Blogging From Ottawa

A vacation week. One of my favourite things to do is hang out in Ottawa and spend my day biking thru the city. Yup. And the sun's out!

Listening to: CHRI
Thinking about: biking along the Rideau Canal for 3 days.
Reading: Psalms and "Teamwork" by Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Elvis

Elvis Costello - "My Aim Is True" - 1977. It was the beginning of the new wave era, which was a softer branch of punk. Not today's pop/punk, but real punk. Punk like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.

Back then his act was a bit angry, a bit Buddy Holly, and a bit mysterious but over the years, he's mellowed and almost, debonair. His stage character is a little less enraged as he's branched out to become a connoisseur of music appreciation. While I have not followed Elvis since the early 80's, I have known him to dabble in country, big band swing, jazz and indie rock. He's played with Burt Bacharach and Alison Krause.

Friday night, Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes played Massey Hall in Toronto - the same venue where I, as a 20-year old, watched him play "Alison" and "The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes."


This show was without a fancy set, no video, no pyro. Just solid craftsmanship.

Elvis walked out at 8pm - no opening act. In the middle of the stage waited their instruments - a fiddle, an accordion, a mandolin, a flute, a couple guitars, double bass - no drums. It was all about the music, played by masterful musicians who backed-up Elvis, yet still let him have the spotlight.

So the set opened with "My Resistance Is Low" made famous in 1948 in a film by Jane Russell followed by a similar sounding but new Elvis song "My All Time Doll". The old hits "Blame It On Cain" and "Red Shoes" were re-vented by the impeccably tight 6-piece Sugarcanes that left me with the feeling that this was a band of polished musicians.

Always one to know the set list before going to a show, I was not expecting to hear "Happy", written by the Rolling Stones. And I was half-hoping that Elton John would appear during an encore, since Elvis and Elton are close friends, and Elton spends a lot of time in Toronto with his partner David Furnish. But that didn't happen.
In the encore, Elvis gave me what I wanted - "Alison" - but it was the new track -"Sulphur To Sugarcane" - that I'll remember most.

Elvis is 55. He's musically inventive. He knows a lot more than a 4/4 new wave beat. And that inspires me.

It's All About The Bike (sorry lance)

Considering this summer has been cloudy, rainy and, for the most part, kinda cool, I've gotten some good miles on my bike. I make a note each day of my mileage and I seem to be averaging about 200km a week, often more. I'm pretty happy with that.

Sadly, I haven't been part of any organized rides this year. I'm not much for early mornings and most group rides start at 8am, and most are out of town. Maybe I'll do the Lindsay "A Place Called Home Ride".

As someone who likes doing things differently all the time, it's odd that my biking route is predictable. Same route, almost every day. I wonder if the residents in Shanty Bay and Hawkestone set their watches with my routine.

In the saddle - which by the way IS comfortable - I can put the rest of the ride on auto-pilot. The ride is therapeutic for me - I get a lot of stuff sorted out mentally. New ideas for LIFE. Sorting out problems. While I ride, I make audio notes in my cell dictaphone. Then, when I get home, I have a major "to do" list that I gave myself! Haha! Well, I'm a detail-type of person so that's how I keep it all straight.

Here's a quick video of my on the bike.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP AT THE GYM

I've had a couple of crappy days. Down, lonely, unhappy and a bit disconnected with God. A friend told me to re-charge by reading one Psalm in the morning and another at night. Sounds like a good plan so I'm doing that.

After my 40 km on the bike, I went to workout at the gym. (Stop bragging!) I usually listen to a mix of Christian songs or some classic rock but last night I selected my "praise and worship" playlist. I know - not exactly gym material! Guitars and rockin' band - that's real gym music.

My playlist went something like this:

"Everyday" Hillsong
"God Of This City" Kris Allen
"Banner Over Me" Vineyard
"Arise" Don Moen
"Hallelujah To My King" Paul Baloche

I bet the 20 year old gym-rats would be surprised! Haha! Anyway, the songs picked me up. Oh ya - doubling the meds is helping too!

NICE TOUCH

In the halls of LIFE, we're still pretty stoke about the 10th Anniversary concert. Tons of email "congrats" are coming in from listeners and advertisers. It's neat to know that this celebration isn't confined to employees, but shared by - well, everyone.

After intermission, the show paused while the staff ran a tribute to me. I wasn't expecting it. Somewhere about halfway through this 9 minute video, I realized, "uh oh... this is a tribute to me!" However did they pull this off without my knowing about it?

Thanks to the LIFE DJs for their kind words. Nice to have a greeting from my friends who make the music. And to those people who are part of my radio history. And especially the greeting from Ra McGuire - whom I pray for everyday.

If you missed the vid, here you go.

I DON'T GET IT. IS IT JUST ME?

As a radio guy, I've lived in a bunch of different cities and, although I've been a member, I've never stuck with one denomination.

I think it's funny that Christian regard their denomination more than simply being a Christian. Baptists ONLY go to a Baptist church, even if they move to another city and Pentecostals ONLY go to a Pentecostal church.

Alot of stuff confuses me about God, partly because of denominations. They each believe something slightly different - and neither are willing to budge on their beliefs.

So who's right? They tell me they are both right and the other church has "it all wrong". (I've actually been told that by pastors.)

One Christian friend attends a church that claims their church is not a denomination, and they told me they don't approve of "denominations" because denominations aren't doing what the Bible says. But THEY are.

I've been part of a few churches. A Pentecostal church, vineyard church, missionary church and alliance churches. I feel like I have a good perspective of Jesus and I like the fact that different pastors and friends have poured into me. I'm not a one-denomination type of guy. But, I still have a lot of questions about how God moves. Is it just me? By asking these questions, I feel like a heathen.

Like, how come we keep praying for the same thing every day? A salavation. A healing. A relationship. Didn't God hear us the first time? I know he did - so why be a pest? Ya I know - we pray for our benefit, not His. Ya ya.

We pray for healing of cancer but people die anyway. I know they're eventually going to die, but if we prayed for healing and God didn't heal, why do we make excuses for God, like, "oh He answered the prayer in His way. We don't understand His ways". Uh huh. What does that mean?

Why do churches disagree about the role of women in the church? I'm told "it's very clear. Just read the Bible". Ya right - then why do you guys disagree?

I won't even mention tongues. Who's right on that issue? Well, one church is right and one is wrong. It can't be both.

Why did Jesus speak in parables? Why didn't he just explain it? Now we all argue about what He really was really saying.

Like the final words of Jesus ....in the three gospels "the final words" are all recorded differently. If they were FINAL words, how can they be different? Wouldn't the saviour of the world want his final words remembered accurately? Or did the writers of the Bible mess it up? Listen, if I was on my deathbed and my kids were by my side, I'm sure they would both want to remember MY finals words and not a misquote from someone else. Instead, we have a variation of his final words.

We each read God's stories with a different interpretation. Even the church denominations (including the church that doesn't think its a denomination) disagree on these subjects.

Is it ok to have questions, after being saved for 20 years? I think I have more questions every year and I don't really get any answers. Am I being irreverent?

RAMBLING THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE'S 10TH

Friday night was the LIFE 10th anniversary/Lincoln Brewster concert. I could write a series of blogs about my favourite moments - the audience, the songs, the video surprise, our very good looking staff (haha!). And from what I heard backstage, I could probably write another blog all about our visiting rock star's requests. But I won’t pop any illusions you may have.