Doug Van Pelt

Cornerstone + Sonshine

Today I'll be a green bay packer, getting ready for the cstone trip. I'll be burning some fun cds to play over the system between bands at the HM stage. I'm thinking Crunchy, Solomon Burke, The Crucified, Sam Phillips, Fleming & John, and some surprises...

Lots of new music hit the office yesterday (Spoken, Beloved, R&R Worship Circus, Figure Four, Juliana Theory Live...). It's starting to feel like summer with a load of new releases. I finished previewing the packaging for the HM Stage '02 dvd. If you come by the booth at cstone, we're giving away some old school Heaven's Metal "Worship At Full Volume" buttons. Come on by and get one... We're also giving away some old school t-shirts free with any subscription while supplies last. If we don't see you there, have a great 4th of July week!

Here's the HM Magazine Stage Schedule for Sonshine Festival 2003:

HM Magazine Stage Thurs, 7/10
Symphony in Peril 1:00-1:45
Sinai Beach 2:00-2:45
Death Campaign 3:00-3:45
Nodes of Ranvier 4:00-4:45
Anah Aevia 5:00-5:45
Regal Line 6:00-6:45
Fruhstuck 7:00-7:45
Farewell to Fashion 8:00-8:45
Extol 9:00-9:45
The Agony Scene 10:00-10:45
As I Lay Dying 11:00-11:45
Disciple 12:00-12:45

HM Magazine Stage Friday, 7/11
Impromptu Stage 9:00-5:30
Jonah 33 6:00-6:45
Dismissed 7:00-7:45
Torn in Two 8:00-8:45
Young & the Useless 9:00-9:45
Spoken 10:00-10:45
My Little Dog China 11:00-11:45
London Calling 12:00-12:45

HM Magazine Stage Saturday, 7/12
Impromptu Stage 9:00-5:30
The Roosevelts 6:00-6:45
The Pits 7:00-7:45
Biogenesis 8:00-8:45
Still Breathing 9:00-9:45
Crimson Thorn 10:15-11:30

Read The Intern Diaries.

HM Artwork

Wow!

A uniformed employee of Federal Express, Inc. came by the office and dropped off a package (this means we are somebody!). Inside was the giant 8 foot by 6 foot backdrop for our booth at Cornerstone.
Whew! It is beautiful. I thought it was going to be printed on vinyl, but it was canvas, and it ... I'm just impressed, that's all.

Hey, you need to do something (...that's right, I'm pointing my finger at you!!!)
You need to read the Intern Diaries and leave a comment. These guys (and gals...I'm not counting, there could be 250 of 'em... The crowd at the show numbered in the tens of thousands, honest! Well, um, maybe it was less...) . . . anyway - they work hard and pour their lil' hearts out in their interesting journal entries. Find out what goes on at HM Magazine...

Getting ready for Cstone. We've got lots of cool stuff, including modestly priced shirts (we have one of those opinions on inflated tshirt prices...been to a mainstream show lately? Hello! $35 for a t-shirt is a crime.)

Hey, Klank works for the circus! I'm going to see him tomorrow. That guy has always been so cool. He's going to show us around the circus. I hope I can wrestle a tiger (or at least see one close up).

Street Teams

Hey, are you interested in spreading the news on HM Magazine? If you'd like to be a street team member, please email me. We are working on seriously boosting the exposure and distribution of HM Magazine out there.

Had breakfast with Lonny at Round Rock Donuts this morning. Good times. The dude is more tanned than any of us.

I'm intrigued by the references to the body of Christ in the book of Colossians. Maybe the encouragement about the body is also a warning about being disconnected from the Head, which is Christ. Not a pleasant thought or state...

Cornerstone is right around the corner. Please pray for the safety of everyone you know who is driving/travelling there.

Here's a schedule of the HM Magazine Stage:

Wednesday, July 2
8 Anberlin
9 Embodyment
10 Nodes of Ranvier
11 xDisciplex A.D.

Thursday, July 3
8 Firefly
9 Fruhstuck
10 Man Alive
11 Extol

Friday, July 4
10 The Agony Scene
11 Disciple
12 Underoath

Saturday, July 5
8 Symphony In Peril
9 Anah Aevia
10 The Pits
11 Thousand Foot Krutch

Destruction Fest

August 15-17 in London, England will be a punk, hardcore, metal, emo show called Destruction Fest. Extol and Zedisforzebra and Gen are just a few of the bands on the bill. Should be cool.

Just previewed the HM Stage Live DVD today. All the band footage is real good. For most of the acts, the audio sounded great. Matt Leonetti and crew will be tweaking the audio mix to get it just right before next week when it's for sale. I haven't looked at the "History of HM Magazine" or "Photo" gallery sections yet, but those should be fun. With 14 songs and interviews with about all the bands, there is a lot to take in. Because there wasn't much of a time limit with the dvd format's available space, the interviews are often very long, in-depth and sometimes funny. Hopefully, the "...this band sounds real lush, dreamy, and atmospheric" intro for the rocking Luxury song will get fixed before the disc is pressed! That's embarrassing. The dvd should be on sale at our booth at cstone and sonshine fest, at our store here afterwards, and at hmdvd.com as well.

HM Stage DVD

Whew!
I've finally finished the legal details of copyright, licensing, and songwriter's info for the credits of the long-awaited HM Stage at Cornerstone live DVD.

And the folks over at Matt Leonetti have been working overtime up there in Minnesota getting the final mixes and edits just right, etc. It should be a great little package. I'm supposed to get a working dvd preview disc tomorrow morning. The one overnighted to me today would not read. (argh!) One section will be an HM history gallery. That, plus the goofy/serious interviews should be fun.

