Doug Van Pelt

This device can now be safely removed from the computer.

I heard a great joke last night.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Control freak ... now YOU say: "control freak who?"




I'm hoping to write a bunch on my novel today. I'm just going to give away the majority of this HM Magazine work day away to myself to get this book thing going. I've got so many details in my head. I hope I can "flush them out." I'm excepting that I might go back over these ideas to "iron them out" once I have them down. I want to make sure this book flows well and is a page turner. I'm really banking on the fact that weaving so many areas of interest into this story that it'll be a fascinating read. Here's hoping.

Here's my prayer:

Father, I offer this book to you. Thank You for the imagination You've given me and any skills and Your strength to work on this book. I leave it in Your hands. I pray that You would allow me to reach my goals, one of which is to show up in that "Best Seller in Sports Books" list in ESPN the magazine; nevertheless, let Your will be done. I pray that You would teach me more things that You want me to know through and as a result of this process. Please help me to finish strong. In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Parody Blog Coming Soon...

...or has already come.

P.S. Listening to In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. It's interesting to hear more organic and sometimes these Africa artists singing in other languages with these classic tunes.

I admit it -- I like Frank Peretti's novels...

...For those that don't know, Peretti's got his critics out there.
"Pop fiction."
"Simplistic writing."
And: "...he demonizes liberals."

My favorite part of This Present Darkness series was when an angel would stop and say, "Wait, I want to hear this one more time..." As humans below would say, "Let us pray." That excites me and resonates within me -- that angels and God Himself would be happy to see and hear us pray.

Point Of Grace Contributes to Marilyn Manson Tribute Album

What may come as a shock to some, contemporary Christian music artists Point of Grace are adding tracks (along with Trent Reznor, Ministry, Nikki Sixx, HIM, Morbid Angel, and a host of other hard rockers) to the Universal Music release, We Haven't Forgotten You: A Tribute To Marilyn Manson.


Almost as an effort to avoid the controversy they know will come, the band of young mothers commented: "Most of Marilyn's lyrics are metaphors for how the church has behaved. Remember the book of Hosea? Where God instructed the prophet to marry a woman of the night? She was unfaithful to an insane fault, even paying men to sleep with her. This was God's way of illustrating how Israel had been unfaithful to Him, yet He still remained faithful. He cannot deny himself. I am convinced that Marilyn is secretly a believer, with a major announcement coming soon!"


No release date has been set yet, though sources are pointing towards late summer. Look for a press release regarding this date and a partial track listing soon.

The Great Exodus.31

God told Moses to notice how He had "filled some men with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts -- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship."

This should be massively encouraging for any artists out there. My access to good Bible commentary on the theological ramifications of the term "filled with the Spirit" in this context is disappointingly shallow, but I bet it's safe to conclude that whatever this means, it's a good thing for the skilled artist. It's like they are given special abilities as well as honor and responsibility by God for work in the arts.

I bet the people of God were anxious to see how all these instruments and the temple/tabernacle they were building would be used and how the sacrifice system and worship would work.

In the same chapter where God reaffirms His giftings of skill to the craftsmen and builders of all the things He asked them to build for the tabernacle, He also lays down his instruction about the Sabbath day. It was a rule to have a day of rest. Isn't it cool that God is serious about rest? He's not a giant taskmaster that wants to beat us into submission and break our backs with relentless work. He's so unlike the Pharaoh and the Egyptian oppressors that worked God's people to the bone. In some ways, I wonder if it was a relief to hear God bring that law down. When you work hard, man, resting is such a welcome relief.

A song dedication

This comforting song goes out to the Stephen C. Chapman family, and their caregivers:

"Sad Face" by The Choir (from Chase The Kangaroo).

Sad Face
There's a crystal in the window
Throwing rainbows around
There's a girl by the mirror
And her feet won't touch the ground
'Cause she never saw the sky so bright
Isn't that like a cloud, to come by night
Nevermind the sky
There's a tear in her eye

A sad face is good for the heart
Go on cry, does it seem a cruel world?
A sad face is good for the heart of a girl
A sad face

There's a woman in my kitchen
With a rainbow on her cheek
Well isn't that a promise?
Still I never felt so weak
There's a tiny spirit in a world above
Cradled so sweetly in our Father's love
So you don't have to cry
No there's something in my eye

A sad face is good for the heart
Maybe just now I don't understand
A sad face is good for the heart of a man
A sad face

A sad face is good for the heart
It's alright you don't have to smile
A sad face is good for the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
A sad face
A sad face...

We could be friends on myspace

Everything's better with Blue Bonnet on it.

So, if you took Black Sabbath and transported them to a primetime slot on stage at Woodstock, would all the hippies have melted?

This morning, at around 4-something, I uploaded the last 80 pages of this new issue. I just need to look at the proofs and approve the pages and the printer will start plating and printing. Whoo-hoo!

I squeezed in an interview with Valle of HIM yesterday (scheduled for yesterday, because I was supposed to have been finished before then).

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

I love that verse. Psalm 34 is my favorite, in part for that one.

A lot of times, when someone asks me to pray for something, I'll pray right then, so I won't forget about it later and never pray.

I'm still tired.

Another Day

Today should be the day that I breathe easier, where I relax a little and rejoice that I've finished another issue. But that is not the case. I was able to wrap up the "Hard News" and "Live Report" sections, but not get through the "Pick Of The Litter" last night. I excused myself during our "Life Group" meeting at our house and worked on this stuff. Once I finish the last piece of the magazine, there is still a lot of proofreading, correcting and final file preparations before I send to the printer.

