Had our first rehearsal today for the Taize (tay zay) choir at Evergreen for Good Friday service...it was pretty interesting. It started out with watching a video about Taize, which is this little town in France. Anyways, what struck me is that there were bus loads of young people making their pilgrimmage there (kinda like Urbana) to hear and learn the Taize style of worship and prayer. It's sort of a chantlike singing, very meditative and prayerful. Anyways, the purpose of the choir is not so much as performing but more of leading the congregation in worship and prayer.
After the video, we gave eachother massages to loosen up, did some stretches, and she went over some basics of vocal training. It's been so long since I've sung in a formal group, and I've never had formal voice training, so it was fascinating hearing her instruct on getting the most out of your vocal chords and applying Bernoulli's principle to the whole process.
Later we split up into groups, and I was assigned to the bass section...which is not what I really sing, but I think it worked out ok. It was quite a humbling experience for me having the person leading talking to us like we have no music background, because it was actually helpful at times since I'm so rusty, and I'm so not accustomed to singing bass. I found out that I really need to learn how to relax to hit those low notes...the rehearsal really took a lot out of me.
Anyways, what inspired me to do this was the opportunity to wear those cool robes. Just kidding. We actually have to wear all black outfits so as not to draw attention to ourselves and maintain a sentiment of mourning. What really encouraged me to try it out was one of the devotions in my lenten journal, which challenged me to design more time and ways to spend with God. And since I've been making a more conscious effort to spend time with God during lent, I was a bit curious to explore different ways of doing so. Anyways, I had a fun time at rehearsal, and I can't wait to see how this fits into the worship, but it sure sounds exciting.
Was inspired to watch the movie "Mishima" (1985) after seeing clips of the stunning set work during Eiko Ishioka's presentation of her work at the design conference last weekend. Her other works include costume design for Copolla's Dracula, The Cell and Cirque du Soleil's Varekai, as well as doing the set design for M. Butterfly and artistic direction for a Bjork video. Anyways, I was just curious to see the first samplings of this renaissance woman's major accomplishments, and it's been a while since I've taken advantage of the free dvd checkouts from the Art Center library. The movie, produced by Copolla and George Lucas and directed by Paul Schrader, artfully tells the story of the eponymous writer's life in four stages shifting between textured black and white scenes of documentary-style dramatization from the author's past up until his last days and richly stylized adaptations of three of his novels, based on the idea that a writer is always half inside his skin and half in his own fantastic universe. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to everyone because it is a little dark despite what the colorful sets suggest, but it did win an award at Cannes for Artistic Contribution and some of the images from the scenes are breathtaking.
I don't watch tv anymore, but I still managed to watch american idol...
...live.
Here's what's cool and not cool:
Hookups from a friend of a friend to see the show...cool.
Lining up outside CBS for two and a half hours...not cool.
Warm sunny weather on the west side (it was overcast in Pasadena)...cool.
Glitter strewn all over the sidewalk from homemade signs of ryan seacrest crazed teenaged fans...not cool.
People handing out free movie screening passes in line...cool.
Dude in gay looking blue chenille knee length sweater/dress high on power trip herding the line while barking out orders and ultimatums...not cool.
Barely making it into the studio because power-tripping gay dude unknowingly commanded us to cut to the front of the line...very cool.
Getting separate seats once inside the studio...not cool.
Commercial breaks every 8 minutes in the half hour segment...not cool.
Q&A session during the commercial breaks...cool.
Little kid with natural PR skills using his question during Q&A to ask if he could pimp his sister's CD to the judges...cool.
Another guy using his question to ask Simon whether he still has a crush on Paula Abdul...cool.
Simon's lame reply that he doesn't know until he sees his optometrist...not cool.
Little boy who used his question to ask for a hug from Paula...cool.
Next 5 people who used their questions to ask for hugs...not cool.
The "Loveshack" video which left the audience confused over whether it was about the contestants having a party in a warehouse or Ford Explorers....partying in a warehouse. Definitely not cool.
Seriously though...I wonder just how big of a sponsor Ford is of American Idol...ever notice the similarity between the two logos? White script in a blue oval outlined in white? Hmmm...not so subtle subconscious marketing strategy. Anyhoo, I don't think watching the live showing of American Idol will entice me to follow for the rest of the season. BTW, my roommate wore red just so all of you might be able to spot him on tv...so please, if you see him, let him know!
