Bardic Knowledge

Top Two!

2009-05-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I haven't been on here sense the top 5! AHHHH!
For the record, I was sad that My boy Matt went home. After that, I'm glad Allison left, even though it was her best performance of the year she left on... (just like matt the week before!) And Then it was time for Danny to go, He had peeked too early, and i just can't see him be a good recording artist... call me crazy.... Speaking of Crazy, how awesome was Kris on "Ain't No Sunshine!" ... the answer... really awesome.. thats why its my favorite, but for some reason no one has been posting good videos of performances as of late.. so i'm stuck just directing you to youtube!
so click the link.... here and it should bring you to youtube so you can watch Kris hit it up!

Anyway, before I start on tonight I should really reflect on my thoughts of the season, I love Idol as much as the next fan crazed tween girl.... but this season seemed lack luster, from the contestants that just fell flat (like Anoop, Lil Rounds, Blind Guy, Jorge.. and so many others) to the fact that the mentors weren't that good (what was Quinten talking about when he was on the show?!) To the lip syncing that got out into the press (on the results shows, the group songs) to the fact that Paula is still drunk, Kara's opinion has yet to matter, and Randy seems to be off target more then ever.

however, with all that said, we got some pretty cool moments.
Namely: Kris's 'Heartless 'last week, and his 'Ain't No Sunshine'... both times he did it.

Matt Girauds "my Funny Valentine' was unreal... Simon said he sounded like Nat King Cole.. LEGEND! And Matt's Performance of 'So Smal'l by Carrie Underwood was pretty spectacular.

Adam was more original then anyone we have seen.
I still feel that if this was 1980's he would be a a world phenom by now, but its 2009.... but he is still pretty sweet, he has more control over his voice then anyone i have seen, and although he seems a bit cocky he also seems like a cool guy, his performaces of 'Tracks of My Tears' is still stuck in my head and 'Mad World' of course was great.

And let us not forget that lovable songbird that was Megan Joy! Her "Walking After Midnight" Was Phenomonal! She should be a star, adele, Colbie, and Megan Joy.

Our favorite Glasses wearing Jesus Freak had a couple really good performances, the only one that really stands out is the time he did Rascal Flats "What Hurts The Most" , fantastic job.

So good season... better then last year? Nah, more talent last year... but you know what, Idol is still awesome.. so how bout that finale?

Three Songs -
Pick your Favorite, Producer Pick, and Kara writes you a song... So Here We Go..

Pick Your Favorite :

Adam - He goes first and sings "Mad World" again, which is a great pick because a lot of DVR's cut off the performance, it was more quieted down than last time i think, i also think he went way over the top... the fog... the trench coat... i dunno... That stuff won't make me buy his record, but his voice sounded great.

Kris - Sang 'Ain't No Sunshine' made some small tweaks that made it better. was on stage with a grand piano instead of a keyboard, was alone on the stage this time, really awesome job. Best of the season by him, great time to step it up. The judges agree and Simon says Kris won round one!

Producers Pick:

Adam - He sings 'Change is Gonna Come' by Sam Cooke, and this was my favorite of his of the night, maybe of the season, he had it chill AND rocky, I don't believe he has ever mixed those two like he did. Maybe not the BEST song choice by the producers, but he did an amazing job... I was scared for Kris.

Kris - He sang "What's Goin On" by Marvin Gaye, which i Love! And I'm sure the people back when he wrote it for the Vietnam war loved it too. Maybe NOT the best song pick either, Kris made it real chill, he had a band onstage with bongos and the whole deal, he played guitar this time... which is cool to change it up. I would buy this single, but the judges felt that it wasn't BIG enough for this stage... I love that he stayed chill.

Kara's Crappy Song:

Kara Wrote this song called No Boundries and both singers had to sing it. The judges didn't talk about their performaces too much. It seemed too low for Adam and too high for Kris but Kris made it sound better, Kris' sounded more like a song we would hear on the radio. But just like last years single by David Cook "Time of My Life" wasn't right for him, this song seemed uncomfortable for both these guys and I hate that one of them will have to sing it for the next few months before their own CD comes out...

So here we go! I think Kris will do better as a recording artist in my opinion, because Hair Bands are no longer big so Adam has to really do this on his own, so we will see.

Runner Up - Adam Lambert

Winner - Kris (upset) Allen

Woooot!

We'll See,
My Favorite won Dancing With the Stars and she was an underdog so hopefully...

Enjoy,
Arod

Top 5!!

2009-04-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Top 5 night, big time, this is like the final four of American Idol, it gets serious here. Last year everyone sang 2 songs, this year they decided against that. But it was rat pack and unlike some weeks the mentor Jamie Foxx was actually helpfull, Last week I would have said that Kris Allen's was my favorite and i thought Lil and Anoop would go home. This week my favorite is Matt Girauds "My Funny Valentine"

Great
Matt Giraud - I'm just gonna say that Simon compared him to this legend. If matt has a chance to stay in this competition any longer it was by having an amazing performance, and he did that.

Kris Allen - He was first in the order, and althought at first i wouldn't give him this, I rewatched it, and I loved it. Jamie Foxx was obviously a fan of it, and the girls loved the song choice "The Way you look tonight", they went wild whenever he spoke those words, hah.

Danny Gokey - "Come Rain Come Shine" was easily a best for a Gokey, he has kinda glided through this competition sense the top 13 started, this was my first time thinking sense the whole thing began that he could make a come back and win it. Lets hope for a competition.

Good
Adam Lambert - See, I love Adam, and I love that he switches up songs, the song he did was "Feeling Good" ,which is covered a lot. He chose to do a version that was just released recently by the band The Muse, and I just feel his was a bit copy cat of that and not as good as the original cover. With that said, he can work a stage like no bodies business.

Allison Iraheta - "Someone To Watch Over Me" , way more age appropriate then last weeks "Hot Stuff"... at least i think it was last weeks. She didn't rock out this week and if she goes home she might think thats why but the truth it that she has shone her full potential and I just don't think that she can win. but with that said, this is in the Good column, not so-so, not bad. So take that into account.

So-So

Bad

Bottom Three -
Allison, Kris, Matt (Allison has been here before, Kris was in the first spot, and Matt was eliminated twice, plus Danny and Adam won't be here...)

Home Sweet Home -
Allison, making an all white all male final four... good job america on being racist....

Runner Up -
Danny Gokey, I'm starting to believe that he might have a chance to win it.

Your Next American Idol -
Adam Lambert, watch out.

Top 7!

2009-04-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Its getting serious! 7 Left, Last year I think Kristy went home who i didn't like.. heres hoping a girl i don't like goes home this week! My videos keep getting deleted which is weird, so go to youtube and search them! But i'll still try to put them up.. here you go.. my favorite of the week was not a favorite of Simon unfortunately (which i hated not hearing Simon on everything! Who cares what the other three are saying?!) But anyway favorite was from our boy Danny Gokey singing "Endless Love" here you go... enjoy -
(Danny Gokey - Endless Love)

The theme this week was "Movie themes" so they had a director help them out... Quentin Terintino... which was cool, I guess, I dunno... haha anyway .... here you are!

Great
Danny - “Endless Love” by Diana Ross - I dunno why I loved this, There was just something about it that connected with me as an audience member that made this memorable, and it showed a little more vocal range, the falsetto was nice at the end, he toned it down. Cool performance, stinks Simon didn't like it.

Kris - “Falling Slowly” from the movie once - one of my favorite songs, once was a great movie! Kara might be right, not a lot of people knew this, but that shouldn't stop it from being a good performance, which i loved it, he changed the ending which i still am unsure of, but Kris is a great performer and He is just comfortable i think he might have reached his potential already though, which stinks! Cause theres still weeks left and you don't wanna peek at this point, but we will see if he has more up his sleeve cause other wise good ones wont cut it..

Good
Allison - “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith - She is starting to bore me! However, simon loves her more and more, which i don't get, sure it sounded good, do something besides shout though.. please!

Anoop - “Everything I Do” by Bryan Adams - I will be honest i was hoping Anoop would no bad so Matt would be more safe... but He pulled it out, best performance to date, great vocals, good arrangement, put his little R&B twist on the pop song, great job Anoop.

Matt - “To Really Love a Woman” by Bryan Adams - My boy! Haha, I thought most of it was great, but Randy was right, he dropped the ball in the bridge... If he has to sing tommorrow will he get to use the piano?? if not will someone else have to step up to play the piano or will they play back a tape of the piano from the real song? I dunno, to many questions, so don't send him home.

Adam - “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf - I really like Adam, but last week was such an amazing performance, he had to come down a little bit this week, which is what i think Simon was trying to get at. I like that he switches up his sensitive songs and his rock ones, however this didn't show anything that we didn't already new about him, just sounded like one of his other songs, just different lyrics.

So-So

Bad
Lil - “The Rose” by Bette Midler - Don't talk back to the judges, your boring, you got the pimp spot at the end and you ruined any advantage that was for you, the show doesn't want an all guy top 5, so they were helping you out... you didn't produce.

Bottom Three -
Lil, Anoop, Allison

home sweet home -
Lil Rounds! WOOOO!

Runner Up -
Danny Gokey

Your Next American Idol -
Adam Lambert (Holding down the top spot cause of last weeks amazing performance)

Enjoy,
Arod

Top 8!

2009-04-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm sorry but this is the readers digest one because I didn't get a chance last night, and I slept in today. Top 8, songs from the year they were born, so they get a lot of songs to pick from so of course they will pick the right songs... right? .... wrong! My favorite was Adam Lamberts rendition of Mad World, even though a lot of america didn't get to see this cause their dvr's cut off, Serena taped it late and we got to see it and see Simon give him A Standing O! here it is!
(Adam Lambert - Mad World)

Great
Adam Lambert (Mad World) - Amazing, his control on his voice is really unreal, he might win this whole thing.
Matt Giraud (Part Time Lover) - I get a feeling his fan base isn't as strong as some of the other contestants, I just hope I'm wrong! he is my favorite, Love his guy, He hasn't had a bad week sense week one, and last weeks slip up was still pretty good!

Good
Danny Gokey (Stand By Me) - Weird arrangement, I kinda liked it, Kinda didn't his vocals are so strong that its hard to knock this guy... but... i dunno i think he needs to step up and show more range in that voice! He is no longer the favorite to win it all as he was in pre-season action.

Anoop Desai (True Colors) - Why didn't he do My Perogative again? oh... cause he isn't allowed? Anyway, this was good, his vocals aren't GREAT and they just won't ever be. However as a performer he has definetly grown more and more as the season has gone on, thats why he went from barely squeking into the top 13 to being still here in the top 8.

So-So
Allison Iraheta (Make You Love Me) - It was ok, she bores me a lot when she sings, I think simons right i dont really know her personality which is weird, but what i do know about it is that she is a strange girl. the song was ok, nothing special, but shout out to the girl who supported and Caw'd for Megan on Megans way out!

Kris Allen (All She Wants TO Do Is Dance) - Week song choice, week agrangement, didn't showcase his voice, was a pretty safe performance, Idol Dial says he is in danger, I hope he isn't he is my third favorite this season and last seasons three favorite (Jason 4th place, Ramielle 9th place, and Michael Johns 8th Place) all went home and this year Megan was 9th place, i hope Kris isn't 8th... but theres always the judges save!

Bad
Lil Rounds (Whats Love Got to Do With It) - What is she doing?! She hasn't put her own stamp on a song yet, she is a terrible competitor, the only reason she keeps staying is cause we know she can sing, she just doesn't like showing us it. Time for her to go.

Blind Guy (The Search Is Over) - The search is over, he should go home, playd the electric guitar to show his "punk side" weak... his vocals are not strong enough to stay in this competition

Bottom Three -
Lil, Blind, and Allison

Home Sweet Home -
Blind Guy (Scott)

Runner Up -
Matt Giraud... I hope so.

Your Next American Idol -
Favorite has to be ... Adam Lambert!

Enjoy,
Arod

Top 9!

2009-04-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ok! Last years top 9 featured songs from Dolly Parton and the boys killed it! Cook, Archuletta, Michael Johns, and J-Cas were amazing this time last year! So lets just see how our four top boys this week would handle an Anything goes week (They said Top I-tunes downloads... but it more was like, grab any song you like and see if the producers ok it...) Anyway, I had 2 favorites this week, but I couldn't pick one, so here you go....
(Kris Allen - Ain't No Sunshine)

And

(Danny Gokey - What Hurts The Most)

Great -
Adam Lambert "Play that Funky Music" - Adam is a star, and he knows it. He owns that stage. Last week he killed us with his sweet falsetto, this week he was back to his screaming ways. He switched up a famous famous song "Play That Funky Music" and Rocked it out, I didn't think he would, but man this kid is hitting his stride at a great point, I hope he can continue it.

Kris Allen "Ain't No Sunshine" - I Am listening to this song as I am writing this, and I am still blown away. I will stay, in all honesty Kris Allen is NOT the best singer in the competition. HOWEVER, this competition is not JUST about that, Kris allen is creative, he mixes the songs up, he makes everything his own. He also plays Piano this week, and it was fantastic, he had a couple Chello's and upright Bass's with him, fantastic job Kris, making the song his own, and working it out! He is getting stronger every week.

Danny Gokey "What Hurts the Most" - After last weeks Good performance, he dropped out of the favor of the judges. I don't think he has as much range with his voice as the other contestants, he is kinda like a poor mans David Cook. HOWEVER when he is showing emotion in his song he is one of the best I have seen! This week, you could tell he had his wife on his mind and this song was intimate, full of emotion, it wasn't a singer just singing some song, he was singing his heart out for us all to see and it was a joy, great job. So with three of our boys out of our top 4 contestants (And it doesn't even seem close at this point in the compeition, these 4 are head and shoulders better then the rest) Just like last seasons boys.. but one faltered a little bit.

Good -
Matt Giraud "You Found Me" - I love Matt, he had a hard week, last week he was in the bottom two, the west coast didn't get to hear his performance last week because the sound didn't work at the begining of the show. He was stuck with the worst spot possible in the number one spot last week, and this week the judges were hard on him. WAY too hard In my opinion. They want him always to do the bluesy/R&B and i do love that, but he got some rock in him too! I love the raspyness to his voice and at the end when he Falsetto'd and went into his riffing it was great. I was afraid he wouldn't change this song up, but he did it great. Judges need to check themselves on this critique.

So-So -
Megan Joy "Turn Your Lights Down Low"- This is my girl, i voted a couple times for her last night, Vote for the worst will vote for her. Not her best performance, better then last week, i do think when she goes slower she does a bit better cause her unique voice shines through. Bad song choice, I love you Megan.

Allison "Don't Speak" - At a point in the song she was screaming the song, her outfit was terrible, and her hair was awful. The begining part of the song however qas quite good! I think she shoulda losed the guitar, if you aren't going to use it... don't bring it out girlie!

