Doug Van Pelt

Cornerstone

Well, we're in the car and off to Cornerstone Festival in a few hours.

If you'd like to keep tabs on what's going on with HM Magazine while David and I are gone, read Dave Stagg's "Intern Diaries."

If you're coming to the festival, please stop by the booth in the main exhibit hall and say hello.

I'm so looking forward to The Alarm. I hope the whole crowd just rocks out and fully gets into it. P.O.D.'s gonna have a great show...I can just feel it coming on.

For a daily blow-by-blow of the Cstone Fest, go to their website. I'm sure someone is going to be posting the happenings shortly after they happen.

God bless and protect everyone who is traveling to festivals this summer!

Day Of Fire

I've been listening to this advance copy of a new band called Day of Fire. I met the lead vocalist / frontman for this group while at GMA this past Spring. Joshua was in the mainstream band Full Devil Jacket before overdosing and then finding the Lord. His album is darn cool, sounding like Gavin Rossdale fronting The Cult with Jerry Cantrell guesting on guitar to add a dash of grunge. I like it.

Getting ready to head out to Cornerstone. It'll be interesting to see how this year shakes out. I can't wait to catch P.O.D.'s mainstage show. I'm looking forward to that, The Alarm, and Project 86 and Demon Hunter the most... I predict there will be some very nice surprises, too.

We are connected to a store that sells music -- Christian hard music, as well as access to everything out there. It's called Fave Street. We should have another link up soon. Until then, you can click here to browse/shop there.

I've made a slight change in my everyday grooming habits -- I've been using a razor instead of the electric shaver I've been using ever since facial hair started appearing many moons ago. Lots of rain in Texas these days. Is global warming for real? Do environmentalists misinform and twist the facts? How much CO2 is emited by the typical jog? Is my running bad for the environment?

I BLEW IT

Yesterday I had a chance for a spiritual conversation with my oldest daugher, Kaela, and I blew it. She was with me in the garage as I was clearing out files and stuff. She was riding her bike and skateboarding and she came up to me and said:

"You know that guy you were asking about yesterday, Bunji? He was in -- what do you call it? oh yeah -- San Antonio. He was talking to people who thought you could go to Heaven by being good."

I acknowledged her statement, but I realized this morning I could have asked her, "Oh, what do you think about that?" I need to be ready and aware for when these opportunities arise. They're way better than anything planned or forced (IMHO), cause they usually show the person thinking on those lines, etc.

Pictured above is our "spinner" of CDs (donated by Chad Olson), which get filled up every two months with independent artist CDs that come in. We have to listen to a ton of stuff to cull out the best (the "pick of the litter").

Lava Lamps Come From Benson Records

[...and Benson Records doesn't even exist anymore.]
Does that mean that no one owns the publishing rights to that goo that floats around in there?

I went running today for about the first time in a year. It felt good. I took baby steps and probably ran just half a mile. I stretched a little and stopped before my body went into convulsions. It's nice to know that my body doesn't completely shut down on me if I don't exercise. I hope I can take some momentum with me and keep this stuff up.

We have two great interns with us this summer. Unfortunately, their time here is drawing close to an end. James will be here another week or two and Dave til the end of this month. They have done a fantastic job doing a bunch of different tasks. Their writing is keen. I got a call from a girl at Hot Topic today. She asked me some questions about Colin, our most recent ex-intern. His band, The Kerby, is about to get serious at the end of this summer and go on tour. That is so cool. Maybe if my positive words help him get a job, the next time I'll see him he'll be sporting high heel shoes, studded belts, and mirrored sunglasses... or maybe just a trendy emo shirt of some sort...
:?)

We've got some good article ideas brewing for this next issue.

