Eminem Writes Song About Sacrificing Family on the Altar of Career

As a public speaker, pastor and a father, I couldn't help but find that Eminem's new song When I'm Gone rattled in my soul in a way that's difficult to articulate. It's strange that I feel so drawn to this man's lyrics. His point that either he has to die - or his family has to - is one that not enough artists talk about. His metaphorical "killing" of himself is profound, and I think something that every father feels at one time or another.

Sixty thousand people, all jumping out their seat
The curtain closes, they're throwing roses at my feet
I take a bow and thank you all for coming out
They're screaming so loud, I take one last look at the crowd
I glance down, I don't believe what I'm seeing
"Daddy it's me, help Mommy, her wrists are bleeding,"
But baby we're in Sweden, how did you get to Sweden?
"I followed you Daddy, you told me that you weren't leavin'
"You lied to me Dad, and now you make Mommy sad
"And I bought you this coin, it says 'Number One Dad'
"That's all I wanted, I just want to give you this coin
"I get the point - fine, me and Mommy are gone"
But baby wait, "it's too late Dad, you made the choice
"Now go up there and show 'em that you love 'em more than us"
That's what they want, they want you Marshall, they keep.. screamin' your name
It's no wonder you can't go to sleep, just take another pill
Yeah, I bet you you will. You rap about it, yeah, word, k-keep it real
I hear applause, all this time I couldn't see
How could it be, that the curtain is closing on me
I turn around, find a gun on the ground, cock it
Put it to my brain and scream "die Shady" and pop it
The sky darkens, my life flashes, the plane that I was supposed to be on crashes and burns to ashes
That's when I wake up, alarm clock's ringin', there's birds singin'
It's Spring and Hailie's outside swinging, I walk right up to Kim and kiss her
Tell her I miss her, Hailie just smiles and winks at her little sister
Almost as if to say..

[Chorus / Outro]
And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel no pain
Just smile back

Really Funny Flash Animation

I don't know who the guy is who comes up with these, but he's pretty funny. So funny that Nike hired him to do some stuff for them. So that's pretty good. You can see his ads here.

Autumn in New York

Nike Dry Fit

The End of the World (Warning: This one has some vulgarity)

Terrible

Monday afternoon, my wife and I were going to Costco, to pick up some last minute things for Thanksgiving - which this year is going to be at our house. So yes, we willing went to Costco three days before Thanksgiving. It was like an amusement park, only with free samples. Driving home, we got off our exit and curled around our exit to be met with about 50 police cars, entirely blocking off the road that leads past the railroad tracks, under the overpass to our side street where we live.

Then I looked out and saw police tape all around the train tracks. And then I saw huge trailers and trucks, with men getting and and out of the trucks with what looked like special equipment. Here's what happened: a woman was babysitting three kids: an infant, a two-year-old and a three-year-old. She was crossing the train tracks, and apparently, went back to get the stroller, and the two-year old followed her. He was struck by the southbound train, that was going close to 70 mph.

This is the link to the news story.

You can see an explanation of how it happened in this graphic. If you don't want to, I don't blame you.

My buddy has a three-year-old daughter. And the thought of that kind of thing makes me shiver. One of the ways I process is to write, so I wanted to write about some thoughts I had.

• I was surprised how quickly I began to blame. I immediately grew furious with the babysitter. What in the heck are you doing take toddlers across railroad tracks when a train is coming? I mean, didn't you think to, oh, I don't know, have everybody sit down and hold your hand. Or instruct them about how dangerous a train is? I know the trains travel fast but they also have very loud horns. Your idiocy cost a kid their life. Why did I immediatley need to blame someone, to yell at someone, to let someone know "This is your fault!. I don't know.

• Driving off the ramp, I was annoyed that the access to my house was blocked by police cars. This was before I knew about the accident, and afterwards, I felt rather guilty for thinking that way. My first thoughts are always entirely selfish. It has been this way since I can remember.

• After learning about the accident, I thought about it for a while, but then went back to putting the pumpkin pie in the fridge and trying to find the right cables to hook my new HDTV cable box from Comcast up to my TV. The bathroom needed to be re-caulked, too. How right, the old Masters were, when they said that tragedy happens when no one is looking. What destroyed one person's world, isn't even on the radar for almost everybody else. Maybe one of the purposes of grieving with someone is to sit with them and let them know that the Universe really is out of whack right now, and I feel the grief with you.

• Driving home from church yesterday, I drove by the tracks and saw little crosses near the railway. A woman was leaning down over the tracks, sobbing. Another woman was over her, holding her. I don't know if the woman knew the child. Maybe it was the kid's mom. You might as well have driven a railway spike into her heart. But then a thought hit me. What if it was the sitter? When she went to the tracks to cry, would anyone put their arm over her and cry with her? I bet you that Jesus would have.

