All he was really wanted to say was "why should the devil have all the good music?"

The man who is credited as creating the Christian rock genre of music passed away a few days ago. Larry Norman was a brilliant musician who lived an eventful life. As a rock and roll fan, I (Tim) am grateful to Norman for taking the friendly fire of other Christians while sticking to his conviction that the Devil should not have all the good music. A whole lot of good music has been created by people who followed Norman’s lead. He is jamming with Jesus now.

This afternoon, if the weather holds up, I will start the Disc Golf season off at Acorn Park. Eric agreed to brave temps around 30 degrees to play. I’m pretty excited.

Some friends blessed us big time by praying for us last night. Thanks, friends.

Heidi is the cutest of all time.

A working woman

Heidi is a working woman again. She took a temp job while we wait for our house to sell. I will let her tell post the details of the job. She is learning an awful lot about plumbing supplies right now.

Here is a link to a documentary that looks interesting. Click here to watch the trailer: http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php Ben Stein hosts the doc about how Intelligent Design is not allowed to be taught in America. It is set to open in April and if it plays in MN we are planning to go.

The Roseville 4 theater (or Roseville stick-to-the-floor theater) is closing at the end of March. I have seen more movies there than any other theater. It was a great place to watch a movie if you could find a seat that was not broken and get your feet unstuck from the spilled soda on the floor. I’ll miss it.

Good season of LOST so far. Last night’s surprise at the end was awesome. We did not see it coming. As usual there were more questions and not many answers.

A Legend retires

I know football season is over, but I must say my piece about a Broncos legend. Rod Smith, one of the all time great receivers in the NFL, not just the Broncos, is likely to retire from football. He was an undrafted player who came up from the practice squad to play in two Super Bowls. Any athlete would do well to emulate his work ethic and drive to excel. Like most of the Broncos nation, I am hoping that he will join the Broncos coaching staff and show the next generation how the game is played.

I love my Ipod. At work I can put on my headphones and jam out while I answer emails or read documents. Today my artists of choice were Pillar and Project 86, while yesterday I listened mostly to Nickel Creek and P.O.D. How did I survive without an Ipod for so long?

Winter still has its icy grip on Minnesota. It was -8 degrees when I went running this morning. Getting a little tired of it, I’ll be honest. I am hoping for a somewhat warm day to start the 2008 Disc Golf season. A sunny, 25 degree day would do the trick.

For Valentine’s Day, Heidi and I took in dinner and a movie. I got to pick the restaurant, so we ate at Quang’s. That place is so good. For the movie, we saw Enchanted at the Riverview Theater. It is a fun, clean movie with some great moments. Not bad for a chick flick. It was just great to be with my Sweet Baboo.

D-War and losing in Settlers

On Saturday morning, while Heidi was working, I picked up D-War (Dragon Wars) from the Redbox. It is a Korean film about some attractive people and an evil serpent and an army of bad guys. I think. The plot did not make a whole lot of sense and they relied on Deux ex Machina to carry their plot so many times that I gave up trying to follow it. The dialog was awful and the actors could have been made of wood. (A minor character is played by the guy who plays Darryl on The Office and that character is exactly like Darryl from The Office.) Despite all that is wrong with the film (including the fact that at no point in the film are there dragons at war), I really enjoyed it. In Hollywood there are so many committees who write scripts that most films that are released are just rehashed movies with different actors and settings. (How many times have you watched a Romantic Comedy and felt that you have seen it before?) The great thing about D-War is that whoever made the film decided to make something that they would enjoy seeing. They figured if a helicopter flying through downtown Los Angles while fighting with a flying beast was cool, and a helicopter fighting two flying beast would be even better, but a helicopter fighting 17 flying beasts would be spectacular. Therefore, while D-War failed to be a good film, at least it failed spectacularly. I give the makers of this film credit for daring to make something great. Hollywood should take notice.

On Saturday night Heidi put together an engagement party for our friend Julie (JG). While the Heidster and the girls were out eating sushi and fondue I went over to Patrick’s place for a few games of the Settlers of Catan. Patty, his sister in law, joined us. Evidently at some point I must have offended the Settlers gods (I don’t really believe in them, don’t worry) because I got destroyed three games in a row. At no point was I competitive the entire night. At least they had fun.

It was horribly cold this weekend. The high for the day on Sunday was -5 degrees. Yesterday when I went running before work it was -7 degrees. This morning it was +6 degrees and it felt great. I wonder how I will feel when it is 115 degrees in Africa. Maybe I’ll miss the sub zero temps. Hmm. Probably not.

Heidi sure is cute.

The Blues

In the Twin Cities, we have a radio station called KTIS that plays the latest (and sometimes super-old and lame) Contemporary Christian Music. The music tends to be of the happy, praise and worship type, which is okay sometimes. However, there are times when I don’t want to listen to happy music, since it does not match my mood. While I am a generally upbeat person, sometimes I need the Blues. My favorite old school Blues rock bands are Rez Band and Red Sea. There is just something about the Blues that can help a person through a tough time. I know it is no accident that in the book of Psalms in the Bible, there are more Psalms of lament than any other style. God, in His endless wisdom, gave us an art form to express ourselves in the tough times. David, a man after God’s own heart, knew tremendous heartbreak, often because of his poor choices. Through his pain he wrote Psalms of lament that always ended with a declaration of his trust in God. Those Psalms encourage us even now, so many years later. I find it so cool that God cares enough about us to give us art to help carry us through hard times. Now, if only I played the guitar.

80's Party

We never posted these sweet pics from the 80's party we went to for our friend Patrick's birthday.You'll notice that Karen's outfit came straight from the the mall scene in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. She was even wearing white shoes. So great.

Wow, we are cute.

A Super Bowl

Last night’s Super Bowl was great. Sandy and Allen Putnam opened their home and offered their food to a small group of football fans. Chad, Ruth, Jer, Amy, and I were blessed by their hospitality. The game itself was the most exciting since the Broncos beat the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII ten years ago. (Don’t anyone say that the Titans/Rams Super Bowl was exciting. It was horribly boring until the end.) The commercials were mostly good, with the FedEx Carrier Pigeons as my favorite. Heidi watched a girly movie with some of her girlfriends and claimed she had more fun than watching the game.

The outcome of the Super Bowl was not at all what I expected. I did not figure the Giants were enough of a team to beat Green Bay in sub-zero temps, let alone the mighty Patriots. My prediction before the game was the Patriots in a blowout. I guess that’s why they play the game. When Manning escaped the sack and completed a long pass with only minutes left in the game, I knew we were witnessing something special. The only downer of the Super Bowl means that we have eight months before another season starts.