Another thing that's cool about our printer's new Auto Upload technology is I don't have to wait for the pre-press team to provide me proofs. I can approve a proof that's generated within seconds after uploading a file. If I approve it quickly, the whole magazine can get plated and printed right away.

I am thankful, though. While I should be done but I'm not, at least I'm scheduled to interview one of my favorite bands at 10am. Not many people can say that. Here's to finishing this issue!

Snatching Defeat in the Jaws of Victory

I was just looking at the scoreboard: Deadline 6 - DVP 3. I was sure I was going to win this battle and narrow the gap to 6-4. Ah, but that is not how it's going to be. It looks as if this deadline will defeat me. I needed to finish putting things together last night in order to proof/correct and "print" to PDF each page of the magazine today. The new Auto-Upload system will allow me to send files and, within the space of a few minutes (or even seconds) I can have a proof to look at on the printer's site. This eliminates lots of proofing time and speeds up the job, as well as reducing the cost. But now I'm going to widen the gap in the score. I'll be behind 7 to 3 now. I wish there was some 3-point plays in magazine ball. It'll take a long time to catch up and take the lead. Someday, deadline, I'm going to get you!

Speaking of sports, I've been missing some GREAT basketball games in the NBA playoffs this year. Wow. Game 7s. Boston, LA, San Antonio. What's that other team? Detroit? I'd like to see a Celtics-Lakers Final Series, but I'm kinda partial to the San Antonio Spurs, too. We'll see (or not...deadline has me passing up all tv lately...what have I been missing?)...

Thanks to Frank Hart (Atomic Opera) for turning me on to the wonderful Cafe Verona blend of Starbucks -- a bright, bold flavor. I can't wait to take my first sip in a few minutes. I should also thank Phil & Ruby Scholling, for Ruby (who used to work with Grrr recordS back in the day, when she met her guitar playing husband, who played metal licks for Philadelphia back in the day) told me about this private Edmund's Blend at this local coffee place in Northwest Austin. And then there's Manuel Castillo, the flute playing vocalist for the San Antonio power metal band Paradox. He's the first one to train me how to make coffee not taste so much like coffee (by adding cocoa, creme, and honey). I guess we'll throw in Juan Valdez, too. Just because...

Today is the day...

I can hear Darrell Mansfield, of all people, singing that Wedding song. I think it's called "Today Is The Day." I don't know. But it's the final countdown for the July/August issue. I've got so much I want to say, but only so much room to say it in the little "note from the editor" page. Hopefully, this issue will be amazing and great.

In the face of "oh, everyone is going online" and "this is an abomination and a waste of our environment!" (which was an actual quote filmed for some crew during SXSW, with a reporter holding up a copy of HM Magazine and talking about how it was a waste of trees, etc. A friend of mine walked up and saw all this take place. I would so love to see that segment)... But anyway, in the face of all this so-called "movement" away from paper and onto digital/online editions, we are actually upgrading our paper to a thicker, shinier, higher quality stock! That's right! The next issue of HM should look a lot more beautiful than usual. The first 8 pages (on either side of the "double flip cover") will be on an 80-pound thickness paper (instead of the current 60-pound). We are getting rid of the polybags, which initially were used to hold inserts, like the old CD samplers we used to do, and then were kept on to help resist tearing of the covers in the mail. Now, with a thicker cover, the magazine should be able to resist damage in the mail stream. One of our advertisers used to always request placement on those up-front pages of thicker stock, back in the 90s when we used it before, because he loved the way it looked. He's going to be pleasantly surprised. I think I will be pleasantly surprised at how good it looks, too.

Sometime around 5pm I will be drinking a 16 ounce can of Monster (blue) Energy drink. That'll be my stage two rocket booster to work as late as it takes. I still have the album review covers to pop into the album review section, the Hard News section, Live Report, a few more ads to place, the columns. I'm toying with the idea of making a big ink spill on the page if one of our columnists doesn't turn his column in. Make it look like an accident and freak everyone out ... or run a big "subscribe to HM" ad with a live shot in it/next to it. I might try to push the envelope of a celebrity endorsement by placing a "Subscribe to HM" narrow ad next to a photo of an artist. I have reached out to the label and management of this artist to get permission to use photos for a subscription ad, because that's kind of like an endorsement, but if I separate the ad part as its own portion, leave a sliver of white paper in between and then have a live photo, it can legally (at least in terms of what the post office calls an ad) be described as an in-house ad next to an editorial piece. I like both ideas, though. The ad/live shot and the big old ink blob.

What do you think?

Oh, my friend from Uganda, Dennis, sent me an encouraging verse today:

"...that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

Wow. God is not counting men's sins against them. That is huge! And another huge this is He is giving us the message of reconciliation! We get to tell people that God has made peace with them available. We are actually called "ambassadors" in the next verse.

Being so close to 2 Corinthians 5:17, I couldn't help but recall that moment of great joy, gratittude and sense of accomplishment. The joy of knowing it was God's work and not mine erased the self-satisfaction part and put it into a "grateful I could serve God and somehow be a part of that" when I saw some people on the floor of the Casper Events Center arena, praying over the "It's Cool To Be A Virgin" certificates we had handed out at one of our out-of-state shows with Lust Control. By God's grace, we can believe the promise that our failure has been wiped away and that we are truly "new creatures" in Christ Jesus. We've been pardoned. This is amazing, freeing stuff.

