Craig's Blog of Destiny

One of our favorite television shows is Sports Night.  Of course, it was canceled some time ago, unfortunately after a far too brief run, but it still remains at the top of our lists.  In one episode, the producer of Sports Night, played by Felicity Huffman, attends her first Broadway play; I believe it was The Lion King.  When she returns to the studio she was so moved by the performance that she keeps repeating “did you know we could do that?” referring to the emotion generated in the performance.  I was reminded of that sentiment Wednesday night when we stopped in to hear part of Jeston’s rehearsal with Northwest Sound.  I just love a men’s chorus – LIVE.  You can hear some of them below, although to me the recordings just can’t convey the depth of sound and power that they can generate.  Whenever I hear them I’m moved by the emotion of the music. Did you know we could do that?

It’s Thanksgiving!  So, here, in no particular order, are some of the things I’m thankful for:

Gas Stoves – nothing cooks like clean, efficient, responsive gas…

98% mobility in my right shoulder

I’m thankful for a family that allows me to never grow up… while at the same time…

I’m thankful for a family that allows growing older to be such a joy

Great music – of all types, lately I’ve been listening to lots of acoustic things, from James Taylor to acoustic versions from Staind.  And Michael’s acoustic cd as well.

Kristin – my companion and truly best friend.  Kristin keeps my heart, and keeps it very, very well.

Sam and his sense of humor:  That Sam and I can laugh together, just about any time, anywhere,  is one of the greatest joys of my life.

J’Neil and her personality:  whether she’s playing the piano (or flute or piccolo or marimba or guitar or any of a number of other things) or staring at the stars her good humor is infectious

New Socks, there is nothing like the feel of new socks (unless it’s new guitar strings, as was suggested by the band one time…)

Good Books – books have been my friends most all of my life, some are old and faithful friends, some are new exciting friends

The internet:  isn’t the internet wonderful?

Netflix: so simple, so easy, so convenient

I’m thankful for grandkids… granted, a little grudgingly grateful (see the growing old reference above), but grateful all the same, because I have great grandkids!  Mathew becoming such a little man, Dillon driving and driving, Ashlie the little princess, Brandon just having fun all the time and Tyler (um, Kyle) the newest little baby.  They all make being Grandpa Craig pretty nice

Test messages, I’m particularly grateful for the ones from David about some sporting event, or Michael telling me he’s found an old Rush album on vinyl

I’m thankful for pie, in all it’s forms; it is nature’s perfect food

I’m thankful that we have a day set aside that we can be with family and friends, and that we live in a part of the world that allows us to be and do all that we can be and do.

A couple of weeks ago Allison suggested that I take the time out to visit one of Pastor Fred’s sermons since his marquees so often peak my interest.  That week they had a different Pastor (Pastor Dave) and his topic was “Weapons of Mass Distraction.”  That one was very tempting, but it just wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t Pastor Fred.  Besides, I consider riding my bike on Saturday mornings much more of a priority.
But Pastor Fred is back, and the week of the election, as you can see from the photo his topic was “The First Anti-Venom.”  Once again, he’s got me thinking.  Is this a play on words and he’s going to be talking about the first amendment?  I suspect that came to mind only because it was election week.  Probably he’s going to be talking about some type of resistance to the snake in the Garden of Eden, but what good would that do us?  Eve was tripped up by the snake; any anti-venom would be a little late now.  Besides, I’m not aware of any actual biting that may have taken place, and an anti-venom would only be of value if you suffer from an actual snake bite; again, typically missing in my life.  Maybe he’s referring to something else all together.  Any ideas?
So the next week, Pastor Dave is going to be talking about how he was saved by a donkey.  (I just couldn’t make this stuff up…) Or someone was saved by a donkey.  Perhaps an early Christmas sermon?  Mary traveled on a donkey, didn’t she?  Surely there were donkeys in the manger; apparently one of them was a hero!  Unfortunately, again, I’m afraid it may be something completely different.  In fact, my next thoughts have me quite concerned.  Or sad.  Remember, we’re talking about Pastor Fred, and because of one of our earliest experiences with him we can’t help but wonder about Pastor Fred’s diet.  I really hope not, but if the situation is bad enough that you’ll actually be saved by eating the donkey, I hope he didn’t give it a name first.

