Filling In The Blanks - The YFC Years 1

There are some days when there really is nothing to say, and there are other days when all you can think to do is blog about a visit to the dentist. I mean, how lame is THAT? Yeah, quite...

This morning it occurred to me that there might, just might be some people who would be interested in a little background of my brief musical career.

My parents were ardent classical music fans and heavily involved in music at my childhood church, which even they would probably agree was a pretty straight laced Anglican church. They tried to start my musical life on the piano but I was hopelessly unable to make both hands work independently -- those who know me can still attest to my inability to multi task -- so next they started me on the cello, which I kept at for 5 or 6 years. 

Only problem with the cello that it was very hard to carry around due to it's being so fragile (the bridge once snapped in half during a rehearsal), and frankly speaking, it was a terrible chick magnet, so as soon as I could, I picked up the electric bass.

I played for around 12 years in various worship bands, and had just returned from an 8-month spell as a youth worker in Mumbai, India when the opportunity to join Youth For Christ's itinerant schools' band TVB, arose.

I can't actually remember at this stage how it came about -- it may have been through a contact, the most likely reason -- but I remember feeling a little daunted at having to raise the $3000 personal support for the year, but it all came together.

TVB (The Vocal Band) was a band that spent maybe 8 months of the year on tour in schools and youth clubs, playing concerts, taking lessons, leading worship in churches etc. The band was -- I guess managed -- by Colin, a veteran of the Continentals singing group. Colin is now a U.S. based actor, and still a FB friend of mine whose most common phrase was "Know right now, there's no money". You get the picture. Zero budget! Anyway, Colin worked with us to get us sorted out that first year. learning the songs, figuring out just how we were going to do all this.

The music was cover versions. Christian songs with a message. The first of my 2 TVB years, the songs included hits by Michael W. Smith, Out Of The Grey, Kim Hill, Simply Red and even a Sister Act medley, I kid you not. We had about six weeks to learn the set by heart, along with how to teach school lessons, how to give your testimony, and stuff like that.

We were then pretty much unleashed on an unsuspecting nation, with a minibus for the team of ten and an equipment van -- a small poky red thing which we had to learn how to pack properly to avoid equipment damage. yes, we were our own roadies. How glamorous!

Of course, most of the learning process occurred on the road, but if I say so myself, this was a talented band, and we really sounded pretty good, especially when you bear in mind that school kids can spot a fake from a mile away. We had to be good at what we did.

During each of the two years I served, the band would spend several months at a time on the road, staying with host families, with the odd home break here and there to recharge. We also had a European tour as part of the year. year one we went to Denmark, and then later to Croatia (former Yugoslavia). 

My main memories of Denmark in January were that is was very expensive to buy anything, and absolutely FREEZING COLD (although I was taught how to drive on pack snow by a host in Copenhagen, which was pretty cool). All the school kids, and quite a lot of church priests seemed to smoke there, and we went to a pre-confirmation retreat where we were sad to discover that the kids were pretty much forced into it, and we were -- sad to say -- some of the coolest people they'd ever met: hard to believe, I know. We also stayed  in some quite horrible places (in one boarding school the kids smoked drugs and rioted while we stayed locked in what seemed to be cells in the cold). Happy days.

Croatia was just recovering from the effects of the Balkan War, and we arrived, thankfully in the spring, at quite a historic moment. More of that in the next installment!

The Valium Effect

Even after 3 years here in the States some cultural things take me a little by surprise. faced with the prospect of my second crown of the year, I was joking to my hygienist during my cleaning the week before, that it would be great if I could just be knocked out for the drill-fest. To my surprise, she said that I could always have a valium.

You should understand that in the UK, that kind of thing was not -- in my time anyway -- an option. Of course you got the anaesthetic (although you had to endure the injection without the numbing gel first), but nothing else was ever offered to me.

I was actually told that at one dentist office, they show movies on dvd for people, which would have been nice, but I was told that in addition to the valium, I could bring my iPod in and they wouldn't be insulted in the slightest if I listened to that as loud as I wanted to, while they butchered my mouth.

I suppose I should explain why I opted for the valium in the first place. I am not a coward, but I do have a problem with a gag reflex, while my tongue seems to have a mind of its own and wanders all over the place, generally getting in the way! The valium would at least make this less of a problem.

Anyway, the dentist prescribed one tablet - at a cost of $1.06 - to my pharmacy, and I took the tablet one hour before my date with destiny. Needless to say I had to be driven there and back (thanks Angie & Sue) and although beforehand as I sat in my living room I felt pleasantly relaxed, I can't say that I noticed a massive difference.

Overall I am definitely glad I went for it, and "pleasantly relaxed" would be a good summary of my state throughout the whole procedure - which was just as long as the previous one, but certainly not nearly as unpleasant. I was also grateful to Keith Urban, whose latest offering kept me happily distracted while the 2 girl tag drillers did their job.