Ebert and Oprah, Sitting in a Tree

I didn't know this, but apparently, Roger Ebert once went on a date with Oprah Winfrey.

What happened on that date would change history as we know it.

Bum bum bum.

Turkey Disco

Thanks to my long-distance friend Nikki, from Texas, who sent me this funny clip.

Click here to see Thanksgiving from a turkey's point of view.

P.S. It isn't often you see turkeys with afros.

OSU Week: Go Bucks!

So this is a big week for me, mainly because it is the week of the storied rivalry between my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes and the evil, villainous Michigan Wolverines, who henceforth will be referred to as the Team of Which We Will Not Speak. This year's game is particularly rich, mainly because the Bucks (yay!) are ranked 7th in the BCS standings and are raring to get a place in a BCS bowl, hopefully in the Fiesta Bowl playing against Notre Dame. But all this depends upon their ability to not lose another game against a very good 15th ranked Team of Which We Will Not Speak.

Now, with Ohio State's stellar 3rd-in-the-nation defense, and Johnny-come-lately offense (40 points per game in each of the last four games), I'd have to say that the Bucks would be a lock. But in this rivalry, there is no such thing as a lock. Especially with the Bucks playing at the Big House in hostile territory, and the Team of Which We Will Not Speak turning it up a few notches offensively since they stole that game against Penn St. on a last-second pass.

My wife will not be in the house to watch the game, not only because that wouldn't be good for our marriage, but because she happened to have something else to do. But since she is a UM grad, and her dad, mom and uncle all went to that cursed University of Maize and Blue (her mom and step-dad even have season tickets), this is the one day of the year where family will be dead to me. Like in this picture:



I am going to have a few folks over for some early Saturday morning fun. We will all be rooting for the Scarlet and Gray. All I have to say is:

Go

p.s. Thanks to Eric for the pics - I wish you could come over and watch the game, like good 'ol times.

U2 in Concert

If you called me last night on my cellphone and left me a message, I didn't get it. Not only was I indisposed, but it was only a few moments ago that i regained my hearing.

You see, last night I went to see Bono, Larry, Adam and The Edge (otherwise known as U2) at the Oakland Coliseum. For my birthday this year, my good buddy Jeff Rev bought me a ticket. We were directly behind the stage (which sounds weird, but the stage is circular), about 8 rows up. We were a little elevated, but not so much that you'd get vertigo or something. As far as I could tell, with the exception of some floor people, we had as good as seats as anyone. I could have thrown a water bottle with a flick of my wrist and had it land on the stage. Not that I would ever, ever consider doing that.

I will blog more extensively on this experience - and it was an experience - when I have more time. Also, I got home at about 1 a.m., and I am a teacher, and am used to going to be at 10. So I am quite tired now.

Let me end with this quick thought. Three times I thought I was going to explode. One, during the second song when they played Vertigo.. The crowd was so loud, you could literally feel the noise. Then, when Bono brought out a protable drum, and started pounding on it from the front stage as an intro into Sunday Bloody Sunday. I realized then that's probably my favorite song of theirs. The third moment was when they lit the whole crowd, and you could see the crowd of 16,000. And everyone was singing in unison, whether to "I Still Haven't Found" or "In the Name of Love" or "One" or whatever other song they were doing. That's a lot of people. Oh yeah, and on Miss Sarejevo, Bono sang the part written and performed originally by Luciano Pavarotti, proving that when he wants to be, he's as stellar a vocalist as is out there. He was quite outstanding. And let there be no doubt that The Edge is one of the finest guitarists imaginable. The things he...it's otherworldly.

So. In summary. Bono a stone's throw. The Edge drives you over it with his talent. Many, many lights.

Popular, Influential Pastor Electrocuted in Baptismal Pool

This is the kind of thing that makes no earthly sense. Kyle Lake, the lead pastor at Unviersity Baptist Church in Waco, TX and author of a number of popular books, was baptising a woman Sunday when he reached for a microphone. He was killed.

You can read the story here.

As a response, Christianity Today posted an excerpt from his book Understanding God's Will: How to Hack the Equation without Using Formulas about what he might have said about his own death.

Lake is surived by his wife and two children. I'd encourage you to take a moment and pray for them.

Giant Monkeys, Country Music, Vampires and Jesus...

In-Flight Turbulence
• I saw the movie Flightplan this weekend with Jodi Foster. Actually, I didn't see it with Jodi Foster. I saw it with my wife. But Jodi Foster was up on the screen. It's a great movie. I'd give it three-and-a-half stars. Highly recommend. It's a little more action packed than "The Interpreter" but on that same level of good.