Had another argument with a staff member today about our editorial direction. It's a tough balance to keep -- covering what's new and hard and maintaining some semblance of balance with older styles. The younger listener (15-25) in many ways listens to much different music than that of the 30+ crowd. On one extreme is covering nothing but trendy music. And on another extreme is covering a dying breed of hair metal that only a handful of older males are listening to (okay, a few older females, too). It's tough to keep a balance and not feel like you're either hurting yourself by disappointing a part of our audience (the guitarist in x-band who doesn't want to see another "butt rock" band in the magazine -- at least not in every issue) and alienating another part, who sees lack of coverage as turning my back on my roots. To me, reacting too extreme in one direction or another would be a mistake. I've already weathered the storm of 1995 (and 96 and 97 and 98!), where metalheads thought I had done a Judas to their fav form of music. Change happens. It's a good thing. If there never was change, Maiden, Priest, Scorps, Motorhead and a host of others never would have sharpened a metal edge on the blunt end of hard rock in the late 70s. If there wasn't change, bubble gum metal would have stayed on the radio for 20 years, and speed, thrash and Metallica never would've happened.

Music has changed. It's moved on, and the whole thing has blown wide open. There's not just one kind of music that's labelled "cool" by the freaks, stoners, or general cool kids at school and everyone else is supposed to like it or get laughed at. There are still music snobs from every corner of the musical spectrum, but now there's jam bands, guitar shredders, death metal, emo, indie rock, goth, math rock, roots rock, Radiohead, punk rock, hardcore, prog rock, anything goes. Like one artist said a long time ago, "Baby, baby, it's a wild world..."

in the eyes of the Lord, we're all homosexuals

I've done a couple of radio interviews to promote the book Rock Stars on God and the night before the first one, my friend Lee suggested we pray before the interview, as "Dudley and Bob have been known to tear people apart on the air." I was reminded of the ominous warnings prior to the Henry Rollins interview. "He can be a rough interview." This kind of stuff can make you nervous. Anyway, as I was thinking about the upcoming radio interview, I asked myself, 'What kind of question could they try to stump me with?' The topic of homosexuality came to mind. It's a hot button and a question that puts the person answering on the spot. If they say homosexuals are perverts or weird or wrong, then the person is branded "intolerant" and oh-so politically-incorrect. If they say homosexuality is cool, then fellow believers will get on their case as being unbiblical and the person answering gets in trouble either way.

I thought to myself, 'Why does a Christian response (which should equate with "a balanced biblical response") get non-believers upset?' I think the answer is in the attitude or appearance that Christians think they're better than homosexuals. They admit, "Oh yeah, I'm a sinner saved by grace, but at least I'm not a homosexual sinner..." I've never vocalized that thought, but I've probably felt that way. Sure, some sins might have more consequences than others -- murder kills someone and leaves a hole in the murdered person's family; sexual sin leaves emotional, mental, and (probably) spiritual scars; whereas lying breeds mistrust and something like shoplifting has other consequences. They're all serious consequences, but some have more lingering consequences in the immediate future.

But when a believer "lowers himself" to the level of sinner, then perhaps a bridge can be built that will allow dialog and, perhaps, repentance and renewal to take place. I'm speaking in terms of speech here, not action. I'm talking about a believer not holding the standard of perfection up here (imagine someone holding their arm straight out at shoulder height and saying, 'You've got to jump this high'), but instead the believer acknowledges that the standard is higher than they themselves can meet, and thus lowering themselves to the same level as the sinner -- no matter what the sin. When we truly see ourselves as on a level playing field with everyone else, then perhaps we are humble enough to look these people in the eye and not give off an air of haughtiness or pride; but instead humility, compassion, love.

Didn't Jesus say we were murderers? I mean, in the Sermon on the Mount, didn't He say that if we hated someone in our hearts that we were guilty of murder? Could we not say, "In the eyes of the Lord, we're all murderers?" I've certainly hated before.

1 Corinthians 6:9 says, "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters no adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were..."

The text goes on to tell us about how we were washed, sanctified, justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus. That's the point I've had drilled into me. It's the truth. However, one of the points that can easily be missed is how we -- the body, the church -- are made up of sinners. We all miserably fail God. The standard of perfection is woefully missed. We have all failed. Now, one of the major points of Scripture is to not wallow in our failure. That's true. But perhaps remembering that we are equal to the person trapped or ensnared in a particular sin...perhaps realizing that will give us a non-judgemental heart with which to relate to that person with. We're not guaranteed that we're going to rescue every sinner from their sins. Most all of the time the sinner has to want to repent (to change, to turn, to alter their course) in order for that to happen.