Scott 'Just the Way You Are" - I don't like Scott's voice, it kinda gets on my nerves, I'm done with the sob story. His hair looked awful. With that said, his best performance to date... easily. It was just him and the piano... still not good though.

Little Round - "Surrender" - Three bad weeks in a row... she has to be out of the judges favor by now.. they still praise her great vocals, but at some point they are going to have to be real with her and tell her she is having a terrible competition, she hasn't played to her strengths in weeks, and that will get you eliminated quick, the guy judges and ryan said on lettermen she was in the top three. She might be top 5. But is on the outside looking in on our 4 boys at the top.

Bad -
Anoop Desai "Caught Up" - He wants to be an R&B singing, therefore he sings Usher. Bad bad bad choice. Didn't show anything vocaly, kinda like when he did his Michael Jackson song, he hid behind the safe chords. Was in the first spot this week (always disaster) And isn't that strong, sorry Anoop. Sing My perogative tommarrow night for your last song, no matter what music they are playing in the background, they will save you.

Bottom Three-
Anoop, Lil Rounds, Megan (I hope Scotts here)

Home Sweet Home -
Anoop Desai. Sorry buddy.

Runner Up -
(These spots have been changing all season, None of our boys have been consistent, I think i have changed these spots every week, but here we go, lets see if these guys can stick it out for more then one week)
Kris Allen

Your Next American Idol -
Adam Lambert.

We'll see, on a show that needs consistency, this top 9 is not nearly as good as last years top 9. The Davids, Syesha, J-Cas, Brooke, Michael Johns, Carly, and Ramielle were doing great... I dunno Idol, step it up.

Enjoy,
Arod

American Idol Top 10!

2009-03-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Alright! We are getting into the goodness of the competition. We had a surprise vote off last week with Alexis so lets see how this week turns out! Last year my favorites at this time were Michael Johns "We are the Champions" and Ramielle Mallubay's "Alone" by Heart, So this week I was anticipating the 10 stepping up their game for MOTOWN week,m I'm a big Motown guy, and most of them did the genre justice. Just like last year I have to favorites and they could have been Best A and Best B cause they were spectacular.... (Coincidently enough, last week we had Matt and Adam's performances in this collumn and this week we have them both back, and for good reason... here you go)
(Matt Giraud doing "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye
(Adam Lambert doing "Tacks of My Tears" By Smokey Robinson)

On To The Results

Great
Matt G. (Lets Get It On) - WOW, Matt is the man, on Jay Leno, Seacrest, Randy Jackson, and Simon said that the final three would be Danny - Adam - and Lil Rounds, I think you have to put Matt G in the mix, he has been consistently good ever sense the Viva La Vida mess up, he has been great every week sense then, the judges loved it and I am so pumped he went away from the piano in the middle of the performance, the judges respected that too!

Adam Lambert (Tracks Of My Tears) - This kid is a contender, If he did just screaming bit every week I think he would get far but maybe not to the end, this week he showed that he has AMAZING range, he sang in his falsetto a lot of the song... which is so hard to do... and he did it perfectly, it was a slow melodic song... perfect.

Kris Allen (How Sweet It Is - Marvin Gaye) - Again with the guitar, again I loved it, every week he seems to get better. When he was voted into the top 12 I was sooooo mad. But he has proved me wrong every week, he did this like Jason Castro or as my sister put it Jason Mraz would have done, it was nice, chill, and right in his range, this kids good at arranging songs and if you can do that you can go far in this competition. I still don't think he will win this, but who knows he got 9 weeks to prove me wrong again.

Good
Allison Iraheta (Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations) - Ok, ok, ok, I give Allison a hard time cause shes annoying and stuff, but she can sing. For a 16 year old, or for whatever age she can just sing! Again she feels so comfortable on stage and I LOVE my temptations i usually don't like people messing with the temp's but she rocked it out.... goood goood, she might be the last girl standing if she keeps this up.

Danny Gokey (Get Ready - The Temptations) - How can you NOT love Danny, he's the man. He has so much fun on stage. Simon called it Amaturish and stuff, not the best vocals of Danny's career at American Idol, I think he kept it safe and fun instead of Wowing us.... so not great... but Danny is still good.

Megan Joy (For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder) - She is single... and I dont know how that is, she is beautiful, fun, and corky, and can sing! She picked the wrong song for her this week, but i did feel the judges gave her way too much crap for it. I don't think it was as pitchy as they thought... but yeah... wrong song Megan, I still love you though, and I hope Vote For The Worst helps you out!

So-So
Little Rounds (Heatwave - Martha and the Vandellas) - Two weeks in a row for Lil Rounds being in this spot! And Simon said she will be in the top three?!? Not if she keeps "honering the songs" like she did with country and did with Mo town. if she was "honoring" R&B it would work, but she wasn't country enough to just honor the genre by sticking to the song last week and she doesn't have enough soul to sing this song the way it was written. Serena said as soon as it started that she started loud and didn't give herself anywhere to go after she started, it stayed the same volume/tempo/range the whole song... so... boring... sorry.

Anoop Desai (Ooh Baby Baby - Smokey Robinson) - I like Anoop, this was a hard choice because he was closer to Good then Lil Rounds was this week, but he was still boring and still doesn't have the vocals to win this thing. I dunno, but he is very likable, if he would done Ain't to proud to beg or something I think he coulda killed it!

Bad
Michael Sarver (Ain't To Proud To Bed - The Temptations) - Speaking of that song... it is one of my favorites, my boy Hunter Farrow sings the lights out of this song. Michael Sarver made a mockery of the song, I wanted him to stop in the middle it was so bad. He is always giving a cheesy grin, his run's in his voice are mis placed, and he doesn't have stage presence. Nice guy... not American idol though.

Scott Macintyre (You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes) - Sorry Scott, he can't sing with the rest of the people in this competition. As my buddy Nate said, this song was to big for him. He changed this song up in a terrible way, this is one of the best Motown songs of all time and he rearranged it into something bad... awful... so with all that said we have your conclusions here.....

Bottom Three
Michael, Scott, and My girl Megan

Home Sweet Home
I'm Thinking Michael... here's why... he sucked... AND he was in the bottom 2 last week... so... i don't think he got better this week, so it just seems rational, but this show never is on vote off nights.

Runner Up
Danny Gokey - He got pushed back this week... I just don't see the victory anymore... and its cool that we just don't have David Archuleta and Cook dominating this top spot could easily be Adam Lambert or could be mister consistent with...

Your American Idol
Matt G. - Maybe I'm stretching here, maybe not, all I know is that Adam, Danny, and Matt are the best three right now and last week they didn't like Adam, and this week they didn't like Danny, and Matt has been so great sense Viva la Vida if he keeps getting better and staying consistent he can be this years Idol.

I dunno... keep watching, I will.

Enjoy,
Arod

American Idol Top 11!

2009-03-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Alright! Last years top 11 was not that memorable except that David Archuleta gave us The Long and Winding Road which was sweet... so here we go! Grand Ole Opry week! You think country week would be bad on AI, but nah it was pretty good! I think I was a little too easy last week... except on Allison... but here we go, back on track! My favorite of the week was by my boy Matt Giraud, again on the Piano he sang So Small by Carrie Underwood...

(So Small)

Great -
Matt Giraud (So Small) - MAN! He is coming alive, this was phenomenal. He seemed like a real performer on that stage, the notes were amazing and it just was killer tonight. They put him last, and I like that choice by the producers because He was so strong, kinda like One Republic (like my Sister thought) or Michael Buble like the judges though, either way it was fantastic.

Kris Allen (To Make You Feel My Love) - Ok, this was a hard one for me because I thought Matt did so much better then everyone else, however Kris made me believe in him tonight. Last week I thought he was good cause I love musicians, he didn't sing with a guitar and just had a nice honest performance, not a lot of instruments in it, kinda stripped down, and thats risky but he sang it well enough it pulled through. Sometimes is still feel he is Jason Castro-Light though... not good enough to go as far... who knows though... great night.

Good -
Danny Gokey (Jesus Take The Wheel) - Another hard choice for me. And unlike Kris who out performed himself to get that top spot Danny is only here because he has done a lot better before, him and kris might be equals but Danny has set a bar for himself. Simon loved Danny, Matt, and Kris this week so I am pretty in tune with him this week... he also liked megan... which is sweet... anyway, Danny started a little weak according to Kara and Randy.. but I thought He started off smart I don't want him always being his loud self I like him starting off quieter like David Cook used to do. So maybe the best Good of the season... hah.

Anoop Desai (Always On My Mind) - Anoop has to make you smile. He seems like a great guy, he came out here after getting completely trashed by the judges last week. He outdid himself with this ballad and hit all the notes. Before tonight I thought he was more here for his cool personality and was an alright singer. He is serious, great voice. Oh, and I loved his hoodie!

Megan Joy Corkrey (Walking After Midnight) - I really like Megan. She is one of my favorites, I would buy a Cd of hers. She had the flu tonight but It didn't show her cool jazzy/bluesy/whatever style she has in awesome to listen to. I just smile when she comes on stage, her voice is calming, and she is beautiful. She was pitching once in a while here but who cares, she was good, I'm happy she came back into the judges graces this week! Also, unlike Allison... I love this girls quirkyness.

Allison Iraheta (Blame It On Your Heart) - Boring song, kinda repetitive, her personality still sucks... but the girl can sing. She got some pipes on her and does seem way too comfortable on stage even though she is 16 years old, good for her. Maybe she will go home soon, but I think I finally admit that her voice is good enough to be here.

So-So -
Lil Rounds (Independence Day) - Ok, Little Rounds is a favorite of the judges... well... except this week. She came out, threw her R&Bness to the wind and tried on her country boots. They asked her why she just stuck with the rendition and she said it was because she was honering the musician... maybe it was because she wasn't creative. Either way she shouldn't have sung it this way, worn that dress, or talked back to the judges .Shouldn't you feel it's not your place when you are on their stage, and they picked you to be in the running for this... show some respect... sorry Lil.

Adam Lambert (Ring Of Fire) - Haha, if you haven't seen it... watch it... it's almost creepy... I dunno what to say... here it is...

Alexis Grace (Jolene) - Our bad girl is really growing on me. I think her naughtyness is all a farce that she does to please the judges... she tried to go away from it this week... and they pointed out they didn't like it. HOWEVER, i thought her REAL problem was that she didn't sing her bluesy style (like Lil Didn't sing her R&B style) and picked a stupid song... out of all the country songs to pick... Jolene is awful... sorry Alexis, but its not the fact you weren't dirty...

Bad -
Michael Sarver (Aint Going Down Till The Sun Goes Up) - Ok... I dunno Michael, when they showed the play back of all the singers these two just seemed like they didn't belong ever... I mean the ones in the so-so were bad... but I know they have good voices. Michael slurs his word and still just seems like a nice guy getting a big break... It would be sad if he went on tour.

Scott Macintyre (Wild Angels) - I know he is blind so I feel bad saying mean things. But the song was boring and he isn't a great singer. Good guy it seems though, both these guys in the bottom two seem like good guys.

Ok Here we are...

Bottom Three - Michael, Scott, and Alexis (Only cause i think Lil's following is bigger then Alexis even though Lil's was worse)

Home Sweet Home - Michael

Runner Up -
Matt Giraud, even though I love him, I think he passed by Adam this week with that performance... but still hasn't concured fan favorite

Your Next American Idol -
Danny Gokey.

Enjoy,
Arod

American Idol Top 13!!!

2009-03-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Its That Time again people, seeing my Beloved American Idol on TV makes me wanna post. There were 13 people, So a Lot to sort threw, some good, some bad, some great... It was Michael Jackson night so you know it was going to be fun... I was a little scared at first, cause MJ has a great voice... but it was pretty good.

My Favorite of the week: I just had to put Megan Joy Corkrey's as my favorite tonight, she was beautiful, talented, and just put a smile on my face the whole time. Maybe she won't win the competition and maybe the judges didn't like it, but hey.. me and votefortheworst.com might make it happen... here you go =
(Rockin Robin - Jackson Five - Michael Jackson (like everything this week... I'll get you a real video when i find one)

On to my thoughts...

Great-
Megan Joy Corkrey (Rockin Robin) - Ok, Megan was critized... whatever. She is.. like i said earlier, gorgeous, unique, and just overall fun. She has a voice that i just love, it reminds me of Colbie Caillat or something. She just made me smile form ear to ear and I really hope she returns. Love her.

Matt Giraud (Human Nature) - This is my boy! The soul filled man, back at the piano (I love instruments) and so i loved this, their was a time at the end where he was just letting lose and singing in that falsetto where he was singing all high... I loved it! The Judges loved him too, the time was short on the show so not a lot of criticism but i dunno what can be said, he is original has his own flavor, switched up a song and was fantastic.

Danny Gokey (PYT - Pretty Young Thing) - Another early favorite here. Paula said he will be in the finals, and i could see that being true, He has fun on stage and really just lets loose. His first couple words were shaky but they he got to his soul/rock thing or whatever is going on and rocked the stage. You can tell he works with youth or something just from the performance, he was getting everyone into and I loved it. He made it his own and the key to this show is to not be karaoke and make it seem like thats your song your performing, your so comfortable with it that people believe its yours. I believed it.

Adam Lambert (Black and White) - Last of the greats, and boy was he great. There are pictures about him being gay online and that low V neck didn't help doubters... However... I love him. I might not agree with his lifestyle, but i agree with how he preforms. He rocks that stage, he owns it, I mean I know he has prior experience but It feels like he lives up their It's so natural. I hope this kid stays humble, but I loved how he switched it up, He made it His own, I couldn't believe it was a MJ song and it was fantastic, great work.

Good-
Kris Allen (Remember The Time) - The trend tonight is that I love people playing instruments, changing up the songs, and being comfortable on stage. He did all three of these, I like the dude He is one of my dark horses to go far... but he is in the good cause I just don't think his vocals are as good as some of the other and his other skills just don't push him to the top.. with that said, it might be one of my fav's of the night and this good category right here is mighty good right now.

Alexis Grace (Dirty Diana) -Ok, I hate that they made her a "dirty girl" or whatever, but just as she is starting to grow on my sister, I like her more every week. She has this thing about her that makes you kinda like her, shes cute and fun. She was a bit over the top and that is why she didn't cut the great spot this week. I think she was trying to be TOOO showy and didn't let some of it come natural, but for week 1 of top 13... really good job. (She made it her own, she made it bluesy and soulful, you know i like that)

Lil Rounds (The Way You Make Me Feel)- I will start by saying, I am not a fan of her. I think too many girls sound like her, her pants were ugly, and she kept the song the same way that Michael did it which i don't like. But after all that said she still has the pipes to be in the top three of this competition and i can't knock her TOO much because of that great voice... but besides that she would easily be where these people are...

