had a Dr Dolittle thing happening. I started looking around for a camera. Was I being Punkd'?

Don't get me wrong, I talk with me dogs too. I don't leave my conversation open ended though. Maybe this sweet lady is lonely...or just strange.

Another thing that I realized by the time I left...they never called me by name. It was all Oscar. Now, I don't have to always be the focus, but I was paying the bill. Oscar doesn't have a bank account.

I could go on, but I've shared enough.

Switchfoot: Nothing Is Sound

For some, this has been a long wait....for others, no big deal. I wasn't sure where I stood.

The release of Switchfoot's new effort Nothing Is Sound was yesterday. Okay, I believe. They are frikin' great! This CD is stellar. Don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself.

Here is the interesting part. It is not about the actual music that has me intrigued so much. It is the Copy Control (IFPI) aspect. I must say that I was a little frustrated to find out that I cannot put the new disc that was purchased at Best Buy into my iTunes. One can use Windows Media Player and Mac:OK, but not iTunes.

I had heard a few people talk about this, but I bought the disc anyway. This could very well be part of the evolving music industry, so I find myself standing on the verge of never buying another CD packaged for retail again. iTunes is my library. My central brain of musicality. A bit of heaven if you will. Had I purchased the record from iTunes...no worries. Switchfoot's Nothing Is Sound would be a part of "happy place" (my musical library). For now, the new release will have to wait.

Columbia, Switchfoot's label home, might be ahead of the curve, or "around the corner" as I tend to say, but I would dare say that there will be many a human frustrated to find that this specific release doesn't want to play nice with the rest of the children (on my computer).

Inconvenience could be the word that sums this all up.

God: For Sale

"My faith, I mean, that's such a personal aspect that a lot of times, of course it's going to come out through the song. But at the same time, I'm not a religious salesman. I feel like God doesn't really need a salesman, and what these songs are are simply my interactions with this life and learning. I guess the bottom line is the songs are really honest, you know what I mean. That faith is going to come through." - Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)

Several nights ago in between a couple of football games I caught a guy on a religious network that I have been with at an event or two. I can usually only stay tuned to those networks for a few minutes (if that), but I was intrigued by this guys desperate pleas. Acting as if the world was going to end the next day, he was pulling all the stops. "If you just receive Jesus in your heart RIGHT NOW, you TOO can experience a life free of worry, stress, and misery." Continuing in his pitch he played the accident "scare the hell OUT of you" card. "If you died tonight in an accident on the way home, where would you spend eternity?"

Some of these "preachers" might as well just say..."what is it going to take to get you into this Jesus today?"..."you know this God-ride is the smoothest on the road"..."come on, this is a great deal. Might not be here tomorrow."

Selling Jesus like a car salesman pisses me off by itself, BUT to sell a lie is just too much. So maybe I misunderstood this guy, but I am afraid I didn't.

God is not for sale. Grace is free. Give it too.

Emergent Leader Dan Kimball

Tonight (well, technically last night now...it being 1am) I hung out with my drummer friend that I have tricked into playing in my "new" band. Joma has been playing drums with me at ikon, and at Fusion during our weekly meetings for the past several months. He is a pimpin' drummer, and all around stellar dude. I love Californians!

Little did I know where Josh "Joma" came from was Dan Kimball's church (Vintage Faith) in Santa Cruz, CA. Dan seems to be a guy with great insight to the heart of God in which I hope to meet one day. I plan to read a couple of Dan's book in the near future that some friends from Youth Specialties gave to me before the summer. Read Dan's blog here.

The Emerging Church: The church of tomorrow? Or the church NOW right under everyone's nose? More to come on this later...YOU CAN BET ON IT (but don't if it's against your religion).