Quick Note

I forgot to mention earlier that we will be leaving in the morning to go on another studio tour until Wednesday. Joe, Benny and I will be leaving at 8am. Just so you can keep it in mind.

Umleitung (Detour)

I spent the weekend at the Paskas house, because Joe was out of town, which means I had a weekend of great Hungarian/German cuisine (courtesy of Mrs. Paska) and just plain fun. Friday night the Antz performed at the music store that I told you about. And, as usual, they did a great job! They received good scores on the song that they submitted to the judges. I have attached some pictures of the concert below. On Saturday, I watched Johnny, Benny, and Robin record some things for the Antz CD. And later on, I got my butt kicked in soccer by Mr. Paska. Last night, Marph, Korny, Benny, and I went to a German Kino /Keeno/ (cinema). I actually understood more than I thought...which still wasn't all that much, but still enough to know what was going on. Besides, I had my own personal translators (a.k.a. Benny and Korny) so they helped to fill in the blanks. I was like one of those people that always pesters you about what is going on or what just happened, or who is that guy and what is he doing....you know what I mean.

Today, I was driving Joe's truck up to the supermarket to turn in some bottles (you have to turn in glass and plastic bottles after you are done so they can be recycled), but as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, I had to stop because the Polizei (police) were blocking the road for a bicycle marathon. After waiting for about ten minutes for them to pass, I was finally able to complete my errand. After the supermarket I drove to the recycling station to drop off some cardboard and some plastic...only to get stuck behind the aforementioned bike marathon. I was finally able to make the turn that I needed to go to the recycling station....only to find the road blocked yet again for the finish line of the marathon...which also included a gigantic party/cook-out/concert that just so happened to be exactly where I needed to go. So, after driving around about 4 times to find an alternate route in, I gave up and came back to the Center. The moral of the story...I hate bikes....

Berlin Pictures

I decided it would probably be good to post some more pictures so you can see a very small part of what we did these last few days:

The main recording room of one of the biggest studios in Germany. They were a domestic rep. for Universal Studios until Universal sold the studio to private buyers.


......Benny drooling over the mixer at that studio......


....a really cool, really expensive board at another studio,this thing will pretty much do your laundry....


mesmorized


one of the studios had a dog...we want one


Berlin has 6 dunkin' donuts...these guys know the exact location of each one...



after donut #137....




Me, Benny, and Joe in front of a part of the Berlin wall...those bricks that run along the bottom follow the path of the original wall through the entire city, even inside buildings.

Back From Berlin

Tonight we returned from Berlin. We visited something like 10 or 11 studios over three days. Several things were accomplished over the last few days. 1) The studio here is right on track. 2) It really helped me to visualize what the complete studio will look like. 3) It was incredibly encouraging. 4) We were able to get a few ideas to apply here. Overall it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the studio and recording industry. Once the studio is up and running, the profit will be used to support the youth work here. There are many plans for the future here. The possibilities are endless. I know that's a bit of a cliché, but seriously it's amazing what can be done here. God has provided GO Ministries with an incredible location, facilities, and network. It's exciting to be a part of it.

In other news. The Antz will be one of three bands that were chosen to perform at Augsburg's biggest music stores 10th anniversary on Friday. It is great exposure for them. Keep them and the work here in your prayers.

Berlin or Bust

Tomorrow morning at 8:00am or 2:00am est or whatever time we're on now, Joe, Benny, and I leave for Berlin. We will be meeting with several studios on the way to, and in Berlin. This should be a good experience for me to learn more about the whole music industry, something I know pretty much nothing about...Benny actually just got here. He is staying the night because we are leaving so stinkin early tomorrow. So we are sitting here trying different translation websites...it's pretty interesting...anyway...I don't think I'll be able to post much of anything while I'm in Berlin...I know you will all miss me, but I'll be back on Wednesday...peace out.

DVD Night

I just got done with a DVD night with some of the guys. It was a Mr. Bean marathon. We also took turns trying to guess what flavor the different colored jelly beans were. This was enough to keep us occupied for about twenty minutes. Not joking. Those things are addictive. Tomorrow there is a cookout fellowship thing at the Arche, a church in Augsburg. It's 2am and I can hear the mouse scurrying around...one of these days...wann ich da drauf komm...

Feuerwehr

Even though my German is horrible most people are nice as I struggle through asking for whatever it is I need at the moment. Yesterday, the woman at the Fiat dealer actually had a conversation with me (I sound like a pathetic person with no friends...that may or may not be true...). Today I went to buy paint and I was actually pretty successful with my German there. There was only one instance of cherades (I have no idea how to spell that). It was cool. Of course after that I had to hit up the McDonalds (which is actually really good here...it's almost like real food). After picking up lunch for Joe and I, I began driving back to the Center. I came around the corner and there was a truck completely engulfed in flames. There were probably 20 fire fighters that arrived and I had a front row seat. Unfortunately this little escapade was blocking the only way I knew how to get back to the Center. So, while everyone else is turning around...I'm staying put...mostly because I don't want to mess with turning the truck around. After a little while I realize that the parking lot to my right might loop around to the other street. It did. And so I continued back without incident. I love driving in Germany.