So-So-
Anoop Desai (Beat It) - Anoop Dogg! Getting love by being put in the top 13, getting love by fans everywhere, exudes something that makes fans like him. That unique talent kept him from bad. I like the guy, I had fun watching his rendition of "Beat it" but this just wasn't him. Kept the song the way it was written and just a hard song to compare when you do that... I wish he did better.

Michael Sarver (You Are Not Alone)- Way better then he was with the Gavin Degraw song. He seemed out of place on that stage a couple weeks ago. This week he went with a slow song, sang with his country/R&B theme kinda and was better, but I still don't like him in this competition. Seems like a nice guy but.. i dunno.

Jorge Nunez (Never Can Say Goodbye) - I thought he did better then the judges thought he did. I thought he added a latin flavor, they said it was old fashion. I thought he looked comfortable on stage, they thought he was out of his element. I thought he should stick by his choice, he complained. Dangit Jorge, nice try, but he is very likeable, no surprise if he is back.

Scott Macintyre (Keep The Faith) - His blindness might overcome his singing and thats why he might be here. His story is so loud I sometimes can't remember his vocals too much. I think this was his best, at the piano he is at his best, but like my boy Kris Allen I just don't think he has the chops to go far here. Maybe top 10. but top 9? I dunno. He seems like a great guy but just an above average singer, with that said, I'm glad he made it this far his talent to learn that piano song in a week without seeing the keys in beyond my comprehension.

Jasmine Murray (I'll Be There) - Jazz... Jazz... Jazz... I dunno, she looked adorable, but kind of forgetable among all the other great singers. She tried to do a song that seemed just too big and too old for her, I hate to see that cause she is so likable as well but it just wasn't blowing me away and that stinks! But i couldn't put her in this last column because I think she has the tools just not the right song to show that yet...

Bad-
Allison Iraheta (Give It To Me) - I will be the first to say I do not really like her. I liked her song by Heart a couple weeks ago, she was growing on me even though she has an annoying personality and has no likability. But this week... she is 16... sang this song about sex or something and wore this rocker outfit... felt out of place, felt creepy, I really questioned her being in this top 13... sorry Allison. (AND WHY DID SHE MAKE A JOKE ABOUT CUTTING ON NATIONAL TV?)

My Choices -
Bottom Three- Allison, Jasmine, and Anoop.
Going Home - Anoop and Allison. (I really don't think America hated Allison as much as I did, but we will see)
Top Three (Disclaimer, not just because of this night) - Matt G., Adam Lambert., and Danny Gokey
Your Next American Idol - Adam Lambert (But don't sleep on Danny)
- I know its a risky pick this early, but I'm sure this spot will easily be occupied by Danny, Matt, Lil Rounds, or someone as the competition goes on. But for tonight, their you go Adam, wildly consistent and already has the whole package (But does that mean he doesn't have as much room to improve like Danny does and like David Cook did last year? Lets keep watching)

Excited about the twist tomorrow? I Am.
Enjoy,
Arod

HEY-O!

2009-03-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hey, Sorry Its been so long, I started working at a church, and It is awesome, but I am so busy now a days.

I'd figure i'd get some info on my new church hear before the rookie experience is over... Lots of people ask me what i do and i tell them "K-5 Youth group (The Promise), 5-6 youth group (Hibachi), 6-12 youth group (The Passion), 6-12 Bible Study (Bereans) Jr Church (Kingdom Kids), monthly events.. etc. etc." (You like my names for my things!? WOOT)

ANYWAY, But thats usually what people ask, OH also, I had 7 kids at my first Passion and 17 at this last one. I just finished up a Sunday afternoon The Promise and we had 19 kids... God Is Good!

But here's what I don't get to tell Everyone:
Ministry is hard work, I love it to death, but It's harder then you think. And its frustrating cause you can't really put the emotional and spiritual tool ministry does to you in words. So when people ask you "So all you do is your youth groups and bible studies" I answer "No.. hah.. that's not even half of it." With all the preparation, meetings, financial watching, researching, setting up for events, and tearing down there is also: Texting wtih the kids(which is awesome), taking them to eat, seeing students bball games and such, Leadership training, making outlines, keeping everyone in the loop, meeting the people, taking criticism (like a champ), rehearsing talks, dealing with issues, serious talks with parents, confronting kids...adults....youth....parents... everyone, and constant prayer and dedication to God.

And thats just the tangible things that come to mind. Some days as a first time youth pastor I'll get complimented and told I am doing a great job, most times I will get criticized on everything from my grammer in my newsletter to how long youthgroup runs over to how fast i read scriptures to why I am not doing certain events. Its taxing... Somedays I feel I know what I am doing, somedays I feel like I am lost in an ocean.

My friend Tiger told me once, "In your first year you will want to quit at least once a month" I have found that true and then some... however.... this job is the best thing I could have ever wished for.

I lost what I do, I get to Do youth ministry, Childrens ministry, AND play guitar and sing for the youth! Thats Everything I wanted and More. I know I am learning everyday more and more and getting the hang of it as I go. I wish Geneva prepared me to be a minister because I feel sometimes that I have no idea how to do the administrative things that come along with ministry. But thanks to Pastor Nate Grossoehme I am an orginazed person... I can run meetings and not feel dumb, I can create outlines of the night two days in advance, inform my leaders what we are doing and ask them to take roles in the ministry.

Sure I am exhausted sometimes but when I realized that Ministry is not about me being this "perfect" leader it got a lot easier. Being myself is so important, just being real, even with all my faults is so much better then pretending to be mr. perfect. Also when i realized God is the one that makes things grow and does the real spiritual work, i felt a lot better because I can just try my hardest and let the spirit work.

I am convinced our job as ministers is to create an environment where the spirit can work and fall passionately in love with these kids as we help them fall passionately in love with Christ. We are to walk side by side with them as they screw up AND succeed. We are to treat them according to their actions and always help them aim for greatness because there IS greatness inside of them.

I know i started off a little complainy, but i wanted to get that off my chest. Working with these kids is the greatest joy in my Life, I thank God for the opportunity I have and I hope I don't ruin it. I mean where else, can I use all my talents. 1) relating with kids... talking about American Idol and America's Best Dance Crew. 2) Play music and sing.. which I love to do. and 3) public speak...

Gods Great!

Quick Hits

TV - as many of you know me and my lovely sister are into just about all tv shows.. her more then me... But I have been LOVING Kyle XY, Heroes, and The Office. And I mean loving those ones. House, Smallville, Secret Life, and Scrubs have all been good as well. Monk and Psych ended, but i loved those. And my favorite crew on America's Best Dance Crew...

(Quest Crew)

And my early Favorite for American Idol is Matt Giraud.. but seing as He already got voted off.. He is going to work hard.. but this performance of Georgia (Ray Charles) Is off the charts... take a look.
(GO Big or Go Home...)

Music - I Been In love with One Republic lately, and Jason Castro is on His way to a CD and if you read this at all you know that I am in love with Castro's music... So here is one of His new songs.. i think it will be his first single i heard....

(Love Uncomprimised)

Love You All,

Enjoy,
Arod

O Music, where would i be without you?

2008-11-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, it is Tuesday night... well... Wednesday morning technically.. but anyway i just got home from a Concert (well i just got done watching House but before that i was at a concert)

Night On The Town:
I went to Club Diesel in Pittsburgh, and the trip there was almost as interesting as the show itself. I met up with one of my best long term friends Nate Berger at his works parking lot, and as we started to drive to the show we decided to forgo the fifteen dollars of parking it would of costs for us to park near the show, so we decided to walk. We doubled back, parked for free 2.1 miles (according to google maps) away from Club Diesel. Well.. 2.1 miles if you don't get lost in pittsburgh and your buddies GPS on his cell phone doesn't go on the fritz. So we get lost, we are walking around looking at stores and i noticed that the city is really beautiful, it is not just the Steelers that make it a great city, or the bridges (but we will get to that in a second) some of the buildings, including the Macy's one were decorated beautifully for the holidays.
ANYWAY after we got directions from both my dad on the phone and an elderly gentlemen working at a local store we decided that with less then 25 minutes to the show starts and still over a mile left.. we should probably start running.

Marathon (sorta) :
Now... we had winter coats on, I had my Flats on my feet and we were in no state to run in the cold cold rain of Western PA. But.. when has that ever stop us? So we take off, running, something out of a movie, because we think that our friends band RECESSION (which is the main reason we wanted to go to the show because A. we know all the band members, B. they let me step in for their bassist twice, and C. we love all the band members, specially Joey and Nick.) Anyway, so we are running, and we get to this big bridge, we truck across it.. maybe not the safest thing all slippery and stuff.... ANYWAY we get to the other side of the bridge, we find East Carson street and we start BOOKING it towards club diesel noting that the time is drawing near.

Show Time!:
We finally arrive all exhausted, feeling like we just ran around trying to find the last Turboman toy.We get in side and to much our pleasure another band is opening for RECESSION who is opening for the Plain White T's so we relax and talk to some of the band members that are about to go on, which makes us feel like Billy Joel wrote a song about us.. but we try to play it cool. Anyway we realize that theres an over 21 section up top so instead of hanging with the younger crowd we get to go with the people all drinking and stuff. We don't drink but we loved the view from up top.

Beautiful Music:
RECESSION gets on and blows our minds with some hits, the last one was All Is Well and theres this part where Nick (guitarist) and Bryan (Bassists) pick up guitar sticks and hammer away on these snare drums, and it was just really sweet, on tempo and really EPIC, and epic is good. So we really enjoyed them we were yelling, the crowd down below wasn't that into it, i mean between songs they would yell and clap but they just stood in awe for the songs.. which.. as a performer in my previous days (briefly) if your at a show and someone is opening for the band you like, try to get into it if they are good, it will give the artists all kind of energy to feed off of and stuff.

Fatheads:
Ok so the main reason we come to the show is gone, and sense i met Nate late and we had to run to the place we did not eat dinner yet and seeing as it is 8pm we are starving, we find out theres a band between RECESSION and Plain White T's so we go down the street to this lovely place called Fatheads.. which was a website.. www.fatheads.com well.. i ate the PCI which is the "Pretty Cool Italian Club" (no lie thats the name, and i just couldn't pass it up once the waitress told me lots of people order it) well it has ham, salami, capacolla, pepperoni, crumbled hot sausage, provolone, hard boiled egg, banana peppers, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and rosemary mayo. SO YOU KNOW ITS GOOD! MMM, Nate had a Bacon Cheese Burger...

Helping out the poor.. and Joe:
On the way back to the show we got Burger King.. why you ask? Because on the way to the show a homeless man asked if we could spare him money for dinner.. well general role of thumb is, if you can help a homeless person eat dinner, by them food instead of giving them money so they do not misuse their funds (not saying all bums are drunks and liers) so we give him 2 jr whoppers and then give 2 jr whoppers to the lead singer of RECESSION(who is not homeless.)

Plain and White:
We find out that the other band.. The Cacti or something wasn't very good, thats why they are not in caps and thats why i won't spend time on them. So we didn't miss any bit of Plain White T's. So after a full evening we get to enjoy the main event, which nate only new 1.5 songs and i only new about 4 because i downloaded them and put them on my Ipod before i left for the show. but none the less the lead singer is a great performer and reminded me of a kid named Isaiah who was on High School Musical: Get in the picture... cause his arms and legs were real awkward but real cool. Besides that they swore a lot in between songs and the one guitarists kept drinking a beer, i thought they were really good. Best songs in my Opinion: Sunshine, Our Time Now, and 1,2,3,4, (Hey There Delilah was of course great too.)

Conclusion:
So Overall.. Great Night, we were running late and made a food run inbetween some acts but managed to not miss anything from the bands we came to see. And then me and nate had a good spiritual talk to end the night...

Wow I'm Glad i shared that with you, Blog universe, so i will leave you with Plain White T's new single.. 1,2,3,4....

enjoy,
arod

Sorry its been so long!

2008-11-06T09:45:00.001-08:00

This year is going nuts! I'm sorry its been so long sense i last posted but this semester has been busy and drama filled and just great all around but I am ready to be done! I have senioritis bad! I should be studying for a test right now but It is not happening.. oh well... ok, i like my quick hits style of doing things so I'll just get to that!

School - well, Volleyball just got over, and at first in the semester i was not very good at it, to be honest i couldn't quiet get a serve to the net, I mean my own roomate Nate Berger never let me play with him cause i was that bad! However as the semester went on the coaches really taught us well and i feel pretty confident in my skills... i might have goofed off a bit in the class and had to do push-ups a couple times cause my temper might get the best of me occasionally and i might lip off once in a while... but ONLY once in a while!

ANYWAY... Me and the teacher i hit below the waste are gooood now he has taught me a lot this semester about discipleship and im glad i didn't give up on him being a good teacher after our stupid spat.

Voice lessons are going well, my teacher see's a lot of progress, i wish i was better at guitar so i could show you all how i'm doing but maybe ill upload a video of me playing some time! If your lucky, and i hope to sing at my church before i leave it for a new job.. speaking of which....

Job Searching - I had an interview the other day with a church in ohio... i didn't really like the feel of the interview after i left it, but thats okay cause i got one this friday which i am nervous for! But i am sure it will be fun.

Media - everyone knows that i'm a sucker for tv shows and music and everything in between. Well The Office and Smallville and House have all been spectacular but i been really enjoying Dancing With the Stars not as much as So you think you can dance just because the skill level is just not at the same level. However i am rooting hard for my boy Warren Sapp and Cody Linly who is with the gorgeous Julianne! so if you watch that show make sure you vote for those guys..
hmm.. what else.. I am excited to see Madagascar 2 so i hope that happens... And i loved High School Musical 3 so sue me. I took some youth group kids and my sister and it was a blast!

Sports - as always Go Steelers (great monday night win) Go Cavs (Lebron James dropped 41 last night) Go Chris Paul (Hornets). I won my fantasy baseball league with my team the Bowsers! And then the Phillies won the world series so baseball went pretty good. My football team is doing pretty good and as long as Kurt Warner keeps playing like Himself and Steve Smith keeps being himself i think ill be ok. Oh and i'm in fantasy basketball which just started....

Well i could talk about something like my emotions or my latest relationship woes but you know what instead im going to give you a song by my boy Jason Castro...

enjoy!
Arod

Quick Hits

2008-09-11T08:24:00.000-07:00

First Quick Hits Of the year!

School - school is going great so far, no real complants, poly sci is hard as advertised but i spoke today about the Gleaning laws in the old testament and i was so pumped! Guitar has been fun, i'm learning volleyball and the class is ultra competitive (Which is great) so i'm always running around the drills and trying my hardest and sweating and trying to encourage people around me, its sweet. And voice lessons are great! I Heart singing more then i heart playing music, its just so easy to express my soul with my voice, just like... JASON CASTRO!

Shows - As you all know i love my TV, and so you should also know that as sad as i am with Secret Life, HSM: Get in the picture, Monk, and Psych ending, i'm equally (if not more) excited for HEROES! THE OFFICE! SMALLVILLE! and HOUSE! starting back up.. i think i am more excited about season three of Heroes then i am about graduating college! which reminds me...

