WHERE WE CAN PLAY FOOTBALL
Church Information:
Wow, every week I just love going to the church we now attend, Flatirons Community Church. I must say, I never been this pumped about church. It is not like I have hated church or anything before, but I know at FCC something special is happening. I just can not wait till we can go again and be a part of it. The last few weeks have been incredible. If you get a chance you should visit, if you can’t then listening to the sermons on-line is always worth while.
Baseball News:
Oh, now the rockies bats wake up. Where were they about a month ago? Oh well, they rockies did really knock the Giants out of the playoffs it appears and maybe we can do that to the Dodgers this week, too. Plus, we took three of four from the Braves and moved out of last place. If they keep it up the last few games, then maybe the season was not too bad.
Football Points:
Wow, the Broncos Defense is looking tough. I am so glad I do not have to worry about being hit by Gold, Williams, or Wilson. I really don’t think I would get up if they laid into me. Those linebackers sure know how to get to the ball and lay the pads on people. Beating the Patriots in New England was sweet. I guess Brady is only 1-5 against the Broncos. Maybe the Colts should change their jerseys to be Bronco like the next time they play New England. Just a thought to help Dungy and Manning get that win when it counts.
Other Thoughts:
Gas prices in the Denver Metro area don’t make any sense. In my travels today, I saw prices at many different stations ranging from $2.55 to $2.73 all over the west side. Then I read the national average is now $2.38. Why are the prices still high here in the metro area?
Site Update:
The final touches are being put on the updates of the pictures pages on the main site. This includes the new poll on the main page that you can vote on now by clicking on the home button on the top menu. If you want to vote early and often before most visitors of the site (because they don’t appear to read the blog) know about the update, you can.
Noteworthy:
LikeMonkey Meditations
- Reasons The Bronco’s Offensive Is Struggling: The humidor is hurting how far the ball can go
- It looks like I will be shut out and not completed any 14ers for the first time since 1995.
- I went 0-6 this year, four were rain out and two were snowed out.
- Reasons The Bronco’s Offensive Is Struggling: They miss Forsberg’s wrap around shot
- The rockies are 6-0 at games I attend this year.
- That is the best record for me at their games since 1995.
- Reasons The Bronco’s Offensive Is Struggling: The Kmart & Karl feud is hurting the team chemistry
- The last rockies game I went to involved free tickets behind home plate. Thanks Bob!
- My first time behind home plate and my 4th free game this year.
- I can not say that happen in 1995
- Reason The Bronco’s Offensive Is Struggling: Gary Gait is now coaching.
I WANNA BE A ROCK STAR BUT, I AIN’T GOT WHAT IT TAKES
Finally, it was here!!! It should have happen March, but it was snowed out. On Saturday, September 16, 2006, the make up concert happen for the David Crowder Band and Third Day – Wherever You Are Tour. It was great to see two my favorite bands together.
The Bad Things:
The concert was at the Filmore, the worst spot in Denver for a show, period. Sure the bands love playing there for its old charm and character. If fact, in their blog about the Denver show (Here, Here, and Here), Third Day even says that they consider it a cool, historical place to play. it maybe fine for a band, but it is not true for a someone watching the show. It tough to find any good parking, there is no area to sit down, and there personal space in the place. If you want cool and historical that works for the fans at the show and the band, too; then they should play at Red Rocks. Otherwise go back to the Pepsi Center (which is the last place I saw them at).
DCB set was far too short. Their play set should have been at least double the time that they performed. You can never have too much Crowder but you can have too little.
Third Day did not sign “Consuming Fire”.
The Altitude Things:
Being in Colorado, it did not take long for the bands to complain about altitude. So nice to hear that the bands complain about breathing.
The Strange Things:
Ok, Third Day’s new stage set seemed strange to me. Some of our gang like it, others thought it look like a Tetris video game, and I thought it was like a 70ies game show set.
The Funny Things:
Ok, David Crowder is my favorite band not just because of their music but because of his personality and humor. The man is funny and unique. He said a lot of funny and deep things. I think my favorite line by him was when he said he was from Texas and some of the crowd cheered. He then said, don’t give me that, we been on your ski slopes, we know how you really feel about us Texans.
Mac Powell was funny, also. His best line was about how his lungs could handle the air especially since it was clean and crisp.
Also, I thought it was funny how the crowd booed a comment by Mark Lee (TD band member), but I did not think he meant it in the way the crowd took it. On the TD blog, you can read his apology to the Buff fans and what he was trying to say. Poor guy, I really like him and I thought he was just trying to be kind and push for a college playoff system that everyone but the NCAA wants.
The Good Things:
The people there were fired up and filled with a lot of energy.
The opening band, Hyper Static Union was pretty good.
DCB was incredible! He is great at getting the crowd involved in the show by using his great sense of humor, singing powerful songs, and having the words of songs on a screen. It is like a massive karaoke worship. I wish more bands did that at concerts.