The Great Exodus.30

I have a feeling that the priests in the temple didn't rush around or stress out or move too fast. I was reading about the ways they consecrated the utensils and made the ingredients for worship (including anointing oil and incense). There was a bronze plated basin made for washing the priests before they entered the "tent of meeting." I pictured myself washing both my feet and hands in a basin. I probably either sat down or stood on one foot. If I was in a hurry to do all this, I might fall down and get more dirty. I imagine they just took their time and did it right. God was pretty serious about them not coming in to minister unto Him with dirty feet or hands. It says they would wash their feet and hands "so that they will not die." I guess that's pretty serious.

It's kinda cool that God ordered a special recipe for the incense and anointing oil. He wanted it to be designated and special -- sacred. He made it a crime to use the same recipe for anyone's private use, the penalty of which was being cut off from the people. Besides enacting this sort of copyright infringement type of law, He also asked everyone in Israel that was 20 years old (military age) or older to donate a half shekel as they participated in a census. This was "a ransom for his life at the time he is counted." Can you imagine being told to pay a ransom for your life ... from the Author of Life that gave it to you? It'd be hard to argue with that, huh?

Now that I've been a believer for more than half my life, sometimes I think about non-believers (from my "outside" perspective) and I wonder how people feel about the obvious and natural obligation to serve the God that made you. It makes sense to me: If there is a God, then certainly there is some measure of accounting to Him, like an obligation to know Him, serve Him or do something to pay Him back for the life He's given. I imagine if it was a simple one-time token thing to give Him, people would line up. "Where's God at? I want to give Him my payment and then get out of here..."

Who am I?
How did I get here?
And what should I do?

These are serious questions worth pondering.

Another reason why file sharing is hurting music

I haven't been one of those that has ranted and raved about file sharing. I used to share music on cassettes with my friends back in the day. It was done on a limited basis and not shared with even dozens or hundreds or thousands of "peers," but I want to talk about something else right now ... another factor that's suffering, not just the finances for the artists.

I'm talking about the music we love. I think we might be falling in love with music less. Not all of us, and not all of the time ... but there is one thing that happens to most of us from time to time. It's called the "free factor" or the "value-less" ideal. Here's the deal: when someone gives you something, sometimes you treat it with less value. "Oh, it was a castaway or extra my friend Tony picked up for me in the freebie bin at the music store." If we don't pay something for it, sometimes we tend to value it less. On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes when we buy an album, that little investment makes us give more than a single chance to like it. We won't be as quick to discard and forget about it. But if it's a freebie, well, who cares?

Think about the difference between being in love with an album, memorizing the words and even the song order (hearing the beginning of the next song as one is fading out) ... the difference between that and "who cares."

So, be it ever so subtle, there are habits and trends out there that are using music and treating it as disposable. When I listen to some music that I love -- that tune or tunes that can give me goosebumps, I compare that feeling to this apathetic one, and it makes me sad a little.

The Great Power Ballad

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the great power ballad.
Who can play 'em better than the Scorpions?
I am blasting "The Future Never Dies" from the Humanity album, complete with piano, big, sing-along choruses, and that sweet little German accent of Klaus Meine. Wow.

I'm getting my toes wet with twitter. One of the comments I made tonight was how really good music can energize you -- just as good as coffee (maybe better!!). Jammin' lots of tunes as I lay out mondo parts of the magazine.

672 New Subscribers...

...in one day (!)


Welcome aboard, former CCM Subscribers!

just give me your password

insert blog title here


The other day I was reading the new online edition of Transworld Skateboarding (one of many magazines I subscribe to). It was their "Who's Next?" issue and had lots of great photos in it. It's kind of frustrating to try to follow along with some of their sequential photos, because some are left to right for each row; some are clockwise, starting upper left; some clockwise, beginning upper right; and some go across, down, across, down, switching sides at the end of each row. When zooming in to see details of some of these rad tricks, it gets frustrating if you are zooming and moving to a part of the sequence that's out of sequence. I longed for the print version. Now that I have it in my hands, I'm like, "Ahh, this is much better."


I imagine that many others are like me, and that print magazines will never die.


Speaking of magazines, our digital/online edition just got a cool new upgrade. It's using a new "pluginless" browser, which means new visitors don't have to download some java applet to view the magazine. It also has the capability of displaying flash in the pages, meaning the online edition can be animated. It can come alive, but don't worry: it won't become a monster, leap out of your moniter and harm you. I promise.


I am in serious talks with my printer about getting rid of the polybagging (which used to house inserts like CD samplers on a regular basis, which we haven't done in, like, forever; and now serve to keep the magazine's thin pages and cover from tearing off in the mail). Well, the money saved in getting rid of the polybags and the polybagging process might be used to upgrade the paper stock -- from the current 60-pound grade paper to a thicker and heavier 80-pound. I hope the numbers show this to be a do-able situation. It'll be a fun exercise in improving the print ... at a time when other magazines are running from it (No Depression, CCM, and several others).


Tony Shore
David Bach
Randy Elrod
Nathan Doyle
Mike Kaply
Chad Olson
Tim Hallila
Brian McGovern
Todd Pannell
I'm sorry. Did I drop those?