Kiwi Connection
• Jon and Gina came over for brunch on Saturday, which was stellar. They're going to New Zealand this coming week. New Zealand. That's a long plane ride. But still, imagine the things they will see. "This is where the Fellowship chased the Uruk-hai in pursuit of Pippen and Frodo."

Lions and Dinos and Apes, Oh My
• Huge Christmas Season for movies. Not only is The Chronicles of Narnia coming out on Dec. 9th (I already have my tickets for the sneak peek on the 8th), but I also saw a trailer for King Kong. Stupid movie about a big monkey, right? Wrong. It looks setllar. Check outThe Kong's site here. Word on the street is that the movie is running more than three hours long. Peter Jackson, apparently, can't tell a story quickly. I haven't checked, so I don't know who's going to be playing the role of Mario yet, but just think of how many barrells those CGI guys had to produce.

Interview with a Vampire, then a Messiah
• So, my buddy Jon Ziman called me from the store the other day. He needed some eggs, so he stopped by a Meijer, which is like a Wal-mart and a Safeway combined. Anyway, he soon found himself in a region of the store where books were sold, and he saw a new book whose titled caught his eye. It was by Anne Rice. You know, Anne Rice, the vampire story writer. Gothic horror, Interview with a Vampire Anne Rice. Well, apparently, she had a late-life encounter with God. After some time to process all this, she's put her prodigious writing talent to work on a new book called Christ the Lord a fictional account of the early life if Jesus in Egypt. You can read more here at Newsweek's feature article.

If God Can Redeem Country Music, There is Hope for All of Us
• And if that wasn't enough. I saw on the Apple store the other day that Carrie Underwood, the most recent American Idol, came out with her new album. Want to know the title of it? Jesus, Take the Wheel. Man. First Korn, now Carrie Underwood. What genre will God go for next? All I have to say is Kanye West, look out.

Jeff...

My first year teaching AP English, I had a student who was easily one of my favorite students ever. His name was Jeff, and he graduated in 2003. He was just one of those really smart, really funny kids who's just fun to be around. I actually have his brother this year.

To make a long story short, the other night at Take2, Jeff showed up. He came up to my buddy Ryan and asked, "Is Mr. Tieche here?" Ryan started laughing. Jeff had been searching spiritually, for a little while, when one day some guys on his campus at SJSU asked him if he wanted to be in a bible study. Jeff agreed, and started meeting with the guys. He started reading the Bible with them.

But these guys were from a demonination called the Church of Christ, which has a foundational doctrine that, among other things, says that if you aren't physically baptized in their church, you aren't really saved. Now, I'm not here to nitpick about demoninations, and I'm certainly impressed and grateful that these guys were so gregarious and caring to befriend Jeff. And I'm sure they're sincere. But like a lot of Christians, they kind of did more damage than they helped. A lot of the things they said about God made sense to Jeff, but some of the other stuff just didn't seem to sit right.

Jeff started talking to his parents about this, and they were supportive, but heard "Church of Christ" and thought the guys were Mormon, I think. So they urged Jeff to be careful. And then his mom gave Jeff a newsletter from a church called "The Spirit" which just *happened* to be from my church and which *happened* to haved a cover article written by me. "Why don't you go check out that church, too," Jeff's mom said.

Since then Jeff's been to every Take2. He came and sat next to my wife and I at church last week, and came last night to First Wednesday and we hung out afterwards, talking about life and love and God and other such crucial matters. It's just cool.

Teaching students like Jeff the subject of English is one of the biggest blessings of my life. But this journey...this is so much better.

Simply Cavernous...

Yesterday, my two co-workers Todd and Tony took me on a hard-hat tour of the new facility that will be home to our church congregation in a little less (or more) than a month. The 180,000 square foot campus is simply, in a word, ginormous. Some highlights:

• The main hallway, which leads out of the sanctuary down to the children's departments and then down to the offices is more than 250 yards. That's two and a half football fields.

• The main sanctuary is seven time the size of our current sanctuary.

• The stage feet have been put in place. The stage is 140 feet wide. Our current stage is 28 feet wide.

• There is a steel I-beam girder that runs the span of the ceiling in the main auditorium that is something like 200 feet long and 8 feet tall. A section of a similiar beam was lying on the floor and it was taller than me. It was the biggest piece of steel I have ever seen in my life.

My office is right next to Todd's and Tony's, and is just a stone's throw away from the showers. We have a bathroom that has showers, just in case our car breaks down and we have to clean up. I can't believe I get an office. That's insane to me. I'm glad I'm in the wing with the arts people.