But maybe if I can somehow respond in such a way that lets someone know that I'm not on a pretend high horse, acting like I'm better than they are...then maybe that person will take the respect I've shown them and offer it back and maybe we can have a discussion about God and His plan of reconciliation or perhaps maybe I can just be an example of, 'Hmmm, there's a Christian that's not whacked out of his mind. Maybe they're not so bad after all.' Either way, I feel like something's been accomplished.

The radio interview? I've done two in the past couple of weeks. They were both on morning talk shows at rock stations that cover lots of ground -- from wild partying to scandalous gossip to sexual innuendo. Neither one appeared eager to "trap" me with a tough question. But if that trick question ever comes, maybe now I'll be ready.

You always hated R.E.M.

You - ew - oo - oo - oo
were never into sweaters and pearls
You - oo-oo-oo-oo
were never a sorority girl...
When everyone like Hootie
you were jammin in your car
to the Wildhearts..."
("Sorority Girl" by Crunchy)

Much like The Wildhearts are a band that, up until now, never seemed to get the recognition in the USA that their feel-good fun rock music deserved. Now that this problem is getting solved, maybe the injustice of the great All Day Sucker debut album from Crunchy getting ignored will one day be resolved. It's not often that 14 songs are all good on one album (save for a best-of), yet that's the case with this infectious "foo fighters meets cheap trick" stuff.

About to get in the car to drive to Dallas to see Demon Hunter. I'll pray something like this before I leave, "Father, I pray that Your mighty angels would protect me as I travel."

I wonder how many angels there are. I've read Billy Graham's book, Angels, which is a good collection of each of the passages of Scripture that discuss angels and their work. The Bible states that 1/3 of the angels fell with Satan. That means a few things. Two points we can pull from that are: 1. There are a LOT of demons. So we should have a healthy respect for them (kinda like poisonous snakes). 2. The demons are outnumbered two-to-one. So we should not fear them or fear for our safety or "losing the war" to Satan and his minions.

While the Angels book is pretty good, it's not as deep or rewarding, perhaps, as a more studious theological book might be. I haven't read one of those, though. I'd love to know more about angels, but I'll certainly not wallow in my naivity or ignorance. One day, for sure, I will know much more. I believe that angels are all around us, but it's a mystery. I'm intrigued by the verse where Jesus matter of factly states, "Don't you know that you will judge angels?" Wow.

DLM Season 1 DVD Boxset

My wife and I have been watching a dvd boxset of the tv series Dead Like Me, which aired on Showtime. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but the synopsis sounded intriguing enough: "Georgia becomes a grim reaper after being killed by a falling (flaming) toilet seat from a Russian space station... She adapts as best she can..." (my paraphrase). Many of the anecdotes and the way the writers stage the various people's deaths are very humorous. Besides a very morbid subject, the sad way many people die, and the multiple profanity per episode; it's very entertaining and adds a lot of insight and thought into death and the afterlife.

"Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?" Paul had it figured out and he made some very graphic and visual metaphors about how very much Jesus accomplished through the cross and His resurrection. He made a public display of His enemies. He triumphed over them. While I don't think for a minute that He was pompous, arrogant, or showboat-y; but comparing what I've seen in competitive sports (like a player celebrating a touchdown, for example) helps me put into perspective the humiliating defeat that Satan took.

Wireless Messaging

I've been talking to someone today about possibly getting involved with some new technology to offer some content in a "mobile mall" kind of environment. Maybe offering ringtones, weekly news updates, etc. This could be fun.

I'm curious. Do you think that would be interesting?

The picture above is of a butterfly collection that Tourniquet drummer Ted Kirkpatrick gave me after a visit I made to his place for a cover story years ago. Some of these are from as far away as Malaysia and Brazil.

What A World!