The Great Exodus.29

Unlike those other chapters in the Bible, this is a good one.
(sorry, bad joke)

Moses is relaying more instructions from the Lord here, only this chapter is pretty much about the preparation of and execution of consecration day, where they start ministering in the tabernacle. The priestly garments are put on Aaron and his sons. Three rams are killed, with their organs, blood and certain gooey body parts dealt with in specific ways. The blood of each ram was sprinkled or poured on specific things, the last of which was the right ear (maybe signifying the right as being sensitive to hearing God), the right hands and right feet -- thumbs and big toes, specifically (perhaps symoblizing a life of service to other people on God's behalf).

The dedication to be a minister is a pretty big deal. I'm reminded of how I should respect not just religious leaders, but those others in public service that help on a regular basis (police, fire, teachers, janitors, and even politicians).

The regular sacrifice of two one-year-old lambs each day (morning and twilight). This went on for a very long time. Even in times of severe apostasy in the land of Israel, they kept this practice up.

I like the conclusion of this consecration. God declares:

"Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God."

That is cool.

The Great Exodus.28

It's 8:16. Do you know where your magazine editor is?

"What are you doing?"
That's the question twitter is asking. Twitter is quick & concise mobile (mostly) social network that's taking off. While I was in Africa, that's all a group of the bloggers were talking about (that and being blown away by what we were seeing each day). At SXSW it was a given that you were twittering away at the conference. If you missed a certain seminar speaker or event, you likely had a friend on the inside telling you about it in small 140-character messages. It's a social network that simply asks you to update the people you follow and who follow you "What are you doing?" You'll see lots of updated messages, like:

"I'm standing in line for Prince Caspian. There's a guy here dressed in character. Weird."

or

"Left on Roswell. Red light. Dang."

I finally bit the bullet and signed up. I haven't got my mobile device (a Sprint phone) to properly work with it, but hopefully I will and hopefully it won't be annoying. Imagine a thread of 7 text messages coming over at once.

My twitter for now would be:

"Cafe Verona blend Starbucks. Freshly ground. Insane amounts of vanilla creamer added. Mmm-mmm."

Chapter 29 of Exodus discusses the "Priestly Garments." It's interesting how, in verse 2, God tells Moses: "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, to give him dignity and honor." I guess dignity and honor from men to men is important to God -- at least it was in the case of his priests.

Note to self: Remember to show respect to pastors, priests and other spiritual leaders. God kind of makes a point of this in more than one place in Scripture.

There are 12 fine jewels / stones woven into the breastpiece that the priest wears: ruby; topaz; beryl; turquoise; sapphire; emerald; jacinth; agate; amethyst; chrysolite; onyx; and jasper. Each one is to have the name of one of the 12 tribes (or sons) of Israel engraved on it, like a seal. It's interesting that God didn't assign one stone for each specific tribe. He apparently let that decision be made by the craftsman ("skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters") themselves. It's fascinating to me that God gave such an important decision (or at least one that would have long-term, if not eternal) ramifications, as that tribe would bear that color as their symbol from here on out. I like that God would do that. He gives us real responsibilities. We're not just "imaginary interns" that only run errands, make coffee and shuffle papers, accomplishing the "busy work" that doesn't take much decision-making. He is good.

Aaron's rob had pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem, with gold bells between them. These bells were heard when he entered the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, "so that he will not die." According to some scholars, tradition says that one end of a length of rope was tied to the high priest's ankle and the other end remained outside the tabernacle. If the bells on his robe stopped making noise while in the Holy Place, he was assumed dead and could be pulled out via the rope.

Aaron wore a turban on his head, which had a gold plate on it that said, "Holy to the Lord." It served as a symbol of sorts to signify that "he bore the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be." By him wearing that turban on his head, it made the gifts acceptable to the Lord. It's cool how the priest was like an advocate to God for the people. It's also wonderful (again) how God did not designate exactly what gifts to consecrate before Him. He allowed the people to bring their own gifts.

This was all to be a lasting "ordinance" for Aaron and his descendants. God was making he and his family for generations to come a family of priests. That's quite a cool honor. It's also interesting that God told Moses to "anoint, ordain and consecrate" Aaron and his sons. This is like another priestly duty that God gives a fellow man to do for his own. I think I can interpret that to give me lots of freedom and responsibility to be an advocate, ambassador and agent of God for my fellow man. If I take on the attitude and role of a humble priest, I will serve my fellow man, extending forgiveness and blessing as not only a cool way to give, but as a noble and serious responsibility.

Perhaps when I say "God bless you" and believe in my heart that He will, then He does...?

PS Now's the time on Sprockets we dance. And now's the time at deadline we start laying stuff out. This is one of the funnest parts.

The Great Exodus.27

This chapter has more instructions about the careful building of the tabernacle. It's interesting how specific the designs were. I'm reminded again how the Bible has more credibility than I originally thought -- every time I read details like this that seem superficial and, dare I say it, unnecessary (at least in terms of having a Scripture to guide our lives by). One example is the name of some guy's street (Strait) in the book of Acts. Sometimes an overall/big picture perspective gives us training in spiritual matters and better understanding (i.e. the message). For example, the fact that Moses was to have his people follow these instructions (and those from "the mountain") so carefully underlines the point that God is serious about worship and has an order to things.