I've realized that I need to fully come to grips with my weakness. I acknowledge that I'm weak, but I usually deny myself the time to dwell on it (partially because it's unpleasant) and quickly move on to telling myself that trusting in God will make me strong. But if I merely say and believe in it, that seemingly profound faith that God will deliver me becomes shallow and naive without the persistent initiative to do something about it. And I feel that cannot happen until I fully understand and contemplate the depths of my weakness and surrender it to the Lord. Until recently, it's been a neverending cycle, always denying the possibility that I will remain weak, having never faced the reality of it long enough to make a genuine concerted effort to act upon it. These recent times of darkness have really been humbling, and its effects are undoubtedly real. It's literally been a battle, and I can no longer deny that I myself must first put on that armor.
Friday began with a brainscan...yes, I kid you not. I volunteered to be a subject in an experiment at Caltech which involved an fMRI and my upperbody caged in a pretty confined space. I did it not for the $35 that paid for my dinner later that night, but more for the images of my brain that were promised to be sent to me at a later time. It's cool though...the woman conducting the experiment is my instructor's girlfriend, so I know who to hound for the pics later. After the experiment though, I felt slightly dizzy...not really dizzy, but something just wasn't right...must've messed with my brain's magnetic field or something. It's not likely that I'd have something like this done again...it just can't be good for you.
Later that afternoon, I attended the Art Center Design Conference, featuring James Dyson (the vacuum cleaner guy who made 5,420 prototypes over 15 years before selling one machine), Sandra Loh (the NPR lady who was fired for uttering the "F" word), Eiko Ishioka (who did the costumes for Dracula, The Cell and Varekai), and Andrew Stanton (the guy from Pixar who wrote and directed Finding Nemo and was actually the voice for Crush, the stoner surfer turtle). His presentation was really funny...he talked about casting for "A Bug's Life", and mentioned that they first tried to cast Al Pacino as Hopper, and they cut right to an animated sketch with Al Pacino as Hopper, bullying the heck out of this tiny little bug, knocking him over and swearing at him...I thought wow...I've never been exposed to vulgar Disney moments before. Next was a soliloquoy with Alec Baldwin as Hopper, laden with even more expletives. Oh, and I learned from Robert Full (biologist at Berkeley who builds robots based on his studies of insect locomotion) that geckos are really cool. No really, see for yourself. Be sure to watch the short video clip too...it's way gnarly.
So I was supposed to leave for the Men's Retreat that evening, but the conference session I attended was so good that I contemplated going to the retreat the next day, and attending the morning session of the conference Saturday. Even though I wasn't signed up for it, I did have my previous day's pass, and given my Art Center education, it wasn't too hard to forge a pass for the next day. It's so ridiculous now that I think about it...students were allowed to sign up for 2 sessions in a LOTTERY, most of who only received one session. Many students did not attend, although the school should be begging everyone to attend...I guess it was sort of an exclusive event...tickets were $900 for the whole event. Anyways, it was kinda cool to see Dean Kamen (creator of the Segway) and Peter Girardi (creator of Crank Yankers, that show on Comedy Central that uses puppets to crank call people...the idea is that you can get away with so much more because puppets are cute), but what made me glad I skipped out on going to the retreat Friday night was hearing Cameron Sinclair speak...very inspirational. Right after architecture school, he pursued his passion of designing for humanity, which really fascinated me because I always wondered whether it's a better strategy to make a name for yourself first and accumulate and fine tune the necessary skills so that you'll have more clout to help other people in regards to social issues, but he really proved that with a lot of heart much can be achieved. He made his point by holding up a cell phone and his laptop, the only tools he needed to organize a contest to design a mobile AIDS/HIV shelter in Kenya, and showed pictures of his humble 400 sq. ft. apartment filled with 3 truckloads of submissions, 25% more submissions than a similar contest organized by the UN (or some big organization). He went way overtime, evidenced by John Hockenberry (the moderator) waiting anxiously behind him, and left everyone with the final message "Design Like You Give A Damn" projected in huge letters on all 3 screens, which was received with a standing ovation. Powerful stuff...really struck a chord in me and forced me to reconsider how I manage my time with my assignments. Apparently, it struck a chord in another classmate of mine, who had newfound motivation to put forth the best possible effort on our group project that was due today. Contrarily, that frustrated me to no end...although i applaud her newfound motivation, I also felt like it was a waste of time designing like I Give A Damn on a project that doesn't Do A Damn Thing...it was a useless 2 week assignment redesigning breath mints. Words fail to express how angry I was, as I struggled with interacting respectfully with her (she was the only one that wanted to put in such an effort) up until i left school at 3am and came back the next morning to continue the work. Although there was a great design exercise built into the assignment, and I was pumped as well to design with passion from the depths of my heart, I felt it was such a waste that the valuable time put forth could have been spent on one of my more meaningful projects, like the clean energy project where I'm working on a device that can be used to help generate microeconomies and energy production in Third World villages. Anyways, it certainly helped to clarify my eternal perspective on my design education and to recommit myself in using it for God's glory.
