1 Year Down 2 to go (Bucket List update)

Well a little over a year ago I published my Bucket List in preparation for the world ending in 2012 (the whole December 2012 Myan calendar thing). I have given you periodic updates through this year. Now with a little under two years left, I am updating and revising my bucket list. The original post text will be blue, with revisions in red.

Steve's Bucket List:

1} Finish writing my novel and get it published. This is a long-time goal, and now the end of the world is just giving me motivation to work faster. I have some big plans in the works in this area, keep watching here and on facebook for more, and for how you can help make this dream come true.

2}Take a guitar lesson from Orianthi. She is the amazing guitarist from the Michael Jackson THIS IS IT movie, and to just spend an hour learning from her would be amazing. She is busy touring with Adam Lambert, but I'm sure she'll get back to me after the tour. I'll be checking in with her on Twitter after the holidays, sure she'll respond this time.

3} Spend a month traveling in England and Ireland. I figure it would take at least a month to find all the historical, but not touristy spots. Still waiting for financing...come on LOTTO!!!

4} Star in, or direct a movie with Zooey Deshanel. Maybe my friend Beau could produce it. She is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd love to work with her. Talks are still delayed by me having no way to contact Zooey, she doesn't Twitter enough...might need to switch to Rachel Nichols, she has responded to multiple tweets, and seems cool. Well, Zooey has started tweeting more, but has yet to respond to me, and Rachel is still responding, so I am hereby officially changing this to "Star in, or direct a movie with Rachel Nichols. Also to get bucket list down to 10 items, I am combining #8 in here, and adding have lunch/coffee with Rachel Nichols, since she responds more than Ashley Greene.

5} Spend a day at the park with just my kids and my parents. Sounds easy enough, but if you understood my family situation, you'd know this is probably the wildest thing on my list. Still no progress to report here.

6} Write a song with Taylor Swift. I'd let her sing it, since my voice would make people pray for the end of the world. plus with her singing it would be a sure hit. New album out, big huge world tour in the works for next year, plus Jake is kinda in the way now, so not looking good, but still hopeful.

7} Get together and hang out for at least part of a day catching up with as many of my Facebook friends as I can. Since my Toyota friends I can see any time, I won't count those, sorry. This is where I can report the most progress: In October I hooked up with my friend Beau who I hadn't seen since college, we hung out before the U2 concert. This month I have has lunch with my friends Adam, and John, both from my KLoRD days who I hadn't seen in 14 or 15 years. Very good time catching up on all accounts. Looking forward to more meetings soon. In a bit of a slump here, but will be making a New Years resolution on this front, keep a watch here for that.

#8 (becoming part of #4)} Have lunch or dinner with Ashley Greene (from Twilight). Her character is so sweet, and from what I hear, she is too. See #4 above (although I'd still keep the Ashley option open)

The new #8 (formerly 11)}To see a sunrise and sunset on every continent. Well, could probably skip Antarctica. Still stuck on North America...as with England trip, waiting on financing...Come on lotto!!!

9} Spend a month on tour with U2. Maybe get invited up onstage by Bono. U2 will be touring US again this year...hoping to get a chance to talk with them about the options.

10} Take a dance lesson from one of my favorite Dancing with the Stars pros, either Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, or Julianne Hough. Things not looking great here, Lacey hasn't been spending as much time in her dad's Redlands studio lately, or at least not tweeting about it.

A Christmas gift for you, my friends.

During the advent season in 1987 I wrote a Christmas story. For many years it has been hidden away in storage. I recently unearthed it, and have polished it up a little. I am now going to share it with you my friends. Read and enjoy:

Christmas Dreams

The snow blew in soft wisps against the oaken stable. The old cart horse slept on a bed of hay. A small light glowed in the window of a nearby house. Inside the house the cart driver sat in his chair rocking, trying his best to keep warm in the cold Pennsylvania winter.

Living alone in the country made it hard for the man to get wood for his fire. In past times he would travel to town with his horse, buy wood and haul it back in his cart. He would burn enough wood to keep warm, and the rest he would carve; he made toys for the children, salt and pepper shakers for the women or birdhouses for the men. He would then travel into town to sell his creations, and with the money he would buy more wood. Around the beginning of November he would start working on his Christmas ornaments. These always sold well, and made for large wood purchases. Each year, exactly three weeks before Christmas, he would begin work on the nativity scene for the church building in town. For two solid weeks he would work from sun-up until long after dark carving the figures of the holy family. Then a week before Christmas he would hook the horse up to the cart, load the nativity set in and head for the church. Everyone in town loved his work, and his nativity scene was the talk of the town.