Plans for Berlin are coming together. We'll be leaving on Monday and coming back Tuesday night...or Wednesday morning. Tomorrow...I'm painting the stairs. Picasso, prepare to meet your match...if...you were...still...alive....man I'm in a wierd mood.

Driving

I have been driving by myself for a little while now. Just short little trips to the döner stand or to the grocery five feet away from the döner stand. Today, however, I was a driving machine! I took bottles to the grocery to get a refund, took cardboard to the recycling center, went to Media Markt to buy ink cartridges for the printer, to IKEA to buy doors for some cupboards, to the Fiat dealer to get some parts for the truck, and of course to the döner stand for lunch. And I only thought I was going to die twice! I never really got lost either. I always knew where I was...it was just a matter of getting to where I wanted to go. Example: IKEA is easy to spot because they have a gigantic sign that is probably about 450ft tall and can be read from any direction. So I'm driving down this street towards the massive IKEA sign...the road starts curving, no problem...it'll curve back...I still have the sign in view but now its to the right...easy enough I just make a right turn and it will be back in front of me...I merge onto a highway with Mercedes' and BMW's driving, no flying passed me...the sign is now more at my six o'clock and now I'm going down an on ramp to the autobahn back towards the Center. So I just made a big loop and came back around and finally made it to IKEA...they were out of the doors. That happened several times...enough times in fact that I was actually able to designate parking lots in which to turn around in...that's actualy pretty important considering the truck I'm driving is about 14ft long. Anyway, it was fun. Since then I've been planning a trip to Berlin to go to some studios so we can get some ideas for ours...shhhh, don't tell them though.

Good News vs. Bad News

Good news: The sun is back...Bad news: It burnt me...Good news: at least I'll get a tan this way...Bad news: It's gonna be a farmers tan, and it's lop-sided because of how I was standing.

However, I had a great weekend. I hung out with the Antz most of the weekend which was fun as always. Friday night we had another party for Korny so that the band could be there. Saturday I hung out with Benny and Korny all day and then went with the Antz (minus Robin because he decided to go to Italy for vacation...bum...I kid) to a gig in Munich. This morning we did an outdoor event in Augsburg...hence the sunburn...This coming weekend will be pretty packed with concerts and church events. I'll keep you posted.

An Epiphany

I had two realizations today. 1) Epiphany might be my new favorite word. 2) We're building a studio. Ok, that might sound a little rediculous...I mean it's hard to miss an entire studio when you walk through the door every morning, but my epiphany (yeah definately my new favorite word) has to do with the fact of what you can do with a studio. I can go in there and "sing" at the top of my lungs and no one can here me! It's better than singing in the shower! The accoustics are a billion times better. Seriously though, I don't know how many of you have been to the homepage for GO Missions yet but you should check it out. People are already starting to call about the studio and recording possibilities...pretty exciting! Check out the website for more info...

Schitzophranic Weather

I don't understand the weather here. It's July and I have worn a jacket every day this month. Today it rained, then the sun would shine, then a storm, and back to the sun. A couple of weeks ago it hailed for about 15 minutes then the sun came out and there were blue skies. It's supposed to be in the mid 90s this weekend, just in time for an outdoor event we are doing on Sunday. Gotta love it! Joe and I just got back from Korny's birthday bash...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! As always, it was great to hang out with these guys. Tomorrow is Joe's birthday....actually my clock just turned to 12:00am so....HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!! Man, that's a lot of birthdays...actually it's only two...anyway, and last but not least, congratulations to Benny on getting a good grade on his exam and on finally getting it over with!!...I'm going to bed...

Pictures and an Update

.....I don't know.......



.......lights professionally engineered by Cameron Price......riiiiiight.....





........the engineer at work........focus....focus......



......This is how impressed we were with the last band......

I posted some pictures above of the event Friday/Saturday morning, as promised. Yesterday was a great day of relaxation and hanging out with Benny and Korny and their family. Mrs. Paska is an incredible cook! Thanks again! Other than that I have been working on a contact list for the studio, as well as general editing on the GO Missions webpage. Tomorrow is Korny's birthday so I think we're going to do something here at the studio for that. We finally got the real stairs today so we will be painting the staircase and installing the stairs sometime in the future. I also got a box from home the other day...it had my ipod in it and that makes me incredibly happy...you have no idea. That's pretty much it for now....

Ich habe Rücken

Yesterday was the big outdoor event in Munich. We left the Center at 9:00am and arrived back at 7:00am this morning. I was tempted to stay awake the extra hour just so I could say that I had been awake for a full 24 hours, but I quickly decided against it. All in all the event wasn't too bad. There were three bands, there were supposed to be four but one didn't show up until 1:30am and then decided that they didn't want to play. The first band was a sort of jazz type band...they were pretty good. The second band was a ska band. The were interesting, but after a while all of the songs start to sound the same. The last band was....I don't know what they were, but let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to go to a L'gojazz concert.....RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!! It was by far the most grotesque butchering of music I have ever witnessed. And then someone decided that it would be a good idea to set off one of the fire extinguishers during the last band's "performance". The entire crowd was immediately engulfed in a plume of white powder...it was kinda funny because the band was so bad anyway, but then the plume reached the sound booth and let me just tell you, fire extinguisher powder doesnt smell or taste so good. Lots of coughing and wheezing going on...and it burns your eyes. All of our equipment and cables that were under the stage were completely dusted. When we finally got back to the Center, I crashed until about 4:00pm...now my sense of time is so messed up.....I will be posting pictures at some point...but not now.