I know it’s a little early, but I’m already feeling a little Christmas spirit, so I give you this year’s version of our family’s Christmas dance, with special guest appearance by Grandpa Cottle:

The Craig, Kris, Sam and J’Neil family Christmas Dance

We have a Halloween Tradition at our home.  We call it Mr Pumpkin Man.  I’m proud to present this years version:

For those of you who are counting, we’re welcoming the fifth grandchild to the family this week.  Kyle was born to Jamie and Jeff last Wednesday, November 5th, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long (almost as tall as Jamie is!)

Thanks to Heather for the pictures!

My nephew Randy recently had a post regarding the Proposition 8 vote in California.  You can read it here.  Although I don’t usually feel the need to express myself on those types of things, I did on his site.  So, having taken the time to write out my comments, I figured I should post it here as well:

While it may be unfair to blame Utah for what happened in California, it is understandable.  Utah cannot escape the fact that it is the home of the LDS church any more than Hawaii could escape being the land of great beaches, or Las Vegas the home of cheesy shows, or California the home of the entertainment industry.  It is what it is.  The question that keeps bouncing around my head is what would have been Utah’s reaction if a group of Californian’s with money and power (perhaps the entertainment industry) decided that they needed to change Utah’s liquor laws.  There would indeed be an outcry.

The church does have the right to express its opinion – and it has a long history of doing so.  However, in this case they did more than express their opinion, they lobbied.  Even from the pulpit.  In the case of Prop 8, they stopped being a church and started being a political action committee.  Living as we do by the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules) the churches ability to generate somewhere around 15 to 20 million dollars along with an equally impressive, if indefinable, amount of manpower makes them a very effective political action committee.  There are a number of websites (admittedly church member websites) that are claiming the church got the proposition passed.  While that may not be the case, at the very least the church’s actions had some impact on the outcome.  Some of those church member websites are actually gloating in their ability to influence the results.

The church also has considerable political influence not defined by money and volunteer work.  You said that you would consider yourself in favor of gay rights, but that voting on this one would have been “very difficult” for you – because your church (not just the leaders of the church – the actual church) was telling you to vote differently.

I think the church made a mistake on this one.  They have a long history of trying not to be political and they should have continued that history here.  Since they ignored that history and decided to take action, I wish they had chosen something different to turn political on – like reducing taxes or cancer research or something.  That they choose gay rights isn’t necessarily surprising, but I think it is unfortunate.  There will be consequences to having crossed the line on a proposition in California and they’re going to have to cope.  Whether the backlash is too expansive is surely a matter of opinion – and there are lots of people that have the opinion that the church’s involvement in the issue was way too expansive in the first place.

Today is November 1st;  the day after Halloween.

I was in Walmart briefly this afternoon – just long enough to find they didn’t have what I needed.  As I was leaving, I sort of sang along with the instrumental background music they were playing.  It was surprisingly annoying to find myself singing:  “the hopes and fears of all the years….”

Yes, they’re playing Christmas music in the Walmart today.  November 1st; the day after Halloween.

So, this week Pastor Fred seems to be returning to more traditional subject matter.  Of course, I expect his discussion to center around Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  (I thought it interesting that the New American Standard version changes the line to “the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”)  But then I got to wondering, our past experience with Pastor Fred clearly places him outside the box of conventional thinking, so maybe he’s thinking of an actual rock, maybe something like Ayers Rock in Australia, or Devils Tower in Wyoming.  They would certainly fit into my description of divine.  Perhaps this week’s sermon will be a travel log of big rock sites.
But then it came to me – perhaps Pastor Fred is more in tune than I’ve given him credit for and what he’s actually saying is that it’s cool to be divine, you know, like “those divine folks over there, they really rock!”

For a number of years I’ve been listening to Bob and Tom radio in the mornings.  Sometime’s their humor gets a little juvenile, but they have nationally known comedians on regularly as well as interesting other guests.  Of the other guests I particularly like the musicians they have on, particularly when they set them up in studio to perform (I’m a little bit of a sucker for that “unplugged” sound).
Last week they had Dave Mason on.  Dave Mason was originally in Traffic, and for a brief time was with Fleetwood Mac.  Mason has played and recorded with many of our era’s most notable musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Mama Cass Elliot.  He performed two of his best known songs live on Bob and Tom, and I couldn’t decide which one would be better to post, so I posted both of them.  Enjoy.