Had a great day off (but if you read the illustrious Intern Diaries, you already knew that). Took the family to Sea World. Had a wonderful time. Just walking along, holding my daughters' hands was awesome. Fed a dolphin. That was a thrill. My staff would be glad to know that I wasn't wearing any identifiable clothing that tied me to HM. I mean, I took my shirt off in public. Good thing there were some other middle aged overweight guys there!
:?)

Sometimes when you come back to work, though, you are greeted with bad news. First off, the burglar alarm company called my wife as I was preparing to get to work. The back door alarm went off. On the way to work was all the anxiety (and prayers to ease it) about walking in on intruders. Even though I live in Texas, I don't own a gun. I had my cell phone ready to call the cops in case there was trouble. The good thing is that the door swung open this morning, so it wasn't very long that the house was open. Due to a delivery yesterday the door was left unlocked and it's not a reliable latch, per se, so it swung open from a wind gust, I'm guessing.

Then there was the fax waiting for me. Our distributor can't scan/read the bar code on the new issue. It's all my fault. The bar code is placed in a small box with a slight frame around it on the lower left corner of the magazine cover. The slight black frame on the box is one problem (when it comes to a white background, which usually isn't the case), and its placement too close to the bottom edge of that box is another. This is something I should've caught during the deadline proofing stage. I missed it. My bad. This mistake is going to be fixed by paying our distributor 25 cents a copy for them to affix a new scan-able barcode sticker on it. The math is 6,500 x .25 = $1,625.00

If you ever think of buying an extra copy at the newsstand for a friend, this issue would be the perfect one to do that with (hint, hint). I pray that God would somehow open an unexpected door and bless us with a counter-balancing thing that would help make up for this. It's kind of a drag. It costs about 95 cents to print an issue of the mag and we get about 1.18 per newsstand copy that's sold; and now our 23 cent profit is getting totally eaten up by this quarter a copy fee. It's a drag, but we move on.

I'm working today on the unedited (and lengthy) Demon Hunter interview that'll go up on our website and be viewable to readers that type in the code from the print version that'll give them access to this exclusive content. I'm planning on heading to Dallas soon to catch Demon Hunter on this tour.

Well, better get back to work. One more thing: I exercised for about the first time in a year on Sunday, and my body got a taste of that "exercise joy" that the body craves for our re-energization (nice word, eh?) and overall good health. I hope I can get a disciplined regiment going here on a daily basis. Maybe with the exercise machine pictured above I can get busy...

God is good...all the time.

When That Thing Starts Beeping...

...it usually means the food is ready.

I feel weird. In making some observations about myself:
I get frustrated and incredibly sad/depressed when dealing with mundane but sudden problems (like computers or phone lines...that kinda thing).
Handling a situation like that can be easy when I'm alone and I've got time to decompress, take a deep breath, pray to God for help, relax, and focus on the problem. It becomes a challenge when there's other people involved, because I don't want to take my problem out on them with even the slightest tone or sad, grumpy face. Then when I get two problems at once (or more), like a phone line to replenish a postage meter and a broken set of headphones, it can be frustrating, because it's hard to tell someone who's innocently coming to you with a problem, "Hold on a second. I need to decompress in order to handle this."

It's silly when you think about it (and complain about it), but I'll try to work on it. The picture of the office today is my helmet collection on the wall in my office. It's complete (until some team changes its helmet design).

Tonight's a big show, with Pedro the Lion (enter to win one of their new cds here at this site, just click on the banner ad for it), Dashboard and Thrice, and then Duvall later. Nice.

I read some interesting verses in Jeremiah and Job today. I love the argument God has with Job. It's almost taunting. I'll paraphrase:

"When's the last time you sent out the lightning, who reported back to you, 'Here I am!?'"

Job got put in his place, but overall he did pretty good considering all the bad advice his so-called friends gave him. I always remember the "two shall become one" lesson when I think of Job: Satan had permission to take everything from him (cattle, crops, buildings, children), but only to spare his life. But yet he didn't kill Job's wife like he did the kids. I assume that it must've been off-limits because Job and his wife were "one." Not 100% sure if that's the case, but it's a comforting thought about the depth of that marriage covenant.

