This Guy Falls Down

Best closing ceremonies ever...

...the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

OK, so maybe not really, but because I was about 11 when this happened, it will forever be seared into my psyche.  During the broadcast they say that it's a "real" UFO that really flies using jet fuel, but I've since read that it was lowered into the stadium by helicopter...

And then there's Lionel Richie...

 

Obscure Olympic Events

After most people go to bed feeling good about themselves and thinking about the results from gymnastics or swimming or track and field, a funny thing happens.  The Olympics keep going.  And if you're like me and have cable television and a newborn baby that has you up at odd hours, you are blessed with being able to watch some odd sports.  I've gotta admit:  I've actually kind of gotten into a few of these, to the point that I'm considering an Obscure Sports Quarterly subscription and a TV package that includes ESPN 8 ("The Ocho")...

While there are the obviously obscure choices like badminton and table tennis, here are a few that have caught my attention:

1. the steeplechase:  This one gets the prize for me, simply because I wasn't sure if I really saw this or if I dreamed it.  I asked Stephanie today which sport had a footrace with hurdles that were like horse hurdles, and a jump into a pool of water.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  Maybe I really did dream it up.  Nope.  That would be the steeplechase.
2. trampoline:  Athletes jump on a trampoline about 20 feet in the air and do all sorts of flips and whatnot.  It gets trickier because they have to stay within a small square portion of the trampline.  I really got into this one.  Very artistic and very athletic at the same time.
3. speedwalking:  Another one I thought I might have dreamt up.  It's just like it sounds:  you walk real fast.  While the dudes look pretty weird, I have a huge appreciation for what they do.  The main event is 20K, which is really close to a half marathon, my race distance of choice.  And the whole walking thing isn't far off from the Galloway run/walk method I like to utilize.
4. cycling:  Not the street cycling, but the indoor racing in the big wooden bowl.  Since I am the least coordinated person I know, I have a tremendous appreciation for sports which involve equipment.  The circular nature adds a little bit of NASCAR flair, and you're sitting there going "how do these dudes not wreck all the time?"
5. canoe/kayak:  The Chinese built a little whitewater river with a stadium beside it.  That right there is intriguing enough, but it's pretty amazing watching people not just go down the rapids effortlessly, but they have to go through all these little gates, not unlike downhill skiing.  And they make it look so easy...

Summer Reading Club, the home stretch!!!

OK, I know it's been a few weeks.  Hey - I've been busy!  But today you have the unprecedented, well, only a little bit precedented opportunity to take part in the Summer Reading Club!

• To participate, all you have to do is set up a little blog post about the books you've been reading.  A list would be kind of cool. 
• Put a link back to THIS POST in the body of your Summer Reading Club blog post.
• Use the Mr. Linky tool below to link back to your post.  Be sure to link back to the Summer Reading Club post, not your general blog URL.
• Bear in mind that the SRC ends NEXT WEEK.  For the final Summer Reading Club blogging party, everyone will do a list of what they've been reading.  It might not be a bad idea to start getting those lists together.  I mean, if you're interested in winning some kind of prizes...

Christian Crossover?

I've had this idea on my mind since our recent Billboard article which featured us on the cover with those exact words underneath us.

What do you think about the idea of "Christian crossover"?  What are some artists you think have successfully "crossed over" in your mind and done it in the right way?  Or do you think that Christians have no business participating in the culture at large?  Do you use words like "sacred" and "secular", or as we in the band joke "circular"?  What do you think our role is?

I know that's a ton of questions, but I'd love to hear your feedback.  I have my own opinion that I'll share with you later, but you go first.  I don't want my opinion to taint yours...

(my contribution to Watercooler Wednesday)

Out of the "fog"

Not long after I got home from Montana, the site of my last blog post, something felt a little wrong.  Just a tickle in the back of the throat.  As much as I tried to avoid it or deny it and keep a positive attitude, a cold hit me like a freight train Saturday night after our show in Michigan.  So I spent my Sunday in that "fog" you get when your brain is only operating on about 70%.  Well, I'm back today, sort of.  Consider this post my feeble attempt at getting something resembling momentum that I can use towards bigger and better blogging feats.  What that last sentence meant, I have no idea...

A little electronic postcard from Montana

1. Consider this a little care package, sent to you all the way from Missoula, Montana, home of the University of Montana Fighting Grizzlies.  OK, so I made up the Fighting part, but it sounded good right?
2. It seems like forever since I've posted around this joint so I figured I'd send some love from Montana to try to get some little bit of momentum going.
3. I've been busy, what with the baby and the album release and the Our Manager Doesn't Own a Globe Tour.  I also have a bunch of stuff I want to talk about around here, but haven't had the time.
4. Oh yeah, the baby.  Did I tell you we had a baby?  My beautiful wife Stephanie gave birth (with the assistance of some medical technology!) to a beautiful baby girl named Katherine Marlow.  I'll do a "we had a baby" post soon, but check out the wife's blog for more details (and some cute pictures!) 
5. I read Picnic at Hanging Rock the other day.  Very subtle, subliminal, slightly creepy, kind of gets under your skin in a good way.  Think E.M. Forster meets Charles Frazier meets, I don't know, M. Night Shamalama dude.  I'll try to get a full review going around here.
6. The Summer Reading Club is winding down!  Only 2 more weeks or so until you have to put your books down and we do some kind of statistical analysis and give out a couple of prizes.  Oh, dang.  I gotta figure out what those prizes are.
7. Skribit - keep on using that little Skribit box over there to the right.  I think it's cool as junk and I intend to use it both here and on the Third Day blog to try and get closer to the sweet spot as far as content goes. 
8. Facebook - i have like 150 unanswered FB requests and like 35 messages in my inbox.  Facebook is cool, don't get me wrong, but it's starting to feel like another email account that I have to check...
9. Twitter - Twitter, on the other hand, pretty much rules.  I wish they made it easier to find people.  And I wish it didn't crash multiple times in a given day.  But it is the one online app that has changed my online experience more than any other.  If you don't already follow me, I'm "marklee3d" on Twitter...

That's probably good for now.  I will try and get a little more regular around here.  Wait, that kind of sounded like a Doxidan commercial.  You know, when nature needs a helping hand.

OK, on that note, peace...