Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Bonus Teeth Pics

Another teeth picture! Bonus teeth pics from Lindsey! See post below for more info.

A ZOOM in of the same picture!

These Teeth are FREE!

Yesterday I got my braces off! Here I am pointing at my teeth with a glow stick. Also featured here are my friends Ashley and Lindsey who are better at smiling than I am. If Lindsey or Katie would post or send me some better ones I know they are out there.

It feels weird to have naked teeth again. The problem I'm facing is that I taught myself to smile without showing my teeth becasue I was self-conscious and now I have to untrain myself.

My parents and I went for a Birthday dinner to Pappadeaux... mmm... crawdads!

Then we went and saw Altamesa's VBS featuring THE COWBELL OF MIGHT! They didn't light Brian up for fear of him stealing focus... mission failed, he was all I could watch. Him and Stephen the dancing MACHINE! I really need a Stephen at my church who is both coordinated and enthusiastic about choreography.

Then my friends and I went to "The PAB!" which is apparently the new abbreviation for Don Pablos. A good time was had by all. Until I had to drive home at 11:30pm with a broken mirror! I hope nights 3 & 4 go as well as Gideon did. I may come back late Wednesday because I have my final ortho apptment early on Thursday.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

VBS Nights 3 & 4

Wow what a rush to the finish!

Here's the cliff notes for the past two days.

Night Three went fantastic! The kids had a terrific time when the plagues of Egypt erupted around them. The only downside is the marshmallow carpeting we now have, well worth it.

The kids tried to clap along with the "NILE" song but of course the poor little white kids had NO RHYTHM! They started on something of a beat but it quickly broke down into what sounded more like light rain. And of course they never stopped. They had fun so it was all good. Jeff and Jeff kept the true beat.

Luke Burnam continued to dominate! The kids just swarmed him for autographs! But the cutest autograph award went to Joshua "Little Thut" and Christopher "Gershom"! This little guys signed a lot of books with better penmanship than some of the "grownup" cast.

And the Moses Family (Aaron, the Narrator and Little Thut) all did great as well. It's hard to believe that three years ago Christie had never performed in a musical.

Then suddenly it was night four.

We preped and tested the blowers ("Loose Cannon!"). But of course we didn't test them with the stage lighting and microphones pulling a lot of amps so half an hour before the show we blew a bunch of fuses! With a little scrambling it all got reset and worked great.

Mitzi and Tracy Hauck (and their kids) have put a lot of hours into this show with absolutely ZERO face time. Wheile the cast was signing autographs they had already begun breaking down and cleaning up the set.

I guess I better thank the interns too. Leslie did some great work and worked with Cece's side more than my own. She was amazing, Kelly who's taken a lot of abuse from me lifted a lot of heavy things and just kept moving at a really rapid pace. We are all ready for a nap.

I'm sure I'm forgetting to thank someone but it will come back to me! I'll try to do more of this thanking in person at the cast party.

The break down crew did a really good job. I'd guess 80% of the cast stayed and most of those who left had kids to watch. After the first hour it was a lot of heavy lifting and the teens really pitched in well.

Then we took over the local IHOP. It made me really happy that everyone helped and everyone went to IHOP and we extremely loud. I hope everyone tipped as well as I did. The IHOP staff did a good job. We had like 50 people at IHOP! Mmmm... Pancakes.



Next year, you ask? You're not so beaten up you don't want to hear about it? Ok then...

JOSHUA: SHOUT TO THE LORD! (Takes up where Moses left off and leads to the fall of Jericho! Also as an added bonus/bummer no babies in the cast!)

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

VBS Night Two - The Voice of God!

(Once again the link to last years Night Two "Rise of the Ham")

Last Night the Voice of God Spoke to Saturn Road! The poorly held secret about who the voice was can finally be let out of the bag. It was TV Anchor and Radio Host Jody Dean (sp?).

Moses did a fantastic job! This night he really took over the show. He'll have to share the spotlight tonight with Pharaoh and the ten plagues.

Jethro rose the occasion and the party dancers mingled and danced very well.

Young Joseph may have stollen the show when he tried to fight his way out from under a wooden bucket.

Last night I failed to mention what a terrific job Miriam did! Leah has such an amazing stage pressence.

Monday, June 19, 2006

VBS Night One Down! Three to Go!

What a fantastic opening night!

(Last year I entitled the VBS Night One post "No casualties.")