I chuckle sometimes when I think about someone extracting information in a sincere but possibly misguided* effort to get spiritual teaching. For example, if we look at the measurements of the courtyard, it was to be a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. That's 150 square cubits. How many dimes are in a one-year subscription to HM Magazine? 150. How do dimes enter into the equation? Well, what percentage is the tithe? 10 percent! That's the value of a dime! This passage is obviously telling us that our true spiritual worship involves subscribing to HM Magazine. If I were serious about such an interpretation, I would be filled with sorrow. Sorrow leading to repentance, for to misguide* someone using "spiritual manipulation" is an offensive and terrible thing to do. Never mind that the math is wrong.

* The word "misguide" is a good one. I think of the person that is misguided. He or she is attempting to go a certain direction. The fact that they go is a good sign, showing a measure of an ethic/thought-pattern/attitude that wants to accomplish something. They're moving, in a sense. The quantifying prefix shows that the person is given wrong information and/or pointed in the wrong direction. They will likely miss their target. They're close. They've got a good motive, perhaps, but their information getting them there was off. It's interesting that a biblical definition of sin is "missing the mark." The action might start out with good intentions sometimes, but being deceived or misguided along the way keeps the action from hitting its mark.

Now, hopefully my little departure and discussion about the term misguided is a little more accurate (or maybe a lot more reliable) than the silly thing about the measurements of the courtyard. I get tickled (and roll my eyes) when I hear someone get into numbers and interpreting things out of details. I'm wary of such things. It's fun to solve a mystery, but assuming that everything God wants to teach us is a great mystery that needs to be unraveled is probably a bit off the mark. There's some very upfront and simple things that He's told us in His Word. If the Gospel isn't simple enough for an uneducated person to understand it, it's not fair.

Hillary Clinton, Hayley Williams, and Tony Dungy

If I were Hillary Clinton's speech writer, I'd be preparing the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" punchline. I think they're going to be on the same ticket come November, don't you? It'll give some paranoid conservatives something to worry about if they get in the White House. Obama might pick someone else as a running mate, but it's hard to imagine that after this tightly contested battle, isn't it?

Listening to Paramore's Riot album on the way to work. Both my kids like the band, and I think I just passed the 100th play milestone. It feels like it. They say "familiarity breeds contempt," but I think that was primarily aimed at and composed by college roommates, and not necessarily about getting sick of an album you play all the time.

Our resident donkey, Douglass, was courting (and constantly stalking) the Shetland pony here on the ranch, but now that the big Alpha Male tan horse has returned, the Shetland is always close by this horse and the poor donkey is off to himself in a far away field. I wonder if he's composing any blues songs about rejection while he chews on the grass out there. Perhaps I should collaborate with him. I might be the first human to co-write with a donkey. I think the whole Shrek movie was all animated and thus fictitious. I'm talking alt-country reality, here.

I'm reading Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength. It's great reading a football book in the off season. I should do this every off season. Come to think of it, I probably do that already.

I signed up for a twitter account over the weekend. Once again, I'm behind the curve, but the tech geeks are once again far in the lead. I haven't figured out how to get it on my cell phone text messaging thing. We'll figure it out after deadline. I watched Jumper over the weekend. Interesting flick. I also saw several Criss Angel Mind Freak episodes. I wish I knew his secrets. I finished transcribing the War of Ages cover story. Now I have to wait for the new photo shoot to happen later this week, so I can lay out the cover and cover story. This issue is another double-flip cover, so the Kutless cover is designed. The story's finished, but I haven't laid it out yet. I have to put together a story on The Famine and This Fires Embrace before I start the fun layout process. I have a few albums and DVDs to review, too. It's looking like a busy week. If you walk past my cubicle this week, I'll be like that guy in the Fed Ex Ground commercial, shouting, "Busy bee!"

And, in one last thankful comment: I don't really work in a cubicle.
:?)

My own private HIM CD/DVD Review (don't read this if you're not me)

HIM
Digital Versatile Doom CD/DVD
This Finnish gothic doom melodic metal (whatever you wanna call it) band has taken away the mystique. Each of their previous studio albums are recorded with equal parts rock attitude and studio sheen. The album covers have all utilized dark color themes – like black or midnight blue or the occasional stark red and pink (like the classic Razorblade Romance, which remains their best introduction-to-the-band purchase). While staying consistent with the gothic vibe in its packaging (a “digipack” with black background and gold framing and a beautiful illustration of a raven perched atop a microphone and stand), once you pop the CD or (especially) the DVD in, the mystique is shattered. It is then that you realize that this is a band of five humans. Not vampires clad in black capes and guitars stuck on like a Velcro or feltboard character from Vacation Bible School, but a group of five non-descript (save for the iconic, pale frontman) musicians doing their job. The chugging bass lines and all-over guitars meld in loud and boisterously with the keyboards. This was filmed and recorded in a Los Angeles theatre called The Orpheum, which may or may not have provided its own unique audio challenges. The drummer is actually perched behind one of those plexi-glass walls, like you see rock worship bands use on sanctuary stages all the time. This is a quick way to isolate the low-end sounds that a powerful drummer -- like this guy, Gas Lipstick – emits from his pounding. The guitarist, Linde Lindstrom, actually makes all his skillful playing look difficult, with a concentrated face and often grimacing during tight notes played in quick succession. Watching him made me appreciate anew the talent and skill that it takes to hold down such an important, foundational and sometimes isolated role as guitarist (especially when there's only one in the band). The singer makes it seem like a routine he’s been through before, but he’s having fun with it – almost like he doesn’t take it seriously. Again, another crack in the mystique. He could’ve sported a scowl the entire time and furthered his “dark” image, but instead he sports a grin and is often making playful faces to his bandmates and others off camera. Yes, this band is putting out. They’re sweating. Even though it is a nice and current fashion statement, it’s almost impressive that bassist (Mige, aka Mikko Heinrik Julius Paananen) keeps his stocking cap on during the entire show. And while we’re documenting trivial matters, the drummer was able to toss some of his sticks all the way up into the balcony, which looks impressive from the stage camera. And most observers will notice that vocalist Ville Valo keeps a cigarette lit in his hands for most of the show’s duration. They play material from their vast catalog, including several numbers from their heaviest and most recent, Venus Doom. It's cool to see them tap into the cascading riffs of its title track as their finale moment, putting a heavy accent on the evening.