So I did manage to make it up to the Men's Retreat, which was truly a blessing. Drove up with a buddy and had some good sharing on the way. One of my main motivations to go was to experience the hype Pastor Ken generated over what he called the "Leap Of Faith". He described the whole experience which began with climbing up a 150 foot telephone pole, and then conjuring up all your balancing skills to stand tall on top of the pole, staring at the next obstacle ahead of you, a trapeze bar several feet away...once you gather the courage to leap for the bar, you're rewarded with the rush of speeding down the zip line all the way till you reach the earth's surface again. I imagined myself, balancing on top of the pole, wobbling over it's incredulous height, and me trying not to look down at the tiny people below and focusing on the bar ahead of me, and finally getting to ride all the way down on the zip line...scary but exhilerating, man I've got to try that. Well, although I showed up late and missed the go-karts, I was able to attempt the "Leap of Faith". However, the pole's height was closer to 30 ft, and the bar was actually a stationary hoop that didn't go anywhere. Nice one, Ken. Needless to say, it was quite a buzzkill, but I had a good time anyways doing that and playing some ball before the sun went down. The best thing though was the amazing stories shared by some of the men there, of how other brothers intervened and changed their lives. It was also refreshing to have 3 guys in their 30's, 40's and 50's in my smallgroup...it was a great opportunity to hear what they had to share from their stage of life, and for me to throw some stuff at them and hear their thoughts.
The past weekend's events helped to encourage and reaffirm that despite my occasional bouts of weakness and selfish desires during lent, it is necessary to surrender myself to God and have faith in His process of cleansing and purification, and to make sure that the sacrifices I've made are purposeful and not replaced with other useless activities.
So I found out from my seminarian pastoral intern friend that one is allowed to break fast on Sundays during lent. I thought it sounded incredulous, but I guess it makes sense. One of the purposes of fasting is to restrain yourself from spending time on that particular activity and plug in spending that time with God instead.
Sounds tempting, but I think the rewards would be greater if I didn't.
Just got raped today by the Pasadena Traffic Court for $121...which typically isn't a whole lot, but in my view is a serious injustice when you're talking about a corrected registration sticker and windows.
I was pulled over a couple months ago for expired registration tags on my plate...I had sent away for them but I could not help that there was a 40 day backlog in Sacramento, so the officer told me he'd issue me a ticket but I could have it corrected as soon as I received the stickers. That's such bs...I didn't foresee that they'd still stick me with a $10 transaction fee and $20 court fee. I think this whole 40 day backlog is a conspiracy for numbazzed bored cops to pilfer change from unsuspecting motorists.
Speaking of conspiracies, my insurance company checked my record and mentioned I had a traffic violation on my record...I told them that wasn't possible, so I went to DMV and they verified my clean record. I then asked for a printout to show the insurance company, and they promptly charged me $15 for it...$15 for a stinking printout! Could it be that farfetched of a concept?
oh...the remaining $91 of the $121 was for the tinted windows...a bit steep, but i'm not about to remove the tint. =)
Here's a random thought to ponder and pick apart...it's an excerpt from a paper called "Scientists Find Evidence For a Sixth Sense in Humans" from a not so reliable publication:
"Another aspect of the human sense of smell is sexual attraction; we tend to be attracted to the smell of people with genetic immunities different from our own; this tends to produce children more resistant to disease."