But the best part was just standing in the back of the sanctuary with Todd and Tony and looking at the vast empty area that will soon be carpeted and filled with thousands of chairs.

"Just think how many people will fit in here," Tony said, almost getting choked up.

The three of us just stood there and looked out.

For some reason, my mind went back to this time right before I left Hawaii, my buddy Pastor Dan Kim prayed for me and he prayed that I would find a team that I could be a part of and that I could be valued and use all my gifts. I'd never heard anyone pray that, or even think that way, but I realized that really, that's what I've been looking for all my life. For someone to tap me on the shoulder and say, "You. We're building a special, crack team of super heroes to change the world. You have something special. Let's go."

I think that's kind of what everybody needs, at some level. But standing out there with Todd, one of the most talented musicians and vocalists I know, and Tony, one of the most knowledgeable guys about theatre lighting and camera operating that I've ever met, I felt like a member of the X-men.

I can't wait to communicate that to every single person in the congregation. Church is like the X-men, and everybody is crucial. It is you that's going to go into battle and change this person's life, or give hope to this person. It's your intelligence that's going to solve this problem, or your compassion that's going to help this person, or your creativity that's going to help communicate this truth effectively.

It's going to be a wild ride - and I can't wait to see what God does with the small army of believers he's assembled at 478 Piercy Road.

Not-So-Super Heroes

NOTE: My dad just mailed me a data CD of all the files that I composed on the computer he built me before I went to college. Which means I now have exact record of all files from Jan. 1994 (my senior year in HS) until 1998.
Every journal from class. Every email. Every paper from every class. Every newpaper article I ever wrote. Everything.
Anyway, I came across this file titled simply "JLA." It was a newsroom/dinner/back-to-the-newsroom conversation on super heroes in which my college buddy Jon Fortt goes off of a hilarious riff about the ineptness of the Justice League of America. Seeing as how I spent last night handing out calories to all sorts of superheroes, from Spiderman to Superman to The Thing to Batman, I figured it'd be appropriate to share.


Jon: Here's what I am thinking. Robin was with Batman all the time, right, he was his sidekick. I'm thinking that if you're going to go out, stalk people, eavesdrop in dark alleys, you know, hide in the shadows, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, wearing a great big yellow cape and green elf shoes probably isn't the best way to do that, you know what I am saying? Unless of course, you're staking out some off-color gay bar in Gotham. Even then, though, bringing in a small boy in a bright, tight fitting outfit probably isn't the wisest thing to do in that case either.

When the JLA sat around the big table and talked strategy, here's how it always went.

"Okay, Batman, you sneak in and get the secret documents. Superman, you tunnel underground and then come up through the floor in an explosion of dust and cement and take them by surprise, and Robin, you distract their fire."

That's all he was. He was a target. Cannon fodder. They might as well have changed his name to Decoy Boy. That's all, he was just too naive to know this.

Ken: You haven't said anything about Batman yet.

Jon: That's cause you don't mess with the Bats. He WAS the Justice League. And sometimes you could tell that he knew it. I'm not saying that he got cocky. No, just the opposite. He'd just work to do more. I bet there were times when he would just go off and get totally pissed off. Wouldn't you? I mean, there he was, surrounded by these non-human freaks who were constantly falling into stupid traps who he'd have to go around and save.

That's why he spent so much time in the Batcave. He was practicing picking locks because he knew that if he ever got caught and put under wraps for more than four minutes, the entire world was doomed. That's why he had that utility belt. In it, he had all sorts of lock picks and explosives and acids to get out of any cell anywhere, but it was also a decoy. The idiot villains took his belt every time they captured him, but they thought that was it. Take the belt, take the power. The idiots never bothered to search him after they took the belt, they just threw him in a cell. Jeez, man, he could have built another Batmobile with all the crap he had in his gloves, boots, and cape.

Ken: What about Flash?

Jon: Flash was cool. Policeman. Forensic dude. Fast as light. Cool outfit and useful in a street fight, which you know if you've ever had a hundred punches land on your face in one nanosecond. No he was cool, but my one beef with Flash is that he seemed particularly susceptible to tranquilizer darts. Did you ever notice this? No bullet ever came close to this speedy son-of-a-bitch but fire a tranquilizer dart anywhere near him and it hits him square in the back of the neck every time. Then all the villains had to do was sedate Mr. Quick and he was nothing.

You'd think he'd have his costume mechanic install a metal plate in his uniform to combat that common occurrence, but he didn't. In the Justice League Universe, knowledge and intelligence are never retained from show to show. That why everyone, both the good guys and the bad guys were so screwed. Our childhood heroes were raving idiots with the retention rate of an infant. It was ridiculous man.