The first time I saw HIM, a friend had seen them play on the second or third leg of the Dark Light tour and soured my expectations by telling me that Valo had smoked during the entire show in Atlanta and that his voice sounded the worse for it. I saw them at an outdoor venue in San Antonio and, even though they sounded breathtaking during the piano-driven ballad “Join Me In Death,” most of their show was one big muddy mix of hellish frequencies and faint similarities to so many songs that I love. Whenever they played one of their quieter, more dynamic and piano/keyboard driven ballads, like “Killing Lonelness,” for example, they sounded great. During any of the rockers (90% of the show), they sounded almost awful. I was reminded of the drug-touring years of Aerosmith in the late Seventies. Although I never have seen that band live, all the reports I’ve heard and television appearances, videos and even live albums (remember Live Bootleg anyone?) made their classic studio albums seem like unobtainable heights to these sluggish and drug-induced musicians from Boston. While I was able to hear many songs I liked from HIM that night, I still came away disappointed. Besides shattering the shadowy mystique of being Finland’s most gothic melodic metal import with this visual document, HIM also successfully proves that they really don’t suck in the live performance department. My friend and I must’ve seen them on bad nights, because the mix and the performance are both hot on this DVD. Thank goodness. I was fearing the worst when I unwrapped this one. Speaking of, this was an unexpected freebie from a publicist that I opened in yesterday’s mail. Maybe now I’ll be able to interview Valo (finally).

One slight distraction or blemish on this double disc release is the “Parental Advisory” emblem on the front. Because this was a fine digipack, it gets kind of ruined by this black & white announcement. Why they couldn’t have stickered the shrinkwrap instead of printing the thing on the cover, I don’t know. And why it has this warning is beyond me. As far as I can tell after one listen all the way through, there is no between-song banter laced with profanity. Perhaps it’s because of lyrics like: “My hearts a graveyard, baby / and to evil we make love.” Or, more likely, it’s the slight profanity in the interview with Valo in the bonus material, or perhaps his philosophical tidbits about love: “…it should be total submission to your passion, to your senses and to your heart…” I dunno. There’s also some video entries that “HIM’s biggest fans” submitted into a contest the band held. While not as amazing as Muse’s recent live CD/DVD package, Haarp, this is quite a wonderful audio/video treat. [Sire] Doug Van Pelt

Texas is Under Attack

I was talking to a friend this morning. I won't name any names, but I will say that "Jose Puente es muy caliente" does rhyme rather well. Anyway, this friend said something that really stood out that I liked. He made reference to being willing to sit down and listen to someone. "I don't care if you're atheist, or gay, or whatever. I will sit down with you and listen. I am willing to hear your perspective. I want to know where you're coming from." I'm using quote marks, but these are memories of a conversation a few hours ago now, so they're not as eloquent as my friend first quoted. He said, "I wasn't willing to do that 10, 20 years ago, but I am now." That really says a lot. So many people want to demonize others and put them in a box and not really listen to them.

Or, another mistake made often is: Christians feel like this is someone's last chance and they've got to cram all the answers down this person's throat. They have this messiah complex of sorts and/or they've been trained to believe that each personal encounter is a chance to harvest a soul and so they won't ever just listen, period. If they do listen at all (and any amount of listening is good), they make sure to answer the specific deception or false idea with an argumentative and (sometimes) pat answer. This turns off the listener.

The Christian thinks that listening and hearing someone out is tantamount to accepting their lifestyle or philosophy. That's ridiculous. We needn't be worried about the "scandal" of associating with someone that doesn't quite have their worldview orbiting around Jesus the Christ. Being someone that shows love, acceptance and forgiveness does not have to be equated with endorsing the lifestyle of those he or she accepts. Does it?

I think us evangelical Christians were duped into believing this giant perspective that we are living in the End Times and the Rapture is just around the corner and everything is urgent. Now, I don't want to be the guy caught saying, "Lord, Lord..." or "Where is His return?" But I have been around long enough to get a perspective that allows me to appreciate the long-term. Some people come to God when they hit rock bottom. Those are dramatic and most often wonderful stories. Some people warm up to the idea and take awhile to turn to the Lord. Some people do have an "appointment with destiny" and accept Christ after being evangelized by someone and then they later die that night in a car accident with a truck. But why are those the only stories we seem to remember? Someone drilled into our heads that everyone we see that is "obviously lost" needs to come to Jesus now or else they might begin their eternal damnation in a moment. Because I've had that drilled into me, I can still appreciate the need to be urgent. I pray that I stay sensitive to the Spirit of God and know and obey when I'm in a situation where God is leading me that way. I also have seen the late 70s come and go and -- even though there was many a crisis in the Middle East -- the expected rapture and Second Coming did not take place. I'm glad I didn't sell my car and house and move out to the country to wait. I'd be rained on, cold, and starved by now. I like the idea that there is a purpose for our being here.

