Musing on the latest Music

I went a little hogwild with my cd purchases today but I don't get to escape too often from the office I suppose. The latest Moby double cd is a masterpiece called Hotel - I am still digesting it but wow! Explosions In The Sky are the main band for the soundtrack to Friday Night Lights (a fantastic movie that explores the highs and lows of the sport of high school football) and I totally fell in love with this instrumental band while watching the movie. Well worth the purchase and listen!!! And you can't go wrong with the soulful croonings of the Blind Boys of Alabama! I really enjoyed Ben Harper's teaming up with the Blind Boys on There Will Be A Light but 2005's Atom Bomb prooves to be an interesting listen as well - best version of Spirit In The Sky yet!

Still waiting for Coldplay's latest and hoping to find some tickets to a U2 show (maybe Minneapolis or Toronto) - we'll see!

G

define play

I actually think I somewhat defined play in the post below but here's a more refined attempt:

play

1. to occupy oneself in amusement (the typical dictionary type definition); to escape?
   
2. to fully engage in life, in living
   
3. to celebrate life, discovery (an attitude or mindset?)
   
4. to find freedom; to explore ideas, concepts; to imagine or dream
   
5. to be creative in whatever endeavour attempted (see Genesis 1 & 2)
   
6. to be child-like in discovery of... (education of children occurs primarily through play)
   

Any thoughts re: my current understanding of play?

So little time!

Time - our greatest enemy in life! Why are we so bound to the sweep of the deadly arms of the clock? Have we all become trapped by their mesmerizing swirl like flies to the deadly light of a zapper? Does this whole time-thing exist so we are better able to make use of numbers instead of words? Seems like the evil plot of a mathemagician to me! I for one have always been more comfortable with poetry & prose than with numerology. Mathematics seems so droll & monotonous compared to the flow of a sentence. Even if words take us over the edge sometimes, at least they can excite us whereas numbers merely make us shudder. Hmmm...must be tax time or something! How is that for random musings? It is better to live life to the fullest than to keep track of it with a timepiece! Let's all throw off our cheap Timex's and go back to the rhythm of the sun and moon! Pry off those numbers from your keyboard and let the letters form sentences that inspire!

G

Ever feel that you are who the Beatles were referring to when they sang about the "nowhere man?"

Revisit Play

At the start of this sideline blog I had hoped for more of a focus than from my musings rants...unfortunately I still haven't posted enough blogs on topic. So typical. Well, here's my attempt at refocus. What is this whole explore play thing all about? To begin with, a recap of my explore play attempt thus far (note to self: apparently haven't accomplished much as of yet):

Some goals for this blog would be to create: a definition of & philosophy of play, from there I see the need to explore the role of play in education, in the workplace, in spirituality, in relationships, and of course life management. I would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions my current reading audience may have in this regard.

I see play as a natural and essential part of our lives here on earth. Play is more than mere distraction from work it is a mindset. Play is an attitude that seeks to engage in living, in life. It is in fact, the celebration of life. When we play, we see the value of our heartbeats, our breathing in and out, our thoughts, our laughter. We acknowledge that there is more to life than the doldrums or monotony of a 9 to 5 job or doing taxes or waiting in line to get coffee.

Play can occur at any time, in any place, in the silence, or in the chaos. I admit that often I play while at work - in fact work is best when I'm at play! When I am fully engaged, fully alive, imagining solutions, creatively exploring questions or problems, flirting with life's challenges, pursuing in earnest the finish line of completing a project! When I see the lights go on in my students eyes, when they recognize their potential, when they have fun learning, that I find play at work!

It is when life is boring, uninspiring, repetitive, stressful, dull, etc that we crave nothing more than escape! Some see that as Friday's after work but wouldn't it be cool if Mondays or even Wednesdays would be fun! Play is more than kicking a ball, schussing down a mountain, or paddling a river! It is a mindset, an attitude, an approach to life that looks for full engagement of the senses! It is when we are most like our Creator in being creative that we experience play! No child under the age of five experiences boredom do they? Why because they know how to play! It is a shame that so many by thirty have no idea how to play. Why is that? Something worth exploring perhaps?

in between time?