Bowling

Just got back from bowling with Benny and Korny. Apparently Americans are supposed to be better at bowling than Europeans. Let me assure you...I destroyed this assumption. It was sad...and Benny was even playing with his left hand! It's all good though. I had a lot of fun, as always, even though I did get my butt kicked about four times. Tomorrow is the event in Munich. We leave at 9:00am and probably won't get back until 3:00 or 4:00am Saturday morning...so because of that fact...I'm going to try to get a little sleep while I have the chance!

Kirche, Küche, and Kuchen=Much confusion

These three words led to about a 20 minute coaching session with Benny and Korny tonight. Church, kitchen, and cake is the translation in order. The problem is while these words are distinctly different in English, they are not in German. The all sound almost exactly alike. And to make matters worse, the slang term for Kirche sounds exactly like Küche...so you have to figure it out by context...i.e. someone probably wouldn't say "let's go bake a cake in the church." Something else I realized today is how complicated the English language is. I have never really thought about it before, but there are some pretty crazy rules and phrases. Anyway, more on languages at a later today...it's a little after 1:00am and tomorrow....I'm going bowling...

Super Mouse...more randomness

So it would seem that Fendos is not doing her job. Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen and hear the sound of rustling paper. I look over and there is a mouse on top of one of the pastry bags. It pauses for a moment then scuries across the counter and does a swan dive into a gap between the wall and the counter. Fendos had better pick up her game.

Today I tried to make lunch. However, my chicken cordon bleu quickly turned into chicken en flambe...ok not really...but it was black on the outside and raw on the inside...I think I was supposed to thaw it first...oops...praise the Lord for döners. For those of you that don't know what a döner is...it's this amazing sandwich type thing from Turkey. It's almost indescribable, but you haven't lived until you've tried a döner. I'm pretty sure it was in the running for the food in the desert, but mana won out...so it's the best we've got.

Some Thoughts

God absolutely amazes me. The more I realize the depth and the gravity of what He has done for me the more dumbfounded, grateful, driven, humbled, and silenced I become. I find even more astonishing the fact that He can use anyone...ANYONE...for His Glory. Think about it. I often catch myself thinking that there is no way that God can use me. I think about all of my shortcomings and flaws and because of those I think why would God ever want to use me. There are tons of stories in the Bible where God uses the most unlikely people to accomplish things for Him. Moses hated speaking in public (maybe as much as I do), Abraham lacked faith, but I think my favorite story is about Gideon. Talk about unlikely candidates. The story begins in Judges 6:11 "Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abieyrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites." I don't know if you can picture this like I can, but bare with me. The angel of the Lord came and sat down under a tree and watched as Gideon is threshing wheat in a wine press. I don't know much about wheat threshing, but I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be done in a wine press. Wine presses back in the day were about 6-8 feet deep and so Gideon figured it would be a good place to hide from the Midianites while he threshed the grain. Ok, so picture this from the angel's perspective from under the tree. Just a short distance away there's a hole in the ground and in regular intervals little puffs of wheat come flying up from the hole and then flop back down. Now, as you approach the hole and look down you see a man covered in dust and wheat because no wind can blow away the chaf like on the threshing floors. I hope you're following this because to me that is a really funny picture. Verse 12, "The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him 'The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior." The angel called him a "valiant warrior." Gideon...the wheat covered guy hiding in the wine press because he's afraid. The angel then goes on to tell Gideon that God wants him to defeat the Midianites...fast forward: The Lord uses Gideon and 300 men to defeat the entire Midianite army! There is a lot more in this story, but the part that is the coolest to me is the fact that the angel calls Gideon a valiant warrior even though he isn't acting like one. God sees through our actions, our doubts, our fears, our wretchedness, and He sees who He has created us to be! What an awesome thought. Again, this post might be a little random (this seems to be a recurring theme), but thats what I felt like I needed to share for now. Blessings.

Heidlbron

Waiting.....

....and waiting...

...and waiting...

The Polizei looking into a noise complaint...apparently the band was too loud...

but it all worked out in the end!

Just got back from Heidlbron with the Antz. It was a really good concert. I really enjoy hanging out with them. The day started out with rain, but fortunately the rain stopped by the time the Antz played. Oh...side note: you guys need to check out what Benny did at the Mute Math concert on Wednesday here...It's very interesting to talk to different people about various topics. I have noticed, however, that 90% of the time George Bush comes up within the first few minutes. I absolutely love Germany. I can't wait to move back here! This has been one of the most random blogs ever written so I'm gonna wrap things up. I'm going to try to put pictures up now, but I'm not really sure how they are going to end up. There is a good chance that I'll just leave them and come back and fix them tomorrow because I am really tired...