Saturday, May 19, 2007

The Zimmers

We had an AWESOME dinner/swim/hangout with our friends, the Hoefts, last night. Now, if you know the Hoefts, you know they love themselves some WHO! We're talkin' THE WHO, as in Roger, Pete, John, and Keith. They had us watch this very funny clip of THE ZIMMERS who sing My Generation. The guys is 90!!! Rock on!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Right Things

When I first got to GCC almost 4 years ago (hard to believe), my very first day of work was - A STAFF RETREAT! I couldn't believe that the whole staff, around 50 of us at that point went on an overnight excursion to Oakwood Conference Center. Nice place. Beautiful lake.

For one of the sessions, Mark Beeson brought in Dave Engbrecht from Nappanee Missionary Church. He gave us a message that I still haven't forgotten. It was so simple that I couldn't believe that I was actually saying "WOW!" His basic premise was the following formula:


RT(right things) - F(Feelings) over T(Time) = DR(Desired Results)

If we do the right things regularly, no matter how we feel at the moment, and if we do them for a while, we'll get the results we desire. This pretty much works for most anything. You want to lose weight? Exercise and eat less (no matter if you want to scarf the Krispy Kreme Dozen) and you'll eventually get there. Want to get financial peace? Save more and spend less (no matter if the plasma screen is calling your name) and you'll eventually get there.

I have found this true in running. I have literally had to fight my body to get up in the mornings to get going. I'm seeing results. Me happy.

I'm also working on this for my voice. Using the Vocal Artistry CDs that we got a couple weeks ago, I'm seeing initial improvement already. Trying to extend my range and get rid of tension. We'll see where 6 months of consistency can go.

I'm really thankful to Dave for bringing this memorable message to us. I am benefitting.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Marvel vs. DC

Simple truths here...



And here...


And here...


Finally, here...


Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Vocal Artistry: A SMASH HIT!

I can't say enough about how great of an experience everyone had the Vocal Artistry event that we hosted at GCC this weekend. We had 200 singers attend! Tim Carson has such a wealth of knowledge to share. We had two of our singers, Angie Henry and Bill Moore sing at the event and Tim had a chance to clinic them. Great voices to start, but then BAM! With the knobs he tweaked, both Angie and Bill sang with marked improvement.

I know that our team is going to benefit from the resources that Vocal Artistry has. I'm looking forward to using both the CD on Vocal Freedom (reducing tension, etc) and another on Vocal Strength (range extension, endurance, register blending). I realized how HEAVY I sing in order to get volume. Kinda like a golfer "muscle-ing" the ball. I hope to get some freedom from these habits that I've developed over the years.

I would recommend to any singer to get to one of the Vocal Artistry events.

Tim, thanks for all your time. You were awesome!

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Kickin' It Up a Notch


You may not know this, but I'm a big fan of Diet Coke. Now I prefer Diet Coke with Splenda, or certainly a good FOUNTAIN DC from Speedway (where every 7th one is free!) or Sam's Club. So I figured it was inevitable that I try the relatively new Diet Coke Plus - vitamins and minerals and other stuff that's good for you (I guess that balances out the other chemicals...)

The verdict: sure. I guess. Nothing earth shattering. I guess it's good to get extra stuff? The taste was pretty much the same. Though the Ace-K sweetner might make it a little closer to the Splenda. Definately Diet Coke, whereas Diet Coke with Splenda basically tastes like regular Coke.

For more extensive research, check here.