Hmmm...it seems that I'm in the midst of what i'll refer to as blog lag - either no time to write or nothing to write about? Ever feel like you get in a rut? I'm amazed at some of those prolific bloggers that post daily, apparently I'm not measuring up to any standard as of late.

G

Here's something to read in the "in between time" - transcript from U2's induction into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame.

Oh - and Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Soundtrack to life...

Five weeks of regular college life and then....escape to North Carolina! I booked my flights and am ready for a week of whitewater paddling and singletrack trails! We'll see if I can shake the rust off my kayak roll and well, mtn biking it will just be the lungs that will need work. Why the escape you ask? I'll be helping out as a guest instructor for a camp from Ontario called Medeba where my wife and I spent 10 months in a leadership development program. Unfortunately, I'll be going solo and leaving the family back in MB. Hopefully, we'll get some camping in as a family this summer and make our own escapes!

My current soundtrack to life includes Snow Patrol's Final Straw, The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex (of Smashing Pumpkins & Zwan fame), Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams, Kathleen Edward's Back To Me, Moby's Hotel, and still listening to U2's latest offering. I know it's all over the map musically - trippy, drippy, bleeding, and even rocking! Is it just me or is Kathleen Edward's a laid back folky female version of Tom Petty? JJ makes me want to move to Maui and finally learn how to surf. Jimmy Chamberlin's album has groove, (cool to have Corgan sing on one of the tunes), fusion & a touch of jazz. Snow Patrol will apparently be opening up for U2 on part of the Europe tour and man do I wish I could see that! Moby's latest offering is a masterpiece that will officially be released later this month!

I'm having fun teaching my final course of the year - Principles of Teaching. Weird being the class illustration often but I think my class is engaged for the most part. Back to the soundtrack of life...

G

Operation: Snowman

It's good to be back after a week away from family! I spent this time coordinating a missions exposure trip for 42 first year students in inner city Winnipeg. Students observed or participated in a variety of ministry opportunities from serving at soup kitchens, working with Salvation Army, or helping out with drop-in centres like Inner City Youth Alive. All in all, it was a good experience and I was very impressed by the effort and creativity of many of the students. But it's good to be home and to celebrate - Wendy, myself & Chelsea spent time creating a snowman family outside on our front yard!

Snowman building definitely is an art and not any snow will do. Fresh snow that is around the zero celsius mark seems best from my experience. It involves a lot of compressing and patting and smoothing out. Too hard and it all falls apart. It may be a temporary piece of art but it sure was fun!

Service

This past week I had the privilege of spending time with 42 first year college students and exposing them to a variety of soup kitchens, drop-in centres, & shelters in inner-city Winnipeg. It was not an easy week, particularly being away from family, but it was a rewarding one. It was exciting to see many of my students step up to the plate and interact with people they would normally look away from - the sniffers, the addicts, the alcoholics, the prostitutes, the homeless, the mentally-ill, and the poor. The hardest reality to hit home was the many kids from very difficult home situations.

One of the contrasts I observed was in how "ministry" was being done - soup kitchen style versus potluck. The soup kitchen approach is basically handing out food to people who stand in lines waiting. The potluck approach is very different, both the haves and the havenots offer their services in distributing food & clothing, and sit down at the table and eat with each other. I think both approaches have merit but it seems the second is more humane, more community minded. A lot people cannot help their economic situation, particularly the young or the old. Addictions and mental disorders as well keep people from living their lives as the majority of North Americans do.

A special thanks goes out to Gospel Mennonite Church, Salvation Army, & Inner City Youth Alive for hosting us and allowing us to serve in so many ways! God has blessed both the poor & the rich with so much - however, it seems that often it is the poor that realize contentment better. The fact is we all live in a "broken" world and all long for restoration and reconciliation with our Maker.

G