Internship - I Just officially ended my internship over at oak hill, and it was the time of my life (i probably say that a lot cause i get excited easily) but when i move on in December imma be ubber sad cause imma miss Pastor Nate and All the kids, but i'm very excited (and nervous) to be moving on to the real world! I spoke the last 6 weeks about the Armor of God and i had a great time because the Spirit Of God moved through me and gave me lesson ideas and stuff that i could never have thought on on my own! so yeah, good times.

Strength Quest - I just took this cool thing to show me what my strengths are, and i wanted to show them to you because i thought it was cool hearing what i am good at! Cause i think a lot of times we as people think of our faults (Like.. am i TOO good looking, or am i TOO sweet...lol jk jk jk jk) but here they are!

Developer

Theme Description

You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling

Positivity

Theme Description

You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to be. But either way, people want to be around you. Their world looks better around you because your enthusiasm is contagious. Lacking your energy and optimism, some find their world drab with repetition or, worse, heavy with pressure. You seem to find a way to lighten their spirit. You inject drama into every project. You celebrate every achievement. You find ways to make everything more exciting and more vital. Some cynics may reject your energy, but you are rarely dragged down. Your Positivity won’t allow it. Somehow you can’t quite escape your conviction that it is good to be alive, that work can be fun, and that no matter what the setbacks, one must never lose one’s sense of humor.

Woo

Theme Description

Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don’t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet—lots of them.

Includer

Theme Description

“Stretch the circle wider.” This is the philosophy around which you orient your life. You want to include people and make them feel part of the group. In direct contrast to those who are drawn only to exclusive groups, you actively avoid those groups that exclude others. You want to expand the group so that as many people as possible can benefit from its support. You hate the sight of someone on the outside looking in. You want to draw them in so that they can feel the warmth of the group. You are an instinctively accepting person. Regardless of race or sex or nationality or personality or faith, you cast few judgments. Judgments can hurt a person’s feelings. Why do that if you don’t have to? Your accepting nature does not necessarily rest on a belief that each of us is different and that one should respect these differences. Rather, it rests on your conviction that fundamentally we are all the same. We are all equally important. Thus, no one should be ignored. Each of us should be included. It is the least we all deserve.

Communication

Theme Description

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Those are sweet, my sister Krystal told me she took the strengthquest and it just told her she was

AWESOME

so i wish i got that one, but oh well! ill stick with WOOOO!

enjoy,
arod

HULK errr... A-ROD SMASH!

2008-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

(The Hulk from the 2008 Movie staring Edward Norton, transforming)

The reason why i started with this cinematic draw was because i had an occurrence last night that was a little reminiscent of a scene from a hulk movie... I'll set the story up for you

Last night was the annual Youth Ministry Family Reunion, and when I went into Geneva my goal was to get some friends that were in the ministry that might last me a life time. What I found was not the case. Why? I am not completely sure, but i never seeemed to find to many solid companions in the youth ministry trenches, except for a few close friends, like Mark, Nate, Seth, Ashton, and etc. Ok So maybe i have made friends, but these ministry parties don't really make you feel like it, cause the people that go i do not know to well... BUT anyway

Terry Thomas, my college adviser and professor encouraged us seniors to go to lead some small group things and to set a good example, so after much debate in my head (i was pretty nervous that i wouldn't have fun) I went, to be a good example...

We show up and its cool to start off, some of my boys where there and i hung with them and made borderline inappropriate jokes and i dunno, it was a good time. They left to go see Obama talk about who knows what!

After then left Terry asked some of us older students to lead some small groups, and so i grabbed four girls i didn't know and we asked some questions like what we did this summer and where are they from and what their goals are and this was cool, i got to talk about what Geneva College meant to me.. well before this night..

I was sitting next to the amazing Cliff Kelly and Kat Bull, Dave Hardie was a little ways away but close enough to be near me. And something started happening, like Robin Williams Carreer after the movie RV, things went downhill. People started throwing people in the pool. And Not like, being funny joking, like being Bullies about it, if people didn't wanna go in the pool or were fighting it they still by force would physically push people in the pool. Now... Me as a little guy and someone that got picked on a few times during highschool i hate Hazing, I hate being physically forced to do something, i hate being picked on, and i hate being bullied.

HATE.. and i do not hate a lot of things. But this made me mad, it wasn't about just doing this to your friends anymore it was more extreme, then i heard, from all the other family reunions that have taken place. Anyway, i don't like this so i just sit there and i'm like no, this is dumb at least i'm a senior so i probably will not get messed with. The whole time thinking "This is why i don't come to these, youth ministry majors and prof's are great for making people feel unwelcome and stupid" ... not all.. but the ones at this point in time that were here.

Anyway so this prof comes up behind me.. his name is Doug, big bald guy, he comes to me with his wet nasty hands. Runs his hands threw my hair.. which.. is a no no.. so i tell him to stop that. He then tells me "Put your phone down" and i tell him "no" and he tells me again "put your phone down" and then forces it out of my hand on the table. then he goes under my arm pits to pick me up.. so.. i ...turn around, furious at this point.. and punch him in the balls. He says in half joking half amazed voice "He's going for the nads" now as a little guy, what am i gonna do? all i knew is there was this fence near by that i could go over if i wanted, but i can't hit him in the face cause thats just mean, and i can't defend myself any other way.. anyway .. back to hulk arod my good friend larry then comes up behind me and starts to pick me up by my shoulders.. or something.. so i just simply put my palms on his chest and push him into the fence behind them and then let out a frustrated... F Bomb, kinda loud.. at a youth min party.. yup, i punched a prof in the balls and said the F word.. at a youth min party. why oh why would i do that after some nasty looks i calmed down, apologized to Larry a few hundred times, and never got approached by Doug, which i thought once i cooled down he would come see if i was ok, but, nope. So soon after I took Cliff back to geneva and my night thereafter seemed a blur.

It's weird waking up the next morning thinking of that night, its weird typing about that night and realizing that it really happened, its kind of a fuzzy memory and if someone told me it was a dream i probably wouldn't argue cause it seems that unreal. But non the less it happened. I emailed Doug to apologized and have not received a response yet but i hope that it will come. I am sorry about how i went about dealing with my frustration, i am not angry for being frustrated because i feel people should consider peoples feelings a little more. But I digress

The Night to me seems bad, but eye opening, i can't help but remember what Rob Bell talked about in his movie Dust he talked about how a Rabbi would pick His disciples because they were the best of the best of the best, He picked his followers because he thought they could be like him some day, believe what he believes and do what he does. So when Jesus came and picked His 12 disciples that were not the best of the best, who have already been disregarded if they had tried to be Rabbi's disciples. Jesus picked these men and told them to follow Him and more then that, basically told them that He believes they can be Like Jesus. Well Gods called us to Him as well to be His followers, His disciples. And me, He has called me to be something that works as a proffession in his ministry. But i can't help but think "Why, oh why me" i am not the best of the best, or even close to that, i don't know all the scriptures, the Rabbi's disciples back then had to memorize the WHOLE old testament, i couldn't tell you the books before or after the book Jonah i just am amazed by God. Just as Jesus picked those disciples who were the B team, the no bodies, He has picked me to carry His name. Which i should have no responsibilty doing because of who i am. But i do know that I will do my best to carry it well and to follow Him as best i Can, because I love Him, I know I am not perfect... way far from that.. but i Love everything about the Master and no matter how many times i mess up or am looked down on or am seen as the screwup that i am, I am still going to do my best to lead His people and draw people in to the amazing God that He is.

In those small groups that i lead at the party thing, i had to tell them what Geneva has meant to me, and i couldn't tell them about the classes or the teachers but i do know that when i came in i thought i had all the answers and when I'm getting ready to leave i feel that there is no way shape or form i am ready for this task, but I know my Gods with me and thats great.

enjoy,
arod

Its been a while

2008-08-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

"it's been a while
Since I first saw you
It's been a while
since i could stand on my own two feet again
and it's been a while
since i could call you"
- Its Been Awhile (Staind)

ok so maybe a couple of those things are not true, but it has been awhile sense i posted, and while this one will not be long it is a precursor to things coming up, this summer has been crazy so i will be posting as soon as i get more time and its not one thirty the night before i have to get up at 8:30 in the morning... But just to let you all know Bardic Knowledge is back along with the school year! And This summer has been everything, hard, challenging, sad, exciting, encouraging, happy, its been about as much of a rollar coaster as you could want and i loved the ride.

My internship is about done and a lot of my time is spent there, which is fantastic, but i promise i will be able to update more soon.

Quick Hits

Just Some Updates

Tv shows - I do miss Idol and my obsession with it, I still love J-Cas, My shows of the summer were So You Think You Can Dance and most recently Secret Life Of The American Teenager
School - I finished my summer class with a B, which was great, and my last semester at Geneva is approaching way to fast!
Music - I'm still learning the guitar and singing and can't wait for my lessons at geneva to start up
Love life - uhh... we wont go there

ANYWAY, its late and i want the next article to be more then amazing, SO ill leave you with that..
and this

(Gev from So You Think You Can Dance)

enjoy,
arod

funk

2008-05-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Im sad that AI is over, mostly because i dont have anything on tuesdays to watch and that i have nothing easy to write about. I'll be writing a review of this season in a little bit, just like i did with the play, just give me some time.

I just wanted to share how i have been lately,

I have been in a night class a couple times a week and i really don't like it, i mean i love people, but i have recently realized that it takes me a while to get comfortable with people i don't know if i do not have an outlet to talk to people, like in my public speaking class this semester i didn't have many friends to start off so i was really uncomfortable and quiet for a while, and then when i started the play this year for the first few weeks i really didn't talk to anyone, showed up, made some small jokes, and then left after the acting part. Anyway the class is kinda like that right now, im in the back of the class and im pretty quiet except some jokes here and there that get people to laugh, which is always a good feeling, i just usually wait for an opening to start really talking to people and i haven't really got that yet, i think thats because of my Confidence, when my confidence is high ill talk to any stranger on the street, but its been low lately.

Speaking of it being low lately, my confidence fluctuates a lot, which if you know me really well you will know that but otherwise i like to pretend im confident, with the crispy clothes and the fo-hawk, but really im terrified of being vulnerable because im afraid people wont like that, and no words of confidence seem to do me good, oh well, it might have something to do with

i havent been that good in my devotions lately, which leads me to realize that i have been in a serious funk lately, in basketball they say that ever team goes on runs, one team will go 10-0 in a couple minute span, then right after that the other team will go 12-0.. well i feel durring the play i had my run and right now though the other team is racking up the points on me, i dont know why but i just feel that way, it stinks, heres hoping i get out of it soon.

alright but to less depressing stuff because i hate depressing people, I made a goal for myself, i am going to play the guitar and sing in front of the church by myself before i leave the church in December for my own job, thats the goal and God willing it will happen, i think right now i will either sing Worlds Apart (Jars of Clay), Clumsy (Chris Rice), or More (Matthew West) ill let you know.

i think i will be planning a lock in at my church probably late july or early august, probably around my birthday which is the 21st so ill let you know, if you are in jr high or high school tell me if you wanna come!

anyway, imma get going to finish watching the Lakers vs Spurs, and then probably doing devotions, be praying i get out of this funk.. anyway heres the Oscar winning song for best original song in a movie its Falling Slowly from the movie Close

enjoy,
arod

American Idol Top 2!!!

2008-05-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

This is it, the last week of this blog for the year until next years top 24 again, And what a way to Go out, 2 of the best Idol has ever seen, and if you look at my past blogs it has been either David Cook or David Archuleta the last 10 weeks or so as my favorite, because they have been amazing, from Shop Around and Hello to Angels and Always Be My Baby, they have been fantastic, my favorite of the night was by Archuleta, here it is:

(Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me)

I usually do Great, Good, So-So, and Bad (or sometimes i put weak) but this week i am unable to do that as they were both Great so ill talk about them.

David Cook - Ok here we go. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was exceptional, this guy is talented, i felt like if any other season he wouldn't have to worry the prise would be his. The Second song was nice because it showed his rocker song with Dream Big I kinda got that Hello feel and thought he did the most with the song that he had. His final choice was The World I know, and althought i love the song and i love DC i thought he coulda picked a better song than he did, it didn't feel like it captured all the emotion he possibly could have, His first song was by far His best of the night, and his last was probably his worse, with that said He is an amazing artist, i think he shoulda did Billie Jean again, but you know what, he is who he is and he will make it big if he doesnt win.

David Archuleta - Archuleta came out strong just like Cook, with Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and it was the perfect choice, it was not as slow as some of his other songs, it picked up in the middle and had the most emotion i think he has shown all season (which is a hard feat because he is always emotional), he then Sang The fans song The Best Thing and even though it was cheesy and all He sang his mind off and made us believe those notes, He ended the night with Imagine He did this before of course and it might have been the best of the season so i knew he had to do even greater here, and he did, he hit a couple notes he didnt the first time around and changed up the ending, good good idea, loved it,

Im glad both contestants are so humble and know that both of them deserve to win, my favorites have gone home already and so i don't have any bias anymore, i love both these guys and feel they will both have super stardom, so here we go.

Your Runner Up-
David Cook

Your Next American Idol -
David Archuleta

i'll be happy either way though

enjoy,
arod

Year in Review

2008-05-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to look back on this year because last year was one of my worst i have ever had. At the beginning of the year i remember asking God to give me a good year and continue making me into the man of God that he has planned for me. I feel this year has been my best that i have ever had, which is a big contrast to last years fiasco, so to help share my experience, here is a little Recap:

I had one girlfriend, and two or three almost girlfriends, I worked at Wal-mart the first semester and it was awesome, i worked with some of my best friends and was moved to the Electronics department which was a pay raise and more responsibility.

During that first semester i took some apologetics class which Rich Grassel that was awesome and then a couple other classes i didn't exactly like, however i did have a Com class that i got to speak a lot which as sweet.

I started to volunteer at the church i am still at, which was my old church that i really did not want to be at, now i am Leading a small group and the worship band and speaking once a month which is amazing. I was a leader on a retreat and even learned how to play drums for the band, also i had my first opportunity to sing in front of the church with my boy hunter which was amazing!

I made up with a couple old friends and one of my old mentors, which was amazing.

I got to play a long DnD Campaign with those guys which was awesome.

I got to play on an intermural basketball and volleyball team, and even started a game on the basketball game which was awesome.

I played Bass AND gave my testimony at the Geneva easter event, which was one of the best experiences of my life.

I got to see my brother Graduate!

I got to go to 2 different court hearings (neither because i got in trouble hah)

I tried out for a play and a musical and ended up getting parts in both. The musical was more recent it was South Pacific, which i am not going to take because i want to focus on my church. But the play was The Legend of Pocahontas, i got a role playing Thundercloud and had about 35 sets of lines, it was crazy good, more then that i got to hang out with the people out of the play a lot because we had 17 shows so i really got to hang out with them a good bit. I made all kind of friends all ages and i think i did a pretty good job and more then that i had fun and am definitely going to do more plays, especially next years Youth theatre.