Third Day song a lot of music. That was nice. They listed their play set on their blog if you want to see what they sang in Denver this time. I really enjoyed hearing and seeing them again. I was happy that this time when they sang “Rock Star”, Mac Powell remembered all the words.
Overall, it was an awesome night of worship, even if it was the Filmore. It proved, God can be worshiped anywhere.
AND THE PEOPLE SHOUTING WHY, WHY, WHY…
Why can’t I get a 14er in this summer? Another weekend, another weekend of not getting to hike a 14ers because of weather. This time it was because of snow not rain, but that does not make me feel better. I hope to get one hike in before the month ends. Maybe…
Why can’t I get a small hike in? We also tried three different local hikes on Saturday, but a storm of rain and lighting followed my vehicle to each of the trails we went to. So am I cursed?
Why not just go home? I did not want to return home because the wife had one of those women cult parties for candles. I wanted to enjoy the outdoors, but with the weather forced us inside. Therefore, we went and saw Invincible. I really enjoyed this movie and I would think even those who do not like football would enjoy it. Nothing like watching someone overcoming hardships to help motivate you to carry on in tough times.
Why am I glad I was not leading the small group study on Saturday night? It is because the chapter in Acts that we studied seem to pull everyone all over the place. I am glad Stefan was leading the group. He did a good job.
Why was Sunday morning service at church so awesome? It was one of those services where it seemed God was really speaking to me. The music was great and the message was so simple but oh so powerful. I would have stayed for the other services if I could have. I can not wait to get the DVD. You can listen to the message here.
Why do I still love sports even when my teams fail me? Well, because it just fun, win or lose, as long as they do not give up. The rockies did sweep the Nationals over the weekend, thus they swept Washington for the season! Nice. The Broncos saw the return of Bad Jake. Not Nice. I won my first week of fantasy football. Excellent. I lost the weekly contest of picking the NFL football winners. Not Excellent.
Why was it so hard to get the Sanctus Real’s Face of Love CD from my wife? Well, because it is so good. I really love this CD. It may have taken four months for my wife to let me listen to it, but it was worth the wait. There is a lot of great tunes on it, but I really love the Face Of Love song. My wife also picked up the new Jars of Clay, Good Monsters. Once again they put out an excellent CD with a different sound on almost every track. I think I liked the Mirrors and Smoke song the most. It sure sounds like to me it could have been sung by Johnny Cash & June Carter.
Why hadn’t I read any of Ted Dekker’s work before? I don’t know why, but I know I am really his books now. In the pass few months I have read about five of his novels. I just finished up White, which is the final book in his Circle Trilogy. He is an exciting and intense writer.
Why am I writing an entry like this about the last weekend? Well, I don’t have not reason. I am just sitting here trying to get a SQL statement to work like I want, and I am hoping writing this will help me clear the brain. Thus, when I go back to the code, I will get it to work right like I need it to. Stepping away from a problem for a bit and going back to it fresh helps a lot. So why not?
Monkey Meditations
- To Do List For Football Season: Convince my wife that we always watch three NFL games on Thanksgiving.
- It is Mike Fye’s world and Bob, Bobby, David, and I just live our lives through him.
- Congrats to Mike on getting a gig as a Broncos writer for a Greeley paper. I hope life at all the games is not too bad.
- To Do List For Football Season: Write code that mutes the TV when a bad commentary is speaking.
- Boy, I could be rich if I got that to work.
- I would not do it for the money, through, but for the joy it would be bring to so many people.
- To Do List For Football Season: Get into shape so my Fantasy Football League.
- Yep, I have entered a whole new level of being a nerd.
- I am in a fantasy football league.
- To Do List For Football Season: Practice acting surprised when the Chiefs ask for more teams per conference to make the play-offs so they could get in.
- The head coach may not cry anymore, but the whining never ends in KC.
- This one was for Matt. I only say it because you are a great friend who can handle it and because it is the truth.
- To Do List For Football Season: Enjoy more Peyton Manning commercials and wonder if the rockies should have drafted this Vols QB, too.
BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD
According to the Newspaper, 263,000 people visited the LifeLight Festival. It was interesting to see that the bad weather turned only a few away and mostly on Friday.
Here are the sneak peak of the photos of our visit there for all the loyal blog readers.
I’M AS ELOQUENT AS AN ELEPHANT
The last day of the FREE (one of the greatest words in English) LifeLight Festival was outstanding. I am so glad we went to South Dakota for it. I did notice a few things different about concerts in SD than in Colorado. One, the bands never complained about being able to breathe. When they are in Colorado we have a guessing game how long into the set before they talk about the altitude. Two, for some reason all the songs where they normally say Colorado, they said South Dakota. It is kind of like they change the words to please the crowds, but that can not be true. 
The crews did a great job in cleaning up the mud to get more parking lots back open. It made getting in and out so much better. Then the sun came out durning the day, which help get rid of a lot of mud. Our shoes did not have another soul of mud on them after day three like after day two.