But about a year ago his fingers began to feel the bite that so many older hands feel. As his joints hardened and the arthritis began to twist his fingers, his carving became less precise, and people began buying less and less of his work. Three weeks before Christmas, he went to town to buy the wood for the nativity scene, and the wood to keep him warm until Christmas. The money was short, and he was not able get enough wood.

He was determined to carve a nativity scene to better all his previous ones, so he cut back on his heating rations. He painfully worked on Joseph, stopping often to rest his stiff joints. Then he began work on the Virgin Mary. As he was putting thee finishing touches on the face, a spur of pain shot through his hand, causing his knife to slip and make a scar across the beautiful face.

The man knew he had to start over, so he took a large piece of wood off his heating wood pile, and began again on Mary. But the man could not bring himself to throw the scarred Madonna into the fireplace, and so his pile of wood dwindled rapidly. His mistake also cost him time, so he stayed up later and got up earlier to get the work done.

The next day was the day he was to bring his nativity scene in to town. Everyone would be waiting; for even though they knew his carving had gotten rougher, they also knew that the love he put into his nativity scene would make it a piece of beauty. He sat in his chair, rocking and holding the wooden baby Jesus in his lap. The wooden child was almost perfect, except the face remained uncarved. As the man rocked, he slowly fell asleep.

As he slept, he began dreaming. He saw himself as a child, running with the sheep on his farm. He saw a Christmas morning when he was ten and he had found a sheepdog puppy under the family Christmas tree. Next he saw his baptism into the church on a Christmas Eve when he was thirteen. Then he was shown a picture he had seen many times of Jesus standing at the door and knocking.

The man got up and opened the door in his dream, and Jesus came in. “My faithful follower,” the Lord said, “you have served me well, and it is your time to rest. Come unto me, and I will give you the rest you so richly deserve.”

“But Lord,” the man replied, holding up the unfinished carving of the Christ child, “My work is not done. The Church needs a nativity scene, and it is not yet finished.”

Love shone from the face of Christ as He drew the man to Himself and repeated the words He had said many years before, “It is finished.” And the man went to be with the Lord, leaving his carving behind.

The next morning the horse woke in the cold air, knowing somehow that he would not be making the planned trip into town.

In the town the crowds gathered around the church to wait for the man to bring his nativity scene. As time passed, and it became apparent that he was not coming, a group of men decided to ride out to the man’s house to see what was wrong.

When they reached his house they knocked, and after a few minutes with no answer, they tried the door. It wasn’t locked, so they walked in, and found the man sitting in his chair. In his cold, lifeless hands he grasped the most beautiful, perfectly carved statue of the baby Jesus they had ever seen. The face shown out with a love and power beyond anything ever before captured by an artist. The nativity seen was brought to the church, and became a permanent part of the church’s Christmas decorations. The man was buried on Christmas Eve, in the churchyard he had loved for so long.

Written during advent 1987

Copyright Stephen J. DeVries, 2010

Dino-Boy's Adventure

As you may or may not know, I have written a children's book. It was never a huge success and did not make me rich, but it is something I'm rather proud of. If you are interested in a copy, I now have figured out how to take money through paypal, and am offering copies for $6.00 including postage. If you are interested in a copy, click below to order. Copies will be autographed at your request.

Autographed to whom?

Please Help Save Jerry.

This is Jerry. 13 years ago Jerry was abandoned behind the athletic field at the high school where my father-in-law worked. My father-in-law called home and said he was bringing home a new kitty. At the time, with two cats already in the house, no one seemed to thrilled at the idea. But one look at the beautiful gray kitten and everyone was in love. We have watch this sweet, lovable cat grow in our home and in our hearts. As my own children were born, and have grown, Jerry has been a dear friend to all.

Recently we noticed a swelling on Jerry's front paw (photo at right). We took him to a vet, who diagnosed a spider's bite. We gave him medicine to fight off the infection and waited for the swelling to go down. It stayed the same for several weeks, then the swelling started to grow. We took him in recently to a different vet, and he has diagnosed it as a tumor,which may or may not be cancerous. The estimated bill to remove the tumor is $1500, which we just don't have right now. Are family is crushed by the possibility of losing the pet we have loved so long.