All in all, while I wouldn't exactly say I could happily go through that every day, it was for sure a lot less strenuous than the last time!!

So there you go. A mundane posting maybe, but that's my life -- or as much of my life as I'm going to talk about right now!!!

I Will Carry You

Having recently discovered Angie Smith's wonderful "Bring The Rain" blog (see earlier postings on this blog to find out more) I have been reading her book which tells the story of Audrey in full, using excerpts from the blog at times.


It is a harrowing read.


But it is also a life affirming read. I never fail to be amazed at how Angie is able to maintain her humor through periods of extraordinary pain. At the same time, her honesty in expressing her feelings of doubt and abandonment that we all go through at some time, but because of our perceived need to appear superhuman "super-Christians" we tend to hide.


I am sure that people will experience peace and healing through Angie's words, and her frank acknowledgment that she is a work in progress. These days we need permission to struggle, to be vulnerable, to be anything less than on top of life.


How often do we look aside to people who are falling apart in front of us and thank our lucky stars that we are not as weak as they are. Truth is, we are all probably experiencing some level of turmoil, and maybe wishing we weren't going through it alone.


Anyway, back to the book. I won't sugar coat it and pretend it isn't heart wrenching, because it is. I won't promise you won't cry, because you probably will, but this is a book that NEEDED to be written both for Angie Smith's sake, and for the sake of countless unnamed others who need to be told it's okay to doubt, okay to weep and wail, okay to have a go at God.


Perhaps the most powerful thing that emerges from this story, is that a child can touch numerous lives, even if it only lives for a matter of hours. Audrey has reached and inspired more people in her 2 hours of life than maybe I have in my 46 years on this earth.


Now there's a challenge!

A New Take

We've been doing the beautiful song "Hosanna" by Brooke Fraser for some time now, but a friend of mine recently came across this version by the Lakewood, Houston guys, and I absolutely love it, especially the delicious guitar solo at the start. So...enjoy!

Still the President

I recently ordered a copy of President George W. Bush's new autobiography, "Decision Points", which is out today, and also caught his interview with Matt Lauer on NBC last night.

Whilst I thought the interview was maybe a bit too far-reaching for the hour available, and would have preferred to have heard GWB speak for longer on fewer subjects, I appreciate that this was effectively a book plugging interview! One thing which came over loud and clear though was the character and principled nature of the man.

Needless to say, those who oppose him will sneer at his emotional nature, his attachment to his family, and to family values, his love for his country, and his desire to to his very best for America. Those kind of values do not sit well with modern day liberals. However, those qualities that make up the 43rd President are markedly lacking from the current administration, and that would not have escaped any of them who might have deigned to watch last night.

I will be forever ashamed that I allowed media propaganda back in the UK to influence my feelings about GWB when I really had no evidence to back up my point of view. Having seen for myself a lot more of his side of the story over here, and discovered how the majority - albeit a quiet majority - still appreciate the heck out of the guy, and spoken to people (my boss included) who know him extremely well, and are in a far better position to judge his character than a legion of armchair pundits, I look forward to reading "Decision Points", and also look forward to the day when someone of his ilk will be able to steer America back to greatness.

Day 22 (24) The End

So here we are at the end of 21 days of 500 calorie dieting and it's been a very interesting three weeks.
I started off at the horrific weight of....*mumble mumble mumble* and now I am 28.6lbs lighter after this first round of HCG. I'll tell you immediately that I plan to do this again at the start of January, but also I am determined to keep this weight off by healthy and sensible eating (mainly!), and of course regular exercise, otherwise it'll just come back.

I'm not going to lie and say it's exactly been the most fun three weeks of my life, but it's definitely been effective, and has not had any detrimental effect on my health - in fact, I feel great. The last week has really dragged though, and I'm definitely looking forward to a bit more variety -- without upping the quantity!!

So this is my last posting on this particular topic. This blog will return henceforth to something approaching normal -- whatever that may be!

Day 21 (23)

Well, yesterday the people of America delivered a decisive and
irrefutable repudiation of the administration's arrogant casting aside of the will of the majority. Woe betide the administration if it does not take heed of this. 

Whilst not a landslide, this was certainly a cause for some optimism. As things stand, the GOP candidate for Oregon governor holds a slender lead. The only sad thing about this race is that whoever wins will be pro-abortion, and the cold hard fact is that Chris Dudley (R) would certainly have had more votes had he been pro-life.

Anyway, on the weight front, with one more weighing day to go, and on the last day of taking drops. the weight loss is back in the right direction. 1.2lbs lost yesterday, taking the total loss to 28.4lbs. I think the target of 30lbs might just be out of my reach, but that's okay. We'll see how we get on on this last day.