I took on 18 credits this semester and did not get below a B in any of those classes which was boss! Specially cause some of those classes sucked...

I probably got chances to public speak about 20 times which was great.

I also grew really close to God, I made a lot of mistakes with different things that i struggle with, but all in all i grew more and more into the person that God wants me to be, and plans to be, and as this school year ends and the summer begins, i can say that between learning Drums, playing Basketball, being Thundercloud, and public speaking God has made this the best year of my life so far.

enjoy,
arod

American Idol Top 3!!!

2008-05-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, ill admit it, it took me a while to actually watch this episode, partly cause i had other plans so i had to tape it, also because my boy sadly went home last week and i was crushed, so with Jason Out of the picture i came in with an open mind to pick a favorite, and wouldnt you know it? Its a David.. not sure which though, heres my Favorite of the week from Cook:

(I Dont Wanna Miss A Thing - Aerosmith)

Great
David Cook - Three songs this week, wow, i could see Jason just getting stressed out over thinking about it and you could tell the singers were stressed too, also tonight i saw them not taking the criticism from the judges seriously, probably cause they didn't wanna be affected by the next performance, Cook seemed like he was a little sick or something the first two songs, they were both GOOD but not Great and the judges saw that, but it felt like Cook had a wild card to throw out there and he did! I Dont Wanna Miss A Thing is easily in the top 5 of the season, as randy would say BLAZING MOLTEN LAVA BURNING HOT! He definitely won round 3.

David Archuleta - Kind of a weird week for him, but he can sing anything. The first song my Billy Joel was phenomenal, he defiantly won round one, The second song was With You and i thought it was going to be horrible, but i loved it actually, i mean sure it was fast and we aren't used to that but you cant say he doesn't try, i mean he did too faster songs for Neil Diamond week and then here, he opened the top 24 fast, so i dunno, but anyway i loved his voice on it, and a lot of people say he shouldn't say "boo" cause he isn't black... Well, thats racist.

Good - No one.

So-So -
Syesha Mercado - I think she is trying to dance her way into the finals, which probably will not work, her songs were all pretty much the same theme, they sounded like copy cat versions of the songs, she didn't take any risks and she focused more on her dance moves then her voice. Good job.

Bad - No one.

So With David A wining round one, No one wining round 2, and DC wining round three, that means that we have a tie, and the only way to resolve that is with the finals.

Bottom Two -
David Archuleta and Syesha
Going Home -
Syesha, easily
Runner Up -
David Cook
Winner -
David Archuleta

Yeah i dunno why i put David Archuleta in the bottom two tonight and then winning next week, i just think that DC will have a hard time toping tonight and Archuleta will have the bounce back vote, you know when your fans think you are in danger so they go crazy voting... just my thought.

Enjoy,
arod

American Idol Top 4!!!

2008-05-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weird week, people crying for no good reason, the rocker getting out rocked, and my boy jason going completely out of his mind (and do not get me started on Lebron James going 2-18 in the field and only losing by 4 points! ahh!). Oh Well, only a couple more weeks of this madness left and that makes me said, what am i gonna write about? My little life, ah, maybe. Anyway my favorite of the week was one of my old favorites.. either way it was going to be Archuleta but i loved Stand by Me so here it is:

(Stand By Me)

Great
David Archuleta - He came out strong with Stand By Me, where he changed it up a bit which is always good to do on this show, and then he rocked the socks off of it, i knew their were music for everyone their and he picked perfect songs. He followed it up with a very sweet Love Me Tender song originally by the King Elvis Presley Himself, I think he sang that one very well and i was happy with his high notes, he def went for the girl vote this week more then ever, singing write into their hearts.

Good
David Cook - I really thought he was going to steal the show tonight, but he didn't, neither song had his usual amazingly great quality, but they were still good, the first song Hungry like the wolf is probably one of my favorite great rock songs and i think he did good, even though it did not get amazing reviews, the second song Baba O'Reilly wasen't great, it was ok, but i think the judges liked it more cause he yelled and used the guitar, they love that stuff! Haha but all in all He did good.

Syesha Mercado- Ok, i want her off more then anyone alright, i think she is boring and i do not like her voice too much, thats just personally though... sorry... anyway... with that said, Proud Mary was not very good at all, and Change Is Gonna Come was fantastic, i hate to say it but that second song was powerful, i wish she coulda went lower on that song, but it was still great, i wish she didn't cause i big 5 minute extra talk session with the judges afterwards.. that was kinda weird.

bad
Jason Castro - I hate to skip so-so and put him here, he is my boy and i voted a ton for him tonight, i think he came out with the first one (I Shot the Sheriff) and tried to have fun with it, i loved the vocals but the performance was not very good, i have no idea where it came from either it just wasn't him, it was really strange! The second song was actually much much better then the first, Mr Tambourine Man, the only thing was he lost his lyrics, and from then on it was a cover your face kinda feeling, he let it get to him this week and i think the judges have been brutal this year, we saw Ramielle and Brooke Crack before him and this week it was Jason, at least he could take it in stride and leave us with a very memorable quote

Simon to Jason: What were you thinking?? (after the first song)
Jason to Simon: I was thinking... BOB MARLY! (HAHAHAH!)

Results
Bottom Two - Jason and Syesha
Going Home - Jason (i hope his fan base comes through and he has Votefortheworst.com on his side this week!)
Runner-up - David Cook
Your American Idol - David Archuleta is putting himself into too many peoples hearts not to win, that last song captured any girls heart out their that didn't already belong to him.

enjoy,
arod

We're all a little crazy,

2008-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

How did i get here.

I have one semester left at Geneva College, i have 7 classes right now and might get A's in all seven of those classes. I have good friends, i know i have talents in a variety of areas: public speaking, music, acting, and relationships (to name a couple). I just got out of a play that i did 17 shows and i feel i did an adequate job, more then that i made friends with people of all ages that i feel should last a life time. I work at a church that is taking me on as an intern where i get to lead worship from the drum kit and speak once a month, i am 2 weeks away from the end of this semester and summer all together. And i have this horrible feeling boiling up inside of me.

I do not know how to explain it but i feel lost, overwhelmed, self-conscious.

All those things above scare me more then help my confidence... what if i do fail all those classes, what if my friends leave, what if i fail at all those things i am supposed to be good at, what if people from the play do start hating me, what if i graduate and take on a job and i am no good at the act of being a youth minister, i was looking at job openings today and was reading one in new castle and i got terrified thinking about the possibility of failure. My two friends are starting to plan their wedding (i wish the best to them) but that again terrifies me, 1. Will i ever find some one. 2. i am deathly afraid of marriage, because part of me believes if i get married ill get divorced.

Fear, it is a funny thing, sometimes its rational, like when you are afraid of a large bear that is about to eat you whole, but it sometimes is irrational like when the stories of the Bogey man become all to clear in your head... I do not know which fear could accurately describe how i am feeling, but i will tell you this, i am afraid. Of what? of everything.

Maybe i won't succeed as a pastor, or a husband, or a friend, or a musician, or an actor, or a speaker, but i am confident that i can sufficiently love people, and so that's what i will do, that's all i feel sometimes i can do, so I'm going to love the hell out of people (take that as you will) and i know i am not perfect, i am a youth ministry major that is late to classes, probably lies in those classes in an attempt to get better grades, and might have a slight problem with swearing, but i guess that's what makes me human, i guess this whole fear thing makes me human too, which is all a bit crazy, but maybe.. just maybe... we are all a little bit crazy.

"The north Wind doth blow
and we shall have snow
and what will poor robin do then, poor thing
he'll sit in a barn
and keep him self warm
and cover his head with his wing." - Ester (Lily) - from Pocahontas.

enjoy,
Arod

American Idol Top 5!!!

2008-04-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

This week has been rough as it feels weird not to be at the playhouse and chill with my friends there, but a good thing has been American Idol, which is down to a very likable top 5, this week was a little weird, everyone sang 2 songs each from the Neil Diamond song book... which is a weird choice... anyway and Paula had a really weird moment where she was commenting on Jason for his second song before he sang it... and she gave him a bad review!!!! Do they pick what they are going to say before the performance or is she just that loopy?? Anyway, my favorite of the week was:

(Welcome To America)

On to the results -

Great
David Archuleta - I thought he was going to struggle this week because it was neil diamond week, actually he went way above and beyond what i thought, Sweet Caroline is one of my favorite all times songs and it was down was more then justice from him, also America was good until it got to the second half and then it was fantastic.

David Cook These were both more forgettable then some of his last performances, his first one was cool with the electric guitar but i do not remember how he did, the second with the acoustic guitar was great, but probably because i have never heard of the song it might be forgettable to me personally, however he made it great.

Good
Jason Castro - I absolutely was taken aback by what the judges were saying, i have no idea why they did not like it, his first song was moving, it was fast and enjoyable and i loved how he adapted his voice to Forever In Blue Jeans - that could be a hit on the radio today, and his second one was done in the image of Hallelujah, sitting and then standing and the last couple times he sang September morn was amazing.

So-So
Brooke White - Her first song was very.. yeah it was bad, Of course Brooke would pick I'm a Believer, the second however was very good which was I Am I Said it was one of my favorites of her, but the first one was so poor that it evened her out.

Bad
Syesha Mercado - Sorry Syesha, the first song, Hello, which i know from Saving Silverman, was so terrible i put her in this spot, i hate to be so negative but her voice is just not that strong to do the slower songs and she missed on a lot of notes, i do not know what Randy was thinking with his complements, her second one was better, forgettable as i dont really know what she did an hour after watching it.. she is definitely in her zone with the faster songs so she can add her spunk to it but she just is not that strong of a singer.

ok here it is, and as nate suggested i am being more decisive this week.

Bottom Two
Syesha Mercado, Brooke White.
Going Home
Syesha Mercado - Just the weakest of a very talented top 5
Runner-Up
David Cook... because....
Your American Idol Is....
David Archuleta - In past weeks i have let people tell me this is the wrong pick, but he has the fan base and keeps on performing spectacular, which seems that people are getting used to because he is so consistently great, He will win.

enjoy,
Arod

They Call Me TC (When i say they i mean my new friends and when i say TC that means thundercloud, keep up)

2008-04-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ok like i previously said i want to give out a tribute to all the people i just met in the play and talk about them specifically, i got to know them by acting with them, playing American idol, hanging with them, and basically building relationships with the coolest kids i know

The Indians
Of course this gets the first category because I got to spend most of the time with them, We had Angela, Vivi, Li, Tom (Chief Powhatan), Aunt Morning Star (still don't know her real name) and Zach.

Ok I dont know how to describe these guys so you can get a grasp on it, lets see Angela and Vivi are two of the cutest girls you can meet, they were my right hand girls throughout the show, Angela is way mature for her age and Vivi can't help but smile! Between us talking about AI and acting and Vivi trying to hook me up with her sister we had a lot of good times, whether it be them stealing my phone to talk to a girl we won't name or them playing Paula and Randy in American Idol we had a good time, love those girls, i missed them instantly. Oh yeah and Vivi is a remarkable singer! Wow the pipes on that girl are great.

Li was remarkable, everyone who came to see the show had a good word to say about her, she has been in about 21 shows so far and you can tell on stage with her acting but off stage she just just a fun cool girl, she isn't arrogant or nothing, i love her sense of humor and how we got to play around with Bryson and stuff, I hope the best for Li!!!! :-D

Tom and Aunt Morning Star were the older couple people in our tribe, and Tom is a true veteran, he was so professional with his approach on stage but still had a blast off the stage with him, him and his wife took me out to eat after opening day and that was one of my fondest memories of them.. along with Tom performing in the american idol competition he was the man, Morning star was really nice.

Zach, wow zach was awesome, we went to wendy's and he was insane! Between his love of acting and cheese there is nothing not to like about Zach, the ladies love him and rightfully so, i hope he continues acting because he definitely loves it. Zach is the man.

The Jamestown Settlers

Bryson was my wingman throughout the show and even though he wanted me to make fun of him in this spot here talking about him there isn't really anything bad i can say about him, hes a good instinctive actor who got better as the show did, by the time the show ended i honestly believed he was freaked out by Thundercloud, he also seems like he knows what he is talking about, whether it be Sports, Theatre, Girls, or Religion he is a brilliant kid.

The girls, like Danielle, Rosa, and Shelby were precious, Dani is out of her mind in the best possible way! I had so much fun hanging with her and she made everyone smile doing her dances and stuff, she has a big personality and im glad she feels free to let that out! Rosa and Shelby were definitely great girls, really nice too, so was morgan who was shelbys sister, and Camille and all the other girls!

The Adults, Andy(Tom), Audry(Mercy), the lady that played Charity, and Johnie (John Smith) were all great. Andy was hilarious always cracking jokes backstage and still encouraging me always telling me i did a good job which was great. Audry was wonderful, her daughter is precious and she definitely came across as the Thundercloud of the Jamestown universe! I didn't get to know charity too well be she seemed great, Johnie was awesome to work with, he stayed in character and was fun to be around back stage, it was nice have someone else in his 20's to hang out with, even though i just started my twenties and he is on his way out of them, it was cool to hang with him.

Lilly (Ester) had the best lines in the play and was super adorable, she has a great singing voice and a great presence on stage, she got into her character and was so cute off stage.

The Animals

Elle, Emily, and Brandon were the animals, Elle was one of my favorite persons in this whole thing, she was so sweet, she felt like everyones little sister, you couldn't help but love her, she is shy and super talented, she was a great young actress as well as great singer and im so happy she beat Tom in the finals of American Idol! Emily was so cute as well, she has this tough girl exterior but precious heart, she had so much fun playing with everyone, she loved Angela a lot too! I loved playing around with her, i didn't care if she was stomping on my foot or she was running from me as i tried to hug her, i love Emily. Brandon was also loved by the girls just like zach and was amazing too as the squirrel, i will miss him, one of the cutest kids ever. I love these three!

Dancers
ok, i can not possibly cover all these girls! So I apologize if i do not write about anyone.

Marly - Ooooo Marly, marly def has one of the coolest names around and is equally as nice, she helped me out a lot with american idol and i can not say how thankful i am for that! :-D :-D :-D

Laura - Laura, Laura, Laura, she made it to the finals in american idol and was one of the girls to go with me to wendys! we had a lot of fun and i hope she gets the part in South Pacific, even though i do not think i will get in i hope she does! She has an amazing voice and great personality.

Sabrina - Who not only a dancer moved the mouth of the tree! She accompanied me to wendy's as well and had a lot of fun talking back stage while she was supposed to be at the tree, or we would use hand gestures and stuff to communicate before she went on stage, Sabb (As i like to call her) Is awesome and loving!

