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YEAR-OPENING NEWSLETTER, 2004 (covering January 1 through March 11)
So, although I know that what you really want to talk about is Martha Stewart, gay marriage, and The Passion of Christ movie, I'm going to take a few minutes to switch subjects for a moment and talk about what LOST AND FOUND has been up to for the past couple months.
In early January, Michael and I flew to South Dakota, where Troy picked us up in Rapid City. Since we had a little time to kill before the concert, we played tourist family and drove over to Mount Rushmore. They have goats there. Big goats. There are also some faces. Big faces. Plus, there are some heads carved in rocks. In the gift shop, I tried out a little buffalo headgear. But I don't think it was really me.
E-Pulp Central Command
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After our tourism jaunt, we drove over to Spearfish to have a concert. There was a fun opening band, and people came from all over, even Wyoming. Had a nice time, and headed off to the east, staying in Sioux Falls. The next day, we drove down to Lincoln, NE, to play in a brand-new sanctuary there. A beautiful room, kind hosts, large crowd, and good night. From there, we drove back to Sioux Falls to play at Augustana College. A large group of folks came on over, and we handed out diplomas and stuff on behalf of the college . . .I think. Afterward, we dropped by the ultra-mod offices of Electric Pulp, the website people. (That sounds like their actual name, doesn't it? "Underwriters include, Electric Pulp: The Website People.")
Icy driveway
"Here I come to save the day!"
Cottage Industry
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When I got home, it got cold in Ohio. So much so, in fact, that our driveway was covered in ice. Come to think of it, though, that picture might be of the river and not our driveway. Anyway, from there we headed south to Alabama to play at the Behold gathering. This was lots and lots of fun, and we got to hang out with our friend Peder Eide. At some point, the speaker asked Peder to help him out with a little deus ex machina, and I snapped a photo of the moment. Also there in Gallant, Michael set up the display table as though he were running his own little store.
It was real homey visiting him at his business over the weekend. Almost felt like I should ask about the frost line and buy some hard tack. When we finished in Alabama, we drove on northward through the night, with a three-hour stop for sleeping in Lexington, and arrived in time to play in Galion, Ohio. Our friends Plywood opened the evening, and we enjoyed hearing them again. From there we headed home for a few days, until we flew to New Orleans for the ELCA youth workers' Extravaganza. Had a great time, saw lots of old friends, got up in the morning and flew to Philadelphia so we could return to Bridgewater, NJ. I've heard that we played in this church in November of 2002, but I don't remember much from that time because of being incapacitated by pneumonia and fevers. This time, however, I remember the concert fondly because it went so well and we had such a nice time.
Next up, we headed to Louisville, Kentucky for the Winter Blitz gathering. This was a great time, though we turned down the opportunity to sit in on the billiards tournament being held at the hotel that same weekend. Following that fun, I dropped Michael at the Cincinnati Airport and headed toward home in the bright sunshine. Suprisingly, we both made it home safely, and lived to tell the tale. While home, I assembled the remainder of the Just George CD's in my dining room. My daughters, in a move of delightful resourcefulness, used the old spindles to create their version of that tower from the Lord of The Rings movies. As you can see, the people who work in the tower are not having a very good day, since they're the bad guys and all. However, it's possible they cheered up following the Academy Awards, but that's just my guess.
Our next appearance was in Joplin, MO, where the Believe event season resumed with great vigor. We enjoyed being reunited with all the staff and had loads of fine times. After that, we drove over to South Carolina to leave the van until the next weekend when we flew back to get the van. Then we started with Summerville, where the kind hosts asked us to use markers to help deface the wall in the youth room. Then we drove up to Kinston, NC where we had a fine time and met up with Michael's nephew Eric. The next afternoon, we hooked up with some folks in Columbia, SC for their afternoon worship which they call "Not Your Mother's Worship," which was true, since my mother was 500 miles away in Orlando. It was an interesting event, and we were pleased to be part of it. That night, we played another worship service at Newberry College, which is appropriately located in the town called Newberry. We played several times at the college, for various collections of folks.