Way to go Cast and Crew! Way to kick off this years VBS!

Night one is long and fast paced and I'm glad it went of so smoothly. One hiccup went unnoticed by the kids but we re-shot it for the DVD. We had the luxury of touching stuff up for the DVD because of our excellent Video Crew (who are driving to and from Fort Worth each night!) Lone Star Film and Video! Use them for your next Wedding, VBS, Graduation or Barmitzfah.


Popular may have got a huge crowd reaction! WTG Tama! The audience loves you as do I.

And Julie's (Jochebed's) song was really moving. My cousin Emily (who arranged the music) said that was the way she had always wanted to see it done. Very touching. Made me wanna cry but I've bottled up my emotions.

When the nose came off the statue Evan's face and Mike quintuple-take made me laugh too loud.

Of course the BABY stole the show! Little Chase Anthony made his stage debut before he could crawl. (Which is good because he might have tried to crawl out of the basket.) People say in show business don't work with Animals or Kids. Jeff said don't work with "Animals, Kids or Youth Ministers."

When the baby became a grown man Luke Burnam finally ended the questions to me about my decision to cast a High Schooler as Moses! He really owned his song. "Yak! Yak! Yak! Yak!" I've always had faith, wait that's night three. The Baby is gone and Luke is the show Night Two! No pressure...

Today I've put the final touches on the burning bush and am looking forward to a shorter night (and by "I've" I mean Kelly, the Burnam kids and myself"). Tonight has a fun "dancography" number. The logistics of it make me want a large Tums-milkshake. As always, we shall rise to occasion.

Once again a lot of people thanked and congratulated me and I think the cast and crew didn't hear enough of it. So I want to pass on all those props and good vibes on to those who earned them last night!

See you tonight in Midian!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

The Widowmaker

What a great day!

We had breakfast at 8am and I was home by 5:30pm! Which is really good for an all day sucker like this. We had enough food for everyone and managed to wrangle childcare for the duration. (We even got fruit for Rhonda but she didn't eat it all! We also have 5 gallons of milk and juice we didn't drink! What is going to happen with that stuff?)

The actors rose to the occasion! It was a great practice. All four nights looked really good!
We know 96.25% of the lines/choreography/stage direction (which is pretty good, the feat of the show will encourage the last 5.75% to practice a little more). Now we only need to think about Night One until it is in the can.

The actors and actresses made me laugh! They had the right combination of taking the show seriously and having a good time.

I had a good time and left the day feeling energized for VBS to being.

I'll see you all tonight! 6pm! MOSES!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Leadership and "Son of Shakey"

Kevin Kelly has spearheading the final construction of "Son of Shakey" our new stage. He started at 5:30 and we left after 11pm. When we were headed to the car I walked over to thank Kevin for all his help and he said, "Well, I didn't do that much, I ended up supervising more than actually working." I've had this feeling pretty often during the VBS process. Feeling like I'm not "really working" when I end up supervising.

Its clear to me that Kevin was doing "real work" when he supervised. I'm sure he'd've liked to have the tools in his hands the whole time but he did what needed to be done instead of what he'd like to do. And the final product looks fantastic and isn't all that shakey at all.

Of course there were a lot of other men working on "SoS" without whose dudepower the set would not have gotten built on time. I'm always grateful for all our guys who can bring their tools, talent and time. If only the costumers had this kind of commitment.

I Kid! I Kid!

The costumers have done a fantastic job! They do such a good job that after our initial conversation I don't worry about it at all. They just show up looking awesome (the costumes look nice too). I've neglected them for too long in this blog. But of course, I love them dearly.

And I can't forget the painters and prop mistresses. They are doing a lot of work done in secret. And of course the musically talented who bring their voices and skills to the job!

So again, here I am at the end feeling like I haven't done "any work" I didn't drill much last night. And I didn't sew one stitch, paint one lick or hunt down one prop but all that stuff got done while I "supervised." I'm trying not to feel useless. What helps me get through is thinking about how God has given all these people different talents to use and that they enjoy working for the Lord.

Monday, June 12, 2006

VBS Final Prep Week

Yesterdays rehearsal looked good. Tonight will be a slam dunk! I can feel it.

We've made the final to-do list for VBS and should be done on time.

TTFN

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Tonsilitis

I have tonsilitis.
It's getting better.
But on Monday I wished I had never been born.
No born, no tonsils.

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