We're Giving Away Pedro CDs

Come on, people... enter our giveaways and win some free stuff!
We have a banner ad on our main page (and there's five of them rotating, so you may not see it when visiting, but just hit the "refresh" button if you haven't seen it) that will open up an email form that'll act as an entry to win a free copy of the Achilles Heal album by Pedro the Lion.

In Austin this week...on one night...there is a concert by Pedro the Lion at Emo's and then down the street (on Red River) at Stubb's is a Dashboard Confessional/Thrice/Get Up Kids concert, which is followed by a late show back at Emo's with Duvall. How often do you get that much cool stuff in one night? You know what I mean.

Had a wonderful party yesterday. Lots of friends showed up. Had a great visit with my oldest sister, Valerie (who does some proofreading for HM Magazine). Gave her a tour of the office this morning, along with some of my super strong Starbucks coffee. I'm confident she stayed awake on her return trip home later.

Am listening to Rez XX Live right now, as I type up a historical perspective for our Sep/Oct issue. We picked 6 bands to highlight for the next 6 issues. The first was Larry Norman; the second is Resurrection Band; and I won't reveal the others until it's time. This is fun stuff to write about. History has its place in our scene. It's usually never super prominent, as fresh, new, and edgy rules the day; but it's good to pause every once in a while and measure the difference that our forefathers made for us.

The picture is of a place in our office that gets used a lot.

"God makes the color, but the color doesn't make you God."
(great line from "Afrikaans" off the Rainbow's End album.)

Psalm 24 is great:

"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."

That about says it all when it comes to the short-sighted doctrine that attempts to split our lives into "sacred" and "secular" compartments. It's all one life and this world is the Lord's. The prince of the power of the air is a punk. He's defeated. He was made a public spectacle of by the crucifixion of our Risen Savior/Messiah/Roaring Lion/Warrior/King.

The Wedding Song

"Today is the day..."

Darrell Mansfield fronted a band called Gentle Faith that had a hit song that is sung at many weddings. "Today is the day" is how it starts off. That is my segue to talk about the Rock Stars on God promotional stuff going on today.

I just returned back to the office after being on the "Dale and Bob" morning talk show on KLBJ FM this morning. It went fairly well. They have a very popular morning talk show. It went by fast and we talked a little about the Henry Rollins interview and Alice Cooper. It was weird talking for Alice Cooper, but paraphrasing his own words is about the only thing I feel comfortable doing, so that's what I did.

We'll do another radio interview this afternoon. This one will be for a local Christian radio station, called Power FM. Then at 2 o'clock is a little party for the book at the Hard Rock Cafe. That should be fun. It'll probably take up my whole day once it gets to be noon.

Today while reading the Word over breakfast (2 brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts, as usual), I read out of Mark 15 and Psalm 22. I pondered at how when Joseph of Arimathea came to ask Pilate for Jesus' body, that Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. It says "...he learned from the centurion that it was so," which probably means he sent someone out to fetch the centurion to confirm this. All that probably means that Jesus' dead body probably hung there for a while. This is not something I've thought much about before. I'm so prone to go from one event (death) to another (prep for burial) to another (resurrection), that I don't really appreciate the time that has passed. The despair I've always sensed (and felt mild doses of compared to His followers who had to deal with it in real time)...it was always heavy, but short-lived. The loss of hope while He hung there on the cross for how long...a few hours? It must've been hard.

My estimation is based on the fact that these people were on foot. Joseph must've seen Jesus breath His last and then he walked to where Pilate was. After boldly asking Pilate for the body (and since he was a high ranking government official, he may have had to stand and wait awhile before he was given permission to talk to Pilate), they both waited for someone to walk back to golgatha to get confirmation from the centurion. So all that action took some time.

I next read Psalm 22, which is a favorite of mine. There are at least three major prophecies fulfilled from that Psalm. The "Eloi, Eloi" call that Jesus gave to His Father ("My God, My God...") was one. None of the bones being broken was two. His heart melting like wax was three. The guards casting lots to divide up His clothing was four. The people saying, "let God rescue Him now" was five. There's even more. Wow. Such a rich text.