Quite intriguing if it were true, but I just wanted to go out on a very narrow limb in the event there were any people reading this who would want to comment.
I feel that I should start reflecting each week on my lenten journey.
For starters, it definitely hasn't been easy...I feel as if there are oppressive forces supernaturally moving against me, even infiltrating my mind. It's almost maddening, but it is expected...that if I commit myself to the Lord during this time, that I will surely be attacked and tempted.
A very helpful reminder from my lenten journey journal: "Lent is a journey for the Church into darkness so that when the True Light comes, we will rejoice like we never have celebrated before." So often Easter Sunday sneaks up on us or just "happens" to us without much preparation or thought about how significant this day is to us as followers of Christ.
One day after turning 28, and all I can think of is...
dang, only one more month before taxes are due!!
All in all, it was a good weekend. The SF invasion didn't really happen, but it was still good to see the people that made it down...it was a busy saturday playing co-photographer at Lis' nice wedding, taking an extended break at chick-fil-a before the reception, and heading out for the evening's festivities. It began with dinner in a dimly lit, private room with tapestry and pillow-lined walls at a moroccan joint on sunset, filled with little brass tables. for some people, eating with only their hands was not very appealing...the belly dancer was ok, the food was good, the waiter was excellent, and the ipod mini rocked...thanks to everyone in on that, especially the person who came up with the idea. =) asian invasion night at the laugh factory featured the 7up guy, the mumms guy from "Meet the Parents", the fat dude from "I Got the Hookup", and this korean kid pk as the emcee. We boldly sat in the front, braving the potential that the comics might pick on us, but most of the time they were ripping into these 2 chumps sitting center front. One of them did take a shot at us...actually, it was kind of a compliment...said we were well dressed, then looked at me and said, "in an 80's disco kind of way"...whatever that meant...no one laughed.
Other pleasantries...couple rockin ipod accessories to go with my new rockin ipod mini...some cool design books...and a very thoughtful surprise package complete with serenading card...who's voice was that? it was awesome! jk...thanks, you're the best.
So without skipping a beat, this week was exhausting, yet I still managed not to get any work done. Friday played racquetball and then broomball later that night...needless to say, it didn't take long for my poor physical condition to be brought to my attention. Regardless, several hours after broomball, JK and I went snowboarding at Mt. Baldy. I don't know what it is, but snowboarding just isn't that fun anymore for me...I still enjoy it, but after a few hours I wouldn't mind calling it a day...I'm just not as daring, or coordinated for that matter...maybe i'm getting old. I was extremely tired though...maybe that had something to do with it...I managed to fall asleep on the lift, which happened to be one of those old skool wooden lifts with no bar to keep you from falling. Yikes. The snow was great though...well great for a place that's practically in my backyard...and I was able to spend some alone time with God and his magnificent creation while waiting for JK to catch up to me. =)
After showering and dinner, I watched "The Passion..." I was a slightly apprehensive going into the movie...although I looked forward to seeing it, I was also afraid I'd unwillingly fall asleep during it. It actually happened for a few seconds, but soon the onslaught of harrowing suffering and brutality quickly snapped me out of it. Indeed it is a powerful film, and very emotional and moving. At times I found myself feeling very "emotional", but I also reminded myself of the joy that He is Risen, and although I appreciate the depiction of suffering, I don't think it makes sense for me to wallow in sorrow. Anyhow, I found Mr. Gibson's perspective pretty accurate overall. And when criticizing the film, it's important to remember that it is just one man's perspective, and that perspective is not exclusive...everyone can and should have their own perspective. I also appreciated the iconographic quality of the film. I know some people had some beef about the depiction of satan, but I found that it really helped me to deal with temptation, because every time I find myself facing it, I picture the way he's depicted in the movie, always lurking there in moments of weakness, just waiting...and that gives me strength. I've recently found myself facing an unusual amount of distraction, but a couple verses shared by a friend really help:
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." II Corinthians 10:5
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have sought Thee; Do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee." Psalms 119:9-11