I know how though the economy is now, which is why I hate to ask this, but if there is any way any of you could donate in any amount, using the Paypal link below, to help save this beloved fur baby who has been in our family for 13 years, we would gratefully appreciate it. And if somehow we raise more than is needed we will donate the excess to Sidewalk Angels and the great work they do for Animal causes. Thank you from my whole family.

Music Review : Still Running-One

After downloading the album ONE from indie band Still Running, I set out with a critical ear. I was determined to find some problem in this release, so my review wouldn't sound like I was gushing over my college friends band just because my friend was in it. But after several listens my major complaint was that it was only 11 songs long. On a small indie release one might expect poor production quality, or a band where all the songs sound the same. Neither of these problems are evident here. Let's look track by track.

1. One-- The title track is an acoustic guitar driven number, sort of a political piece with an early Jackson Browne feel, Mike Mercatante handles the lead vocal, with Jenna Reed (my college friend) handling background vocals on this track. It is a moving number, with nice harmonica parts and a haunting electric guitar solo at the end.

2. Robert Immolation-- Jenna takes lead vocals on this hauntingly beautiful tune. Light acoustic guitar and piano move along the melody. Not sure of the story of the song, but it is a lovely song, ending with a portion from St. Patrick's Breast Plate (a tradition song written by St. Patrick in the 5th century).

3. Crazy-- The third track picks up the tempo a little. Jenna once again on lead vocals; drums and electric guitar drive along this look at the things that make us all a bit crazy at time; like relationships, religion and the injustice in the world. Love the chorus: "Crazy is as crazy does, We might be sane if we knew what that was." Probably my favorite track on the album.

4. Outside Blues-- A flat out blues track, with bass, percussion and great harmonica. Mike handles the lead vocal on this one, vocals remind me of Mike Roe on some of the bluesier 77's tracks, or T-Bone Burnett in his 80's alternative-blues stage.

5. I Wish You Could Hear Me-- This is a very lovely and emotional song about communication and loving even through hurting. Piano and guitar accompany Jenna in a song that is reminiscent of Jewel or Sarah McLachlen.

6. Box of Secrets-- An up tempo pop alternative number featuring Jenna on lead, but Mike sharing harmony vocals most of the way through. Guitar, drums and harmonica accompany. Not sure why, but this track reminds me of the group Barenaked Ladies. A very fun song that I think could fit in any current adult radio station.

7. The Mountain-- A very uptempo fun tune, with Mike taking lead vocals, accompanied by Banjo drums and a New Orleans sounding horn section. This song reminds me a lot of T-Bone Burnette's soundtrack for "Oh, Brother, Where art Thou".

8. Only Now-- The most beautiful song on the album, a slow tempo piano and guitar accompany Jenna's vocals. The song has a bit of a Zen feel to it. "You will go where I have been Make the landscape different and return again." This is my second favorite track on the album.

9. Heavy is the Heart-- Guitar and Mike's voice open up this track, with Jenna joining on duet vocals on this track that musically reminds me of early Simon and Garfunkel (not the tracks everyone knows by them, but their more edgy folk stuff). This is a probably the most political track on the album.

10. Merciless Sun-- Without a doubt the edgiest track on the album. Jenna's vocals are processed this time, and the effects are very cool. The song seems like an interpretation of parts of Ecclesiastes talking about how no matter how many times we do something we know is wrong, we do it again. "The merciless sun is laughing at me. She knows what an idiot I am." Very Alternative sound to it.

11. Speak Your Peace-- An amazing song, almost could fit into a modern liturgy. A bit of an eastern influence to the music, like some of George Harrison's more obscure tracks. musically edgy, and powerful vocally.

Overall, this is an exceptionally well produced indie album, and well worth the $10 to download. If you need the link to down load it, you can find it by clicking the title line of this blog or click here. Don't miss out on this great album. The download also include a PDF of the CD liner, including lyrics (a nice touch) .

How to fix Glee

Last year I was slow in discovering the television phenomena of the year. Glee was the talk of TV critics and fans everywhere. The music was catchy, the stories cute and smart, the stars also cute. Everyone was watching it and buzzing about it all over the social networks. And I must say, I was hooked. I started watching near the end of the first half of season one, and saw most of the second half. I thought (and still do) that the season finale was some of the most amazing television I'd seen in years.