The despair and ugliness of people saying, "If He's God, let Him save Himself" was such an insult. I can only imagine the hurt from hearing that. Where was His security blanket? What could He hold on to? Those around Him were cursing Him, the pain was unbearable. Were all his bones out of joint? If so, that is incredible pain. His family and friends being there probably offered some solice. I hope inside that He was able to look into the future and "see" the result of His accomplishment. How it must please Him now to see people turn to Him and express their love to Him. Such a Hero we serve. Praise His Name.

Sonic Youth

Got the new Sonic Youth album, Nurse, in the mail yesterday. Sounds pretty solid. The Sep/Oct issue is well under way.

We "soft proof" each page on a website on our printer's server. We look at PDFs of each page, which shows us the "trim line" (where the page is cut out), which gives us an indication if a "bleed" (the background on a page that "bleeds" off the edge of the page, as opposed to having a white frame around the image/background). It is our last chance to catch any typo's or errors with image placement, etc. In older days, it was blue line and color "rainbow" proofs that were printed on paper and we held it in our hands and scoured over it, etc.

The office tour continues today. This is our archive of CDs of bands we cover. They are mostly all signed-to-labels bands in the Christian hard music scene (as well as artists of faith in the mainstream, like U2, The Alarm, BRMC, etc).

Not For Sale?

Had a really cool conversation with our new intern, Dave Stagg.
[by the way -- visit our Intern Diaries -- they're a cool fun read]
He interviewed this guy about spiritual things and it went deep. Had a fun discussion afterwards about the diety of Christ, His humanity, His limitations (self-imposed or not), the mystery of the incarnation, our roles on this planet as ambassadors of reconciliation. All great stuff.
Can't wait to read this in the Sep/Oct issue's "Intermission."

MeWithoutYou is our cover story. There'll be some other cool stuff, too.

When I was in Poland a year or two ago, I failed to bring the converter part of my electricity conversion kit and couldn't use my electric razor. So I went to the Polish grocery store and bought a Polish disposable razor blade and some shaving cream. Here's a picture of it -- Krem Do Golenia. I just ran out. I usually don't use a blade, but started to recently and thus finished this Polish supply. I love my Polish friends. Hope I can see them again sometime soon.

Magic Music Machine

If you came upon a magic music machine, what would you do? Let me give you some more details: This machine looks like a person, but you can tell it's manufactured. But it plays a special harmonious music that is unique. It is wonderful music -- like you've never heard before. It is so special, that you'd be a better person to stop and listen to it awhile. But this music machine appears to also be a pinata of sorts. You can see that it is stuffed with large amounts of cash -- bigger denominations, like 20s, 50s, and 100s.

The question becomes: Do you tear at and destroy the magic music machine to get the free cash?

[office pictoral tour: more of Charlotta's merch fulfillment room]

All About Chad Olson

The weather here is beautiful today.
A new intern popped in. His name is David Stagg.
Read his Intern Diary (click here).
He edited his school's magazine at the college he goes to in South Carolina. He should be a good man for the job.

Listening to a real fun roots blues album by Isaiah Owens this morning. Very edifying.

We should be finalizing the editorial menu for our Sep/Oct issue today.
Did I mention that MeWithoutYou is our cover story?
They are a great band.
I hope their album comes out on time in August.

Here is a continued look at our offices. This pic is where my wife, Charlotta works. She handles all the merchandise and subscription orders (as well as our accounting).

Sometimes a subject heading or title is just a random thought or an attention-getting device. Sometimes it's deeper and hidden. Sometimes it's not.

My dad has a cool "Proverb of the Day" emailing list that he sends to all his grandkids, and several relatives and friends. The Proverb from Sunday, from the 30th chapter naturally, was:

Every word of God proves true.
He defends all who come to Him for protection.

That's an awesome promise. I take great comfort and receive strength in knowing that God protects me. I'm seeking His protection and covering quite often. I'm sure I will be amazed and even more thankful one day when I find out about times and events where His protection and covering were monumental in my journey here. Praise His Name.