Ok, it was another full day of worship, so here are the bands we got to be part of:
- CSGz – I really admire how these guys were still able to honor and praise God with all the horrible things that have happen in their lives over the last few weeks.
- Heidi Holt – Heidi and her band apparently won a music contest to be at this festival and I can see why they won. They were a very talented band.
- LeeLand – I have heard so much buzz about this band that I really wanted to see and hear them, but feared they could not live up to hype. Well, they did live up to it. They are really good.
- Mark Schultz – We figured he would be good since we had breakfast with him. Ok, he sat a table near us with his band at the restaurant in the hotel. I guess most of the bands stayed where we were. We saw a few of them and the heard reports about other bands in the hotel. Mark was very funny and his song, “Letters From War”, is a great one to hear in person. The one thing that I will remember about him is that he looks a bit like my friend, Kurt.
- Sanctus Real – These guys were the highlight of the whole festival for me. Their music is so good and they are so honest about life, hardships, and music. Seriously, they were great and I would recommend their music. Also, their lead singer also looked like another frien, Zach. If he had said his real name was Zach and the band was his secret life, I would not have been shocked.
- Kutless – Their lead singer had a shoulder strap on since he just had shoulder surgery. He said he injured skiing but we will thought maybe he got hurt jumping into the crowd and the fans missed him. I guess our theory was wrong but we liked it better than his story. They were fun to see live and they sounded great.
- Newsboys – Well, all the other stages closed down and everyone was at the main stage for the Newsboys. So there was a lot of people there for the boys from down under. As always they were worshipfully, fun, and exciting while sharing a powerful message. For it me, it was a lovely, lovely place for Breakfast.
We also got to listen to Luis Palau speak.
I was bummed because the schedule got off a bit and we did not get over to another stage in time to hear Stephen Baldwin. I really did want to hear his talk.
I will try and get the sneak peak pictures from our trip up for my blog readers in the next day or so.
COMING OUT AFTER A RAIN
Was day two of the mud festival, I mean the LifeLight Festival, any better for us? Well, yes, the rain stopped and we were able to get in to the event.
The organizers delayed the opening a few hours (which meant some bands were moved to different stages) so they could get a lot work done so the attendees (estimated crowd of over 93,000 which I believe – there was no minor league baseball attendance counting) could get in. A big hat tip from us for the great job they did to get things open and ready to go.
It was still pretty mud, a lot mud, and getting in and out of the parking areas was tough. It probably took us an hour and half to get into the parking lot around two in the afternoon and over an hour to get out after midnight sometime. It really tested your patience’s but once you got in, it was worth it.
The bands we got to worship with:
- Undying Anthem- I had not heard of them and we only got to hear a bit of their set. Overall, they were not bad.
- Foolish Things – It was funny to see a band we saw really get their start four or so years ago at the church now on the big stage. I wonder if they ever pictured themselves with a major record label deal, playing in front of nearly that many people. I did not think of that any of the times we have seen them. The best part of seeing them was knowing their was others from Colorado with us here in South Dakota.
- Superchic[k] – The sound was messed up so we could not hear them that well. A major bummer as they are a great band. Funny the last time we saw them, the sound was loud I could not hear normal for days. That was the loudest concert, ever. The lead singer had changed her hair since last time, but I like the old spiky look better. That is my opinion if you read this Ms. Brock. The guitar player, young Santana as my wife calls him, was still great.
- Remedy Drive – They are another band thatI knew nothing about, but I liked them.
- Steller Kart – These guys were great. We had not seen them in person or own any of their music. We just know a few of their songs from the radio, but they were great. I need to get some of their CDs.
- Jeremy Camp – It had been years since we had seen him and that was just when he was getting big. He was much more polished this time and still very enjoyable. I was glad he sang, “Take My Life” in concert. I was not sure if he would or not, but I was pumped he did.
- Casting Crowns – It was not long ago we we saw these guys. They sounded pretty much like the last concert we saw them.
Here is the newspaper’s recap of day two: Day Two
We are tired since we did not get to bed till two in the morning but we getting ready to head to the final day of the event.
ALONG WITH THE SUNSHINE THERE’S GOTTA BE A LITTLE RAIN SOMETIMES
We drove over ten hours to be part of Lightlife 2006. So far however, we have not been able to get in. The rain washed away parking lots and caused a lot of people to be turned away (like us) on day one.
We wanted to see Audio Adrenaline last night, but we drove around for an hour or two but could not get in. I am bummed since Audio A is on their finally tour and we wanted to see them maybe one last time.
Right we are getting ready to go so we can get into for day two. We plan to get very wet and muddy. Yet, we will have lots of fun praising God with the others wet and muddy people.
There are a few good pictures and more details about the first day at the following two places:
Argus Leader – online newspaper
KNWC Blog – Radio Station Blog