Now we are six episodes in to season 2 (after tonight) and with the exception of the Rocky Horror Episode, I am not impressed. Seems that this High School hit has hit a sophomore slump. Let me tell you the problems I see. And for comparison I will refer to another favorite of mine that suffered the dreaded slump, Heroes. A few years back Heroes debuted as the hot property on NBC. After an amazing first year, it attempted to come back, bigger and better. It's first problem was adding too many new characters; Glee is doing the same thing. We don't need the new tough girl football coach, we don't need the bleached-blond new quarter back. We don't need the girl who was scared away by Rachel, but is sure to be back when they face Vocal Adrenaline in regionals. We liked the original cast, lets keep them.

A second problem Heroes had in season two is that they lost the individual episode appeal by aiming at too grand a climax of the season (unfortunately the writer's strike cut the season short before it could reach the grand climax). I feel Glee may be falling into the same trap, shooting for Nationals in New York; I think they need to get us interested in the kids again, or we (that is I) may tune out before NY.

The first season was filled with what I call "WoW" moments; things that made me say "That was amazing...haven't seen that before". And there were moments that brought goosebumps to my skin, this is something that has to be spontaneous, I can't make the goosebumps happen. So far this season I only got a tiny bit of goosebumps during the episode where Kurt's father is in the coma. You would think it would have been any of the pseudo-religious songs or sequences, but it was when Kurt sang "I want to hold your hand". That scene got to me. And as for "Wow" moments, I hold the Rocky Horror episode as a WOW episode, but no individual moments this season.

And the biggest thing that is plaguing Glee this season is the cast apparent lack of the ability to keep it's clothes on in magazines. A GQ spread featuring 3 of the very attractive stars in skimpy clothes stirred up a controversy, followed a few weeks later by a solo photo shoot of one of the stars topless (not really showing anything bad). But of course these photo shoots stirred up an uproar from family groups about the inappropriateness of "high school students" posing his way. The point was raised that the actors were not actually high school age. My view is, yes they had the right to pose this way, no big deal; but it has taken focus off the show, and any message the show may be putting out, and has put focus on the behavior of the cast. If the cast wanted to help the show, and get the message out the should have done a photo shoot of the whole cast, not just the hotties, showing what beautiful PEOPLE they are, not on the outside, but within. Ok, so I'm stretching the theme of the show, and trying to get it to spill over into real life, so shoot me.

Anyway, Glee cast and writers need to refocus on what they had first season and try to bring it back, or the magic is gonna fade. They will start losing viewers if season 2 doesn't pick it up soon. ...Oops, gotta run, almost time for GLEE!!!

Running to win

Just a short blog about a truth that came to me today. I was reading a news blurb about the New York City Marathon. It came to me that in this marathon, there are many runners, such as the Chilean miner who ran, who do it just so they can say they ran the race. Very few of the people in the NYC Marathon actually go in thinking they might win. For most people it is just finishing that is the accomplishment.

Then I thought, a lot of us live our lives that way. Just making it through is our goal. But in ! Corinthians 9:24 we are told, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. " We are told to run in such a way as to get the prize. We need to be in life to win. Victory can be ours if we set our eyes on the prize of Heaven, and trust Christ to lead us to the Finish Line.

THE FINISH LINE-- Lyrics by Steve Taylor

Once upon an average morn
An average boy was born for the second time
Prone upon the altar there
He whispered up the prayer he'd kept hid inside

The vision came
He saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These will vie to take your place, but Father,
by your grace I will never kneel"

And I saw you, upright and proud
And I saw you wave to the crowd
And I saw you laughing out loud at the
And I saw you brush away rocks
And I saw you pull up your socks
And I saw you out of the blocks
For the finish line

Darkness falls
The devil stirs
And as your vision blurs you start stumbling
The heart is weak
The will is gone
And every strong conviction comes tumbling down

Malice rains
The acid guile is sucking at your shoes while the mud is fresh
It floods the trail
It bleeds you dry
As every little god buys its pound of flesh

And I saw you licking your wounds
And I saw you weave your cocoons
And I saw you changing your tunes for the party line
And I saw you welsh on old debts
I saw you and your comrades bum cigarettes
And you hemmed and you hawed
And you hedged all your bets
Waiting for a sign

Let's wash our hands as we throw little fits
Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites
We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks
Deaf
And joyless
And full of it

The vision came
He saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These have tried to take your place, but Father,
by your grace I will never kneel
I will never kneel..."

Off in the distance
Bloodied but wise
As you squint with the light of the truth in your eyes

And I saw you
Both hands were raised
And I saw your lips move in praise
And I saw you steady your gaze
For the finish line

Every idol like dust
A word scattered them all
And I rose to my feet when you scaled the last wall
And I gasped
When I saw you fall
In his arms
At the finish line