If God is true and if He is amazingly good and willing to offer an abundance of fulfilling life, then it must be true that we can be agents of that kind of goodness if we just try. Maybe it all boils down to knowing God, hanging out with Him (praying) and just doing what He says to do. That's what Jesus said He was doing and that's kind of what He instructed His followers to do. So, maybe if we talk to God and trust that He'll "talk" to us by guiding our thoughts, then maybe we'll be inspired to love others and think of others as more important than ourselves ... and in time make this a better place -- simply because we (and in us, Him) are here.

I was talking to another friend later today. I won't name any names, but he was once basically accosted by Larry Norman, who asked him, "Why do you call yourself 'The Doctor' if you're not a real doctor?" Anyway, I told my friend about how the office was shaking and vibrating with a tremendous sound. Kind of like the sound of many horses rushing to battle. When I opened the front door I saw what looked like giant locusts in the sky, with what looked like tails of scorpions and long, long hair. These helicopters were very close to the ground. There were ten of them in formation flying South. I had no shirt on at the time (because I spilled some coffee on my white "SCENESTER" shirt and didn't want it to stain, so I cleaned it with water and had it drying outside on the porch. The pilots and passengers in the helicopter must've looked at me with disgust. I bet they were tempted to shoot me. My friend said, "Texas is under attack."

Look Who's On Tour

ANEMIC
myspace.com/anemic
riyl: the used, city sleeps, the beatles


WILLIAM STENNER
williamstenner.com
riyl: rock, underground recordings, raw material


NEGINOT
neginotmetal.com
riyl: sinai beach, killswitch engage, bleeding through


HEROES WILL BE HEROES
myspace.com/hwbhrock
riyl: august burns red, as i lay dying, war of ages

Speaking Regrets & a Russian Messiah

I just got back from speaking at my daughter's school. They had all the fourth and fifth graders in the cafeteria for "Parents' Involvement Day." While I was tempted to act out in Ricky Bobby's dad's character from Talladega Nights, I played it straight and told the kids about publishing a magazine. I showed them some posters and shared about how rewarding it was to see your hard work in your hands afterwards. I talked about how I enjoyed interviewing artists. I told them about journalists asking "open ended" questions to get people to talk. I showed them a 4/4 16-page form/signature, to give them some visuals and nuts & bolts printing exposure. I asked for a show of hands on numerous occasions, one of which was to identify which ones knew about the software program called PhotoShop. Several raised their hands. I was impressed. I spent at least half the time answering questions, which I always enjoy. One boy asked me, "What's your favorite thing to do?" I told him that was a great question and "difficult to answer." I thought to myself, 'Where do I begin?' I wanted to mention playing with or hugging my children, but thought I needed a better way to bring that up to not embarrass my daughter, why shyly introduced me at the beginning of my talk. I reiterated what I had shared earlier, that I enjoyed seeing something I worked on, I enjoyed interviewing people, and I enjoyed the relationships and friendships I've formed in doing that. I wasn't sure if I should answer with the most fulfilling things in my life or specifically about my job. I stuck with the job angle. When driving home, I felt pangs of regret when I thought about how I could have affirmed my daughter by saying something like, "Hanging out with my family," which would have also affirmed something in the hearts of all the kids there -- that family is important and that their fathers love them. Dang it! I coulda ... shoulda ... woulda! I think there's almost always a "Speaker's Regret," where you look back at what you said or didn't say and think of things you could have done that were better. Oh well, I think it was fairly fun and educational for them all. My daughter rushed up to me to give me back some stickers that she had or that were passed out or something. The big smile on her face was a transformation from the earlier vibe of "I don't know you / don't embarrass me" look on her face as she walked past when they filed in and I reached out for a "high five" and she kinda shrugged her shoulders up tight as she walked past as if ignoring me. It's nice to see that appreciation grow after the talk was done. Hopefully she'll be encouraged by affirming comments from her peers. My ego appreciates it, of course, but for a small person, sometimes being able to appreciate your parents from the admiration/perspective of your friends goes a long way to making you more grateful.

If I ever grow my hair and beard back and return to Russia, people might follow me around and worship me like a celebrity. Several years ago I modeled as Jesus and drawings of such are printed in a recent issue of the Russian version of Esquire Magazine. It's amazing to see this magazine (subscriptions are only $289, only about a hundred bucks more than a year's worth of Billboard), which portrays the lifestyles of the rich and self-important. I thought that the economy over there was horrible, but I guess there is an upper-class that's trying to and/or living the high life. Just like a fancy New York style magazine, there's all kinds of ads for the best watches, shoes, liquor, etc. Fascinating. If I did go, my message would be simple: "Borg leibet tiber," which (although I probably butchered the spelling) translates roughly into "God likes you." I think that message implies something that'll be swallowed and accepted by more people than "Jesus loves you," because people's minds are kind of tweaked when they hear the word "love" nowadays. Having someone tell you that "God likes you" is a little bit off-beat, a little unexpected, and thus not so much the cliche that "Jesus loves you" is to some ears. Anyway, a little goes a long way and I'm a strong believer in measuring success in tiny increments. Instead of counting numbers at a huge altar call (which, some will tell you, is full of skewed information and shallow commitments), someone moving ever so slightly closer to a relationship with God is a good thing. I'm all for the big "closing the deal, let's pray to ask Jesus into your heart" kinda thing, and am open to that if and when the opportunities come, but the tactful, sincere, and rich communication that might only get people to think is serving the same purpose, too. Some labor long-term and some specialize in short-term work. I think it's all potentially good and pleasing to the Father.