Blast from the past
Mattoon
Wildlife
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From there, it was back to Kentucky for another Believe event. This one is among their largest, and we were psyched to play for so many folks. From there, we headed west to play a Valentine's Day concert in Indianapolis, IN. Lots of people showed up, and we all had great fun. In an interesting side note, a young lady brought along a picture of us together from 1988. You might think that's scary, but that's only because it is. In a more contemporary move, we headed west to Mattoon, IL, which is where Michael's father was born. As you can see from the view of the stage, Mattoon takes its name from the prominence of wrestling equipment in public places. From there, we both went home, and we experienced what I believe is called some Wildlife in our backyard in Ohio.
We met back up for the second Believe gathering in Kentucky. Same room as the previous week, so we all knew where everything was. As an added treat, our friend Mark Oestreicher was there with his son Max. They helped us out at our table, with Max getting some sleep on the T-shirt boxes behind the table. From there we raced north and west to get to Oshkosh, WI, where we played a successful concert for a fine group, and then stuck around to play some songs at worship in the morning. That night, we drove down to Des Plaines, IL and had a large turnout. Continuing in the theme of blast from the past, we ran into our friend Jen (nee) Blackburn whom we haven't seen since the bike trip. (Which was in . . .well, let's just say it was during the Reagan administration.) After that concert, I drove back to Ohio, where my laptop promptly crashed in a permanent sort of way. After three days in the tomb of technical assistance, everything was saved in a miraculous way, and restored to new life. And my laptop now lives among us in this place.
After a couple of days at home, Michael and I flew to Portland, OR, where we once more were hosted by our long-time friend, Bob Fossum. As usual, he turned out a large crowd, provided great sound, and even went back to the airport to pick up our late-arriving T shirts. Also, that night, we saw our friend the famous author Tim McLaughlin. The next day, we headed north in to the intermittent wiper state of Washington, and returned to Everett. While there, Michael found a gruesome box on a table in the narthex. It really begs the question, what do they do with all the remaining digits? Also at that concert, some ladies wore their home-made shirts, which were quite impressive indeed. The next morning, we went to Pacific Lutheran University, where they let us play a few songs during worship. After a delightful lunch with the church council, we returned to Federal Way, where the kind hosts treated us to delightful sound once again. Always a pleasure, I must say.
From there, we flew back home for a very short time. Then I drove to Wichita and met Michael who happened to be hanging out waiting for me. In the morning, we drove over to Friends University, where we were warmly welcomed. (The absence of the irate security guard packing heat who met us on the last visit might have helped with the warm welcome we received this time around.) After that, we drove through the flood eastward and returned to Prairie Village, KS, where our friend Nate hosted us once more. Had a great time, and he even took us out to dinner, which upped the great time to record levels. The next night, being Friday, we found ourselves at another lovely Believe event. This one was in Saint Louis, and there were lots of kind folks who bought cd's and clapped after the songs. (What more could a band ask for, right?)
Plywood Rocks On!
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From there, we continued The Pendulum Tour across time zones, and drove over to Kalamazoo, Michigan for the statewide gathering of the Christian Church. A great room and a fun crowd. And then, we headed back to central time to play in what many call the Spaceship Church, which is clearly a crown of thorns—though it might be a flying saucer—in Racine, Wisconsin. This was really fun night in a really cool room. The next morning we played a few songs at the chapel service at Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin. That evening, we played in the auditorium on campus, which was a total blast and an exceptionally long concert of 21 songs, including the Concordia Song, but I'm not allowed to talk about that song, so mum's the word as they say. Following that concert, we drove south and stayed somewhere in Indiana, preparing us to cross the time zone again to play at Capital University, in Columbus, Ohio. Our friends Plywood played an opening set and people enjoyed hearing them as much as we did.
Then, we stopped by Chipotle, and drove up to my house near Toledo. In the morning, Michael flew to New York City to talk to important people at NYU, and I stayed home to talk to important people in grade school and pre-K, and their mom, of course.
And that brings us up to today, March 12, 2004, where I am about to turn this computer off and go get on a plane to Florida, where there is no snow falling outside. A few things to note:
1) If you'd like to see the photos from the piano bench perspective, you can click on Photo Phrenzy and check them out.
2) If you have recently or not-so-recently changed your e-mail address, please drop us a note so we can update our files.
3) We're working on a few new projects, including a cd of hymns, a concert dvd, and an album of new songs. We hope to have three available by summer.
4) We'd prefer it if you'd continue to rock on as is your wont.
Later,
george
Read more of George's monthly newsletters.
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