Wausau, Wisconsin

Oh yeah! I've been spending some quality time in the northern midwest of the United States this past week. By way of a business trip, I have been introducing myself to the wonderful countryside of Wisconsin. Now some of you may be thinking that I am being sarcastic here, but I have to say that Wisconsin really is some fine country. I must have the good fortune of being out here at a perfect time. There have been a few mild rain storms that moved through, but generally it has been sunny with a temp in the 70's and very low humidity.

I flew into Milwaukee on Saturday and was met by a good, old friend, Scott. Scott and his family moved out here nearly 4 years ago from sunny California. We went back to Scott's place and he gave me the tour, complete with a backyard fire to burn off some brush. Yes, indeed, in Wisconsin you can burn off brush in your own backyard on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. But, don't you dare burn it on Sundays, or the Wisconsin State Troopers will be visiting you!

I had a great time visiting with Scott and Cathy, Scott's mom, and their three boys. Such gracious hosts...it was fun getting to catch up. I also was invited to join Cathy and the praise team at her church to lead worship this past Sunday. That was a total blessing and really fun. I have never lead worship at a church beside my own. Later that day, Scott took me over to Miller Park where the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball. We were going to go on a tour, but unfortunately they did not have tours on that day. But, I was able to take pictures from a restaurant patio that overlooks left field. That was pretty cool!

The rest of Sunday was spent driving 3 hours West and North to a small town called Wausau. Wausau is a logging town and the drive up here was very beautiful. There is a lot of farm country, but everything is so green right now. In Wausau, the trees are everywhere and it reminds me some of the Northwest. The people here are friendly and I can see the German heritage in a lot of them. They like to drink beer, eat sausages and ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles up here. The crazy thing is that there is no helmet law in Wisconsin, so everyone rides their bikes up here with no head protection. Crazy...

Another fun thing that I was able to do here was take in a baseball game at the local diamond called Athletic Park. Athletic Park is home to the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The Chucks are a team made up of college players on summer break and they play in the Northwoods League. The stadium is small and situated right in the middle of a neighborhood. Fans who are brave enough to chance getting the car hit with a foul ball park along the streets on either side of the ballpark. The outfield fence is plastered with billboards touting the local ice cream shop or real estate agent and the smell of cheese curds, hot dogs and cheap beer is in the air. Yes, that is right, I wrote CHEESE CURDS. Now I did not partake in this delicacy, but I understand from one of the locals here that Cheese Curds are fried cheese. Sounds like a coronary waiting to happen...

While taking in the game, you can hear in the distance a train slowly moving down the tracks. About 300-400 people came out to watch these two teams battle. After every pitch, some local kid blares different kinds of music, some intended to annoy the opposing team. In between innings they play goofy games like spinning yourself around a bat and then racing each other in a dizzy state to the finish line...or grabbing two kids from the bleachers, dressing them up in huge, overstuffed sumo wrestler costumes and parading them out on the field to attempt to wrestle...or, my personal favorite, grabbing two dads from the crowd to come out on the field and shove as many spicy hot wings in their mouth as they can in 30 seconds. Talk about indigestion...

All in all, I had a great time here in Wisconsin...but, I am looking forward to getting home to my big comfy bed, my four beautiful kids, and the love of my life...

Introducing...The Summerhill Gang

Yes! It is finally here. The show that you all have been waiting for...the most amazing podcast ever created is now online for your listening pleasure!
Ha Ha...well, we do have pop culture goodness for your brain and I hope that it is somewhat entertaining for you.
My neighbor on Summerhill Drive here in Encinitas, Doug, and I have been talking about doing a podcast for months. For those of you who don't know what a podcast is, here is a short explanation: A podcast is somewhat like a radio show, except that it is not broadcast over the radio airwaves and it is not live. So, maybe it isn't much like a radio show! Well, anyway, if you can picture what a radio show production looks like, then you kind of get the idea. Doug and I sit in the upstairs office in his house and set up a couple of computers and microphones and we talk about stuff we like or stuff that is happening in our lives. We record what we talk about and during our conversations we mix in clips of music, movies, TV shows and other fun stuff. So, basically we are producing this audio show that we then put out on the Internet for other people to listen to online or download to a device like an MP3 player or iPod that they can then take with them and listen to. It is pretty awesome!

We just put together our first show last week. If you go over to www.summerhillgang.com you can see our blog/website for the show. There we have links to things we talk about on the show, an option to listen to the show online, a link for downloading the show and also contact information so that you can call or e-mail us with feedback. Please check out the show and let me know what you think!

Mat Kearney

My posts are so sporadic, I would be surprised if anyone else checks this blog but me. Oh well...
So, to make up for it, I am going to try and post a bunch of stuff today.
Here's the first...



A few weeks back I was strolling through our local Target and noticed that this CD by Mat Kearney was on sale for $9.99. I had heard of Mat Kearney through some magazines that I read and also had heard his song "Nothing Left To Lose" on KPRI. I was jazzed that they were playing it on KPRI because Mat has been billed as a Christian artist and he tours with other Christian bands.
I bought the CD and immediately popped it into my CD player. I have been playing it constantly since then. This CD is awesome!
The melodies are so easy to get hooked on. Mat's voice is very easy to listen to and the grooves are very cool. Mat often gets compared to Chris Martin of Coldplay with his vocal stylings. There are a few songs on this CD that are piano-based that sound a lot like Coldplay. Mat also throws in a twist on some of his songs. He raps! Now some might be turned off by that, but the way that the lyrics float off of Mat's tongue and meet with the easy grooves is pretty awesome. Check out the songs "In The Middle" or "Bullet" and you will see what I mean.
Check out Mat Kearney's website and you can hear the entire CD streaming over there. He also has a journal that he updates as he is touring. Take a listen and let me know what you think.