Kia! - Kia! My take charge girl, she (along with my girl Marly) were the coordinators for American idol, she loves that stuff, being organized and all and i loved that she loved that, we had a lot of fun back stage as she was the one helping move the sets around during black outs and would always try to get my to laugh before i went on stage (cause i had to get serious before i get on but she would try to break my anger of thundercloud, and i love her for that) :-D!

Hannah - Lead Dancer Hannah! i can just see her now somewhere on those heelies, she was fun to be around as she tried to teach me all kind of dance moves, im glad i got to know her we chilled a lot back stage, she is really kind and i know she will do awesome being a Veterinarian!!!!

Caitlin! - Now Cait is a little firecracker, she might be tiny but i wouldn't mess with her in a fight.. i tell you what, but she also has a wonderful sense of humor and i loved hanging out at wendy's with her!

I love all you girls!

I love everyone that i worked with actually, it was hands down one of the best times in my life.

enjoy,
arod

The Legend of Thundercloud.. err.. i mean.. POCAHONTAS!

2008-04-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write an account of my experience in the new castle playhouse's production of Pocahontas, so here it is, i am going to separate it into three posts, Acting, People, and the Future

Acting
Wow, i remember when it was the day of my first ever audition for a play, i was nervous (i have the worst nerves ever so this was bad) I was only about 40% sure i wanted to do this at the time, and im so fortunate that the 60% of negetive-ness did not win because as soon as i got in there with Peggy(director) and Janet(producer.. or something) for the audition i knew i loved it, I read a part from John Smith and i read it with a lot of anger, they asked me to read it again tho without the anger and they said i did a good job on both parts and liked my versatility, so i left, anxious to hear from them.
When i got the email telling me i made the play i was pumped and a little in disbelief, i sent Peggy an email asking if i had gotten a speaking part in Thundercloud and she told me yeah i had about 34 sets of lines, i was blown away, i was nervous again, thinking about going into a place getting a lot of lines and maybe doing poorly, i was ready for the challenge, this is a time in my life where if i want to do it i am going to do it no matter if i suck, playing drums, singing, guitar, acting i dont care imma try it at least!
I remember the first read through practice like it was yesterday, i was nervous reading the lines and as we went around i felt out of everyone i had the least experience i was excited to see there was a lot of kids, cause we all know i am a big kid at heart anyway, so i was pumped, i remember Li (who played pocahontas) and her mom came up and said hi to me right away before i left and i was excited.
The first couple practices i tried to feel it out a little bit, but i kept on leaving feeling like i wanted to be friends with all these people that i was with, at the time i think i was only with Peggy, Zach (Brave Eagle), Li, Angela (Happy She Walks) and Vivi (Little Running Rabbit), who at the time i had no idea who they were or what there names where, as time went on and a little help from American idol (which tied me Angela and Vivi together in deep conversations about the Davids and Jason and our hatred for Kirsty Lee Cook) I grew to love those four kids! I stopped caring if i was going to be a theatre star and just started to have fun with my new found friends, i love relationships.
I remember one day after practice Peggy came up to me and told me that Thundercloud should be over the top, i didnt know what that meant at the time, but i went home and thought about it and thought about it and thought it would be cool to deepen my voice, act even angrier, and maybe walk funny. I watched some clips from the Lord Of The Rings where they have Smeagle walking around and took some tips from him, which caused a lot of stretching but i hope it looked cool! I also decided to start thinking of things that made me angry before i went on, the great Marlon Brando used to say to get into a character you cant use the character situations to make you feel the appropriate emotions you have to use your own emotions from things to bring about the emotions you are thinking of, like i couldnt just use that the English man was trying to take my land.. because that didn't make me mad, but when i thought of an ex girlfriend.. THAT made me wanna be mad :-D it was fun.
When we first started to meet with everyone i was a little overwhelmed with all the people, i feel like i want to know everyone that i am around and if i dont i do not enjoy myself, so i started introducing myself to people, I remember Bryson (Jeremy) was sitting by himself every day reading books and i didn't like him not being social so i started talking to him, and was like man this kids cool, and as the practices progressed i started introducing myself to all the adults as well as the kids, i remember the first time i talked to Elle (Racoon), Emily (Raven), and Brandon (Squirrel) was when i was helping the girls pretend like they had seen Blades of Glory, they had the biggest kick out of pretending that they saw the movie and i loved those kids, and the more i got to know them i couldnt help but smile when i saw those kids.
I came back from a retreat with the youth group on a sunday, and this sunday was my low point in theatre, it was the first night with microphones and i had to switch off with Lilly (Ester) and Audrey (Mercy) and i was late for scenes, the mic kept falling and i was just frustrated, i remember driving home thinking 'I'm not cut out for this, i don't think this is going to work' i prayed that the next day would be better, and wouldn't you know it i got my own mic the next day and never worried about that again! Gods good.
The last week of rehearsals i started to meet the Jamestown folk and the Dancers who i didnt work with until point, and what a sad fact that was! I am so happy we worked together because the Jamestowners might have been Thunderclouds enemy, but i loved everyone of them, from Andy to Rosa they were all great. The dancers were fun too! They taught me everything from their dance, to Hannah teaching me a Ple-a(or something where i spin around!) to the girls all teaching me something with snapping my fingers in a Z formation, head rotation, booty gyration, talk to the hand, talk to the fist, ooooo girl you just been dissed. LOVE those girls!
The opening Day of the play we had a kids show first, but that didn't stop my nerves from acting up, i think i have been nervous every time i have public speaked, a majority of the time i have played in front of people, some of our practices, and just about everyone of our shows, and the first was pretty crazy. I practiced my lines so much between scenes because i dreaded the idea of missing one on stage.. which never actually happened, which was cool, but wow is it a rush to be on that stage in front of people! I am usually on stage by myself speaking or with a band, and you get so close to the people that are on stage with you so i grew even more with the people in the scenes with me!
Between the shows we got to play American Idol and that was a lot of fun, picking judges was sometimes hard and might have given me a couple gray hairs until i got used to it but all in all it was a blast, nothing makes me happier then seeing people happy, and i think a lot of joy came out of it, but it was Angela and Vivi's idea so they deserve the credit! Congrats again to Elle who won the whole thing at the end :-D
The first friday night was probably the most nerve racking night of my life... maybe not.. but one of them definitely as their were adults in the audience, it was maybe my poorest one but it went great because i had amazing talent all around me and they supported me even when i was struggling, and i can not say enough about all the positive feedback i got from my cast and friends there, everyone was nice and encouraging!
As the shows went on it got easier and easier to go on stage, we started being more comfortable and the shows only got better and better until the end, it was great having friends stop by and see me and it was also great to be backstage with my new friends talking and hanging out and all that jazz, the last weekend of the play i didnt need to practice my lines anymore because now i do not think i could forget them if i tried. nope, not gonna happen.
Anyway this was one of the best experiences in my life and i just wanna thank everyone that made it possible, and all my new friends that i have made! I will talk about the people more in the next post! until then.

enjoy,
arod (Tc)

American Idol Top 6!!!

2008-04-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

I first wanna say sorry for missing last week, the play was just taking up my life, which i absolutely love, i just had to sacrifice something. Anyway for the record i guessed right on Kristy and i thought David Cooks was my favorite last week... and this week.

(Music of The Darkness - Phantom Of The Opera)

I also wanna say that i love The Phantom Of The Opera, and musicals in general and i thought that Andrew Lloyd Webber was one of the hardest week for the singers so far but was always one of my favorites, i loved the songs as well as Webbers veteran input for our stars.

Now to my results

Great
David Cook Wow... just wow.. when i heard they were doing this music i just thought "He would sound great singing a part from the phantom" He has a great voice, and i keep saying this is a guys competition and it just might be his to take, i would be happy with any of the guys won, this guy has great potential.

David Archuleta Ok, the Davids are completely different and both amazing, the only thing that might hurt David is that he is great in his one aspect of ballads, and Cook is great in mostly everything, with that being said, Davids great at ballads does leave pretty much everyone else's bests look a little worse. He is fantastic.

Good
Jason Castro This is my boy, i disagreed with the judges on this one, i thought this was one of his strongest vocals, he went on a different angle and put himself out there and i loved how he moved his voice around, i didn't think he had it in him, the judges were way to harsh on him, he should not go home.

Syesha Mercado She looked gorgeous in that red dress and she had the actress part down completely, she probably has the least talented voice of the top 6 but covered it well here.

Carly Smithson We all know i do not like Carly, i have no idea what she was wearing or where she found it, i think the verses were shouty like Simon said, but overal a good performance, this style is her style, she has a hard time understanding that though, but with this song and Come Together by the Beatles she found her niche.

So-So
Brooke White She did the wise thing and stopped completely i do not know what paula was thinking when she said she shoulda sang what was on her heart, how would that work?? I dunno, anyway this is the purest and strongest we have seen her voice so far, which was refreshing.

So the most challenging week so far landed us with these results-
Bottom Three - The Girls, Carly, Syesha, and Brooke... Jason Might be here too, but with only 6 people left half the people have to be here...
Going Home - My gut is telling me Syesha, but my head is telling me Brooke, lets see what happens.. i want Carly to go home.
Runner-up - Jason Castro.. this week everyone is getting in my results, he is the best of the rest after the first 2 guys and the only one with a shot to win the competition if he has some amazing performances.
Your American Idol is...-
A. David Cook - He takes over the Winner A spot this week by a slim margin just because he is so dang creative and good.
B. David Archuleta - He has the votes to probably win and the best pure voice out there.

enjoy,
arod.

Quick Hits! live and love.

2008-04-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry about the lack of the American Idol blog, but its been busy cause of the play, ill get to that though later, heres some topics!

Jesus - I dont know if thats a Good topic, but Jesus is good anyway you slice it, i was thinking a lot today about my future and why i am going to ministry instead of chasing music or acting or something like that, i realized it is because I love people, all people, and it hurts me when i know that people do not know Jesus and i want to change that. Jesus is amazing, a relationship like him is the best thing to happen to me and the only absolute definite thing there is, if you do not know Jesus talk to me or someone! You will not regret it, :-D if you do know Jesus and when i say know i do not mean like i know Mark Wahlberg, but know as is as your personal savior!! :-D

The Play - speaking of loving people i love everyone back stage of this play, the kids are amazing, they show me up in the acting department and probably the heart department cause they are all so nice and talented! I hope i can stay in contact with them and when i get my own youth group imma invite all of them that i can to it so we can chill!!, Also the performances have been fun, friday night was so nerve racking, Saturday wasent though because i just focused on the fact that i know what i am doing, and i practiced a lot before, and prayed, Gods good! My family and some of my friends came, it was pretty boss! Can't wait for this next week to go, 10 more plays or so and thats great by me! And we play American Idol during the week and i am pumped about that too!.

school - well, i havent really done anything in that area.. i went to one class after monday and it was about election, which is gay, I think Calvin didn't have a heart for people, cause if he did he musta cried himself to sleep every night if he believed in election, there is no one better then others and God knows that better then us, Calvin is a self-righteous prick.

sports - NBA playoffs is officially going on, lets see the Hornets and Cav's go all the way!

American idol - I was sad to see Michael Johns go the week before, but really happy to see Kristy Go this week, it feels like clear sailings for the guys to the final three now, but who knows?! Lets go Jason!

enjoy,
love,
arod

American Idol Top 8!!!

2008-04-08T19:37:00.001-07:00

Alright alright, week 8 of inspirational songs just happened so i am here to dissect it, good night overall, great songs, first of all my favorite of the night was by Jason Castro

(Somewhere Over The Rainbow)

On to the Results.

Great
Jason Castro- This was out of site, i connect with him more then anyone else, he just has a way of bringing the audience in, i love how he can move around his voice and for two weeks in a row he was in the top 2 of the week, and this was light years better then last week which is saying a lot.

David Archuleta- David Did Angels and the judges loved it, i think his voice at the beginning was not as strong as it has been, but with that said he finished strong i love him behind the piano he connect so well with these inspirational epic songs and He is skating through till the next round.

Good
I'm being a little more strict this week, holding everyone to a higher standard cause i cant give everyone A grades or it will get boring, with that said, we had a lot of goods.
David Cook- He does not disappoint and if i have never heard him before i would have put him in great but because he had better performances its good, his voice was brilliant tho, he hit some of the high notes out of the world.

Michael Johns- He chose to go with the song Dream on, and i actually agree with the judges on this, i like him more on the r and b and soul stuff, but with that said he did a great job with this song, he went high with his voice, he was good, no problems in my eyes about his pitch no matter what randy said, good job Michael, once again the guys out did the girls.

Brooke White Brooke is so nice, she is the only girl that really has a genre that she can go in, and here singing she was good, she could have been better but i think her voice is going to start limiting her, because it is not as strong as others, but it was good.

Kristy Lee Smith How are you still here?! Why is she still here?! With that said i think she could make it another week because this was hands down her best performance, the verses were so-so the chorus's were great.

Syesha Mercado She has a beautiful smile, and this song, which i have never heard before, was ok. I agree with the judges again the singing was good, she did not seem to connect with the song though and she will be in danger.

So-So
Carly Smithson She was the weakest of the night, my least favorite, she did look pretty but her song was only so-so, it is not wise to pick a queen song, Freddie Mercury is out of this world and Carly just showed how far she was from that.

Bottom Three
Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook (Even with a better week)
Going Home
See ya Carly, i picked you last week to only see my girl going home, ill stick with you this week because of your performance even though you are a better singer then Syesha and Kristy and probably Brook.
Runner Up
David Cook, still strong even with an only good week, Jason is getting stronger though and Michael is working hard too, but i would be very shocked if a guy is not in this spot, as well as in the next spot, which is...
Your Next American Idol
David Archuleta, another great week, he needed that to feel a little, if any, comfort in being the front runner still. 7 more performances, a lot can happen.

enjoy,
arod

Happy

2008-04-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Ok i do not have much to say today except that it is nice out and i am in a great mood, Gods good. Have you ever had someone in your life that you might not get to see a lot but when you do its just beautiful? yeah. :-D

Heres some music lyrics for you just cause i wanna get it out of my heart:
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours

Well you done done me and you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
and now I'm trying to get back
Before the cool done run out
I'll be giving it my bestest
Nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon its again my turn to win some or learn some

I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm yours

Well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love
Listen to the music of the moment maybe sing with me
Ah, la peaceful melodys
It's your God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love love

So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours

I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
But my breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a new face and laughed
I guess what I'm saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue

I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours

Well no no, well open up your mind and see like me
Open up your plans and damn you're free
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love
Listen to the music of the moment come and dance with me
ah, la one big family (2nd time: ah, la happy family)
It's your God-forsaken right to be loved love love love

I won't hesitate no more
Oh no more no more no more
It's your God-forsaken right to be loved, I'm sure
Theres no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours

No I won't hesitate no more, no more
This cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate
Our time is short
This is our fate, I'm yours, I'm yours

Yeah.

here it is too.

enjoy,
arod

Quick Hits!