Plans are to have 200 copies for sale at the HM booth at Cornerstone, and at Sonshine the next week.

New Fearfull Symmetry album is cool. I've been digging the new Radiohead and Metallica in my car, but David plays Radiohead in the office too much.

Store

Thanks to the efforts of that guy to the right, we now have many more items in our store. Check it out. We'll be adding more as soon as our new merch arrives (post Cornerstone).

Also, the wonderful Bonnie (read her diary) will be posting up the DVD reviews from this latest issue (a few of which are expanded versions).

I'll be posting up HM stage schedules for Cstone and Sonshine soon.
Meanwhile, I turned my daughter loose in an ice cream shop with a digital camera.

New Store Items

For those that collect Derek Hess art, we have a beautiful canvas printing of the Issue #100 cover. Check it out at our Store link.

We also have the Intern Diaries up and running.

And Paul Doty, the author of the only book we've published -- Rubber Meets The Road -- has "published" an e-book on CD ROM. That'll be up in the store shortly.

The Matrix

Forget Neo, I am the one... I am the only one -- the only person in the Western hemisphere who was disappointed in The Matrix Reloaded. It might've been my seat (front and center), it might've been my tired eyes (and the struggle to stay awake), but I wasn't blown away by the movie. Yeah, I'll buy it the day it comes out on dvd and then watch it a zillion more times; but it didn't really do it for me.
Oh well...

I thank God that He is there for us. I try to be the kind of person that entreats Him daily -- whether I need help or just want to say thanks. It makes me feel guilty if I find myself just asking Him for help for a season. Though I am dependent upon Him for everything, there are times when I don't feel so needy and at those times I want to remain sensitive to the needs of others and intercede and also just have that "balance" of treating my divine Friend as a cherished one -- not just a help in time of need. With human relationships I feel the same way. I don't want to be one-dimensional.

The interview with Adam and Howard of Killswitch Engage yesterday went great! It was so fun catching up with Howard about all the bands in the Christian metal scene. It's not too often that I'm conversing about bands like Rage of Angels, Believer, Holy Soldier, and Sacred Warrior. Lots of fun.

Intern Diaries Are Here!

I'm glad to finally announce that the intern diaries (of Bonnie and Jonathan) are up and running. You can find them on the "Online Exclusives" page. It is one of the links there at the top of that page.

Once we start getting those updated every day, you'll see that the most recent entry is always at the top.

Going to see Matrix Reloaded tonight. Am looking forward to it.

It's all about the creamer

Hey, David is listening to Marilyn Manson and Paul McCartney & Wings. I think something's wrong. Maybe I'll leave some Metamucil in his office and that'll cheer him up.

Even though I'm not a gung-ho "Microsoft Rules" kinda guy, I am stoked about having my internet explorer back. I used some Ad-Aware 6.0 (R) on my computer and got rid of some of that spy-ware and...viola! My ie is back! While it was convenient having Opera as a browser for awhile, it was not as useful and handy as the good ole ie.
sigh.
I'm just an average consumer. Gimme fries and a burger, please.

Spun the new Saviour Machine double live album yesterday and this morning. Love it! All the dynamics of their sound and live show are captured in sonice brilliance. I just love that ringing riff in "World War III" and all the repeating themes. If it wasn't for a keen desire to be cool and hip, I'd probably paste my face white and double-sticky tape a giant turquoise stone on my forehead.

Note: If you look at older pictures of Eric Clayton, and then compare them to pics of Michael Sweet holding his hair back in a pony tail... They're twins.

Round Rock Donuts sells Donut Holes for 75 cents a dozen. They're a world famous phenomenon. And with a lil Folgers coffee and some Vanilla Creamer, it's the bomb.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Wow. I got an unexpected surprise when an old friend, Charles Gates, called me up and notified me that he had an extra ticket to the ZZ Top show tonight. With my wife's permission (lots of birthday party stuff to do around the house before tomorrow afternoon), I went. The opening act was Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Double Trouble. Probably the finest rhythm section in modern music, bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton keep things tight and thumpin. Tonight had to be special for this former backup band for the late SRV. They played a mean version of "Voodoo Chile," where Shepherd went off. In a phone conversation earlier that night (where I bragged to Brad Noah that I was going to this show), I was informed that there's a website somewhere that posts letters Stevie Ray wrote to his mom just months before he was killed - letters that indicate he found and fell in love with Jesus. Hmmm... He promised to find me the link sometime...

ZZ Top was fun. They have SO many hits to cull from for their two-hour set, which included Cowboy Hat Sombrero's, the fuzzy guitars, dancing skeletons, and a small replica of The Alamo.

I just finished posting up the first 15 entries in the Intern Diaries. The coding is not finished yet, so they're not quite ready for reading, but once that moves, you'll see what interning at HM Magazine has been like for Bonnie Plott and Jonathan Nolte. They've been working out great and their diary entries are a fun read. Since we didn't post them from day one, the first time you check it out, scroll to the bottom and read the Day One entry first and work your way up. Then, each time you check it out, you'll be glad to know that the most recent journal entry will be right there at the top...

Good night.

New Content A Comin'

My blog disappeared! That's weird.
Lots of work going on here. Been busy every single day.
We have a bunch of new HM merch items, like: zippered hoodies, coach's jackets, new T's in youth, adult and ladies' sizes, stickers in two sizes, trucker's hats, buttons (6 designs), and our old standby - the "Worship At Full Volume" shirts.

We plan on making tomorrow "Website Wednesday" and posting a ton of stuff. We plan on first loading up older archived content, like classic "So & So Says" articles, etc. This will be followed by our new content.

Our store should get a nice tranfusion, too.

Take it easy.