Deadline Score

I'm not sure what the score is, but I'm hoping to win another deadline by Friday, May 16. I've got a ton of work to accomplish between now and then, and I can hardly believe it's already "that time" again. I extend the May/June deadline until the end of March, so SXSW doesn't get too crazy with deadline and those many events, which shortens this July/August deadline from 8 weeks to 6 weeks. And there's a trip to Nashville for almost a week near the middle of that, so no wonder why I feel like I'm on the short end of thise production cycle -- I am!

Besides the deadline, there's a lot of things going on right now. Earlier this week we did an "email blast" to 20,000 "open" emails from the Creation Festival emailing list. I made them a generous offer that I hope is "hard to refuse," giving a cool premium with the paid subscription. So far, that hasn't returned nearly what I'd like. We have the CCM Magazine subscribers having the option of transfering their subscription to HM. I hope a lot of those people choose HM. There's another email blast scheduled to go out with one of the coolest pro-life organizations around -- Stand True (founded by the guy that founded Rock for Life). And then there's these three commercial spots that are in production. I hope we can air these on Headbanger's Ball. We plan on getting them on various sites fairly soon, too, of course. It feels kind of neat to have so much happening all at the same time. I hope that there is some momentum created. I kinda feel like some of the circumstances surrounding some of these events are providential, but I hope that the whole thing can fall under His care and direction. I would rather fail in God's will than succeed out from under His will. One of the ways I personally try to stay focused with that is to regularly pray and offer the things I'm doing up to Him. Sometimes I'll tell Him, "Thank You in advance for the things You will do." I don't know, of course, what He may do, but I am confident that I can thank Him and that He has our best interest in mind.

Even if I find myself on the pessimistic side of things, I believe I can sort of turn them around by turning things over to Him in prayer and admitting that He is in control (and I am not).

Live Out Loud

I got an email from a girl from our church that's been in San Diego for a few months. She's attending this school out there and it sounds like it's a really good place. The practical ideas and thought behind this tour, in fact, is so cool, I thought I'd pass this info along in case anyone wants to help them out or get involved. I love the idea of random acts of kindness.

Before we get there, though, I must complain: My distributor, who I've been with for 19 years, hasn't shipped our latest issue out to stores. Why? Because "there are two UPC barcodes" on this issue and "some stores won't take them without covering one of them with a sticker, which will cost you 15 cents per copy." This is crazy, dumb, and outrageous. First of all, it's the same exact barcode, so it's not like any inventory systems will get messed up as a result. The cashier can wand either side. Secondly, this is the third such "double flip cover" we've done in the last 18 months. There was no problem with those two issues, so why now? Third, they've dragged their feet for two weeks on this, while my magazines sit in their warehouse. Arggh. Okay, done complaining.




Hi EVERYONE!


I am SO EXCITED! For the past three months God has graciously allowed me to participate in a life changing program at the Horizon School of Evangelism in San Diego, CA. It is a 10 month dynamic discipleship experience, designed to equip servant-leaders for the Body of Christ and send them out to change the world.


In about three weeks, 80 of us from HSE will be embarking on a journey of a lifetime across America. The trip will take place May 21st- June 14th. From San Diego to Washington D.C. we will be asking, not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. We will be reaching out to help ordinary people all over the nation. Some specific contributions will be: thank you gifts to wounded soldiers and their families, backpacks full of basic needs for homeless teens, gas and gift cards for families struggling to make ends meet, hundreds of hours of community service in urban centers, and random acts of kindness along the way with no strings attached.


Would you please pray for me and our team as we head out on this incredible journey? To see specific requests and to track us along the way please visit www.hsesd.org and click on the “LOVE OUT LOUD” link. If you would like to join with us in blessing people across the USA you can send tax deductible donations to HSE, P.O. Box 17480, San Diego, CA. 92177 (memo: LOVE OUT LOUD TOUR).


Christ’s humble servant,


Maria Aguilar




2 Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him”.

How to minister to "street kids"

...a quick manual by Ted Bruun

I was in the car with Ted Bruun, the organizer of the Extreme Tour, which is going on right now and traversing the USA. It's a series of free shows by bands that have a heart for making a positive impact. It's pretty much a short-term missions trip for bands, because most of the time they don't get paid anything (save for the merch they sell). So, Ted and his buds were gracious enough to offer me a ride to the airport in Nashville last week and Ted started sharing with me how the tour was going (He also mentioned a fascinating new book called Righteous, that I must check out).

He was telling me about a conversation he had where he answered the question about "How do you minister to these street kids?" Maybe it was a conversation with the author of that book, who travelled with the tour in preparation for her book... Here's basically what he had to say (that I can remember):

1. We start serving them. We reach out to them with our actions. We show them that we love them.
2. Then, after we've shown them we love them, they usually ask, "Why are you doing this?" When we tell them, "Because I love you," they freak out, because the last person that told them that abused them, you know?
3. Then they try to push you away to "prove" that you don't love them.
4. Then, when they've exhausted their attempts to get you to stop loving them, they accept it. At that point, they usually believe.

Wow. I wish I could remember this discourse more clearly! My first impression was, 'Wow! He hit the nail on the head!' That's a perfect description of how "it" often works, huh?