2008-04-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, time for me to just pick some topics out of the week and talk about them, this has been a long week but things are looking up.

School - I have been doing a lot of play and church work lately and so my school work is lacking, however im not missing any points, im kinda frustrated, i do not have a printer right now so i gotta go in krystal's room right now, and i cant do it at night cause she is sleeping so i have had a couple assignments late lately which is still not good, im just exhausted all together, ill still end strong tho, after this week we only got 4 weeks left... woo :-D

Music - I started learning how to play Guitar the other day, Andrew and Hunter are helping me! I don't know how much of you know this but i want to know how to play Bass, Drums, Guitar, and Piano soon enough, so im on my way, lately i have also been thinking about taking voice lessons eventually so i can sing better, i know my voice COULD be alright, i just need some training.

On the Topic of music.
American idol: RAMIELLE Malubay went home, ugh, i knew this day would happen, she was my favorite and i thought the best pure vocalist of the girls, so i was shocked at this. I am so mad that Kristy Lee Cook is still here, what the heck, she seems to be getting kinda cocky now-adays, i want her to go home, im anticipating next week it will happen. Anyway, back to Ramielle, She should get an album out and maybe will be big some day, either way she brought a love-able character to the show, she was adorable in appearance and demeanor so i was happy to have seen her. She had a couple good performances but only one i categorized as great, it was last week, i loved this weeks as well, i felt it but ill leave you with her first performance in the top 24 and last weeks one:

(You Don't Have to Say You Love Me)

(Alone)

American Idol Top 9!!!

2008-04-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

This week was solid all around, the best all around night we have heard yet, no bad performances this week, which is good and also a sign that we are getting into the final stretch. The theme of the night was Dolly Parton, and i was kinda upset hearing that but i really loved the night overall.
My favorite of the night was once again David Archuleta

(Smokey Mountain Memories)

Lets get to the singers

Great:
David Archuleta: This was a great week and the guy that stood out the most was once again David. I hope his tread of Great, so-so, Great, So-so, doesn't continue, he doesn't have to be great every week to win but no more so-so, only good and great from here on out. Beautiful song, might me by favorite of his so far. It felt he connected this one and was really comfortable out there, not enough words for this one.

David Cook: Again the Davids are kicking it, this was not my favorite of his but it is up there, he showed he doesn't have to be completely rock he can do other things too, he is the most creative of the show and is definitely has a good shot to win this whole thing.

Jason Castro: Wow, it wasen't as good as Hallelujah but it is up there, I do not know what simon was talking about, but Simon and Paula understand me, He felt the song, showed the range of his voice, good guitar playing, felt really comfortable. He should NOT be in the bottom three this week.

Michael Johns: MICHAEL JOHNS stepping up these last couple weeks, i loved it, He showed his bluesy/soul side this week, not a lot of music backing him up this week unlike last week so really put him out there and he answered good, really fared well, great job.

Good:
Syesha Mercado: Syesha has been good ever sense hollywood week, she is so friendly and although not one of my favorite it still is pretty surprising she has been in the bottom three the last couple of weeks! I liked this one a lot and she might be in that bottom three again she gets mad props for picking probably the most well known of Dolly's songs and doing a fantastic job.

Brooke White: Brooke started the show, which never really seems like the best place to be, but she did good with her song, i liked having the band right next to her, the judges did not think it felt comfortable with the band around her, but that is probably cause it takes awhile to get chemistry with a band and they AREN'T a band, so you can not judge her on that, looking at her voice, it was not fantastic as some weeks are, it was good though, not her full range.

Ramielle Mallubay: I have said week after week, i love her. I usually think her Ballads are better then her fast songs but this has been her best fast song so far, she connected with the song really felt it, i love how she connects with the audience and the way she presents her self on stage.

Carly Smithson: Not one of my favorite performers and not one of my favorite of the night, she has better songs in her and this just wasen't her top performance, with that being said she is a good enough singer to have this be a good overall showing, she got skill, maybe not with dressing her self, but with being a singer she has skill.

Kristy Lee Cook: This is the highest i have ever put her, i didn't love the performance only because i do not really like her, but i cannot deny she has a country voice so that song was ultimately perfect for her... ugh.. i hope she doesn't stay out of the...

Bottom Three
Carly, Kristy, Syesha (I would have put Ramielle in here because i thought she did not do as good as Syesha BUT i went with these three because they have all been in the bottom three before and when there is an ONLY great and good week i say the people that have not been good the whole time should be down there)
Going Home
Carly Smithson, this was hard because really any of the bottom three could go home, but i feel she will, she doesn't have as much fan support and Kristy had the better performance unfortunately, at least Pastor Nate will be happy!
Runner Up
David Cook, i am sticking with him at the number two spot, i think Michael and Jason made me look smart this week because i keep saying these three guys are three out of the four best in the show, the best in the show is...
Your Next American idol
David Archuleta, how can you not cheer for this kid, he had an amazing performance this week, bringing his great total up to 4, with the rest being on the verge of that with good performances except two so-sos that we will try to forget. If idol ended today the kid would have it.

enjoy,
arod

Quick Hits!

2008-03-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this past week was nuts, but good, this coming week is just going to get worse too, i just wanted to share some random thoughts of the topics in my life.

The Play:
Its getting excited, i added some more flavor to my Character Thundercloud as I skulk around and such, my voice is deeper and im having a lot of fun doing this play thing..im going to assess it after im done and see if i want to do more plays, but as of now i love it.

Classes:
Classes have been killer, works piling up and such but its been cool. I used to not really like school, specially geneva, i kind of alienated myself but lately i have been making more friends and letting my guard down a bit more, i dont know if i come off as a closed person or what but lately i have been trying to seem more open and stuff. The first time i met Becca Hill She said I looked like a quiet maybe boring person when she saw me in my pea-coat and all, but then she figured out that was not the case. That was just weird to me, but maybe thats true.. i dunno. ANYWAY I am definitely graduating early im taking a community college class this summer and so ill graduate in December. I just need a Science with a lab and stuff and then a 9 credit intership. Next semester ill be taking polysci, business 140, Topics of Youth Min, Senior Sem, and Volleyball or something, Should be awesome!

Sports:
Chris Paul and The hornets are tearing it up, they have the one seed in the wild west and look to hold on to it for the playoff push which is going to be good, 40 games in 40 nights will be awesome. My final four bracket is kind of falling apart with Wisconsin losing to the upstart Davidson team (Who are pretty sick by the way, I think Richard *the point guard* is going to be very good at the next level) However my other four teams, Texas (my pick to win it all), UNC and UCLA are still in it so lets hope these next 2 days go good for me and nick! (I did nicks bracket for his work and could win some good money!)
Oh yeah.. And Lebron James is still amazing, the team is kind of struggling but when he turns it on, like against the knicks he is unstoppable, Heres a clip from His 50 point effort the other day!
(Check out the Jordan-esque three pointer at the end of the second!)

Idol:
Chikezie Had to go home this week, and while i thought he would go im still going to miss the guy. He seemed to get stronger as he gained more confidence, and i still do not know if he was better then Danny, He gave us an amazing performance in the first week of the top 12 with the Beatles song She's a Women. From here on Idol is going to be pretty sad, as my top 6 are still holding on but they all have to go at some point, except one, so heres to a next 9 weeks of sadness, even Carly And Syesha ill miss even though they aren't my favorites. Chikezie had the best attitude of the competition and was a little feisty with the judges which never seems to translate into votes.. o well, Ill miss the big guy and whether or not he becomes a star we will always have this:

American Idol top 10!!!

2008-03-25T19:14:00.001-07:00

Alright we are getting down to the serious competition. My favorite of the week was both by Michael Johns and Ramielle Malubay (WE are the Champions)

Great -

Michael Johns - Ok, Last week michael was kind of everywhere and he stated himself that he peeked in hollywood and he hopes he can get back to that. Well tonight he went way past that and was brilliant. The song choice was great and the way he moved through the song was perfect, he is always consistent and has a great presence on stage but tonight he was off the hook. The judges agreed tonight.

Ramielle Malubay - She was also brilliant, her best performance so far, it was a ballad, so it was a little slow but it picked up and her whole range was able to show. She is my favorite girl and is adorable. I loved it, if she goes home its a shame.

David Cook - DAVID FREAKIN COOK continues to impress, the judges think he can win the whole thing and i believe them too, he has been astounding lately, everything has been good sense he first stepped on the show and everything has been great sense his performance of Hello

Good -

Syesha Mercado - Syesha went with soul this week and it was good, one of the better ones of the week, i could have put it in the great category but the other three just seemed too special, i do like her a lot though.

Carly Smithson - for some reason i was trying to think of something negative to say about carly cause she is not my favorite.. probably 8th favorite.. but this week was really good, This and Come together were both great. The judges were mixed on it for some reason, randy was weird this week, but she did a good job.

Brooke White - I love Brooke, she seems so nice, and this week she went back to the piano, she started off a little week but she stopped and started it again. She sang "Every breath You Take" and her voice is so pure, it was not as good as Love is a battlefield or Let it be but it was still good, she will stay on.

So-So

David Archuleta - I hate to put either of these two guys in this column and i usually think this spot would mean bottom three but no way. I actually liked the performance it was a little more upbeat than lately but still controlled. However, his voice just seemed a little flat and he did not seem as into this performance as those in the past, the girls love him though and he will be back.

Jason Castro - Simon said he thinks Jason is being too relaxed and i can see what he is talking about. After Hallelujah he hasn't exactly blown me away, he is very solid and i love his Jason Mraz-esque voice and i think he will stay another week, with the risk of being in the bottom three though. He went back to the guitar which is his strong suit but did not seem to connect that much with the song and didn't exactly use any of his voice range. The girls love him too so he will say. Also He did brilliant in whatever language he was singing in.

Weak -

Chikezie -Chikezie.. Chikezie.. Chikezie... i hate you for making that hard to type but i love your attitude, he seems like a really nice guy. With all that said he had another poor performance, with exception to the week where he did "She's a Women" He hasn't really done anything to show that he should be here. He will be in the bottom three and the only thing to keep him from maybe leaving is....

Kristy Lee Cook - HOW IS SHE STILL HERE?!?! Sure this week with her patriotic attempt she was better then ever, but that is not hard to do, i have no idea how she keeps on singing for us. She should go home but i have the feeling Chikezie will go home because someone out there likes Kristy, she did okay, the judges thought she would get tenth place weeks ago and they might be right this week.

With all that said i think this week was good, i loved the idea of picking a song from your birth year, i liked most of the songs we continue to see some people step up each week and others give lack luster performances.i have a theory that its really hard to impress the judges after an amazing performance... like Archuleta this week and others in weeks pasts... my guesses for this week are...

Bottom Three -
Kristy Lee Cook, Chikezie, and Jason Castro *I feel uneasy about this pick i dont think i will be right* (Carly is another possibility in this slot cause she was here last week)
Going Home -
Chikezie... I would rather see kristy go home but i keep saying she will and she keeps hanging on, so maybe if i say Chikezie will she will go home.
Runner Up -
David Cook, in past weeks i would have said Jason or Michale but David has been incredible strong and is even itching towards the following prize.
Your Next American Idol
David Archuleta has just had too many good performances to not win at this point, that could change with a couple sub par performances and David Cook really finishing strong but i still think that David A will win the prize with a couple more great performances.

PLAY!

2008-03-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I am playing the part of Thundercloud in the upcoming play "The Legend Of Pocahontas" which will be a the new castle play house. Practices have been fun, I am playing a character that is completely different from me as a person, he is loud (besides that) angry, forceful, cocky, and never is happy, but it is going to be a good performance i know it, and the cast is phenomenal the girl playing Pocahontas is a star. So you better come out, it is at the New Castle Playhouse which is in New Castle.. the website is this http://www.newcastleplayhouse.org/ and the address is on there, i can help you with directions if you need them. There are plenty of shows so you have plenty of opportunities to come out, i think the tickets are between 10-15 dollars or something, if you need some cash let me know but you will be there, if you are not, you are not my friend and thats that!

the show times are

April 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 -:
9:30 AM and 12:30 PM
April 18, 19, 25, 26 -- 7:30 PM
April 20 and 27 -- 2:00 PM

enjoy,
arod

Easter day/learning

2008-03-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

Today is easter, and with this celebration of our Lord raising from the dead I started thinking about what He has been doing today because He always works. I believe that Jesus is always trying to teach us something, it just matters if we are listening or not.
When i was speaking at the easter event my main point was that I could not find love anywhere and God was that love that i was looking for, that He loves us no matter what we do or how broken we are and that feeling resonated with me. Well that is all true and well but i do not think the full extent of what that meant had hit me yet.
I have always felt the need to earn my love from people. When i would sin i would feel like God was going to stop loving me. When im in relationships with girls and mess up i automatically feel like they are going to brake up with me. Well... those things have both gotten better sense i became a Christian and sense i started dating BUT those feelings still exist and its not until lately that i discovered why.
God is teaching me that when someone loves me i do not have to EARN that love or risk losing it, All i have to do is show how much i love them back. For instance i should not do Devotions so God loves me more (or not do devotions and have the fear that God will stop loving me) I should do my devotions to show my love to God. When I'm in a relationship i should not do something nice so i do not loose a girlfriend i should do it to show how much i love them.
God's always teaching us, even in the time when we are celebrating His resurrection, He continues to try to make us more like Him.
Thank You God, Love you.

enjoy,
Arod

Easter event and American Idol

2008-03-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

First id like to talk about the Easter Event that happened yesterday. I have been praying a lot to get closer to some people at Geneva because i have always felt estranged for some reason, and God does answer prayers, playing with this band was one of the best joys I've had in a while. It felt like playing with a real band again we came together really well in the last couple days we all worked with each other, it was beautiful. Not just the music but the night as a hole, the speakers all moved smoothly and the skits were flawless. I think one of the best feelings in the world was when our final video ended on the screen and everyone went silent before clapping, wow what an electric feeling. Speaking of clapping im glad people didnt clap after each thing it kept the mood going and really got a serious tone, im glad we started with that video in the begining and kept it serious and emotional. I gave my testimony and before i went up i heard God say "No jokes" being appropriate is something Gods been teaching me lately and im glad i could use it today. It was such a euphoric feeling after the event when people came up talking to you about how it went and such, wow it was a feeling that can not be topped, fulfilling your calling with an event is priceless.
I also wanna say that the sound guys did an amazing Job, i dont know if anything could have gone better on their end, its a rarity to get that as a tech crew and they did great! So all in all on the scale from 1-great i give the event a Freakin Awesome!

On To Pop Culture
American idol's top 11 preformed last night to the songs of the Beatles again and it was a weird weird weird night. A couple people were awesome and a couple were pretty bad. Archuletta was phenomenal again singing the Long And Winding Road, he bounced back nicely from last weeks performance and it was my favorite of the week

Other then him i do not think anyone had a knock out performance, but a variety of them did "good". David Cook had another good performance, this song was more rocky then he usually goes and didn't showcase his voice as much this week which i love, he yelled a bit more then he usually did, with all that said, he always feels like a real performer, he is going to be big some day no matter what happens in this competition, he had a fun performance and is in no danger tomorrow. Carly did pretty good last night with Black Bird but i still don't feel anything with her, sure she can sing and shes a good performer but i just can't connect with her and i have a feeling other fans feel the same way and thats going to keep her from winning this competition. Syesha had a beautiful performance doing the song Yesterday, which is a difficult song to sing, i think it was too big for her and she didn't make it as big as she could have with a bigger voice, however it was still beautiful, she looked gorgeous and it was her best sense holly wood week. (speaking of which i wish she would go back to that soul feeling cause she can belt!)

Some on the fence performances started off with Jason Castro. I love this kid, his personality, his voice, and both those made this an ok performance instead of a bad one. I still loved it even though it wasn't his worse i don't think he has any problem staying for next week. Brooke White another one that shouldn't be worried about getting voted off, shes been brilliant lately and even though her body seemed confused with what to do and she didn't get to display her range with this song shes still good. Ramielle had a better performance then last week which was awesome because as you all should know i love Ramielle and shes been my favorite girl for a while now, she picked a safer song, her dancing was good and her outfit was cute and it was good, she should get back to belting those ballads with emotion, i think she will have a good one next week with some confidence under her belt. Chikeze (His last name is Eze, i don't know why they never talk about it) had a good performance, Simon hated it but i actually liked it. He has a nice voice, its little though, so i was happy he showed that off but didn't stick with it and then went with what got him good reviews last week and went to the blue grass tone with the harmonica, not the best performance but i actually liked it. I could of put Michael Johns in the next category but i think he is too good to be there, He has a great voice and a powerful presence, his voice went out a couple times and it didn't stick on anything long enough to appreciate it and he didn't nail each section amazingly like he needed to to make this a good performance, but it was for his friend who died and its still Michael Johns, one of my favorites to stay around for a while.

Id say two people did terrible, no surprise they are Amanda and Kristy, I have no idea how they are still on the show. Kristy just is not a good performer or a great singer and Amanda is boring like Simon said, she is a rocker.. she cant sing.. i get it.. i hated her spat after Simon talked about selling ticket and being the rocker she is.. whatever.

Bottom Three Tonight - Michael, Kristy, Amanda
Voted Off - Kristy Lee Cook
Still Favorite to Win - David Archuletta (The question is who will be his runner up)
Runner-Up- Jason Castro (Just a feeling, David Cook or Michael Johns could fill this spot and if Carly gets some more relate able personality she has a shot)

Unwritten Love Story

2008-03-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

Alright This might be a little Jerry Maguire of me (referring to the beginning of the movie where real late at night he decided to write a memo describing how he feels and ends up sending it out to everyone) however I've been watching a lot of movies lately and one genre i like is chick flicks. I just watched August Rush the other day and although i will not concede that it is a chick flick it did circle around a love story. More and more i think about love movies i realize that it's all about the journey, about the guy trying to get the girl or the girl trying to get the guy to like him (or some variation of the story) and I've realized that in my own life i think i try to give off this impression that because I have had a few experiences in relationships that i know how its done or that i know what I am doing, but the real truth is....that that journey that i was talking about, that the movies focus on, i have no idea how to get that done. I have a hard time reading my heart or understanding how it thinks or who it wants and although i have tried and tried i still haven't had that magical love story that is told is so many movies. The characters that people portray, no matter what they do, end up with the one they love, despite all the odds.
But that love story that I'm talking about, that amazing journey that takes you to the person of your dreams, i hope for that (though i might doubt that i will end up with it), and hey maybe I'm on that already, maybe that girl is reading this, MAYBE i already know her. But then again, Maybe i don't, maybe I'll meet her tomorrow. Maybe my love story will be written soon and i can look back and say, Hollywood got nothing on that! But I'm certain I'm at least glad I'm hoping, because for a while now i have been cynical, i have been thinking about how love has let me down, yes you love.. let me down, with my family, with my friends, with my mentor, with past girlfriends, my heart has been hurt and i have actually started to doubt love. Will i find it? Will it be pure? Will it find me?
Questions,questions and more of the same but you know what i have come to the conclusion of? I am going to give love another shot. Sure it might not deserve it, and it might fail me again, but i still believe in it no matter how many times i get hurt, i know there is pure love out there somewhere, besides on my TV screen. I know there's Gods love, eternal, unending, pure. I know that i love my family and my friends, more then anything. And I also know that Love, I'm going to say this and You better hold me to it, but i know that i am going to try and find that girl, that women, that makes me go miles, and states, and countries and continents to tell her that i love her, and that girl that when things are lost and people leave and the world falls apart around her knows that my love won't do any of those things. So yes, love, that unwritten story of mine that you are cooking up, I'm ready for it, and more then that, I'm not going to give up on it.

enjoy,
arod.

Quick Hits

2008-03-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Idol Results - Ok ok ok so i got it wrong kristy lee cook survived this week, but dont tell me she did not deserve getting booted off! David Hernandez was the one that got the axe, he had a lot of stuff surrounding him, like the fact that he was an Ex stripper with mostly all male customers... anyway... he still had a pretty good voice, reminded me of the main singer of Rascal Flats, but there was no way he was going to win and i hated his performances so im glad he is gone.

Play - Rehearsals are starting to heat up for the play i am in so you better be there the shows are between april 15th and april 30th you should be there and watch me do my indian dance while saying Hi-ya-ya-Hi-ya-ya, along with my other lines, ill post a full list of show times when the shows are coming closer.

Sports - Ncaa tournament coming up which is always fun, Penguins look to capture the number one seed in the west conference which should be sweet. Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets (basketball) is making a strong push for the MVP award. Steelers stayed put in free agency. Clemens might have taken steroids, in either case i still love him. And Lebron is still doing this

Music - If you haven't heard them yet, take a listen to some Lupe Fiasco (Rap), The Hush Sound (indie) and Hellogoodbye (happy) , or else ill break your knees.

if you Are a Geneven- Go to Skye Lounge this coming Tuesday from 6-8 my evangelism class is having a little easter event thing and im giving my testimony and playing drums for it, it will be freaking sweet, show up!

Idol, top 12

2008-03-11T20:51:00.000-07:00

Favorite of the week, This coulda gone to Brooke or Carly i suppose but heres Jason Castro "If I fell"

Ok ok ok, i heart idol a lot and this season i have not agreed with a lot of the fans decisions, i think alaina, alexandrea, colten, asia'h, and danny all went home too early, however there is still a lot of talent left so with the top twelve coming up and knowing it was beatles week ( i love the beatles more then i love idol) i was pretty excited. However this episode kind of let me down, my favorites didn't do as well as i thought they would and my least favorites.. well some did ok, others didnt. I think the idol saving performance of this week was definitely Chikezie's ho down rendition of whatever song he did. I also thought Brooke was brilliant, she has been wow'ing me the last couple weeks, which is amazing cause she has done it with the guitar, by herself, and with the piano, very versatile the only other person that is capible of doing that on this show is non other then my favorite to win american idol (i'm calling it) David Archuleta. However today was probably his worst performance as he went last (which first and last are usually given to top people to hold our attention, and it works) but he seemed nervous and even forgot some lines, however even though he did that i think he was still fantastic, he has a great voice and is very humble, he will be great. Speaking of great i think Michael Johns is a star already i feel like he does not need this how, he will make it, he performed Across The Universe which was his first slow song sense hollywood week and he did a great job, however the judges were not loving on the slow songs, all but Paula thought terrible of Johns performance as well as Castros, which Jason Castro used the guitar again which is always good for him and had a very touching performance. The judges love him and i think the fans do to so i dont think either of them will be in jeopardy (on a side note i hate how people that sing slow songs get less love then those that cant sing that do fast songs, i know this is true with american idol, if you jump around you usually get love, but when people like Johns and Castro hit a song good, so what if the tempo is slow), however i do believe that Kristy Lee Cook WILL be voted off tomorrow it was either her or David Hernandez and the ex-stripper i think will stay another week because she ruined a country song like only Amanda Overmyer can and it was dreadful, she'll be gone. Speaking of Amanda, what the heck is she still doing here, i know that Votefortheworst.com tells people to vote for her but for some reason the judges like her, shes terrible ruined a good ol favorite....

other performers - Syesha did ok, nothing great, Ramielle (who i love) did her worst performance to date but will be back for more her closest friends (Colten, Danny, Asia'h, etc. al.) are all gone now so she must be hurting but i hope she isnt trying to join them. Carly did good but she does nothing really for me personally. David Cook sang the pants off his song and for the second week in a row looks like he has a chance to win this thing.

For the record.
Favorites - David Archuleta, Jason Castro, Brooke White, Ramielle, and Michael Johns.
Favorite to win - David Archuleta
Going home this week - Kristy Lee Cook

In other pop culture news i watched the 2007 Movie of the year No Country For Old Men which won 4 awards in this years Oscars. I will not ruin anything but id say the writing was excellent for the most part, the dialog was great and the acting phenomenal, yet it tailed off during the second half and left me desiring more, oh well.

enjoy,
arod.

How comfortable are we?

2008-03-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

First i wanted to say that i was encouraged to right this by my friend Jenn Lyle, who is currently in the big New Zealand now, which is cool, the next coolest people i know from that country are a band called flight of the conchords ..... The conversation that led to this was the topic of honestly. I feel that the hardest times to be honest is obviously when it might hurt someone or offend someone or make them uncomfortable, so a lot of times i find myself beating around the bush in order to get some hard truth there. This has become a struggle for me as i continue my march towards the ministry. I had to confront one of my closest comrades the other day about a struggle i saw him having and i tell you nothing breaks my heart more then having to do that, i wish that everything was all sunshine and happy, however it is a war of sorts. A war that we can not just watch it go by, we have to say something about the sin in our lives, which includes my own as well. I feel that on sundays especially we as ministers are going away from the challenging and uncomfortable material that is in the bible. I think this has to do with people nowadays being more and more sensitive as well as us being a post modern culture where we refuse to believe in absolutes. By this i mean that it is hard for us to hear a pastor saying that Christ is the ONLY way or that this or that activity is a SIN no matter what. Those are hard for people to here and we would rather not make it hard on people. Yet we have to, we must challenge people an call us out on our sins or we will never become the type of people Christ wants us to me. The material is sometimes challenging and uncomfortable but we cant hide from it, we also however can not just say things in uncaring manners. There was a time in the early church (around the 1700's) were pastors like Jonathon Edwards and George Whitefield were into preaching about "Fire and Brimstone" scaring people into salvation, threatening them with hell. WE have to be careful as people to do everything in a loving way, calling someone a sinner (which is what we all are) is not the easiest thing to hear. So even though we want to be honest we can do it in a relational way in a way that people will respond positively and listen with a heart willing to change, this comes with accessing the audience and making appropriate claims with how we talk. In any means the truth of Jesus must be talked about, sometimes it will not be comfortable or easy, but it will always be truth.

enjoy.
arod

The age old free will debate

2008-03-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I watch the show American idol, and when people are giving their presentations (in my calvins institutes class) sometimes I feel like a judge. I think about the way they stand the way they talk the way the present themselves the way they dress and maybe even the information that they present. Actually, a lot of how they present the material they have and how they interpreted it. Anyone could just restate what was given to them in a book, however it takes skill to put your own spin on a document that has been chewed up probably more then my dogs bones.

With all that said I think that Dave Lusk did a phenomenal job in the way he presented the material. I lived with him my freshman year and he has grown leaps in bounds. He his not a Calvinist so I thought I was going to hear a bashing on free will, however he approached it professionally and responsibly and probably did a better job then I will. I liked how he stated that predestination and free will are both in the bible so there is no way they both can not exist. Both sides probably say stuff about mis translations and throw out different verses, but we can not do that. Once I asked a professor about John 3:16 and how that applied to predestination, he gave me a half hearted answer and then told me that is one verse he does not know what to do with. Well I know what to do with it, keep it in the bible and read it in context. God does love everyone, He says that, and means it. God wants everyone to be saved and only asks us to proclaim with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord. We have responsibility. God Also states that He has the power to save people and that you can not go threw to the father without Jesus. We would be lost without Jesus in our lives. God also stats that there are those predestined. So He does know who will go to heaven. Here again is my biggest stance on anything God, there are no absolutes, its like a post modern teenager dealing with life, nothing is absolute. We cannot merely say it is one hundred percent free will and zero predestination for we would simply be saying that God wrote stuff in the bible that was not true, and according to 2^nd Timothy 3:16 that can not happen for it states that all scripture is God breathed.

With that said Dave Lusk gets three yes’s and is on to the next round and those who proclaim that Jesus is Lord in their hearts and with there minds will go to heaven.

enjoy,
arod.

first post.. a lot to say...

2008-03-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

I am currently watching the movie Beowulf (the new animated type movie) and its pretty good, nothing amazing but im enjoying it. I realized i been watching a lot more movies lately, probably cause of spring break, but recently i went to see 10,000 bc (epic) , Semi-pro (Will Ferrell is who he is, no matter what movie it is so its gotta be funny), i rented Darjeeling limited (Artistic movie, but everyone needs a bit of that every once in a while, great at showing the relationships in a dysfunctional family, which i might know a thing about), Vacancy (fun little thriller.. i think i act better then Luke wilson though..), Sydney White (if you watch this make sure to notice all the symbolism with snow white and the seven dwarfs, pick out the dwarfs, this movie did a great job at hinting towards that without ever saying it.. with the best line probably being Hi Ho) , and Michael Clayton (easy to see why it both got nominated for best movie of the year being a great intellectual thriller.. but thats also probably why it failed in the box office), ive also watched clasics like Raging Bull (classic, and if you ever wanna know how not to have a good marriage this would be the way to go about it) and Jerry Mcguire (i might say the same thing about this.. however "You had me at hello" is one of the best lines in any movie ever)... all those are pretty good too in there own way.. but anyway i wanted to say that the reason this is named Bardic Knowledge is becasue in DnD that is something that will give you information about any type of subject.. so thats why it is called that, so ill act accordingly. Anyway ive realized that there is not a movie without a love interest in there somewhere, and i watch a lot of movies so i can feel my heart longing for that one. My only question, which me and Andrew were talking about today, is when will you know? Hopefully ill do a follow-up when i am married, but i cant wait for that feeling, so i can live my own beautiful story. Anyway, love is too important to rush, so im not too worried i just wish it would rush towards me sometimes, you know.. give me a helping hand.. dang.. anyway American Idol tommorrow night and im pumped i think Archuletta(sp?) will definatly take the crown but im interested in Jason Castro, Michael Johns, and Ramielle and how they will do.

enjoy.
arod